Chapter 142: Departure for the Scalegorge Waterscape

Chen’s shout shattered the stunned silence that had fallen over the group, a silence born from the chilling name he had just invoked: a Lord Ravager.

Fu Xuan was the first to react, a dangerous glint flashing in the depths of her eyes. True or false, it didn’t matter. A presence of such deep evil had to be eradicated on the spot.

Ms. Welt moved in the same instant as Fu Xuan, her cane striking the ground with a sharp crack. An invisible gravitational field immediately doubled its oppressive influence over the area, seeking to imprison and utterly crush the wisp of spiritual fire.

“Ice arrows! Shoot it!” March 7th yelped, finally shaking himself free from the paralysis of shock. His hands still trembled, but the instinct to fight was stronger. He drew his bow, and several ice-blue arrows, trailing a biting chill, streaked directly toward their target.

Caelus was even more direct. His figure blurred, and his bat, whistling through the air with a dull thud, swung down in a heavy, crushing arc aimed squarely at the spiritual fire’s location.

In a single, chaotic instant, a crushing gravity well, a volley of freezing arrows, a brutal blunt-force strike, and Chen’s utterly nonsensical “Biu Biu” finger-gun beams all converged. A storm of attacks rained down upon the emerald spiritual fire that had only just manifested.

Phantylia had clearly not anticipated this. She had expected terror, pleas, or at the very least a moment to deliver a single, complete, menacing monologue. She had not expected them to completely disregard all common sense and open fire without a second’s hesitation. Nor had she foreseen the terrifyingly swift coordination of their merciless joint assault.

“You all—!!!”

The spiritual flame flickered violently, buffeted by the frantic onslaught. The thoughts it radiated were a chaotic storm of pure shock and incandescent rage. For a moment, it seemed as though this fragile, distracted wisp of a Lord Ravager’s consciousness would be completely annihilated by the sheer absurdity of this undignified mobbing.

“Ants… you will all remember this…!”

The emerald fire let out one last, piercing shriek, a sound laced with the utmost malice and seething resentment. It suddenly contracted inward upon itself before exploding in a blinding flare of light, a desperate gambit that forcibly shattered the layers of restraint binding it.

When the searing light finally faded, the spiritual fire had vanished without a trace.

Only the hate-filled echoes of its final threat still connected faintly above the gradually clearing alchemy furnace.

“…I will most certainly return—!!!”

The words hung in the air for a breath, then dissipated completely, as if they had never been. The wind, which seemed to have held its breath, began to flow once more.

Silence descended again before the colossal furnace.

Everyone remained frozen in their attacking or defensive stances, their eyes fixed on the empty space where the flame had been. They looked from the void to each other, and on every face was the same dazed, bewildered expression that screamed, ‘What in the world just happened?’

Fu Xuan slowly lowered her hand, her expression still grim, but her gaze upon Chen was now layered with a deep complexity.

March 7th lowered his bow, patting his chest as he let out a long, shuddering breath. “Oh my god… a L-Lord Ravager? Were we just… fighting one of those legendary things? And we even… drove it away?”

Chen gave his wrist a little shake, the limb slightly numb from the imagined recoil of his finger guns. He then met the collective stare of the group—a potent cocktail of shock, doubt, scrutiny, and a lingering trace of fear.

He blinked, then offered a smile that was somehow both sheepish and undeniably smug.

“So… surprised? Unexpected, right?”

Everyone: “…”

The air thickened with a momentary, awkward silence, broken only by the pained wails of Dan Shu on the ground and the soft hissing of the now-inactive giant alchemy furnace. Both bore silent witness to the bizarre, lightning-fast reversal that had been almost impossible to follow.

Fu Xuan’s lips twitched. Her gaze darted back and forth between Chen’s far-too-pleased face and the spot where Phantylia had vanished. Her mind reeled with a torrent of questions and a shock that threatened to overwhelm her composure. A Lord Ravager had been lurking right under their noses, and it had been driven off in such an… unbelievable fashion. This outcome completely defied every standard contingency plan in the Divination Commission’s archives.

But in the end, she simply took a deep, steadying breath. Forcing down the turbulent thoughts, the decisiveness and solemnity befitting the Master Diviner of the Xianzhou Luofu resurfaced on her features.

“…No matter.”

Fu Xuan’s voice was laced with an imperceptible trace of fatigue, but it was sharpened by an even greater sense of urgency. “There are numerous oddities and doubts surrounding this incident, but time is of the essence. Now is not the moment for a deep investigation.”

She turned to Ms. Welt, Chen, and the others, her words quickening to a brisk, commanding pace. “Dan Shu has been brought to justice, and the poisonous mist has dispersed, but the root of this trouble—the Ambrosial Arbor—remains. Its core of power is located in the Scalegorge Waterscape. We must reach that place as soon as possible to resolve this calamity once and for all.”

She raised a hand, signaling a nearby Cloud Knight officer. “Lead the members of the Astral Express to the port. Special starships are prepared there to cross the depths and reach the outskirts of the Scalegorge Waterscape.”

“Understood!” the officer replied with a crisp salute. He turned to the group. “Everyone, please follow me.”

Fu Xuan gave a curt nod to the Astral Express crew before turning and striding briskly in another direction. The Cloud Knights moved with practiced efficiency; some remained behind to secure the area and guard the remnants of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, while another elite squad fell in behind Fu Xuan and the Trailblazers.

As Chen walked with the group, his mind had already drifted far away.

‘Scalegorge Waterscape… the place where the Ambrosial Arbor is sealed…’ A name surfaced in his thoughts, and his eyes instantly lit up with a fervent glow.

Dan Heng!

‘Five-star Dan Heng…’Chen rubbed his hands together, a gleeful grin spreading across his face. He felt the energy he’d expended “fighting” Phantylia had already been fully replenished by this new prospect.’Is it finally time to unlock him? I wonder what a gender-swapped version of his five-star form will look like… and the real Jing Yuan should be there, too. I can finally meet him in person.’

Just the thought of a new icon lighting up in his mind, along with the new forms and abilities it would grant, made the entire risk-filled ordeal feel completely worth it. He was practically buzzing with motivation.

“Chen, what are you smirking about?” March 7th leaned in, his curiosity piqued. He hadn’t quite recovered from the shock of the Lord Ravager, but seeing Chen looking so happy was infectious.

“Ah? It’s nothing, nothing,” Chen replied, snapping back to reality and arranging his features into a mask of utmost seriousness. “I was just considering our upcoming tactics. Yes, tactics!”

Soon, the group arrived at a small, relatively intact port. Several ancient-looking starships, their designs evoking a sense of timeless elegance, were docked by the water’s edge.

“Cross the sea from here, and the opposite bank is the entrance to the Scalegorge Waterscape,” the leading Cloud Knight officer explained. “Lady Fu Xuan has already gone ahead to coordinate our arrival. Please, board the ships.”

Everyone filed onto one of the more spacious vessels. Ms. Welt and March 7th stood by a porthole, observing the otherworldly scenery of the Luofu’s inner seas. Caelus, as always, remained a silent, steadfast presence by Chen’s side.

Chen, however, leaned against the railing on the opposite side of the deck, pretending to survey the environment. In reality, his gaze was fixed on the distant, mist-shrouded shore, and he muttered under his breath in fervent anticipation:

“Teacher Dan Heng… come out, come out, wherever you are… I can’t wait to have a go…”

[Elysian’s Note:

Having a good time with the story?

Every single bit helps immensely:

Thanks a ton for making this journey possible!]