The Stone Whisperer had gotten them off to a good start.
After he defined [Reading Day], the seals became repairable.
Morale soared at all sixteen seal points, and everyone continued channeling energy into them.
The books also stopped causing trouble. Some flew around aimlessly, while others quietly watched the people repair the seals.
Repairing and constructing were completely different in difficulty. Repairing was much easier.
Although none of the sixteen people present, apart from the Stone Whisperer, had even reached Mystic 7, the relative difficulty was also far lower.
If they only needed to make repairs, it was merely a matter of expenditure.
The problem was that some of the seal points had been completely destroyed and required partial reconstruction.
Anything involving reconstruction demanded that they risk their lives.
The City Library.
This was one of the places where the seal had been completely destroyed.
The person in charge here was Granny Mortar.
Witch Honeythorn stood nearby, in charge of logistical support.
“Granny, if you continue, there’s a very high chance you’ll die,” Honeythorn gently reminded her.
“Heh heh. Isn’t that exactly why this old woman forced Silence out and came here?”
Witches were not good at persuading others. They were all strong-minded and disliked being persuaded themselves.
Honeythorn did not try to stop her again.
“Granny, have you made all the arrangements for after you’re gone? If there’s anything you need help with, tell me now. I’ll write it all down.”
“I’ve already arranged everything. The next generation at the [Skin-Shedding Clinic] has grown up, and you young witches can all stand on your own now. I have no regrets.”
“Granny, I won’t beat around the bush. Your chosen successor, Witch Yu Ling, has passed away, and you haven’t appointed a new heir.”
Granny Mortar remained silent for a long time before slowly replying:
“Most of what I have will be left to the [Skin-Shedding Clinic], apart from a few things remaining here at the library. The clinic’s next president will be my heir.
“I want to try something a little willful. Even without bearing the title of a witch’s descendant, perhaps a human can still inherit a witch’s legacy.”
Honeythorn nodded. “Looks like the [Body-Eating Hall] will have a new master too. I’m still rather fond of the food there.”
“Heh heh. You’ll have plenty of chances in the future.”
“Do you really think so, Granny? Once you’re gone, will we still remain close to a single society?”
Granny Mortar looked toward the [Skin-Shedding Clinic].
“I don’t believe the affection I’ve left behind will be enough to preserve the bond between the society and the witches.
“But I do know that old relationships will one day fade, and new ones will one day be formed.
“The [Skin-Shedding Clinic]—even if it changes presidents, it has already established a new connection with the witches.
“All right, go tend to your work. I should begin my final task as well.”
Honeythorn bowed and withdrew from the underground fifth basement level.
When she reached the fourth basement level, two young witches came to meet her.
Honeythorn asked, “Is everything normal with [Chenpi]?”
“Everything is normal. [Chenpi] has fallen into a deep coma, and his physical condition hasn’t changed.”
“Good. Keep watch over him. Don’t let your guard down.”
Just as Honeythorn was about to leave, one of the witches called out to her.
“Honeythorn, did Granny Mortar really have to do this? Is there truly no other way?”
Honeythorn stopped.
She turned to look at the two young witches, whose eyes were slightly red.
“You’re still too young. There are many things you don’t understand.
“Tonight, the entire city is facing a crisis. Everyone else hopes to make it through safely, but Granny Mortar and the Stone Whisperer must die.
“Death is not their loss. It is their opportunity.
“Their crimes were announced to the public long ago, and they even confessed and accepted punishment in front of everyone. They were already sentenced to death.
“If they linger on until later, suffer their punishment, and die, they will die as criminals, burdened by their sins.
“But if they die in battle tonight, sacrificing themselves for the city, all their past crimes will be erased, and they will be heroes.
“You should be happy for Granny.”
At the boundary between the [Skin-Shedding Clinic] and the [Hamburger Workshop], there was a seal point.
According to the preliminary survey, the situation here had not been particularly serious, so it had not been considered a priority.
This seal point had been assigned to the two societies by President Yu of the Society Alliance.
After the [Skin-Shedding Clinic] and the [Hamburger Workshop] discussed the matter, President Shepherd of the [Hamburger Workshop] ultimately took charge.
There were many people at this seal point. Members of both societies had come.
Since President Shepherd of the [Hamburger Workshop] had undertaken the primary responsibility, [Bridge Princess] led the [Skin-Shedding Clinic] in handling all the other logistical and support duties.
It was the first time her daughter had presided over such a large-scale operation, so Gongshu Feiliang had also slipped into the [Skin-Shedding Clinic]’s group to lend her silent support.
With such powerful forces from the two societies working together, everything should have gone smoothly.
Sure enough, something unexpected happened.
The actual condition of this seal point was far worse than the survey had indicated. It had been almost completely destroyed.
President Shepherd’s output was already beginning to fall behind.
Everyone rushed around, applying buffs and providing support. Members of the [Hamburger Workshop] even showed off their special talents, producing food with various effects and stuffing it into their president’s mouth.
Under normal circumstances, they might still have been able to hold on.
But things grew worse in the second half of the night.
“You’re progressing too slowly. You still haven’t repaired the seal, and it can no longer contain my passive power.”
An eerie voice rose from underground.
President Shepherd was using all his strength to maintain his output, so the scene was placed under the command of acting president [Bridge Princess] of the [Skin-Shedding Clinic].
She called toward the source of the voice. “Who are you?”
“My name is the Book of the Night. Because my power is too great, I have never dared to leave the seal. Even during past [Reading Days], I chose not to venture outside.
“I am doing everything I can to restrain myself, but I can hold on for ten minutes at most. If you still haven’t repaired the seal by then, I won’t be able to control myself.”
Ten minutes!
Everyone looked toward President Shepherd.
After [Knot] confirmed the situation, word came from the [Hamburger Workshop]:
“Impossible. At our current pace, we’ll need at least two more hours.”
Ten minutes and more than two hours were worlds apart. [Bridge Princess] immediately changed tactics.
She called down to the depths:
“Honored Book of the Night, we cannot finish within ten minutes. What is your passive ability? Can we prepare in advance and find a way to avoid it?”
Although the Book of the Night’s voice was terrifying, its attitude was very cooperative.
“My passive ability is called ‘Black Box.’ It will teleport people into random black boxes. If they cannot quickly find a way out, they will be devoured by the darkness.”
“Can the boxes be destroyed directly?”
“In theory, yes. But you probably won’t be able to do it.”
“Why not?”
“Because I am Danger Level 7. I have suppressed this passive ability within the seal for three thousand years. That power has been accumulating all this time without an outlet. I don’t even know how powerful the current ‘Black Box’ has become. I suspect that even someone one rank above me would have difficulty destroying it.
“Ah, I seem to have miscalculated the time. I can’t hold it back anymore!”
Only six minutes had passed.
Everyone at the scene from both societies, including President Shepherd, vanished without a trace.
All they felt was the ground drop away beneath their feet as they began to fall.
When they once again felt their feet touch solid ground, they found themselves landing steadily, without suffering so much as a bruise.
The mystics gathered in groups of three or five, helping one another to their feet before immediately surveying their surroundings.
They found themselves in complete darkness. The only source of light was a long, narrow fissure in the sky, through which an extremely faint glow filtered.
“Everyone, don’t panic. Does anyone have anything that can provide light?” President Shepherd’s voice rang out.
Before long, several candles were lit.
The candlelight failed to reach any distance, illuminating only the companions nearby. The surrounding darkness seemed to suppress the light.
The mystics tried all kinds of methods.
“I’ve tried everything. This space truly cannot be destroyed.” President Shepherd possessed the greatest destructive power among them.
Gongshu Feiliang was highly sensitive to position and space, and he was the first to notice something wrong.
“Hurry and find a way out! The range our light can illuminate is shrinking. This dark world seems to be closing in!”
Everyone was startled. They all knew that once it shrank completely, the outcome would be exactly what the Book of the Night described: being devoured by darkness.
“The only way out now is to find a way to escape.”
Caught completely off guard, they suddenly found themselves facing a desperate race against time—a life-or-death escape game.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
