122: 【Cicada Wing Parade】Activate, Black Light Club

Chapter 122: Cicada Wing Patrol Activated, Blacklight Society

The pendant was an emerald-green gem encased in a metal bezel, as large as a longan fruit.

Although the metal bezel was old and faded, it felt incredibly smooth to the touch.

It seemed it had been regularly polished and maintained.

The gem, however, was as good as new, crystal clear without a trace of impurity.

It was a high-quality material.

As Shi Li placed the pendant in his palm, a line of text suddenly popped up before his eyes.

“Detected specific type of material.”

“?”

It took him two seconds to react.

“Do you mind if I turn it into a material card?”

Then Shi Li asked a rather insensitive question.

“Of course, if it can be useful to you as a card, I would be very happy!”

Yu Yu Hui’s face actually showed delight.

The concept of gifts among the alien race was different from that on Blue Star.

Turning a gift into a material card, on the contrary, represented acceptance and recognition.

So Shi Li used Gather on the pendant.

Because it was a special item, it succeeded on the first try.

What he obtained was a no-star material card.

Although it was a no-star material card, in Shi Li’s eyes, it was priceless.

“Wengweng An Pendant: An accessory once worn by Wengweng An, a trace of her aura remains.”

Shi Li handed the card back to her.

“Wengweng An above, my grandmother actually spoke the truth!”

Yu Yu Hui’s small mouth formed an “O” shape: “She once mentioned that we carry Wengweng An’s bloodline, but I didn’t believe it then!

This necklace was passed down to me by her, and I have several more at home!”

...

Shi Li really wanted to ask for those other pieces as well, but he thought better of it.

Yu Yu Hui handed the material card back to Shi Li, not seeming to intend to take it back.

So Shi Li directly opened the card-making panel.

He didn't expect the keyword circuit and this material card’s circuit to be surprisingly compatible.

Or rather, it wasn’t just compatible; it only needed to have the material card’s circuit inserted, and it would automatically connect to the keyword’s circuit.

A few seconds later, this keyword was completely activated.

Shi Li hadn’t activated the visible-to-others mode, so only he could see the entire process.

“Comfortable.”

He murmured.

It was a pity that the resonance level did not increase.

Everyone rested in place for about half an hour, when the scouts ahead once again issued a warning about the arrival of a demon tide.

However, this time, even without a warning, everyone could clearly see it from a great distance.

Because this batch of demons came from the sky.

It was the natural enemy of the Weng Weng Clan, the Winged Lycan.

And the one flying at the very front was exceptionally large.

Shi Li had encountered many Winged Lycans during his time in this foreign land, but he had never seen such a massive one.

Especially the “★★☆” tag above its head, which was unprecedented.

“It’s a Commander-level Demon!”

Zhang He’s exclamation provided the answer.

Three-Star Demons had Commander-level and Overlord-level above Elite-level.

Two solid stars were the symbol of a Commander-level Demon.

“Oh?”

This sentence thoroughly piqued Shi Li’s interest.

Everyone else, whether Weng Weng Clan warriors or Pioneer Team members, all turned their gazes to him.

Because as the recognized strongest combat power present, only Shi Li might be able to contend with a demon of this level.

However, before Shi Li could even raise his hand to cast Investigate on the target, a thick, long beam of light shot out from behind the position, striking the giant Winged Lycan.

“The Great Priestess has made her move!”

Someone from the Weng Weng Clan shouted.

Because the Great Priestess had not yet made a move, the people fighting had almost forgotten.

She, a Platinum 10, was the strongest combat power on the entire field.

As the card game unfolded, a highly anticipated battle was about to begin.

This Great Winged Beast had a long nose like an elephant.

Its level was as high as LV8, and its stats were even stronger than the Great Crocodile-mouthed Wyvern Shi Li had defeated last time.

“Elephant-Nosed Great Winged Beast”

Balanced, Attack 330, 1500 / 1500

“Winged Lycan Commander - Passive”: The Elephant-Nosed Great Winged Beast occupies 8 card slots and possesses the “Super Armor” effect. “Elephant Nose Swipe - Passive”: The Elephant-Nosed Great Winged Beast can attack 2 targets each time. “Gale Armor - Passive”: The Elephant-Nosed Great Winged Beast gains 1 layer of “Barrier” each turn.

(“Barrier”: Negates the highest damage dealt this turn.)

After reading the card, Shi Li knew he couldn’t defeat this demon.

Because Barrier could completely counter Red Blade Maiden’s Crimson Blaze.

To defeat this guy, he would need at least 2 giant-killer cards.

However, the deck the Great Priestess pulled out was completely different from what Shi Li had imagined.

“Caw! Caw!”

On her card table, 10 card slots lit up at once, then simultaneously revealed themselves automatically.

After the light subsided, an extremely huge Rock Giant Snail appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The Rock Giant Snail was a type of demon very familiar to the Pioneer Team.

During the early stages of their pioneering efforts, Rock Giant Snails accounted for the absolute majority of the demons that attacked them.

However, in this Divine Stone Guardian battle, no trace of this type of demon had been seen.

“What a powerful card!”

When the stats of this character card were displayed, Zhang He couldn't help but exclaim.

Several members of this Pioneer Team had acquired giant beast cards of the Rock Giant Snail.

But the Great Priestess’s card was definitely different.

“Rock Giant Snail King”

Balanced, 300 points, Three-Star Attack 330, 1500 / 1500

“Giant - Passive”: The Rock Giant Snail King occupies 10 card slots, Health + 1300

“Long Tail - Passive”: When the Rock Giant Snail King is revealed, summon 1 “Tail” (T0)

“Tail”

Balanced, Attack 330, 1500 / 1500

“Linked - Passive”: The Tail shares the same stats as the Rock Giant Snail King, and only exists for 5 turns. Because it’s a 10-reveal at the start, this card can basically only be used in PVE card games where all cards are revealed at the start.

But its stats are definitely that of a stat monster.

The base health of a character card is 100 points, and the King card bonus is 100 points, so the health is 1500 points.

Plus the attack bonus from the King card, the attack reaches 330 points.

And the “Tail” can be summoned in an empty slot in the King card row, providing an additional 330 points of attack.

The Great Priestess could deal two attacks of 330 points in one turn, one of which would be blocked by Barrier, so defeating the Elephant-Nosed Great Winged Beast would only require 5 turns.

Which happened to be the number of turns the “Tail” could exist.

“With the Rock Giant Snail King blocking in front, it’s only equivalent to 1 target, completely countering the multi-target attack of Elephant Nose Swipe.”

“Moreover, the Elephant-Nosed Great Winged Beast also has 330 attack, and it would also take 5 turns to deplete the Rock Giant Snail King’s health.”

“The Great Priestess only needs to play a few Healing hand cards to gain a health advantage, ensuring her card doesn’t die within 5 turns.”

Both sides only had 1 card, so it was easy to predict the outcome.

The development of events was as everyone expected; the battle ended after 5 turns.

“Is this the power of Platinum 10?”

Shi Li couldn't help but sigh with emotion.

Demon cards generally had stronger stats than player character cards, but the Great Priestess was able to directly contend with strength using a character card.

The process was effortless and enviable.

Finally, with everyone’s concerted efforts, this wave of demon attacks was completely eliminated.

But not long after, new demons attacked again.

Both the Weng Weng Clan warriors and the Pioneer Team members were exhausted from the long hours of high-intensity combat.

During the break, the Pioneer Team members sat together.

“Even with 4 teams assisting in rotating shifts, most people won’t be able to sustain this much longer.”

Zhong Xin expressed his concern, looking towards the Space-Time Trace at the base.

Under the infusion of the Divine Stone Tower’s light pillar, it had already shrunk considerably compared to its initial size.

The good news was that if this trend continued, it would probably be almost done after another 5 or 6 waves of demon attacks.

Just a little more perseverance.

“I see you’re still quite energetic, young man.”

Zhang He looked at Shi Li enviously.

“It’s alright, it’s alright.”

Shi Li just smiled.

Compared to the exhausted others, he was one of the few exceptions.

Although his recovery speed couldn’t keep up with his consumption rate, his Stamina was still around 75%, which was considered a healthy state.

On the contrary, the endless stream of demons had contributed a good number of material cards to him.

He even had a few one- and two-star character cards, but they were basically useless and could only be used for decomposition.

If it weren’t for the Great Priestess’s order strictly forbidding the Gather of demon corpses, his harvest would probably have increased several times over.

“Demon attack!”

The Weng Weng Clan scout’s warning forced everyone to perk up and quickly get to their feet.

With each wave of demons annihilated, the diameter of the Space-Time Trace also grew smaller and smaller.

From the Divine Stone Tower’s defensive position, it had shrunk to the size of a single strand of hair.

“Not easy, ha ha ha.”

“Finally succeeded.”

“We can go home.”

“Ah Zhen, wait for me!”

Seeing this scene, the Pioneer Team members showed relief.

This wave of demons might be the last.

Even though they were exhausted, they forced themselves to rally. The string that had been stretched to its limit was about to loosen.

“Something doesn’t seem right.”

However, Shi Li, with his better eyesight, quickly noticed a clue.

Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, the Space-Time Trace visibly expanded again.

And unlike the bright light pillar from before,

the current Space-Time Trace light pillar was filled with chaotic black energy!

For some reason, Shi Li always felt a strange sense of familiarity.

“What’s going on?!”

“Did the formation fail?”

An ominous premonition arose in the hearts of the Pioneer Team members.

Everyone present was an experienced veteran, having participated in closing no less than a handful of Level 3 foreign realms.

But they had never encountered a situation like this before.

Just then, a Weng Weng Clan figure suddenly flew into the air.

Her appearance was quite unfamiliar, yet she wore a [Platinum 10] tag.

“What the hell, there’s still a master here?”

“With such strong combat power, why didn’t she act before?”

The Pioneer Team members’ tone was slightly displeased.

“Great Priestess!”

However, the shouts of the people around them made them a little confused.

Shouldn’t the Great Priestess be that decrepit old man?

Amidst the shouts, the Great Priestess looked down upon everyone.

Her eyes had lost their whites, and her pupils were completely occupied by flowing black energy.

“Evil Energy!! It’s an Evil Energy Player!!!”

“Everyone, use [Escape] immediately!”

The moment they saw these eyes, Zhang He and Zhong Xin cried out sharply.

However, it was too late.

The Great Priestess raised one hand, and a card appeared between her two fingers.

“Blacklight Suppression.”

She softly uttered these four words.

The card then transformed into a black, circular light that rapidly spread outwards.

Everyone within its reach instantly became immobile from the neck down.

Even the Yu Yu Clan people were no exception.

“It’s over!”

Zhong Xin’s face changed drastically.

“Evil Energy—”

Shi Li finally realized why the black light felt so familiar.

Isn’t this the effect that always accompanies the appearance of Evil Energy in [Yu Yu Legend]?

“Evil Energy Player.”

Zhang He remained relatively calm, thinking he was confused, so she explained: “In the process of humans exploring foreign realms, we encountered something called ‘Evil Energy.’

It is keen on destruction and subversion; worlds occupied by it often meet a bad end.

And those players who, for various reasons, defect to the Evil Energy demons are called Evil Energy Players.”

“Some powerful Evil Energy Players Gather together and call their Evil Energy faction the Blacklight Society.”

Zhong Xin added.

With the appearance of an Evil Energy Player, they already knew what it meant.

A mere Evil Energy Player could never subvert an entire world.

They needed a legion powerful enough.

There are usually two ways to create a legion.

One, to bewitch or manipulate local indigenous organizations.

Two, to introduce an Evil Energy legion from outside.

From the current situation, the second option is most likely.

The Great Priestess had clearly deceived them.

The so-called Divine Stone Array was probably not a formation to close the Space-Time Trace at all.

Instead, it was to forcibly twist the Space-Time Trace, connecting it to the Evil Energy world.

However, judging by the unstable condition of the Space-Time Trace, the ritual should not have ended yet.

“Great God of Blacklight!”

Indeed, the Great Priestess ignored everyone, turned towards the Divine Stone Tower, and let out a devout cry.

“I offer you sacrifices here; please open the door that grants me power!”

Then, a string of incomprehensible incantations followed.

Boom!

Just then, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, directly hitting the Great Priestess.

“!!!”

The Great Priestess’s body trembled violently, but her chanting did not stop.

“The World Will of this world has acted!”

Zhang He, who had once been fortunate enough to witness a similar situation, suddenly realized.

It is rumored that some worlds with profound historical foundations can produce a World Will.

It was clear that the Great Priestess’s act of summoning Evil Energy had completely provoked the World Will’s punishment.

She finally understood why the Divine Stone Array had been attacked by countless demons.

It seemed that the World Will had driven them to protect itself.

Boom!

A second bolt of lightning struck down again.

However, this time the Great Priestess was prepared, and she immediately threw out a ball of purple light.

Yu! 8

The eight Divine Stone Arrays instantly sent out eight light pillars, shining on the purple light, as if assisting it.

Then the purple light directly collided with the lightning. While resisting the lightning, it also exploded into fragmented sparks of light.

Players who have decomposed character cards know that this is a unique effect of a card being destroyed.

The purple light that appeared indicated that a Three-Star Demon card was destroyed.

Sure enough, the tag above the Great Priestess’s head quickly dropped from [Platinum 10] to [Platinum 9].

“This is a unique method of Evil Energy Players; she is burning her cards to resist the World Will!”

Boom!

But the World Will’s punishment was not so easily offset; new lightning struck again.

The Great Priestess also threw out her Three-Star Demon card again in response.

Thus, lightning struck continuously until she had consumed 5 Three-Star Demon cards, dropping from [Platinum 10] to [Platinum 5], before finally ceasing.

“It seems that the power level of this World Will is not enough, or perhaps this Divine Stone Array is hindering it.”

Zhang He’s face turned very grim.

Even the World Will couldn’t stop this Evil Energy Player; it seemed that disaster was inevitable.

When the sky completely quieted down, the Great Priestess finally finished her incantation.

Buzz buzz buzz—

Then, accompanied by shaking earth and sky, a long, vertical thin line appeared in the sky.

The thin line emitted black light, which was eerily clear despite the dim lighting conditions.

It slowly opened like an eye.

Finally, a portal formed, with an indistinct, profound darkness at its end.

A huge hand constructed of black energy reached out from within the door.

The palm of the hand was facing upwards, in a gesture of taking.

“I have prepared a large amount of flesh and blood for you!”

The feedback from the self-destructing cards caused black blood to overflow from the Great Priestess’s mouth, but her expression was incredibly exhilarated.

As she waved her hand, the demon corpses piled up like mountains on the ground began to transform into small balls of blue light.

The balls of light flew towards the palm of the black giant hand.

In addition to their location, large numbers of blue light clusters also rapidly flew towards this area from the other seven Divine Stone base points.

Like countless moths, orderly flying towards a flame, the light clusters rapidly dissolved upon entering the palm of the black giant hand, and then a corresponding demon face would appear on its surface.

At this moment, the demon faces rapidly increased, all of them distorted and writhing, emitting silent cries of agony.

So many demons were roaring, causing the entire surface of the black giant hand to appear as if countless things were squirming.

This was a disgusting and bizarre flesh-and-blood machine.

Everyone was unable to control their bodies, only able to watch helplessly as the demon corpses were transformed.

Not long after, the demon corpses at the eight Divine Stone base points were completely consumed.

But the black giant hand was clearly not yet satisfied.

“Please calm down! There’s still flesh and blood!”

After the Great Priestess finished speaking, she looked down at the Yu Yu Clan warrior closest to her.

Whoosh!

She struck out a Player mark.

“Great Priestess?!”

Before the person could react, she had already been transformed into a ball of light.

Under the effect of [Blacklight Suppression], she could win without a fight by utilizing the rank difference in level advantage.

The Yu Yu Clan warrior, transformed into a ball of light, was no different from the demon light clusters and was instantly absorbed by the black giant hand.

Then the Great Priestess’s gaze fell upon her next target—Yu Yu Hui.

“Great Priestess! What’s wrong with you! Wake up!”

Even at this moment, Yu Yu Hui still believed that the other party was merely confused by Evil Energy.

“Child, for the sake of this world, your sacrifice will surely be remembered.”

However, the Great Priestess was actually very rational.

Pledging allegiance to Evil Energy was entirely her own choice.

Because that adult had shown her many things.

There was the past, the present, and even the future.

Their world was simply too weak now to survive the impending full-domain catastrophe.

With that, the Great Priestess’s Player mark struck towards Yu Yu Hui.

Whoosh!

However, midway, it was intercepted by another mark coming from diagonally below.

Yu.—

The two marks collided, and a card game was formed.

And the person who cast this mark was none other than Shi Li.