Chapter 612: Natural Enemies

Chen Ling:?

Chen Ling stared at the gruesome, mangled head. He couldn't reconcile its horrifying appearance, clearly the result of an unimaginable past, with the phrase "welcome gift."

"He was a Crimson Heaven cultist, attempting to summon a Grey Realm convergence across from your theater," Liu Qingyan explained softly. "I killed him."

Hearing this, Chen Ling's gaze towards Liu Qingyan grew increasingly surprised.

He had known Liu Qingyan awakened to the Divine Path, but he hadn't expected her to grow so much in just half a year. Crimson Heaven cultists were not easily killed by ordinary Divine Path users.

"So it was you," Chen Ling responded, puzzled. "How did you find me?"

"I can see the threads between faiths, so I followed them," she replied.

"What does that have to do with finding me?"

"You are my faith."

Chen Ling froze. He frowned, looking at Liu Qingyan. He saw genuine devotion and sincerity in her eyes, with no hint of deceit. This reminded him of the conversation they had half a year ago, when she spoke to him, the "Golden Society Emissary."

"...It was he who redeemed this girl from purgatory. Whether he is good or evil, this girl is willing to become his sword."

Chen Ling struggled to fully comprehend Liu Qingyan's use of "faith." In his view, he had simply helped the girl deal with a few scumbag judges. It might be considered a favor, but certainly not something that warranted "faith." Chen Ling always believed that such a term was reserved for religion, for a "god."

Therefore, Chen Ling understood Liu Qingyan's "faith" as perhaps just a deeper expression of gratitude.

"This welcome gift is very valuable... If it weren't for you, the theater might have already been overrun by calamity," Chen Ling said, holding the severed head. "Anyway, thank you."

A faint smile unconsciously played on Liu Qingyan's lips. She held up her skirt, bowed respectfully, and spoke:

"You don't need to thank me, Sir. It's what I should do."

"It's too dangerous outside right now. You've only recently embarked on the Divine Path, so your rank shouldn't be high. It would be safer for you to hide for now," Chen Ling kindly advised. "You can go to the Soaring Swan Tower; there's a 'kind person' guarding it now, so it's relatively safe."

Liu Qingyan shook her head decisively. "I won't leave."

"Why not?"

"I came to help you with your worries," Liu Qingyan said, glancing at the two bloody corpses in the pharmacy. "If you want to deal with the Crimson Heaven cult, I can assist you... While I might not be able to confront them directly, I can find them."

"You can find Crimson Heaven cultists??" Chen Ling was utterly astonished.

"Master Chen Ling, I told you... I can see faith."

Liu Qingyan blinked softly. Threads extended from the severed head, intertwining with those from the two corpses inside the pharmacy, connecting into the void. At the same time, numerous other threads arose from another direction in the main city of Hongchen. Some were as thin as those from the two in the pharmacy, others thicker, weaving into a massive rope that vanished into the air.

In Liu Qingyan's sight, the Crimson Heaven cultists, who worshipped the "Supreme World-Saving Heavenly Venerate," were clearly marked in Hongchen, their positions unmistakably visible.

While Liu Qingyan's Divine Path was indeed affected by the Crimson Heaven cult, from another perspective, wasn't she also a natural predator to them, in a different form?

"You can really locate other Crimson Heaven cultists?" Chen Ling's eyes lit up. "Where are they now?"

"Aside from a few scattered individuals, most of them are concentrated... roughly in that direction."

"...Excellent, Qingyan, you've done very well."

Chen Ling said sincerely.

Liu Qingyan's body trembled slightly. She lowered her head, and beneath her outwardly calm and aloof demeanor, her heart was filled with immense joy. It was the satisfaction of her existence being acknowledged—a feeling perhaps more precious than life itself, given her tumultuous past fifteen years.

"Come with me. If a fight breaks out, stay far back."

"..." Liu Qingyan didn't directly respond, but softly counter-questioned, "If we go there like this, won't they be prepared?"

A gathering of Crimson Heaven cultists was certainly different from one or two acting alone. Approaching them so rashly would indeed be difficult. Chen Ling lowered his head, lost in thought.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a remarkably familiar shadow centipede slithering out of a nearby Grey Realm convergence point. Its massive head was scanning the surroundings, seemingly searching for the aura of the Wailing Wilderness.

He seemed to have an idea, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"—Hey, Meat Chicken."

He suddenly called out in a low voice.

As if hearing the sound from Chen Ling's direction, the shadow centipede slowly turned its head. When it clearly saw Chen Ling's large red theatrical robe, its body jolted, and it instinctively recoiled backward...

Seeing this, Chen Ling instead approached it step by step, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Come here, you..."

"Don't worry, I won't eat you... I just need your help with something."

Thud—Thud—Thud...

The skeletal giant beast's body slowly crumbled. A figure in white, holding an eight-foot ink brush, calmly stepped over the corpses of the calamities scattered on the ground. A tide of ink and wash slowly receded from beneath his feet.

Wisps of white mist drifted from Lu Liangren's lips as his eyes calmly scanned the surroundings.

Simultaneously, two sixth-tier skeletal calamities, who had been observing from a distance, recoiled repeatedly in fear at his gaze... as if they had seen something far more terrifying.

"This is... endless," Lu Liangren muttered, his brow furrowed.

He tightened his grip on the eight-foot ink brush, about to dispatch the two calamities, when he suddenly seemed to sense something and turned to look in a certain direction.

"This is... a Ghost-Mocking Abyss? How could this be?" Lu Liangren was startled. "Has there been a traitor within the Crimson Heaven cult?"

A Ghost-Mocking Abyss had suddenly appeared among the territories of the Wailing Wilderness. Lu Liangren found it hard to imagine any other possibility besides a traitor within the Crimson Heaven cult. Moreover, as the grey mist rapidly spread, the outlines of several shadow monsters were quickly approaching his location!

Seeing this, the murderous intent in Lu Liangren's eyes grew even colder.

"Seeking death."

The tide of ink and wash beneath Lu Liangren's feet spread open once more. Just as he was preparing for another battle, those shadow monsters surprisingly swept past him and furiously engaged the two skeletal calamities on the opposite side in combat!

Lu Liangren:???