"What is that?"
Huai Shi looked down in astonishment, staring at the abyss of darkness.
When the outer layer of the mirror world disguise shattered, the true form of the massive alienated underground world finally revealed itself.
It was as if all the soil within the entire New Sea subway loop had been dug out, forming an indescribable depression and cracks beneath the vast city.
The entire subway loop was its edge, and if one looked inward, all they could see was a void of darkness.
Above the subway loop, the ten original subway stations extended like cliffs, carrying ten crucial altars, half suspended above the entire abyss.
When the mirror world fault dissipated, the people on the platforms undoubtedly observed each other.
Ten different battlefields.
Including the one where Huai Shi was, the battles at six of the altars had already ended, leaving behind debris and blood. The priests who presided over the rituals were decapitated, and even their bones were gone. The altars had been destroyed.
There were still three ongoing battles, but they were almost completely one-sided. The Sublimators of the East lineage were slaughtering everything in their path, obliterating all resistance.
In the midst of the efficient slaughter, the middle-aged leader turned around and glanced, noticing the trace of Li Jianhupo. He pointed at her with a serious and fierce expression, "You've made the mistake of 'acting without permission.' Write a report when you go back!"
But soon, everyone's attention was drawn to something beneath the abyss.
It was a corpse.
A decaying corpse.
Even a blind person standing here could smell the pungent and sharp stench of decay, as the nauseating odor slowly rose from beneath the abyss.
But it was precisely because of this that it became even more unbelievable.
At this moment, right before everyone's eyes, within that abyss, the colossal and terrifying true form of Jiufeng had completely decayed.
Dead.
Completely dead.
No matter what it was, no one would believe that something torn apart to this extent could still be alive, right?
But what the hell is this?
After fighting their way to the boss room, they found the boss hanging from the ceiling. They couldn't even get any equipment, let alone experience... What the hell were they fighting for?
Anyone with a brain would know that something was wrong, right?
Now, the black blood that had lost its life was slowly seeping out from its remains, forming a putrid lake, breeding countless foul maggots, with mosquitoes and flies constantly swarming.
Disgusting.
But in this eerie and sinister environment, a ray of light shone from the lake of black blood.
So pure, so brilliant.
It was a dazzling golden light.
As the earth trembled and countless fragments of the mirror world stirred, in that darkness, the light burst forth, piercing the eyes of everyone present.
Unexplainably, everyone felt a sense of peace and tranquility in their hearts, as if they wanted to bow down and worship before the light.
And within the light, a pair of exquisitely crafted eyes, as if made of gold, slowly opened. From the boiling lake of black blood, a majestic figure slowly rose.
It was as if it had broken free from its shell and was gazing upon the world.
Before these eyes, everything was like dust.
"What the hell?!"
Huai Shi's first reaction was a chill running down his spine. Subconsciously, he wanted to step back, and then he felt a large number of burns appearing on his skin.
It was as if his skin had been scorched by that gaze.
There was no doubt that the light was the nemesis of the evil spirits, no, it should be called the archenemy... If even a little bit of it was sprinkled, he would surely be burned to death in that light.
Feeling a sense of inexplicable danger, Huai Shi instinctively hid behind Li Jianhupo. Through the layer of fiery red armor, he finally felt a little better. He quickly put on his gloves and mask, even though they wouldn't be of much use. It was as if he could find comfort in his heart.
He crouched on the ground, hiding behind Li Jianhupo. Although he didn't want to admit how ridiculous he looked, he was trembling!
"Great Peng Golden Winged King..."
Li Jianhupo stared blankly at the light, and even cracks appeared on her face of wisdom, her voice becoming hoarse and shocked. "No, in the East lineage, it should be called... the fifth-level Holy Mark, Great Peng Golden Winged Bird!"
"What the hell is going on?!" Huai Shi was astonished. "Is it an ally?"
"It's better if it is..."
A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.
Li Jianhupo also cautiously retreated, and the two of them almost crouched under the steps, carefully peeking out. Even though such a sacred and majestic light had descended, their hearts still felt heavy, making it difficult to directly face that terrifying speculation.
If it wasn't an ally, there was only one possibility...
That was Jiufeng...
Or rather, what used to be Jiufeng.
Recalling the complex rituals they had witnessed and the various abnormalities that would never occur during the fifth-level advancement, Li Jianhupo finally came to a conclusion.
Therefore, she became even more incredulous.
"It changed its own path of sublimation?"
Just a little bit of thinking would reveal that Jiufeng's superior Holy Mark could never be the Great Peng Golden Winged Bird. Even though they were both incomplete advancements in the East lineage, they were completely opposite.
It was even more different than the Phoenix of the East and the Phoenix of Rome.
Thinking of this, she suddenly raised her head and glanced at the abyss, then quickly retracted her head, patting her chest in relief:
"No, no, this is not the Golden-Eyed Marvelous Winged Bird King of the East lineage. It is the fifth-level Holy Mark that maintains the branch of the Tianzhu lineage—Garuda!""What's the difference between the two?"
Huai Shi was confused, "Aren't they the same?"
"They're completely different! Even if they are the same kind of miracle, they will leave different traces. Depending on the region and the source text they merge with, even the same kind of miracle can have two completely different faces... The difference is as big as between 'Leaf Limit' and 'Cinderella'!"
"Can you explain it in a way I can understand?"
"..."
Rijian Amber stared at him with a look of disbelief for a long time, finally sighing, "Simply put, the Golden Eye Wondrous Wing Bird King of the East lineage naturally possesses divine powers of warfare and protection. It was once worshipped as a national guardian deity and must uphold righteousness, otherwise, it would never succeed.
On the other hand, Garuda exists purely as a subordinate to the gods. Although it has its limitations, the beastly side of it occupies a larger part, and the restrictions are not as many..."
Huai Shi understood instantly, "So, to become a Roc, one must be a great hero for the country and the people, while to become a Garuda, one just needs to have enough resources, right?"
"More or less."
Rijian Amber felt exhausted, wondering how he managed to interpret her words in such a way!
But now the problem was huge.
She finally understood why the Purified People would go to such lengths to prepare this complicated ascension ceremony. It was not only for the Nine Phoenixes to ascend, but also to ensure that he could forcibly switch from the East lineage to the Tianzhu lineage, ensuring his transformation from Nine Phoenixes to Garuda.
The specific process was not hard to guess.
With the divine power of the Ranch Master protecting his life, he just needed to brutally erase his own Yin attribute, then forcibly correct and transform the Holy Mark of the Nine Phoenixes. After cutting off all unnecessary things, leaving only a bare slate, he could then forcibly advance to another extreme with the massive amount of Source Material accumulated over the years.
This also explained why he so readily distributed his power to his followers. Since he no longer needed it, why not make use of it?
But this was not just a simple reset.
It was like forcibly changing a dog into a lion, not something that could be achieved with a simple makeover.
It was like being reborn and becoming a bird again.
Even with the Ranch Master backing him up, he couldn't just do whatever he wanted, right?
Moreover, what was the point? Even if he succeeded, this would result in Garuda being inherently deficient, having the rank of a fifth-order but not even comparable to a fourth-order peak. It was a complete loss.
But now...
"The Devil City Passage!"
Rijian Amber suddenly realized, "Indeed, if he can achieve such a legend, he could not only easily gain a large amount of deviation, but also make up for the deficit..."
"What's going on? Can you explain in detail?"
A curious head suddenly popped out from beside her, blinking its curious little eyes, "We still have some time before that thing comes out, why not chat a bit?"
"How can you not know about this? How does your Astronomical Society train its members?"
Rijian Amber's mouth twitched under her mask, resisting the urge to kill this guy on the spot. She took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
"I've only been on the job for less than a month, okay?" Huai Shi shrugged, pointing to the pile of ashes behind them, "Come on, old iron, I'll give you one ear of the head, okay?"
What's the point of dividing it when it's already turned to ashes!
Rijian Amber's teeth gritted, and after glaring at this bastard for a long time, she finally sighed in resignation, "Fine, consider it my bad luck... I'll just explain it to the newbie."
"Okay, okay, go ahead."
Huai Shi took out a small notebook from his pocket to take notes. As for the Garuda not far away, they had already put it out of their minds.
After all, what was about to happen was not something they could stop. Even if something went wrong, they wouldn't be able to run away. It was better to hide and see how things developed.
What a spectacle it was to watch gods fight!
Just like the people of Yingzhou finding a sense of security from Tokyo TV, for Huai Shi, as long as Crow didn't come out and say we're screwed, let's run, it wasn't a big deal.
It was better to listen carefully to the old driver's explanation.
"In simple terms... among the fifth-order Holy Marks, excluding the fillers or blank slates, the top ones all have some divine characteristics to a greater or lesser extent."
Rijian Amber dusted off her short skirt and said seriously:
"This means they must pursue the change in 'realm correction value'."
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