27: Chapter 27 Sky Stream vs. Earth Stream

As the voice faded, the web of lightning in the high sky did not immediately crash down.

It lifted higher first.

Three Thunder-wing Griffins ascended to a higher level, the electric patterns beneath their wings lighting up section by section, forcefully swirling away the grey smoke above the collapsed pit.

Six mid-ring Griffins swept across, riding the wind currents, specifically cutting off the mixed flow of surface residual fire and underground heat.

Lower down, eight Silver-feathered Scout Griffins circled back and forth along the edge of the collapsed pit, their wingtips grazing the ground like silver knives scraping the soil.

Ji Mingxiao was in no rush to dive.

He was clearing the field.

Lu Jin stood at the fissure of the partially collapsed echo layer, looked up, and turned to plunge a broken scale-spear into the ground.

"Digging Squad, seal off the three open vents on the north side."

"Transport Team, drag the copper pipes down, set the black shields upright on the second-level collapse slope."

"Fire Oil Throwers, split into two rows; those guarding the carts stand in front, those guarding the wells stand behind."

"Grey Pupil, clear the offering basin, don't let the wellheads emit any more true heat."

As the orders were pressed down, the true layer underground moved immediately.

Semi-molten fire-pouring copper pipes were dragged one by one into the side chambers, broken wind-needles were inserted into the newly dug narrow wellheads, and Grey Pupil personally peeled the feather sheaths off the thunder-feathers and pressed them into the inner walls of the copper pipes.

A dozen of the least injured Transport Rats dragged black rock shield plates, setting them up one by one along the collapse slope, stubbornly constructing a crooked, short wall outside the second-level kill path.

The wall was not high.

Just enough to block the line of sight from the low-altitude dive.

Grey Pupil scraped the ash of the Fire Oil Throwers who had died in the previous battle into the basin bit by bit, and then divided the surviving throwers into three rows.

The left row had the most packs.

The middle row had the toughest claw skin.

The right row knelt by the offering basin, specifically to guard the fire.

When those few knelt down, their heads were pressed extremely low, and their tails were pressed against the ground.

The gaze of the surrounding rat pack towards them changed as well; even the previously fiercest Ambush Rats consciously made way.

Lu Jin swept a glance over them, saying nothing more.

Grey Pupil had already begun to stratify this group of creatures.

The sky above also began to close the net.

When the first Silver-feathered Scout Griffin pressed down, its claws almost grazed the broken shields at the edge of the collapsed pit.

It did not grab any rats, nor did it land; it only shook the string of silver pendants beneath its wings that resembled tiny wind chimes.

Hum.

Every fissure in the collapsed pit that was still conducting heat trembled slightly at that sound.

"Three living openings on the east side."

"Nine living openings on the lower west level."

"There is a transport line on the second level."

The wind-pattern rider on the back of the Scout Griffin reported the positions while tossing down three long, thin thunder-nails.

The thunder-nails did not penetrate deep into the soil, but their tails glowed with pale blue electric light, as if marking the entire stratum.

Ji Mingxiao raised his hand and pressed down.

"High-ring, open the thunder-eyes."

The three Thunder-wing Griffins in the high sky raised their heads simultaneously, electric light erupting in their pupils.

The grey soil, broken bones, cart tracks, and heat fissures beneath the collapsed pit were all illuminated in that instant, revealing every detail.

Even a section of copper pipe that Lu Jin had just moved showed a long, thin red shadow within the soil.

Grey Pupil looked up, its ear tips flattening.

"He is finding the path first, not killing the rats."

Lu Jin nodded.

"He is looking for which path is worth killing."

After speaking, he kicked over the bone-wheeled cart in front of him, which was half-filled with scrap copper.

"Push it up."

Three Cart-pulling Rats paused, then bit down hard on the bone ropes, forcing the cart up along the collapse slope.

The copper pipes, fragments of red armor, and two bags of iron sand on the cart rattled loudly, looking like a cartload of heavy materials that couldn't be retrieved in time.

The thunder-eyes in the high sky turned simultaneously.

A mid-ring Griffin immediately banked its wings and dove, the thunder-spearman on its back flicked one hand, and a short lightning-rope slanted down, nailing towards the axle.

The bone clacker in Lu Jin's hand fell just then.

"Cut the rope."

The rhinoceros-tendon rope buried in front of the bone-wheeled cart snapped with a pop, and the entire cart plunged into a side pit, crushing through the top layer of thin soil.

Three empty copper pipes buried beneath the soil exploded simultaneously, hot ash spewing out like a geyser, completely blinding that mid-ring Griffin.

Just as it was about to pull up, two fire oil sacs flew out from behind the shields.

Pop! Pop!

One hit the wingtip.

One hit the rider's side waist.

A layer of grey-red fire instantly covered the feathers; the thunder-spearman raised his hand and cut off half his cloak, then used a backhand short lightning strike to blast the fire away.

However, the Griffin was still burned and veered off, its right wing scraping against the black shield wall, sending a whole row of gravel flying.

Behind the stones, four Ambush Rats had been lying in wait.

The moment the Griffin swept past, they all sprang up simultaneously, biting at the exact same spot.

The wing root.

Blood and silver feathers flew out together.

A low gasp exploded instantly in Shenmen Plaza.

"It bit it again!"

"Can this group of rats really touch things in the sky?"

"Ji Mingxiao took fire in the first round!"

Yet Ji Mingxiao in the high sky didn't even change his expression.

He only lowered his eyes to look at the false opening blown open by the hot ash, and then looked at the empty copper pipes exploded from the soil.

"Copper pipes transfer heat."

"The bone cart is bait."

"There are real throwers behind the second-level short wall."

He said it sentence by sentence, and the thunder-spearmen below immediately changed positions.

The three mid-ring Griffins no longer low-cut the collapse slope, but instead repeatedly swept their wings along the outer edge of the black shield wall, the gale winds swirling in layer by layer, forcefully digging out the scent of fire oil hidden behind the wall.

The eight low-altitude Scout Griffins split into two teams; one continued to report codes, while the other specifically searched along the edge of the collapsed pit for newly opened narrow wellheads.

Lu Jin watched the changes in the formation in the sky, his eyes growing colder.

Once this person caught the rhythm, they dismantled it extremely quickly.

"Grey Pupil."

"Present."

"Open the wind-listening wells."

Grey Pupil turned and left.

It took the row of fire-guarding throwers and rushed into the rear warehouse, dragging out the newly snatched copper pipes, wind-needles, and three intact thunder-feathers.

The three newly dug narrow wells were originally only enough for ventilation, but it pried them open by half a foot in one go, inserted the copper pipes upside down, sealed the openings with wind-needles, and pressed the thunder-feathers to the bottom of the pipes.

Finally, it smeared a layer of wet ash fire-mud around the wellheads.

The wells were very shallow.

But the heat was real.

The Scout Griffin quickly spotted the first one.

"Thirty paces south, true heat surging up."

"There is a living creature pressing the well!"

Ji Mingxiao spoke personally this time.

"Two to test the pressure, one to intercept the rear."

The three low-ring Griffins dove simultaneously.

Lu Jin didn't look up, only watching Grey Pupil.

Grey Pupil tapped its claw tips, and three throwers in the fire-guarding row immediately stood up.

They didn't run outside, but knelt by the wellhead, pressing both claws simultaneously into the mass of grey-red fire paste in the offering basin.

The fire paste climbed up along their claw skin.

Even the whites of their eyes were illuminated into a dark red.

"Throw."

Three fire oil sacs were thrown obliquely upward.

It was to hit the wind above the wellhead.

Pop!

Once the fire oil scattered, the thunder-feathers conducted the electricity, and the heat stored in the section beneath the copper pipe surged up violently.

A stream of grey-red fire rose from the ground, like a short spear shot along the collapsed pit, striking right beneath the belly of the lead Scout Griffin.

That bird lost speed on the spot, and before the wind-pattern rider on its back could stabilize, the second wind-listening well had already been lit by Grey Pupil.

Another fire spear.

Fast and low.

It grazed directly past the chest and abdomen of the second Griffin.

Ji Mingxiao finally looked up at the suspended silver-white altar higher up.

Four wind pillars were descending beneath the clouds, steadily supporting the entire flight formation.

The one on the far left swayed slightly.

Very lightly.

Only Lu Jin saw it.

His gaze paused for a breath, and the bone clacker slowly rotated in his palm.

During the last probe of the sinkhole, he only saw the altar controlling the field.

This time, he saw which pillar the force was traveling from.

"So when you save the low-ring, you go through the left pillar."

The voice was not loud.

Grey Pupil still heard it, its grey eyes shrinking violently.

"Can we fight?"

"Not worth it now."

After Lu Jin finished speaking, he looked up at the slender figure beneath the clouds.

Ji Mingxiao was also looking at him.

Separated by the entire collapsed pit, neither was in a hurry to reveal their trump cards to the end.

The one to strike first was Ji Mingxiao.

"Mid-ring, lock the east slope."

"High-ring, lower the wind."

The wind became heavy all at once.

It was a heavy wind pressing against the ground.

The three wind-listening wells Lu Jin had just dug swirled back simultaneously, and the grey-red fire spears were forcefully pressed back by the wind head.

Those fire-guarding throwers behind the second-level short wall groaned in unison, the fire sacs on their backs swaying from the pressure.

This was exactly what Ji Mingxiao wanted.

The two low-altitude Scout Griffins took advantage of the fire swirling back and swooped into the dead angle of the east slope.

Thin hooks hung beneath their wings; they didn't touch the wellheads, only grabbed the transport lines.

Three Transport Rats in the middle of dragging copper pipes were hooked and sent flying on the spot; one was cut in two by a wind blade in mid-air, and before the other two landed, the Scout Griffin behind had already slammed the thunder-pattern mark beneath its claws into the soil beside them.

Hum.

The true transport line beneath the soil lit up.

A fierce light suddenly appeared in Grey Pupil's eyes.

"Master."

"I saw it."

Lu Jin shifted his feet and stepped directly into a side fissure.

"Bone cart number three, take the open line."

"Digging Squad, cut off the true road on the east slope, leave the whole section empty."

"Ambush Squad, enter the fourth fissure, wait for his second low-altitude pressure."

Once the order was issued, the underground suddenly became chaotic.

Bone cart number three was pushed out violently by ten Cart-pulling Rats, loaded with a full cart of copper pipes, fire sacs, and a piece of semi-molten black shield, the commotion was astonishingly loud.

The Transport Rats originally hidden on the east slope's true transport line scattered instantly, biting onto scattered materials and drilling into the deeper crevices of the thin layer.

Ji Mingxiao lowered his eyes and looked, immediately understanding that Lu Jin was going to change paths.

He also changed accordingly.

"Do not chase the cart."

"Strike the empty layer."

A lightning strike nailed straight from the high-ring to the east slope.

It was the ground that had just been cut empty after the cart was bombed.

Boom!

The entire thin layer of the east slope was blown up and overturned; bone cart number three, along with the ten Cart-pulling Rats, rolled into the pit; two fire sacs exploded, four copper pipes broke, and six Cart-pulling Rats died on the spot.

But as the lightning faded, the bottom of the pit was empty and bright, leaving only two newly dug abandoned paths and a patch of scorched dead soil.

Ji Mingxiao didn't hit the true road.

Lu Jin also used this lightning strike to completely hide the deeper active line beneath the collapsed pit.

Grey Pupil turned its head sharply and looked at Lu Jin.

Lu Jin only said two words.

"Continue."

As these two words fell, the rat pack seemed to have its bones nailed steady again.

The corpses of the six dead Cart-pulling Rats were immediately dragged away, and the broken copper pipes were dismantled and shortened on the spot by the Transport Team, then stuffed into new openings.

Two more throwers in the fire-guarding row knelt down, pressing their burnt and cracked claw skin into the offering basin.

The faith lines were collected one by one into Lu Jin's hands, and the Return Fire Well underground became heavier than before.

In the high sky, Ji Mingxiao finally spoke for the first time.

"You want to hide the path."

Lu Jin looked up.

"You want to dismantle the sky."

Everyone in the plaza felt their hearts skip a beat.

The bit of calmness in Ji Mingxiao's eyes finally flickered.

"You saw it."

"Saw a little."

"Enough to use?"

"Enough for you to stop."

The sound of the wind was pulled extremely tight between the two.

The next moment, Ji Mingxiao suddenly raised his hand, and the wind-thunder positioning disc rotated in his palm.

The three main Thunder-wing Griffins in the high-ring banked away simultaneously, no longer continuing to press the east slope; the six mid-ring ones also rose by half a zhang, slowly retracting the heavy wind that threatened to crush the entire collapsed pit.

The low-ring Scout Griffins, however, were still circling in the outer ring, moving slower and in more scattered positions.

He didn't retreat.

He was switching to observing.

Lu Jin didn't pursue either.

He had just seen the most fragile moment of the left pillar, and Ji Mingxiao had also used the lightning to blow up the empty layer, testing out that his true transport line would switch paths at the bottom of the collapsed pit.

Both sides had taken a bite of meat, but neither had bitten the throat.

Grey Pupil lowered its voice.

"He learns really fast."

Lu Jin looked at the shimmering silver-white altar beneath the clouds, his voice also very flat.

"So do I."

The battlefield suddenly fell into a more oppressive silence.

The sky was watching.

The underground was also watching.

Every time the Scout Griffins swept their wings, they took away a layer of ash.

Every time the Transport Rats changed paths, they deliberately left an old trail.

The flight circles of the three main Griffins in the high sky became more and more stable, but Lu Jin noticed that the wind pillar on the left would tremble slightly every time it compensated for the low-ring, the frequency becoming increasingly dense.

Grey Pupil also noticed; it didn't look up, only slowly arranged the three intact thunder-feathers in a row, as if calibrating the direction for something that hadn't moved yet.

Outside the surveillance screen, a teacher couldn't help but speak in a low voice.

"What are these two doing?"

The person next to them stared at the war zone map, their Adam's apple bobbing.

"Waiting for the opponent to reveal their true breath first."

Further away, in an outer fissure covered by collapsed smoke, Lu Jingyao's half-shoulder armor was still cracked, but his expression was colder than when he had crawled out of the fire.

He didn't look at the scoreboard.

Nor did he look at how many of his troops were crippled.

He only stared at the wind-thunder circle in mid-air, staring at the grey-red lines beneath the collapsed pit that flickered on and off.

"They really have become opponents."

The Wind-Cable Youth beside him had not recovered from his burns, his mouth twitching.

"You still want to enter the field? The Temple Inspectors have already set their sights on you."

Lu Jingyao ignored him, only pulling a thin, dark red card from his sleeve.

There was no number on the card face, only a fire pattern sealed with black wax.

As soon as that fire pattern was revealed, the surrounding air grew hot.

The Wind-Cable Youth's complexion changed drastically.

"Are you crazy? This is a forbidden card!"

"What is forbidden is being seen."

Lu Jingyao crouched down and slowly inserted the card into a broken section of fire-pouring copper pipe.

The other end of the copper pipe connected to an abandoned fissure on the edge of the collapse field that no one had noticed, which slanted directly towards the bottom of the echo layer that Lu Jin had just repaired.

He held down the copper pipe and flicked it with his finger.

The dark red card slid silently into the darkness.

"Take your time dismantling."

"I'll add some real fire for you."