Chapter 287: Give Me the Power

"Are you saying that if I hand over those three little beasts, you'll stop hunting me and let me leave?"

Ye Jinyuan's tone was laced with sarcasm.

Anyone could tell this was impossible.

Ye Jinyuan's meaning was simple:

Cut the bullshit.

"..."

The deputy governor's eyes darkened.

"Then what do you want?"

"Very simple. Once the passage opens, I will naturally leave. When that time comes, I'll let those three go," Ye Jinyuan said with a smile.

This was his true purpose for capturing the East Lake Prefecture governor's three descendants. According to his original plan, securing the phoenix bird and opening the passage required a full day, so he absolutely needed a way to stall for time.

"Impossible."

The deputy governor shook his head. "You underestimate our East Lake Prefecture."

He raised his right hand. Weird energy rippled outward like a surging tide. Far away, inside a building in the Eighth Lake Prefecture, a banner adorned with dragon patterns trembled.

The next moment, the banner's sharp tip lightly slashed through the air, effortlessly tearing open a rift. It drilled inside and instantly appeared in the deputy governor's hand.

"Gather the public will, shatter the Firmament."

Pitch-black, raging flames surfaced on the banner. Its once-archaic dragon patterns seemed to come alive, two faint gleams of light igniting in their lifeless eyes.

From all directions, streams of deep purple light converged, surging like ten thousand carp crossing a river. They nearly scattered the blood-red clouds, painting the entire sky in a purple hue resembling a vast sea of stars.

The deputy governor waved the banner in his hand, and a momentary brilliance bloomed. The intense purple light instantly swallowed the surrounding space. Everyone, including the surrounding Seventh Rank experts, couldn't help but shut their eyes.

It wasn't until several seconds later that the crowd slowly reopened their eyes.

Ye Jinyuan, sitting cross-legged beneath the locust tree, now had completely gray hair. Wrinkles lined his face, and faint age spots had even appeared on his cheeks.

His hair had turned white in an instant!

To resist this Prohibited Item of the Eighth Lake Prefecture, Ye Jinyuan had directly burned over a hundred years of his lifespan.

Although originally capable of holding out for the entire night, if he continued to use the Red Feather now, he probably wouldn't live to see tomorrow's sunrise.

"Heh."

But he suddenly laughed, looking across at the deputy governor.

"Doesn't feel too good, does it?"

"This banner of yours consumes public will and inflicts a backlash on its wielder. Your East Lake Prefecture is currently in its most intense period of conflict with West Lake Prefecture. Do you really dare wave it a second time?"

"..."

The deputy governor's face was grim.

At this moment, he truly wasn't feeling well. The side effects of the Banner of the Masses were severe, pouring salt on injuries that hadn't fully healed. He was only forcefully suppressing them to prevent his internal wounds from bursting open.

But he still spoke: "Public will? Our Minhu has plenty of that. As for the backlash..."

He looked at the bearded man beside him and said coolly, "I am not the only one who can wave this banner."

"Then cut the crap and give the banner to him."

Ye Jinyuan chuckled.

"After he waves the second flag, who do you think the third will be aimed at?"

"..."

"..."

The deputy governor fell silent for a moment. Finally, under the gazes of the old man and the bearded man, weird energy surged in his hand, and the banner vanished, returning to the Eighth Lake Prefecture.

He slowly closed his eyes.

"You won't live to see tomorrow morning."

"Heh, then let's test that theory."

Ye Jinyuan smiled.

His gamble had paid off.

The so-called East Lake Prefecture wasn't entirely united after all.

"..."

"..."

Night gradually fell, and the dark red clouds in the sky slowly hid themselves within the pitch-black darkness.

Time slipped away quietly. On the distant horizon, the faint light of dawn began to appear.

Upon receiving the latest news brought by Xiao Xin and learning that Ye Jinyuan was still locked in a standoff with the people from the East Lake Prefecture, Yan Jing waited for a few dozen more minutes before switching back to his Luo Sheng persona.

"Go see if they have any reaction."

Yan Jing spoke softly to Xiao Xin.

Soon, Xiao Xin brought back news. No one had noticed an extra person appearing deep within Huang Family Village, just as no one had noticed a person going missing earlier.

In that case, all that was left was to wait.

Wait...

As time inched closer to midnight, Ye Jinyuan's face had aged drastically. The wrinkles on his face crisscrossed like ravines, making him look not much different from the Old Man Surnamed Ma opposite him.

The deputy governor spoke calmly.

"Although the outside world thinks our Minhu is a place that breeds madmen, compared to you humans, I sometimes feel we fall far short."

"Why bother? Throwing your life away just for a so-called higher level."

"Heh, cultivation is all about fighting for your path. You don't even have that much resolve. No wonder you're still a deputy after all these years."

Ye Jinyuan grinned, revealing a mouth that had lost quite a few teeth, and laughed. "Besides, it's still too early to tell who will emerge victorious."

"Don't you want to know where the three descendants of your governor are?"

Here it comes.

Opposite him, the three people capable of moving immediately braced themselves.

Anyone could guess that Ye Jinyuan's final card definitely involved the three young masters of that esteemed figure.

"They are right—"

Ye Jinyuan smiled, just about to reveal his entire final plan. But unexpectedly, at this very moment, a sudden anomaly occurred!!!

A thick pillar of golden light erupted into the distant sky!

Its terrifying momentum was even more massive than the still-unfolding blood-red passage!

A deafening roar spread outward from its center, sweeping up gale-force winds and filling the air with dust and sand!

The entire night sky turned golden. Clouds and mist swirled as vibrant twilight colors danced through the air. It was as if a Deity had descended upon the world, illuminating everything below in a golden glow!

"What is this...?!!"

The three men from the East Lake Prefecture were completely dumbfounded by the sight!

And in that exact instant...

Yan Jing, having shed his robes for a set of light clothing, leaned forward on the motorcycle. He twisted the throttle to the absolute limit. Fast as a streak of light, under the cover of the shocking upheaval in the distance, he shot out down a small path from the rear flank of Huang Family Village.

...

...

Old Sin City.

As if sensing something, Chen Nian set down his wrench. He wiped his hands on an incredibly filthy towel sitting nearby and unscrewed a bottle of mineral water.

"Glug, glug, glug—"

Downing it in a few gulps, he tossed the empty bottle aside.

It had been a long time since he last received a letter from Minhu. The final delivery had brought a pile of ores that pleasantly surprised him.

He wondered how things were over there now. Based on the last letter, the situation didn't seem too optimistic.

He had a lot of confidence in his Peerless Masterpiece. As long as there were no major malfunctions, even if it couldn't pinpoint the escape direction as it had before, the emergency system was still intact. Returning to the place he came from shouldn't be a problem.

It was just that...

If he remembered correctly, the Domain of Minhu should house the Source of Mutation.

According to what the Old Man had said last time, it was the very sky above their heads.

This made things difficult.

In a place like Old Sin City, even if a spatial collapse occurred, there was no such thing as a correction.

However, if a spatial collapse happened in a place with the Source of Mutation, it would initiate a correction to prevent the situation from worsening.

Fortunately, the spatial fluctuations caused by his motorcycle weren't large. As long as Yi Ji and the others activated it while a much larger spatial disturbance was occurring, they should be able to avoid drawing its attention—essentially, distracting the sky.

He had already explained the method to Yi Ji in the letter, ensuring they would have a way out no matter what.

"But given that guy's cautious nature, he probably wouldn't take such a dangerous risk anyway."

He smiled, feeling that his worries were a bit unfounded.

...

...

Faster. Faster.

Yan Jing felt the wind howling past his ears. All the scenery elongated rapidly on both sides, turning into streaks of blurry phantoms. He was speeding away from the dark red clouds, racing toward the golden horizon.

This was an incredibly risky move.

If his movements caught the attention of those Seventh Rank experts, there was no telling what might happen.

Even at this very moment, his hands gripping the handlebars couldn't help but tense up.

He couldn't look back. Perhaps in the next second, a Seventh Rank expert would catch up from behind and instantly slap him into meat paste, bringing this body of Eldest Young Master Luo to the end of its journey.

But he did it anyway.

Whether for Tiger or Fei Yu, this was the best choice.

"When it comes down to it, humans shouldn't have emotions."

He muttered to himself.

The spoken words immediately dissipated into the rapidly surging wind.

How could humans possibly have no emotions?

In just a few short minutes, following Xiao Xin's guidance, he arrived in Luohe County right next to the golden pillar of light.

It was a plaza, and in the center stood a massive boulder.

Tiger was currently sitting beside the boulder, his body radiating a golden light.

The golden door had already swung wide open.

However, it wasn't as large as imagined—only about the width of a single person. According to what the Path of Destiny had previously told Tiger, they could only open a passage wide enough for one person to leave.

"Young Master, you're here."

Tiger looked at the familiar motorcycle beneath Yan Jing, his eyes narrowing, and quickly said, "Young Master, Miss Xiao Yu has already told me your plan. Take Miss Xiao Yu and go. I'll use the Life Substitution Method to draw Heaven's attention."

Just as his voice faded, a gigantic eye slowly opened in the sky above.

What kind of eye was it? Every single eyelash looked like a winding black river, and every bloodshot vein on the sclera seemed to hold a floating mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. It gazed at them, yet it also seemed to be watching everything across the entirety of Minhu.

Beneath it, all beings were mere ants.

"There's no time!"

Tiger's heart skipped a beat as he spoke rapidly, "Young Master, listen to me. This New Heaven has already gained power, and it will send down a Heavenly Punishment next. The Path of Destiny will give me a burst of power, and I will rely on that to protect my life. Just go."

A Heavenly Punishment needed someone to bear it, and traversing the Domain would result in severe injuries.

The Path of Destiny had told Tiger to use the Life Substitution Method to find a scapegoat to bear the Heavenly Punishment, while granting him a burst of power to protect him from getting hurt while crossing the Domain.

But he had made a completely different decision.

"Young Master, listen to me. Fate Turning Day is coming. It will arrive in less than three years. If Miss Xiao Yu doesn't leave now, New Heaven has already targeted her. Nobody will be able to accomplish anything here."

"But if Miss Xiao Yu gets taken away, I'd rather take the Heavenly Punishment in her place."

"This power is very strong. I'll be fine."

Tiger wasn't lying about this.

This power was indeed very strong.

The Path of Destiny had also stated that compared to the gaze of the Source of Mutation, although it would be a close call, he at least wouldn't die.

He hadn't originally intended to use this power to save himself either; he had planned to use it to help the Old Man.

Just as he had said in the car before, he wanted to ensure that neither the Old Man nor Fei Yu came to any harm.

What he hadn't expected was that while he was trapped in the dream, the Old Man's matter had already been resolved.

Faced with the information Tiger provided, Yan Jing's mind spun rapidly.

Without a single ripple of emotion caused by parting, he quickly optimized his plan once more. Looking at Tiger, he said seriously, "Give me the power."

"What?"

Tiger thought he had misheard.

"You go, and use that power to help me," Yan Jing said once more.