Chapter 2065: Landing

"Is this a movie? Or 3D holographic projection? What's with this mosquito monster? And that Demon Venerable Chonglou, why is he flying too... It must be fake! People got blown up! Where are the wires? The ropes? Where's Ultraman?"

"Damn it, I knew working long hours wouldn't lead anywhere. The world really has been evolving behind my back... Armor, combine!" He muttered, a hint of shame in his voice. "Damn it, still no good?"

"Step back! Everyone, move behind the cordon! Be careful, everyone! Don't push forward! Step back!"

"Mom, look, a monster."

"GGBond seems to have deflated..."

It was pure chaos. The world suddenly seemed to have descended into utter chaos.

In reality, it wasn't. Suspended high in the air, Xu Xiaoshou glanced down in horror, realizing that for now, the chaos was limited only to the hospital and the surrounding streets, affecting only those who could see him and the Demon Ancestor. But if left unchecked, once the scene here was livestreamed or videos leaked, it would likely soon trigger a global outcry. In an era of peace, how could there truly be monsters, and cosplayers capable of flight?

"It's fake, right?"

On the mosquito's back, Xu Xiaoshou slapped himself hard. His head buzzed, but the pain made him feel real; this truly wasn't a dream. The hospital really exploded. The traffic below was also completely paralyzed. And that Demon Ancestor Sheng Xin, suspended high in the air not far away, seemed to have truly traveled through time and space. Most unbelievably, the creature he was riding—the Twelve-Winged Blood-Spotted Golden Mosquito, which should only exist in novels or animations—was genuinely carrying him high into the sky.

A protector of the Dao? A mosquito, my Dao protector?

The wind howled in his ears, and the mosquito beast's wings flapped at high speed, creating a tearing sound. Xu Xiaoshou's adrenaline surged. Clutching the mosquito beast's hide, he shouted:

"Brother Mosquito, so, what exactly is happening right now?"

A contradictory feeling, both nervous and thrilling, fearful and expectant, intertwined into an inexpressible complex emotion. Amidst the fervent chaos, his thoughts somehow remained calm, but the only clear point he could grasp was: "He wants to kill me, I have to run."

"As you can see..."

The Twelve-Winged Blood-Spotted Golden Mosquito's voice remained deep and resonant, sounding like a mature man in his thirties or forties, offering a sense of security. "This venerable one also doesn't know. Just run."

Xu Xiaoshou was briefly stunned. "You're so huge, shouldn't you be fighting Sheng Xin instead? What's the point of being so big then?"

Before he could even speak, strong winds blasted into his eyes and nose, stinging his eyeballs and tongue as if they would split, leaving only a blurry roaring sound in his ears. The Twelve-Winged Blood-Spotted Golden Mosquito flapped its wings, transforming into a streak of light, and fled far away from above the hospital.

At the completely paralyzed intersection, fearless onlookers dodged beside various vehicles. Upon seeing this, exclamations erupted one after another:

"Holy cow!"

"That fast?"

"It's fake, right? A real monster attacking the city?"

Everyone raised their phones. The mosquito beast was no longer in the frame, so they immediately turned their cameras to film the two-meter-tall male cosplayer. With a swoosh, Demon Venerable Chonglou also flew away, vanishing instantly.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sheng Xin was enraged. He hadn't expected this mosquito to truly manifest its Xū Beast true form, and to be so fast, making it difficult to pursue. He had crossed through time and space from the Holy Divine Continent, expending a vast amount of power. His Blood Demon Fate Reversal Art was in its final stages, and his condition was extremely poor. Furthermore, in this era, not to mention divine power, even the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was terrifyingly scarce. It was virtually impossible to replenish his energy.

But even so, crushing Xu Xiaoshou's previous incarnation was more than enough. Unexpectedly, a variable still emerged! Sheng Xin didn't know whether it was due to the Nüo Ancestor's prior precautions, Xu Xiaoshou's foresight, or if his own act of crossing time and space involved too much, creating too much karma and pulling out too many bad things. However, with things at this point, overthinking was useless. If he couldn't kill Xu Xiaoshou's previous incarnation here, all his efforts would be for naught.

"Golden Profound Finger!" A finger pointed through the air. The speed was barely enough to keep up. Xu Xiaoshou in this era certainly didn't possess the Limitless Silent Seed; he couldn't block his Holy Dao Spirit Refinement attributes. Golden light streaked, tearing a black line in the void.

On the mosquito's back, Xu Xiaoshou felt his scalp tingle, as if the fierce wind would rip off the top of his head. He desperately slapped Brother Mosquito's back, finally getting a protective barrier that blocked the howling airflow. Turning his head back, he saw Sheng Xin's finger pointing, a beam of golden light shooting towards them.

"Finger Gun?"

"Laser Cannon?"

Xu Xiaoshou was so scared he nearly split apart. He ducked down and yelled, "Dodge! Dodge!"

Did Brother Mosquito even need his belated warning? It had already swept sideways early, dodging the direct hit of the Golden Profound Finger, narrowly escaping death.

"Spirit Wood Puppet!" A roar exploded from behind. The Twelve-Winged Blood-Spotted Golden Mosquito avoided the frontal attack, lowered its altitude, but then collided head-on with a roadside tree on the main road. Those things seemed to have gained sentience; tree after tree suddenly twisted and grew taller, shooting out countless branches and vines that immediately coiled around them.

"Buzz—"

Brother Mosquito's proboscis touched and resisted the void. A high-pitched, piercing sound wave swept out. Xu Xiaoshou on its back felt goosebumps erupt all over him, merely startled. However, those sentient roadside trees exploded into dust one by one, their vitality completely extinguished.

"Awesome, awesome!" Xu Xiaoshou's eyes lit up. This was definitely a sci-fi blockbuster. He no longer had time to calculate how much destruction Brother Mosquito and the Demon Ancestor had caused in their brief clash. He cried out in surprise:

"Brother Mosquito, what exactly are you?"

The Twelve-Winged Blood-Spotted Golden Mosquito, carrying him, swept past the Golden Splendor Building. Through its enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, which shimmered with a bluish glow, Xu Xiaoshou caught a fleeting glimpse of a pot-bellied man with a receding hairline, embracing a woman dressed as a secretary, pressed against the window, doing who knows what.

"Ah, this..."

"It's only a little past seven in the morning, isn't it? Do big companies really start work this early?"

"This venerable one is Xue Wuqi, known as 'Blood Venerable.' I am ranked third on the first Golden List of the Three Great Demon Records, the Lord of Blood Peak in Zu Ting Tai Yao Mountain, and one of the Twelve Demon Venerables under Lord Xi He. You may call me..."

"Lord Blood Venerable!" Xu Xiaoshou blurted out, feeling it was too surreal. Before him were skyscrapers and a low-martial world, yet beneath him was a Demon Venerable with a string of grand titles, and behind him, a Demon Ancestor was in pursuit. The dual impact of reality and fantasy was like two massive iron drills, one ice and one fire, savagely boring into his mind, making it impossible to distinguish what was real.

"Hey, don't—" Who would have thought that as soon as the cry left his lips, the grand and imposing Twelve-Winged Blood-Spotted Golden Mosquito, which had always behaved normally, suddenly trembled violently, its voice becoming somewhat shaky:

"No need for that. You can just call me 'Little Blood'."

This slight delay. The Golden Splendor Building, which they had just passed, suddenly twisted, the entire skyscraper lifted into the air by an unseen force. Amidst shattering sounds, the floor-to-ceiling windows of high-rises all around—front, back, left, and right—exploded open. All of them had been summoned by Sheng Xin's command. The earth undulated like a tide. In short order, these indestructible urban monuments, forged from reinforced concrete, along with countless overworked individuals toiling through the night in their "tombs," were directly kneaded into a gigantic temple.

"Earth City Temple!" That colossal temple, which blotted out the sky, was dozens of times larger than Brother Mosquito. Like a meteor rear-ending them, it crashed down heavily from behind.

A massive G-force sensation hit him. Xu Xiaoshou's eyes rolled back. He was thrown directly backward, but he landed on an invisible protective barrier. "Hol—" He was scared half to death. After struggling to prop up his upper body, he realized he wasn't injured at all.

"Sheng Xin, that useless?"

He looked down and saw that Brother Mosquito's enormous body beneath him was completely fractured from the impact, blood spewing into the sky, as if it was about to explode into pieces.

"Damn it! So you're the one who got hurt?"

"Brother Mosquito, you're not gone, are you?!" Xu Xiaoshou ultimately couldn't bring himself to call it "Little Blood." It was too absurd; he simply couldn't utter it in front of such a formidable demon.

The Twelve-Winged Blood-Spotted Golden Mosquito remained silent, continuing to flap its wings and fly frantically. The Earth City Temple, as heavy as Mount Tai, pursued closely from behind. Several times it nearly caught them, but Brother Mosquito narrowly dodged it each time. All the way from the city center, sweeping past schools and over golf courses, they reached the suburbs before Brother Mosquito finally managed to squeeze out a single sentence:

"It doesn't hurt."

Xu Xiaoshou gasped. By now, he had figured something out. "You can't beat him?"

"This venerable one is merely a manifestation of demon power. He, however, has arrived in his true form. If not for that..." Brother Mosquito paused, as if swallowing blood. Only then did Xu Xiaoshou realize. If not for that, that damn Demon Ancestor Sheng Xin, Lord Blood Venerable would surely make sure he never returned!

"If not for that, he definitely wouldn't be able to catch up to this venerable one."

The world seemed to suddenly go quiet, with only the whooshing and buzzing of wings in his ears. Xu Xiaoshou opened his mouth, then hesitated. Brother Mosquito shook violently. Its disintegrating body finally couldn't hold on. As it flew, one of its twelve wings suddenly detached, leaving the group. Xu Xiaoshou was directly shaken off, but a gentle force lifted him back, leaving him unharmed. Still, he grew anxious:

"Brother Mosquito, your wing..."

"Lightening the load."

"Your wounds..."

"It doesn't hurt."

"No, I mean, you look like you're about to explode!" Xu Xiaoshou cried out in horror. This Brother Mosquito seemed a bit too dignified, its mouth as hard as ivory.

A torrential downpour. The suburbs were different from the city. Xu Xiaoshou seemed to recognize where the thunderstorm he'd seen on TV was happening. While the city center was bright and sunny, the mountain forest ahead roared with crackling thunder and lightning, appearing like an ancient forbidden zone.

"Can we really go through there, Brother Mosquito? One bolt of lightning could mean two lives!" Xu Xiaoshou clutched the mosquito's hide, hunching down, his heart pounding in fear. He, however, began to think calmly. After all, Brother Mosquito didn't seem as useful as he'd imagined; aside from its size, it was rather useless.

Gold, Wood, Earth... Throughout the chase, Sheng Xin had displayed more than just the power of the Five Elements. He wasn't merely a Demon Ancestor; he clearly commanded "the power of all attributes of Spirit Refinement," a term that originated from the Holy Divine Continent.

"Brother Mosquito, in my humble opinion, my very humble opinion, that is."

"It's highly probable he also controls water elemental power and lightning magic. If we charge into this thunderous forbidden zone, our chances of survival are likely less than ten percent." Xu Xiaoshou cautiously offered his suggestion.

"Is that so?" The Twelve-Winged Blood-Spotted Golden Mosquito maintained its calm and serious tone. "Hold on tight."

Xu Xiaoshou couldn't grip with his toes and couldn't cling to the mosquito's hide, so he could only try to wedge himself into a crevice, seeking a sense of security. "Wait, a crevice? Holy crap, that's Brother Mosquito's wound!"

Suddenly, the eleven wings came to an abrupt halt, then completely vanished. Xu Xiaoshou's mind went blank... It wasn't a halt, nor a disappearance! It was high-speed wing flapping, to the point where it was invisible to the naked eye!

"Void Flash—"

A low cry rang in his ears. Xu Xiaoshou felt the light and shadows before his eyes tear apart. When he regained his senses...

"Holy crap!"

"What the f*ck is going on?"

"Oh my Jesus..."

Not only had the language changed, but when he looked down, even the people on the streets below had changed; only white and black people remained, each clutching their heads and staring wide-eyed, as if they had just witnessed an unbelievable monster.

"So, I've been brought abroad? Hey, I didn't get exit formalities! I don't have a passport, Brother Mosquito. This is illegal... Oh, never mind."

Brother Mosquito clearly had no concept of etiquette. It landed directly on the rooftop of a three-story villa, then, panting, set its rider down:

"There's not much demon power left. Our time is running out..."

An ice pop fell to the ground. The rooftop umbrella had been blown away. A little girl in a pink dress with curly blonde hair, her large emerald eyes wide, stared blankly at the monster before her. She didn't scream, didn't fall. She seemed to have turned into a stone statue, her eyes just growing wider and wider, her lips turning paler and paler. Xu Xiaoshou looked over, awkwardly waved at the little girl, and tried to squeeze out what little English he knew to show his goodwill:

"Hello, don't worry, I'm a good man."

*Thud!* The little girl's eyes rolled back, and she collapsed, falling asleep.

"Is she okay?" Xu Xiaoshou felt the danger hadn't passed. He turned back to Brother Mosquito. "What do you mean 'time is running out'?"

"She's fine, but we might die."

"What do you mean?"

Brother Mosquito could only sigh deeply, turning its head to look in the direction they had come from. This dash had taken them extremely far, certainly depleting its power rapidly, but fortunately, Sheng Xin hadn't been able to catch up for a while. It seemed to be choosing its words carefully, and after a long pause, it said:

"In truth, even this venerable one does not know what exactly is happening now, or why that Demon Ancestor Sheng Xin came here. According to the Demon Edict, this venerable one was not meant to appear. At the end of your lifespan, a wisp of your divine will was to be guided into a body with the same name on the Holy Divine Continent. But now..."

The mosquito's brain capacity seemed to be quite small, insufficient for Brother Mosquito to comprehend the strange events unfolding. It was practically shrugging its shoulders:

"Sheng Xin wasn't supposed to come. Nor were you supposed to have the power to awaken this venerable one. In just three more days, this venerable one could have completed the Demon Edict's guidance and returned to Zu Ting Tai Yao Mountain. Now, all unexpected things have happened." The mosquito hesitated for a moment, then speculated, "Perhaps it's related to the Way of Time and Space, perhaps to your future, but as for more specifics, this venerable one does not know."

Xu Xiaoshou settled his mind and thought deeply. To no avail. He didn't know the first thing about the situation; what kind of solution could he possibly come up with?

"Then, what about guiding me over ahead of time?" Xu Xiaoshou could only think of this method to break the deadlock. "Brother Mosquito, can you do it?"

"Yes."

"Then do it!"

Xu Xiaoshou had already lived long enough. Besides, Brother Mosquito had said he'd be dead in three days, so what was there to wait for? That other world was also very exciting; he had already caught a glimpse of it and was looking forward to it.

"Sheng Xin will surely detect it and will inevitably intervene to stop it," Brother Mosquito shook its head. "Furthermore, you aren't ready."

"Ready for what?"

"To be killed."

"I need to be killed to be guided? But if I'm interfered with during the guidance, I could genuinely die? Once I die here, the other me won't appear, a paradox will occur, errors will be corrected, and Xu Xiaoshou in the other world will simply vanish?" Xu Xiaoshou broke out in a cold sweat, realizing what Brother Mosquito was saying. His death here could very well mean two lives. "Not Brother Mosquito's, but it would implicate my alternate self?"

"But we have to try!" Xu Xiaoshou quickly made his decision. "Can you beat Sheng Xin?"

Brother Mosquito shook its head decisively. "Not much demon power left. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise?" Xu Xiaoshou asked, hopeful.

"Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to interrupt the guidance."

"Then what are we waiting for? If we didn't try now, there would be no more chances!"

Xu Xiaoshou spread his arms, looking at Brother Mosquito's proboscis, which was like a sharp cone. One hit from that thing, and he'd be dead on the spot.

"Come on!"

"Forgive me."

Time waited for no one. This was indeed the last desperate chance. Without hesitation, Brother Mosquito extended its proboscis and aimed for Xu Xiaoshou's heart.

Just then, a beam of golden light streaked through the air. The villa was sliced directly open, and the Twelve-Winged Blood-Spotted Golden Mosquito was also cleaved in half, its two pieces flung into the void.

"Brother Mosquito—" Xu Xiaoshou opened his eyes, seeing Brother Mosquito's final terrified expression. "Run..."

He turned his head. Far above in the void, Sheng Xin stood tall, a sneer on his face: "This plane is as insignificant as a mud pellet. One use of the Sacrifice Spirit Forbidden Walk can circle it ten times over. How could you possibly escape this Ancestor's control?"

He suddenly clenched his hands. The Twelve-Winged Blood-Spotted Golden Mosquito didn't even have time to resist, directly crushed into nothingness by the Blood Demon's hand from afar. Xu Xiaoshou's heart sank to rock bottom. Sheng Xin casually obliterated the noisy mosquito, then looked back with a sneer. "Run?" He shook his head, as if wanting to savor his prey's final death throes. "Keep running!"

Unfortunately, he didn't see any struggle in Xu Xiaoshou's eyes. As if he had long since come to terms with life and death, he remained entirely calm in the face of the current situation.

—He should be even more dead! Why was it that Sheng Xin, when facing Xu Xiaoshou, had been slapped and forced to kneel? Yet, when Xu Xiaoshou's previous incarnation faced the unbeatable Demon Ancestor, he could maintain such composure?

"Sheng Xin, do you know what villains usually die from?"

"Oh?" Sheng Xin replied, intrigued.

"Talking too much."

"Hahaha..." Sheng Xin laughed loudly, golden light bursting from his five fingers. "You want to force me to kill you? Could it be that you still have a trump card?"

Xu Xiaoshou pursed his lips and said nothing. In reality, he had no other way; he could only wait for death. No... It seemed there was one more move he could try...

"Grandpa Shou!"

"Xu Xiaoshou!"

"Me! Come save me quickly!" Xu Xiaoshou frantically yelled in his mind; this was a desperate measure.

But the attempt seemed to work. Immediately after his mental plea, the hair on his body stood on end, and the scene before his eyes began to ripple in waves.

"What?" Sheng Xin also seemed to sense something and was about to act without hesitation, fearing that Xu Xiaoshou's words might truly become a self-fulfilling prophecy. But at that moment, both their wills suddenly sank, as if plunging into a boundless ocean.

"Who?!" Sheng Xin found this experience incredibly familiar. As he roared, he turned his gaze, but what he saw was no longer the scenery of this continent; instead, it was a boundless darkness, like chaos, where the Way of Time and Space had yet to be separated. At the distant end of the desolate time and space, it was as if the Grand Dao was just beginning, or as if a single figure stood there. Its form was invisible, its power indescribable, but when waves of will surged forth and touched his own thoughts... Sheng Xin distinctly heard a familiar voice:

"Chant my true name, with reincarnation as witness. Across ten thousand ages it shall reach, the Supreme One's crossing."

—It was Xu Xiaoshou's voice!

"Wake up!"

"Wake up, now!"

Forcibly activating the Blood Demon Fate Reversal Art, Sheng Xin jolted awake from the realm of the name's meaning. He conjured five Golden Profound Fingers and shot them at Xu Xiaoshou. But Xu Xiaoshou, standing before him, had, at some unknown point, already knelt on one knee on the rooftop, his hands raised high, his eyes wide as brass bells. As the five beams of golden light struck him, his cry could no longer be suppressed:

"Shou! God! Descent! Art!"