Li Daoxuan looked into the diorama box, a faint trace of irritation creeping onto his face.
Without activating the focus function and relying only on his naked eyes, the locust swarm inside the box looked no different from a rolling cloud of dust. A mass of drifting gray, swirling aimlessly.
Yet wherever that "dust" passed, annihilation followed.
Not a single blade of grass survived.
A small, delicate tree that had been standing there just moments ago, green and lively, was engulfed in an instant. Countless insects piled onto it, stripping every leaf clean in the blink of an eye. By the time the swarm moved on, only a skeleton of bare branches remained.
Li Daoxuan reached out and flicked the box lightly with his finger.
His enormous hand swept through the miniature swarm, momentarily carving out a clear gap in the cloud of "flying dust."
For an instant, there was empty space.
Then, just as quickly, more locusts surged in from all sides, filling the gap as if nothing had happened.
Completely useless.
"Annoying."
He shifted his angle again and again, scanning the interior of the box, checking every corner, making sure no one under his protection had slipped through the cracks.
Then his gaze paused.
His silicone avatar was standing right in front of the Prince of Fu's mansion, already buried beneath the endless tide of locusts.
The bugs crawled all over it, layering the figure in a thick, writhing coat.
Even though the silicone body was immune to bites, the sight alone was revolting.
Li Daoxuan reached in, pinched the silicone avatar between two fingers, and carefully lifted it out of the diorama box.
Inside the miniature world, everything continued as usual.
The Prince of Fu, torn between terror and a morbid sort of curiosity, kept staring at Master Swordsman Xiao Qiushui.
He wanted to see it with his own eyes. To witness what happened when a living man was eaten alive by locusts. Something straight out of a nightmare story.
Then, suddenly, Master Swordsman Xiao Qiushui began to rise.
Straight up.
There was no movement at all. No kicking, no struggle, not even the slightest twitch of his limbs. His body simply lifted into the air, as if an invisible hand had grabbed him and pulled him upward.
The Prince of Fu sucked in a sharp breath.
"Ahhh! What's happening to him?"
Eunuch Zheng's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"He's flying?"
In the very next moment, Xiao Qiushui shot upward with terrifying speed. With a violent whoosh, he was flung dozens of meters into the sky, heading straight toward the clouds.
The clouds above parted, opening a gap that looked almost welcoming.
Xiao Qiushui vanished into it.
Then the clouds slowly closed again, smooth and seamless, as if nothing had ever passed through.
The Prince of Fu stood frozen, mouth agape.
Eunuch Zheng was just as stunned.
The guards of the princely manor, all witnesses to this impossible sight, stood there in a daze, unable to process what they had just seen.
Outside the box, Li Daoxuan held his silicone avatar in his hand.
The figure was still covered in locusts.
But the instant it fully left the diorama box, a strange, invisible force swept over the insects. The locusts stiffened, then died on the spot, their tiny bodies losing all life at once.
They dropped off the silicone figure.
And fell straight back into the diorama box.
Inside the miniature world, the Prince of Fu and his group were still staring at the clouds in shock when they suddenly noticed something else.
The locusts that had just ascended together with "Grand Immortal Xiao" were now falling back down.
Except now, they were dead.
Their bodies rained down lifelessly.
The Prince of Fu let out a shrill cry.
"Ahhh! What kind of divine power is this?"
Eunuch Zheng dropped to his knees.
"Immortal magic! This must be the work of immortals!"
Li Daoxuan blinked.
A thought struck him like a spark.
"That's right."
"Living things die the moment they cross the boundary of the box."
"So dealing with these locusts isn't impossible after all."
"All I have to do is get them out."
He rubbed his chin.
"What's the easiest way to pull them out in large numbers?"
He stared into space.
Thinking hard.
Click. Click. Click.
Ding.
A metaphorical lightbulb lit up above his head.
"I've got it."
His eyes shifted to the corner of his apartment.
The vacuum cleaner.
"Mine."
He pulled off the wide floor attachment and replaced it with a narrow nozzle. Plugged it in. Tested the grip.
Then he aimed the nozzle at the diorama box and slowly inserted it, just a tiny bit.
Inside the box, the Prince of Fu and his people were still staring blankly at the sky.
The Prince of Fu swallowed nervously.
"That… that Xiao fellow… cough… Master Swordsman Xiao… cough… Grand Immortal Xiao!"
Three titles in a single breath. His thoughts were a complete mess.
"After he flew up, why hasn't he come back down?"
Eunuch Zheng wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Perhaps… perhaps he no longer wishes to interfere in mortal affairs?"
As the words left his mouth, the clouds above split apart once again.
From within them emerged something utterly unfamiliar.
A massive, milky white object.
A gigantic suction nozzle.
The Prince of Fu screamed.
"Ahhh! What in the heavens is that?"
Eunuch Zheng's pupils shrank.
"A divine artifact. It must be a divine artifact from the Celestial Realm! I understand now. Grand Immortal Xiao returned to the heavens just now to retrieve this artifact, and now he has brought it back!"
He gasped.
"My heavens. What kind of divine artifact is this?"
The Prince of Fu shook his head helplessly.
"I don't understand it at all. I've never heard of such a divine artifact."
At that exact moment, Li Daoxuan flipped the switch.
The vacuum cleaner roared to life.
It began to suck.
A deep, rumbling hum filled the air.
In Li Daoxuan's world, the sound was nothing more than a loud household appliance.
But inside the diorama box, it became something else entirely.
A vast, terrifying roar echoed across the sky.
The sound rolled through Luoyang like thunder, shaking the entire city.
Every person hiding indoors clutched their ears in panic. People peeked out through cracks in doors, through windows, through holes in their roofs, all staring up at the sky in terror.
Bai Yuan looked up once and burst into laughter.
"The Dao Xuan Tianzun has intervened! The Dao Xuan Tianzun is about to sweep away the locusts!"
Fan Shangzheng, Governor of Henan, stared in awe.
"Amazing. What is that strange contraption?"
The common people whispered among themselves.
"That tube is enormous."
"Is it roaring?"
The Prince of Fu frowned.
"What exactly is Grand Immortal Xiao's divine artifact for? Is it only meant to scare the locusts away with its sound?"
Before anyone could finish their speculation, it happened.
With a tremendous whoosh, the locust swarm hanging over Luoyang was sucked straight into the Celestial Artifact.
The entire sky cleared in an instant.
A citywide gasp followed.
"Wow!"
Li Daoxuan's spirits lifted immediately.
"Hey. This actually works pretty well."
"Let's keep going."
He tilted the nozzle slightly.
Inside the box, the massive Celestial Artifact shifted its aim.
Whoosh.
Another patch of sky was cleared.
It moved again.
Whoosh.
Yet another section was wiped clean.
The crowd exploded with cheers.
"Incredible!"
"Oh my goodness!"
"Such divine might!"
"May the Dao Xuan Tianzun protect us!"
The militia soldiers shouted themselves hoarse.
"The Dao Xuan Tianzun's power is boundless!"
Li Daoxuan was having fun now.
Left. Right. Forward. Back.
The locust swarms blanketing Luoyang were rapidly reduced. Nearly three quarters of them were gone, reduced to lifeless dust inside the vacuum bag.
But the ground was still crawling with insects.
He hesitated, then lowered the nozzle a little closer.
Inside the box, the Prince of Fu stiffened.
"Huh? That divine artifact… it's coming down!"
Eunuch Zheng muttered nervously.
"It's getting closer."
A powerful wind howled through the city.
The closer the nozzle came to the ground, the stronger the suction became.
Locusts clinging to the eaves of the Prince of Fu's mansion were ripped away in waves.
Then something felt very wrong.
The gate tower of the manor began to creak.
The entire structure groaned, as if it were about to lift off the ground.
Panic erupted.
"Quick! Grab onto something!"
Everyone inside clutched the nearest pillar with all their strength.
Then came a deafening crash.
The roof of the gate tower was torn clean off and disappeared straight into the enormous nozzle.
The people below were lifted off their feet, bodies spinning wildly in the violent wind. If they had not been clinging to the pillars with everything they had, they would have been sucked away as well.
The Prince of Fu screamed until his voice broke.
Outside the box, Li Daoxuan winced.
"Oops."
He pulled the nozzle back up.
Inside the diorama, the suction vanished. The figures who had been half lifted into the air dropped back down with dull thuds.
Li Daoxuan scratched his head.
"Too close to the ground."
"It's damaging buildings."
He glanced at the ruined manor and shrugged.
"Good thing it was the Prince of Fu's place. He's rich enough to rebuild. No big deal."
"If that had been ordinary people's homes, that would've been a real disaster."