Scourge Messenger

Chapter 397 [The Four Phases of Dao Foundation in the Face of Natural Disasters]

The gray mist and dark clouds spread across most of the Thieves' Hall. This was only because Yan Qing had intentionally reduced it. If he had allowed the gray mist to spread, even if it didn't cover half a city like when the Bunny Girl was building her foundation, it would probably have filled the entire Thieves' Hall.

As the spiritual energy was inhaled and exhaled, the flowers, plants, and trees on the gray mist and dark clouds began to move. The skull-shaped spider lilies dyed half of the white yin-yang fish red, the decaying violets filled the other half of the black yin-yang fish, the withered and flourishing giant tree sat in the black within the white, and the dark blue roses bloomed in the white within the black.

These four vastly different, alluring yet poisonous landscapes achieve perfect unity through the use of the Tai Chi Yin-Yang symbol, forming a strange and harmonious whole, like a wondrous realm of terror between life and death!

A sudden realization dawned on Yan Qing's mind: this was the foundation of his Dao, his path to enlightenment, the flame of his life, the origin of his soul—

[The Four Phases of Natural Disasters and the Foundation of the Way]!
Moreover, unlike what Yan Qing had previously understood, the Dao Foundation Manifestation of the Four Phases of the Nether Clouds, besides helping him block damage, was essentially a field spell that could cover most environments. Within the Four Phases of the Nether Clouds, his supernatural powers could be maximized, and the casting distance and range were consistent with the range of the Four Phases of the Nether Clouds.

Yan Qing casually glanced at a corner of Youyun, and the "Palm Thunder Pearl" in his palm flashed, and thunder roared in the place he was looking at!

The thunderous power, which normally requires close-range attacks, he can now unleash with a mere glance, effortlessly, without even consuming spiritual energy or the durability of his token. This is perfectly reasonable; what's the point of casually pointing a finger?

This is an operation never seen before in the game, and in fact, no player would use it like this. Unless facing a life-or-death crisis, no one would ever manifest their Dao Foundation. But just as the game sets the Dao Foundation and the Messenger to be one, since the Dao Foundation is equivalent to the Messenger, then within the range of influence of the Dao Foundation's inner vision, the Messenger's will naturally extend!

Although he would mostly not manifest his Dao Foundation to gain an advantage in actual combat, this glimpse of the iceberg undoubtedly made Yan Qing wary. As the messenger's strength increased and he gained more power, the information displayed by the game system was inevitably lacking. This was because the game had to consider balance and gameplay. Even if the messenger was set to have great authority, only a small part of it could be shown.

If game characters have an absolute performance advantage over local natives at levels 1-39, then after the Foundation Establishment stage, the two sides will probably be evenly matched. The performance of game characters will be offset by the skills of Foundation Establishment cultivators. As the strength level increases, the advantage of Foundation Establishment cultivators will only become greater.

The difference between the two is like the modern mode and classic mode in Street Fighter VI: lower-ranked players can achieve better performance by choosing the modern mode, but higher-ranked players are already top-notch in terms of performance. They can perform operations in the classic mode that cannot be replicated in the modern mode, and their skill ceiling is higher than that of the modern mode. It's like a master who has mastered all kinds of supernatural abilities.

With a thought, Yan Qing absorbed the Four Symbols of the Dark Cloud into his body, instantly transforming the Thieves' Home from a debauched and ghoul place back into a cozy cottage. The Pharmacist Yuan, Shang Xinlei, and Ying Rushi, who had just been forced back by the Dark Cloud, were still staring at him in a daze, none of them daring to approach him.

They weren't unfamiliar with Foundation Establishment cultivators; even Shang Xinlei had once been deliberately and accidentally struck by Liang Kingdom's Foundation Establishment cultivator, Yu Li Jushi. But no Foundation Establishment cultivator could exert such immense pressure as Yan Qing.

Even though they knew that Yan Qing meant them no harm, they still couldn't suppress the fear that their life instincts gave them, as if what they saw in front of them was not a person, but a catastrophe that could engulf them!
The smell of fear.

The significant increase in Qi and blood, spirit and dexterity brought not only numerical changes, but also endowed Yan Qing with all sorts of incredible abilities.

He could clearly feel all the bones in his body. His extraordinary blood and qi made his bones indestructible, and his extraordinary dexterity gave him the freedom to adjust his bones. His muscles and tendons could move like flowing water. Now, his physical body alone was a far more terrifying weapon than a third-tier weapon token!

The most wondrous thing is the perception under the combined effect of extraordinary blood and extraordinary soul. Sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, all senses are enhanced beyond imagination. An ordinary person would definitely be overwhelmed by such a huge amount of information, but the moment Yan Qing received the massive amount of information, his Foundation Establishment soul had already completed the processing.

This isn't even some kind of magic; it's simply an increase in computing power. Just like how old games couldn't even create shadows, but all new-generation games have ray tracing.

He could clearly smell their fear.

The Pharmacist's fear was like the bitter taste of coffee, tinged with malice; she was born with an aversion to any powerful being who surpassed her, regardless of who they were. Shang Xinlei's fear was like matcha-flavored cotton candy; she was both afraid and expectant. Ying Rushi's fear was like strong, bitter tea; she worried that Yan Qing would become someone she wouldn't recognize. In an instant, Yan Qing finally understood why most Foundation Establishment cultivators were single, and why she had never heard of any Foundation Establishment cultivator having a harem.

The reason why wolves and sheep can get along well, and cats and mice can become friends, is precisely because these plots are classic fairy tales.

He beckoned everyone over. With his left hand, he took out Qianzhen and quickly replenished his spiritual energy. With his right hand, under the tense gaze of everyone, he gently touched Ying Rushi's forehead.

You should instantly enter a state of illusion, staring blankly at your own hands.

【epitaph】!
Yan Qing then touched Yao Shiyuan, causing him to enter a phantom state. Yao Shiyuan also took out the Dragon-Snake Seven Kills Technique, intending to test his various changes in the phantom state.

Finally, it was Shang Xinlei's turn. She obediently lifted her hair to reveal her forehead, but Yan Qing's outstretched finger suddenly turned and pinched Shang Xinlei's nose.

"You—" Shang Xinlei was so angry at him that she wanted to punch him, but her fist passed right through his body, and she had already entered a phantom state. However, the next second, Yan Qing waved his hand, and he also entered a phantom state, as if four ghosts had appeared in the Thieves' Hall.

Yan Qing wasn't showing off his supernatural abilities; he was testing his spiritual energy consumption. After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, the [Epitaph] had no further limitations, but as a profound supernatural ability, its spiritual energy consumption was naturally much greater than that of imagery-based supernatural abilities.

On average, casting [Epitaph] on them only consumes five spirit essences, but casting it on oneself consumes sixty-three spirit essences. Clearly, the stronger the target, the greater the cost of [Epitaph]. If facing a Seventh-Rank Immortal Lord, even if the opponent does not resist and allows him to cast [Epitaph], Yan Qing might not be able to lock the opponent in the illusory coffin even if he exhausted all his spirit essences.

Perhaps because of his Foundation Establishment, Yan Qing now has a deeper understanding of the [Epitaph]. In addition to being able to remove it in advance, he can also delete some of the mysteries of the [Epitaph]. For example, he can lock the enemy inside without providing any healing, or he can do the opposite and only provide healing to teammates without locking them in the illusory coffin.

Do as you please, whether things go smoothly or not, it's up to you!
Yan Qing looked up and saw that they were all moving slowly. Although the epitaph did not slow down, the illusory form itself greatly reduced the movement speed, because the movement was very strange, and the legs felt like they were walking in mud.

Shang Xinlei and Yaoshi Yuan's figures overlapped, and she asked curiously, "What would happen to us if we were to undo our supernatural powers now?"

“As long as you have a defensive barrier, you will all be bounced away the moment it is deactivated, just like you collided together. The larger the overlapping area, the greater the impact force, and it may even directly destroy the defensive barrier,” Yan Qing said. This did not require testing; he had an almost intuitive sense of most of the effects of the [Epitaph].

"What if we don't have a defensive barrier?" Shang Xinlei asked.

“That means your bodies will collide.” Yan Qing glanced at Shang Xinlei: “I reckon you’ll be the one who gets hit pretty badly.”

At first, Shang Xinlei thought Yan Qing was saying that her blood and qi were not as strong as Yaoshiyuan's, after all, she mainly focused on agility. But when she saw Yan Qing glance at her milk candy pie, she was furious. "This is the perfect figure, not too much or too little. What's so good about that fat girl like Black Wolf? She'll have to struggle so much in the next secret realm!"

You're such a pervert, you have no taste at all!
At this moment, Yan Qing snapped his fingers, and everyone immediately broke free from the illusion.

"I've decided to complete the fourth mission," Yan Qing said seriously. "Even in the worst-case scenario, where Ying Le and the three great masters of Qi gather together, I can use the [Epitaph] to lock all three masters in coffins for a quarter of an hour. At most, they will only be able to fight one Foundation Establishment cultivator at a time!"

This is the terrifying aspect of the [Epitaph]. Unless the target is so powerful that Yan Qing cannot ethereal it even after exhausting all his spiritual energy, or possesses a superhuman body with extremely high priority to dispel the token, then that target is essentially non-existent on the battlefield! Moreover, supernatural abilities do not have a cooldown period, unlike tokens which have durability. As long as you have enough spiritual energy, you can use them at will!
From the first year of "The Messenger's" operation to the fifth year before Yan Qing's time travel, the [Epitaph], which was consistently ranked as one of the top ten mysteries by hundreds of thousands of players for five consecutive years, was just that incredibly powerful! No matter how the version changed, no matter how the official team adjusted the balance, it was the undisputed strongest single-target control!
(End of this chapter)