Sensing the middle-aged man’s murderous intent—knowing he truly intended to take her down with him—Yan Qi wasn’t about to give him the chance.
In the next instant, she conjured a thunder seal in her palm and hurled it straight at him.
Crackle—BOOM!
The man, who hadn’t even had time to unleash his supernatural abilities, was struck mid-motion. A series of violent electric discharges later, his charred body collapsed to the ground, motionless.
“Dao Yan… is he dead?” Yan Yu asked, eyeing the blackened figure nervously.
Yan Qi, having long mastered her thunder seals, shook her head. “Relax. I held back. He’s just unconscious.”
“That’s good… but how are we supposed to get intel out of him now?”
“Even without his testimony, the fact that a cultist showed up near a black barrier speaks volumes.” Yan Qi nudged the scorched body with her foot. “We’ll hand him over to the Supernatural Affairs Bureau. They’re the experts at interrogating fanatics like him.”
She paused, then added, “Oh, and tell them to increase patrols around the black barriers. If more cultists slip through, who knows what kind of disaster they’ll unleash.”
“Got it.” Yan Yu immediately pulled out her phone and relayed everything to the Bureau.
The higher-ups took the report seriously. Within minutes, a team was dispatched to retrieve the cultist while security around all black barriers was tightened.
Hanging up, Yan Yu turned to her sister. “So, what now?”
“We keep working,” Yan Qi said firmly. “While the Bureau keeps the cultists busy, we clear out the Flesh Blossoms inside the barriers. The more we destroy now, the fewer casualties there’ll be when the crisis hits.”
Yan Yu bit her lip. “…Can’t we prevent any deaths?”
Yan Qi sighed. “Look at how developed those Blossoms are. The cult’s been preparing this for a long time. Some losses… are inevitable.”
“…Right. Those monsters have been scheming for ages.” Yan Yu’s voice was quiet, torn between frustration and sorrow.
Then, squaring her shoulders, she looked up. “Let’s go wipe out the next one.”
With a nod, the sisters sprinted off toward another black barrier—invisible to most—leaving the unconscious cultist behind.
…..
Meanwhile, as Yan Qi and Yan Yu tore through the barriers, slaughtering abyssal beasts and incinerating Flesh Blossoms one after another…
A bishop of the Plague Lord’s cult stared at his compass in mounting fury. The red dots marking their precious Blossoms were vanishing at an alarming rate.
“Who dares?!” he seethed, knuckles whitening around the device. “Who’s destroying our offerings—our keys to ushering forth the Divine? When I find them, I’ll flay them alive!”
But rage wouldn’t salvage the plan. Forcing himself to breathe, the bishop made a decision: The ritual must begin early.
Within minutes, his orders rippled through the cult’s hierarchy: All members—break through Bureau blockades at any cost. Force the remaining Blossoms to bloom.
Then, stripping off his white lab coat (a disguise as a hospital physician), the bishop hurried toward the central barrier—where the most critical Blossom awaited.
…..
Whoosh—CRACKLE!
A Flesh Bud writhed in the grip of Yan Qi’s samadhi flames, its shrieks fading as it burned. Nearby, Yan Yu stood panting, her sword dripping with the blood of a decapitated abyssal beast. Her cheeks were flushed, her breaths uneven.
“You okay?” Yan Qi eyed her sister’s unusually exhilarated state.
“I’m… fine,” Yan Yu managed between gasps. “It’s just—I keep having this urge to chop everything in front of me to pieces. It’s… weird.”
She took deep breaths, trying to calm the adrenaline surging through her.
Hearing this, Yan Qi suddenly understood.
Of course.
The six-star transformation card Yan Yu was using—its name explained everything.