Volume 1, Chapter 169 – Space

Several Heaven Demons keenly sensed the change in the surrounding space. A surge of foreboding rose in their hearts, and their expressions shifted slightly.

“Shi Lan” raised both hands. Her right hand lightly slapped into her left palm.

“Pa——”

The crisp clap rang out. In the noisy chaos it was not conspicuous, yet to the Heaven Demons’ ears it was like a sudden peal of thunder.

Within a thousand li, the spatial storm erupted all at once.

“Puff——”

After a dull, muffled sound, a massive black hole a thousand li across formed in the void. Innumerable fragments of space turned into blades, rampaging within the black hole. The Heaven Demons inside, as well as the remaining low-level demon beasts, all vanished without a trace, swallowed up by the black hole.

…

Several thousand li away, Ji Yun’s expression was as dark as water. Because of the Void-Shattering Jade, his divine sense could not probe the battlefield at all. Given that Shi Lan was only at the Earth Fiend Realm, there was simply no way she could survive a spatial rupture of that level.

“Amitabha…”

Master Jingkong let out a soft sigh. The skin all over his body gradually returned to normal, and his figure slowly shrank, returning to its usual size.

A monk’s robe appeared in Jingkong’s hand. After he put it on in a few swift motions, he sat down cross-legged on the ground, lips moving in an inaudible chant. Buddha light coiled around him as he slowly recited a brief sutra to guide the dead on their way.

Rеаԁ οո KαtReаԁіոɡСafе

About fifteen minutes later, the shattered space regained its calm. The mountains and valleys within a thousand li had all been devoured, leaving behind a massive depression, as though a fragment of a star from beyond the heavens had crashed down.

Clinging to a sliver of hope, Ji Yun searched the battlefield. As expected, he found nothing at all.

“What a pity. Our human race has lost another heaven-gifted genius.” Ji Yun shook his head to himself, feeling a bit sorrowful.

This place was ultimately not one to linger in. With the terrifying strength of the Heaven Demons, there was no way they would lose their lives from a single spatial rupture. At most, they would be swept by the chaotic spatial currents to some unknown place.

Master Jingkong soon finished his recitation, rose to his feet, and left the area together with Ji Yun, heading toward the fortress.

…

The defensive line under Shi Tianlu’s command was tens of thousands of li away from Shi Lan, yet he could still faintly sense, across that distance, the disturbances in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth caused by the clash between the many Heaven Demons and Heaven-Man Realm experts.

After roughly estimating the distance to Shi Lan and the place she was in, Shi Tianlu could not help feeling worried.

As the agitation of the spiritual qi gradually subsided, an order to retreat promptly followed. They had not even crossed blows with the demon beasts before being ordered to march back, leaving many people at a complete loss.

Back at the fortress, Shi Tianlu began searching for Shi Lan’s figure. Yet as one wave of troops after another returned, and until the fortress was completely sealed and placed under strict guard, he did not catch even a glimpse of her.

Seeing this, Shi Tianlu once more sought out a friend in the Demon-Suppressing Army for help, hoping he could use the Demon-Suppressing Command Token to determine Shi Lan’s approximate location.

However, it did not work this time either. Even with the Demon-Suppressing Command Token, they still could not sense the least trace of Shi Lan.

Rеаԁ on КаtRеаԁiոɡСаfе

In such cases there were usually only two possibilities. Either something was blocking the Demon-Suppressing Command Token’s sense, or Shi Lan was currently beyond a million li from here.

Utterly helpless, Shi Tianlu could only head for Bai Weiyang’s encampment, hoping to gain some clues.

However, he was unable to meet Bai Weiyang in person.

Once they learned that Shi Tianlu was Shi Lan’s father, Wu Lingkong came out to receive him.

Shi Lan had not returned to the fortress. From her subordinates, Wu Lingkong had only learned that Shi Lan’s group had been intercepted by a powerful demon, and then rescued by two human experts.

As for Shi Lan’s specific situation, these people knew nothing at all. After Shi Lan ordered them to return first, they had never seen her again.

At first, Wu Lingkong had been on edge, almost certain that Shi Lan had already died. Now, seeing that the Demon-Suppressing Command Token in Shi Tianlu’s hand showed no reaction, Shi Lan should in fact be safe and sound. This allowed her restless heart to calm quite a bit.

Still unable to obtain even the slightest clue about Shi Lan, Shi Tianlu could not help feeling disappointed. He had only just reunited with Shi Lan for a brief moment, and there were so many things he had not yet had time to say before they lost contact once more.

Now the outside world was in chaos, demon beasts running rampant. The situation was far more dire than before. With Shi Lan drifting outside, how could he possibly be at ease?

All he could do now was pray that, as before, Shi Lan would come back alive and whole.

…

Reаⅾ оո ΚαtRеaԁiոgСаfе

“Cough, cough…”

Just as Shi Lan regained control over her body, she felt a pain like being flayed alive spread from all her limbs and bones, making the veins stand out faintly on her forehead.

Several chunks of rock were pressed beneath her, poking uncomfortably into her back. The ground was damp. When she reached out to touch it, her hand met something slick—it was her own blood, flowing from the many wounds across her body.

“Reincarnation, what happened just now?” Shi Lan calmed her mind, lay flat on the ground, and began circulating her cultivation art to restore her vitality.

After Reincarnation detonated the entire spatial storm, the surging tide of spatial energy had swept her up in an instant, dragging her into a chaotic dark layer of space and carrying her across an unknown distance.

“I’m very sorry. I slightly misjudged the power of a spatial explosion in the Lingyang Realm. The released energy wasn’t enough and couldn’t completely shield you,” Reincarnation said in a low voice.

Shi Lan had been badly wounded, and it was not in good shape either.

“But if I hadn’t done that, I’m not sure I could have gotten you out alive,” Reincarnation added.

Its energy was ultimately limited. It could not draw upon the spiritual qi of heaven and earth like those Heaven Demons to replenish itself, nor did it have the ability to kill those Heaven Demons in a short time. Once it engaged them head-on and got bogged down, it would be very easy to fall into a dead end.

Shi Lan said nothing more and focused on running her cultivation. If not for Reincarnation, she might not even have left a corpse behind. Compared to that, suffering some injuries was already quite a good outcome.

“Where is this place?”

After she managed to stop the bleeding from her many wounds, Shi Lan continued to circulate her energy. Splitting off a portion of her attention, she asked Reincarnation about their situation.

Reαd οn КatRеadіnɡCαfe

“I’m not sure.”

Reincarnation gave a brief reply and then fell silent, constantly gathering information from the surroundings.

Once her injuries had stabilized somewhat, Shi Lan struggled to sit up. She opened her eyes and took stock of her current circumstances.

She was in a very wide cavern. The air was thick with a fishy, rank smell. Not far in front of her lay a pile of dry grass, and the light was rather dim.

“How far are we from the original battlefield?” Shi Lan asked.

“We drifted in the spatial undercurrents for at least six hours. Judging by the distance covered through space, we should be several million li away… Something’s coming!”

Before Reincarnation could finish, a huge, striking figure squeezed into the cavern and slowly approached.

It was a demon beast with a pair of horns on its head and a body shaped like a panther. It stood nearly two zhang tall, and with just half its body showing, it was already over three zhang long—a true giant of a beast.

When it saw Shi Lan sitting on the ground, covered in wounds, the giant beast froze for a moment. Then its four limbs suddenly went weak, and it dropped to its knees. A hint of reverence flashed in its beast eyes as it spoke human words:

“I pay my respects, my king!”