63: Country of Strange People

In the end, having no other choice, Mizuno Hiroshi accepted the reality that he had no one else to rely on and prepared to build his glory from scratch with this old official from the previous dynasty by his side.

After entering Mingyu City, Xiang Yan began taking Mizuno Hiroshi on a tour. Once they had traversed the city inside and out, he said to Mizuno Hiroshi, "Your Majesty, I have grasped the layout of this city. I only need to place scales containing your power in specific locations, and I can construct a Formation to turn everyone in the city into Monsters."

"Very well, Senior. I will give you the scales now." As he spoke, Mizuno Hiroshi prepared to remove his own scales.

Xiang Yan stopped him, "There is no rush, Your Majesty. There are quite a few scales that need to be placed, so you will need to make the trip yourself."

Just like that, after Mizuno Hiroshi had busied himself for quite a while, Xiang Yan wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead and told Mizuno Hiroshi that it was finished.

Upon hearing this, Mizuno Hiroshi was overjoyed and immediately urged Xiang Yan to hurry up and convert the entire city's population into Monsters so he could assemble a powerful army of Monsters.

"There is no rush, Your Majesty." Xiang Yan shook his head, rejecting Mizuno Hiroshi's proposal.

Mizuno Hiroshi looked at him in confusion, his eyes full of doubt.

Xiang Yan smiled slightly and explained, "Your Majesty, this is the first step in you leading the Monsters to sound the horn of counterattack. It is of great significance. Therefore, this ritual to convert them into Monsters should naturally be completed by you personally, to announce the birth of the Monster Emperor to the world!"

He paused and added, "To this end, I need to first teach you the relevant knowledge, which... may take some time."

Hearing Xiang Yan's words, Mizuno Hiroshi felt both ashamed and moved.

He was ashamed that he had actually suspected this loyal, old Senior of having ulterior motives and intentionally using him; he was moved that this old Senior was thinking of him in every aspect, even considering his feelings for such a small matter.

Half a year later, Mizuno Hiroshi was feeling incredibly miserable.

In these six months, he hadn't even learned the most basic theoretical knowledge. Thinking of this, his heart was filled with a sense of failure.

But when he recalled his experience of training hard for three years to master the power of Monsters, he immediately regained his confidence, gritted his teeth, and continued to study.

Then, another ten years passed...

Ten years later, Mizuno Hiroshi's Dao Heart completely collapsed.

After such a long time, he had finally managed to understand a small portion of the theoretical knowledge; his learning progress was simply slower than a snail.

More importantly, during these ten years of living together, he had come to view Xiang Yan as his most important Senior, treating him with exceptional respect and admiration.

Every time Xiang Yan saw his learning progress, the look in his eyes—filled with disappointment amidst expectation, despair amidst disappointment, and a hint of hope amidst despair—made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

And every time, Xiang Yan would encourage him, "Your Majesty, do not be discouraged. This knowledge is inherently obscure and difficult to understand, so it is normal to learn it slowly. I originally intended to spend several hundred years searching for a new Monster Emperor, but now that I have found you so quickly, a slower learning pace does not delay anything. It is all within a timeframe I can accept."

Finally, one day, Mizuno Hiroshi couldn't take it anymore. He stopped studying and left the conversion of Monsters to Xiang Yan.

Then Xiang Yan said NO directly to him!

But after Mizuno Hiroshi persuaded him repeatedly, Xiang Yan agreed to do it himself, but he set one condition: Mizuno Hiroshi must claim in the future that this technique was invented by him, and that he had merely passed it on to him.

Hearing this condition, Mizuno Hiroshi was even more moved.

How could Mizuno Hiroshi know that the reason his learning progress had been so slow over these ten years was because Xiang Yan had been sabotaging him in secret? After all, how could he possibly give his core technology to a Puppet?

By the way, there is one more thing to mention: over these ten years, Meng Yu had been completely corrupted by Xiang Yan, and he had obtained the knowledge he wanted from her.

On a dark and windy night, Xiang Yan looked at the sky and felt like complaining: Why do villains always have to choose the night to do these things? Why can't they learn from him? When he has things to do, he usually does them during the day.

Complaining aside, the work still had to be done. Xiang Yan took out a special scale meticulously crafted by Mizuno Hiroshi; this scale could control the other scales placed at the node positions.

The massive power within Xiang Yan began to surge slowly, pouring into the scale. He closed his eyes, sensing the scales buried throughout the city, which were now resonating subtly with the scale in his hand.

As Xiang Yan began to draw upon Mizuno Hiroshi's power, the surrounding space seemed to tremble slightly, and the air churned like boiling water.

The ground emitted a low hum, as if a sleeping giant beast was about to awaken.

At the same time, the power belonging to Xiang Yan, hidden within the node scales, poured out like a dam breaking.

Xiang Yan raised his hand, his fingers grasping the air as if holding an invisible scepter.

Streams of ink-black energy gushed out from the node scales. The scales, which had originally felt cold to the touch, now became scorching hot, emitting an eerie light as if they were evil eyes being awakened one by one.

Xiang Yan's power, like a sharp blade, instantly sliced through space, pointing directly at the nodes of the super-large Formation.

Those nodes, originally as immovable as sturdy fortresses, shattered instantly like fragile glass under the impact of Xiang Yan's power.

Each time a node ruptured, it was accompanied by a violent surge of energy. The air emitted piercing explosions, and shockwaves spread outward like ripples, shaking the surrounding buildings until they were on the verge of collapse, causing window glass to shatter one after another.

The scales that had originally been hidden in the corners of the city became dull and lusterless again.

But Xiang Yan's power did not stop its conquest. His power, like a shuttle on a loom, wove between the various nodes, instantly devouring the debris of those shattered nodes.

Xiang Yan's power did not stop; like a living vine, it followed the original positions of the destroyed nodes and began to reconstruct the entire Formation.

His power, like flexible silk threads, wove together new energy lines, constructing a brand-new Formation architecture that was still closely connected to the previous one.

Those scales that had been dull and lusterless now seemed infused with new life, emitting an increasingly thick black light, like stars twinkling in the night sky, full of eerie allure.

As Xiang Yan continued his actions, a brand-new, even larger and more evil Formation was gradually taking shape. It was like a giant black spider web, covering the entire Mingyu City, and Xiang Yan was the apex predator at the core of this web.

The pressure in the air grew stronger and stronger, and the ground began to emit a teeth-grinding creaking sound, as if something was about to break through the surface.

After Xiang Yan completed all of this, he began to guide Mizuno Hiroshi's scales into this newly constructed space.

When the scales became nodes again, the entire Formation began to flicker with an eerie light.

This light was not ordinary illumination; it carried an unsettling sense of distortion, like countless tiny black tentacles writhing, as if it were the prelude to some kind of transformation of the surrounding environment.

The air was filled with a faint smell of blood, mixed with the scent of rusting metal, which was nauseating.

The ground began to tremble slightly, emitting a low hum, as if some behemoth was stirring in the depths of the earth.

Not long after, wisps of gray mist began to appear at the edge of the city.

These mists were not ordinary smog; they carried an eerie vitality, spreading rapidly as if they were alive. Wherever they passed, plants withered and buildings rotted.

The gray mist soon shrouded the entire city, swallowing up the high-rise buildings, streets, and alleys, like a giant gray cocoon, wrapping the city tightly.

In the sky, negative energy surged in like a tidal wave, with dark clouds gathering, blocking out the sun, making it so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

The air was filled with a suffocating atmosphere of despair, as if the end of the world were imminent.

In this environment, the people in the city first felt an inexplicable nausea, as if something was churning in their bodies.

Subsequently, their bodies began to undergo strange changes.

Their skin gradually became rough, cracked like old tree bark, and covered with nauseating black spots.

Their eyes also began to change; their originally clear pupils gradually became turbid, filled with ferocity and violence, like beasts.

Their fingernails began to grow long and sharp, like sharp blades, gleaming with a cold light.

Their teeth also began to become sharp, like the fangs of a beast, capable of easily tearing through flesh and blood.

A ragged homeless man, who had originally been curled up in a street corner trembling, suddenly let out a beast-like roar and stood up abruptly.

His body began to swell, his muscles bulged like steel, and his skin turned a nauseating gray-green, covered with pustules and ulcers.

His eyes turned blood-red, gleaming with a bloodthirsty light.

He opened his mouth full of sharp fangs, let out a deafening roar, and lunged at the passerby next to him...

Xiang Yan stood atop a high building, overlooking everything below, a cruel smile appearing at the corner of his mouth: "My country has arrived."