Chapter 597: Lighting Sky Lanterns
The masks of the nine individuals were all different. Some wore masks of various animals and were dressed in peculiar clothing. Others wore either spade or heart masks and wore black robes, seemingly imitating the Peach Organization. One person was wrapped in bandages and wore a black fire mask on a white background.
During the Lantern Festival, it was common for many people to dress up as characters from movies, TV shows, or as famous figures, so their attire was not unusual. However, the one who attracted the most attention was the only young man without any disguise. He wore a long white religious robe with a golden ceremonial cape draped over his back, and his appearance was handsome.
“It’s Dipus!” A girl’s excited scream rang out from the crowd, and all eyes turned towards him.
“Why is he here?”
“A few days ago, I heard someone say the Pope’s son is a god-tier genius. Is that true?”
“You believe that? Every year there are jesters who claim to be god-tier geniuses. Haven’t you seen the world? He might not even be as good as our senior Zi Lu.”
The crowd buzzed with discussion. Xia Feng and Mu Qingtong exchanged a glance and quietly fell behind the other eight people.
“Miss Mu, can you recognize the identity of the bandaged person?” Using the Eye of Deconstruction, Xia Feng could easily see through the bandaged mask. The face underneath was also covered, wrapped layer by layer with bandages. Only a strange, dark green left eye was exposed.
Just moments ago, when Xia Feng saw this left eye, the bandaged person seemed to sense it and turned to look back, clearly having discovered his scrutiny.
“Eye of the Underworld. This person should be the earthly agent of the Burning Heaven Sacred Hall’s Destruction Star God, Burning Heaven Dao’s Tu Lin,” Miss Mu’s voice resonated in Xia Feng’s mind, surprising him. He was from Burning Heaven Dao? And an agent of the Destruction Star God!
As far as Xia Feng knew, the Burning Heaven Sacred Hall had three gods: two Star Gods and one Nightmare God. They were Eternal Day, Destruction, and Heavenly Gift. Among them, Destruction was the strongest. The other two, for various reasons, had not yet attained a godhead and were in a pseudo-god state, only one step away from becoming an Eighth-tier deity. If this Tu Lin was indeed the Destruction Star God’s agent, he was essentially equivalent to the Burning Heaven Sacred Son.
Considering all this, it was 100% certain that trouble would arise at the Lantern Festival. Could there be something valuable in the Sky Lantern Pavilion? It was worth the Pope’s son and the Burning Heaven Sacred Son coming here specifically.
As Xia Feng and Mu Qingtong discussed their curiosities:
“Brother Lin~ there are two scumbags behind you peeping.” Unseen by anyone, a headless girl in a white angel dress was beside the bandaged man. The girl’s bare feet padded the ground, and she held her own head in her arms, her cute face sporting a sinister smile. “Brother Lin~ shall we kill them?”
“Do not cause trouble.”
“Mmm—” The girl’s head flew from her arms and circled around Tu Lin, muttering, “But that woman dared to snatch a lantern from you, Brother. How hateful!”
Tu Lin’s gaze was cold, and he paid no further attention to Tu Yi. The girl’s adorable head pouted, and she huffed, “Such a block of dead wood, boring.”
However, the girl did not notice that the Red Spade Person behind her subtly glanced at her with beautiful eyes before indifferently looking away.
“Everyone, the rules for the spirit particle competition are very simple.” On the high platform, an old man with a white beard spread his hands. A mess of connected spirit particle lines lit up in his palm. He smiled lightly, “Whoever can first perfect this N-level incomplete matrix into a new D-class spirit particle matrix will be able to directly enter the Sky Lantern Pavilion to exchange for the treasure they desire. Of course, a D-class matrix can only exchange for D-class treasures, a C-class matrix for C-class treasures, and so on.”
“However, there are only five spots to enter the Sky Lantern Pavilion, first come, first served. So, will you choose the D-class matrix, or the C-class, or even B-class? Please consider carefully.” As the old man finished speaking, his palm’s stream of messy lines was copied over a hundred times and distributed to everyone present.
Xia Feng blinked and looked around in confusion. Before he could even get a clear look at the tangled lines:
[Upon seeing this N-level incomplete matrix for the first time, Mu Qingtong instantly perfected it into a B-grade spirit matrix, and based on this, deduced 1902 B-grade matrices, integrating them into one. You have comprehended B-grade Spirit Robe: Lighting Sky Lanterns]
[Bronze quality, guaranteed excellence.]
[Lighting Sky Lanterns: Any lantern-shaped object with dense fire element can be detonated by you. Damage to soul bodies is doubled. The detonation power depends on the amount of spirit particles inputted, with the highest potential to severely injure a Venerable Fifth Realm.]
After distributing the N-level matrices, the old man stroked his long, flowing beard and sighed inwardly, wondering if these geniuses would be up to the task. When he created paper lanterns with the Paper Lantern Maiden, the flame’s light was always dim. Therefore, he actually wanted to take this opportunity to have these geniuses help him devise a spirit particle structure that could make the fire element denser and more stable within extremely thin paper. This way, he could sell the paper lanterns at a better price. Creating such a spirit particle structure was difficult for him, but for this group, it should be no problem.
Lost in thought, the old man glanced below. Most people were frowning, deep in thought. Fortunately, Ning Zilu, whom he anticipated the most, had already begun, his hands rapidly moving through the light paths of the spirit particle lines before him.
However, to his surprise, eight of the ten passersby simultaneously raised their hands, their fingers moving over the spirit particle lines with incredible speed, as if they didn’t need to think. Especially the Pope’s son and the bandaged man, who were pretentiously keeping one hand behind their backs and operating with a single hand.
Honestly, many people didn’t believe this suddenly appearing Pope’s son was a god-tier genius, but judging by his actions, he was at least a super genius. A super genius… the old man narrowed his cloudy eyes, sighing inwardly. It was a pity that all these geniuses would die here today.
“Brother Lin~ Faster, faster~” The girl’s head twirled merrily next to the bandaged man, occasionally tilting her head to look at her brother’s hand speed, and then at Dipus in the distance, her voice anxious, “Brother, that pretty boy is almost catching up to you. You can’t be this slow! So slow, so slow. Why don’t I do it?”
Tu Lin’s voice was dull as he asked, “What about those two Red Spade Persons behind us?” The girl’s head reattached to her neck, rotated 180 degrees, and she disdainfully clicked her tongue, “These two idiots are still staring blankly at the N-level spirit particle chart. They’re like fools. Brother, why are you looking at them?”
Hearing his sister’s words, Tu Lin nodded. It seemed like two more individuals who weren’t even worthy of being his stepping stones. With that, he paid them no further mind.
Xia Feng was accustomed to Mu Shen’s instant comprehension and found it unsurprising. However, as he and Mu Qingtong looked around and saw that everyone else had quickly gotten to work and were extremely focused, they exchanged a look. There was no choice; they followed suit, manipulating the spirit particle chart. Xia Feng didn’t know what he was doing anyway; he was just following Miss Mu’s movements. Fortunately, his dynamic vision was excellent, and his fingers could keep up with Miss Mu’s rhythm.
Now, they just had to wait until someone completed it first. He wondered how long it would take. These geniuses were truly too weak; not a single one was capable.
