I Bound Myself to a Destructive Witch
Chapter 628 - 628: 596. They are all a bunch of fools.

Xia Feng found it strange.

"Why would Dipus, the Pope's son from the Black Moon Church, run to Litian City to participate in the Lantern Festival when there's trouble within the Church Court itself?"

Litian City and Black Moon City were both in the 15th major district, but the former was in the northern hemisphere while the latter was in the southern hemisphere, worlds apart.

As Xia Feng pondered, he saw nearly ten thousand bright yellow candle-lit lanterns rise into the evening sky in the distance.

Like countless stars drifting from the ground to the sky dome, they illuminated the human world below.

An old man with a white beard suddenly appeared amidst those countless stars; with a grand wave of his hand,

The lanterns scattered and floated down toward the crowd below.

One could see young people in school uniforms flying up into the sky one after another, each suspending themselves above a lantern.

"What's this all about?" Xia Feng asked, puzzled.

"The Lantern Festival is similar to ancient scholars composing poetry. Evolved into modern times, it has become a competition of constructing Spiritual Particle structures. Families and academies from all over the 15th major district would send their talented representatives to participate in this grand event."

"The best five individuals will get a spot to enter the Heavenly Lantern Pavilion, where they can exchange for the Rare Spirit Paper or spiritual material they desire."

Saying this, Xia Feng followed Miss Mu's gaze towards the pitch-black northern sky canopy.

One could vaguely make out an ancient pavilion standing a kilometer tall, its grandeur looming.

"It is said that this tower is a Pure Blue Level Divine Relics, capable of absorbing wishes and happiness, turning them into a defensive barrier to protect the city. That's why the higher the happiness index of the civilians of Litian City, the stronger the power of this Divine Relics."

Listening to Miss Mu's explanation, Xia Feng contemplated; disregarding Lord Yeli Dong, the city did indeed give him a good impression.

When he had been searching for candied hawthorn that afternoon, every passerby he encountered on the street was full of smiles and quite friendly.

Using the Eye of Decompilation to scan half of the city, he hadn't witnessed a single severe criminal incident.

It seemed that the happiness index of this city's inhabitants was indeed very high.

"And inside the Heavenly Lantern Pavilion is what we need," Mu Qingtong said calmly.

As long as they could enter the Heavenly Lantern Pavilion and obtain the "Spiritual Clothes·Sea of Memory," she would be able to proceed to the next step of her plan to control the foolish Mr. Xia!

So that's how it is... Xia Feng stroked his chin and nodded, realizing that the Spiritual Clothes to solve the flickering of Sirius were in the Heavenly Lantern Pavilion.

"So how do we get in? Sneak in stealthily?"

"Of course not, we'll enter through the Lantern Festival competition, fair and square."

"The Lantern Festival?"

Xia Feng was confused, "But we can't participate, can we? We don't have a spot."

Mu Qingtong looked up at the resplendent lanterns in the sky. "In addition to representatives from the local major families who can participate in the Lantern Festival, the governing office will also randomly select ten bystanders on-site, giving the public a chance to participate."

"And those ten spots are hidden among those ten thousand lanterns in the sky," Mu Qingtong scratched Xia Feng's chin with a slight smile, "So Mr. Xia, it's your turn to take action and find that spot."

Xia Feng immediately understood what she meant. These drifting lanterns were actually products of Spiritual Artifacts.

With this in mind, he forcefully swatted away the woman's hand teasing his chin and then drew a lantern that happened to fall not too far away, letting the lantern's flame scorch his palm.

[You have been attacked by the Spiritual Artifact·Paper Lantern Lady—]

[Copying successful—]

[N-level Spiritual Artifact·Paper Lantern Lady]

[The Paper Lantern Lady is extremely beautiful, and if she works non-stop 24 hours a day, she can make 1000 paper lanterns for you]

[Current number made: 7,810,000]

"....."

As the information of the Spiritual Artifact entered his mind, the image of the paper lantern lady also infiltrated his thoughts, indeed beautiful but utterly expressionless, much like a finely crafted silicone doll.

No, could it really be that this Spiritual Artifact is meant for making paper lanterns??

However, Xia Feng soon had a change of thought and felt that the Spiritual Artifact was actually quite impressive—A beautiful paper lantern for 3 Empire Coins, 1000 would amount to 3000 Empire Coins.

If he could sell them all, with zero cost, he would make a clean profit of three thousand a day! Earning a million a year was not a dream!

"How about it, did you find it?"

Miss Mu's voice pulled Xia Feng back from his thoughts. He nodded, "Found it."

Beneath the nightfall lay ten thousand paper lanterns. According to his observation, there were ten that couldn't be sensed or controlled by him, clearly not crafted by the paper lantern lady.

"Let's go."

Xia Feng and his companion donned their black robes, put on their peach heart masks once more, and with a single step, soared into the sky.

Passing through row upon row of floating lanterns, just as they were about to reach their target lantern, a beam of light came from the east, congealing into a young man dressed in a long white church robe.

It was the Pope's son, Dipus.

He casually picked up the target lantern, glanced over at Xia Feng and his partner, nodded with a kind smile, then turned and floated away.

A seed of doubt grew in Xia Feng's mind—this guy was the Pope's son and should possess abundant cultivation resources, so why would he need to enter the Heavenly Lantern Pavilion?

But the stolen lantern was stolen all the same; Xia Feng knew the locations of each lantern with an available spot.

After he had swiftly claimed another target lantern, under his guidance, Miss Mu flew toward another lantern. In the distance, a figure in a black robe rushed towards them at extreme speed.

The black-robed figure wore a pure white oval mask, with a dark black flame etched in its center. The neck beneath the robe was wrapped in bandages, and even the wrists and palms that showed from the sleeves were covered in medical bandages.

Mu Qingtong glanced at this person, swiftly took the lantern, and retreated.

The bandaged person didn't say much at seeing this, merely lifted their head, the gaze beneath the mask seeming a bit icy, turned, and walked away.

"Miss Mu, it seems there's something off about this Lantern Festival," Xia Feng remarked as he watched the person disappear into the distance.

Soon enough, the bandaged person also accurately located a new lantern and secured a spot.

Within a minute, the struggle for spots among the bystanders came to an end.

Ten people stepped onto lanterns and ascended even higher into the sky.

Thousands of lanterns formed a sea of lights in the sky, vast and brilliant.

Above the sea of lights, around a hundred contestants were already waiting, all of them outstanding youths sent by the 15 major district families and academic powers, including famous geniuses from the larger districts.

"Senior Zi Lu, it looks like the title of the leader of this Lantern Festival is bound to be yours," a girl standing next to a dashing young man said coquettishly and full of admiration.

Ning Zilu smiled lightly, standing with his hands behind his back. He scanned the family and academic powers' prodigies in the distance.

Everyone's eyes burned with the flames of fighting spirit, staring at him intently; clearly, these so-called geniuses wanted to defeat him today and pull him from his pedestal.

But unfortunately, since Ning Zilu had stepped onto the path of a Spirit Master and reached the True Martial Realm, he had never tasted defeat.

Within his realm, he was invincible!

He was destined to add a stroke of bold and rich ink to the canvas of history in this era of grandeur!

Hence, these so-called geniuses sent by the major families were not worth his consideration.

"Really dragging it out, why haven't those bystanders come up yet?"

"If you ask me, these bystanders are just here to mingle, they're all a bunch of fools, there's no need for this step."

"Indeed, it's irritating to wait."

The crowd grew restless, but soon enough, ten silhouettes were seen stepping onto lanterns and floating up from outside the sea of lights.

Those ten silhouettes, astonishingly nine of them were wearing masks...