CHAPTER 483: CHAPTER 434 PANIC

As the voice faded, the old monk’s remains were utterly annihilated into ash, dissipating in the wind.

Li Ang stared blankly at the spot where Jianquan had vanished, his heart still echoing with astonishment and surprise.

Frankly speaking, Jianquan wasn’t the most fierce, cruel, or cunningly sly enemy Li Ang had ever encountered. Nor was he the strongest (the Demon Buddha of the Jialan Sect was far stronger than Jianquan, who hadn’t focused all his energy). However, he was definitely the opponent with the most resolute will, the most calculating mind, and the most ruthless methods.

Whether it was setting up a ruse and then suddenly attacking and killing an old friend of many years; or, upon discovering Li Ang possessed exploitable Mind Threads, immediately pulling him into an Illusion Realm; or even, in the end, using himself as part of the sacrifice to complete the Six Paths Reincarnation Technique, spreading his teachings through disciples prepared in advance to realize his personal ideals—every step was taken with utter determination, single-handedly challenging the centuries-old concept of homeland and royalty, offering the people a second option...

"Don’t space out!"

Sui Yi’s shout pulled Li Ang back to reality. She swung her sword, conjuring a strong wind that gently swept many of the Xingzhou people nearest to where Jianquan had died further away.

Jianquan’s death signified the birth of the Chaotic Wind. Fine threads of black cracks appeared in the sky, swirling like a vortex around the place where Jianquan had died. They spun faster and faster until they formed a black sphere that swallowed all light.

A violent hurricane rapidly formed around the sphere. Like a Dragon Water Absorption phenomenon, it madly sucked in the clouds from the sky. Strands of white were drawn from the thick cloud layer, falling into the hurricane, resembling a cotton candy machine from memories of another world.

Objects on the surface were not spared either; banners and lanterns hanging on the streets were sucked into the tornado, as were tables, chairs, dust, and stones from the ground.

The Xingzhou people had just awoken from the Illusion Realm and were still confused about what was happening when they saw a tornado reaching from the sky to the ground. The crowd screamed and ran backward, but because there were so many of them and the area was so congested, it immediately turned into a crush of people pushing and shoving.

Sui Yi stomped on the ground and leaped into the air. Looking down at the crowded streets below, cold sweat unintentionally beaded on her forehead, which was covered with fine strands of hair. Her Yinghuo Sword could easily slay demons and Evil Spirits, but facing the panicked ordinary common people, now caught in mass hysteria, for a moment, she truly didn’t know what to do.

"Don’t panic! I am Sui Yi, an Academic Palace Doctor of Sword Studies, currently addressing a minor anomaly. Please, everyone, take shelter inside the buildings along the street and do not push or trample!"

Sui Yi drew a sound-amplifying talisman from her robe, activated it, and shouted towards the Xingzhou people on the streets. To increase her persuasiveness, she even specifically mentioned that she was an Academic Palace Doctor of Sword Studies, emphasizing that this was only a minor anomaly. Unfortunately, her words had little effect.

Too many common people crowded the congested streets; even if some were willing to listen, they couldn’t move if others didn’t.

Seeing this, Li Ang also felt a headache coming on. He stomped on the ground and leaped onto a tall building to survey the situation. Spotting signs of a stampede starting in a corner, he immediately threw a soundproof talisman in that direction. Then, he pulled on the Mind Threads, activating the Sand Sinking Talisman he had buried underground earlier.

WHOOSH—

After the Sand Sinking Talisman activated, the ground immediately softened and collapsed, turning into sand. Li Ang then used the Mind Threads to deactivate the Sand Sinking Talisman and instead activated the Concrete Talisman, solidifying the sand again, thereby firmly binding the throng of common people, who were about to push and trample each other, in place.

At the same time, the soundproof talisman he had thrown effectively shielded the panicked screams of the common people, preventing a stampede disaster from occurring and spreading. The crowd was too dense; a stampede would result in at least thousands of casualties.

Having contained the incipient stampede, Li Ang looked up at the sky.

The black sphere that devoured light slowly dissipated, replaced by an even more ferocious and surging Chaotic Wind.

The roofs of slightly taller buildings were hit by the strong wind. Their tiles peeled off like fish scales, flying toward the hurricane, and were obliterated into dust by the brutal force of the wind.

So that’s the initial form of the Chaotic Wind...

Li Ang took a deep breath. Jianquan possessed profound cultivation in the Jianquan Realm. The Chaotic Wind he had summoned, using his own death as a sacrifice, was only slightly weaker than the one that had enveloped Chang’an City last Qixi.

The Chaotic Wind fed on disasters to strengthen itself. Perhaps after a few more major disasters, it would become the storm capable of sweeping across the Human World, just as Jianquan had anticipated.

This was no time for reflection. Li Ang forcibly calmed his trembling mind and looked down at the streets below.

The crowd was still packed. As the Chaotic Wind continuously strengthened, shops along the street began to slowly collapse, and lighter building materials were swept away whole by the hurricane. It was only a matter of time before large groups of common people were swept away.

Affected by the Chaotic Wind, the Ink Silk Clone still can’t be used. The same goes for the Ten Thousand Spirit Book.

Li Ang quickly pondered methods to save people. Although he was reluctant to admit it, the reality was that he truly couldn’t save everyone this time.

The most rational and ruthless approach would be to simply abandon those civilians closest to the Chaotic Wind. Use the Sand Sinking Talisman and the soundproof talisman to trap them in place, preventing their cries from spreading panic and leading to a mass stampede. Then he and Sui Yi would rescue those Xingzhou people who were further away and had better chances of survival. This also meant he would have to personally pronounce the death sentence for those near the Chaotic Wind.

Veins throbbed on Li Ang’s forehead. His hand, grasping the wooden wall of the building too tightly, crushed the wood and left a clear handprint.

"Jian! Quan!"

Suddenly, a thunderous shout tore through the long night, echoing over Xingzhou City.

Li Ang, Sui Yi, and the Xingzhou people all looked up, only to see several figures streaking through the sky and landing in the massive pit that was once Xingzhou Prison.

Among them were two figures familiar to Li Ang: Imperial Palace Tributor Shen Tuyu, and Lu Li Academy’s Headmaster Lu Qingya.

Both were Candle Cloud Cultivators, and the others who arrived with them also exuded the aura of Cloud Patrol Realm cultivators.

Li Ang let out a long sigh of relief, leaped down from the building, and landed in front of them.

"What’s going on? Where is Jianquan?" Shen Tuyu’s hand was on the hilt of his sword, his eyes flickering with a cold light, his voice as cold as ice.

"Up there," Li Ang raised his hand and pointed to the rapidly spinning, expanding Chaotic Wind in the night sky, explaining the current situation as succinctly as possible.