A Night of Desperation

Chapter 350: repression June

"So it is the revered Senior Qing Hongzi, one of the Four Colors of the Primordial Heavenly Master Mansion. Your esteemed name has long been heard, and it is an honor to finally meet you in person. I have long admired you!" Yu Hong said with a harmonious smile on his face, lowering his posture as he approached.

"Master Yu is young and promising. To have entered the pivotal stage of Daoist quality transformation at such an age is indeed cause for celebration. It seems the Qingchen Temple’s standings in the grand competition are due to rise." Qing Hongzi smiled modestly, also offering compliments.

"I thank the senior for your auspicious words," Yu Hong said with a smile.

The two walked side by side into the reception hall in the backyard.

"Since the senior has come, I assume you have some understanding of the Yin Qi Sky Pillar, right?"

After taking their seats, only Yu Hong and Master Yu Hen, who had hurried over, accompanied Qing Hongzi at the Qingchen Temple.

After exchanging a few polite words, Yu Hong could sense that Qing Hongzi, no matter what he spoke of, always carried a hint of faint arrogance.

The spiritual fluctuations emanating from him were incredibly strong and profound, even more so than Qing Huang, whom Yu Hong had encountered before.

Such cultivation skills were likely to have reached the thousands in height—a no wonder as one of the Four Colors of the Primordial Heavenly Master Mansion.

The Primordial Heavenly Master Mansion has four colors and eight Temple Master Level experts, the strongest lineup second only to the Heavenly Master. Even among these eight, there are distinctions of rank and power.

Qing Hongzi was one with moderate strength among the eight.

The trio discussed the recent frequent occurrence of natural disasters before naturally turning the conversation to the Yin Qi Sky Pillar near Taizhou.

"I have come for this Yin Qi Sky Pillar," Qing Hongzi stated lightly.

"How does the senior plan to deal with it? The junior has inspected the Heavenly Pillar and found it to be quite troublesome," Yu Hong said gravely.

"Master Yu is still young and has not seen enough of the world, not having experienced the several eras of the past. It’s understandable that you’re frightened to such an extent," Qing Hongzi replied bluntly. "More than thirty years ago, a Yin Qi Sky Pillar also appeared. Fifteen years ago, I resolved one as well. To date, I have dealt with no fewer than nine such cases."

He smiled, unconcerned with the matter.

"That Heavenly Pillar may seem powerful and terrifying, but in reality, all monsters within cannot leave it, not even a step. Once they move slightly away, their power significantly diminishes. Furthermore, these types of monsters are limited by the density of the environmental contamination; they cannot completely leave the vicinity of the Heavenly Pillar. Thus, thoroughly dealing with the Heavenly Pillar and those stray monsters will be like fish out of water—they will soon wither and die, disappearing on their own."

Yu Hong looked at Master Yu Hen, seeking with his eyes confirmation of the other’s claim.

Master Yu Hen shook his head, indicating his ignorance on the subject.

In the past, it was not he who served as the Temple Master, and the Qingchen Temple was too weak in terms of power and influence. Previously, they wouldn’t have even qualified to be privy to such confidential matters.

Were it not for the Heavenly Pillar appearing near Taizhou this time, even if the Nine Sects solved it again, their side might remain utterly unaware.

"The two of you need not worry. What time is it now?" Qing Hongzi confidently asked.

"It is 4:50 PM now," Yu Hong replied after checking his phone.

"How long does it take to get to the Sky Lake from here?" Qing Hongzi asked further.

"About half an hour," Yu Hong answered.

"Then let’s go. We aim to return before nightfall," Qing Hongzi stood up as he looked again at Yu Hong and Master Yu Hen.

"I’ll emphasize once more: the Heavenly Pillar is not to be feared. The troublesome part is the Seven Evil Alliance, those who continuously open the Heavenly Pillars to create chaos. The so-called Black Disaster Spirit Disaster is merely a tool in their hands to create chaos and achieve their goals. Remember not to confuse the primary with the secondary," he reminded.

"Although the Seven Evil Alliance is annoying, I feel that the Spirit Disaster and Black Disaster are even more dangerous..." Yu Hong spoke again, only he who had witnessed the apocalyptic scenes firsthand truly understood how much destruction would ensue once the dangers of the Black Disaster and Spirit Disaster were fully unleashed.

"Enough, no need to mention it again. The Black Disaster erupted many times in ancient times as well; it was just minor trouble. Even if left unattended, it will wreak havoc for a while and then dissipate on its own. The Spirit Disaster, while marginally stronger, will just last slightly longer than the Black Disaster. The real bone-gnawing maggots are the Seven Evil Alliance," Qing Hongzi reiterated and then, seeing that Yu Hong still wanted to say something, he abruptly turned his head away, showing an impatient look as if it were impossible to reason with him.

Yu Hong was at a loss for words and looked at the old Temple Master, Yu Hen. Before meeting, he could never have imagined that such top-level experts within the Taoist Sect would be so indifferent to the Black Disaster and Spirit Disaster.

That inexplicable arrogance, even though hidden behind the strict etiquette of the Taoist Sect, was still vividly apparent.

Master Yu Hen simply shrugged his shoulders, indicating there was nothing he could do. In truth, he cared not who was right or wrong; as long as he could preserve the Taoist Temple, either would do.

Because only Temple Master Level individuals could approach the Heavenly Pillar, Yu Hong personally accompanied Qing Hongzi to the site of the Yin Qi Sky Pillar.

As Qing Hongzi said, he intended to resolve the Heavenly Pillar quickly and then move on to the next location.

There were no small number of Heavenly Pillars activated by the Seven Evil Alliance now. The faster they acted, the more they could mitigate the direct and indirect economic losses.

Half an hour later, the setting sun dipped halfway below the horizon seaboard.

Qing Hongzi and Yu Hong stood on a speedboat, directly heading toward the massive Yin Qi Sky Pillar in the distance.

Both wore small communication earpieces for short-distance conversation.

Yu Hong has long been familiar with the language and script of the Yasong, with no need for a translator’s assistance.

Thus, this communicator had replaced the position of the previous translator.

"Senior, it’s just ahead," Yu Hong said gravely. "Please be extremely careful; there are exceedingly terrifying entities hidden within the Heavenly Pillar!"

"Don’t worry," Qing Hongzi smiled and drew out from his large sleeve, a green-blue gold-edged disc.

The disc was densely covered with countless golden line runes.

In the center of the disc was a lacquered black, hollow, vertical-pupil in the shape of a human eye.

"This is the Sky Stabilizing Plate, a Mountain River Dao Artifact forged out by our Taoist Sect’s gathering of thirty-six of the strongest magicians, over the course of nine days and nights," he said as he gently caressed the disc, his eyes filled with pride.

"You have never seen with your own eyes the true power of the Sky Stabilizing Plate when it was used to suppress the entry point of the Black Disaster, the Gate of Despair. That’s why you’re so panic-stricken by this mere Heavenly Pillar."

He tossed the Sky Stabilizing Plate forward.

"Take a good look! The real foundation of our Taoist Sect!!"

Whoosh.

That palm-sized turquoise plate, spinning, rapidly approached the gigantic Yin Qi Sky Pillar.

With a plop, the plate completely disappeared into the Heavenly Pillar, vanishing from sight.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Buzz!!

Right at that moment.

The entire Yin Qi Sky Pillar let out a roar as it began to rapidly shrink and thin.

As time passed, the diameter of the Heavenly Pillar became smaller and smaller, thinner and thinner, and its color became increasingly faint.

Then, on the thirtieth second, under Yu Hong’s astonished watch, the entire Heavenly Pillar burst apart.

Boom!!

The gray mist instantly vanished without a trace.

The vast Yin Qi Sky Pillar, which had been so immense just moments ago, was now nothing but smoke in mere thirty seconds.

In midair, only that turquoise Sky Stabilizing Plate remained, idly rotating afloat and emitting bright golden light.

"Retrieve." Qing Hongzi extended his hand, and as if pulling a fine thread, he drew the Sky Stabilizing Plate back from midair.

With a snap, the plate landed in his hand and was carefully stowed away in his large sleeve.

"That’s settled. This Sky Stabilizing Plate once closed the widely opened gate to the Black Disaster; what’s more, this faintly manifested Yin Qi Sky Pillar."

"Elder, is it..pletely resolved now?" Yu Hong, looking at the original location of the Heavenly Pillar, suddenly noticed that there seemed to be a subtle disturbance in the sea at that spot, and faint gray fog was continuously emanating upwards from below the waters.

The fog was dissipating very slowly, barely noticeable.

"It’s done, just some residual remains, nothing to be concerned about. It will disappear on its own after a while." Qing Hongzi spoke nonchalantly.

"Could we thoroughly deal with these hidden dangers before we leave?" Yu Hong cautiously suggested.

"I’ll try." Qing Hongzi threw out the Sky Stabilizing Plate again.

But this time the plate seemed unresponsive and no longer emitted golden light.

"It seems this small scale is not enough to trigger the activation of the Sky Stabilizing Plate, but this also indicates that the threat here has been completely eliminated. Even the Sky Stabilizing Plate doesn’t bother with such a weak intensity. So no need to worry, Master Yu. After returning, you can put up a notice advising people to avoid this sea area for the next ten years or so."

"Is that so? I understand." Yu Hong nodded seriously.

He was now somewhat able to understand why the people of the Taoist Sect didn’t take the Black Disaster Spirit Disaster seriously.

With the Sky Stabilizing Plate’s exaggerated effect—the way it shut down that huge Yin Qi Sky Pillar in thirty seconds flat.

No wonder the people of the Taoist Sect were so confident; their pride was not without reason.

"Let’s go, time to head back." Qing Hongzi smiled. He took the lead in turning the motorboat around to return the way they had come.

However, as Yu Hong followed to leave, he couldn’t help but look back once more at the sea where the Heavenly Pillar had been.

Beneath the surface of the sea, the strands of gray fog that lingered seemed... to be denser than the fog from the previous Heavenly Pillar...

"Elder, do you plan to thoroughly cleanse all the Yin Qi Sky Pillars like this?" Yu Hong asked again.

"How could that be possible." Qing Hongzi laughed, "The Sky Stabilizing Plate also has its consumption. The entire Ancestor Court of our Taoist Sect has only nine Sky Stabilizing Plates, with each of the Nine Sects possessing one."

He took out the small disc, playing with it in his hand.

"In fact, we only need to ensure the safety of the key cities. As for the more remote places, just let them be; they will collapse on their own before long."

He paused for a moment, then continued.

"Don’t be fooled by the power of the Sky Stabilizing Plate in my hand—that it can suppress such a large Heavenly Pillar so easily. In reality, this is just a subsidiary vessel of my Primordial Heavenly Master Mansion’s Sky Stabilizing Plate. It can only be used once or twice before it needs to be recharged. The true intact Sky Stabilizing Plate is always kept in the most hidden location of our Sect."

"So that’s how it is!" Yu Hong had an epiphany; the Taoist Sect had already made meticulous arrangements against disasters like the Black Disaster and Spirit Disaster.

These nine Sky Stabilizing Plates were their ultimate trump cards for suppressing everything.

"But, the Heavenly Pillars in those remote areas... won’t they proliferate even further?" he recalled the dire situation in Hope City World, wondering if doing nothing would truly lead to self-collapse?

Or was it because the worlds were different, so were the circumstances?

He remained skeptical.

"If it really comes to that, with two Heavenly Masters in place to activate the Sky Stabilizing Plate’s main body, we can certainly suppress all evil. Don’t worry." Qing Hongzi smiled.