"That is indeed so!"
Ten Thousand Serpents studied the chessboard and nodded, then turned to Wuyan.
"From this moment on, you are my representative. Go and command all the forces of resistance!"
Dark crimson bloodline power coiled around Wuyan's entire body like a serpent, instantly elevating his strength by several more tiers.
"As you command, my Master! Your will is my mission!"
Wuyan knelt and prostrated himself.
"You may go as well!"
Leilin glanced at the somewhat eager Xia Weier and suddenly spoke.
"Re-really? Thank you, sir!" Xia Weier quickly agreed. He had somehow ended up as a waiter here, and the situation was far too suffocating for him — let alone having to remain in the company of these two terrifying existences.
"Since you've served well, I'll let you in on one thing: your sister Jia'er is also in the palace right now. Work hard, young man!"
As Xia Weier took his leave, Leilin deliberately dropped this remark, which clearly made the young man's body tremble before his footsteps quickened even further.
Once both of them had departed, the villa was suddenly engulfed in an eerie atmosphere.
"What do you think... are their chances of success?"
Ten Thousand Serpents suddenly spoke, breaking the oppressive silence. As she stretched her waist, Leilin caught a faint whiff of a peculiar perfume.
"The X Gene project has been running for so many years, and nature has already been occupied by more than half... while the influence of psychic energy and the Magic Web has permeated every aspect of the entire world... Therefore, they could at any moment..."
Leilin was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.
"Rather than letting the Night Lady hold both of these fatal switches, it would be better to let these subordinates detonate them in advance... Now is the best opportunity, isn't it?"
The so-called best opportunity was that after the Night Lady had dealt with the Eye of Judgment and the other two, it would be virtually impossible for her not to pay a certain price.
During this period of weakened strength, the chances of success for any action would be significantly higher.
But once she had fully recovered, all bets were off.
"The Night Lady squandered a massive amount of the primal force the Shadow World had accumulated. Now it will be extremely difficult for her to recover..."
Leilin grasped a wisp of air in his hand, a strange smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
The Shadow World's recent ascension was a failed ascension!
The world's primal force reserves had been insufficient, and the entire world itself had not been adequately prepared. Of course,
As for the elevation of the world's will, and the many other aspects, none of them had actually manifested.
Precisely because of this, the Shadow World merely appeared somewhat lacking in foundation, without any great harm. After Martha and
To put it bluntly, if given enough time, the entire Shadow World would gradually recover and once again generate vast quantities of primal force.
The Night Lady of that time would not be nearly as easy to deal with as she was now.
...
By the time Wuyan brought Xia Weier to the Bloodline Alliance's base in the imperial capital, they found that enormous changes had already taken place.
The previous earthquakes and disasters had not caused much damage to this high-tech base. However, inside the vast underground assembly hall — as large as a grand plaza — a great number of strangers had already gathered.
Among these strangers were witches in flowing black robes with pointed hats, warriors in armor and martial arts masters. What caught Xia Weier's attention even more was a squad in standard imperial military uniforms who had occupied a corner of the hall, every one of them radiating that distinctive iron-and-blood aura unique to the military.
"It seems this must be the Imperial Military resistance organization that Keliwei mentioned last time..."
Xia Weier noticed that the various factions within the Bloodline Alliance occasionally exchanged words with each other, but this group of soldiers remained silent, waiting quietly without communicating with any of the other factions.
The hall was in chaos, with the loudest discussions revolving around the recent celestial catastrophe — that disaster that had seemed like the end of the world. It had genuinely frightened everyone.
And terms like "the X Plan" and "the Tree of Life" appeared repeatedly in the conversations, used with increasing frequency.
"Everyone, quiet down!"
The arrival of Wuyan and Xia Weier immediately drew enormous attention. Being stared at by thousands of pairs of eyes within the hall made every pore on Xia Weier's body tighten with tension.
After all, those who had been summoned here were no ordinary people!
If it had been any other imperial citizen — or even an ordinary soldier — they might have completely collapsed under such pressure!
"Well? Did that person agree?"
Bodi pushed past the other Bloodline Alliance members and stepped forward, a hint of expectation on his face.
"He didn't agree, nor did he refuse..." Wuyan shook his head. "The ancestor has appointed me to fully act on its behalf and overthrow the corrupt imperial rule!"
"Without their support, we may find it very difficult to deal with the shadow hand that has always stood behind the empire!"
Keliwei from the military officer corps shook his head. Only they, as members of the empire's upper echelons, could truly comprehend the terror of the Night Lady!
It could be said that with her backing, the rule of the entire imperial royal family was absolutely unshakable! If they hadn't been frightened by the X Plan and the Tree of Life project, they would have had to be out of their minds to attempt such a thankless task.
"What era are we living in? Still believing in ancient myths based on a few scraps of evidence? Isn't that just ridiculous?"
A mocking, skeptical voice rang out from the crowd, drawing widespread agreement.
Although they were all paranormal ability users, they remained deeply skeptical of such ancient myths.
"The Book of Redemption by the blind seer Aili! It is a treasure that the empire dispatched its largest psychic submarine to retrieve, and the prophecies inscribed on it have already been deciphered by us... Whether it was all souls turning the same color, or the final doomsday plan, everything has come to pass one by one. Therefore, we must obtain the aid of the Ten Thousand Serpents!"
Keliwei from the Imperial Military resistance organization stepped forward and projected an image of a stone tablet, along with the translated text and imagery.
"These ancient mystical relics simply have very little credibility!"
That voice piped up again.
"What about this, then?"
Wuyan's expression darkened as a torrent of blood-red energy erupted from his body, resembling countless writhing tentacles.
"Hsss... hsss... hsss..."
The terrifying hiss of an enormous serpent echoed throughout the entire hall. The surging bloodline power formed an immense monstrosity with over a hundred serpent heads, each one different, covered in all manner of bizarre scales.
"This kind of bloodline...?"
Many of the Bloodline descendants in the Bloodline Alliance were themselves offspring of the Ten Thousand Serpents. They dropped to their knees on the spot.
In Wuyan's presence, they felt the will of their own ancestor compelling them to submit in accordance with their deepest bloodline instincts.
As the wellspring of all bloodlines, the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents need only release the faintest trace of her aura to allow Wuyan to bring all other Ten Thousand Serpents descendants under his control.
This was the absolute dominion of a superior bloodline! More effective than any mental-type spell, and impossible to resist! Impossible to evade! Unless one directly tore apart the original bloodline source.
Unfortunately, aside from Leilin, such a thing had never occurred in the incredibly long history of the Astral Plane.
"Cina-level! Power that exceeds the Cina level!!!"
Watching the sea of prostrate descendants and Wuyan standing there like an emperor, the others could not help but let their expressions shift repeatedly, murmuring in low voices: "The so-called energy limit... has it truly been broken just like that?"
The so-called energy limit was merely a term coined by the Shadow Empire, because they had discovered that no matter how technological power developed — even with the aid of the Magic Web and psychic energy — it could never surpass a certain threshold. And this threshold was known as the limit of energy!
The empire's most powerful energy weapons had only reached Cina-level power — essentially the strength of a sixth-rank Dawn
This was an axiom that no one could break!
But now, in Wuyan, they saw with horror the hope of breaking through the Cina level using purely human power!
At this moment, Wuyan, after undergoing several rounds of energy modification by the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents, had reached the sixth rank in body, spirit, and energy alike. Combined with the Serpent Mother's temporary authorization, he had also come to wield a portion of the bloodline power, breaking through the sixth rank to reach a pseudo half-seventh rank.
As a rushed product, he was naturally far inferior to Leilin — he would have to kneel before any Rule-level being he encountered. But within the empire at this moment, he was the undisputed foremost powerhouse.
A fierce and violent aura swept aside the crowd and instantly located the person who had spoken earlier.
"Do you have any objections?"
Wuyan's eyes had turned blood-red, every strand of his hair bristling outward, accompanied by surging wind — he had quite the air of a demon lord about him.
"N-no! Nothing at all!"
The one who had spoken dismissively earlier was a nonconformist youth with dyed hair, numerous pendants dangling from his ears, and ear piercings. Now, facing this terrifying pressure, he could barely form coherent words.
BOOM! The floor shattered, and Wuyan's figure instantly appeared atop the raised platform.
A phantom swarm of serpents howled behind his back, an arrogant and domineering presence flooding the entire hall, causing even the other paranormal ability users to feel their breathing grow labored.
"The existence of the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents — I am the best proof! With her help, I broke through the so-called limit and entered an entirely new realm..."
Wuyan looked down upon the assembly from his elevated position. "Furthermore, that existence has also agreed to intercept the Night Lady from the prophecy. Are we really so incapable that we can't even take the palace?"
He roared at the top of his lungs: "Since you've all come here, you must already know about those two plans. Now, the time has come to choose!