Skinwalker Belle – Chapter 453 – White Bone Pass

The pedestrians ahead on the street suddenly parted to both sides.

A squad of guards in rough iron armor strode quickly around the street corner.

Leading them was a middle-aged man with a pair of dark-gold dragon horns atop his head.

It was none other than Long Hui, the city lord of Red Horn City.

Long Hui had just received a report from the city gate guards that a young, beautiful female Collateral Dragonkin had entered the city—one whose depth they couldn’t gauge, suspected to be at least Level Six or above.

In this remote mining town, outsiders rarely came more than a few times a year.

Long Hui’s usual routine consisted of collecting mining taxes for the Council of Elders, and his days were dull and uneventful.

Hearing that an attractive female clansman had arrived, he immediately brought his men over.

The two met in the middle of the narrow street.

Long Hui’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

He stared at Lin Fan, his eyes going wide.

To avoid drawing too much attention, Lin Fan had activated the Myriad-Change Witch’s talent, replacing Lei Li’s face—one so beautiful it could drown souls—with Long Ningshuang’s appearance.

The delicacy of her features had been toned down several notches, and her bearing was far more restrained.

But in the eyes of Long Hui and the guards around him, who had barely seen any beauties in their lives, the woman before them was still extraordinarily attractive.

Her black-and-gold horse-face skirt was cut to fit perfectly, and the frog buttons at her collar were fastened with meticulous care.

A mane of ink-green hair cascaded down her back, and the pair of small dark-gold dragon horns at her temples added an exotic charm.

What struck hardest was her gaze—cold, aloof, utterly unconcerned with the city lord of Red Horn City standing before her.

“Miss, traveling from afar?”

Long Hui snapped back to his senses and hurried forward with a warm tone.

“I am Long Hui, the city lord of Red Horn City.”

Lin Fan stopped, her gaze sweeping over Long Hui’s ill-fitting armor.

Spirit Energy fluctuation at only late Level Six.

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“Long Ningshuang.”

Lin Fan uttered three words by way of response.

“So it’s Miss Ning Shuang.”

Long Hui smiled courteously, trying to probe her background.

“You don’t look like you’re from around here, miss. Might I ask what brings you to our humble, remote corner?”

Lin Fan didn’t answer his question. Instead, she lifted her chin, gesturing toward the notice posted on a tree trunk not far away.

“That conscription notice for White Bone Pass over there—what’s the story?”

Long Hui hadn’t expected her to be so direct. He was taken aback for a moment, then instinctively rubbed the sword hilt at his waist.

“Miss, since you’ve just arrived from elsewhere, you may not have heard.”

He lowered his voice and stepped closer.

“This is a direct order from the Council of Elders of the Pureblood Dragon Clan. Every city under Dragon Clan jurisdiction must immediately dispatch all combat power above Level Five to assemble at White Bone Pass.”

“What are they going there to do?”

Lin Fan looked at him.

“Miss, you’re putting me in a tough spot. A city lord of a remote little town like me couldn’t possibly know the higher-ups’ arrangements.”

Long Hui sighed.

“But everyone’s been whispering that it has something to do with the Rifts.”

Lin Fan’s eyes flickered.

“Go on.”

Seeing her interest, Long Hui decided to curry favor.

“Recently, some friends of mine from cities with Rifts have been saying the Spatial Rifts have been expanding at an alarming rate. The Council of Elders mobilizing troops on this scale—it’s very likely they intend to strike in one decisive blow and take the entire world on the other side of the Rifts.”

Those words, landing in Lin Fan’s ears, immediately transformed into an entirely different chain of information.

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Chu Chen had calculated the timeline at less than a month.

The one hundred and three Rifts across the globe formed a Variant Spirit-Gathering Array.

The Dragon Clan already controlled ninety-three of them, leaving only ten still in Blue Star’s hands.

Lin Fan quickly pulled up the coordinate model that Zhou Ming had pinpointed earlier in her mind.

Red Horn City was southeast of Azurewood City.

White Bone Pass was twenty thousand li east of Red Horn City.

Twenty thousand li away.

Wasn’t this exactly the same coordinate that Zhou Ming had reverse-located from Blue Star to the Dragon Clan’s breeding farm?

Everything matched perfectly.

That place was never some simple natural danger zone—it was an artificial magic creature breeding farm and troop deployment base built by the Dragon Clan.

To attack the Rift defense line on Blue Star, they naturally needed massive amounts of Crystals for power and supplies.

Not only were there countless artificially mutated creatures there to harvest Crystals from, but now they were also pouring the continent’s elite combat forces into that location.

Lin Fan could even picture the scene.

Thousands, even tens of thousands of high-level Evolved beings gathering at White Bone Pass.

Among them would inevitably be a large number of female Evolved beings above level six.

Lin Fan took stock of her system’s inventory space.

At absolute maximum, she only had one hundred and fifty Epic-grade Skins on hand right now.

To fuse the Legendary-grade Skin Long Xi and fully complete the Bloodline of the Ancestor of Life, she was still short a full fifty Epic-grade Skins.

Not long ago, she’d been racking her brain over the fact that Chen Dingjun’s resources on Blue Star had already been squeezed dry—where could she possibly gather these fifty materials in such a short time?

Now it seemed the Dragon Emperor Hall had already served the platter right to her face.

“White Bone Pass—I’ve heard it’s a natural danger zone,” Lin Fan said, looking at Long Hui with a calm tone.

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Long Hui nodded eagerly.

“Tell me about it! That place is thick with miasma, never sees the light of day, and the outer perimeter is crawling with high-level beasts. They say it’s a muster point, but who knows if you’ll even make it there alive. Nobody in the city wants to go.”

“How many more are needed?”

“Huh?”

Long Hui didn’t follow.

“I’m asking you—how many slots does Red Horn City still need to fill?”

Long Hui’s face twisted with bitterness.

“To be honest, we’re still short a lot of names. Going to a place like that to die—anyone with even a shred of ability is hiding. Quite a few people have already fled these past few days. I’ve been racking my brain over how to report this to my superiors.”

Lin Fan nodded.

“Count me in for one of the slots.”

Long Hui stood frozen in place.

He stared wide-eyed at Lin Fan, as if she’d just said something utterly absurd.

“Miss, you… what did you say?”

“I said, give me one of Red Horn City’s official slots.”

Lin Fan repeated herself.

“Miss Ning Shuang, you must be joking.”

Long Hui waved his hands frantically.

“A young lady like you, so fair and delicate—going to White Bone Pass would be throwing yourself to the wolves! That place is a meat grinder…”

He didn’t finish his sentence.

Lin Fan didn’t even move a finger. She merely opened a hairline crack in the Spirit Energy she’d been suppressing within her body.

A tangible pressure of early level seven radiated from her, slamming directly into Long Hui.

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Bang.

Long Hui’s legs gave out, his knees striking hard against the stone pavement and cracking two fissures into the ground.

The squad of guards behind him fared even worse—without so much as a grunt, they were all crushed flat to the ground by that terrifying force, lacking even the strength to move a finger.

“Now, can I take a slot?”

Lin Fan looked down at Long Hui kneeling at her feet, her tone still unhurried.

Long Hui was drenched in sweat, his heart pounding wildly.

Level seven!

What kind of monster was this woman?

When had the collateral branch ever produced someone like this?

He knew full well the bloodline restrictions of the collateral branch—he’d never once seen a level seven Collateral Dragonkin appear before.

And so young, at that!

“Yes! Yes!”

Long Hui shouted without the slightest hesitation.

“For Lady Ning Shuang to be willing to represent our Red Horn City in the campaign is the greatest honor for our entire city! Whoever dares to object, I, Long Hui, will be the first to cut them down!”

Lin Fan withdrew his oppressive aura.

The air around them returned to normal circulation.

Long Hui scrambled to his feet, secretly wiping the cold sweat from his brow, his back bent even lower than before.

“Lady Ning Shuang, the wind and sand outside are harsh. If you don’t mind, please come to the City Lord’s Manor for some tea and a rest! I’ll have someone handle the travel credentials and the campaign roster right away—it won’t delay your journey in the slightest!”

Lin Fan didn’t refuse.

“Lead the way.”