A Night of Desperation

Chapter 317: Grade 315 Level 1

After the battle at the deep mountain villa, the reputation of Qingchen Temple’s Yu Hong for the first time surpassed that of Zheng Ming, Zheng Ying, and the rest of the Dao Seed practitioners, spreading widely among the magician community.

The reason for this was the kind of bizarre and dangerous technique he used when he killed Zhao Mengsi.

Facing his opponent, he made them hammer themselves to death with a relaxed and relieved expression before dying.

Such a scenario would cause shivers down any magician’s spine.

Those who heard about the incident were all guessing what technique he had used.

The people of Qingchen Temple, on the other hand, speculated that this ability was related to one of his Fear Shadows.

After killing the Illusion Soldier and Copper Soldier Zhao Mengsi, two executives from the Mud Doll Sect, Yu Hong’s strength was considered to be the closest to the Temple Master level among top talents.

Coupling this with the fact that he had only been cultivating for a few months, a rising star suddenly emerged in Taizhou’s magician circles.

Additionally, with the arrival of the Feixia Sword from Zihe Palace in Taizhou, the overall situation in the city showed signs of improvement.

Magicians even began discussing the aftermath of the Mud Doll Sect’s annihilation.

At this time, within the Mud Doll Sect, a fierce debate was also taking place.

"This Zheng Rou’s rise in strength is too fast. I’ve seen fast cultivation in techniques, but someone as rapid as him, this is my first time witnessing it."

Yuan Ming, the leader of the Primordial Embryo Seven Sons, with his arms crossed, leaned against the wall in the hall, his brows tightly knitted as he looked at the projector displaying the photo of Yu Hong.

"Zheng Ying and Zheng Ming of Qingchen Temple are far from being as exaggerated as he is. To reach such power in technique within a few short months, we must find a way to completely take him down!" Yuan Ming continued.

"The ranks of the Primordial Embryo Seven Sons have been refilled with two new members, and the Iron Soldier, Copper Soldier, and Illusion Soldier roles have also been replenished with new people; our combat strength is basically restored. This Yu Hong indeed has already affected our specific process, and we can take action to solve him."

A scholarly short-haired man wearing glasses sat on the sofa in the hall. He looked to be around forty-something, with a well-proportioned figure and dressed in a shirt and pants, emanating the gentle temperament of a university professor.

"Indeed, the other branches are still in a deadlock, with you winning one battle and I winning another, and even when we lose, the executives just get injured and escape. But with him, every encounter ends in death, with collapses happening in less than five minutes," a white-haired old crone holding a remote control appraised the projected image of Yu Hong’s face.

"This time, I will take action myself and remove this person first," the old crone said with a heavy tone.

"Since the Vice Sect Hierarch is willing to take action personally, it’s certainly foolproof!" Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming and the other man both showed a look of relief.

*

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*

After taking out Copper Soldier Zhao Mengsi, Yu Hong went home to recuperate. He also took the opportunity to visit Zhang Kajing, who seemed quite content living alone in a cave.

The cave was equipped with hot water pipes, and with a fire for heating, the temperature was maintained at about ten degrees. Then, Zhang Kajing had planted a pot of greenery from an unknown source and tended to two breeding boxes. When resting, she would pull out the game console that Yu Hong had given her and quietly play games by herself.

With Yu Hong taking care of all her food and drinks, her lifestyle actually seemed quite stable.

After checking on her and seeing that she was healthy, Yu Hong left to take care of his business in Hope City.

He suspected that this Zhang Kajing might be problematic, but he didn’t care.

At present, there was no direct conflict between them, and the more pressing matter was the imminent large-scale outbreak of the Black Disaster on Huangsong Island.

With the Red Value reaching single digits, it meant that Black Disaster events could occur at any time in the surrounding areas.

But because of the repression by the Taoist Sects and Buddhist Sect, the manifestations on Huangsong Island’s world were far less rampant than in Hope City.

Yu Hong also understood that the main reason was that the Taoist Sects could solve the revived Fear Shadows thoroughly in one go, while in Hope City, multiple killings had no effect, and the numbers would only increase.

That was the biggest difference.

Things in Hope City, as he expected, were developing quite rapidly.

Click.

The door was gently closed.

After entering, Yu Hong slowly walked to the side of Chen Yaofeng, the first commissioner of Hope City, and they stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the crowd formation in the square below.

Directly opposite the office was a greyish-white cement square the size of a soccer field.

On the square, at this moment, more than fifteen hundred Daoist cultivators were seated cross-legged.

"You’re here?" Chen Yaofeng, now in full control of power and with concentrated authority, had matured quickly while enjoying his rights.

Because with power came responsibility.

To cope with the constant outbreaks of Cold Disasters and Black Disasters, his temples were now grey, making him look not like a middle-aged man but more like an elderly official in his sixties or seventies.

His sharp, lustrous black officer’s uniform was his last defiance.

As he put it himself: Although he was waning, as long as he could stand for a day, he would keep his back straight for a day.

Until he could no longer support the entirety of Hope City.

"Mm, you look tired. Has there been another Cold Disaster outbreak recently?" Yu Hong asked softly.

"The Cold Disaster has stabilized. The outside temperature is around minus one hundred and twenty degrees, and it’s not dropping further for now. The main problem is the Black Disaster mixed with the Cold Disaster striking the outer city. Many materials fracture on their own at this temperature, greatly weakening in strength. The scientific research department is now urgently developing special materials for extremely low temperatures," Chen Yaofeng said, helpless.

"But there’s also good news."

"What is it?" Yu Hong withdrew his gaze and looked at him.

"This extremely low temperature environment, combined with the very few materials we’ve harvested from the bodies of the Black Disaster and Cold Disaster, has allowed the scientific research department to initially discover signs of low-temperature superconductivity," Chen Yaofeng said.

Low-temperature superconductivity?

As an imposter scientific researcher, Yu Hong naturally knew the significance of this concept.

Superconductivity implies the long-distance transmission of energy, reaching a degree of near zero loss.

This has immense benefits for the large-scale application and dispatching of energy.

"Indeed, it’s good news," Yu Hong nodded.

"Actually, there’s another piece of good news," Chen Yaofeng continued, finally showing a hint of a smile.

"What?"

"The Daoist Skills you imparted have now been formally mastered by over twenty thousand people in Hope City. They’ve completed the First Layer and can now adeptly control the First Layer Fear Shadow they’ve defeated. Oh, and guess what the Fear Shadow is for the majority of these people?" Chen Yaofeng said with a smile.

"Shadow?" Yu Hong raised an eyebrow.

"No... it’s blood ticks," Chen Yaofeng shook his head.

"I would never have imagined that..." Yu Hong thought the Shadow was the most terrifying, but it turned out that for most people, those ubiquitous blood ticks were the real dread.

"These twenty thousand people can now be considered your disciples. Among them, a few have already condensed the Second Layer Fear Shadow and are currently attempting to overcome it," Chen Yaofeng sighed. "Especially after using the Fear Shadow to truly and completely eliminate some Shadows, everyone is going crazy, practicing frantically from dawn until dusk, trying to cultivate without even sleeping."

He paused.

"If it hadn’t been for the two who literally worked themselves to death, the others might have continued non-stop."

"..." Yu Hong was speechless, no wonder he felt the Spirit Light strengthening faster and faster.

The progress here is so exaggerated??

At this rate, his own cultivation speed might only be considered average among the people of Hope City.

"By the way, Lin Yiyi has matured a lot compared to before, and her speaking issues have improved quite a bit. Her speed in cultivating Daoist Skills is moderate. Do you want to meet her?" Chen Yaofeng brought it up.

"Where is she now?"

"She’s in another new Hope City. The situation there is much more severe than here. She left a few days ago to transfer the Daoist Skills first."

"Is that so?"

Yu Hong felt somewhat emotional comparing the people here to the disciples of Qingchen Temple on Huangsong Island. The people here were truly fighting with their lives.

"Last time you said you wanted to impart the Daoist Skills to anyone who needed it. So, we are also trying to continuously contact other potential survivors. But unfortunately..munication equipment no longer works," Chen Yaofeng mentioned, his expression dimming.

"It’ll be alright." Standing here, Yu Hong truly felt the continual increase of Spirit Light and its special connection to the people of this city.

"There’s another thing," Yu Hong continued, "in the camp where I stayed before, there was a Doctor whose surname is Xu..."

He quickly talked about Doctor Xu’s pregnancy.

"Pregnant? That Doctor Xu is indeed here with us, but she has already given birth, hasn’t she?" Chen Yaofeng quickly replied.

"How’s it going?"

"It was a stillbirth. She was devastated when she knew, and her emotions have been very unstable, so we had to admit her into a psychiatric hospital for care."

"..." Yu Hong was at a loss for words.

*

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Returning to Qingchen Temple, Yu Hong spent a day having the Black Mark strengthen a universal detection chart and then let it reinforce the entire safety house’s exterior walls. After adding a bit of Black Disaster material, he obtained a fortification period of nearly two months before returning to full-time arduous cultivation.

In the time to come, he planned to let the Black Mark reinforce the safe house as long as it was functioning.

Not until the safe house was fortified to be an absolutely impregnable top-tier base, capable of ensuring his absolute safety in any environment, would he consider his task complete.

Life was taken care of by others, so without worries, he planned to fully focus on advancing the Guanwu Skill.

Meanwhile, the situation in Taizhou stabilized quickly thanks to the arrival of Meng Chengshuang of Zihe Palace with the Feixia Sword.

Inside Qingchen Temple.

At the center of the main hall, Yu Hen and Yu Mo sat facing each other.

Two rows below them sat several Dao Seed Class disciples, with Meng Chengshuang among them, seated beside Zheng Xia, carrying a slender sword with a dazzling red sheath behind her back.

Meng Chengshuang had an imposing aura, an ordinary appearance, and a figure that approached masculinity, strong and powerful.

This was her first time attending an internal meeting of Qingchen Temple, so her eyes were evaluating every notable and named expert within the temple.

But unfortunately.

Even at a glance, she couldn’t find a single promising young successor capable of bearing a heavy burden here.

She came in haste this time, partly out of consideration for her father’s old friendship with Elder Yu Hen.

But even though it was a gesture of friendship, she still hoped for additional support. However, the power of Qingchen Temple left her at a loss for words.

Inside a Taoist Sect Temple, to her surprise, there was not a single young person worthy of notice.

Although there were no specific rules within the Taoist Sect, in the circle of Magicians, according to actual combat achievements, there was a simple division of strength.

Ordinary, minor elites, and those on the level of Temple Masters who could hold down a situation. Reaching the Temple Master Level was considered a dividing line; above this level, one belonged to the famous masters and grandmasters. Further up were the higher-ups of the Nine Sects.

And at the highest level, the Heavenly Masters, each Sect Leader of the Nine Sects, was a category unto themselves, far surpassing those below.