Hijacking the Timeline Chapter 230: Calamity Descends [2.5k]

Translator: CinderTL

As night fell, the sky filled with countless stars.

The battle for the bloodstone raged on.

The original canyon had been completely leveled, and the continuously radiating energy shockwaves had uprooted every plant in the vicinity.

The surrounding area, spanning several miles, was reduced to a barren wasteland, not a single stone left behind.

The various Domain Forces clashed like wild beasts over the prey, fighting fiercely for ownership of the bloodstone.

Having watched for most of the day, Feng Qi had lost count of the domain creatures that had perished in the process.

Despite the ongoing conflict, several Domain Forces had had opportunities to seize the bloodstone, only to be thwarted by others.

The battle had devolved into a senseless sacrifice of clansn's lives.

By this point, so Domain Forces had already chosen to withdraw.

For example, the Technology Research Institute, represented by Li Xingchen, had withdrawn after failing to secure the bloodstone in several rounds of combat.

Li Xingchen's condition upon leaving was grueso.

Nearly half of his body was missing, his chanical components were shattered, and sparks still crackled from the exposed wires. A viscous energy fluid seeped from the wounds in his feet.

The Domain Forces that remained showed no signs of stopping.

Clearly, in their eyes, obtaining the bloodstone was worth any sacrifice of clansn.

This demonstrated the imnse value the bloodstone held in the hearts of these Domain Forces.

Indeed, this was the case.

According to existing intelligence, so of the Domain Powerhouses that the Domain Weakling Alliance served back then were among the Domain Forces that controlled portions of the bloodstone.

Their thod of enslaving the Weak Domain Races was simple: a few small bloodstones derived from the bloodstone were enough to make the Weak Domain Races fight to the death for them.

Through Li Duo, he learned that each bloodstone could produce dozens of derived small bloodstones per hour, and the daily value of these derived small bloodstones was staggering.

He estimated that in its fully developed form, a bloodstone could produce over a thousand derived small bloodstones per hour, making it the "money printer" of the spiritual energy world.

The bloodstone could not only enhance racial potential but also generate external profits.

Like the Holy Spirit Consciousness Repository, the bloodstone was a divine artifact that could elevate the potential of an entire race.

This was why he believed the Domain Forces would go so mad for it.

The battle continued into the night, with neither side yet gaining the upper hand.

There were several tense monts when the bloodstone was almost taken away.

Each ti this happened, the various factions would instantly unite, using every ans at their disposal to forcibly retain the domain creature attempting to flee, and then kill it.

The original canyon had been transford into a massive crater, as if struck by a teorite.

Spiritual energy surged violently within a several-kiloter radius, the air alternating between the scorching heat of a volcanic furnace and the bone-chilling cold of an arctic wasteland.

A war of this magnitude would have been an absolute catastrophe if it had occurred within a city.

Their battle unleashed waves of energy shockwaves.

Every few seconds, a white circular shockwave would erupt from the crater and spread outward.

The area within several kiloters had beco a no-man's-land, with all vegetation and native animals obliterated by the shockwaves radiating from the fierce battle.

Even the clouds in the sky had been scattered by the towering energy shockwaves, leaving a cloudless expanse under a night sky ablaze with stars.

Standing at a distance, Feng Qi didn't dare approach the crater, fearing he might be caught in the shockwaves.

As the crater continued to deepen, he chose to extend his ntal energy to continue observing the battle through ntal perception.

The world perceived through his ntal energy was remarkably clear.

But Feng Qi soon sensed sothing was wrong.

He discovered that his ntal energy was once again acting erratically. As he approached the combat zone, it began uncontrollably devouring the residual ntal consciousness of the dead domain creatures.

His ntal energy surged rapidly as a result.

However, this state was beyond his control, and the devoured ntal energy was extrely impure, as if a new, discordant elent had been forcibly grafted onto his original ntal energy.

Through his consciousness, he could see his sea of consciousness being flooded with massive amounts of ntal energy of various colors.

The originally pale golden sea of consciousness beca mottled and stained by these diverse hues.

As his ntal strength continued to climb, the stinging pain in his physical body resurfaced.

This ti, the pain felt more visceral than ever, as if the connection between his ntal energy and his flesh was gradually being severed by the increasing ntal strength.

If his body could no longer contain the ntal energy, it might tear apart and the ntal energy would beco independent.

From there, only two outcos remained.

If his consciousness followed the ntal energy, he would undoubtedly beco a pure ntal energy lifeform.

If his consciousness didn't follow the ntal energy, he would undoubtedly die instantly. The portion of ntal energy that detached would be like a severed organ, completely severed from its source.

Facing the negative side effects of devouring external ntal energy, Feng Qi resolutely chose to ignore them.

To him, growing stronger was an unmitigated good.

Trading lifespan for power? A bargain he couldn't refuse.

As long as his body could endure, all other problems were trivial.

The stinging pain from the ntal energy's rejection by his body? He could withstand it easily.

He had experienced far worse.

Take the biochemical modification from the previous tiline, for example.

That was true hell—a dual tornt of body and soul that made each day feel like living in the abyss.

Even the rune modification process was several tis more agonizing than this stinging sensation.

As his ntal strength increased, the ntal energy tendrils extending from his body surged in volu, spawning even more tendrils.

This surge in power also expanded his ntal perception range.

This level of power increase was practically a cheat.

He was utterly impressed by Lin Ran, who had managed to develop such a perverse art magic.

The only drawback? It was a complete drain on his lifespan.

He didn't mind. A normal person would never be able to cultivate such a technique.

Perhaps one day his ntal energy would surpass his physical strength, allowing him to sever his body and ascend in a breakthrough.

This thought suddenly reminded him of Mo Fei's frequent ntion of "chanical immortality."

Compared to that, the Spiritual Immortality technique, when cultivated to its peak, might truly achieve spiritual immortality.

While lost in thought, he didn't forget to observe the Lord of the Mist's condition.

At this mont, the Lord of the Mist was clearly still in a phase of endurance, and he had no idea what opportunity the entity was waiting for.

However, its refusal to retreat proved its continued confidence in itself.

Simultaneously, he discovered a peculiar characteristic of the Lord of the Mist's abilities.

The mist sword in his hand, once it inflicted even a minor wound on an enemy, could continuously drain Qi and Blood Power from their bodies.

After careful observation with his ntal energy, he realized that tiny gray mist particles attached themselves to wounds struck by the mist sword.

These particles remained connected to the Lord of the Mist, and under its control, they drained Qi and Blood Power from the target's body, then transmitted it to the Lord of the Mist.

This ability played a crucial role in the Lord of the Mist's ability to endure this long.

The Lord of the Mist's injuries healed rapidly after absorbing the enemy's Qi and Blood Power, allowing it to maintain its full combat strength.

Moreover, it discovered that the Lord of the Mist possessed curse-type abilities.

Curse-type abilities constituted a major category in the current human classification of domain creature abilities.

However, the catalog only described the characteristics of such abilities; human cultivation studies had yet to unravel their detailed chanisms.

All they knew was that curses were special abilities that inflicted prolonged negative states on their targets, and humans afflicted by domain creature curses typically t tragic ends.

The records were filled with such cases:

gradual bodily decay leading to death continuous depletion of Qi and Blood Power until death gradual failure of bodily functions ntal derangent causing brain death * gradual petrification until the body turned completely to stone

The negative effects of curses were varied and troubleso for front-line soldiers.

Currently, effective counterasures were limited.

However, one thod was clearly capable of nullifying curses: a sufficiently robust physical body.

Against a terrifyingly strong physique like Mu Qing's, any curse proved ineffective. Any cursed seal would instantly be ignited by the surging Qi and Blood Power, vanishing into nothingness.

The Lord of the Mist's curse ability leaned towards the "draining" type, aning it dealt damage to opponents while simultaneously empowering himself.

Every target struck by his cursed seals would manifest blood-red marks. Their qi blood would then surge uncontrollably, gushing from their pores to converge on the Lord of the Mist, where he would absorb it.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call the Lord of the Mist a "blood-sucking machine" on the battlefield, making him incredibly resilient in prolonged engagents. He could sustain himself by devouring the enemy's Qi and Blood Power.

Feng Qi watched the Lord of the Mist's unconventional tactics with wide-eyed astonishnt. While other domain creatures grew increasingly fatigued with each battle, the Lord of the Mist seed to beco more invigorated with every fight.

Upon closer observation, Feng Qi noticed that the Lord of the Mist avoided challenging powerful opponents, instead preying on the weak. If he beca the target of a strong adversary, he would swiftly retreat and select a new target to hunt.

Initially, Feng Qi had assud the Lord of the Mist was in a precarious situation. But after carefully examining him with his ntal perception, he realized that while others were engaged in a bloody battle, the Lord of the Mist was more like a player leveling up in the chaos, gaining experience at an incredible rate.

Yet, Feng Qi felt that this was the true Lord of the Mist he had co to know.

He was cunning and strategic, never taking unnecessary risks.

The fact that he could endure for a millennium to lay the groundwork for the future revealed just how terrifying he was.

Such an enemy was commonly known as an "old yinbi"—a sly and calculating scher. [1]

One could imagine that if he had followed the Reality Line, constantly growing stronger without gathering any intelligence, he might have beco invincible in his ti. Yet, 1,500 years later, he would still lose to the Lord of the Mist.

The outco would be the tragic end of humanity's extinction, leaving him alone to survive.

"The formation is complete. I hope the Lord of the Mist you ntioned can escape on his own, so we don't have to take any risks for him."

As Qin Shikong's voice echoed in his ear, Feng Qi noticed golden patterns materializing beneath his feet. The formation pulsed with light, and a golden pillar shot skyward before rapidly fading, entering stealth mode.

After a brief exchange, both turned their gaze toward the center of the battle.

During the long wait, a crimson sun rose in the east.

It was six in the morning, yet the clashes between the various Domain Forces remained fierce.

He couldn't guess how long this battle would last.

He knew that if the battle continued, Mu Qing would inevitably co to support them once she completed her mission and returned to Dawn Manor to assess the situation.

Once she arrived, the situation would beco much more manageable.

He wasn't sure if Mu Qing could defeat so many Domain Powerhouses in battle, but he was certain that no one would be able to stop her if she decided to leave.

If Mu Qing were that easy to kill, she wouldn't have beco the Great Demon King of History; she would have been assassinated by the Domain Forces long ago.

"Not good, the situation has changed," Qin Shikong suddenly exclaid, interrupting his thoughts.

Hearing this, he imdiately followed Qin Shikong's gaze upward.

In the sky, a massive, pitch-black hand tore through space. With a single gesture, a black veil rapidly spread and descended, enveloping everything.

In an instant, the sky was completely obscured by the veil, and even their area was caught in its shadow.

Seeing this, Qin Shikong imdiately tapped the Eight Trigrams Plate and looked up at the sky.

As he was puzzled, Qin Shikong grabbed the still-spinning Eight Trigrams Plate, then turned to him with a bitter expression and said:

"I've roughly deduced the fate line of the entity above. It's not entirely clear, but its destiny is exceptionally strong. If I'm not mistaken, this is a super domain creature."

Hearing this, Feng Qi's expression turned grave.

Super domain creatures referred to Dragon-Tier (Level 4) domain creatures.

Such creatures were exceedingly rare, with the only recorded instance being the semi-ethereal island lifeform in the ocean.

Historically, few creatures had ever been classified as Dragon-Tier super domain creatures.

Little Black was one of them.

Of course, this was rely an evaluation. Given the limited contact Future People had with Little Black, a precise assessnt remained elusive.

Based on Feng Qi's understanding of Little Black, its abilities clearly surpassed the Dragon-Tier.

At least, none of its currently known abilities posed any threat to Little Black.

Physical invulnerability and energy immunity alone made Little Black invincible against any opponent.

In Feng Qi's opinion, defeating a Dragon-Tier creature would be trivial for Little Black—a re matter of ti.

Moreover, Little Black possessed an unknown third ultimate form, its true upper limit remaining a complete mystery.

The power of Dragon-Tier creatures was truly terrifying.

The standard for a Dragon-Tier evaluation was that such a creature, using only its own strength, could destroy a human city.

This demonstrated their imnse power.

When Qin Shikong said the domain creature overhead might be Dragon-Tier, he imdiately realized the gravity of the situation.

This super domain creature was clearly trying to seal off the area.

If it succeeded, all life within the enveloped region would likely perish.

But it was too late to escape. The black veil descended at that mont.

With a deafening roar, the black shroud enveloped the entire area, completely isolating it from the outside world.

The Domain Powerhouses, who had been vying for the bloodstone, clearly sensed the impending crisis. They simultaneously ceased their struggle, their expressions grave as they gazed upward at the sky.

TL/N:

[1]

Lǎo (老): Literally "old," but used here to an "experienced," "veteran," or "hardcore."

Yīn (阴): This is the core of the word. It ans "hidden," "shadowy," "sinister," or "backstabbing." It's the sa Yin as in Yin and Yang.

Bī (逼): A vulgar suffix (similar to "jerk" or "bastard" in this context) used to categorize a person.

(End of the Chapter)