NABC Chapter 68 The rooster crows, and the world turns white.
Chapter 68 The rooster crows, and the world turns white.
Chapter 68 When the rooster crows, the world turns white (Seeking first subscription)
The toad was enraged to the extreme. Suddenly, it swelled up its belly, opened its mouth wide, and spat out not copper coins, but a thick black poisonous mist.
Where the poisonous fog permeated, even the air hissed and corroded, and the stone railings by the lake melted into mud at a visible speed.
Jiang Jun retreated rapidly, simultaneously activating the "Divine Rooster Talisman." The rooster flapped its wings, creating a wall of fire that crackled and popped as it burned the poisonous mist.
But a few wisps of poisonous mist still seeped through the flames, drifting towards him as if they were sentient.
A flash of clear light enveloped Jiang Jun, minimizing his presence. The poisonous mist, having lost its target, swirled in place before slowly dissipating.
Seeing that the poisonous mist had no effect, the toad's bumps all over its body burst open at the same time, spraying out countless tiny golden pus that condensed in the air into golden needles that swept outwards in all directions.
Since we can't see it or find it, we'll attack indiscriminately!
Each golden needle carried an eerie, cursed aura. Jiang Jun vaguely sensed that this seemed to be related to lifespan.
Without a second thought, he retrieved all the purple light needles from "The Cursed One" and wove them into a net of light in front of him, blocking all the golden needles.
The golden needles collided with the light needles, producing a crisp, ringing sound that made his heart pound, fearing he might miss one.
Although the golden needle was rejected, it also revealed his location.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the toad pounced forward, opening its huge mouth to try and swallow Jiang Jun whole.
The divine rooster suddenly appeared from the side, its sharp beak slamming into the toad's eye. The toad, in pain, jerked its head back, sending the rooster flying.
The divine rooster tumbled a few times in the air, regained its balance, and the flames around it dimmed a little.
Jiang Jun's heart skipped a beat. This toad was, after all, a lord-level creature, and even though it was countered by the "Divine Chicken Talisman," its strength was still far superior to his own.
If it weren't for the ever-growing power of the suppressing object, he probably wouldn't have been able to hold on for long.
Since the arrival of the supernatural realm, the golden stream flowing into the folk notebook has never stopped, and it's getting faster and faster.
With each ray of golden light that entered, the power of the four protective artifacts increased by one point.
The fire patterns on the "Divine Rooster Talisman" pulsed more and more violently, and the crimson flames on the rooster's body gradually recovered, even becoming hotter than before.
The toad seemed to have realized this as well, and its attacks became increasingly frenzied, giving Jiang Jun no chance to catch his breath.
Jiang Jun gritted his teeth, hoping that the battles on the other battlefields would end first.
*
Beneath the Department of Mysteries building lies a hidden underground chamber.
The two elderly people sat facing each other, their bodies emitting a deep, mysterious light.
The light was as heavy as a mountain and as steady as a peak; it was the very essence of "Shi Gandang".
Before them stood a deep, silent well, its walls covered with densely packed sealing runes.
Deep roars came from the bottom of the well, and a dragon could be vaguely seen rolling around. Each struggle caused the secret chamber to tremble violently.
The dragon's body was so enormous that it almost filled the entire deep well. Its scales were as black as ink, each the size of a washbasin, and it exuded a suffocating eerie aura.
It struggled violently, and the sealing runes on the well wall lit up with a dazzling golden light, pressing it down firmly.
However, fine cracks have already appeared in the runes, indicating that they will not last much longer.
The old man on the left had white hair and eyebrows, a withered face, and a hoarse voice: "This strange dragon, after being suppressed for so many years, still has such ferocity."
"If it weren't for the two of us doing our best to suppress it, it would probably have already broken out of the well. Given the current situation in Qingjiang, we can't spare any more time and can only place our hopes on that Pathfinder."
The elderly man on the right looks slightly younger, but his face is also full of wrinkles.
He nodded, his gaze piercing through the earth as he looked towards the direction of the South City Park: "He is currently engaged in a fierce battle with that life-borrowing toad."
However—the battle has dragged on for so long, and they seem to be struggling.
The old man on the left frowned slightly: "Could it be that his strength is not as great as we expected? That strange toad has only just entered the Lord level. If we can't even defeat it—"
The old man on the right shook his head: "That toad's 'coin-for-life' technique—if either of us gets involved, we'll inevitably lose a few years of our lifespan."
"That person was able to engage in close combat without sustaining a scratch, which in itself demonstrates his strength."
The old man on the left was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded: "That's true, and—have you noticed that his power is constantly rising, as if he's accumulating something?"
1
The old man on the right pondered, "Perhaps he devoted most of his energy to maintaining those protective objects."
"Those protective artifacts are guarding ordinary people everywhere, and they're probably draining his power every moment. If he withdraws all his clones and attacks with all his might—"
The two exchanged a glance, a glimmer of hope flashing in their eyes.
"Let's wait." The old man on the right closed his eyes. "Since he's made a move, he won't just stand by and do nothing. We just need to suppress this strange dragon and prevent it from breaking free."
The two stopped talking and focused all their energy on fighting the dragon at the bottom of the well.
With each struggle of the dragon, their faces grew paler, but none of them gave up.
At that very moment, inside the Mirror Realm.
A violent energy surge suddenly erupted from the mirrored projection of the Department of Mysteries building.
Countless cracks spread from the building, which then collapsed with a deafening roar, sending debris flying and dust billowing.
A colossal ghost rose from the ruins, crossing the boundary between the mirror image and reality, and descended directly upon the Department of Mysteries in Qingjiang City.
It is as tall as a ten-story building, and its body is semi-transparent, yet solid as if it were a physical object.
Countless distorted human faces struggled and wailed inside its body; those faces were all the creatures it had devoured.
Its eyes were two eerie, dark green flames, and wherever its gaze fell, even the air froze into ice.
The police officers remaining at the Department of the Supernatural all paled.
Lord-level, and a strong one among lord-level!
Fortunately, he paid a heavy price when he destroyed the mirror projection of the Department of the Supernatural and forcibly descended into the real world; otherwise, everyone present would have suffered a severe mental shock just by looking at him.
The ghost lowered its head, looked at the crowd standing guard in front of the Department of Mysteries building, and let out a piercing laugh: "Hahaha—the Department of Mysteries of Qingjiang City, you think you can stop me?"
Suddenly, an old man with a hunched back walked out from the crowd, holding a bronze mirror in his hand.
The bronze mirror was rusted and its surface was blurry, as if covered with a layer of mist.
But upon closer inspection, the "mist" was actually composed of countless tiny, eerie faces that wriggled and struggled on the mirror surface, even more bizarre than ghosts.
The old man coughed violently as he walked, as if he might collapse at any moment.
But with each cough he uttered, the bronze mirror in his hand shone brighter, and the eerie face on the mirror became increasingly animated.
"Old Jiang!" Liu Yan, who was guarding the building, suddenly narrowed her eyes. "Why are you out here? Your health—"
Old Jiang waved his hand without saying a word, but simply pointed the bronze mirror at the enormous ghost.
On the mirror's surface, countless grotesque faces simultaneously opened their mouths, emitting silent screams. A beam of grayish-white light shot out from the mirror, illuminating the ghostly figure.
The ghost's enormous body stiffened abruptly, its movements slowing slightly, but it was not frozen in place.
"Jiang Daoxuan!" A maniacal voice echoed from within the ghost's body, "You've become deeply corrupted and your life is nearing its end, yet you still dare to make a forceful move? Aren't you afraid of dying on the spot?!"
Old Jiang coughed up a mouthful of black blood and said coldly, "Who do we have here? It's Vice Leader Zhang of the Ghostly Soul Sect. You're neither human nor monster now, and you still have time to worry about me?"
Vice Leader Zhang laughed wildly: "Then let's try it!" He suddenly struggled, and cracks appeared on the gray-white pillar of light, and the ghost's body regained its mobility.
Although his tone was arrogant, he did not engage in a fight with Old Jiang, but instead turned around and rushed towards the dormitory building of the Department of Mysteries.
Old Jiang's expression changed drastically. He bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of blood onto the bronze mirror.
The mirror suddenly lit up, and a gray-white beam of light shot out again, binding the ghost's legs.
The ghost stumbled and nearly fell, but still dragged the beam of light, moving step by step toward the dormitory building.
"The Holy Son is right there!" Vice Leader Zhang's voice grew increasingly frantic. "Hand him over, or Qingjiang's destruction is imminent!"
Old Jiang tried desperately to activate the bronze mirror, but the cracks on the mirror surface increased, and his face became increasingly ashen.
The ghost was getting closer and closer to the dormitory building, and was about to touch the building, but was once again blocked by the mirror light.
A sense of relief welled up in the hearts of the high-ranking officials of the Department of Mysteries present.
Fortunately! Fortunately, that Daoist purified the spiritual plant, which greatly improved Elder Jiang's condition.
Otherwise, he wouldn't even have had the strength to make a move, and the ghost would probably have already succeeded.
During the stalemate, Old Jiang suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of black blood, which all disappeared into the bronze mirror.
He suddenly pushed the bronze mirror forward, and countless eerie faces on the mirror flew out at the same time, turning into gray-white chains that bound the ghost tightly from head to toe.
"Get in here!" Jiang Lao shouted, tightening the chains and pulling the ghost inch by inch toward the mirror.
"You old bastard, you're insane! You dare to sacrifice your heart's blood?!" Vice Leader Zhang struggled desperately, the chains creaking and breaking one by one.
But Old Jiang had already gone all out, his heart's blood continuously dripping onto the bronze mirror, and the mirror surface suddenly burst forth with a dazzling gray-white light.
The ghost's body began to shrink and was forcibly pressed into the mirror.
"No—!" Vice Leader Zhang roared shrilly, his voice growing weaker and weaker until it finally disappeared.
Old Jiang put away his camera, swaying slightly before being supported by the police officer beside him. He was panting heavily, his face ashen, but a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Let's turn to two different parts of the story.
In the South Park, the stalemate between Jiang Jun and the toad continues, but the situation is quietly turning around.
As the power of the Divine Rooster Talisman continued to increase, the crimson flames on the rooster's body grew stronger and stronger, and it was now able to directly confront the toad.
Jiang Jun simply retrieved all the purple light needles from "The Deceptive Sorrow," transforming them into a purple glow that draped over every feather of the rooster.
With the rooster's blessing, its momentum surged, and each attack with its sharp beak and claws left deep wounds on the toad.
The toad went completely berserk.
Instead of spitting out copper coins and poisonous mist, it opened its mouth wide and bit directly at the rooster.
The rooster neither dodged nor avoided it, but plunged headfirst into its beak and rampaged around inside.
The toad rolled on the ground in pain, crushing half of the park's artificial hill and pavilion.
Jiang Jun kept a distance, avoiding the copper coins and poisonous mist spewed out by the toad, and channeled his true energy into a purple rain of light, which he poured down on the monsters surging from the vicinity.
The vast majority of the monsters died on the spot, and the few powerful ones were also caught by the suction of the "Monster-Swallowing Gourd" and suppressed inside the gourd.
But there were just too many monsters; after killing one wave, another would appear.
Above Qingjiang City, the gray fog churned even more violently, clearly indicating that the overlap of the strange realms was deepening.
Jiang Jun was anxious. If things continued like this, even if he could hold off the toad, more people would die in other places.
Just then, a cascade of golden light poured into the "Folklore Notebook" from the void.
Jiang Jun was jolted, his consciousness instantly pulled into a strange state.
In a daze, he seemed to sense the existence of countless clones of the object being suppressed.
They are scattered throughout Qingjiang City, Qidong Province, the land of China, and countless corners of the world.
Some stood silently on the windowsill, watching over the terrified families.
Some of them were lurking and intimidating the strange creatures that lingered under the eaves.
Some are held in someone's hand, shining a faint light in moments of despair.
Each of the artifact's clones was glowing.
With a thought, Jiang Jun summoned the power of all the "Divine Rooster Talisman" clones, which converged from all over the world through some mysterious connection, and poured it into the main body of the "Divine Rooster Catches Five Poisons Talisman".
Moreover, those protective avatars also brought a wondrous power, not the golden light of merit, but something purer and more real.
That was the trust, reliance, and gratitude of countless people towards the guardian spirit; it was the sliver of hope they grasped at the critical moment of life and death.
This power makes the power of suppressing objects more real and real, greatly increasing its lethality against monsters.
The rooster crowed to the sky, and its body suddenly burst into crimson flames, rising ten feet high and transforming into a gigantic Dharma image that blotted out the sun.
It lowered its head, opened its sharp beak, and gently pecked at the struggling toad.
The toad was neatly pecked open from head to back, revealing a huge toad pearl.
"Quack"
It roared to the sky, its body churning with eerie energy, and its fleshy buds intertwined like grotesque snakes, attempting to mend itself.
The divine rooster, however, gave them no chance, spitting out a pillar of fire that sent the toad pearl flying.
The toad pearl bounced several times on the ground before finally rolling down in front of the divine rooster. It was entirely black and gold, emitting an eerie glow.
The rooster used its red flames to singe around the toad pearl, removing the contamination, before tilting its head back and swallowing it.
Its aura surged once more, its form grew even larger, and its plumage shone like flowing lava.
The rooster raised its head and crowed three times towards the gray sky.
"Giggle giggle"
"Giggle giggle"
"Giggle giggle"
The rooster crowed three times, each crow louder and longer than the last.
Wherever the sound waves passed, the eerie mist was swept away as if by a gale and quickly dissipated.
The eerie atmosphere in the sky was torn apart, revealing blue sky and white clouds.
The celestial phenomenon of the mirrored ghost world overlapping with the real world began to slowly fade away with the three crowings of roosters.
Centered on the park, within a radius of ten miles, countless monsters of various ranks, from lowly soldiers to elites, vanished into thin air as the rooster crowed.
Only the lord-level toad remained alive; a powerful force emanated from the darkness, sustaining its existence.
Before the golden light was exhausted, Jiang Jun borrowed the power of the "Gourd of Devouring Ghosts" to seal and suppress the toad, sending it to keep company with the starving ghost.
Once everything had settled down, the power gathered on the "Divine Rooster Talisman" gradually dissipated. He looked up at the sky and let out a long breath.
In the underground chamber, the two old men sensed the rooster crowing and opened their eyes at the same time.
As the power of the ghost realm faded, the dragon at the bottom of the well let out a resentful roar, but was completely suppressed by Shi Gandang's power and could no longer stir up any waves.
The old man on the right stood up, appeared at the top of the building, and activated the "Chen Wang Jian".
The seal script on the bamboo slips shone brightly, transforming into two golden chains that tightly bound the withered tree and the flesh mountain, two lord-level monsters, to the west and north.
With the chains tightened, the two monsters were bound hand and foot, with little chance to resist.
To the east, Cycas was locked in combat with Cerberus, and had already sustained several wounds.
A golden light descended from the sky and landed on his bronze sword.
The bronze sword instantly transformed into a ten-zhang-long gray-green sword light. With a single strike, the three heads of the three-headed dog flew off, and black blood gushed out like a spring.
Although three more heads grew from the severed neck, the creature was severely weakened and was quickly subdued by the golden chains that descended from the sky.
Su Tie sheathed his sword, panting heavily, and looked in the direction of the Department of Mysteries building.
There, Old Jiang had already been helped into the building, and the Vice Leader of the Ghostly Cult in the bronze mirror could no longer utter a sound.
The monsters of Qingjiang City have either died or scattered, and the remaining ones are being pushed back by the police officers of the Department of the Supernatural and the folk monster tamers.
The gray fog completely dissipated, and the sun shone once again on this city that had suffered so much.
Jiang Jun stood amidst the ruins of the park, his crown tassels drooping, the twelve symbols gleaming faintly in the sunlight.
He looked around at the broken walls and ruins, a scene of devastation, but the faint light still shone from the windows, under the eaves, and in the hands of the people.
Jiang Jun withdrew his gaze, looked in the direction of the Department of Mysteries building, and nodded slightly as a greeting.
Sensing that the imperial robes were about to disappear, he had a thought and contacted the "Ghostly Prohibition" spirit in his home. In a flash, he disappeared from the spot.
Inside the Department of the Supernatural, the two old men looked at each other in bewilderment.
The man with white hair and beard looked ashamed: "When the rooster crows, the world turns white! What virtue or ability do we have to presume to speak of such great power?"
Another exclaimed, "Even if no other deeds are recorded in history, from this day forward, this man's name will be known throughout the world!"
He looked at Liu Yan: "This person seems to have never revealed her name?"
Liu Yan composed herself and said, "Yes, we have also sought his advice, but he has never given us any guidance. We can only address him as a senior."
""
"However, Master Lin of Qingzhu Temple respectfully calls him 'True Man,'" he did not deny. Perhaps he is some reclusive senior figure in the Taoist tradition?
The two old men pondered for a moment, then shook their heads in unison.
Having just suppressed the backlash from his natal demonic entity, Jiang Laogang categorically denied it upon hearing this: "The Abyss of Demons has existed for forty years since its descent into the world. In this era of great strife, how could such achievements be attained without battling the Abyss and its demonic creatures?!"
"Doesn't this gentleman possess a talisman called 'Ghost-Prohibiting', which can conceal one's presence and prevent ghosts from seeing one?"
"Perhaps if this thing were pushed to its ultimate limit, the entire world would forget that it ever existed—"
Upon hearing this, everyone present showed expressions of longing.
What kind of immense power could erase the traces of one's own existence from the dimension of time?
Why did he suddenly appear in the world?
What exactly is the mystery behind this so-called "way of suppressing things"?