Chapter 530: No Longer Low-Profile (Two-in-One)

Almost the instant she swallowed Yan Jing's blood, Huo Tong felt a stream of heat ignite in her lower abdomen and rush through her entire body at terrifying speed. Intense pain followed immediately. It felt like needles piercing her bones, releasing a tyrannical force from their tips that began to forcibly remodel everything about her.

Blood, marrow, meridians, weird energy... The heat spared not a single inch of her. Like an incredibly picky designer, it was completely dissatisfied with every part of her body.

Sweat soon drenched her. She began to tremble uncontrollably, but amidst this extreme agony, she suddenly felt a sliver of pleasure.

It was the joy of tangibly sensing her own strength increase. She could feel herself growing stronger.

And not just by a little bit!

Strength, speed, weird energy, and even her abilities... About half an hour later, Huo Tong suddenly felt completely saturated. But the heat still seemed to have power to spare!

I can't take it anymore! I can't absorb any more!

She hurriedly found Yan Jing and explained the situation.

"Stop it..."

Yan Jing blinked. He didn't seem to have ever tested whether it could be stopped.

Seeing that expression on his face, Huo Tong felt herself on the verge of a breakdown.

"Don't panic. Try redirecting that heat into your physical body, like flesh and blood growth," Yan Jing consoled her while feeling around for a method. "Wouldn't that turn me into a monster?" Huo Tong felt even closer to a breakdown.

She had finally decided to give up her blind pursuit of power. She just wanted to quietly serve as a foot soldier under Yan Jing, hoping that one day she could step into the River and bring back her people.

Yet now, because of this power, she was going to turn into a monster.

Fortunately, just as she finally steeled herself and prepared to redirect the power toward her shoulder blades and tailbone—reasoning that growing wings and a tail would at least let her maintain a humanoid shape—

Yan Jing finally figured out how to control it, forcefully halting the power rampaging inside her.

"Done. Absolutely perfect."

Yan Jing smiled.

Huo Tong was expressionless.

What is perfect about that?

"Before you gave it to me... did you not test it?"

She searched for the gentlest possible words to express her thoughts.

"I didn't expect you to drink it so quickly, Xiao Tong."

Yan Jing blinked, his gaze completely innocent.

"You're... incredible."

In the end, those were the only words Huo Tong could find.

"So it seems this thing has certain limits," Yan Jing mused.

This was different from the melodies played by Moonlight. It involved direct physical modification. The advantage was that it was permanent, but the drawback was just as glaring.

"Yes," Huo Tong nodded.

"The user's own overall strength limits how much they can absorb."

"What if they give up their physical shape?"

Yan Jing proposed a possibility.

"That's not so bad; there will always be people willing to accept it. But to some extent, if the user's strength is too weak, they might lose control of more than just their physical shape—they might lose their minds as well." Having just experienced it firsthand, Huo Tong quickly identified the crux of the issue.

Yan Jing frowned.

He had originally wanted to forge an army. By combining Wizard transformation with his blood, such a force could potentially sweep through the entire Great Prison. Suddenly, a new possibility occurred to him.

"What if the user's intelligence is already extremely low?"

"Then that brings up another issue—leadership."

Huo Tong explained, "If you have the mental focus to divide your attention and command a group of them, then there truly is no upper limit. But doing so would weaken the control over your main body. It would be sacrificing the root for the branches."

"It's fine. I understand."

Yan Jing thought of a certain existence that perfectly fit those requirements.

"About what tier have you reached now?"

"I'm not entirely sure on the specifics." Huo Tong felt the abundant power surging inside her, so full it was practically overflowing.

"But it's at least several dozen times stronger than before. An ordinary Eighth Tier shouldn't take me much time to handle."

Yan Jing nodded.

"Distribute the blood. One drop per person, and make the risks perfectly clear. If anyone is unwilling to take it, don't force them."

An hour later.

Huo Tong led the vast, imposing ranks of the Wizard Tribe as they marched out, heading straight for the Sand Tower.

Their ultimate target: Haidu, located beyond the Sand Tower.

Two hours later.

Sand Tower.

Among the towering black structures, one eye-catching high tower pierced straight into the clouds.

On the absolute top floor of this tower, a man wrapped head-to-toe in bandages sat upon a throne, listening to his subordinate's report.

The subordinate kneeling before him spoke up:

"My lord, the forces from the Desolate Forest are attacking."

"Has Merkel gone insane?"

Sha Like frowned.

Not only had Merkel skipped their recent meetings, but he was also making huge moves at a critical juncture like this. Either the man was crazy, or... the rumors from a while ago were true.

That kid named Wen Xu really did have something related to Deities in his hands. Merkel had caught wind of it and turned coat.

"It doesn't matter. Deploy the forbidden guards."

Sha Like waved a hand.

"Teach him a lesson. Send him packing back to wherever he came from."

"Bypassing Elite City when it's much closer just to attack our Sand Tower... Does he think we're easy prey?"

The Black Tower forbidden guards.

They were the primary reason the Black Tower faction stood unshakable within the Sand Tower.

Because from the founding of the Great Prison until now, no one had ever managed to conquer this army.

Because strictly speaking, the Black Tower forbidden guards couldn't even be considered living beings.

They were sand soldiers that Sha Like had forged using a certain forbidden art.

Even if they were destroyed, they could reform. They felt no pain, and they knew no fear.

More importantly, every single one of them possessed one percent of Sha Like's overall strength.

That was one percent of a Ninth Tier.

And there were thousands of them.

Relying on this army, Sha Like had ruled the Sand Tower region for hundreds of years.

Whenever there was a riot in the Sand Tower, this forbidden army would march out and sweep away all obstacles.

The subordinate withdrew.

Sha Like opened a bottle of champagne for himself. A scantily clad woman stepped forward to clip a cigar for him. After testing the draw, she delivered it mouth-to-mouth right past his lips.

He puffed out a cloud of smoke.

Sha Like had very few hobbies left.

In his earlier years, to ascend to the Ninth Tier, he had sacrificed the vast majority of his physical body, losing his reproductive functions in the process. When a man is divorced from sex, he most likely won't become a Saint; instead, he will become a monster.

Violence and slaughter. Those were Sha Like's true passions.

Consequently, they had become the primary theme of the Sand Tower region.

Every criminal here was far more brutal than those in other sectors.

This made Sha Like quite proud of himself.

Who knew how much time had passed? Enveloped in clouds of smoke, Sha Like closed his eyes.

Drifting in a half-asleep daze, he heard his subordinate's voice:

"My lord! My lord! The Desolate Forest forces are attacking!"

It felt like he'd heard these exact words just a little while ago.

Sha Like quickly gathered his wits.

He understood now. He was dreaming.

But his subordinate's next words jolted him instantly awake.

"My lord! The forbidden guards have all been defeated! The enemy just flattened them!"

"Impossible!"

Sha Like practically leapt out of his chair.

He immediately channeled his weird energy, closing his eyes to sense the battlefield. A second later, his eyes went bloodshot.

All the forbidden guards had been annihilated! Every single one was currently in a state of reformation!

For that to happen, there was only one possibility!

Merkel had personally taken the field!

"You old bastard! What the fuck are you trying to do?!"

Pitch-black sand surged out from the gaps in Sha Like's bandages, instantly whipping up a miniature sandstorm around him that left his subordinate shivering in terror. In the next instant, Sha Like took a step forward. With a shower of sand crashing to the floor, his figure vanished without a trace.

Out on the endless sandy plains, an army radiating monstrous bloodlust marched fiercely westward.

A banner stood tall in the center of their ranks, emblazoned with a massive, eye-catching character: Wizard.

The sand worms along the roadside sensed the murderous aura surrounding the troops and burrowed deep into the dunes in terror. Even the cacti seemed to lean away from the thunderous, earth-shaking momentum of their march.

Wherever the army passed, biting gales swept through. Ice sheets erupted, freezing the grayish-yellow sand into permafrost.

BOOM!!!

A violent tornado materialized right in their path, whipping up a massive cloud of sand and dust.

Sha Like's figure emerged from within the storm.

"Merkel! Don't take this too far!"

Sha Like looked down, searching for that short, masked figure.

But he didn't find him.

At the head of the army was a woman with a full head of crimson hair. She possessed an ethereal presence, though her expression was somewhat blank.

Beside her stood a blonde teenager whose very face gave off an impression of frailty.

Sha Like frowned.

"Where is Merkel?"

"Take a guess."

Yan Jing smiled.

Sha Like's frown deepened.

He pointed a finger straight at Yan Jing from afar.

The next instant, a giant hand made of sand burst open beneath Yan Jing's feet and clamped shut with vicious force!

Bang!

The giant hand shattered into pieces the moment it touched Yan Jing's body.

Yan Jing smiled faintly. He raised his own hand and pointed back at Sha Like.

Freeze Frame Moment + Praying for Death Evolution + Heart of God: Earth

Freeze Frame Moment applied a one-second control. Praying for Death Evolution preemptively neutralized the enemy's countermeasures. Heart of God: Earth stripped away all earth elements from the opponent within three tiers (because Hat Trick had increased the tier restriction limit from the Second Tier to the Third Tier).

In that split second, countless earth spikes erupted right through the bandages wrapped around Sha Like. Blood and shredded cloth were whipped wildly into the sky by the storm. The very sandstorm beneath Sha Like's feet had turned into a lethal weapon aimed squarely at him.

With a loud bang, a mist of blood burst around Sha Like, and his figure vanished from midair.

The gathered members of the Wizard Tribe stared wide-eyed at Yan Jing's reality-defying performance, their breath catching in their throats.

Yan Jing curled his lips into a smirk:

"Everyone, press forward! Objective: Haidu!"

"Understood!!!"

The mighty Wizard Tribe surged forward, hurtling into the distance. The kicked-up ice shards and sand blended together, falling from the sky in a blue-and-yellow rain.

Sha Like reappeared at the apex of the Black Tower.

The moment he was safely back in his headquarters, he couldn't hold it in any longer. He spewed a massive mouthful of blood.

Sand was mixed in the gore, and the moment it hit the floor, it rushed back onto his body.

Remembering that brief, few-second clash with Yan Jing, his entire body trembled uncontrollably.

How could it be?

He had never encountered a situation like this.

In that singular instant, his opponent had first unleashed some kind of control ability, and the defensive measures he'd prepared in advance had inexplicably failed. But even that would have been fine on its own.

The real terror was that his proudly held Sand Body—a skill that could repel the vast majority of physical damage—had actively turned against him and tried to tear him to pieces.

In that exact moment, he entirely lost control over the sand. It felt as if his entire Tier had been effortlessly stripped away by a mere glance, transforming it into a deadly weapon wielded by his foe.

How was this possible?!

Even a Tenth Tier could absolutely never achieve such a thing!

Then, recalling the missing Merkel, a terrifying possibility dawned on him.

Perhaps Merkel hadn't skipped out... perhaps...

Just as his heart hammered with dread, his subordinate once again stumbled through the doors, rushing in in a panic.

"M-My lord! The Desolate Forest forces have broken into the Black Tower!!!"

So fast!

Sha Like's heart seized. They were coming right for him!

"They're less than a few hundred meters from the Black Tower! And... someone delivered a package in advance..."

With trembling hands, the subordinate presented a black parcel to Sha Like.

The package was roughly the size of a human head, shaped in an eerie oval.

Pushed to the absolute limits of his paranoia, Sha Like channeled his weird energy and sharply flicked the parcel open.

A spherical object rolled out onto the floor with a dull thud.

Sha Like was so terrified his heart spasmed.

That mask, that bark-like face... It was Merkel!

Merkel was really dead!!!

"My lord... what do we do now..."

Seeing Merkel's severed head, the subordinate lost all his nerve. But before he could even finish his sentence, Sha Like waved a hand:

"Fuck off!!!"

The next instant, Sha Like vanished, fleeing to god knows where.

The subordinate slumped to the floor in despair.

The war had only just begun, and their commander-in-chief had already bolted.

It was over. Everything was completely over.

Several minutes later, the door to the top floor of the Black Tower was pushed open.

Yan Jing looked at Merkel's head discarded on the floor, and the despairing subordinate slumped beside it. He smiled, walked forward, wrapped Merkel's head back up, and tucked it away.

As he currently was, killing a Ninth Tier was still no easy feat, but scaring one into running away wasn't too difficult.

He glanced at the terrified, pale-faced subordinate. Stepping forward with a gentle, radiant smile, he pulled a pinky-sized vial from his pocket and offered it to the man.

"Care for a drop?"

[Prison Evening News: The Desolate Forest marches on the Sand Tower. War is imminent! First provoking the Great Prison, now the Sand Tower—what are Merkel's true intentions?] [Prison Night News: Sand Tower routed! The Desolate Forest claims total victory!]

[Prison Midnight News: Sand Tower's army utterly annihilated!!! Total victory for the Desolate Forest!!!]

The war had started in the evening, and by midnight, it was already over.

If it couldn't be described as smashing dry weeds and rotting wood, it was at the very least an unstoppable rout.

The news quickly spread throughout the entire Great Prison.

Mu Tian, Weng Lingxiao, Song Huien, the Lord of Elite City Zhan Cangtian, the two domain lords of the Sky Domain, Bai Yue, Bai Chen... everyone was utterly shocked by the news.

But just when everyone thought the dust had settled, the Prison Dawn News was released.

[Prison Dawn News: Total Madness!!! The Desolate Forest marches on Haidu!!!]

Everyone wore a different expression upon seeing that headline, but their underlying thoughts were almost identical.

They all believed that some drastic mutation must have occurred within the Desolate Forest!

Otherwise, Merkel had truly gone insane!!

Meanwhile, the actual de facto ruler of the Desolate Forest was currently in the Surface World, making his final preparations before Stage B of the Dungeon began. Yan Jing looked at the somewhat aged, lottery-ticket-like piece of paper in his palm. After a moment of deep thought, he brought out a cluster of light—a murky yellow orb of light that could be freely squeezed and molded into any shape.

If he was going to play, he was going to play big.

And if this play worked out, he, Advisor Yan, would no longer be keeping a low profile.