Calamity of Tomorrow

"Although a dragon only has one reverse scale, at least they are all dragon scales, and the quality is quite good."

The Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor required 108 True Dragon Scales, but each dragon only possessed one reverse scale – it was the first scale that the dragon's heart passed its blood through to the rest of the body, responsible for protecting the dragon's heart, and it was the hardest piece of armor on a dragon, each dragon having only one.

The 108 True Dragon Scales were meant to protect the array nodes of the armor, which could increase the armor's defensive power exponentially as well as support stronger forces.

Naturally, the present Cang Long could not possibly gather 108 reverse scales.

However, this Ancient Cang Dragon was of an extremely high rank and, after Li Zhengdao's hundreds of years of cultivation, its dragon scales had surpassed the strength of third-level greedy steel, surpassed Ninth Realm Magical Treasures, reaching the level of gods and immortals.

At this moment, Zhou Bai was using them to refine the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor, which was more than sufficient.

And so, simply with a thought from Zhou Bai, the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor before him had already transformed into a mass of pitch-black flames, twinkling with golden star lights.

As Primordial Spirit armament, the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor could be equipped directly onto the Primordial Spirit and could transform and fly invisibly and intangibly with it.

At this moment, however, Zhou Bai was refining it into a mass of flame according to the method described in the Primordial Spirit Armament blueprints to facilitate the subsequent strengthening process.

Accompanying the transformation of the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor into a black flame, the 108 dragon scales cut from the Ancient Cang Dragon had started floating, one by one being inserted by Zhou Bai into the black fire before him.

Following this, with changes in the spell Zhou Bai was weaving and the continuous input of Primordial Spirit power, the black fire in front of him suddenly exploded, forming into a fireball several people tall, blazing intensely.

One after another, the dragon scales were arrayed within the flames, seemingly reconstructing the image of a giant dragon that gradually became enveloped in black flames, and faint golden star sparks could almost be seen burning within.

And as the dragon scales transformed, from within the black flames that the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor had become, distant and sonorous dragon roars could be continuously discerned.

Even more, the surroundings of the dragon scales flickered with light from varied runes, connecting the dragon scales to the armor's arrays.

'With these 108 nodes covered by the 108 dragon scales, the armor's resistance to impact increased exponentially, as did its capacity to carry more and stronger forces.'

'Both defense and Primordial Spirit energy output will see a significant boost.'

Zhou Bai understood that the defensive power of the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor, after integrating these 108 dragon scales, had at least doubled in strength.

And as one thing leads to another, coupled with the enhancement of greedy treasures, the effects of Tang Ruhai and the contaminated shell, Zhou Bai's overall defensive power would see an even more evident increase.

'I'm afraid my resistance to impact will climb to a new level, initially reaching the tier of gods and immortals.'

Simultaneously, Zhou Bai also felt that after his Primordial Spirit power was incorporated into the armor, it operated more smoothly.

And after being transformed by the 108 array nodes, once the Primordial Spirit donned this armor, its strength would greatly increase; although not yet at the level of gods and immortals, it would certainly far surpass any practitioner of the Ninth Realm.

At the moment Zhou Bai was refining the armor, the surrounding mechanical servants continued to work tirelessly. The octopus-like mechanical servants diligently flew back and forth, assembling, adjusting, and activating pieces of machinery, creating circles upon circles of new mechanical servants in bulk.

On the other hand, Christina was tirelessly cultivating around Primal Dao Repository 06.

'Damn it, my strength is falling further and further behind Zhou Bai; that brat is getting too big for his britches and listens to me less and less.' She inwardly lamented: 'But from my awakened memories, I ought to be very powerful. Could it be that my Daoization is insufficient, my memories not fully restored?'

Ever since arriving at the Heavenly Demon base, Christina had also been tirelessly studying the Primal Dao Repository 06 before her, hoping to enhance her Daoization and awaken more memories.

At this moment, her Daoization had already reached 57%, soon to meet the threshold of 60%.

Beside her, Elsa curiously eyed the Primal Dao Repository 06, feeling a ridiculous urge to give it a lick.

But once Zhou Bai sensed Elsa's increasingly strong 'doggy' tendencies, he had not allowed her to cultivate with this Primal Dao Repository 06 ever since.

Although Elsa dearly wished to cultivate it, she might as well hold back when thinking of Zhou Bai's instructions.

...

Meanwhile, on distant Mars, a girl who looked exactly like the Mysterious Lady was observing Zhou Bai's progress in cultivation.

In tandem, a series of light screens unfolded beside her, displaying a waterfall-like abundance of information.

"Although Zhou Bai's current performance, in terms of so-called realms and Primordial Spirit, is not a match for gods and immortals, with that unique ability of his, ordinary gods and immortals are indeed no match for him."

"Have you found Qing Yun's information?"

"Chinese, Lin Chenyang, born in 1985, male..."

This time, when Zhou Bai and Jiaojiao opened the book written by Qing Yun, even the Heavenly Demon who followed and monitored them got to know a great deal about Qing Yun.

Zhou Bai had anticipated this; on one hand, it was indeed difficult for him to prevent the Heavenly Demon from prying, on the other, he wanted to use this to test the Heavenly Demon's reaction and even see if he could leverage the Heavenly Demon's extensive database to achieve his goal.

As he had predicted, the Heavenly Demon did begin to search for Qing Yun's related data.

"Is this all there is?" asked the girl, looking at the information of more than ten Lin Chenyangs on the screen, while eliminating them one by one.

"They all look so normal, with nothing special about them. The only one who could fit the bill..."

The girl's gaze flickered, and an entry for Lin Chenyang appeared among them. She focused on one line: "Died from drowning in 2024 at the age of 39..."

A death report appeared in front of the girl, which she read thoroughly.

"Among the Lin Chenyangs born in 1985, this is the only male who died unexpectedly early. Was this the one who went back ten thousand years ago?"

"Based on the archives, records, and various online social data, he seemed like an ordinary person, so why him?"

"Zhou Bai as well, looking at his files, he was an ordinary person before he went missing."

"However, Lin Chenyang's record clearly states his death, while Zhou Bai is just missing. What's the difference between the two?"

The girl thought while touching her chin, "To send a Homo sapiens from the age of intelligence back ten thousand years, even possibly the first person to come into contact with the void, causing the spiritual decay that ended the first great war between humans and demons... What kind of power and intelligence would that require? I can't even begin to comprehend the principle behind it.

"Among the forces I know of, it seems that none can achieve this. Is there a power in the Solar System that I am unaware of?"

Just then, a message came through representing the Heavenly Demon King 'Ai': "Zhou Bai last asked if we could support the Sky Flipping Sect..."

"The cheek of it," the girl frowned, "Zhou Bai really doesn't see himself as an outsider, spending our resources extravagantly."

Right then, the ground shook violently, and hundreds of kilometers away, a beam of light shot into the sky, eventually illuminating the entire sky, erasing a Martian sandstorm in its wake.

Looking at the phenomenon in the distance, the girl knew that it was the forces from the Celestial Thunder Department that had arrived.

Ever since the last time the Heavenly Demon assembled a large army and expended vast resources to attack Central City, the Celestial Court organized a counter-attack on Mars, hoping to weaken the Heavenly Demon's forces while their power was in decline.

The girl shook her head: "Tell Zhou Bai that we have already taken some pressure off him. Otherwise, the other two Marshals of the Thunder Department and the Celestial Lord of the Combat Department would probably appear on the Sky Flipping Sect's battlefield."

"We can provide him with resources to continue modifying the Heavenly Demons, but I won't send any Heavenly Demons into the Sky Flipping Sect battle anymore."

"Also, have the forces from Titan support us, and don't let the Thunder Department get within a thousand miles of the Heavenly Demon Pool."

...

In Central City, within a small courtyard belonging to the Celestial Department.

Yun Chonghe and Zheng Wentian looked at Ying Hui, who was sunbathing in the courtyard.

At this moment, Ying Hui looked just like an ordinary old man, with white hair and wrinkles on his face like countless gorges.

But the qi and blood within his body were decaying, and his eyes were full of defeat.

Next to him, dust, small rocks, and clothing flaps stirred, manipulated by the dissipating force of his Primordial Spirit.

"Ever since the last incident, Teacher Ying Hui's mental state has been deteriorating. He is beginning to lose control of his Primordial Spirit, and if this continues, the situation will only get worse..." Zheng Wentian communicated telepathically with Yun Chonghe by his side.

As a sixth realm cultivator, Zheng Wentian knew that the higher the cultivation, the greater the backlash. Once a spiritual issue arises in the sixth realm, if consciousness and Primordial Spirit can't control the Dao conversion, it will surely lead to a deformity.

Upon hearing this, Yun Chonghe responded telepathically, "If Ying Hui deforms, I will personally take his life."

Zheng Wentian said with reluctance, "Must we take action?"

Yun Chonghe: "Mutants are beyond salvation. When we encounter a mutant, what is the first thing we must do?"

Yun Chonghe sighed and looked up to the sky, "If you find a companion has mutated, then kill them immediately. If you find that you're about to mutate, then commit suicide immediately. This was the principle taught to me by my teachers when I was still studying at the Dao School."

Zheng Wentian sighed, "I understand."

Just then, a student from Donghua Dao School rushed in from outside, saying in shock, "Zhou Bai... Zhou Bai has taken control of the Great Elder in Donghua City, and together with the Sky Flipping Sect Leader, repelled the Heavenly Lords Hao Ran and Wan Xing True Monarch from the Heavenly Division."

Yun Chonghe exclaimed, "Where did you hear this news?"

"It's said to be all over the outside! The guards here all know it."

Zheng Wentian: "The Great Elder is controlled? How is that possible... And to even repel Hao Ran Heavenly Lord and Wan Xing True Monarch?"

Suddenly, Zheng Wentian turned sharply to look at Ying Hui, deeply concerned that this news would be another blow to him.

But he saw Ying Hui stand up violently, shaking his head and saying, "Impossible. The Great Elder's cultivation is earth-shattering, with a Dao transformation degree of 100%. The Dream Heart Scripture is the pinnacle skill for manipulating the subconscious; how could he be so easily controlled by Zhou Bai? And Li Xiuzhu, he is also a standout of his generation..."

As he spoke, Ying Hui's eyes grew brighter until he burst into uproarious laughter, his laughter echoing through the air, seemingly shaking the entire campus.

Ying Hui, who had just been downcast and at rock bottom, was now radiant with renewed vigor and spirit, completely transformed.

"It's likely that the Great Elder, Li Xiuzhu, and Zhou Bai joined forces to drive the Heavenly Division out of Donghua City."

"To have earned the trust of the Great Elder and Li Xiuzhu, it proves that Zhou Bai has not betrayed humanity." Ying Hui continued, his eyes shining brighter as if flames were burning within, "It must be so, it has to be. Zhou Bai did not betray us; instead, he has grown to the point where he can confront gods and immortals head-on."

The next moment, however, he furrowed his brows again, "The Great Elder's condition was already poor. I fear that after this battle, he's even closer to mutating."

Saying that, he looked toward Yun Chonghe, "Now the Heavenly Court has dispatched ten great immortals to encircle and suppress the Sky Flipping Sect. It's likely Zhou Bai will go there too; this battle will determine the future fate of humanity."

"We can't waste any more time trapped here."

Ying Hui's gaze intently fell on the Sword Box behind Yun Chonghe, where the Heavenly Sword Elder lay dormant.

...

"The higher the cultivation, the closer one comes to distorting the Heavenly Dao, and the more severe the mutation."

"Ordinary people without entry to the Dao have almost no cultivation, so their degree of mutation is much weaker. Should they encounter mutation, some will be passively awakened with demonic bloodline, using it to resist mutation. If they survive, the external manifestation is demonization."

"But such demonization is unstable and can sometimes suppress human intellect, turning them into pure beasts."

"The Heavenly Court tells us that demonization is a type of mutation, ordering us to capture and kill those who have become demons."

"But demonization is not mutation; it is the power of the human bloodline awakening, the result of successfully resisting mutation."

In West Mountain City, a middle-aged man stood on the platform, shouting passionately, "Only by awakening the power of the demonic bloodline within us can we resist distortion, resist mutation! Only then can we gain the power to contend with the Heavenly Demons!"

"The Heavenly Demon has killed billions of us! Now we're left with only the last five cities. Are we going to just sit and wait for death?"

"The Heavenly Court has ruled over us for many years, making us work over ten hours every day just to afford food. Where did all our belongings go? All taken by the Heavenly Court!"

In front of him was a dense crowd of people, men and women, old and young, most of them thin, with numb and indifferent eyes. But as the middle-aged man spoke, a faint glimmer seemed to flicker in their eyes.

The man on the platform continued to shout, "The Heavenly Court has deceived us! They have stripped us of our power to resist distortion!"

"They fear us becoming too powerful, fear being unable to rule over us any longer! They'd rather lose to the Heavenly Demon, rather watch as billions of our kin are slaughtered like chickens by the Heavenly Demon!"

"Primordial Spirit adjustment! Rune vaccines! All lies! All to suppress that power of the bloodline within us!"

"Only if we awaken the demonic bloodline within us can we fight against the Heavenly Court! Only then can we slay the Heavenly Demon!"

"To be able to eat well and stay warm! No longer having to hand over everything to the Heavenly Court!"

"To maintain sanity! No longer having to worry about going mad suddenly one day, not having to fear your wife, children, or parents being killed out of the blue! Not having to fear relatives and friends suddenly turning into monsters one day!"

The men and women below listened to this speech, their eyes seemingly gleamed a bit brighter.

At the same time, members of the Sky Flipping Sect were distributing booklets below, stuffing one into the hands of every person present.

"The methods for safely awakening demonic powers are in the booklet. After you all go back, hide them well and secretly practice."

"As long as we persevere, as more and more humans awaken the power of demons, we will eventually take control of our own fate. Be it the Heavenly Court or the Heavenly Demon, they will fear our existence!"

"This is a war of attrition, but humanity will surely emerge victorious!"

Suddenly, the whooshing sound of breaking air rose, as monks burst into the arena, their Primordial Spirit power crashing down like waves, pushing the people back and forth, unable to control their own shapes.

Tu Tianmo, surrounded by people, descended upon the scene, his eyes sweeping around, his raging Primordial Spirit power already exuding from his body, transmitting his voice like thunder, "Capture all the charlatans of the Sky Flipping Sect, confiscate all distributed booklets, and if anyone is found hiding them, they will be punished for anti-humanity crimes..."

But before he could finish, the man who had just spoken roared angrily, turning into a huge tiger and fighting with several monks who were trying to capture him.

Despite lacking treasures and weapons, his movements were incredibly agile, moving swiftly like a specter, dashing left and right amidst the monks, even managing to send two flying.

While fighting, he roared, "This is the power of demons. Once all humans have mastered the power of demons, no one will be able to bully us anymore!"

Tu Tianmo snorted coldly, stepping forward, and his Primordial Spirit power rolled out like a torrential flood, like an invisible giant hand, directly slapping the tiger demon to the ground, shattering a dozen of its bones, leaving it lying limply on the ground.

"Take him away! What a creature without the slightest self-awareness of its weakness."

Tu Tianmo waved his hand nonchalantly, having people take the tiger demon away.

He looked around at the crowd, watching as the booklets in people's hands were collected by his subordinate monks, but the eyes of the crowd grew colder and more numb.

Seeing their eyes, Tu Tianmo suddenly felt a startle: 'Has the Sky Flipping Sect gone mad? What exactly are they doing?' He also couldn't help but think, "Do we have demon blood in our veins?"

Similar situations occurred simultaneously in West Mountain City, East City, South Mountain City, Beihai City, and even Central City had occasional spread.

The Sky Flipping Sect was making every effort, even at the risk of exposing their members who had been hidden for many years, to spread the truth: humans have demonic bloodlines, awakening demonic bloodlines can combat distortions, and even possess power comparable to that of the immortals and gods.

And they continued to spread the so-called methods of demonic awakening.

...

"Many people will die," Annie said softly, looking at the materials being moved for evacuation and the retreating members of the sect, sighing, "Who knows how many will survive this time."

She was speaking about both the retreat of the Sky Flipping Sect and the current action of spreading the truth of demons to the world.

Originally, to quietly build up strength without coming into full conflict with the Heavenly Court, the Sky Flipping Sect had been teaching people how to awaken demonic powers on a small scale.

But the Heavenly Court clearly had no intention of letting the Sky Flipping Sect continue to build up.

So now, as if flipping the entire table, they used the people they had accumulated in cities over more than a decade to rip open the bloody truth and expose it to everyone.

Qian Wangsun remained silent. A few months earlier, he might have opposed such an action, but at this moment, he too was unsure whether it was right or wrong.

The direction of the world seemed to become increasingly elusive and veiled in layers of fog.

Even he, who could foresee the future, did not know whether, after breaking through the darkness, what awaited them was a cliff or hope.

"But in this world, probably only Li Xiuzhu has the boldness to do such a thing."

Qian Wangsun looked at Annie and asked, "When can he come back?"

Ever since returning to the side of the Sky Flipping Sect with Li Xiuzhu, he had rested for one night, then seemed completely rejuvenated the next day, looking as if he had never been injured, returning once more to his peak.

After arranging and supervising the retreat plan, Li Xiuzhu left alone without taking anyone with him.

He said he was going to an important place, to seek reinforcements for the Sky Flipping Sect, but he had not returned until now.

Qian Wangsun said, "At such a critical moment, where has Li Xiuzhu gone? Reinforcements? Where can there be reinforcements at this time?"

Annie said, "If the Sect Hierarch says there are, then there must be. Let's just wait patiently."