The next morning, as the early sun shone onto the windowsill, Liu Mingxi had already packed herself.
She wore her signature artist's attire: a beige cotton-linen short-sleeved shirt on top, standard black trousers on the bottom, and a black cross-body cloth bag slung over her shoulder containing her essentials—a drawing board, paintbrushes, and a sketchbook.
Logically speaking, the cloth bag should have been stuffed with other art supplies, but Liu Mingxi couldn't be bothered. After all, as an art student—and one with special abilities at that—for her, this bag was merely a formality to put on a show for others.
She stood in front of the mirror, looking every bit the elegant artist, if one ignored her hair, which, despite being tied up, remained wildly disheveled and untamed, making her look like a fluffed-up, angry cat.
Whenever this happened, Liu Mingxi had to resort to an artist's essential magical artifact: her hat.
The hat was the pillar of her existence when walking out in the world. It could fend off all external influences and never failed to give her a sense of security.
A typical red artist's hat covered her messy, unruly hair and masked her inner unease.
As if by magic, the girl in the mirror transformed instantly from a listless expression and resentment-filled eyes into a vibrant, youthful, and energetic appearance.
With everything ready, she unplugged her phone from the charger, grabbed her phone from the bedside table and her front door keys from the desk, and left home.
She was heading out to find inspiration. Thanks to her extraordinarily monstrous award-winning grades, exceptional painting talent, and the immense affection of her professors, she didn't need to attend university lectures; as long as she passed the exams at the end of the semester, her credits were guaranteed.
Just as she stepped out of her residential compound, a strong gust of wind hit her head-on, nearly blowing off Liu Mingxi's little red hat.
She hurriedly steadied her hat, pressed her lips together in dissatisfaction, and frowned.
"Wind, what is it?"
She spoke to the air in front of her.
Another gust, even stronger than the last, swept past. This time, it finally blew Liu Mingxi's hat right off, revealing a mop of hair even more untamed and weed-like than it had been in the morning.
Yet Liu Mingxi didn't get angry or scold it; instead, she picked up her hat with an anxious expression, put it back on while running, and dashed toward the western street.
"Are you kidding me? This world has finally gone completely mad, even monsters exist."
Boosted by the gale, Liu Mingxi practically took flight. Passersby only felt a blur flash past them in a momentary daze.
Meanwhile, in the Nanshan District of Guangshen City.
With an explosive roar, a large swathe of soil and stone flew high into the air, dust filled the sky, and shattered walls came crashing down.
Whoosh—!!
A massive chunk of wall was violently hurled out from the hazy, dust-filled air.
Clang—!!
A sound like a bird's chirp rang out from the air, and a formidable aura surged toward the wall. It was a razor-thin blade glare that instantly cleaved the wall in two. The blade glare did not vanish; it continued forward, slicing through the midair and plunging into the hazy dust.
A dark red figure broke through the dust, continuing to leap across the collapsed walls.
"Damn it, why would a Klein-level Mystery suddenly run into the city? How are we supposed to fight this?!"
A few more dark red figures leaped past.
Suddenly, a massive figure about seven or eight stories tall emerged from the dust-filled air. It looked both human and canine, and a giant roar tore through the dust, finally allowing people to clearly make out its appearance.
It had a human-like face, but possessed sharp teeth and a protruding muzzle. The coarse fur on its face was already stained with bright red blood, and residual flesh still hung from its jaws.
Crimson pupils glared viciously at the few humans below who looked utterly minuscule compared to it.
It roared in anger. These few ants had disturbed its appetite; it had been peacefully enjoying a meal here when they suddenly showed up and started fighting without any rhyme or reason.
Truly infuriating!!
"Hasn't the Baili family arrived yet?!" demanded one figure draped in a dark red cloak, brandishing a wide, straight saber as they stepped onto a collapsed wall.
"They're just mercenaries from a wealthy family, their strength is about the same as ours, just doing jobs for the rich for money. We can't count on them. Captain, we need to contact the special squad!"
Another dark red-cloaked figure spoke—a woman with a fuller figure, gripping a long scythe as she stared fixedly at the monster not far away.
"Wait a little longer, the Baili family will come. After all, this is Guangshen City. Besides, even if we wait for the special squad to arrive, this place might already be reduced to ruins by then."
The figure standing at the very front said solemnly. The blade glare from just a moment ago had been unleashed by him.
"Then contact the special squad first! We need someone to clean this up!" she insisted.
"Sigh, Miao Su, with logistics around, there's no need to rush the special squad. Don't worry, the Baili family's Forbidden Artifact Wielder isn't just for show," Old Han chimed in casually, his tone relaxed. "It's just one Klein-level Mystery, they can handle it."
"Let's just worry about saving our own lives first!" another team member said.
Miao Su had no choice but to shut her mouth, though she remained unconvinced.
Right at that moment, as both sides stood at a standoff, a seemingly frail figure suddenly appeared on the right—a woman.
"Are they here?" Old Han asked.
"No!" Captain Wei Xiuming shook his head after taking a clear look, his tone shocked. "It's a civilian! How did she get through the Wujie Domain to come here?!"
"A civilian?! Damn it! Quick, we have to get her out of here!"
After a brief moment of shock, Miao Su hurried toward that figure.
The moment Miao Su moved, the monster moved as well, charging toward Liu Mingxi at a speed surpassing Miao Su's.
The monster's roar echoed through the dust, and that figure seemed frozen in place, too terrified to move. A surge of joy welled up inside the monster, and it mocked inwardly: As expected of an ant, come be my food!
Just as it was about to reach Liu Mingxi, it heard a calm voice.
"You're the one causing trouble here? How very bold!"
Hearing this, the monster lunged furiously at Liu Mingxi, opening its terrifying bloody maw to strike straight at her face.
To everyone's surprise, the next second, with a loud "bang," the monster seemed to crash head-on into something and tumbled straight to the ground. Judging by the sound, it was a solid hit—the monster's snout appeared to have been flattened quite a bit.
The downed monster heard a dizzying sound of a chuckle—"pfft"—which drove it into a blind fury.
"How stupid! Is that really it?!"
Miao Su, who had been sprinting across from them, froze in shock right in her tracks.
She saw an invisible wind field swirling tightly around Liu Mingxi, forming what looked like a thin wind shield that orbited her continuously to create a sealed protective barrier.
Even more shocking was that Liu Mingxi unhurriedly pulled a sketchbook and a dry paintbrush from the cloth bag on her back, making a motion as if she were about to draw. That's right, draw.
Rage flared up instantly above the monster's head at a visible speed; its head was practically smoking.
The monster glared furiously, roaring at Liu Mingxi like an erupting volcano. This was blatant contempt! This ant dared to look down on her! She was dead!
Powerful thermal energy was already gathering in the monster's jaws, and it looked as though it was about to blast it straight at Liu Mingxi. The scorching temperature caused the surrounding air to burn and distort.
Miao Su's heart clenched. Seeing that the girl was about to be swallowed whole by the blazing flames, she hurriedly raised her long scythe, attempting to single-handedly battle the monster.