69: Chapter 69 A Dream at the Long Pavilion

Meanwhile, to the east of Langya Prefecture, on a temporary stage by Chaoyang Lake.

Gongs and drums clamored, and lights shone brightly.

The Opera Troupe was performing the classic play, 'Kuafu Chasing the Sun'.

Luo Hui, the Martial Lead, played Kuafu. With a burly frame and a peach wood staff in hand, he chased a red silk ribbon representing the sun across the stage, his steps heroic and his Aura majestic.

The surrounding citizens and low-level Cultivators watched with great interest.

As the plot reached its climax, Kuafu, after enduring countless hardships, finally caught up to the sun, only to collapse from extreme thirst.

“Thirst... This thirst is killing me!”

The Female Lead's voice was mournful as she sang of Kuafu's longing and resentment before his death.

“Ten thousand miles chasing the sun, yet my ambition remains unfulfilled; my throat is like burning smoke, and my life is about to end!”

“I regret that I cannot drink dry the waves of the rivers and seas; I only sigh that my strength is exhausted and my will is hard to sustain...”

The tragic singing echoed through the city, telling the solemn end of the ancient Divine Being.

As the song ended, Luo Hanchán hurried backstage to bring water to Luo Hui.

This well-behaved appearance made Luo Hui feel a sense of guilt.

He had put all his heart and mind into the opera, inadvertently distancing himself from those close to him.

As a father, he owed her; he had neglected her discipline and was truly inadequate.

For all these years, it was Luo Changting who had been taking care of her.

“By the way, Little Cicada, where is your brother?” Luo Hui finally remembered that he hadn't seen Luo Changting for several days.

Luo Hanchán also realized it belatedly. Their consciousnesses seemed to have been affected by some kind of interference, causing them to subconsciously ignore Luo Changting... Night, a desolate place outside Chaoyang Lake.

“Finally, I've collected them all.”

Luo Changting's face was pale, and sweat soaked his hair. He had been secretly collecting Materials for the Heavenly Demon Ritual all these years.

Through the cognitive distortion of the Consciousness Accumulation, he could make everyone in the Opera Troupe ignore his presence, allowing him to focus on his own affairs.

Before him, the Heavenly Demon Ritual constructed from various eerie Materials was emitting an unstable, ghostly light.

The array patterns drawn in blood twisted like dying, struggling venomous snakes.

The abandoned infant's corpse at the center, serving as the core, was making a sizzling corrosive sound, its resentment dissipating.

And the bird egg placed on the sacrificial spot remained deathly silent.

“But why... why won't it start?!”

Luo Changting's teeth were clenched, his eyes bloodshot. Following the memory fragments of a demonic Sect Disciple from his 'past life' in his mind once again, he forcibly urged the meager Devilish Qi in his body, trying to stabilize the array patterns.

But the ritual was like a leaking skin bag, crazily devouring his power without any response. The backlash made his throat feel sweet, and he nearly spat out blood.

The memories were incomplete, and the key parts of the ritual always seemed to be separated by a layer of mist.

Despair, like icy water, gradually submerged his heart.

If the ritual failed and he had no power, how could he protect his father and sister in this chaotic world? How could he seize that sliver of survival?

Just as his mind wavered and the ritual's light was about to be completely extinguished.

A cold and clear thought, seemingly branded directly into the depths of his Soul, like a bolt of lightning breaking through dark clouds, suddenly pierced into his chaotic Sea of Consciousness!

This was a pure understanding, a rewriting of the array patterns, an extremely exquisite adjustment.

This 'flash of inspiration' came so abruptly yet so naturally, as if it were an Epiphany he had suddenly reached after agonizing thought!

“!!!”

Luo Changting's whole body shook violently. He had no time to think about the source of this inspiration; his survival instinct and extreme thirst for power made him subconsciously follow this guidance.

Devilish Qi flowed from his fingertips. In an exquisite manner he had never even imagined, he lightly altered every node of the array patterns.

“Boom!!”

The ritual, which had been on the verge of collapse, suddenly shuddered!

The originally dissipating resentment was like being combed by an invisible hand, instantly becoming docile and condensed. It turned into a pitch-black stream, actively converging toward the abandoned infant corpse in the center.

The corpse rapidly dissolved, turning into the purest yin energy.

Immediately after... “Crack!”

A crack opened on the shell of the bird egg.

There was no Heavenly Demon pressure as expected, no terrifying Devilish Qi rampage, not even a trace of evil Aura.

There was only a calm, deep 'gaze' that seemed able to see through all things in the world, quietly emerging from that crack and silently 'falling' upon Luo Changting.

Luo Changting froze in place, his whole body cold.

He couldn't feel any connection of a contract being established, nor could he feel any pressure from a higher existence.

There was only a chill of being completely seen through, with nowhere to hide.

In the crack of the eggshell, there was no chick, only a bottomless darkness, and two gazes like cold stars within that darkness.

That gaze... was like an observer perched high above the clouds, looking down at him, an ant that had stumbled into view, with a trace of indiscernible interest.

Then, before Luo Changting could react from this eerie silence, several items appeared out of thin air on the ground before him:

A bottle of Medicinal Pills, a leather scroll emitting ancient Devilish Qi, and several High-Grade Spirit Stones of excellent quality, enough for him to Cultivate for several months.

The items were few, but they were exactly the cultivation resources he needed most right now. Especially that leather scroll, which emitted an Aura that made the demon seed within his body leap with joy.

The crack on the eggshell quietly closed, and that heart-palpitating gaze dissipated along with it.

Silence returned to the lakeside, with only the rustling of the night wind through the grass and Luo Changting's heavy, chaotic breathing... Far away, inside the Immortal Cave in Feiguang Prefecture.

Shen Moyan slowly opened his eyes, and a wisp of faint Devilish Qi thread at his fingertip quietly dispersed.

In the water mirror before him, Luo Changting's dazed back was reflected.

“The first thought projection and item teleportation went quite well.”

He whispered, the corner of his mouth curling into a nearly imperceptible arc.

Through the lurking Six Senses Fireflies, his understanding of the ritual, and the teleportation array patterns he had studied over the years, Shen Moyan had easily altered that ritual.

That's right, what had descended was not a Heavenly Demon's thought, but Shen Moyan's Divine Thought.

This way, even if Luo Changting knew he was being played, he would be willing.

After all, he was the one who had proactively sought out the Heavenly Demon with a wish.

He only needed to hide behind the scenes, pretend to be a Heavenly Demon, and give him some guidance.

“Hmm?”

Shen Moyan let out a soft sound of surprise and looked at the water mirror.

Over there, Luo Changting suddenly collapsed to the ground, his face showing pain... Luo Changting curled up on the ground, falling into an uneasy sleep.

Broken memory fragments, like bubbles floating up before a drowning person, surged into his consciousness with a cold, sticky touch.

The ritual just now had actually caused some kind of mutation in the demon seed within his body.

He saw it, from the remnant Soul of the demonic Sect Disciple that had not yet completely vanished:

“The head... has it been found...” an anxious thought roared.

“This is the cooperation between Yan... and the Sect... His head... otherwise the Sect Master...” another more majestic will rolled past like thunder.

“Sensing... in the east... where the earth veins converge...” The thought was mixed with a strong direction toward a certain orientation.

“...Both eyes... both ears... outline the face... only then can the 'mouth' be found...”

The final fragment pointed to a certain search method, mentioning a face and a 'mouth'.

Luo Changting woke up with a start, drenched in sweat, his heart pounding wildly.

Although those thoughts were chaotic, the core information was sharply carved into his brain.

The Six Hells Demonic Sect was searching for a long-lost head!

And this head seemed to be hidden somewhere at a convergence point of earth veins in the east of Langya Prefecture; one needed to outline the position of a 'face' to find its 'mouth'.

And that 'head' itself was a terrifyingly powerful Demonic Fiend!

“Brother!”

Luo Hanchán found him in the desolate place and called out loudly, her voice full of worry.

Luo Hui and the group from the Opera Troupe followed closely behind her.

“You brat! What are you doing here!”

“You really gave everyone in the troupe a good scare.”

Amidst the group's scolding, they set out on the return journey.

“Brother, what happened to you just now?”

Luo Hanchán held his hand and asked with concern.

Luo Changting forcibly suppressed the horror in his heart and squeezed out a forced smile:

“It's nothing, Little Cicada, I just had a... strange dream.”