CHAPTER 261: CHAPTER 113: WHEN TITANS COLLIDE

At dawn, Yanpo Forest, engulfed in a vast expanse of white fog, had been desolate for nearly a month, when suddenly thunderous movements from birds and beasts were heard overhead.

A Five-star shadow hovered above the forest like a flying saucer, ceaselessly circling.

Any birds or beasts that approached the area were drained of their vitality and Dark Energy in the blink of an eye.

"What in the world is that?" Yue Jinghua, dragged by Qing Pu to the outskirts of the forest, looked up and witnessed the shocking scene.

"Awooo, how terrifying, a Dark Summoning Array," the Gold Eater Worm sensed the dark energy from Hell and immediately tucked its wings in, scurrying into Yue Jinghua’s embrace, refusing to poke its head out even at the threat of death.

"A Hexagram symbolizes righteousness, and a Five-pointed Star signifies inversion. I can’t believe that Fa Xiaoyi is actually a Dark Summoner—I must have been blind not to have noticed this before," Qing Pu’s eyes revealed an indescribable emotion.

Summoners have been extinct on the continent for so long that most people have forgotten that there are two types of summoners.

Nearly all summoners draw upon the power of the stars between heaven and earth to summon Dark Beasts, but there are, in fact, two kinds of stars in the sky.

One appears after dawn and is known as the Hexagram. The other appears before dawn and is known as the Five-pointed Star.

Summoners who harness the power of the Hexagram after dawn, when the sun first rises, can summon powerful beasts of the Light System and even Divine Beasts from the Middle Plane.

And then there are other summoners—many of this kind have unknown tragic childhoods, either abandoned by their clans or oppressed by others. Their twisted personalities enable them to feel the power of the dark stars. This dark energy summons the Deep Prison Dark Beasts from the Hell Netherworld.

They are unable to sense the Elemental Power of the Hexagram; they can only feel the dark energy at the darkest moment before dawn.

Legend has it that beneath the Four Great Planes, there exists an unknown place where the Dark Beasts of the Dark Hell, which are comparable to the Holy Domain Profound Beasts of the Middle Plane, reside. Unable to find gateways to other planes, they desperately search for ways to enter other planes.

"The National Destiny Acupoint of Shang Kingdom must be the weakest dimensional gap on the Canglong Continent. The legendary Sky Yang Earth Yin Escape could very likely be one of the nodes connecting the planes to Dark Hell," Qing Pu said gravely, gazing at the accumulation of dark clouds in the sky.

"It was just one snake bite when I was a kid, did he really have to become so twisted?" Yue Jinghua shrugged her shoulders. The kid’s psychological resilience was terribly weak, haunted by such a heavy childhood shadow. In her past life as Yue Xiaoqi, she had been an orphan from a young age, without a good pair of shoes until she was ten, and she ended each training session covered in wounds.

Back then, only Liao would secretly bring her food.

"That’s not the point," Qing Pu frowned, "The point is the Dark Hell Beasts he has summoned. Once the plane’s node is broken, this place will become the only channel on the continent through which Dark Beasts can roam freely, and Shang Kingdom will be plunged into utter desolation, with all living beings drained of vitality."

If it does not concern oneself, then one could remain uninvolved. However, the proliferation of Dark Beasts would obviously impede her, or even pose a risk to her family’s safety.

Yue Jinghua disdained the notion of being a savior; what she wanted was to protect those she cared about.

"So that means, we must stop Fa Xiaoyi," Yue Jinghua’s brows twisted, her gaze sharp as daggers, piercing through the fog-enshrouded forest.

Like an octopus with tentacles, Yue Jinghua’s Spiritual Sense flexibly spread out, probing deeply into Yanpo Forest.

In the forest, several assassins dressed in Remnant attire were fleeing rapidly. Qing Pu must be right; at least one Dark Summoned Beast had been summoned by Fa Xiaoyi.

But what could that one Summoned Beast be?

The tendrils of Yue Jinghua’s Spiritual Sense meander forward.

Suddenly, within Yue Jinghua’s Spiritual Sense, a figure appeared.

Xie San, the three-fingered assassin who bore a resemblance to Xie Yu and wore a cold smile, intending to consign her to death, was now frantically scurrying toward the periphery of the forest.

Panic was evident in his peach-blossom eyes as he frequently looked back, as if some terrifying beast was chasing him from behind.

"It seems the opponent is very strong; otherwise, Xie San, with his Cultivation of the Heavenly Dark Realm, would not be so panicked. There are no Dark Beasts pursuing from behind, and Xie San is alone; this would be a good opportunity to make a move and kill him," Yue Jinghua was never a merciful person.

Anyone who threatened her life must be eradicated at the earliest opportunity.

Xie San had said that the Assassin Alliance had already issued a kill order on her.

If she didn’t take the chance to kill him today, he would assuredly become a serious threat in the future.

Yue Jinghua calculated in her heart, considering her own strength, her current Cultivation, the assistance of several Dark Beasts, and the yet-to-be-determined capability of Qing Pu, along with relying on her movement technique and Small Cloud Trace Steps, it wouldn’t be too difficult to slay Xie San.

Moved by the thought, her figure vanished into a thin mist, stealthily approaching Xie San’s location.

Her heartbeat was intense; to divert that snake demoness’s pursuit, Xie San and the remnants of his group had fled in different directions.

This forest, shrouded in haze, was now filled with a sickening fog of death, and Xie San could feel the Dark Energy in his body depleting at an alarming rate.

"If I don’t leave this forest soon, there’s only a dead end waiting for me," Xie San thought anxiously, believing he could already see the forest’s exit ahead; once out, he hoped he would survive.

"No---" A scream tore through the air above the forest; it was the cry for help from a member of the remnants.

Xie San’s heart skipped a beat, and he couldn’t help but look back.

His Cultivation was not shallow, and his eyesight was good. This glance back allowed him to witness a shocking scene.

A member of the remnants was nearby.

It was an assassin with a missing arm, his body constantly turning a greenish color, a sign of petrification, spreading from his feet to his waist, upper body, neck, and finally his face; his every inch of skin had turned into stone.

With a "boom," not long after turning to stone, that member of the remnants crumbled to dust.

"Demon, that is a true demon," after witnessing this scene, Xie San finally understood the snake woman’s Dark Skill was Petrification.

"I must leave this place immediately," Xie San ran blindly through the forest, even forgetting the direction; yet, the dreadful sounds of his companions dying continued to echo from behind.

The snake demoness seemed to be playing hide-and-seek with him, each time she approached, she did not rush to kill him but instead first targeted one of his companions.

Watching people petrify and die beside him, Xie San’s footsteps began to falter.

"She’s waiting for me to break down, wanting to torture me to death," Xie San muttered to himself; suddenly, he saw the forest’s exit ahead.

His eyes lit up, and he surged forward toward it.

Outside the forest, two people stood; the one in the lead had purple eyes as deep as the ocean.