Chapter 285: The Approaching Storm

"Alright, just get to the point."

Shrinking under the woman's glare, Tiger muttered,

"The point is that you must return!!!"

The woman had initially spoken to him in soft, unquestionable tones, but her voice was steadily rising:

"If you want to grow strong enough that the Source of Mutation can no longer inflict significant harm on you, you will never be able to return before Fate Turning Day!"

Tiger pursed his lips and said weakly, "Don't we still have over nine years? I shouldn't be that useless. Let me tell you, I have a big-shot friend over here who is very powerful—" "Stop! Stop, stop, stop!"

The woman once again interrupted Tiger's rambling:

"Where are you getting over nine years? Where exactly is the domain you're currently in? Is your information really that delayed?!"

"Wait, isn't it over nine years?"

Tiger was completely bewildered.

He had heard back in Old Sin City that Advent Day was ten years away. When the Old Man first pulled him into the group, he had also mentioned in passing that similar rumors were circulating over in Minhu.

"That changed a long time ago!"

The woman's expression turned incredibly solemn. "According to the calculations of our Path of Destiny, Fate Turning Day will arrive in at most three years, perhaps even sooner."

"That fast?!"

Tiger was startled. Less than three years? Could their organization still make it in time?

Or rather—the others might make it, but he definitely wouldn't.

"So do you understand the situation now?"

The woman said, "Just do exactly as I told you. You might think your friends are important right now, but that's only because you haven't recovered your past memories and are stuck at a very low level. Once everything gets back on track, you will realize that none of this matters!"

I think I'm on the right track right now.

Tiger pursed his lips and finally said helplessly, "Let's review the plan one more time. I go to Luohe County, use the power of Fate according to the incantations you taught me, and locate that spatial node."

"While I chant the incantations on this side, you'll operate from yours. Once the passage opens, you'll lend me a portion of your power so I can cross through the domain unharmed. Then I'll push my friends out as scapegoats, use the Life Substitution Method, and take the opportunity to escape."

"Yes, exactly!!!"

The woman was delighted, feeling that Tiger had finally come to his senses.

"Alright, teach me those incantations."

Tiger nodded, his eyes lowered.

"Good."

After that, Tiger spent several days learning the incantations regarding Fate and the Life Substitution Method.

He had to admit that he felt a certain talent for this pathway; he picked it up with ease.

However, since neither the incantations nor the Life Substitution Method was easy, it still consumed a significant amount of time.

Just as he was working overtime to master them, he suddenly raised his head. Luo Sheng's voice rang faintly in his ears.

"Huzi, I don't know how much longer you need, but tomorrow—tomorrow night at the latest—we must set off to escort you to Luohe. There's no other way; we're running out of time."

"You need to wake up soon. If you still aren't awake by this time tomorrow, I'll have to take you away by force."

"When that happens, you might not be able to go home anymore. You'll have to follow me somewhere else again."

Again...

Why again?

That thought flashed through Tiger's mind for only a fleeting moment before being instantly drowned out by even more massive fragments of knowledge.

After that, he plunged back into his studies.

Until now, when another faint voice echoed in his ears.

Only this time, it was Fei Yu's voice.

"Mr. Huzi, wake up quickly. We might have to leave. The young master told you last night—if you still aren't awake soon, I'll have to barge in..."

I have to go.

A flash of realization swept through his mind. His entire soul immediately surfaced from the vast ocean of knowledge, as if taking a deep breath of fresh air.

He opened his eyes and looked at the woman across from him.

"I have to leave now."

"My friends are going to take me to find the spatial node. Get everything ready on your end, and make sure you send the power over."

"Alright!"

The woman nodded in delight, bowing deeply toward Tiger.

"Take care. The Path of Destiny always awaits your return."

Tiger opened his eyes in the physical world. The golden light that had been dissipating through the room instantly converged back into his pupils, and everything around him returned to normal.

The corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

Heh. Stupid woman.

You don't know it, but yours truly used to make a living scamming people.

Otherwise, how do you think I managed to hitch a ride with Mr. Yi Ji?

With a plan already formed in his mind, he quickly called out toward the door, "Miss Xiao Yu, I'm awake, I'm awake! What's the situation outside right now?"

Hearing that Tiger was awake, Fei Yu's expression lit up with joy from where she waited at the door. She immediately replied, "Come out, and I'll tell you."

The two met.

Fei Yu first recounted the current situation and Yan Jing's entire plan to Tiger, then asked, "Mr. Tiger, aren't you going to return home? Do you know what will happen once the passage home is opened?"

"I know. The people over there told me."

In truth, Tiger was somewhat stunned.

His original plan had been to use the power sent over by the Path of Destiny to help the Old Man and Fei Yu.

Then he would bear the gaze of the so-called Source of Mutation himself.

But now, the issue on the Old Man's side had already been resolved?

That was fantastic!

He had been worried that the power wouldn't be enough. Now it seemed he could give it all to Fei Yu, which would definitely help her and Luo Sheng escape.

"Miss Xiao Yu, listen to me. In a little while—"

...

He laid out his own plan.

Several minutes ago.

At the entrance to Huang Family Village.

"Damn it, it's a fake!"

Zhang Kai and his group caught up to the portrait of Yan Jing and immediately realized they had been duped.

"Even if it's a fake, it was definitely drawn by the real one."

With a flick of the fishing line in his hand, Zhang Kai slashed the portrait into a puddle of ink. He glared viciously at Huang Family Village not far ahead.

"A Painting Cultivator can't control their drawings from too far away. He's absolutely inside this village."

"Search it!!!"

Upon receiving Zhang Kai's order, the two captains immediately led their men sprinting toward Huang Family Village.

Very quickly, they spotted Ye Jinyuan at the village entrance.

At this moment, Ye Jinyuan sat cross-legged beneath a large locust tree, seemingly taking a nap with his eyes closed. His cyan-and-red Daoist robe fluttered in the wind.

"It's a human."

The captain named He Yuan recognized it instantly.

Humans and Inner World Residents were easy to distinguish. Although the Inner World Residents of Minhu looked like ordinary humans on a day-to-day basis, the aura surrounding them was completely different.

However, upon seeing the Daoist robe draped over the man, his gaze narrowed, and sheer terror flooded his eyes.

Without the slightest hesitation, his Weird Energy erupted, and he turned and fled wildly in the opposite direction.

He didn't even have time to issue an order to retreat.

Swish, swish, swish—

The instant he vacated his spot, streaks of dark light shot out from Ye Jinyuan's sleeves, tracing elegant arcs through the air before instantly piercing the foreheads of several River Department members.

The remaining captain, who had been slower to react, finally jolted to his senses the moment the dark light closed in on him. Streaks of murky python energy surged up from the ground, blocking the dark light's path.

This was an official cultivator. Sensing the fatal threat radiating from the dark light, his hairs stood on end, and he desperately unleashed his strongest ability—Splitting Dragon Qi.

But when the dark light struck the python energy, it was as if it had pierced the pitch-black flood dragon's vitals. The flood dragon shrieked and thrashed before turning to ash in an instant.

Without time to mount any further defense, the official cultivator's forehead was pierced right through.

Right before he died, he finally saw the dark light clearly: it was a palm-sized, pitch-black miniature sword, its tip stained with black blood and mottled with rust.

It all happened too fast.

By the time Zhang Kai snapped back to his senses in the distance, only the quick-reacting He Yuan was left, sprinting madly toward him.

Everyone else had collapsed to the ground, reduced to lifeless corpses.

A Daoist robe!!! Seventh Rank!!!

Zhang Kai's heart seized violently. The fishing line in his hands bloomed outward, surprisingly shooting forth to bind He Yuan.

Then, disregarding everything else, he turned and ran for his life.

A Seventh Rank fighting a Fifth Tier was like a Third Tier fighting a First Tier. If a Seventh Rank got serious, a Fifth Tier possessed absolutely no capacity to fight back.

He was just an ordinary Fishing Cultivator who rose through the ranks by sitting in an office and eating up resources. But the opponent was a fierce madman who dared to delve deep into enemy lines alone and kidnap the Prefecture Lord's three young masters!

Selling out his teammate was the best decision to make in this moment.

"Motherfucker! Zhang Kai, you'll die a horrible death!!!"

Watching the fishing line lash out to bind him, He Yuan knew he had no way out. His Weird Energy erupted majestically, revealing his true form.

Holes opened up all over his musculature, but the largest hole came from the massive nose on his face that took up half his visage. With every breath, thick cyan-yellow fluid dripped from it.

He inhaled sharply. The surging Weird Energy rose from the surrounding dust and flooded entirely into that fleshy nose. Then, he violently sneezed.

With a loud boom, countless drops of yellow-green liquid splattered outward. The fishing line Zhang Kai had thrown visibly slowed down the moment it touched the yellow-green fluid.

Taking advantage of the dust billowing into the sky, He Yuan grasped his final sliver of survival and sprinted frantically toward the distant mountain peak.

Unexpectedly, a paper talisman flew out from the dust cloud at a speed several times faster than his own. The moment it drew close, it transformed into a roaring fireball. In just a few seconds, it completely engulfed him, turning him into a charred corpse.

Sitting cross-legged, Ye Jinyuan finally opened his eyes.

Originally, he could still control his fury, but after seeing He Yuan's true form, that fury showed signs of spiraling out of control.

Murderous intent surged in his eyes.

He flipped his palm, and a dilapidated Trigram Disc appeared in his hand. Guided by his mind, it flew in the direction where Zhang Kai had just disappeared.

No matter how many of these animals I kill, it will never be enough!!!

Beside the well in Huang Family Village, Yan Jing listened to the news Xiao Xin had brought back, his expression calm.

A Seventh Rank killing some Third Tier and Fourth Tier cultivators was completely normal.

The real crisis was only just beginning.

And not long after that thought crossed his mind...

In a vastly distant place, above the serene surface of a lake, a voice rang out:

"Where are the deacons of the various lake prefectures of East Lake Prefecture?"

"Follow me and slay the enemy!"

In an instant, like a cluster of stars rising into the heavens, exactly five beams of light erupted into the sky, spanning from the first to the Eighth Lake Prefecture.

Within each of those beams of light was a Seventh Rank existence, charging majestically toward Huang Family Village with lethal intent.