Chapter 681: He Went Into the Fire

Chen Ling didn't know how long he had waited.

He only knew that the war in the distance was burning brighter, and the rain in Liu Town was becoming increasingly cold and biting... At this moment, he realized that they might not be coming after all.

Chen Ling stood up slowly from the chair, feeling a sense of emptiness in his heart. Just as he was about to return to the Twilight Society's house, a light sound of footsteps came from the house behind him.

An old woman leaning on a cane walked under the eaves, her eyes fixed on the red-clad figure in the rain.

Chen Ling was slightly startled to see her.

"Oh, I recognize you!" The old woman studied Chen Ling for a long time, a smile appearing on her wrinkled face. "You're the friend my dear grandchild picked up while gathering firewood! You're the Clown! Even without your makeup, I recognize you!"

Chen Ling had met this old woman the first time he came here. She was Li Qingshan's grandmother. Because one of her eyes was fake, Chen Ling had a deep impression of her... Now it seemed that although she was old, her memory was still quite good.

Seeing this, Chen Ling immediately asked:

"Grandma, have Li Qingshan and the others been back?"

"You're looking for my dear grandchild? He was back... but then he left again. He also said that if any friends came looking for him here, I should bring them inside to rest..."

Chen Ling's heart skipped a beat.

"Then where is he? Where did he go?"

"Him?..."

The old woman turned her head slowly. Her cloudy eyes reflected the towering flames of war in the distance.

She raised a trembling finger and pointed there, saying:

"...He went into the raging fire."

……

Red Dust Main City.

Continuous rain of fire fell from the dark clouds, clinging to the muddy earth and withered forests, turning the area outside the main city walls into a sea of fire!

The towering flames crashed against the city walls like waves, yet they were unable to break through... On the walls, several Architects joined forces to channel their divine paths, and a massive, colorful scroll acted like a screen, barely resisting the erosion of the flames.

"Damn it... how did they get here so fast?!" an Architect said, covered in sweat.

"The front line must have completely collapsed. All the halls have lost contact... I'm afraid..."

"Even the halls have failed. With just us, can we hold them off??"

"How could we possibly hold them off... Should we just run?"

"Run? The Wuji Realm people are everywhere. Where can you run to? Even if you get out, can you traverse thousands of miles through the Gray Realm to reach other realms?"

"We have no way out. If we can't hold them, we'll all die together!!"

“……”

The many Architects gritted their teeth, pushing their divine paths to the limit. Suddenly, black-robed sorcerers descended from the fiery sky, carrying various eerie skills and crashing onto the city walls!

Boom, boom, boom—!!

Successive roars echoed through the sky, and the entire battlefield was in chaos.

The slaughter between the Green God Path and the Sorcery God Path turned the city wall line into ruins. In this chaos, tall silver figures moved through the flames at astonishing speeds, rushing into the main city like a swarm of locusts before rapidly dispersing.

The Floating Life Painting had limited manpower. While resisting the Sorcery Association, they had no time to stop those silver monsters, and could only watch helplessly as they rushed into the city and began slaughtering along the streets.

"The Red Dust Realm... is finished." An Architect saw this, despair flashing in their eyes.

At the same time, a figure riding a wild goose swept rapidly across the sky!

It was a pale-faced youth. He stood on the wild goose sketched by a paintbrush, looking down at the war-torn city walls below, his expression extremely grim.

His fingertips sketched rapidly in the void. The next moment, the "person"-shaped formation of wild geese dove down, crashing into the silver monsters that hadn't yet dispersed. A series of explosive roars swept across the battlefield, blowing them into fragments!

The blinding fire tore a gap in the battlefield, and terrifying energy fluctuations rippled out. All the Floating Life Painting Architects were stunned, looking up at the sky in a daze.

The youth leaped off the back of the wild goose.

As he landed lightly, the ground beneath his feet suddenly twisted, and a massive domain expanded!

The battlefield in front of the city wall seemed to be forcibly compressed and flattened, gradually turning into a thin scroll. Amidst the spinning world, everyone saw the youth's figure rise rapidly... He seemed to stand independent of this space-time, holding a pitch-black paintbrush, his eyes burning like the sun!

"I am Lin Xi of the Ninth Hall of the Floating Life Painting," the youth's voice sounded like thunder.

"From now on, I will command the battlefield!"

As his voice fell, the youth's building-sized brush tore through the scroll and suddenly struck the nearest black-robed sorcerer. The latter's body exploded on the spot, blood mixing into the colorful ink splatters, eventually turning into countless birds and snakes that rushed toward all parts of the battlefield.

"The Ninth Hall?!"

Hearing these words, many members of the Floating Life Painting were shocked, while some newcomers who had joined later looked on in confusion.

"Didn't he defect? Why is he here?"

"He seems to be on our side... Regardless, he was once a Hall Master; he shouldn't turn around and attack the Red Dust."

"Except for the Chief, he should be the last Hall Master of the Red Dust Realm..."

“……”

As the war raged, no one had time to question Eight of Clubs. They quickly followed his deployment, orderly filling the gaps in the city wall and engaging the black-robed sorcerers attacking from all sides.

Eight of Clubs, who had opened his domain, stood independent of the battlefield. With authority similar to the Second Hall, he could overlook the entire situation...

Although this couldn't reverse the disadvantage in numbers, at least it could reduce the number of enemies breaking into the Red Dust Main City and buy the Chief a little more time.

Just as Eight of Clubs was fighting bravely, he seemed to notice something and looked in a certain direction.

A tall figure in an opera robe and armor broke through the sea of fire, rapidly approaching. Behind him, majestic battle flags danced wildly in the wind!

"It's him?!" An Architect saw the figure, surprise flashing in their eyes.

"Wasn't he running away... why is he back?"

On the battlefield of the Green God Path and the Sorcery God Path, the sudden appearance of a Play God Path figure indeed attracted a lot of attention... Li Qingshan scanned the battlefield without stopping, locking onto the group of silver monsters that had broken into the main city and scattered, and rushed into the city without hesitation!

Li Qingshan knew very well that with his rank, it would be hard to survive on the battlefield outside the city. If anyone engaged in a domain clash, he would be unable to handle it.

Since that was the case, he might as well enter the city and hunt down those silver monsters... Although he was a bit weak, Li Qingshan was not incapable of fighting them.

Seeing the figure with the battle flags approaching the main city, many Architects hesitated whether to stop him.

But the next moment, Eight of Clubs' voice came from the air:

"...Let him in."