Maintaining their current posture, Qing Ming Yang says—
"My surname is Qing, and my name is Ming Yang."
Glancing at Li Xue, Qing Ming Yang adds—
"The one who killed your father was my brother, Qing Yu Long."
Being informed of this at such an odd timing, Li Xue asks back—
"What's the point of you telling us this now?"
Towards this question, Qing Ming Yang sighs, and replies—
"Hard to say really. Maybe it's because I merely felt like saying it? In any case, if you two want revenge on my brother and I—sorry to say this, but your strengths are sorely lacking."
Having said this, Qing Ming Yang rotates his cultivation base, and stomps his right foot down!
*Boom!!!!!* as soon as Qing Ming Yang's foot lands, the crater's depth increases, and—
"Dammit!"
"Guh!"
Unable to withstand the shockwave—that this stomp had created, both Ye Chen and Li Xue were thrown backwards.
...…
As the 50-meter stone soldier rampages through the crowd, Lin Yu Heng, who is situated at the rear of all this chaos—
*Klang! Klang! Klang!* is currently fending off the attacks of multiple weapon spirits at once.
Similarly to Qing Ming Yang, Lin Yu Heng has also broken through into the Nascent Soul realm, and is currently using this opportunity to get accustomed to his newfound strength—while also rotating the incantation needed for his new divine art.
*Klang! Klang! Klang!* taking the lead in confronting Lin Yu Heng are Shao Tianming and Wang Yongning.
(Aren't his attacks always accompanied by a phantom dragon? Where is it? Is he holding back?)
(Why do I feel like he's only toying with us?)
Paying careful attention to the expression on Lin Yu Heng's face with every exchange, Shao Tianming and Wang Yongning can't help but feel like there is something incredibly off about their opponent.
"…"
Glancing to the right, Lin Yu Heng presses his right-hand outwards, and throws out a spirit Qi handprint, which blasts five weapon spirits back.
"That's enough I guess."
Muttering this, Lin Yu Heng leaps backwards, and taking hold of his spear with both hands, spear Qi erupts from the former's body.
*…!!! …!!! …!!!* converging the abundant amount of spear Qi onto the tip of his spear—
*Aooooooooouuuu!!!!!* his following thrust sends forth three 50-meter serpentine dragons!
"Tch, so he really was holding back?"
"Shit!"
Widening their eyes—in response to the three white dragons' charge, Shao Tianming and Wang Yongning immediately chose to scatter in separate directions; however—
"Aaargh!"
"Uh!"
*Aoooooouu!!!* two of the three dragons chase after them, while the third continues to charge forward in a straight line—just barely missing the stone soldier, as it mercilessly pulverizes several weapon spirits with its descent!
"…"
Straightening his back, Lin Yu Heng spins the spear in his hand, while exhaling a sigh of satisfaction at this result.
"Impressive."
Appearing alongside Lin Yu Heng, Qing Ming Yang remarks as such.
Upon breaking through into the Nascent Soul realm, the two are now able to perform short-ranged teleportation.
Counting three linear scars—each the width of five tree trunks pressed together, imprinted onto the ground by Lin Yu Heng's attack, Qing Ming Yang feels a sense of urgency in wanting to gain enlightenment on his divine art as well.
"Shall we retreat for now? Performing that divine art was quite taxing…"
"Un, let's go."
Nodding in response to Lin Yu Heng's remark, the two flies through the gateway.
...…
[This is unreal…]
[You're telling me—that the frontlines are filled with these things?]
[Is a Grounded City's barrier really going to hold against that?]
[Maybe I should move to a Mobile City…]
[Does anyone know if a Mobile City is able to outrun these Immortals?]
Reading through the comments that were being posted by the viewers, Nian Yao Yao inwardly thought—
(I know that I asked Ah Long to stir up a bit of unrest, but this might have been a bit too effective…)
Unable to keep up with the escalating situation, Lin Song, who is seated beside Nian Yao Yao, has a numb expression on her face, as she replies to the scrolling chat box with—
"Please continue to post your questions and concerns, we shall do our best to answer them later."
In response to Lin Song's mechanical reply, Nian Yao Yao heaves a sigh, and clears her throat loudly.
Immediately, the camera man aims his equipment in her direction.
(No better time than now to give a rousing speech, I suppose? Let's see…)
Gathering her thoughts, Nian Yao Yao looks directly into the camera, and with a solemn tone, she says—
"I'm not going to ask our non-Sinner viewers—if you've changed your thoughts on the way our society treats Sinners or not. Instead, I ask that you temporarily set your hatred for Sinners aside. If our mindset isn't united, what rights do we even have—to think about combating the Immortals? Indeed, these Immortals may be terrifying, but that doesn't mean that we're completely helpless. This ruin possesses a great deal of Spirit Extract leaves. These can be used to raise the strength of the Sinners who partakes them. Not to advertise my company, but we've recently created a new drug that uses these leaves as a key ingredient. It's not as effective as a full bottle of Spirit Extracts, but it is nevertheless going to be a key factor in strengthening our forces for the future."
Taking in a deep breath of air, Nian Yao Yao continues to say—
"All that said, we still have hope—hope, that a hero may be born from the many Sinners who are currently in this ruin."
Pausing for a brief instance, Nian Yao Yao draws in another breath of air, prior to adding—
"To the Sinners, who are currently in the ruins—your past experiences matter very little at this time. You simply need to know that regardless of where you come from—be it the outer domain or the inner domain, all of you have the potential to become a hero in the masses' eyes. In fact, if a hero is born from among your numbers, change is sure to follow in the outer domain's mindset; not only will you be a hero in the eyes of your peers, but you will also be a hero in the eyes of the non-Sinners."
Placing a hand near her chest, Nian Yao Yao vows—
"I, as the CEO of NPI, promises each and every one of you now—that if you're able to defeat one of those Immortals, or are able to show an exemplary performance throughout the excavation, then you shall be rewarded with several vials of our new drug!"