Volume 3: Global Vanguard & The Advanced Pinnacle
Chapter 223
Team Shenzhou Rescues the Holy Sanctuary
A blood-red siren wailed, tearing through the Venetian sky.
It was not the ordinary warning signal for a coastal storm, but the shrill, roaring shriek of the Holy City’s supreme defense matrix, sounding only when a metropolis faced catastrophic annihilation. The piercing sonic waves hammered relentlessly against eardrums, driving supreme terror through the ancient reefs, historic palaces, and millennia-old canals.
From offshore in the Adriatic Sea, a surging wall of blood-red fog rolled inward. The pristine crystal waters of the floating city instantly changed hue, thick as fresh blood oozing from a colossal wound. The canals boiled turbidly, dark air bubbles bursting with the heavy stench of rotting corpses and deep-sea phosphorescence.
The grand protective barrier shielding one hundred and twenty thousand tourists and tournament mages had completely collapsed. The white marble energy pillars erected along the coast were sabotaged from within by moles, thick black plumes billowing upward to choke the midday summer sky.
Inside the grand hall of the Lido Royal Hotel—the isolated residence reserved for the organizing committee and international teams advancing to the finals—the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.
Over two hundred contestants, coaches, and magic officials from major superpowers crowded before the impact-resistant glass walls, staring out at the plaza. Every face was ashen, pupils dilated at the apocalyptic hellscape unfolding right before their eyes.
Out in St. Mark’s Square, thousands of civilians, women, and children trampled over one another in desperate flight. Gondolas were overturned by dark waves, frantic hands grasping vainly amidst the crimson currents before being dragged down into the abyssal depths. In midair, hundreds of hideous black silhouettes glided on outstretched wings—Sea-Bat Fiends, malevolent marine half-human/half-bat monsters specializing in sucking spinal marrow, equipped with razor-sharp limbs, continuously swooping down to grab citizens and tear them apart in broad daylight!
“Quick! Seal all magic-proof doors! Activate the hotel’s defensive barrier right away!”
A chief delegation leader representing the Western European Magus Alliance slammed his hand onto the reception desk, screaming in panic. The middle-aged mage wore an expensive suit with sparkling magic medals pinned to his chest, yet his knees shook like reeds in a storm.
“Director Smith! There are still countless civilians outside who haven’t made it into the safety zone!” A local female receptionist knelt down in tears, pleading: “Please open the side gate, those people will be torn to shreds by the monsters!”
“Shut your mouth!” Smith glared furiously, pushing the girl down with a sweep of his arm: “Do you know what alert level this is? Blood-Red Alert! The city barrier has fallen, cultists and deep-sea beasts are swarming everywhere! Rescuing people is the duty of the Italian military and the Holy City Enforcement Team! We are the elite seed-talents of our respective nations, the future of the magic world! If we go out there and die in vain, who on earth can bear the responsibility?!”
Smith’s words earned nods of approval from quite a few Western contestants. The Spanish team captain folded his arms and retreated to the corner of the hall, coldly ordering his teammates to erect an air shield sealing off the private passageway. Even several recently defeated members of the US and UK teams stood watching, fixing the blood mist outside with guarded, selfish gazes. They whispered among themselves, absolutely unwilling to set foot outside the sturdy glass doors.
Some even reached out to draw heavy velvet curtains, attempting to shut out the heartbreaking screams echoing from the street.
“What a disgusting farce.”
A cold, resonant voice carrying the overwhelming weight of Mount Tai suddenly rang through the chaotic hall.
Every eye instantly shifted toward the corner where the Shenzhou team’s table sat.
Lin Feng slowly stood up. Ignoring the huddled group of defenders, he gazed straight through the glass pane, where a young mother was using her own body to shield her infant child from the razor-sharp talons of a ferocious Sea-Bat Fiend.
“CRASH!”
Lin Feng stepped forward, his right hand clenched into a fist that slammed straight down onto the solid marble table before Smith!
A concussive blast erupted. The thick stone table instantly cracked into a spiderweb pattern before shattering into powder, showering debris around the Western European delegation leader’s feet!
Smith jumped back three steps, his face turning pale green: “Lin... Lin Feng! What do you think you’re doing?!”
Lin Feng raised his head. His gaze was as sharp as a blade fresh from a blazing forge, an invisible murderous intent radiating from his body that made the temperature in the grand hall plummet. He pointed directly at Smith, every word ringing out as cold and stern as bronze temple bells:
“You call yourselves elites, the pillars of the magical world, yet when your fellow human beings are plunged into fire and boiling water, you cower like a pack of cowardly turtles! If you’re afraid to die, go ahead and huddle here shivering! But remember this clearly—we are the mages of Shenzhou!”
Lin Feng turned around, locking eyes with the four comrades standing stalwartly behind him. His voice reverberated through the hall, striking the innermost core of everyone present:
“Magic was born in primordial times for humanity to fight wild beasts, to protect our race, and to shield the weak! Magic was never born for you to skulk and hide behind silk curtains! Team Shenzhou, charge with me!”
“Understood!”
Four synchronous battle cries rang out like a rolling thunderclap!
Not a single shred of hesitation. Not a moment’s delay. On the faces of Han Yue, Di Qingwan, Xie Zhaoyuan, and Di Lingtian, only a blazing fire of determination burned. Stepping forward in unison, they donned deep-red combat jackets embroidered with the golden dragon emblem of Shenzhou. The soaring, righteous martial spirit radiating from the five youths caused every international contestant in the hall to lower their heads in deep, burning shame.
“CLANG!”
Lin Feng did not bother stepping through the main entrance. With a wave of his hand, a billowing gale swept forth, shattering every pane of the hotel’s impact-resistant glass wall to pieces!
Five figures shot forward like five wind-splitting arrows, treading across the shattered glass fragments and plunging straight into the swirling smoke and fire of Venice!
Setting foot upon the basalt-paved streets along the Grand Canal, the stench of blood and sulfur instantly assaulted their nostrils.
An entire district of Venice had transformed into a hunting ground for cultists. Sea-Bat Fiends darkened the skies, while down in the water, thousands of black Spiked Sea-Monsters surfaced, using their thorny tails to batter sea walls and drag screaming refugees beneath the surface to be torn apart. Interspersed within the bloody mist were the blue and gray robes of the Netherworld Cult, wielding wicked scythes as they sowed death to harvest souls for sacrifice.
“Xie Zhaoyuan! Eleven o’clock, San Marco Field Hospital!” Lin Feng shouted orders as he sprinted forward.
Three hundred meters away, a field hospital was surrounded in tight layers. Over two thousand wounded soldiers, the elderly, and medical personnel were pressed against the outer walls, their white light defensive barriers showing violent cracks under the relentless assault of over fifty Sea-Bat Fiends!
“Leave it to me!”
Xie Zhaoyuan let out an enraged roar. He stomped his feet hard against the pavement, his Light-system magic surging through his nebula like a raging waterfall. Crossing his arms before his chest, seven Star Paths instantly linked into a brilliant, golden-radiant Star Plat!
—”Light Drop: SAINT CROSS SHIELD!”
From the smog-choked sky above, a stream of divine golden radiance suddenly pierced through the clouds, slamming straight down onto the roof of the field hospital!
“CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!”
Hundreds of giant light-swords plummeted into the ground around the hospital perimeter, instantly linking together to form a colossal twenty-meter-tall fortress wall of light! The radiant wall shone brilliantly, radiating the scorching heat of the midday sun as it blasted away every single Sea-Bat Fiend clinging to the tent roofs. The unlucky monsters touching the sacred light instantly hissed into flames, shrieked miserably, and rained down in charred heaps!
“We’re saved! We’re saved!”
Inside the light barrier, medical personnel hugged one another with tear-choked relief. Thousands of citizens looked up to see Xie Zhaoyuan’s sturdy, resolute figure standing guard before the main entrance, tears streaming freely down their faces.
At the same time, from the subsidiary canals, dark tides surged upward, bringing hundreds of Spiked Sea-Monsters scrambling across arched bridges to launch a flanking assault on the refugee zone.
“Don’t even think about taking a single step past here!”
A crystalline yet icy voice like a millennia-old glacier rang out.
Han Yue’s slender figure glided through the air, her white robes fluttering against the blood-red sky. Descending upon a stone bridge, her jade-like hand pressed gently down onto the filthy dark water.
The surrounding air instantly froze. The bloody mist in the atmosphere instantly condensed into razor-sharp snowflakes!
—”Thousand-Mile Ice Sealing!”
“CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!”
An extreme chill exploded from Han Yue’s palm, transforming into a turquoise-blue freezing wave that swept along the canal at terrifying speed! The boiling canal water froze instantly to a thickness of five meters. Hundreds of Spiked Sea-Monsters attempting to surface were utterly locked within the permafrost block. Three crimson bridges leading to the square instantly transformed into sparkling white snow-ice pathways, completely severing the aquatic swarm’s advance route!
High above, Di Qingwan unfurled a pair of breathtaking emerald-jade Wind Wings. Resembling a graceful sea swallow gliding through a rain of arrows and venomous barbs, she repeatedly swept her hands to release warm wisps of wind:
—”Spirit Wind Cord — Catch them!”
Gentle whirlwinds wrapped around citizens struggling in the freezing waters, lifting them high into the air before gently depositing them onto the sturdy rooftops guarded by Xie Zhaoyuan and Han Yue. Each time a child or mother was rescued, a radiant smile bloomed on the Shenzhou girl’s face, instilling renewed survival faith into those teetering on death’s precipice.
On the ground, Di Lingtian moved like a phantom shadow. His form flickered in and out of spatial folds via Space Teleportation. Every time a silvery ripple vibrated, a lurking gray-robed assassin of the Netherworld Cult attempting to aim a poisoned crossbow collapsed by the throat. Razor-sharp Spatial Rifts shredded every sneak attack, securing the team’s rear flanks flawlessly.
The seamless, courageous, and lightning-fast coordination of Team Shenzhou acted like a blazing torch dispelling Venice’s chaotic gloom, igniting fierce hope amidst utter despair!
Yet, the greatest peril remained unresolved.
Not far away, at the Rialto Bridge—the grandest and most magnificent ancient stone bridge spanning the Grand Canal—a horrifying spectacle unfolded.
Over a thousand international tourists and locals were crammed onto the narrow bridge deck. Surrounding them stood over fifty Blue-Ensign Enforcers of the Netherworld Cult in neat ranks, holding skull-topped staves radiating deadly purple smoke. Beneath the bridge, a reversed five-pointed-star blood sacrifice matrix had been drawn in fresh blood, emitting grotesque screeches resembling the wailing of myriad ghosts from the nether realms!
“The sacrifices are sufficient! Activate the grand formation! Offer these thousand souls to the Sea Demon Sovereign!”
A scarred, leading Blue-Ensign Enforcer broke into a crazed, shrill laugh. He grabbed the hair of a six-year-old girl, hoisting a wicked, dark-gleaming dagger high in the air, aiming straight for the child’s tender chest!
The little girl’s mother was pinned to the bridge deck by two gray-robed thugs, weeping blood: “I beg you! Spare my child! Kill me instead! Kill me!”
The weeping and desperate prayers of over a thousand hostages echoed across the waterway. Death hung over their necks by a hair’s breadth!
“Die!” the scarred leader roared, bringing the fatal blade slashing downward!
At that very split-second of imminent peril, a thunderous boom shook the heavens and earth!
“You dare lay a finger on a single hair of her head!”
A figure plummeted from the peak of the San Bartolomeo bell tower like a descending meteorite!
The violent shockwave radiating from above caused the stone deck of the Rialto Bridge to vibrate viciously. The leader’s downward slash was deflected by an invisible wall, slicing harmlessly into empty space!
Terrified, the leader looked up to see an imposing, handsome youth standing right in the center of the bridge arch. The youth’s eyes overflowed with icy murderous intent, black hair whipping backward in the gale, his entire body enveloped in a bottomless aura!
“Lin Feng?! It’s that Shenzhou brat who just won the semifinal!” Recognizing him, the leader sneer-snarled: “A mere Intermediate-level punk dares barge in here alone to court death?! We have over fifty Blue-Ensign Enforcers and hundreds of Sea-Bat Fiends! Surround and tear him to pieces!”
The fifty Blue-Ensign Enforcers raised their staves in unison, dark Intermediate magic surging as hundreds of Sea-Bat Fiends lunged from every direction, seeking to shred Lin Feng into a thousand pieces!
Faced with the encirclement of monsters and cultists, Lin Feng did not retreat a single half-step.
Had it been earlier, protecting over a thousand hostages without harming them would have required extreme restraint, precluding large-scale destructive magic. But now... he was a HIGH-LEVEL MAGE!
—”Hum...!”
A strange hum resonated through space.
Lin Feng’s left eye suddenly blazed with crystal-clear silvery light!
Deep within his spiritual universe, the newly awakened Spatial Star Dust spun at astonishing speed. Marvelous spatial magic coursed through every meridian, blending perfectly into Lin Feng’s will!
He raised his left hand, five fingers curling slightly into a claw, aiming straight at all fifty Blue-Ensign Enforcers and surrounding Sea-Bat Fiends:
—Spatial System — SPATIAL STASIS!
An invisible silver ripple centered on Lin Feng swept horizontally across the entire Rialto Bridge within a two-hundred-meter radius!
The moment the silver ripple washed over, a concussive miracle occurred!
The entire spatial flow around the bridge deck instantly congealed like heavy glue!
The fifty charging Blue-Ensign Enforcers suddenly found their bodies weighted down by ten thousand junks, every muscle movement slowing a hundredfold! Ferocious Sea-Bat Fiends swooping from midair froze mid-flight, their grotesque wings flapping at a ridiculously sluggish pace! The scarred leader’s dagger hung a mere half-inch from the little girl’s chest, yet that half-inch now stretched as vast as the gulf between heaven and earth!
The pupils of all fifty Blue-Ensign Enforcers contracted to tiny dots. Extreme terror flooded their eyes as they realized: This was Spatial Magic! Absolute crowd control that only peak spatial masters could touch!
“Cult scum... Your time is up.”
Lin Feng’s voice rang out like the verdict of the Underworld judge.
He lowered his left hand and slowly raised his right arm straight toward the gloomy sky!
—”BOOM!”
Deep within his body, the vast Lightning System Star Sea churned with violent waves! 343 dark-purple stars flared in unison, channeling pure, unprecedentedly violent lightning magic surging like a tidal wave!
One Star Map!
Two Star Maps!
Three... Four... Five... Six... SEVEN LIGHTNING STAR MAPS!
In the blink of an eye, the seven breathtaking Star Maps interlocked, forming a colossal stellar matrix tower floating directly above Lin Feng’s head!
LIGHTNING SYSTEM STAR PALACE descended!
The sky above the Rialto Bridge split apart with a giant rupture. Billowing dark clouds converged, condensing into a ten-thousand-丈 (ten-thousand-zhang) purple-black thunderstorm! Pungent ozone filled the air, purple lightning arcs dancing wildly across the stone bridge railings yet miraculously bypassing every innocent civilian, locking exclusively onto the cultists’ souls!
Looking down at the Blue-Ensign Enforcers trembling within the spatial stasis, the corners of Lin Feng’s lips curled into a cold smile:
—High-Level Lightning Magic: NIRVANA LIGHTNING SEED — NINE-FOLD THUNDER EXPLOSION!
—”RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!!!”
Nine layers of clouds exploded!
A storm of purple-black thunder bearing the destructive might of primordial tempests poured straight down onto the Rialto Bridge like an apocalypse!
Gigantic pillars of lightning, precise to the millimeter, struck squarely atop the heads of every single Blue-Ensign Enforcer and every Sea-Bat Fiend!
—”AAARGH!”
Miserable screams rang out for half a second before abruptly cutting off. Under the absolute might of High-Level magic combined with top-tier Lightning Spirit Seed, the defensive barriers and evil magic artifacts of the enforcers shattered like eggshells!
Flesh and bone pulverized!
Thick black smoke billowed upward!
Over fifty brutal Blue-Ensign Enforcers and over three hundred ferocious Sea-Bat Fiends were instantly incinerated into ash by the purple-black thunder, vanishing completely into thin air without leaving behind a single fragment!
The millennia-old Rialto Bridge stood tall and unyielding, not a single stone displaced, completely cocooned within divine lightning radiance.
The thunder rain ceased. The gales dissipated. The sky above the bridge cleared once more.
The surrounding space fell utterly silent.
Over a thousand hostages opened their eyes wide, gazing around in stunned disbelief. The hideous monsters that had sought to tear them apart... the cultists holding daggers to their throats... all had vanished as though they had never existed!
The six-year-old girl blinked her wide eyes at the youth standing before her. Lin Feng crouched down gently, patted her head, and offered a warm smile:
“Don’t be afraid, I’m here now. You’re all safe.”
That gentle remark unlocked the floodgates of suppressed emotion in over a thousand people!
“Ahhh! We survived!”
“God! The Shenzhou mage saved us!”
The young mother clutched her little girl tightly to her breast, weeping tears of overwhelming joy. One by one, the people on the Rialto Bridge dropped to their knees on the stone deck, tears streaming as they gazed at the Eastern youth’s retreating back. Then, starting from a single cheer, thousands of voices merged into a seismic wave of sound reverberating across Venice’s canals:
“SHENZHOU! SHENZHOU!”
“LONG LIVE THE SHENZHOU MAGE!”
“LIN FENG! GREAT LIN FENG!”
The cheers filled with boundless gratitude and reverence spread from the Rialto Bridge to St. Mark’s Square, echoing across ancient tile roofs and straight into the grand hall of the Lido Royal Hotel!
Inside the hotel lobby, Smith and the international contestants stood frozen stiff before the magic broadcast screen. Witnessing the rapid liberation of the Rialto Bridge, beholding the glowing Lightning Star Palace and the ashes of over fifty Blue Ensigns, every single face turned ashen, shame and humiliation burning their consciences to the point of suffocation.
They had cowered in hiding to preserve their lives, while that Shenzhou youth had single-handedly swept through the cultists and rescued thousands of souls!
Yet, amidst the roaring cheers of the Venetian citizens, the smile on Lin Feng’s lips abruptly faded.
Against his chest, the Ancient Tai Chi Dragon Pendant pressed against his skin suddenly shook violently!
A cold, evil, and deeply chilling aura surged from the soles of his feet straight into his brain.
—”Drip... drip... drip...”
The surface of the Grand Canal right beneath the Rialto Bridge suddenly bubbled with crimson blood. A colossal water whirlpool formed mid-river, sweeping away remaining patches of ice and snow.
From the center of the raging whirlpool, a giant bone-crafted sacrificial vessel slowly rose above the surface.
At the bow of the white bone vessel stood a tall figure draped in a deep-red cloak embroidered with the nine-headed python emblem of the Netherworld Cult. The deep hood shifted slightly, revealing eyes glowing blood-red like twin burning coals, locking directly onto Lin Feng!
A pitch-black pressure belonging to the PEAK HIGH-LEVEL realm exploded, crushing the surrounding space!
“A puny brat who just stepped into High-Level dares ruin our church’s grand enterprise?”
A spine-chilling, raspy voice echoed from beneath the red hood, brimming with monstrous killing intent:
—”Lin Feng... Today, this seat—Cardinal Grand Priest—will use the fresh blood of you Shenzhou prodigies as a sacrifice to the Evil God!”