Inside The Black Mist

A tall figure emerged from the darkness in the distance, walking calmly toward the giant tree.

It was none other than the commander of the Storm Division.

General Fei Mei, dressed in her long dark purple military uniform, still exuded an air of authority. The gold stars on her shoulders gleamed under the tree's light. Her long, straight black hair bounced powerfully with each step, and she walked past Tianyang and the others with her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.

“Leave the rest to me. You must leave immediately. My Holy Judgement Light Prison won’t hold him for long.”

As she spoke, Fei Mei approached the glowing prison, her eyes fixed on the peculiar structure made of starlight energy.

“Tianyang, are you all right?”

Han Shu asked, his expression solemn as he patted Tianyang on the shoulder. “Good. You all should leave now. No one below the rank of captain can handle what’s coming.”

Tianyang nodded without hesitation, reaching out to help Cang Du.

Han Shu’s voice came again. Tianyang turned to see his captain approaching with Ning Yi, Lida, and other squad leaders.

“I’m injured but fine. Kun Lan’s injuries are more severe,” Tianyang reported briefly.

Cang Du shook his head. “Go help the blue-haired kid. I can manage.”

“Got it.” Tianyang turned toward Kun Lan, taking out the emergency injection Xun had given him. He jabbed it into Kun Lan’s neck.

Kun Lan glared at him. “What are you doing?”

“Relax, it’s just a stimulant. It won’t kill you.” Tossing the injector aside, Tianyang hoisted Kun Lan onto his back, his starlight energy manifesting as he sped away in the opposite direction of the giant tree.

“Put me down! This is nothing. I don’t need you carrying me!” Kun Lan growled through gritted teeth.

“Stop pretending to be tough. General Fei Mei and the captain are here. There’s going to be a major battle. If we stay, we’ll only get in the way. Or do you want to be written up? In that case, I’ll let you down.”

Tianyang passed Han Shu and the others, sensing something. He glanced back at the crowd and caught sight of a pair of beautiful eyes.

Those eyes held surprise, confusion, and a strange excitement.

Unfortunately, Tianyang was in too much of a rush to take a closer look. Otherwise, he might have noticed that they belonged to a proud woman with a mole at the corner of her mouth.

“Hey…” Zhang Dongcheng elbowed Yin Qi. “What’s wrong?”

Yin Qi’s gaze was fixated, her brows furrowed. “He looks familiar. So much like…”

“Like what? What are you talking about?” Zhang Dongcheng was utterly confused.

Before Yin Qi could answer, the air trembled. The starlight prison was collapsing.

Black lightning, like writhing dragons, burst forth from within, shredding the prison’s walls and revealing the Black Prince inside.

Yin Qi frowned deeper. “He looks so much like…”

“Who are you talking about?” Zhang Dongcheng asked, still puzzled.

General Fei Mei’s thumb flicked her sword hilt, revealing three inches of blade.

Tianyang, running at full speed, suddenly felt an invisible wave ripple past him. His starlight energy went haywire. Losing his balance, he and Kun Lan tumbled to the ground, rolling several times before stopping.

The Black Prince raised his thunderous sword high, the lightning on it roaring to life.

He swung it toward Fei Mei.

Suddenly, a torrent of black and white energy erupted, surging forward with crackling arcs of electricity. One bolt flashed past Tianyang, striking his tactical lens.

Tianyang’s left eye flickered before going completely dark. His tactical lens seemed to have been burned out by the electrical surge.

Looking back toward the giant tree, he saw black and white light clashing violently, their boundaries sharp and clear. The collision was like mountains crashing into each other. Though there was no sound, Tianyang’s ears buzzed.

The scene became blurry and distorted, yet the colors were vivid—black darker than night, white brighter than snow.

Something fell with a plop, drawing Tianyang’s attention.

It was a severed hand, with part of an arm still attached.

The torrent of energy moved away in an instant, vanishing into the distance.

More streams of energy surged forth, scattering in all directions.

Instinctively, Tianyang reached for the severed hand’s hilt. As he did, his mind grew dizzy, his legs wobbling as if he were drunk. Then he realized the ground was shaking beneath him.

The severed arm was clad in ornate, intimidating armor, and the hand still gripped a black sword hilt adorned with silver patterns.

Tianyang’s mind buzzed. Wasn’t this the Black Prince’s hand? And wasn’t this the hilt of the Thunder Demon Sword?

A massive boulder crashed down like a cannon, sending the ground into violent tremors. Head-sized debris scattered like shrapnel, with several pieces landing near Tianyang.

He picked up the sword hilt and stuffed it into his pouch. Just as he did, another deafening crash sounded above him. More boulders rained down, pounding the ground relentlessly.

The chaotic tremors made the underground space rumble. Suddenly, a massive boulder fell from above Tianyang’s head!

From the heavy whooshing sound alone, it was clear that the boulder was no small weight. Tianyang quickly determined its direction and lunged forward to his left, landing right next to the sword hilt.

Tianyang had already moved a considerable distance away from the giant tree, yet the damage to the mountainside was still so severe. It was clear how much worse the destruction near the tree must have been.

No wonder General Fei Mei and Han Shu insisted they leave. For sublimators below rank 4 like them, staying not only wouldn’t influence the battle but would make even self-preservation extremely difficult.

For the next few minutes, Tianyang relied entirely on his instincts to dodge the falling boulders.

The energy collision between Fei Mei and the Black Prince had far exceeded the structural limits of the underground space. The rocks were dislodged from the mountain in massive chunks, crashing down continuously.

Leaning against an irregularly shaped boulder to rest, Tianyang finally took the hilt out of his pouch after a moment.

He wasn’t sure what material it was made of. Its surface appeared metallic, but when he held it, the texture felt unusual.

The falling rocks continued for over five minutes. After avoiding the last boulder, Tianyang suddenly realized he had been completely separated from the others.

As no more rocks fell and the mountain collapse seemed to have stopped, Tianyang breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Black Thunder: A weapon forged from the Black Prince’s rib, capable of releasing high-voltage unnatural currents. Its default form is a single-handed sword, but it can shift into various forms, including a whip sword, broad sword, rapier, or narrow blade, according to the user’s needs.

Additionally, Black Thunder can release the following abilities:

At that moment, the silver patterns on the hilt began to fade, seemingly due to its disconnection from the Black Prince.

As Tianyang stared at the hilt, a black goat symbol deep within his body, from an unknown location, quietly emerged. When this symbol appeared, mechanical, cold information automatically surfaced in Tianyang’s mind.

Thunder Python: 10 million discharge units!

Great Discharge: 30 million discharge units!

Thunderstorm: 1 million discharge units!

Autonomous Lightning Projectiles: 500 discharge units!

The Black Prince’s hilt had fallen to the ground, and Tianyang looked at it, somewhat dazed.

After losing its silver patterns, the pitch-black hilt now seemed ordinary. Yet this seemingly simple object had been a dangerous weapon.

Obliteration: 100 million discharge units!

Snap...

But why... why do I know this information?

No—rather than calling it a weapon, it’s more like a medium or tool to activate those discharge abilities!

Tianyang dared to bet that at least half of the Black Prince’s combat strength relied on this weapon. Without Black Thunder, the prince was likely no match for a sublimator.@@novelbin@@

At that moment, the black goat symbol in Tianyang’s body suddenly lit up, the patterns on its two horns glowing. Almost simultaneously, the hilt in Tianyang’s hand trembled slightly.

Then, a burst of black lightning erupted, crackling fiercely. The electric arcs twisted and coiled before forming the shape of a single-handed sword.

Having previously controlled black mist and now knowing about Black Thunder, Tianyang felt a growing fear of the changes happening to him.

He picked up Black Thunder again, frowning slightly as he pondered what to do with the weapon.

As he gripped the hilt, Tianyang felt a subtle shift in his mind. The hilt once again released black lightning, reconstructing the long sword form.

“This…” Tianyang stared, wide-eyed, at the electric sword before him. Like controlling the black mist, he could actually use Black Thunder!

Startled, he immediately let go, and as soon as his hand released the hilt, the electric sword vanished, leaving only the pitch-black hilt on the ground.

Staring at the hilt by his feet, Tianyang hesitated for a moment before picking it up again.

Gather... complete... await...

Some faint messages, unnoticed by Tianyang, flashed through his mind. Then, the black goat symbol’s patterns faded, and the entire symbol slowly sank back into darkness.

Additionally, Tianyang realized he could only use the Thunderstorm ability for now. The other abilities were inaccessible for reasons unknown.

He didn’t know why, nor did he know the source of this information!

As he stored Black Thunder in his pouch, Tianyang recalled the crystal mask left by the sorcerer. If he could use the Black Prince’s weapon, could he also utilize the sorcerer’s relic?

Taking out the mask, Tianyang instinctively sensed something as he held it.

Disabling the electric currents on the sword, Tianyang put the hilt away. Though he wasn’t sure what changes had occurred within his body, now that he could use Black Thunder, he couldn’t simply discard it.

Perhaps using it against the Black Folk might be a good idea. However, this weapon clearly couldn’t be made public—at least not in front of Cang Du and the others.

Tianyang quickly understood that this was the sorcerer’s ability: to construct dreams at will, trapping people in blissful illusions.

Illusory, unreal, as though he could distort and rebuild reality at will.

After some thought, Tianyang put the mask on his face. Looking through it, the world appeared slightly different.

“It’s like a nightmare…” Tianyang muttered, removing the mask. As expected, he could also use this relic left by the sorcerer.

Now, Tianyang was certain that part of the energy from the fruit had transferred into his body, enabling him to use items from the Reverse Realm and even those of the Black Folk.

He chuckled bitterly. Was this a blessing, or a curse?