Chapter 556: Huan Jing

The eight squads traveled together, carefully making their way to the gates of Red Stone City.

At this moment, the city gates were wide open. The dark-red gates gave off an oppressive feeling, and behind them was a pitch-black corridor where the light was dim, making it impossible for one's gaze to penetrate.

Everyone stopped here, their eyes cautious as they stared into the darkness within the gates.

They understood that once they stepped inside, there might be no room to retreat.

However, although they harbored deep wariness toward this city, the people present were the very top elites of their respective academies. Their temperament was beyond doubt, so deserting before the battle was something that absolutely would not happen to them.

Their gazes met for a moment, and the next instant, they no longer hesitated. Led by the front line of Tian Zhu Jing grandmasters like the Eldest Princess, Lan Lan, and Gong Gong Shenjun, they stepped straight into the city gates.

Upon entering the dark zone of the city gates, everyone felt a chill descend upon them, causing their hearts to grow oppressive.

In the dim light, no one spoke. Within the corridor of the city gates, there were only the faint sounds of footsteps.

Fortunately, this dim light did not last long. The gloom before them was suddenly torn apart, and they walked straight out.

And the instant they walked out of the gate tunnel, everyone's expression abruptly froze. Their eyes carried a hint of horror as they gazed ahead, because at this moment, before their eyes had appeared a scene of bustling, boiling activity.

They saw countless figures of people, chattering and bustling as they walked along the streets. On either side of the street were countless vendors and shops.

That lively scene was just like the former prosperity of Red Stone City.

Yet such a scene of boiling popularity, falling into the eyes of Li Luo and the others, instead made their bodies grow cold.

This Red Stone City before them seemed as if it had never suffered the ravages of the Calamity.

But, was that possible?

When other places in Red Sand Prefecture had been ravaged by the Calamity, how could the prefecture capital of Red Sand Prefecture be as if it had not been affected in the slightest?

The Eldest Princess's pretty face was cold and stern. After a good while, she slowly said: "This is... a Huan Jing?"

Among the crowd, Lu Ming's cheeks were also filled with solemnity and dread. She herself was a practitioner of illusion arts, so she understood very well that if what was before them was a Huan Jing, then just what kind of power would be needed to create such a massive and lifelike Huan Jing?

Moreover, these pedestrians—every expression of joy, laughter, sorrow, and anger was extremely vivid. Some of them were even haggling over the price of goods with the stall vendors.

All of this was so real.

Yet the rationality in their hearts made everyone understand that this could not be a real scene.

"It seems the aberration in Red Stone City is even more thorny and troublesome than we imagined," Lan Lan said with a solemn expression.

"Eh?"

At this moment, Lu Ming suddenly cried out in surprise, immediately drawing everyone's gaze.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Zhao Beili asked with concern.

"Did you discover something?" Li Luo also asked, though he skipped the useless pleasantries. Among them, only Lu Ming was skilled in illusion arts, so her sudden outburst must mean she had some other discovery.

Lu Ming nodded, her beautiful eyes somewhat tense. She pointed to a corner of her clothing, and everyone's gaze followed. At first glance, nothing seemed amiss, but upon closer observation, they would discover that a section of the clothing there seemed to have become somewhat illusory.

As if it had mysteriously vanished.

"This Huan Jing should possess a terrifying assimilation ability. The longer we stay here, the more we will gradually be assimilated into part of the Huan Jing. Although I don't know what exactly will happen then, it is definitely nothing good." Lu Ming's voice was filled with wariness.

Everyone's expressions changed, and they then examined themselves. On the Tian Zhu Jing grandmasters like the Eldest Princess, Gong Gong Shenjun, and Lan Lan, there was nothing unusual, but on those still at the Divination Master realm like Li Luo, Jing Jing Taixu, and Senior Zhu Zhu Xuan, their clothing had a faint sense of becoming illusory.

"It seems the weaker one's strength, the faster one is assimilated by the Huan Jing," the Eldest Princess said with her willow brows tightly furrowed.

This was not good news. After all, except for the squad from the North Sea Saintly Academy which had no Divination Master realm, all their other squads had brought one.

If Li Luo and these Divination Master realm practitioners ran into trouble or suffered losses here, it would be an unacceptable loss for them, whether from the perspective of points or otherwise.

"It seems the current problem is that we need to break this Huan Jing in the shortest time possible," Gong Gong Shenjun said contemplatively.

"Although this Huan Jing is special, it's not actually impossible to break. The simplest method is to successfully set up a 'Purification Node' within Red Stone City. This place is the main node of Red Sand Prefecture. Once successful, it will connect with those purification devices we set up before, and at that time, the entire Red Sand Prefecture will be covered." Lan Lan also spoke up at this moment.

"Once the grand purification formation takes shape, breaking this Huan Jing should be a breeze."

The others all nodded—this was also what they had thought.

"However, wanting to successfully set up the purification node right under the nose of that Great Calamity-grade aberration is probably not an easy task either," the Eldest Princess said.

"Actually, if that Great Calamity-grade aberration really came out to fight directly, that would actually be simpler. If we join forces, even a Great Calamity may not be something we can't contend with. Presumably, once we deal with it, this Huan Jing will also collapse on its own." Lan Lan truly lived up to his reputation as the strongest student at the academy-level tournament. In his words, there was no excessive fear toward that Great Calamity-grade aberration. Perhaps he also understood that so-called fear served no purpose here, after all, that Great Calamity aberration would not spare their lives just because they were afraid.

In the end, it still came down to a life-and-death struggle.

"Brother Lan speaks well. Regardless, our top priority is to complete the purification node," Gong Gong Shenjun said with a slight smile, in agreement.

The Eldest Princess nodded and said contemplatively: "Completing the purification node is indeed the most important thing, but this Huan Jing is quite bizarre and harbors killing intent, so we cannot be too scattered. I suggest splitting into two groups, four squads per group, and then quickly set up the purification spirit pearls."

Li Luo nodded upon hearing this. This was a cautious suggestion. Four small squads moving together—this lineup was absolutely formidable. With four Tian Zhu Jing grandmasters leading the way, presumably they could handle any unforeseen incident that came their way.

"His Highness Gong is right. At a time like this, we cannot have individual squads complete the mission alone. The loss of any single squad is something we cannot bear." That Qin Yin Yue immediately spoke up in support.

The others also expressed their agreement. After all, even the most arrogant person would not be foolish enough to underestimate this Huan Jing and the possibly hidden Great Calamity-grade aberration at this moment.

"As for how to divide the groups, let's use lots to assign them. That might be fairer."

The Eldest Princess took out eight jade needles from her spatial orb and said: "Eight jade needles, four long and four short."

The other seven squad leaders had no objections to this, so they stepped forward one by one, casually drew one, and then revealed it.

Li Luo's gaze swept over. What remained in the Eldest Princess's hand was one long lot, while the other three long lots appeared in the hands of the three squad leaders: Gong Gong Shenjun, Zhao Zhao Beili, and Qin Lian Zong.

So he smiled, looked at Lu Ming and Sun Sun Dasheng beside him, and said: "We're grouped together again. Let's see us show our skills once more!"

Lu Ming pouted slightly and said: "In a place like this, where do we Divination Master realm practitioners have the qualifications to show our skills? Being able to keep our lives and not drag the others down is already pretty good."

Sun Sun Dasheng immediately expressed dissatisfaction upon hearing this: "What's wrong with being at the Divination Master realm? You weak woman shouldn't spout nonsense here. When we encounter danger later, you just hide at the back. I'll show you how a Divination Master realm practitioner performs."

"Weak woman?"

Lu Ming was both angry and amused, her eyes unkindly fixed on Sun Sun Dasheng: "You stupid monkey, are you asking for a beating?"

Sun Sun Dasheng said boldly: "I don't fight with women. If it were Li Luo instead, that would be more like it."

"You can't even beat Jing Jing Taixu, and you still want to fight Li Luo?" Lu Ming mocked.

"We'll have to fight to find out," Sun Sun Dasheng said, refusing to back down.

The two of them were at each other's throats here, while the other squad leaders completed the assignment. After another round of reminders for the two groups to watch out for each other, they began to move quickly.

"Let's go."

Li Luo watched the two separated groups, waved to interrupt the argument between Lu Ming and Sun Sun Dasheng, and then walked into the center of the formation. That was the safest spot, suitable for them Divination Master realm practitioners.

Lu Ming and Sun Sun Dasheng also stopped, then followed after Li Luo.

After arranging the team's formation, the Eldest Princess's phoenix eyes swept a circle; her breathtakingly beautiful, delicate face now appeared extremely solemn.

However, she didn't say any more useless words, merely nodding to the other three team captains.

"Move out!"

As the soft shout fell, the eight squads—divided into two groups—separated without hesitation, then swiftly merged into the bustling, exceptionally lively stream of people.