novelraw Chapter 453: Stop! Do Not Fight Anymore!
Chapter 453: Stop! Do Not Fight Anymore!
Yu Zhao moved like lightning. The instant Ancestor Sui Bian’s figure emerged from the void, she hooked his wrist with a lift of Spiritual Power and dragged him forward, skimming past the hungry mouth of the Spatial Rift by a hair.
He stared, dumbfounded. When he had instant-shifted here, he had felt no spatial fluctuation at all. How had Yu Zhao sensed the existence of the Spatial Rift before he did?
There was no time to ponder. Yu Zhao’s voice sounded by his ear: “Ancestor, follow me.”
In this collapsing land shard, Spatial Rifts and Astral Wind had become the tigers at the gate. At every moment a Cultivator was swallowed by a rift or shorn to nothing by the gale. To escape alive now was as hard as climbing the sky.
Ancestor Sui Bian also found it thorny. His white brows knotted into a ?. But as they ran, he began to notice something odd. It was as if Yu Zhao could foresee the future. Before a burst of Astral Wind or a Spatial Rift appeared, she was already veering away. Even when they blundered into danger midstride, she slipped aside with feline grace and called warnings back to him.
He rubbed his forehead in amazement. [He had only napped, and Yu Zhao had shed her skin like a dragon, her eyes suddenly so keen?] The Five Elements Dao Sect had truly picked up a treasure. Grinning wide, he finally remembered the Voice Transmission talismans crushed under his belly folds. Once they got out, he would brag properly to Old Black Daoist.
Yu Zhao and Ancestor Sui Bian carved a path like an unstoppable blade, threading where no one else could walk. Those Cultivators whose flight had been thrown into chaos by the sudden Astral Wind and Spatial Rifts calmed, thought fast, and spotted the pair at the front. One person had a bright idea and quietly slipped in behind them. The rest followed suit. Soon, a long tail of people streamed after the pair.
Yu Zhao and the ancestor only glanced back once and spared them no more thought. Earlier, the ancestor had done a good deed in a death rift and been bitten for it. He would not waste effort now. Those who could keep up were not fated to die; those who could not were simply unlucky.
But before either of them had done anything else, the crowd behind them erupted into disorder. Spatial Rifts and Astral Wind appeared at random; even if someone had just passed through safely, a new rift could yawn open at the very next instant. Those behind, unprepared, blundered straight in.
The fleeing Cultivators quickly realized that the closer one was to Yu Zhao and Ancestor Sui Bian, the safer one seemed. The crowd surged forward, fighting tooth and nail for position.Jin Yuan and her three allies were among them. Having formed a temporary alliance, they managed to hold a decent place in the press. Only a few breaths later, frantic shouts rose behind them: “Stop fighting! Do not fight anymore!” and: “Everyone, stop! It is a Spatial Rift!” Screams followed.
The space of the Land of Divine Remains had never been stable. After the earlier melee, even a slightly stronger fluctuation of Spiritual Power was enough to trigger a collapse over a wide area. Their brawling had accelerated the breakdown. Dozens more Cultivators slipped into the rifts. Those who survived at last learned their lesson and no longer struck out randomly. Instead, they locked their Divine Sense onto Yu Zhao and the ancestor ahead and followed without daring to blink.
Bei Ming Yan gripped Dong Fang Yue with one hand and her own artifact with the other, eyes scanning the surroundings, face solemn. Dong Fang Yue tugged her sleeve and sent a furtive voice transmission: “The woman in front of the senior is the one we met in the death rift.”
Bei Ming Yan arched a brow and looked again at the unfamiliar figure in the lead. If it was the same person, why change her face? And how was a mere fresh Divine Transformation able to tread here as if on flat ground?
After a moment’s thought, she gave a wry shake of the head. By that reckoning, the other had saved them yet again. [I wonder if there will ever be a chance to repay this debt.]
Elsewhere, Jin Yuan stared at the back of the woman ahead, lost in thought. The silhouette, the bearing, even the realm were not the same, yet something about her felt like Liu Yun. No. Liu Yun had only just arrived in the Land of Divine Remains. She could not have found a senior to ally with so quickly, much less one who would not abandon her even now. And Liu Yun’s realm and ability were far inferior to this woman’s. It had to be that Jin Yuan had been thinking about Liu Yun too much and saw her shadow everywhere.
Thinking of Liu Yun, a cold gleam slashed through Jin Yuan’s eyes. She had hoped to borrow Liu Yun’s hand to remove a few competitors, but in the end only Tu Xiao—the one least worthy of being her rival—had died. Feng Jiu Si and Shui Qiu Bai both lived still, more cautious than before, leaving little opening for another strike. This trip to the Land of Divine Remains had been for nothing.
Half an incense stick later, Yu Zhao sighted the Auspicious Beasts crouched at the very edge. Though the land shard was on the verge of sinking, they had not left. She faltered, hesitated, then chose to fly on.
The distance between them shrank. She could see every hair on the beasts’ bodies, and their eyes shone like lamps even in the night. As she skimmed over their heads, the Auspicious Beasts lay quietly where they were, watching her pass.
Something tugged at Yu Zhao’s heart. She glanced back at them and suddenly stopped. Ancestor Sui Bian tensed and hurried up: “What is it? Is the way ahead blocked?”
Yu Zhao shook her head and looked at the Auspicious Beasts: “Would you be willing to leave with me?”
Ancestor Sui Bian’s eyes went round. [What is this silly youngster saying?] These so-called Auspicious Beasts were ferocious beyond measure—one horn could skewer a Nascent Soul. Just looking at those horns made his scalp prickle, and this child wanted to travel with them? Had sleep muddled her brains?
He tugged at Yu Zhao’s sleeve, ready to talk her out of it, but the massed crowd behind them exploded first.
“Why are we stopped? Keep moving!”
“She said to take those Auspicious Beasts along. Does she know them? Did they collude beforehand?”
“What? She lured us here on purpose!”
A forest of furious eyes turned on Yu Zhao. She had no doubt that, if the ancestor were not at her side, they would have lost their minds and killed her to vent their rage.
“Cut the crap,” Ancestor Sui Bian roared, hands on hips and spittle flying. “We are your saviors. Be grateful we are not asking you to repay us, and you dare spew nonsense here? Say one more word and this ancestor will give each of you two slaps!”