Light Fortress
Chapter 214 - 199 The Right Person

Chapter 214: Chapter 199 The Right Person

Southern Continent.

A decrepit church, surrounded by a worn fence, moonlight spilled through the window panes of the church, the priest stood before the holy image in prayer, the long night silent, until a deep growl came from outside the church.

The fence was smashed by someone.

The figure that burst into the church stumbled, his entire body ablaze with blood-colored flames.

He charged straight toward the church.

The praying priest was startled by the abnormality, he turned around, and saw a horrifying scene... The wall of the church collapsed with a loud boom, a humanoid figure staggered into the place, "it" could no longer be described with the word ’human,’ the blood-colored fire burned its hair, clothes, and those crimson pupils.

This was a monster.

"Wish for me... to kneel..."

The monster’s mouth erupted in a murmuring roar, as if it were conversing with the non-existent air.

"How could that be possible!"

The priest retreated to the holy image, grasping the crucifix emblem on his chest tightly, his face turning pale, whispering the holy name, hoping for protection... At that moment, the holy image behind him seemed to really manifest its spirit!

An invisible pressure descended.

The ground cracked with a snap, invisible webs spreading out.

The monster burning with Blood Fire roared, its knees heavily hitting the ground, it tried with all its might to rise... but its kneecaps shattered, patella indented, the spirit contained in this flesh burned rapidly.

It was as if a god had extended a palm, pressing it on the forehead of this monster.

Thus, it knelt before the holy image, struggling as it looked up.

And then... it died.

Leaving only a body whose burning presence gradually diminished, finally dwindling to a hollow shell.

...

...

Bai Shu looked at his own palm.

A strand of blood-colored flame, tightly held between his hands, gradually weakening, this strand of Blood Fire was extremely tough and stubborn.

Imprisoned in an absolutely inaccessible spiritual quandary by "Reverse Flow," it still wished to compete with him.

He had given Xiao a chance.

And Xiao... fell far short.

They were not even in the same league.

Even disregarding abilities, just competing in what Xiao was best at, spiritual power, the fight ended in a crushing victory.

If Xiao was willing to kneel, to submit.

Then... there would be no need to continue this fight.

Bai Shu was indifferent to Xiao’s fate; to him, Xiao’s existence was like an ant seen accidentally under the shade of a tree.

To kill or to spare, it was merely a spontaneous decision.

Yet, this strand of Blood Fire’s spirit was somewhat surprising to him, defiant unto death, unwilling to bow at all, let alone... kneel.

Millions of miles apart, what could kneeling achieve?

At least it would’ve saved his life.

Unwilling to kneel... then go to death.

The struggling strand of blood-colored flame, scattered with the wind, slowly stretching out, turning into ashes vanishing into the air.

Bai Shu’s expression was blank, as he watched the last vestige of this S-rank fugitive’s spirit shatter within the "Reverse Flow" Spiritual Domain, his gaze finally settling on the woman lying in the grass.

In fact, he was curious.

This mysterious person called "Xiao," what kind of Extraordinary Ability did he possess, that allowed him to manipulate a person’s spiritual will from such a distance, turning a Transcendent into his own vessel.

After the Blood Fire dissipated.

This woman’s spirit had not awoken... The most ironclad rule in this world indeed is "life and death."

Xiao’s vessels were all deceased, just like the former genius Judge of the Judgement Institute, "Zhou Yu", whose body remained even though his spirit had already perished.

Once Xiao abandoned the body.

Then, after the spirit of this body was utterly destroyed, the "Extraordinary Essence" condensed within the body would dissipate... It wouldn’t be long before these Extraordinary Essences vanished into nothingness.

Bai Shu crouched down, arriving in front of the woman, frowning... The body emitted a faint stench of decay, for due to the spirit’s annihilation, the body was rapidly decaying. In fact, Xiao’s "vessels" were not truly in a living state; they were more like puppets, albeit nearly indistinguishable from normal people.

He extended two fingers, gently swiping over the woman’s neck.

To preserve the body.

This vessel was always coated with some kind of strangely textured powder, and perhaps there were other ways to maintain it. No one could ensure a high concentration of spiritual power around the clock, and Xiao, far away from here, ultimately needed to rest... And this vessel needed a suitable place to recuperate while he rested.

This might be a clue.

This woman’s name was Ye Ningqiu...

Zhou Jiren had given himself a thoroughly detailed file, with important figures from Da Du recorded within.

If he recalled correctly, this was a quite famous leader of the South Bay Faction, usually very low-profile, and the reason for the low profile probably had to do with the inconvenience of this body appearing in public often...

Now Ye Ningqiu was dead.

To be precise, it was "Xiao" who was dead.

Bai Shu took out a communicator and sent this message to someone who preferred to stay behind the scenes, a cagey old fellow who liked to play the hands-off manager. Based on an agreement they negotiated back then in an underground bar, he had essentially completed the "mission."

As for investigating further clues... that was no longer his concern.

"Chen Mei, survive."

"Xiao, executed."

Not long after these brief messages were sent, he received a reply from Zhou Jiren.

"Received!"

"It’s just like you, Changye Invincible!"

The end of the second sentence was accompanied by a somewhat smug smiley face emoji.

Bai Shu frowned, and just as he was about to put away the communicator, a message from Zhou Jiren came again.

"— I have good news."

Bai Shu raised an eyebrow, instinctively looking around... He found it somewhat amusing and self-deprecatory to make this gesture, accustomed as he was to being like a ghost, sometimes even forgetting he was still "alive."

Chasing an unreachable endpoint.

Trying to grasp an untouchable hope.

Leaving the underground with Zhou Jiren to come to Da Du... was just a fleeting moment of wishful thinking, sometimes more painful than "dying." Perhaps trying one more time, there might be hope?

He took a deep breath, but suddenly there were no more messages from the other side.

The old man, playing coy, unethically played a game of disappearance.

During the wait, Bai Shu suddenly realized... his current mood should be called... anxious?

Because there was hope.

So there was anxiety.

In that case... he had started a chase once again.

The communicator signaled an incoming call.

On the other end was Zhou Jiren’s apologetic laughter, "Ah ha, there were some troubles at the auditorium, just finished dealing with it... thanks for your efforts."

"No need for nonsense, it was just killing a bug after all."

"Cough..." Zhou Jiren choked.

He cleared his tone, and said gravely, "The door has been opened, I bet correctly... Gu Shen was the right person."