novelraw Chapter 271 264: Riot
Chapter 271 264: Riot
Above, in the sky, brilliant fireworks bloomed.
Below, on the river's surface, black flames surged toward the heavens.
Many tourist cruise boats were floating in the middle of the river, now with no way to escape as they were enveloped by the pillars of black fire.
WHOOSH!!
The moment they touched the black flames, the cruise boats were instantly ignited by a strange magnetic field, bursting into raging infernos.
AHHH!!
Countless screams erupted. Any tourist on the boats who touched the black fire found their clothes igniting in an instant. Their bodies shriveled at a visible rate, their skin quickly turning black and charred. In less than two seconds, the intense magnetic field had evaporated all the moisture from their bodies, and they perished amidst piercing shrieks.
The people living in this peaceful and stable society had never witnessed such a gruesome sight.
On both banks of the river, countless people who witnessed this scene felt their stomachs churn. A colossal wave of fear assaulted their minds, and panic spread through the crowd in an instant.
AHHH!!!
The screams were contagious. The crowded Galaxy Pedestrian Street erupted into chaos. Everyone scrambled to flee the scene, leading to a stampede. The situation was utter pandemonium.
When the illusion of peace was mercilessly shattered, what followed was endless terror.
"Excellent. The power of emotion... More... Stronger... This is exactly the kind of boost we of the Celestial Race need!"
Seven Desires stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of a high-rise, looking down on everything like a lofty Divine Spirit surveying the earth.
To him, the panicked crowd on Galaxy Pedestrian Street was nothing more than a swarm of startled ants.
Amidst the fear, panic, and pain radiating from countless lives, the seven Demon Generals, each representing a corresponding emotion, rapidly swelled, absorbing a terrifying amount of power.
Human emotions—be it despair or fear, panic or pain—were all delectable food for the Celestial Demons.
Lin Heng swiftly pulled Zhou Zhiyao into his arms, using his own powerful body to shield her from the shoving crowd.
Unfortunately, there were far too many people gathered on Galaxy Square. Between the riot and the stampede, the crowd was dispersing at a crawl. If Lin Heng were alone, he had ways to quickly escape the chaotic throng, but with Zhou Zhiyao, it was much more difficult.
So, Lin Heng chose to stay put for the time being, planning to wait until the chaos subsided a little before making his next move.
He immediately took out his phone and dialed the Tianlu Prefecture Martial Arts Association.
He knew some of the inside story. He also knew that if the current situation was related to what he knew, the consequences would be catastrophic. The entire Nanjiang region might be in grave danger.
This incident had to be reported as soon as possible.
"What... what in the world is happening?!"
Zhou Zhiyao trembled all over. She had just seen the horrific deaths of the passengers on one of the cruise boats, and her heart was now filled with terror.
She couldn't understand how a scene so beautiful and romantic just a moment ago could transform into something straight out of Hell.
But Lin Heng didn't answer her. His eyes were fixed on the black flames on the river, trying to see just what was producing them.
It wasn't just Lin Heng. Some of the bolder citizens and tourists also remained, some even taking out their phones, switching to video mode, and pointing them at the river to record.
One could imagine that news of the Galaxy Pedestrian Street incident would soon spread across the entire internet. The massive casualties, the countless direct participants and eyewitnesses—it was all on a much larger scale than the Songyang University incident. Even the authorities would no longer be able to hide it.
Once this got out, information about the Celestial Demons would become the focus of everyone's attention.
SPLASH! SPLASH!
Stimulated by the magnetic fields of the many Demon Generals, the river's surface began to churn even more violently. A whirlpool formed around a central point, pulling the boats in, causing them to collide with one another with terrifying crashes.
Meanwhile, from the bottom of the river, the sound of dragging chains grew louder and louder. At the center of the whirlpool, something seemed to be rising to the surface.
After a few seconds, Lin Heng could finally see what was emerging from the center of the whirlpool.
Shrouded in the eerie black fire, thick, black iron chains broke the surface first. Then, in the middle of the chains, a massive bronze coffin, four to five meters long, emerged.
The bronze coffin was covered in silt and underwater plants, but intricate, bright red patterns were still faintly visible on its surface.
Lin Heng's intuition told him that within that bronze coffin, some extremely terrifying existence was slowly Awakening.
BELLOW!!
The very next moment, an earth-shattering roar sounded. The wildly rampaging black fire was instantly suppressed, vanishing from the river's surface and remaining only on the black iron chains and the bronze coffin.
In the night sky, above the center of the river, five massive spectral divine oxen appeared, one at each of the five cardinal directions. Each was dozens of meters tall and composed of yellow, gold, red, cyan, and blue light, and they threw their heads back in a furious roar.
The Five Beasts Demon Suppression Array had been fully activated.
On the Nan Heng River, Demon Generals had appeared, black fire had pierced the sky, a bronze coffin had risen from the water, and divine oxen were bellowing. This soul-shaking scene was being filmed and was already spreading rapidly across the internet.
"This... this..."
Lin Heng and Zhou Zhiyao were frozen in place, stunned by the scene before them—something that should only exist in ancient myths and legends.
"The last of the Seal's power, is it? If the one who laid this Seal ages ago were here, there's likely nothing I could do. But now..."
A sharp glint flashed in Seven Desires's eyes.
BANG!!
The Seven Emotions Puppet suddenly disintegrated, launching its most powerful attack at the five divine oxen.
BOOM!!
The river water exploded, the magnetic fields descended into chaos, and a storm was whipped up.
The spectral images of the Demon Generals condensed by the Seven Emotions Puppet were rapidly disintegrating, and the puppet's physical body was also breaking down. That last strike, which had forcibly shattered the Seal, had exhausted the final dregs of the Seven Emotions Puppet's power.
In response to this powerful burst, the Sealing Realm Image, which had existed for thousands of years, could no longer hold on.
Cracks like shattering glass appeared on the luminous figures of the five divine oxen. Then, they abruptly exploded, turning into a sky full of motes of light.
The Seal was broken.
WHOOSH!!
The once-suppressed black fire surged madly from beneath the river again. The bronze coffin trembled. The chains wrapped around it softened in the intense heat. Something, no longer suppressed, was about to awaken from within.
'I can't wait any longer!'
A chill ran down Lin Heng's spine as he watched. He knew he couldn't afford to wait for the chaos to die down. He had a premonition that if that bronze coffin was opened, he would have absolutely no chance of escape.
"Hold on tight!"
He grabbed Zhou Zhiyao, hoisted her onto his back, then bent his knees and charged forcefully into the crowd.
This method would undoubtedly cause even more injuries among the panicked crowd, but he couldn't worry about that now.
But the very next moment, as he made his move, the bronze coffin trembled violently. The iron chains were snapped by the vibration, and the coffin lid flew into the air.
A black figure rose from within the bronze coffin.
This was a Celestial Demon True Form.
Its massive body was as tall as the coffin itself. A pair of antlers, like those of a deer, grew from its head, and a long, slender tail extended from its back. Its hands were sharp as claws, and terrifying, ferocious armor covered its body. The eyes that peeked out from the armor were blood-red, scanning everything around it.