CHAPTER 1734: CHAPTER 478: KA-DA, KA-DA

"How peculiar!"

"The Vortex is actually Mark Bridget’s avatar? Or should I say, Bridget is the avatar of the Vortex? Either way... a Witch Demon and a Big sea monster?"

"I believe no one thought they had such a connection before today!"

Beta Town.

San You Bookstore.

The Yellow Flowered Cat squatted in front of a long-cooled teacup, its tail curled by its feet, looking at the reflection in the tea while nibbling on a small fish delicately, commenting, "And they’ve managed to condense a Tiber Dragon’s true form... no wonder they could unleash a magic of legendary proportion."

"By comparison, the deans at the school, while proper, are so rigid, always about sacrificing, sacrificing, and more sacrificing... In this day and age, why always fall back on such outdated tactics? It’s disappointing!"

"Old man, the Black Prison’s wall has collapsed... you’re going to lose your fruit."

The Yellow Flowered Cat’s voice was filled with unconcealed schadenfreude. It glanced back at Mr. Wu on the lounge chair, crumbs from the little fish still clinging to its mouth, making its whole face appear rather greasy.

Mr. Wu lay back on the chair, a folded "Golden Lotus" covering his face, with sporadic, suspicious snores emanating from beneath the book.

The cat’s whiskers at the corner of its mouth drooped immediately.

Plop!

It tossed the leftover fish bones, striking the spine of "Golden Lotus," knocking the book off Mr. Wu’s face, which startled the resting man awake.

"What?" He opened his eyes, muddled and drowsy, asking.

"I said, your fruits are going to be gone!" The Flower Cat roared, articulating each word, "Those Great Demons have stirred up a Tiber Dragon! They broke the walls of the Black Prison Stronghold!"

Mr. Wu blinked.

"Just a Tiber Dragon, that’s all."

After a while, he mumbled, picking up the book from the ground, flipping through a few pages before covering his face again. A muffled voice came from under the book, "Fruits... are meant to be eaten... doesn’t matter who eats them... more or less... the same... snore, snore."

After two snores, Mr. Wu’s voice seeped out intermittently from the book again, as if talking in his sleep:

"That fortress... was meant to fall... snore snore... The difference lies in... who caused it to fall... snore snore... and... in what manner it was brought down... snore snore... Relatively speaking... if the wall was taken down by that Tiber Dragon... the school might probably be pleased."

"After all, they toiled for so long, snore snore..."

The Yellow Flowered Cat hesitated for a moment, fiddling with another small fish in its paw, unable to bear throwing it away. Eventually, grumbling, it bit off the fishhead, chewed while muttering insults, and continued watching the live broadcast in the teacup.

...

...

Zheng Qing felt this world was broken.

In every sense.

One moment, the young wizards of the Absolution Hunting Team were analyzing the Dark Council’s conspiracy, the Black Cat was arguing about being an independent cat entity, two blazing suns continued to shine overhead, the clashes between the Big Wizard and Great Demons were glamorous and fierce, Zhu Si was sheltered under the Mi-go, while the Law book in Zheng Qing’s hand radiated reassuring tranquility.

The next moment, the walls of the Black Prison Stronghold crumbled.

Overhead, Alpha, the Starry Sky Academy’s chancellors were thrown out of the main fort, Atlas’s chancellor’s summoned Paradise Mountain was shattered, the three-headed and eight-armed Giant Ape roared in resistance against the attack from several Great Demons and Dark Councilors from all directions, the pure-blood Mi-go was struck black by a spell falling from the sky, the sunlight bore a bloody tint, echoing with the roars of retreating wizards, a bizarre and chaotic atmosphere permeated the world.

Zheng Qing felt something was amiss.

Everything before him seemed exceptionally real, yet peculiarly surreal. Real in the wave that swept over with the collapse of the stronghold wall, smashing grains of sand against his face and arms, etching fine blood trails, causing sharp pain; surreal in his inability to believe everything happening abruptly before his eyes.

As if a tape was being played, someone had pressed the space and fast-forward buttons, skipping the entire course of events, directly presenting the final result. This emptiness was overwhelmingly maddening.

In the distance, a vague, low yet clear spell reverberated between heaven and earth:

"Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang..."

Boom!

Multicolored lights burst forth before the young wizard, then shrank back. In an instant, Zheng Qing seemed to sense the rotation of heaven and earth, the rising and setting of the sun and moon, and the birth, growth, and rebirth of the Black Prison World. An overwhelming flow of information rushed in from all directions, crashing into every fiber of the young wizard’s senses, forcing him to instinctively close his eyes, shutting off all five senses.

In that moment, from the information received, the small tree deep in his soul sprouted, grew thicker, and taller.

"Why are your eyes bleeding again?"

"Black Cat, think of something quickly!"

"This shouldn’t happen; why would he faint? Wasn’t he just fine?"

"The Law book in his hand..."

Nearby, chaotic and panicked voices reached his ears. At the same time, Zheng Qing felt someone shaking his arm vigorously. He struggled to open his eyes, his vision somewhat blurry.

The Warlock raised a hand to wipe his face, noting a palmful of crimson.

The large head of the Black Cat came into view, its eyes sparkling with evident confusion.

"This isn’t right," it mumbled, its fluffy paw lifting the wizard’s eyelid, with another paw gripping his wrist, carefully observing the boy’s complexion, "How do you feel? Do your eyes hurt? How many claws am I holding up? Can you see the distant scene clearly?"

"A little dizzy... not painful... three claws, I suppose."

Zheng Qing sluggishly answered the Black Cat’s questions, then followed the direction indicated by its paw, gazing into the distance, instantly turning rigid, staring in shock.

There, in the distance, the walls of the Black Prison Stronghold stood firmly amidst smoke and war, sporadic pale yellow ripples flickered across the void, attesting to the operation of the Defensive Magic Array.

The boy widened his eyes, fixed upon the intact stronghold walls for a few seconds, then hurriedly struggled to stand, scanning his surroundings—

The three-headed and eight-armed Giant Ape was still confronting the Dark Councilors, Zhu Si continued hiding beneath the Mi-go, overhead, that faint Paradise Mountain remained dazzling, in the air, the strange blue-black Giant Dragon kept an unmoving pose, emanating an aura of mottled antiquity.

Zheng Qing lifted his arm, the fine blood streaks on his arm, etched by flying sand from the collapsed fortress, were clearly visible, and the pain upon touching them undeniably real.

But he no longer knew what was true and what was false.

Tick, tock.

In the heavens and earth, the crisp and monotonous sound of a clock ticked away.