Bai Fanxian and the Dragon Queen, who were entangled with each other, felt the environment change suddenly. It went dark in a blink. Before massive attraction that could churn one's insides appeared once more.
But this time it wasn't as violent as before. Everything seemed much more stable. The young woman could still sense her followers who remained not far away.
As for the Dragon Queen's side, she was surprised. She looked around warily.
And before long, light returned. The smell of the sea and cool wind blew against their faces. Huang Zihuan, who'd jumped to grab onto Wu Jia's black demon bird to keep from falling along with the other two children, felt most familiar with this atmosphere.
Wasn't this his city?
He swept his gaze around. That beach stretching as far as the eye could see looked incredibly familiar.
As for the others, they quickly became fully alert. The four Grandmasters hurried to control themselves to fly toward shore. They could see a group of four or five people gathering on the beach with shocked expressions.
"General Liu, you're here too?"
Marshal Zhang Xianyuan set down the Village Chief' body on the beach while turning to greet Liu Yianfei and the others.
This time they could travel across dimensional time safely. No one lost consciousness along the way. They all emerged in the same place. Meaning the power of whoever opened the gate probably affected the stability of travel.
Though it was a bit coincidental to emerge in City A in the east, hundreds of kilometers away from Village Beneath the Clouds which had been the entrance before. But looking at how they'd once been scattered across the land, this time they were very lucky that at least they still appeared in their own country.
If they'd emerged on the other side of the world, everything would definitely be more chaotic.
"Marshal, what's going on?"
Liu Yianfei asked in confusion. He was referring to that giant living creature appearing in the middle of the sky. Besides this, he was also surprised to see Wu Jia, whom he hadn't met in many years.
Wu Jia right now was full of confusion. He never dreamed he'd accidentally get caught in the crossfire and have to return to this world like this. But when he looked at the Dragon Queen, he decided to forget about himself first.
Because there was no way the Dragon Queen escaping to this world could be good. Especially since he was starting to notice many ordinary people who could already perceive its existence.
"I'll explain later. Call all your forces in this region. Both regular troops and cultivators. And contact the other regions too."
Zhang Xianyuan spoke tensely. "...Tell them the danger level of the situation might exceed level five."
The words of the Marshal who'd disappeared made even Liu Yianfei shocked. Jin Ling beside him went completely stiff, as if not believing his ears that what Zhang Xianyuan said was true.
In the military, there were five danger levels for situations.
And level five that was mentioned was a situation with risk of nationwide collapse!
Jin Ling quickly pulled out both his phone and portable computer. The young man relayed orders while his other hand photographed the crimson dragon flying in the sky above the sea as evidence.
And of course the military couldn't hide this from civilians. Images of the giant dragon were already recorded and became hot topics online almost the moment they were released.
"A real dragon!!"
"Crazy! Are they filming a movie?"
"Our country's special effects have developed this far?"
"...I feel strange. Right now I'm about a kilometer away from that dragon. But I'm getting goosebumps all over!"
"Me too! This is scarier than any monster movie I've ever seen."
"Where are the authorities? If this is just filming, hurry up and announce it. People are panicking everywhere!"
That last comment hit the point most. But at that time, even the authorities themselves wanted to cry. They didn't know anything about this situation at all!
But suddenly, the highest order from the military was released. The danger level assessment could create chaos for every agency. They needed to evacuate all civilians in range!
Of course this matter reached the cultivation world too. Even for them, "dragons" were living creatures they'd never seen before. Dragons only existed in legends from the past. But legends often have some truth behind them. Many dragons appeared throughout both Eastern and Western history.
The cultivators themselves rushed to travel to this City A immediately.
"...Where is this?"
The Dragon Queen narrowed her eyes. She could sense life force denser than the place where she'd lived. Besides, the power levels of many "humans" were also far higher than the population there.
Could this be a different dimension?
A different world from where she was moments ago?
"Is this your world, human?"
The Dragon Queen turned her gaze to Bai Fanxian who was staring at her. When she saw Bai Fanxian wouldn't answer, her huge mouth moved as if lifting a smile.
"...Not answering?"
Roar!
A roar filled with power and pressure spread in all directions with the Dragon Queen as center! It was like a compressed air wave. When it passed anywhere, even buildings trembled. Some trees swayed down. Ordinary people who weren't ready suddenly fell rolling to the ground with ears that went deaf.
The villagers near the beach were most affected by this. They were full of panic and fear. Scenes of people running out of houses became visible everywhere.
Black Hawk unit members stationed not far away moved to the beach. They looked at the destructive power from just one roar of the Dragon Queen before them with trembling!
Where did this thing come from? And how could they handle it!?
Even those with cultivation power reaching Grandmaster level trembled. Liu Yianfei, who could sense the power emanating out, furrowed his brow tensely.
Suddenly a helicopter appeared in the sky, flying up from the city. It wasn't a government aircraft. On the body was a symbol of a news station pasted there.
Because this time was too sudden for the military to control in time. Not like that Grandmaster clash back then which had strict outside control. This made major media start moving!
"Reporting from the field! Right now I'm on a helicopter about five hundred meters from the beach of City A. The location where there were reports of the appearance of a dragon, a creature from fairy tales!"
A reporter riding on the helicopter opened the door while reporting news. His cameraman gulped hard while aiming the camera at that huge red dragon.
Coming this close, it looked very realistic. He could perceive the wind currents when it flapped its wings. And clearly feel the hot air constantly blowing against his face.
"This doesn't look like CG or a robot. It looks like a living creature. A living creature that's really flying!"
The reporter spoke excitedly. The more the camera zoomed toward the Dragon Queen's face, the clearer one could see breath that almost became flames.
The viewers watching through TV screens were shocked. They called friends to gather and watch this scene until the station's viewership surged to historic highs.
"Get closer! I want better shots."
The station chief closely following this situation gave orders through the field reporter's earpiece. If his news station could broadcast clearer images than others, viewers both in and outside the country would definitely turn to watch only his channel.
The helicopter pilot gulped. He looked at the reporter relaying orders with a hesitant expression. Just being here already felt dangerous. They didn't want to get closer.
"Get closer. Don't you guys want year-end bonuses!?"
The station chief's voice rang out again irritably. Making the pilot have to force himself to control the aircraft closer. Until reaching two hundred meters, he suddenly noticed something floating opposite the Dragon Queen. But with that huge size, it blocked some figure completely.
"Everyone! Besides that dragon, there seems to be something floating..."
The helicopter slowly flew turning right. The cameraman himself tried to zoom toward what they'd seen earlier. But when those images were broadcast, ordinary civilians didn't want to believe their own eyes.
Standing still in midair was a young woman's slender figure!
She wore clean white robes. But that cool face had sublime beauty surpassing even movie stars. Many viewers stared blankly when seeing her face fully.
But what became the most noticeable point and drew the most attention was small black cat ears moving adorably on her head!
Bai Fanxian forgot to remove them when returning to this world. Making images of her wearing cat ears recorded and broadcast throughout the entire nation.
And some people remembered. They felt her face looked so familiar. Like a photo that became trending for a period one or two months ago.
"Goddess's Smile! That's Goddess's Smile!"
Some people started shouting. Of course it had to be the young woman called Goddess's Smile that he still had saved!
"And what's she doing up there?"
"Shouldn't we ask why she can float in midair!?"
"Or is this really filming a movie? Looking at how she's wearing cat ears and there's that dragon..."
"It is possible."
While they were debating, the Dragon Queen felt the helicopter starting to come closer and closer. Because now even the pilot half believed this was just filming some giant production.
Except that—
Roar!
The Dragon Queen who felt annoyed turned to breathe fire at that helicopter the moment it entered one hundred meters! And even though it was just flames released casually, the destructive power and intensity were still real!
The flames rushed at the helicopter with speed. The reporter who felt that massive heat turned pale. Would they really have to die here like this?
Even viewers watching through screens still saw the chaos and crimson flames rushing clearly!
Boom!
Except before the flames could clash with the helicopter, the beautiful young woman with cat ears appeared before them. She flicked her hand once and the Dragon Queen's flames clashed with a loud crash. They were deflected to both sides. Leaving behind only the sky that turned crimson red in a long path.
The three from the news station who'd just barely survived the edge of death looked at the young woman with disbelief. But those cultivators following the situation felt incredibly familiar with this young woman.
"...Is that?"
The novice alchemist looked at the scene happening while not wanting to believe his own eyes. His tears felt like they were about to flow from the corners of his eyes beyond control.
Other cultivators were the same. Especially one group of cultivators. Their reactions didn't look much different from the novice alchemist's.
"The Empress!"
"The Empress has returned!"
Because the young woman they saw through screens who was standing in midair and boldly turning her back to the camera—it couldn't be anyone except the person they'd been waiting for her to appear every single day.
Alchemy Empress, Bai Fanxian!!