Chapter 2469 Containing Fallout Lin Mu making the Spatial Storage tool for Ashy had improved his Spatial Skills due to their constant usage. Not only had his control gotten finer, he could now tolerate the erosion of his skill too. This was something that had been a problem back in the Bridge Plane as the Withering Energy could affect the restraints set by Meld too. But now, even though the skill was actively being degraded by the Withering energy, Lin Mu was simply supplying more Qi to sustain it. The reason why the skill was disrupted before wasn't the fact that Lin Mu didn't have enough Qi, but that maintaining the skill needed a high output of it which when hampered enough could cause a cascading effect that made the skill deactivate as well as harm the user. This was why Withering Energy and the Withering Dao were so dangerous, sometimes even more so than the Death Qi. Withering was an active process, while Death was the end result. This was thus reflected in the Daos, making one more problematic than the other. Of course, Death Qi when used properly was a lot more terrifying and powerful than the Withering Qi but the natural limitations between the two caused it to be of less concern when both were present. For now though, Lin Mu did his best to contain the entire crater. ~SHUA~ His skill covered every part of it and encased the entire area in a sphere. Of course, this sphere was invisible to others, but they could still see the change. "The energy… it stopped moving?" The discipline hall members quickly noticed. The flow of energy as well as the dark gaseous matter that was actively moving before had stopped as if it were frozen in time. "This is the Lord Imperator skill…" "He can do this… it takes hundreds of formation masters to even set up a restriction for Withering energy." "If we have the Lord Imperator, we might not be in disadvantage again…" The other members saw this and couldn't help but be surprised and impressed at the same time. ~GROWL~ Little Shrubby's growl though brought them out of their temporary state of awe, reminding them that it was not over yet. "QUICK! SET UP THE PERIMETER!" "HELP THE LORD IMPERATOR!" They quickly spurred into action and prepared the things for the arrival of the Formation masters. Before the explosion had happened, the other members of the discipline hall that were inside sensed the self destruction arrays being activated and quickly sent the mission failure report. They knew that they might not be alive, so they needed to report it before that. This was why Lin Mu had received it early on. But he didn't even need the full report, as he had already sensed it happening from far away. ~WHOOSH~WHOOSH~WHOOSH~ "Daoist Lin Mu!" Thankfully for Lin Mu, the reinforcements soon arrived. Among them was Crown Prince Feng Shun, Commander Dui, as well as the Discipline hall elders. "All Formation Masters, set up the Formation Flags and begin the first stage of the Eight Shelled Inversion Barrier Array!" The Left elder ordered. "Yes!" the formation masters replied and quickly got to work. "Are you okay, Lin Mu?" Crown Prince Feng Shuns asked. "How long can you hold?" "I can hold on for a while more." Lin Mu replied, a few beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. Even with his control improving, to contain such a wide area was taxing on his mind, especially with the fact that it was actively being assaulted by the Withering Energy too. "Don't worry, we'll be done soon." Crown Prince Feng Shun assured. "I'll disperse the energy in the sky." He said as he soared up. ~WHOOSH~ The bigger problem from the explosion wasn't just the create but the fallout from it. If it wasn't contained, the Withering energy that had already been spread into the sky would fall down and cover a large part of the city. Thankfully, it wasn't windy today and now that the Crown Prince was here any winds later on could be stopped too. But that wasn't enough. The withering energy would taint everything that it touched and it couldn't just be thrown out into the wild either. It needed to be purged! ~RUMBLE~ And that is exactly what Crown Prince Feng Shun intended to do, as dark clouds manifested in the skies. The Crown Prince's body shimmered with arcs of purple lightning as strong immortal Qi waves spread from him. Even Dao traces could now be felt, as the man utilized all of his power. The Withering energy and Dao were stubborn and would need his full power to purge them out. The Crown Prince manifested a halberd in his hand and rose it high into the sky. The weapon was made out of pure Lightning immortal Qi mixed with Lightning Dao Traces and thrummed with power. ~HUALA~ The Crown Prince poured more and more of his Qi into it until he had consumed nearly forty percent of all his immortal Qi! ~RUMBLE~ The halberd grew in size until it reached the height of over a hundred meters! The Crown Prince's form was minuscule compared to it but he held it with both hands firmly. "Storm King Immortal Arts: Thunderous Smite!" He roared as he swung it at the sky. ~KABOOM~ It was as if a hundred thunder bolts had landed, and a blinding flash filled everyone's vision. The sky seemingly became white, as everyone in the capital city could see it. Many of the people seemingly went blind from the sheer brightness of it, while even the stronger ones were forced to close their eyes. A singular wave of energy swept over the entire capital region, making everyone's hair stand on their ends. The immortal beasts that lived in the city and around it were alarmed and cried in fear while the weaker ones directly fainted. Many felt as if their hearts were pounded by the sound of thunder as it echoed nonstop. Lin Mu and Little Shrubby were fine though, as they had already been protected by the initial barrier set up by the formation masters. After all, they would get disturbed by the skill of Crown Prince too, which would hamper their work, so they had set it up first. But Lin Mu who saw it, couldn't help but be impressed. 'He's certainly improved,' Lin Mu thought to himself. A single tendril of his immortal sense rose to the bright white sky and sensed the Withering Energy that was rapidly being erased. 'The Pure Yang Energy of the Lightning is forcibly burning it all.' Lin Mu could tell. 'If I get any closer, it'll damage my Immortal sense too.' He realized before withdrawing it. The entire event lasted about fifteen seconds, which was very long when one considered the fact that a lightning flash merely lasted a fraction of a second. The sky returned to normal rusty red color after that and even the dark clouds disappeared. With that done, the people could see again and took breaths of relief. While they still felt uneasy, they still had trust in the security of the city. Though to be sure, the guards were already going around assuring that everything will be fine. ~SHUA~ A few seconds later, the Crown Prince descended and came to stand before Lin Mu, his breath a bit uneven. "That was new." Lin Mu spoke. "Yeah…" Crown Prince Feng Shun took a breath. "I comprehended it recently." He added. "No wonder… it works against Withering energy too." Lin Mu nodded in approval. "Considering our current situation, I reckoned I needed to learn something that would work against it and the Black Ying Empire members. So I scoured through all the skills in the Storm King Immortal Arts before finally managing to learn it. It's one of the highest ranked skills in it." Crown Prince Feng Shun answered. "Scoured?" Lin Mu couldn't help but pick up on the word. "Just how many skills are there for you to need time to pick one." "Well, there's apparently four different versions of the Storm King Immortal Arts and each of them has at least hundred techniques in it." Crown Prince Feng Shun explained. "After the Storm King Shirong made it, there were many people who have learned it and they too became masters that later expanded the skills with their own understanding." He added. "Ah. So like the Grand Bagua Mythic Series." Lin Mu compared the two. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺 "Yes." Crown Prince Feng Shun agreed. "It is quite tiring too. But nothing compared to yours." He replied. "I suppose." Lin Mu muttered as he watched the work of the Formation masters. "Looks like they'll be done soon." "Once the first two layers are set, you can release your skill. It'll be enough to contain the Withering Energy until the rest of them are finished." Crown Prince Feng Shun stated. "Alright." Lin Mu waited until then and finally ended his skill, allowing him some rest.