The appearance of the disruptor
At the bottom of the pit, Ling Yao's consciousness, shattered by the fall, was struggling to start turning again like a rusty gear. Every bone in her body was groaning in pain, as if she had just been trampled over by ten thousand armored dragons.
"Hiss..." She gasped, feeling as if her internal organs had shifted. "The floor of this other world... is just too good... even harder than Master's alchemy furnace..."
She tried to introspect, and her mood instantly plummeted. The situation was worse than she had imagined. The rules of this world were extremely unfriendly to her, an "unregistered" individual. The vast, unrestrained immortal power within her body was now incredibly sluggish, like rowing a boat in solidified glue. She was lucky if she could mobilize even half of its full power. Even worse, her divine sense was severely hampered, as if she had been thrown into a boiling turbulent elemental current. She couldn't effectively perceive her surroundings, only vaguely catching a jumble of emotions—fear, hostility, curiosity, and… a certain kind of gleeful excitement.
She shook her still dizzy head, barely managing to prop herself up with her hands as dust fell. She looked around.
The towering spires, the bizarre reliefs, the faint energy emanating from the surrounding crowd, and the incomprehensible language they were speaking…
It's all over.
This place is clearly not a good place. There's a language barrier, the rules are oppressive, and the immortal power is half-useless. It also looks like they just wrecked someone else's important territory—just look at the mess on the ground and the gleaming "fire sticks" (magic wands) and iron plates (swords) all around.
A group of people dressed in uniform, looking tense as if they were hunting a high-risk monster, slowly gathered around the pit, shouting in a hurried, incomprehensible voice, but Ling Yao could feel their wariness and hostility even with her toes.
Communication is the first step in building a friendly relationship. Ling Yao tried to mobilize her pitiful amount of immortal power to use the most basic "communication technique." However, the immortal power took a sharp and awkward turn in her meridians, and instead of succeeding, it leaked out uncontrollably a trace of the soul pressure belonging to a high-level cultivator because of her extremely unstable state.
This faint aura, which was as natural as breathing for her in her prime, was like facing an abyss to the teachers, students, and guards around her, whose highest level was no more than a mage!
"Buzz—!"
The guards closest to the front felt a terrifying force from the deepest part of their souls pressing down like a mountain. Their legs went weak, and they almost fell to the ground. The magic wands in their hands flickered wildly, as if they were about to break down due to overload at any moment.
The crowd gasped again and retreated a large circle, as if the pit contained some humanoid source of plague.
"Goddess above! This...this mental oppression is terrifying!"
"She didn't do anything! She just moved slightly!"
"Is it an ancient dragon? Or an abyss lord?"
"Back off! Maintain maximum alert distance! Quickly, go and fetch the gentlemen of the Magic Guild!"
Seeing the other party's overreaction and dramatic reaction, Ling Yao sighed helplessly. Well, misunderstandings are like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger. She forced what she thought was a kind and friendly smile, slowly raising her dusty hands to indicate that she was unarmed and a peace-loving person.
"Um, everyone... fellow Daoists? Friends? Neighbors?" She tentatively began in fluent Mandarin, completely disregarding how strange her behavior might seem to outsiders. "Would you believe me if I said I was just passing by, that my interstellar... uh, interdimensional travel had encountered a minor malfunction? As for the site repair costs... I'll compensate you once I find local spirit stones... um, energy veins?"
Sure enough, the crowd opposite them became even more tense, exchanging terrified glances, clearly mistaking her "talking to herself" as the prelude to some ancient and powerful, incomprehensible curse or terrifying incantation.
Under the watchful eyes of his guards, the old Dean Morris mustered his courage and took a few more steps forward. He cleared his throat and attempted to communicate in the common language of the continent, his voice trembling slightly: "Honorable... uh, powerful descendant? May I ask where you come from? What brings you to our Rockefeller Academy?" He carefully used several of the highest honorifics, afraid that a single misuse would trigger a second wave of "divine intervention."
Ling Yao: "???"
I can't understand it at all.
It was like talking to a brick wall; the communication failed completely.
At this incredibly awkward and tense moment, a discordant, sharp, and piercing metallic scraping sound came from one side of the square, forcefully breaking the stalemate.
A group of people dressed in crisp, pure black uniforms, with silver-studded badges symbolizing absolute order and severe judgment on their chests, rudely pushed aside the panicked crowd and marched in with uniform, cold steps. Leading them was a gaunt middle-aged man with eyes as sharp and cold as a hawk's. His gaze, like two icicles, instantly locked onto the somewhat bewildered and impatient black-haired girl in the pit.
Their arrival instantly extinguished the already tense atmosphere. Students instinctively shrank back and made way, and even the academy guards lowered their heads slightly, appearing quite wary.
"Judge Silas!" The old dean, Maurice, changed his expression slightly, his tone becoming complicated. "You... what brings you here?"
The appearance of people from the Holy See's Inquisition at this critical juncture is definitely not a good thing.
Inquisitor Silas completely ignored the Dean. His cold, harsh gaze, seemingly capable of dissecting the soul, scanned Ling Yao from head to toe, scrutinizing every inch. He clearly sensed an "abnormality" and "impurity" emanating from Ling Yao that was entirely different from any divine power, magic, or even any known heretical power recorded in the Holy Scriptures. It was a completely unfamiliar, unclassifiable, chaotic aura filled with unknown threats.
"An otherworldly creature?" Silas's voice was low and hoarse, with a metallic quality, and he used a flat, affirmative statement rather than a question. "Without permission, it tore apart the spatial barrier granted by the supreme laws, trespassed into the academy territory protected by the holy light, caused widespread panic and destruction, and spread an aura of evil chaos..."
With each word he spoke, his eyes grew colder, and the hostility emanating from him almost solidified, as if the surrounding air itself had frozen.
“According to Article 17, Section 4 of the Sacred Code’s Regulations on the Handling of Heretics,” he slowly raised his hand, and the group of black-clad judges behind him simultaneously gripped their weapons at their waists, an aura of menace spreading out, “I have the right to arrest you on the spot and conduct a preliminary purification interrogation!”
Although Ling Yao didn't understand a single word, the overwhelming malice and the ultimate villainous aura of "I'm just here to cause trouble" were as bright and dazzling as a lighthouse in the dark. The slight guilt she felt for ruining the event was instantly swept away by this undisguised hostility.
What's going on? Judging by this, are you about to make a move?
Ling Yao has roamed the cultivation world for countless years; what storms hasn't she weathered? When has she ever been afraid of this?
Even if a tiger is fallen into the plains and bullied by dogs, and its immortal power is not flowing smoothly, it is not something that just any random cat or dog can come up and trample on! Dao Ancestor above, this insult cannot be tolerated!
She leisurely dusted off her robes—though it had little effect, leaving her still covered in dust—and then, slowly and gracefully, in front of everyone, stood up completely from the pit, her posture as upright as a sturdy pine tree, exuding an air of superiority. She completely ignored Silas's almost fiery gaze, instead scrutinizing him and the group of men in black behind him with the same interest one would show when examining novel forging materials.
Silas was thoroughly enraged by her inquisitive and unreverent gaze. He gripped the silver mace engraved with holy runes hanging at his waist. A chilling pure white light began to gather on the mace, holy yet filled with an aura of repulsion and destruction.
Just when the tension was high and blood was about to spill!
Ling Yao suddenly made a move that made everyone's eyes almost pop out.
She raised her hand, not to form a hand seal, nor to draw her sword, but... extended a slender finger, still slightly dusty, and, with extreme provocation and slowness, beckoned to the imposing Judge Silas, who seemed poised to purify everything in the next second in the name of holy light.
This action, transcending the vast cultural and linguistic divide, conveyed a message with unparalleled clarity and precision:
"You, come here!"
The entire audience: "!!!!!!!!!"
Finn, watching from behind, almost exploded with excitement: "It's here! It's here! The boss's response! That's how confident he is! That's how domineering he is! Ignoring authority! I love it!"
Professor Eleanor was so angry that her hands trembled, and she almost crushed the crystal recorder in her hand: "...If you want to fight, go to the training room! Don't damage public property in the square! This obsidian lectern is an antique! It's very expensive! Which project's funding will be used to deduct the repair costs?! My annual budget!"
Old Dean Maurice was so anxious he almost pulled his beard off, nearly fainting on the spot: "Wait! Your Honor! This... unfamiliar lady! Calm down! Everything can be discussed! Perhaps there's some huge misunderstanding! We can sit down and talk! How about a cup of Elf Flower Tea? It's on me!"
Silas's face turned completely ashen, and the divine energy around him fluctuated violently, clearly reaching the breaking point. He had never suffered such a humiliating disgrace!
However, just a second before he was about to launch a thunderous attack regardless of everything else.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the black-haired girl who had just issued the ultimate provocation and exuded domineering aura suddenly, without warning, swayed very weakly twice, then her raised hand fell limply, her eyelids slowly closed, and she seemed to have all her strength drained away in an instant, collapsing forward limply and without any grace.
"Thump."
She collapsed face down again at the edge of the pit, her breathing steady and long, a faint, knowing smile even playing on her lips. It was as if the person who had just been so domineeringly beckoning with her finger was not her at all.
Silas's divine magic, condensed to its peak, was stuck in his hand, unable to release it or not, his face turning an ugly purplish-red. He felt as if his fully charged punch, powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, had landed squarely on a ball of cotton, and a ball that had deliberately provoked him!
The entire audience of teachers and students: "???"
The old headmaster, Maurice, was the first to react, practically lunging forward: "Quick! Priest! Where's the academy's physician! Quick, see what's wrong with her!"
Professor Eleanor strode forward, her academic instincts overriding everything else: "A sudden magical backlash? An energy conflict? Or some kind of physiological cycle or stress response unique to our unknown race?"
Finn clutched his heart, his eyes sparkling: "Wow! Even fainting is so stylish! So controlled! Unfathomable! It must be a strategic coma! The mastermind's calculations are far beyond the comprehension of us mere mortals!"
Judge Silas: "..." (He was 100% certain he'd been tricked, and tricked in an extremely insulting way, but the other person's fainting was so realistic and natural, without any flaws, that he had no evidence whatsoever!)
An incident that was on the verge of erupting into bloodshed was temporarily brought to a temporary close in an unexpected and utterly absurd way.
Meanwhile, our fellow Daoist Ling Yao was peacefully "unconscious," her mind racing with calculations: first, she would feign death to gather intelligence, recover some of her immortal power, and also see what kind of people these were. As for this debt… she would settle it with this black-clad leader who looked like a sucker once she recovered.
Dao Ancestor above, the beginning of this other world is truly lively and immoral.
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