Chapter 892 - 891: Crystal Dome

Chapter 892: Chapter 891: Crystal Dome

Near the landing point, the flying carpet of Hu Li and Lucrecia slowly descended in altitude before finally landing on a small hill.

The few twigs that had remained on Zheng Zhi’s head had been struck clean by lightning, but thankfully, he really wasn’t harmed. He just ended up with a spirited hairstyle—which probably wouldn’t come down for a day or two.

The gentle valley below the hill was now enshrouded in mist.

Yu Sheng stood atop the hill, gazing toward the mist-covered area, and at first glance, he saw the enormous crystal that had landed in the impact crater.

It was a blue-white crystal with an irregular exterior, about the size of a house. The crystal seemed to be filled with energy, with sparks constantly bursting from its surface like jumping electric currents.

Surrounding the enormous crystal, a radial crater had been smashed into the ground. Within the crater, clusters of glowing clouds could also be seen meandering about, though their nature was unknown.

"What the heck is that..." The Little Puppet leaned on Yu Sheng’s shoulder, craning its neck to look down while unconsciously muttering to itself.

Yu Sheng glanced back and saw Red frowning slightly, her eyes carrying a pensive look.

"Did you notice anything?" Yu Sheng asked softly.

"I... no," Red started, then shook her head with a frown, "let’s get closer."

"Alright."

The group began making their way down the slope, with Hu Li reverting to human form and walking beside Yu Sheng.

The demon fox girl’s fluffy tails swayed enthusiastically, even the fur on her ears appeared a bit puffy.

Halfway down, she lowered one of her tails, dragging it on the ground as a grounding line.

"There’s a lot of static in the air," the demon fox girl muttered, rubbing her ears, "it’s a bit itchy."

"Be careful, the energy readings here are very unstable," Lucrecia said, holding a crystal ball in one hand and gripping her wand-like short magic wand in the other, "I haven’t found any living beings... but don’t let your guard down."

Yu Sheng nodded, continuing forward while observing the area around the landing point.

Luminous "clouds" of various sizes floated around them. These cloud-like things ranged from several meters in diameter to as small as half a meter, floating roughly a dozen centimeters above the ground, drifting aimlessly. They didn’t look like a normal natural phenomenon.

Is this also brought by that fallen enormous crystal?

Yu Sheng wondered to himself, cautiously maintaining a distance from those wandering clouds.

Fortunately, although these clouds looked strange, they didn’t seem to have any aggressive tendencies.

The group had reached the edge of the impact crater, where the enormous crystal lay ahead, a low humming sound resonating in the air, as if the crystal was resonating with the entire land.

Yu Sheng lifted his hand, and a blood-colored spear appeared in his grip.

He then cautiously proceeded to lead the way toward the enormous blue-white crystal.

Zheng Zhi walked in the middle of the group, glancing nervously around as he moved.

The pale clouds surrounding him appeared to twist and distort subtly in his sight. He had a nagging suspicion that something was inside those mists, but he couldn’t quite make it out.

The mist was gradually gathering, and a low murmuring sound began to fill the air.

"Brother Yu!" Zheng Zhi suddenly shouted, "Stop! Something’s wrong with this mist!"

Yu Sheng halted immediately.

"I have a feeling there’s something hidden in the mist," Zheng Zhi quickly explained, "and I can hear whispering near my ears... I suspect these things are alive."

Yu Sheng listened and frowned, and in the next moment, he noticed the aimlessly floating pale clouds start to "flow."

All of the larger and smaller cloud clusters began converging toward them, merging with each other as they moved. They gradually formed a single entity, slowly ascending around the impact crater.

In almost an instant, a flowing wall of mist appeared out of nowhere in front of Yu Sheng, with the pale mist floating and rising a dozen meters away, seemingly blocking their path forward.

"This thing..." Lucrecia frowned, "It seems like it’s trying to prevent us from approaching that crystal?"

"It seems so," Yu Sheng said cautiously, "...but it’s only blocking here, it doesn’t seem to show obvious hostility."

"Maybe just a few steps forward and there will be hostility," Erin murmured in Yu Sheng’s ear, "Should we throw a stone in to test it?"

Yu Sheng ignored the unreliable idea of the little thing and prepared to adopt a more cautious and scientific exploration plan, such as employing the traditional skills of the travel agency.

However, as soon as he raised his hand, preparing to call Luna over for some refined blade work, the floating wall of mist in front of them suddenly changed.

The intangible mist instantly surged, spreading around like a curtain wall, engulfing the area in the blink of an eye. Yu Sheng had no time to react and felt his thoughts slowing down, as though his entire mind was being disturbed by a larger, more chaotic "Consciousness," before suddenly falling into a drowsy state.

The mist enveloped them, blurring the boundaries between reality and spirit. The massive crystal at the center of the basin began to emit dazzling light, and the rules of time and space collapsed together in the crystal’s refracted hues...

Yu Sheng felt himself falling into a surreal dreamscape.

In the dreamscape, his perspective continuously shifted, sometimes experiencing first-hand, sometimes merely a third-party observer. He couldn’t discern which viewpoint belonged to him, nor could he distinguish the sequence of events—

He saw a gigantic crystal dome, with a whole continent enclosed under it. The complex crystal structures forming the dome overlapped as if to resist something, or perhaps to seal something deep within the confines of the dome;

He also saw a vibrant world and a splendid ancient civilization, seeing cities perched on high mountains and large rivers flowing across plains;

The next moment, he saw everything turn to ruins, a massive red light spanning the sky, witnessing many large shadowy figures rushing towards the red light, like moths to a flame;

The ensuing events surpassed his rational comprehension, observing those massive and ancient beings seemingly initiating some powerful ritual, seeing the sky constrict, and the stars connecting into a whole, he watched those giant beings plummet from the sky, seemingly battling with something, shaking those shattered stars and sky, as if attempting to crash down onto the earth together.

Yu Sheng’s perspective floated atop a high mountain, countless enormous figures falling before him, the sky torn by those overwhelming wings, ominous red light seeping between the distorted, twisted stars.

Now, he saw the magnificence of the figures—those were dragons, giant dragons akin to Baili Qing.

These awe-inspiring, powerful creatures were dropping like moths fatally consumed by flames.

An indescribable amazement emerged from the depths of his soul, realizing he was witnessing a legendary powerful species meeting its demise at incredible speed—

No prolonged wanderings, no slow fading in Sanctuaries, when the Great Annihilation arrived, the apocalypse of each world varied, and these dragons chose to perish directly alongside the Great Annihilation itself.

This was an end far faster and fiercer than the Hometown World of Anka Aela, Inference Star Body, or the Lodaxim Kingdom.

Yu Sheng was uncertain how long this process lasted; he only knew countless dragon shadows soared from the earth, rushing toward those stars falling from the sky and that red light distorting the earth. These mythical creatures’ immense power briefly blocked the annihilation effects of the red light upon the earth—but the final outcome was long predestined.

Dragon shadows falling from the sky gradually decreased, now, dragon remains filled the earth’s surface.

Then, Yu Sheng saw those piled remains begin to transform into layers upon layers of crystals.

Strange crystalline substances grew from the surface of the dragon corpses, and even the corpses themselves turned into crystal, dragons covering the land turned into a crystal bed, almost in the blink of an eye, all forests, plains, and hills were covered by crystals, and those crystals kept growing.

Still, sporadic dragons continued to fall from the sky, these battle-worn dragons dropped into the crystal jungle, instantly turning into new crystal clusters, and a crystal dome capable of encompassing the entire continent was gradually forming.

Yu Sheng stood somewhat bewildered atop the high mountain, unable to differentiate if he was viewing a clear historical record that had occurred, or living through a peculiar dream conjured by warped real history.

A dragon fell from the sky, crashing on the mountain he stood upon; the landing point was just within arm’s reach.

The dragon’s impact resonated with a thunderous noise, shaking the whole ground, accompanied by a dying cry entering his ears.

Yu Sheng turned around in shock, seeing it was a silver-white dragon, appearing even larger than Baili Qing, its heavy scales weathered and half its body contorted into a grotesque form during combat.

The dragon’s head rotated over, its crystal-clear giant eyes gazing at Yu Sheng’s location.

These are historical illusions, shadows of time fixed long ago in the Great Annihilation—Yu Sheng knew this well, yet at this moment, he suddenly felt vast unease.

He felt those eyes seeming to transcend time, even penetrating the information barriers between worlds.

This dragon had seen him.

Brief confusion, shock, the dragon’s eyes appeared to reveal vivid emotional responses, those enormous eyes steadfastly fixated on Yu Sheng standing atop the mountain, Yu Sheng even sensed those eyes "penetrating" him, observing something "behind" him.

Then he watched the dragon’s lips curl.

He couldn’t discern whether it was a smile, for in a blink, rampant crystals covered the dragon’s head—this fallen dragon also became part of the crystal jungle on the land, countless crystal clusters extending from its body surface, endlessly growing toward the sky until, along with other dragons, forming the crystal dome enveloping the entire continent.