Within the Xin Huo Academy, Fang You opened his panel and entered the Mystic Realm Exploration module.
On the minimap, golden dots representing the Xin Huo myths were flashing and spreading outwards. Their flight speed was extremely fast, and even on the exploration map, which was shrunk thousands of times, the golden dots still moved with great alacrity.
Fang You stared at these dots, occasionally switching his view to observe these myths.
He could not afford to slacken.
Although he himself remained within the academy, the long-range support he provided was a crucial part of this plan.
Times had truly changed.
Now, Tutor Fang's ultra-long-range support included tactical retreat, far-distance observation, tactical guidance, and troop deployment, a far cry from the early days when he could only watch helplessly.
"Now, time is of the essence."
"Stealth is no longer that important; they'll be discovered sooner or later."
"Besides, the Evil God faction…"
He had already confirmed that there were direct conflicts of interest among the Evil God factions.
The Nameless Evil God wished to awaken.
The servants all desired their god to awaken sooner. At the same time, they did not want other Evil Gods to awaken!
Sowing discord, assassination, sabotage, and sniping – a chaotic battle was already unfolding in the Mystic Realm.
Looking optimistically, perhaps, without them lifting a finger, the ritual of disaster sowing by the Black River faction would be disrupted.
However, how could he place his hope in the Evil God factions?
Humanity was running out of time!
With each passing day, tens of millions more humans would be reduced to living dead.
Even if the ritual of disaster was truly sabotaged by other Evil God servants, such as the Crimson Emperor, the Black River faction would only suffer a delay in the awakening of "Twisted Black River." For humanity, it would mean the loss of tens of millions of lives!
Therefore, time was life.
Adorned with various tactical equipment, the myths departing from Xin Huo Academy maintained their high-speed flight.
They merely tried to conceal their divine aura, endeavoring not to attract the attention of seven-star malevolent entities while flying at high speed. Ordinary malevolent entities were not a concern; they zipped past, stirring up gray mist and residual clouds, leaving behind only small, bewildered malevolent entities.
...
In the Yun Hui Great Domain,
The old King of Crimson Sand sat in the central position, ready to provide aid at any moment.
If he were to act, he could easily slay a Seven Awakening myth and destroy several sources of disaster. However, this would only make the Evil Gods' minions more vigilant, making it more difficult to dismantle subsequent sources of disaster that contained greater calamitous power and were more dangerous.
Just as the old King of Crimson Sand was contemplating a solution, the news of Xin Huo Academy myths appearing in the sky reached his ears.
"Many myths, how many?"
"Ten? Twenty? Thirty?"
The myth before him hesitated, then said, "Perhaps more, the exact number is still unclear, but according to eyewitness accounts, it might be far more than thirty."
The old King of Crimson Sand: "!!!"
The cannon fodder myth continued, "We suspect some of them are newly ascended myths. After all, the core students recruited by Xin Huo Academy include many geniuses with excellent foundations and potential. It's just that most geniuses cannot gather the materials for the Seven Awakening ritual themselves, nor do they possess the relevant knowledge."
Their Crimson Sand Kingdom had also discovered similar geniuses before.
However, the Mystic Realm never lacked geniuses. And even geniuses, unless they were so outstanding as to transcend an era, were not valued by top powers.
Their resources were also limited. When choosing between nurturing a direct descendant genius and a stronger genius with no blood relation, they would naturally choose the former.
"But this number is still too outrageous; myths are not like common cabbages!" said the current King of Crimson Sand.
"Indeed."
The cannon fodder myth added, "So, either Xin Huo Academy possesses a promotion ritual that can mass-produce 'pseudo-myths,' or Xin Huo Academy had other hidden trump cards."
"I lean towards all three."
He finished speaking, and the old King of Crimson Sand took over, "Regardless, Xin Huo Academy is now our ally. The stronger our allies, the more confident we are in dealing with disasters. This is good news."
"However…"
The situation remained unoptimistic.
Even with many myths from Xin Huo Academy, the myths from the Evil God faction would only be more numerous, as would the sources of disaster distributed across the great domains.
A few dozen more myths would provide some help to the current situation, but it was not enough.
The old King of Crimson Sand was currently contemplating whether there was a way to sever the connection between the sources of disaster.
If they could achieve this, they could dismantle the sources of disaster one by one.
Their Crimson Sand Kingdom was already researching this. However, research involving laws was not easy, and breakthroughs were difficult to achieve in a short period.
What they needed to do now was to defend the oasis positions while finding an order of dismantling the disaster sources with the lowest hazard.
"—Breaking a source of disaster would cause the remaining calamities to transfer and accumulate. Since we cannot completely avoid this, we can only choose to save the more important oases."
This was a desperate measure.
The other six kingdoms had similar thoughts.
They were astonished by the number of myths from Xin Huo Academy. Some countries had more than one demigod guarding them, yet their Seven Awakening myths were still few in number, far inferior to Xin Huo Academy.
However, for now, the countries' astonishment quickly passed, and their attention was focused on the disasters.
They were desperately searching for a breakthrough, hoping Xin Huo Academy could provide some surprise.
"Your Majesty, Xin Huo Academy requests us to share intelligence on the sources of disaster, should we…?"
"Grant it!"
...
Under the shroud of gray mist, on land filled with withered wood and ruined buildings, two golden streams of light, wrapped in divine aura, streaked across the low altitude, startling a swarm of malevolent entities.
They were two unremarkable core students of Xin Huo Academy, a pair of twin brothers.
Long Tao Yi.
Long Tao Er.
The mission ahead was fraught with danger, and it was not that the two brothers were not afraid.
But to retreat? That was out of the question.
A drop of kindness should be repaid with a gushing spring.
For the grace of a myth's tutelage, they were willing to go through fire and water for the organization and their mentor!
Moreover,
They were already myths, with inexhaustible strength flowing through their bodies. They were spirited, and their passion was ignited.
"Battle!"
As part of the cleansing plan, the myths were paired up, responsible for locating and identifying target sources of disaster.
Having two myths working together ensured that they would have some ability to resist when encountering great danger.
Only then could they hold out until reinforcements arrived.
The Long Tao brothers were responsible for a source of disaster that was a bit further from the academy. As they flew, they continuously refreshed the mission information on their panels, learning that a team had already cleared the malevolent entities around a disaster source and guided Adult Xiao Huan to dismantle it.
They were a bit behind.
"Don't rush," the elder brother was more steady. "Our mission sequence was already relatively late. According to the plan, it's not our turn for another 1800 seconds. We must strictly follow the mission requirements, not too fast, not too slow."
The elder brother had read the mission carefully and attended the pre-battle mobilization meeting.
He knew all too well that being too fast was not a good thing.
The two brothers needed to arrive at specific battlefields at specific times. If they were too early, they might disrupt the plans of the high-ranking figures within the academy.
They were myths, and they yearned to achieve merit, but obeying orders was the top priority.
Moreover, myths seemed… not that noble.
Before, they looked up to them, barely able to catch a glimpse of their backs. But now that they had stepped into the heavens, immersed in the environment of Xin Huo Academy, they, as myths… had become even more humble.
"We're almost there," the elder brother said. "Be careful."
"Mhm!"
The two brothers slowed down their flight speed, raising their vigilance to the maximum. Divine sense emanated from their foreheads, scanning kilometers, tens of kilometers, and dozens of kilometers ahead.
"Found it!"
In the distance, a polluted black river divided the land, flowing towards the horizon.
In the regions outside the oases, most rivers appeared murky, with many being gray-black. However, this river was excessively dark, much like oases directly shrouded by corrupting power.
And in the middle of this polluted river, the water surface bulged unnaturally, forming a massive object resembling a pustule.
A thick aura of inauspiciousness and terror emanated from this object,
Instilling fear and making one's scalp tingle!
An ordinary awakened individual encountering this giant pustule might immediately go mad and become a living corpse. However, the Long Tao brothers were myths. They stabilized their minds and condensed their will into light, suppressing the slight discomfort that suddenly arose, though their hearts still felt a tremor.
"This must be the source of disaster."
"Brother, watch me destroy it!"
Long Tao Er suddenly swung his fist.
The lightning-infused cannon fist tore through the air, emitting a roaring sound and pushing aside rolling clouds. After pulverizing dozens of ordinary malevolent entities, this peak cannon fist landed directly on the source of disaster.
Then, nothing happened.
"Our strength is far from enough to destroy the imprint of an Evil God. We only need to report the information and clear out the intermediate and high-level malevolent entities around it."
The malevolent entities in this area were not difficult to deal with; there were no seven-star malevolent entities in sight, only a dozen six-star entities, and the swarms of hundreds of thousands or millions of malevolent entities gathered around the source of disaster.
There were many, but they didn't need to eliminate all of them.
The two brothers began their hunt.
But as they delved into the tide of malevolent entities and flew closer to the source of disaster, their expressions drastically changed.
Horrifying figures appeared all around.
Four Evil God servants, two rare seven-star malevolent entities, and a considerable number of ordinary Evil God minions.
This was a trap.
And their divine sense had failed to detect it earlier.
"Hehehehehehe—"
"Terrible!"
Long Tao Yi quickly changed the information he was about to report, but before he could finish typing, the "hehehehe" laughter was abruptly cut short.
A slender hand tore through space, ripping apart the body of the Evil God servant along with it.
The next instant, the owner of the hand appeared not far from the two brothers, smacking her lips, "That laughter was too unpleasant."
The Evil God servant slowly fell.
With a look of disbelief, as if to say, "You're not playing by the rules."
"When dealing with lackeys of Evil Gods, there's no need for rules. Let's gang up on them!"
Little Huan shouted.
Then she realized that there seemed to be fewer people on her side.
Oh, that's fine then.
...
The Evil God minions departed with great peace.
They had superior numbers and had even set up ritual traps around them, but for Little Huan, who could freely traverse space, fixed rituals were meaningless.
Numbers were also meaningless in the face of absolute power.
Soon, when An Jian You summoned several seven-star malevolent entities, they held the advantage in myth-level combat power.
Slightly superior in numbers.
Overwhelmingly superior in power.
"Miss An and I are going on a rampage!" Little Huan declared.
And she wasn't just going on a rampage; she had already snagged a kill.
"Next location, let's go."
...
Before the nth source of disaster, Little Huan's chariot, pulling Miss An, descended.
An Jian You sat on a miniaturized legendary palace artifact, with black mist surging from her, seeping into various malevolent entity babies, and striking the Evil God servants and malevolent entities not far away.
Meanwhile, Little Huan, taking advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, instantly teleported to the source of disaster. Holding the 'Path-Breaking Spear,' she plunged it fiercely into the giant pustule.
*Sputter—*
The pustule immediately deflated, and countless corrupted waters flowed out and splattered, quickly vanishing under the power of the Path-Breaking Spear.
This crimson-grade artifact for laws could not only shatter the source of disaster with a single blow but also more thoroughly eliminate its residual power.
In other words, it could reduce the amount of calamitous power flowing to other regions.
However, it was only reduced, not eliminated.
Therefore, Little Huan and the two still had to race against time.
They often struck and killed in one blow, then left immediately.
They were well-versed in the ways of speed and caution.
They were not too concerned about the surrounding Evil God servants and seven-star malevolent entities.
It wasn't that they didn't want to kill them, but it would waste time and energy. An Jian You could kill several myth-level combatants in a short period, but the mentor had told her that this mission required more endurance, so she chose an efficient and economical combat style.
But there were things they cared about.
Before Little Huan left, there was one thing she had to do—salvage the drops from the source of disaster.
She might not get the final blow, but the organization couldn't fall behind economically, as it was currently in dire straits.
An Jian You thought the same; frugality was a very important matter.
"The progress so far is going smoothly."
Within the academy, Fang You fixed one viewpoint on An Jian You, while simultaneously opening several other viewpoints to constantly survey the various coordinate teams.
There were, of course, unexpected events.
The Long Tao brothers encountered an ambush, but the enemies were surprisingly gentlemanly. Before they could even fight... or rather, before they could be beaten, Little Huan descended and swiftly eliminated the Evil God servants.
However, some teams were ambushed, injured, and fell into a difficult situation.
Some students were severely wounded under the enemy's sneak attack. Seeing that Little Huan was still unable to freely jump through space to provide aid, Tutor Fang took action.
"Brilliant Blessing!"
"Four Symbols Barrier!"
He used two epic skills and burned faith power as fuel to amplify them.
Then, he consumed destiny power and projected this power along the invisible threads of destiny onto the designated sub-apostles.
Brilliant Blessing healed their wounds and amplified their combat power, allowing the two myths to exert power beyond their peak even when injured.
The Four Symbols Barrier formed a safe zone, where they could hold on for a while.
By the time Little Huan and An Jian You descended, they could then go on a rampage.
"The flaw in this strategy is that mobility depends entirely on Little Huan."
He kept the dimensional palace artifact in hand, and if necessary, he could use the palace to traverse space and go to a certain location to provide support.
But even the dimensional palace artifact was not as fast as Little Huan in traversing space.
Rather than saying the strategy had a flaw, it was more accurate to say that Little Huan was too overpowered. She single-handedly supported the entire strategy.
Yun Hui Great Domain.
The seven-kingdom myths who were dismantling the sources of disaster were astonished.
"In just one day, Xin Huo Academy has eliminated most of the disaster sources in Luofeng Great Domain and several other great domains?"
What incredible speed this was!
They could not fathom what means Xin Huo Academy had used, but undoubtedly, this news was exhilarating.
"However, do not be careless."
Yun Zhong Lao Ren, a demigod of the Yun Tu Kingdom, had wisdom flashing in his eyes. "Not long ago, we had an encounter with a demigod-level Evil God servant, and we were at a disadvantage."
"And outside the Yun Hui Great Domain, perhaps the Evil God faction invested less power before, but Xin Huo Academy's achievements will undoubtedly attract their attention and hostility. Next, the Evil Gods' minions will likely lay traps to target them."
"Convey my words to Xin Huo Academy and tell them to be more careful."
At this moment,
The manifest portal of Xin Huo Academy was under attack by Evil God servants.
Two demigods and eight myths launched a fierce assault. Moreover, tens of millions of malevolent entities were surging towards them.
Vice-Dean Liu Feng intervened, engaging two demigods in a stalemate.
White light screens rose simultaneously.
Within the academy, the statues of the Deep Sea Dragon Turtle and the Ancient Rock Dragon roared, flying out from their secret realms.
A fierce battle erupted.
At the same time,
In a black river in an adjacent great domain.
"Emmmm, it seems we've run into an ambush."
Above and below, black rituals spread out like a vast net, sealing off numerous spaces.
Little Huan's expression changed.
An Jian You broke out in a cold sweat.
Her gaze swept around, "Two demigods."
Upon hearing this, Little Huan's cold sweat flowed faster. "We are just two weak, pitiable, and helpless little myths. These Evil God lackeys are too dishonorable; how can they bully the small with the big!"
"Master, save us~!"
The Evil God servants ignored her whimpering, but they were indeed somewhat surprised. The ones who disrupted their plan and affected the awakening of the great god were two delicate human females?
They certainly did not discriminate based on gender. In their eyes, humans, regardless of sex, were of the same species, and human females could also be extremely powerful.
But these two before them, one whimpering, the other trembling, did not look like powerful individuals at all.
"Never mind."
"Just kill them."
"This king loves tearing apart these delicate humans the most."
"Hehehehehehe—"
Gray mist permeated the air.
Within the grayness, strands of blackness drifted.
The black mist grew denser.
As if shaking its shoulders and letting its hair fall, An Jian You slowly raised her head.
Her eyes were darker than the abyss, colder than frozen earth.
From her body, viscous black mist emanated, resonating faintly with the black mist pervading the surroundings.
An eerie wind howled, and ghostly cries wailed.
Vast, terrifying figures, wrapped in black mist, appeared one after another.
An Jian You gritted her teeth.
She was afraid.
But she had to stand in front of her sister Little Huan and face the might of the demigods.
The demigods of the Evil God faction were indeed... terrifying and filthy!
She could see, from them, one trembling silhouette after another.
This was too terrifying!
*Tear—*
A red-robed malevolent entity suddenly appeared. With a flick of its red sash, it coiled around the two myths, tearing their bodies apart.
The red robe let out chilling roars of "Hoo hoo~ Eee eee~."
The white-sashed malevolent entity turned into a beam of light and merged into the red robe's body.
The surrounding eerie wind intensified.
The underworld spread out from beneath An Jian You, and the Styx River flowed with surging currents.
Blurred shadows wailed incessantly, trying to crawl out from within, to devour souls and bones.
This scene was even more chilling than theirs.
The Evil God servants swallowed hard.
Their gaze towards An Jian You changed: What Evil God's subordinate was this woman? She was definitely not human!