The Earth Mother Society and its branches within Greenlawn City were eradicated one by one, and all organizations and individuals connected to them faced reckoning.
Many wealthy and influential people connected to the Earth Mother Society lived in fear, worried that the Ling Corporation's enforcers would come knocking at any moment.
And in most cases, that's exactly what happened.
A month had passed since the Earth Mother Society's headquarters were wiped out, and in that single month, Long Yutian had traveled extensively, eliminating many Black Sky Buddha Mother worshippers.
Many of them were even acquaintances of his, or rather, targets he had previously humiliated.
The more he saw, the less his expression changed, only the anger in his heart remained undiminished.
"The Zhang Family, cleared," Long Yutian said, simply ticking off a name on his list. He frowned at the long list of names, "They had vast wealth, so why did they choose the evil path of worshipping the Black Sky Buddha Mother?"
"Human greed is like a rolling stone; once it starts, it's hard to stop," Mo Di's voice came through the earpiece. "Of course, it's also possible they were just born with a screw loose."
"Indeed," Long Yutian nodded repeatedly, thinking of those he had previously humiliated.
He couldn't understand why people would inexplicably come to offend him, so he could only attribute it to them having a screw loose.
"Oh, right, come over to my location quickly. I've discovered some strange creatures at the edge of the mist."
Upon receiving Mo Di's instructions, Long Yutian, who had just sat down for less than two minutes, stood up again and rushed to the designated location without delay.
At this moment, he deeply missed his past campus days of showing off.
On the outskirts of Greenlawn City, at the edge of the mist, the Ling Corporation's Asset Protection Team had established a temporary defensive line, standing by in full readiness.
Inside the tent, Mo Di stood beside a makeshift dissection table, prodding a strange animal carcass.
It was strange because it had the body of a deer, but its head was just a fleshy tube full of fangs, like an extended and enlarged intestine.
It looked related to the Black Sky Buddha Mother.
"Not a Transcendent creature, and no Transcendent blood. It became like this purely because of the curse on its body."
Curse, again a curse. Mo Di suspected that the Black Sky Buddha Mother's core ability was inextricably linked to curses.
Judging by these cursed creatures rushing out of the mist, the Black Sky Buddha Mother's ability to interfere with the outside world seemed to have increased; he hadn't seen this phenomenon a few months ago.
"However, this curse can bring powerful regenerative abilities. If I could harness it... I'd have to eliminate the Black Sky Buddha Mother first to ensure safety."
By his estimation, the Black Sky Buddha Mother likely possessed power close to an Eternal, and with his current strength, he couldn't defeat Her.
Unless he resorted to certain extreme rituals, like De Wei An summoning the gaze of a demon god.
"Teacher, the strange creature you mentioned... is this it?" Long Yutian raised an eyebrow as he walked into the tent and saw the thing that was neither deer nor insect.
"Yes, I call them cursed creatures. They probably became like this due to the Black Sky Buddha Mother's curse."
"The Black Sky Buddha Mother's curse can even affect animals?"
"Yes, and I suspect..." Mo Di fully explained his suspicions.
"The Black Sky Buddha Mother's external interference ability has increased?" Long Yutian became serious. "If the Black Sky Buddha Mother is in the mist, can we launch missiles into the mist and blow Her up directly?"
"We've tried it. The missiles we deployed didn't even cause a ripple; they vanished without a trace."
Mo Di shrugged, "Our preliminary suspicion is that the mist might possess some kind of spatial transfer ability, or it might simply be an alien space within."
"...Spatial transfer, alien space, that's too sci-fi, isn't it?" Long Yutian rubbed his forehead in frustration.
Just five months ago, he was showing off in an urban drama, but today he's in a sci-fi setting fighting an evil god?
"Actually, it's not just Greenlawn City; the mist disaster has now erupted globally," Mo Di added, delivering another blow.
Hearing this, he was stunned and pressed on:
"When did this happen?"
"Just now, an hour ago," Mo Di replied truthfully. "Although the mist varies in size, just like ours here, it swallows everything that enters it.
Thanks to the mist, other powerful families and syndicates that were targeting us have had to back down and instead request our research data on the mist."
The Ling Family's previous actions had already touched the sensitive nerves of other forces.
Those dissatisfied with the current situation were stirring, intending to emulate the Ling Family and redistribute benefits.
However, the sudden mist disrupted their plans, and also caused the corporate war that could have erupted and affected the entire world to die in its infancy.
Not only on land, but even at sea, mist had risen.
Connections between most cities were blocked by the mist, and now air transport was the safest way to travel between cities.
"What's even more alarming is that, according to information from satellites, the mist is expanding at a slow rate. I'm worried it might never disappear."
Mo Di said something incredible with a calm expression.
"...Then what do we do?" Long Yutian's brows furrowed even tighter. He suspected Mo Di had called him over just to mess with his mind.
"We can only enter the mist and investigate."
There was no other way.
"Fortunately, Greenlawn City is completely controlled by the Ling Corporation. Your father-in-law is swamped, but at least he can ensure Greenlawn City won't descend into chaos for a while."
During their conversation, a sudden commotion came from outside the tent, followed by a series of gunshots.
The two looked up and saw a large number of cursed creatures rushing out of the mist. They retained animal features, but their heads were all tube-like structures full of fangs.
They possessed powerful regenerative abilities and were fearless of death. If not for the ample firepower deployed there, even bringing in several tanks, the temporary defense line would likely have been breached.
"Beast tide?" Long Yutian thought of something, his expression extremely serious. "Will other mist-covered areas outside Greenlawn City also experience this?"
"Your concern is valid," Mo Di's words almost made his heart stop. "Fortunately, I had already arranged for people to be stationed there, and they have now been cleared out."
But in the long run, if the mist cannot be cleared, human living space will become increasingly scarce, and the stored supplies will certainly not be enough to sustain the entire city.
Furthermore, there was another crucial issue.
"Did you feel it?" Mo Di asked without context.
"What?" Long Yutian replied with a bewildered look.
"The Black Sky Buddha Mother's curse has grown stronger."
He pulled out a flesh puppet, the black aura on it becoming increasingly dense.
If the Black Sky Buddha Mother wasn't dealt with soon, these curses would eventually overwhelm the substitute items and fall upon him.
The same applied to others who had undergone the 【Hair Loss and Skin Shedding】 ritual.
Mo Di had tried using purification spells to cleanse the curse, but the effect was not good; the speed of purification was even slower than the speed at which the curse increased.
Now it seemed they only had one option: confront the Black Sky Buddha Mother directly.
Long Yutian also realized the seriousness of the situation. "Teacher, can you use that ritual from last time to locate the Black Sky Buddha Mother?"
"I can try." Mo Di couldn't guarantee success, after all, he was far too inferior to Her.
The two walked to an open space and set up the ritual.
With a strange incantation, the ritual began to operate, but Mo Di's eyes remained shrouded in mist, unable to discern any valuable information.
He dared not be careless, always clutching the Page of Devian, ready to invite his teacher to possess him at any moment.
After a while, the scene before him finally changed. The mist slowly dispersed, revealing a village.
At first glance, there was nothing unusual, but to Mo Di, who had maintained Aether Vision for a month, it was a different sight altogether.
Curses, terrifying curses were everywhere.
Yet, in this curse-filled village, there were still many villagers, and a few outsiders.
He sharply noticed that those few were the Greenlawn City residents who had recently gone missing, and now, they were facing a huge crisis.
Those villagers were clearly not good people; they led these outsiders to an altar, about to begin their sacrifice.
'I'm afraid everyone living in this village is a worshipper of the Black Sky Buddha Mother.' Mo Di's expression was displeased as he looked at the door on the altar.
Behind the door was an underground passage connected to the mountain, and a large amount of curses were emanating from the cracks in the door.
He had a premonition that behind this door was the true form of the Black Sky Buddha Mother.
"Ah!!!"
A scream caught his attention. Mo Di shifted his gaze to the front of the altar, unconsciously furrowing his brows.
Among the outsiders, the men were beheaded on the spot, their bloody heads arranged in a row by the villagers on the altar, offered to the Black Sky Buddha Mother.
As for the women among the outsiders, their fate was no better.
The heads on the altar quickly shriveled, and wisps of black energy seeped from their seven orifices, forming a blurry face in the air with dense, lotus-pod-like holes.
The black energy face slightly turned, meeting Mo Di's gaze.
'She found me.'
His heart skipped a beat, and the Page of Devian empowered him.
Protective spells instantly enveloped him, and the light of purification shone continuously, dispelling all the surging curses.
'It's a pity I'm not a mage specializing in purification spells, otherwise I would have purified the entire village through the ritual.'
After cutting off the ritual, the scene before him vanished, but Mo Di couldn't be happy.
After this remote magical duel, he had a rough understanding of the Black Sky Buddha Mother's strength. Even with his teacher possessing him, he would never be able to defeat Her.
"The good news is that the Black Sky Buddha Mother seems to be sealed, and the seal won't break anytime soon."
"The bad news is that even so, I can't defeat Her... unless I use some unconventional methods."
Through the 【Curse Tracing】 ritual, he had established a connection with that village. As long as he entered the mist, he could successfully find it.
If he could borrow the power of a certain demon god, he could most likely defeat the Black Sky Buddha Mother.
"But which demon god would be willing to share their power... Wait, it seems there really is one?"
Mo Di narrowed his eyes and quickly called out to Long Yutian, who was standing stupid next to him, pulling him along to rush back to the Ling Corporation's headquarters to prepare the corresponding plan.