Calamity of Tomorrow

Qian Wangsun and Annie headed toward the retreating troops, which Li Xiuzhu had divided into several teams during the planning. In each team, there were people who had mastered the Mutated Power technologies currently developed by the Sky Flipping Sect.

This meant that as long as any one of these retreating teams survived, the Sky Flipping Sect's technology would be passed down.

The main force of researchers was concentrated in one of these teams, which would hide and continue the research of mutated weapons, striving to create new ones.

Their material was Zhu Yan, the great demon that Li Xiuzhu had brought back from the East Flower City.

Qian Wangsun watched as the teams separated, transporting materials, and gathering in different directions.

Most of these people would become bait, buying time for the Sky Flipping Sect and attracting the firepower of the Heavenly Court.

That is to say, most of the people here would likely die on the way, and they were acutely aware of this.

Qian Wangsun could not help but sigh, "Everyone really trusts the Sect Hierarch."

Annie nodded, "Without the Sect Hierarch, some of us would have died long ago, some would have mutated already, and others might still be in the desperate Abyss, locked in the laboratories of the Heavenly Court."

"It is the Sect Hierarch, he opened a window of hope for us."

"He taught us how to survive in the wilderness, how to use the bloodlines in our bodies to fight against the pollution of spiritual mechanisms, to fight against the distortion of the Heavenly Dao."

"It was he who led us to establish strongholds outside the cities, and he also taught us that Immortals are but humans who have cultivated themselves, and we should be equals."

"For this, he has paid a lot." A flicker of sadness crossed Annie's eyes, seemingly recalling the ground covered with bodies belonging to Li Xiuzhu.

At this moment, two young men approached Annie and Qian Wangsun.

One of them, slightly older, with fiery red hair and a rather hairy body, was called Ji Xing.

The younger one, completely bald without even eyebrows or eyelashes, was called Hao Ming.

Qian Wangsun looked at the hairless and the hairy, knowing that the two were awakened members of the Sky Flipping Sect, cultivators who had mastered the power of demons.

Although they were young, because of the peculiar nature of the demonic power, if used properly, it could even threaten Immortals, which was one of the main forces of the Sky Flipping Sect in the fight against the Heavenly Court.

Ji Xing said, "The teams are almost assembled, just waiting to depart."

Hao Ming added, "I heard that the divisions of monks stationed in West Mountain City are already fully deployed, and I fear that by tonight at the latest, they will sweep through here."

Annie nodded. Although most of their people arranged in West Mountain City were caught, a few still sent them information.

For some unknown reason, the ten true Immortals of the West Mountain City did not take action personally but sent their subordinates to search and annihilate the members of the Sky Flipping Sect.

In fact, the ten true Immortals of the West Mountain City are now concentrating on cultivating the Supreme Divine Power algorithm passed down by the Divine Emperor.

After all, to the Immortals, nothing like the Sky Flipping Sect or Mutated Weapons could be more important than their own cultivation.

The path of an Immortal is one that places extreme importance on self-cultivation and self-power.

Although Annie's group didn't know the reason, this situation was obviously beneficial for the Sky Flipping Sect, at least facing the human cultivators like themselves, their pressure would be much less.

Just then, an old man hurried over, this unkempt man with a beard and hair merged into one was Wu Wenjing, one of the cultivators Li Xiuzhu rescued from the Heavenly Court.

Wu Wenjing, who had been a famous strong man among humans over eighty years ago, later participated in the Immortals' research project on Mutation, and was therefore captured by the Heavenly Court and restructured under the Plague Department, where he had been detained until now.

During the years of his detention by the Plague Department, he actively communicated with them, trying his best to participate in the projects of the department.

In his efforts to negotiate, he had to endure anger, restrain his emotions, and time again convince the Plague Department to utilize their group of people who couldn't leave, didn't require payment, and had a certain research foundation.

On the other hand, he also had to strive to persuade his own people, to have them hold back their hatred to help the Plague Department with their research.

Eventually, Wu Wenjing succeeded in getting the Plague Department to make use of their group of people, confining them in the laboratory, participating in numerous projects of the department, assisting the righteous gods in all sorts of research, but never able to go out again.

It was because of this that they had not wasted away these decades, but instead managed to continue their research on Mutation and distortion.

Until Li Xiuzhu rescued them, they could finally use the knowledge and techniques they had learned over the years to participate in the project of mutated weapons.

At that moment, Wu Wenjing urgently asked, "Where is Li Xiuzhu? Didn't he say he would lead us away with divinations? Where has he gone?"

Annie replied, "The Sect Hierarch had to step out for a bit, we will depart once he returns."

Wu Wenjing said discontentedly, "He's going out at this time? Where is he going? When will he be back?"

Annie responded, "He should be back by tonight."

...

Meanwhile, in the far distant south of the location of the Sky Flipping Sect.

Crossing the border of the continent, over the sea, heading straight south.

A shadow flew swiftly.

Wherever it passed, the sky seemed to split in two, a blizzard was directly shattered by the figure, all the snow was directly dispersed.

Li Xiuzhu sped on his way, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of a dense fog.

The dense fog arrived suddenly and was so thick that it nearly made it impossible for one to see a meter ahead.

However, once distanced from it, one wouldn't be able to see the fog at all.

This was clearly some sort of concealing spell.

And Li Xiuzhu found nothing strange about this and stepped forward without hesitation, walking into the thick fog.

While traversing through the fog, the moment he was able to see again, a vast valley appeared before Li Xiuzhu.

The entire valley was like a colossal iceberg, and as Li Xiuzhu walked through it, he could see many ambiguous figures within the layers of ice on either side, as if something were encased within the ice.

With each step he took deeper into the valley, more silhouettes in the ice became evident, gradually revealing various demonic beasts.

There were giant lions, tigers with wings, monstrous white snakes hundreds of meters long, and even rabbits with human-like legs...

The further he went, the more ferocious and gigantic the beasts in the ice became, seeming to signify ever-increasing strength.

The valley before his eyes was the demon relic that Li Xiuzhu had spoken of in the past.

Over twenty years ago, he had familiarized himself with the power of his demonic lineage and had dodged pursuit by both the Heavenly Demon and the Heavenly Dao, drawn by some unknown calling to this very relic.

He could clearly sense that the creatures within the ice were not dead but in deep hibernation; he could feel the immense vitality still present within these demonic beasts.

Li Xiuzhu continued deeper into the valley until he reached the end, where a huge ice mountain that seemed to connect heaven and earth loomed before him. Within the ice mountain, there lay a massive figure undulating like a mountain range under the ice, its shadow so extensive one could not see its end.

The mere sight of this immense shadow instilled an instinctive fear, as though one had become prey under the gaze of an ancient, apex predator.

With Li Xiuzhu's arrival, the entire ice mountain shuddered slightly, and massive quantities of snow and ice shards fell, hitting the ground and exploding in a crackling din.

Li Xiuzhu, however, remained unmoved, his gaze steady upon the trembling ice mountain.

The next moment, a deep voice arose beside Li Xiuzhu, its source elusive, shifting from east to west as though a person was circling around him.

"Li Xiuzhu, you've finally come."

Li Xiuzhu looked toward the great shadow within the ice, his voice cold, "Give it to me."

The voice chuckled deeply, and as it laughed, cracks spread throughout the entire layer of ice, and it seemed even the earth trembled at its sound.

As the mountain and the ground seemed to be on the verge of complete collapse with the laughter, the laughter finally came to a slow stop, replaced by a deep voice, "I've told you long ago, Li Xiuzhu... humans harbor two powers within their bodies, and thus there are only two paths to choose."

"Either become an Immortal or a god, blessed by the Heavenly Dao, harnessing the power of the Supreme Divine Skills and Immortal Artifacts."

"Or become a demonic beast, comprehend the void, and exploit the abilities of your demonic lineage."

"Now that the Heavenly Dao is twisted, ascension is no longer possible. Therefore, the only path laid out before humankind is to become demonic beasts."

Li Xiuzhu looked at the large shadow within the ice and spoke flatly, "Are you done speaking? If so, give it to me."

"Heh heh."

With a low chuckle, the ice in front of Li Xiuzhu cracked apart, and from a bottomless icy cavern, a deep blue set of armor slowly floated upward.

The armor, once assembled, was clearly not of human shape; rather, it was designed with limbs set for walking on the ground, a lengthy torso, and a tail, evidently intended for some kind of beast.

The deep voice continued, "Wear this set of Primordial Yinglong Armor, and you will truly inherit the Ying Long bloodline, cleanse all human blood from your body, and awaken the memories hidden deep within your lineage."

"From then on, you will be the new generation Ying Long."

Li Xiuzhu asked, "Can the power of Ying Long contend with the gods?"

The voice burst into roaring laughter, "How much power you can draw from your lineage depends on your own talent, your understanding of the bloodline's power, and your perception of the void.

However, as the power of the void grows stronger and the distortion of the Heavenly Dao becomes increasingly severe, the power of the demonic beasts will only continue to augment."

"I understand," Li Xiuzhu stated and stepped forward.

The deep voice instructed, "Let go of your mind and don't resist."

Then they saw the dragon-shaped armor before them suddenly open its jaws as though alive, and swallow Li Xiuzhu whole.

Li Xiuzhu frowned slightly, suppressing his instinct to fight back, allowing the dragon-shaped armor to consume him.

The Primordial Yinglong Armor that swallowed Li Xiuzhu began to heave unpredictably, as if digesting its meal.

Spikes pierced into the unguarded body of Li Xiuzhu, his essence and blood surging within and without, relentlessly altering his form, kindling the demonic lineage within him.

Meanwhile, the structure of the external Primordial Yinglong Armor continued to adjust, tightly enveloping Li Xiuzhu's body and changing with the transformation of his physique.

Li Xiuzhu lay prone on the ground, his form becoming increasingly robust and elongated, while his coccyx extended, gradually forming into a tail.

Underneath his flesh, layers upon layers of dragon scales began to emerge, and his skull stoutened and began to deform into a dragon's head.

Two large bulges appeared on his back, filled with vigorous vitality, gestating within the swellings.

Simultaneously, alongside the awakening of the demonic beast lineage within him, various memories and knowledge began to surge in Li Xiuzhu's mind.

He seemed to have returned to the eons of years past, recalling the countless ancestral creatures in the ocean devouring each other, evolving without cease.

The first time stepping onto land...

The first time growing limbs...

The first time hunting other animals on land...

The first time encountering humans...

The first time cultivating...

The first time battling with humans...

The first time in a great war between humans and monsters...

Within those eons of time, memory after memory flashed before Li Xiuzhu's eyes, as soon as he attempted to view them, he felt those recollections vanish deep into his mind, to prevent his brain and Primordial Spirit from being overwhelmed by such an immense and inconceivable amount of information at once, necessitating him to refine and recall them slowly over time.

And merely three short hours later, Li Xiuzhu, who had been crouching on the ground, had completely transformed into the form of a dragon, assuming the legendary appearance of Ying Long.

A pair of bone spurs burst forth from the flesh on his back and then thunderously unfurled, turning into a pair of wings that emerged behind him.

Both his hands and feet had turned completely into dragon claws; opening his mouth revealed sharp fangs and thunderous flames brewing within.

With a dragon's roar, Li Xiuzhu howled towards the heavens, as the Primordial Yinglong Armor tightly clung to his physical body, transforming into a protective dragon-shaped suit of armor.

Accompanying the intense exhalation, white-hot streams flowed out from Ying Long's mouth.

Merely this casually exhaled breath was so hot that it caused the icebergs in the vicinity to seep water and begin melting.

That deep voice said, "Don't dirty my place, close your mouth, Ying Long."

Ying Long looked upon his own body with some delight and then burst into a mad laughter, exclaiming, "I am resurrected! I have returned once again!"

The next moment, Ying Long gritted his teeth and said, "Where is Ji Wuchang? I want to skin him alive and rip out his tendons... If it weren't for the Immortals grievously injuring me last time, how could he take advantage of the situation..."

That deep and fleeting voice responded, "Ji Wuchang has long been dead, and you would do better to pay more attention to your own body."

"Hm?" Ying Long slightly started, the next instant he felt a wave of thought sweeping from his physical body, aiming to seize control over the entire body.

"A mere hybrid, you dare to contend with me?" Ying Long chuckled coldly, "Your bloodline is all inherited from me, you don't even have one ten-thousandth of my experience with demonic bloodlines, and this Primordial Yinglong Armor was crafted by me specifically for the resurrection from the bloodline. How could you possibly fight me?!"

Amidst the cold laughter, the demonic blood surged both inside and outside his body, and Ying Long's domineering will enveloped every inch of his body.

But in the very next moment, a faint voice rose in his heart.

"A country broken, mountains and rivers remain..."

Boom! A powerful intent of the fist, like a flame, spread from the sea of his consciousness, temporarily halting Ying Long in his tracks.

Li Xiuzhu's voice sounded, "Ying Long, you are outdated, your will, your way of thinking cannot compete with the cultivators of this era."

Ying Long roared furiously, "Half-breed mongrel! This is my bloodline, you can't control it!"

But all Li Xiuzhu needed was a brief moment of Ying Long's loss of control over his body.

The next moment, a tumultuous sea of blood surged from Ying Long's belly, Li Xiuzhu's belly.

Li Xiuzhu had actually hidden the Blood Transformation Divine Sword inside his stomach, unleashing it suddenly now, and a blood-colored sword light surged toward his body.

Ying Long could feel his flesh being tainted by the bloodlight, a body that was comparable to magical treasures becoming as vulnerable as the flesh of an ordinary person, turning into pus and water under the entanglement of the bloodlight.

Realizing this, Ying Long panicked, "Have you gone mad? What is this monstrosity?!"

Li Xiuzhu coldly proclaimed, "This is called the Blood Transformation Divine Sword, a Mutated Weapon. I told you, Ying Long, you are outdated."

Ying Long tried to pull out the Blood Transformation Divine Sword, tried to control it.

But as soon as his palm drew near the Divine Sword, it too was tainted by the bloodlight, melting away large patches of pus and blood.

The moment his will neared the Divine Sword within his belly, he felt a distorted intent directly begin to corrode his thoughts, filling him with extreme irritability, fear, anger...

Ying Long, who had never encountered such a thing, felt as though his spirit was on the verge of collapse. He wailed miserably, hysterically asking, "What is this thing?!"

Li Xiuzhu replied, "The twisted Heavenly Dao, a special feature of our era, you like it, don't you?"

Feeling his body gradually turning to pus and blood, excruciating pain tormented Ying Long's physical form, and the twisted thoughts left deep wounds on his spirit.

He howled, "Stop this at once! If this continues, we will both die! Have you lost your mind?"

Li Xiuzhu said coldly, "It is I who will control my body, do you have a problem with that?"

Ying Long faltered briefly, but the next moment, the distorted message of the Heavenly Dao contained within the Blood Transformation Divine Sword further revealed itself to Ying Long.

Ying Long, who had never experienced the distortion of the Heavenly Dao, had no experience in resistance.

Even if the bloodline of demons could resist the Power of Deformation, his will could not withstand the twist of the Heavenly Dao.

Under the torment to his spirit, Li Xiuzhu directly stripped away the control that Ying Long had over his flesh and firmly suppressed it within his sea of consciousness.

Having evaded that control, he had already summoned the intent of the Great Sky Flipping Fist, once again suppressing the Blood Transformation Divine Sword within his stomach.

This time, the suppression seemed especially effortless.

Li Xiuzhu could feel that his demon bloodline had a strong resistance to the Power of Deformation; he was now manipulating the Blood Transformation Divine Sword with several times more ease than before.

Even as he opened his mouth, a crimson beam of light erupted forth, directly sweeping across the layer of ice, tracing a long, bloody wound across it from which blood gushed out in torrents, causing large sections of the ice to shatter and disintegrate.

Li Xiuzhu looked at his dragon claws somewhat emotionally.

Having cultivated the Dao and inherited the bloodline of Ying Long, a hint of realization rose in his heart at this moment.

"Heavenly Dao is like the sun, and the void is like a dark cloud."

"When the sun's rays pass through a layer of dark clouds, the light that reaches the ground is the distorted Heavenly Dao."

"The rain falling from the dark clouds is the Power of Deformation."

At this moment, Li Xiuzhu could feel that he, having already pushed his cultivation to the ninth realm, could use the Great Sky Flipping Fist Intent to contend with the distorted Heavenly Dao information in the Blood Transformation Divine Sword, much like battling the twist within the Dao Repository.

His demon bloodline's flesh was now more resistant to the Mutated Power emanating from the Blood Transformation Divine Sword than his former hybrid body ever was.

'Twist is more like information, Deformation more like power.'

Listening to Li Xiuzhu's epiphany, that deep voice commented, "While it's not entirely correct, it's not wrong either. Li Xiuzhu, your talent truly exceeds my expectations; you are a natural-born demon."

"I'm not a demon..." Li Xiuzhu said faintly, "I'm just a person who utilizes the power of demons."

As he spoke, his body underwent rapid changes, shockingly transforming from the appearance of Ying Long back into a human form.

And with it, his Primordial Yinglong Armor also shifted, morphing into a set of blue armor inlaid with golden threads, carved with dragons' heads and claws, fitting snugly onto Li Xiuzhu's body.

A mask shaped like a dragon's head was worn over his head, the dragon's eyes emitting golden glimmers.

That deep voice expressed surprise, "Oh? To have mastered transformation so quickly, Li Xiuzhu... whether you accept it or not, you are more suited to the power of demons than the Immortal Dao of humans."

Li Xiuzhu did not speak, but instead soared upward, flying in the direction of the Sky Flipping Sect. Mid-flight, however, he felt the power within him surge increasingly, an irresistible urge to release it growing stronger.

The next moment, accompanied by a dragon's roar, he had transformed back into Ying Long, shooting towards the direction of the Sky Flipping Sect like a bolt of lightning.

Watching the departing silhouette of Li Xiuzhu, the deep voice muttered, "Demons will rise again and once more rule this world..."

The voice grew fainter and ultimately sank into silence.

Thick fog and snow had already enveloped the entire valley, and, moments later, the entire valley had vanished above the snowfields.

...

Meanwhile, at the Heavenly Demon base.

Zhou Bai's eyes gleamed as the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor before him once again took on the form of armor, its hundred and eight dragon scales shimmering softly, like a hundred and eight stars attached to the surface of the armor, moving positions with the armor's operation, pulling on the runes as if the night sky.

Zhou Bai's eyes sparkled with keen light, "Finally succeeded." He exhaled softly, "Now that I wear the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor, I should be able to directly wrestle with beings like the Wan Xing True Monarch." The Primordial Spirit exerting power...

Zhou Bai recalled the battle at East Mountain City, silently calculating, "The Primordial Spirit exerting power is approximately equal to 0.7 of a Wan Xing True Monarch. If I join forces with my avatar, then that's more than the strength of one Wan Xing True Monarch."

Mechanical minions creation and modification completed, the Apocalypse Heavenly Skeleton Armor also had been enhanced, and my laziness value has been amassed to 10 million from daily trades with the Heavenly Demon organization.

Zhou Bai mused to himself, "Next, it's time to learn the Five Supreme Divine Powers."

He wanted to contact the Mysterious Lady to check on her situation.

Just as he invoked his minions' prayer ability, he immediately sensed countless prayers coming from a distant direction.

The frenetic dots of prayer allowed Zhou Bai's minions to communicate with him over long distances through prayer.

And what Zhou Bai heard now was...

Mysterious Lady: "Zhou Bai, are you there?"

"You there?"

"You there?"

"You there?"

"You there?"

"Are you sleeping?"

"Why aren't you responding?"

"You there?"

"I've sent you so many messages, and you haven't replied once, is it fun to ignore me like this? Fine, then I guess I shouldn't bother you anymore."

"Good morning."