Lu Yuan took a deep breath. Flame-like Death Qi surged from his surroundings, coalescing behind him into four black wings that shimmered with a crystalline luster.

Like a plume of black smoke, he silently flew out of the window, ascending straight up.

Within moments, he reached an altitude of several dozen meters.

The black wings flapped silently as Lu Yuan surveyed the scene below.

The entirety of Linghe Pavilion lay before him, streetlights dotting the urban nightscape at his feet. He could see pedestrians hurrying home late and delivery drivers on electric scooters weaving through the streets and alleys.

A faint warmth emanated from his right chest.

Lu Yuan gently pressed the spot where the Elephant God's curse mark lay, waiting silently until the warmth gradually faded.

The curse seemed to have drawn a little closer.

However, Lu Yuan remained largely unfazed. He confirmed the direction of the Evil Martial Association's three Protectors and maneuvered his wings, flying towards them at full speed.

He used a portion of Death Qi, which formed a Circulation of Death Qi as it enveloped his entire body, allowing him to merge completely with the dense night.

This way, even if someone below were to look up, they would only glimpse a small, rapidly moving dark cloud.

He also didn't need to worry about being detected by the electronic instruments and surveillance equipment of the Old City Circle. The only thing capable of detecting his presence was the Heaven Eye System.

However, the data monitored by the Heaven Eye System would ultimately be relayed to Lu Yuan. As the Double Winged Flying Bear, he currently held the highest authority in the entire Old City Circle.

By that logic... Lu Yuan is now essentially "perfectly invisible."

The moon was very round that night, and the air quality was quite good, with little haze in the sky.

Lu Yuan gradually increased his altitude. The full moon hung directly in his flight path, its brilliant light bathing him.

From his vantage point, the entire mortal world lay beneath him, devoid of any clamor or pollution. His vision was filled only by the round moon, evoking a sensation of extraordinary expansiveness, coldness, ethereality, and tranquility.

Lu Yuan had learned to fly using Death Qi Coagulation Wings in the Lament Ruins; this was his first time attempting it in the outside world.

He now felt more keenly than ever what an exhilarating experience it was to fly under his own power.

It was an entirely different sensation from flying with the aid of a device.

"The view from this angle is perfect for a phone wallpaper. Even a drone couldn't capture this..."

Lu Yuan blinked, using the built-in camera function of the optical computer in his retinas to snap a few photos. He admired them repeatedly, finding them more captivating each time he looked.

When people encounter something exceptionally interesting or beautiful, they inevitably feel the desire to share. Lu Yuan was no exception.

He scrolled through his contacts.

Then, he sent the photos to "Lord Tong Tong Tong," "Lu Jing," and "Quiet Zhu Bao."

Of course, such photos could only be sent to girls. Among his contacts, these three were the closest females to him.

All three replied quickly.

Yu Wentong was the fastest.

Lord Tong directly sent over dozens of images.

There was a round moon suspended over a crimson sea, another entangled in countless violet lightning bolts, one an eerie green, and even a photograph of the actual, super-colossal moon taken against a vast Starry Sky...

Well! He'd brought that embarrassment upon himself. What grand sights hadn't Lord Tong witnessed?

Lu Yuan typed "666" and sent it with an emoji captioned "Worshipping the expert."

Next, he opened Lu Jing's message: "Why are you still up so late?? Bro, I want to order takeout, but I don't know what to get. Any recommendations?"

Lu Yuan was rather speechless and replied with a "poop" emoji.

Then he read Xia Zhijing's reply: "It's truly beautiful."

Finally, he received the kind of response he had hoped for.

Lu Yuan chatted casually as he flew towards his intended destination.

「.....」

In a deserted wilderness, beneath the cold, round moon, three figures were locked in a desperate battle.

The originally two-meter-plus Guardian Xiang now stood nearly three meters tall. The voluminous black robe he wore year-round had vanished, revealing a physique as solid and imposing as granite.

Blood-red feathers sprouted all over Guardian Ying's body. His arms had transformed into wing-like appendages, and his fingers were freakishly long, tipped with sharp talons resembling those of a hawk.

He hovered in mid-air, his two talons continuously tearing bloody gashes in the night air.

The remaining horse-faced Guardian Lin was enveloped in a dense gray fog. Beneath the fog, his physique was powerful and robust, brimming with explosive strength.

All three fought at full power, periodically launching attacks or making defensive maneuvers.

Strangely, however, there seemed to be no opponent before them; it was as if they were battling an invisible foe.

THUD! THUD!

A few muffled impacts sounded, and several deep indentations abruptly appeared on Guardian Xiang's formidable frame. He grunted, his body swaying slightly.

His pillar-like arm whistled as it swung forward, generating powerful gusts of air. It seemingly struck something, producing a crisp DING.

Guardian Xiang retracted his hand. A deep, bleeding gash had appeared on his fist.

"This is bad. If this continues, we'll be torn apart..." Guardian Ying's voice echoed from nearby. His face was ashen as he flew rapidly towards Guardian Xiang, his hawk-like wings covered in bloody wounds.

WHOOSH—

A fierce wind swept in, carrying the gray fog and revealing the horse-faced middle-aged man.

The horse-faced man's expression was grim. His powerful body also bore numerous indentations, but they were rapidly healing under the influence of the gray fog.

"Guardian Ying is right. We should find a way to retreat as soon as possible."

Guardian Xiang stomped his foot on the ground, causing it to tremble violently. Earth and stones surged outwards like waves, and the assault of their unseen, bizarre enemy seemed to falter momentarily.

"Hmph."

He grunted heavily. Then, the three of them, almost in unison, shot off in three different directions.

But just as they chose to flee, a furious gale suddenly erupted around the wilderness.

Massive air currents converged, forming a colossal hurricane around the three. It swept up countless stones, grass, and trees from the ground, creating an incredibly terrifying spectacle.

The trio had been positioned in the eye of the hurricane. As they tried to escape, they slammed into its wind wall.

It was like colliding with an immensely hard, high wall; all three figures were forcibly thrown back.

BOOM!

Guardian Xiang planted his feet firmly, raising his right hand. On his granite-hard body, lines of evil runes lit up. Terrifying power gathered in his fist as he punched violently at the wind wall before him.

RUMBLE!

A large hole was torn through the hurricane wall.

But before the three could rejoice, the hole was instantly repaired, vanishing from sight.

"It wants to trap us and kill us!" Guardian Ying's face was extremely grim. He continuously slashed his arms in all directions, leaving bloody trails that struck the wind wall, producing sharp, CLANGING sounds.

"Walker Level! This is definitely Walker Level power!" The horse-faced middle-aged man's face began to show traces of fear and horror, and his strong, perfect body seemed to tremble.

"How can a Walker Level being emerge from a stone tablet?"

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? I told you not to mess with that thing! And you just had to try that blood-binding ritual? Read too many novels, have you?" Guardian Ying snarled at him.

Just then, SWISH—

A large, transparent, distorted wind blade suddenly materialized within the hurricane surrounding the trio, slashing down towards Guardian Ying's head.

Guardian Xiang's eyes glinted. He raised his right hand, attempting to block the wind blade.

However, the instant he touched it, his sturdy, thick right arm was silently severed.

Guardian Ying seized the opportunity to dodge. He stared at Guardian Xiang, now missing an arm, and then at the deep, narrow chasm that had appeared where he himself had just been standing. His face instantly turned deathly pale.

"Damn it!" he couldn't help but curse, trying to mask the uncontrollable trembling in his heart.

The three had no time to catch their breath. Within the raging hurricane, more transparent wind blades began to descend.

And this time, there was more than one.

Their pupils contracted. With Guardian Xiang's fate as a harsh lesson, they dared not recklessly touch the wind blades again.

Trapped within the confined space of the hurricane, they each used their abilities, narrowly and perilously evading this round of attacks. But when they looked up...

They saw the air above their heads densely packed with the shapes of distorted wind blades.

If all these wind blades were to fall, the trio would have absolutely no room to dodge.

In an instant, a chilling sensation crawled up their scalps.

"Break it! Break this damned thing and get out!" Guardian Ying immediately became frantic, his eyes bloodshot as he furiously attacked a section of the wind wall before him.

Guardian Xiang and the horse-faced middle-aged man, jolted to their senses, joined him in attacking the same spot.

However, the wind wall's resilience seemed to increase with time. Moments ago, Guardian Xiang had been able to punch a hole in it.

Now, even with the three of them attacking together, they couldn't even make a dent. They could only watch as ripples spread across the wind wall, which remained steadfastly intact.

"To hell with you!" Guardian Ying shrieked, raking one claw across the wind wall with extreme ferocity. His sharp talons scraped against the rapidly flowing air, producing a ZZZT sound, like metal grinding against metal.

In a short while, his claw was dripping with blood.

Yet, he seemed oblivious, his gaze fixed upwards on the distorted wind blades hovering ominously, ready to fall at any moment, as he continued to slash relentlessly.

Just as despair began to creep into their hearts...

Suddenly.

BOOM!

A tremendous noise erupted from above. The supposedly unbreakable wind wall was blasted open, creating a "skylight" through which a beam of clear moonlight shone down, quietly illuminating a translucent spear, seemingly carved from black crystal, embedded in the ground.

Wisps of cold, decaying, deathly aura emanated from the spear, instantly filling the entire space within the hurricane.

The trio was stunned by this abrupt development.

Immediately, they heard a second, deafening RUMBLE!

Another black spear descended, tearing a second hole in the hurricane.

RUMBLE!

A third spear.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

Then a fourth, and a fifth...

One after another, black spears, as if falling from the heavens of the underworld, rained down.

Under the barrage of spears, the gray hurricane was riddled with holes.

Black flames spread from the edges of the breaches, burning outwards. In just a few breaths, the hurricane, once like an impenetrable fortress of bronze and iron, was tattered and torn.

Guardian Ying and the others stared in a daze, still trying to process what was happening.

Then, they saw a blurred figure appear outside the swirling hurricane.

The figure, treading on moonlight, approached and stood outside the wind wall, making a simple tearing gesture with his hand.

Following this, a figure with four enormous black wings, clad in ancient, magnificent armor that seemed forged from black crystal, materialized before them.

This person stood tall and straight, their physique, encased in armor, appearing near perfect.

He wore a crystal mask, adorned with Other Shore Flower patterns, which covered two-thirds of his face.

The hurricane winds tousled his short, night-black hair. The transparent wind blades, which Guardian Ying and the others had feared like tigers and scorpions, swarmed towards him the moment he appeared, like sharks scenting blood.

But the incomparably sharp wind blades, seemingly capable of slicing through anything, were all deflected by his splendid armor upon contact.

A dense series of CLANGS and CRACKS echoed.

For a moment, Guardian Ying and the other two were utterly dumbfounded...

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