The Heavenly Gate opened, but only familiar faces were seen. Several individuals, unwilling to miss the opportunity, transformed into streams of light and entered the Heavenly Palace.
Meanwhile, several more beams of light ascended from the ground. As expected, there were still those who sought to take a shortcut and enter the Heavenly Palace through this opportunity.
However, it was clear that their ambitions were rather wishful. For thousands of years, almost no one had succeeded through such means, unless guided by someone from the Heavenly Palace on the other side.
Indeed, before the eyes of many, some transformed into balls of flame, others’ bodies were erased like an eraser, slowly disappearing, while some were struck by lightning, leaving them charred. By the time they were delayed, the Heavenly Gate had already closed.
"Sigh..." Liu Nanfeng let out a deep sigh.
"What's wrong?" Su Huamei asked, somewhat perplexed.
"Boss Zhang has left. It will probably be difficult to eat his grilled skewers again."
Su Huamei: ...
She didn't know what to say.
"Let's go." Su Huamei finally said helplessly.
Then she turned and continued walking towards the coffee shop.
"Huh?" Just then, Liu Nanfeng exclaimed in surprise, looking up at the sky again.
"What's wrong?" Su Huamei asked, somewhat confused.
"I thought this thick fog was an overflow from the Heavenly Palace, but it turns out it's these little things," Liu Nanfeng murmured.
Hearing this, Su Huamei followed his gaze and looked up. She saw that a patch of fog had appeared out of nowhere in the previously clear sky. The fog was rapidly expanding, and in a short time, it would once again cover the entire sky, plunging the world into fog.
"Are those creatures?" Su Huamei also realized, asking with some surprise.
"They should also be desolate beasts."
As Liu Nanfeng spoke, he spun his palm in the air, and a golden concentric circle immediately appeared. Many runes that she couldn't understand flickered in the space between the two circles.
Then, Liu Nanfeng reached into the concentric circle, and a sky-covering hand appeared in the sky.
The appearance of this hand truly surprised many people on the ground. They also recalled that this hand had appeared once or twice before.
At this moment, the sky-covering hand reached out and scooped up the ball of fog in the air, leaving not a trace. It then vanished instantly, as if it had never appeared.
Many people even subconsciously rubbed their eyes, wondering if they had seen an illusion.
At this time, Su Huamei looked at the ball of mist in Liu Nanfeng's hand with curiosity. However, even observing from such close proximity, she still couldn't detect anything unusual.
"Their bodies resemble mosquitoes, they feed on spiritual energy, and they generate large amounts of fog. For now, let's call them mist mosquitoes. However, their bodies are too tiny, making them difficult to see with the naked eye."
As Liu Nanfeng spoke, he summoned Guanshanhai and sealed them in a valley. The valley, which had originally lost its mist, was instantly shrouded in thick fog again.
He had no intention of killing them for the time being. On one hand, these mist mosquitoes were not very dangerous.
On the other hand, their existence was quite peculiar. After consuming spiritual energy, they were not depleted; instead, they produced more spiritual energy, albeit with a more frenzied nature.
This reminded him of the spirit energy blocks he had obtained from the Tide Society. Although they belonged to different creatures, their characteristics shared many similarities.
If it weren't for Zhang Xinwu and others storming the Heavenly Palace, clearing all the fog in the sky and exposing them to his sight, he might not have discovered their existence.
"Let's go. This fog should completely dissipate in a few days," Liu Nanfeng said, looking around.
"It's good that it's dissipating. Although this fog is harmless to people, it has affected the lives of the common folk."
Although the country had unlocked some new technologies, they could not achieve universal普及 for quite some time. The most deeply affected was transportation. With the fog dissipating, everything should soon return to normal.
The two arrived at the coffee shop, where Song Haitang and others were already present. Due to the fog, taxis and private cars were running very infrequently. The only available modes of transportation were buses and the subway.
The subway, of course, was unaffected by the fog. Buses had dedicated routes, and with official notices prohibiting occupying lanes after the fog appeared, buses were able to operate normally.
However, because there were too many people taking the bus, they were worried about not getting a seat, so the girls had woken up a little earlier than usual.
However, there was someone unexpected at the shop who surprised Liu Nanfeng.
"Long time no see, why are you here?" Liu Nanfeng greeted with a smile.
The person present was Ao Haiping, the second prince of the Dragon Clan.
He looked at Liu Nanfeng with a serious expression. Seeing Liu Nanfeng greet him, he did not reply.
Instead, he got straight to the point: "You are gathering people to break through the Heavenly Gate and enter the Heavenly Palace?"
"Huh? You already know?" Liu Nanfeng asked with some surprise.
"Lu Beihai in the north is a close friend of my father for many years," Ao Haiping said calmly.
"Who is he?" Liu Nanfeng asked, a little confused.
Ao Haiping's eyes widened immediately, his face showing a hint of anger.
"Don't be angry, I really don't know who he is?" Liu Nanfeng said helplessly.
"He is one of the people you are gathering for this trip. How could you not know?" Ao Haiping suppressed his anger. He thought Liu Nanfeng was looking down on him and using this as an excuse to refuse his company.
"I really don't know, because this trip to the Heavenly Palace is not led by me. To be precise, I am also one of the invited people," Liu Nanfeng quickly explained.
Ao Haiping heard this, stared at Liu Nanfeng, and pondered for a moment: "The Zhan family of Rongcheng?"
Liu Nanfeng nodded upon hearing this.
"Count me in, and isn't Jiang Yue also going?" Ao Haiping said, staring at Liu Nanfeng.
"This... I don't have the final say, after all, this trip is not led by me," Liu Nanfeng spread his hands.
"As long as you agree," Ao Haiping insisted.
Liu Nanfeng couldn't understand what his problem was and said helplessly, "Is it okay if I agree? However, I cannot guarantee the safety of this trip."
"Naturally, you don't need to be responsible."
Ao Haiping felt that Liu Nanfeng was looking down on him and his expression was displeased.
"Alright, then there's no problem. However, you still need to talk to the people from the Zhan family about this," Liu Nanfeng said.
"You don't need to worry about that. I think they will agree," Ao Haiping said confidently.
Seeing him say this, Liu Nanfeng said no more and asked with some doubt, "Did the Dragon King agree?"
Before, the Dragon King felt that the time was not right and forbade all water creatures from breaking through the Heavenly Gate to enter the Heavenly Palace. Why had he changed his mind now?
"You don't need to worry about that," Ao Haiping said and then stood up and walked towards the door.
Seeing him leave, Su Huamei walked over with a cup of coffee.
"What's wrong?" she asked, confused, seeing Ao Haiping leave with an angry expression.
"Who knows, he's acting strange."
After saying that, Liu Nanfeng picked up the coffee and took a sip, very satisfied. It was still the same taste.
ps: The map is about to change. I need to sort out my thoughts, so there will only be one chapter today.