On hearing the ruler of the Wanyao Kingdom’s words, Xu Qi’an very nearly suffered cardiac arrest. He didn’t turn back, but his danger sense gave him its answer.
An image flashed through his mind.
Deep within the thick fog, a face that looked eerily human stretched out, blotting out the sky and the sun, opening a blood-soaked maw like an abyss towards him.
Normally, danger sense should’ve detected the threat before the silver-haired yao beauty cried out a warning, not only belatedly react after she spoke.
The only explanation was that the dreamscape had an extremely powerful bewildering effect. Even a first rank martial artist would be affected by it.
Without the slightest hesitation, he decisively used shadow jump, trying to use the distant Nine-tailed Heavenly Fox to leap out of the dream domain.
But at that very moment, the scene before Xu Qi’an’s eyes changed uncontrollably. A magnificent palace took shape, wisps of steam curling in the air. Several pale, naked bodies soaked in a hot spring pool, their silver-bell laughter and playful splashing ringing out.
They were Lin’an, Huaiqing, Zhong Li…
And on the imperial concubine couch by the hot spring pool, Luo Yuheng and Mu Nanzhi lay on their fronts, hips raised, turning back with smiling glances.
He’d entered the dream again. It was the sweet dream he had forcibly interrupted earlier.
Before, Xu Qi’an had only managed to break free of the dream because he found this scene too discordant, completely illogical, so discordant that it lacked any sense of immersion.
Now it seemed that whether one clearly realised it was a dream or not, so long as one was within the thick fog, one would definitely be forcibly dragged into dreaming.
With his experience from last time, breaking free from the dream would’ve taken no more than a single thought.
But at this moment, being forcibly drawn into a dream was equivalent to standing defenceless right in front of Desolation. Even for an instant, it might cost him his life.
I’m done for… That thought flashed through Xu Qi’an’s mind, and suddenly he felt a bleak despair, as though all hope had turned to ash.
The figures of Luo Yuheng and Mu Nanzhi shattered like phantoms. Xu Qi’an broke free of the dream, and realised he wasn’t dead.
“Hm?”
A doubtful sound came from his nose. He had no time to feel excitement or joy, and continued the spell he had been about to cast. He turned into a shadow and vanished, then drilled out from beneath the Nine-tailed Fox’s skirt.
Only then did he have time to observe Desolation, and saw that Its golden pupils were slightly vacant, while that eerily human face showed a trace of pleasure.
It entered a dream too. So the fortune on me isn’t useless after all… Delighted, Xu Qi’an grabbed the Nine-tailed Fox by the arm and said in a deep voice:
“Let’s go! Head back.”
Although after stepping onto the island, he had already prepared himself mentally for a fight to the death with It, Xu Qi’an instinctively felt that the battlefield shouldn’t be here.
Because here, they had no advantage at all. They couldn’t make use of the terrain.
The Nine-tailed Heavenly Fox’s pretty face had gone pale. She nodded hard. That terrifying aura, like a raging tide, gave her enormous pressure.
Even no longer at Its peak, Desolation was still far stronger than first rank.
The two of them melted and collapsed into shadows, but just then, deep in the mist, Desolation’s golden, brilliant pupils regained their focus.
It gazed at the two of them, just about to merge into the shadows, then unhurriedly opened Its mouth and took a gentle breath.
The mass of shadow that was about to melt was instantly dragged and distorted. It couldn’t hold its form and reverted into Xu Qi’an and the Nine-tailed Fox.
Seeing there was no way to flee, Xu Qi’an made a snap decision.
“Support me. If we can’t win, find a chance to escape yourself. I’ll cover the rear.”
The Nine-tailed Fox glanced at him. “Right!”
At the critical moment, this stinking man had never once turned coward.
Hiss, hiss…
Bloody mist sprayed from his pores. His skin turned scalding hot, like a boiled prawn.
Xu Qi’an drew the Taiping sabre and the Sovereign Sword from the little jade mirror. The latter had now become his exclusive weapon.
Thud thud thud!
Xu Qi’an took the initiative and charged at Desolation. As he ran, the bloody mist gushing from his pores, along with the moisture and vital essence in his body, rapidly drained away. In just two breaths, he looked like a dried corpse.
Snap!
Xu Qi’an, gripping the Taiping sabre in his left hand, snapped his fingers. In the next moment, Desolation’s enormous body, vast as a city wall, also sprayed out dense bloody mist and water vapour. Its fur was no longer glossy, and Its fragmented-gold pupils no longer shone so dazzlingly.
The rolling vortex in Its mouth subsided with it.
And by then, Xu Qi’an had already succeeded in closing to point-blank range. For a first rank martial artist, no matter what sort of thing you are, once I get the chance to stick close, I’ve already won half the battle.
Bang!
He drove a knee into Desolation’s lower jaw, and that gigantic head, like a city gate, jerked sharply upwards.
Immediately after, Xu Qi’an spun like a twisting drill. The Taiping sabre and Sovereign Sword turned into a storm of blades, hacking out a dense shower of sparks at Desolation’s neck.
What Desolation had lost was spiritual essence. Its body had not weakened. Even if It wasn’t one of those gods or demons famed for physical toughness, It still wasn’t something the Taiping sabre and Sovereign Sword could easily injure.
I shouldn’t have mocked Master Kou. I’ve become the king of scraping too… Xu Qi’an’s spinning only grew faster, and the sparks became denser still.
The Taiping sabre and Sovereign Sword carved out streak after streak of white marks. The marks multiplied and deepened, and gradually beads of blood began to seep out.
Relying on a martial artist’s stamina and the sharpness of his weapons, Xu Qi’an successfully turned quantitative change into qualitative change.
Desolation once again experienced the terror of a first rank martial artist in close combat. It wasn’t ruled by emotion. Seeing that It couldn’t reclaim the initiative from under a first rank martial artist’s hands for the moment, It immediately changed strategy. The six horns on top of Its head lit up one after another, and black-glowing patterns instantly spread across Its whole body.
A terrifying power was gathering, charging.
“Quick, get clear!”
From one of the horns came the Jianzheng’s voice.
Xu Qi’an sensed the danger at the same time. He sheathed the sabre and withdrew the sword, then leaned backwards and slid away like a ghost.
By then, the patterns spreading from Desolation’s six horns had already covered Its whole body. In the next moment, It transformed into a pure “black hole”. Its form blurred beyond recognition, because It had absorbed all the nearby light.
Desolation devoured everything around It, including the dense fog, the earth, the air, and Xu Qi’an.
The reason Desolation was called Desolation was because wherever It passed, all life withered and all energy dispersed, leaving behind nothing but wasteland.
This wasn’t the first time Xu Qi’an had witnessed Desolation’s innate divine power, but compared with the time It killed Xu Pingfeng, this devouring force was ten times, a hundred times stronger than before.
Thud, thud!
He drove the Sovereign Sword and Taiping sabre into the ground, both feet sinking deep into the earth, his body leaning backwards to resist the frenzied suction.
But even so, his vital essence and moisture were still draining away madly.
His whole body visibly withered at a speed apparent to the naked eye.
It wasn’t as though he hadn’t resisted. While his essence was being devoured by the terrifying suction, he also released poisonous gas, aphrodisiac gas, and Broken Jade.
The first two being ineffective was understandable enough, but even the returning damage from Broken Jade seemed to have been devoured, raising not the slightest ripple.
So strong… Xu Qi’an had more or less gauged Desolation’s strength. It was as terrifying as Shenshu, but terrifying in a different way.
Desolation had no other fancy abilities. Its means of attack were extremely simple, namely devouring.
But precisely because the ability was so simple, it was all the more unsolvable.
The Sevenfold Gu can’t help me, Broken Jade’s returning power is useless, so I can only use One Blade from Heaven and Earth. But caught in this vortex, I can’t collapse my qi at all, nor complete Broken Jade’s charge-up. Luckily Nanzhi gave me plenty of life essence before we set out to sea, otherwise by now I’d already be a dried husk…
All sorts of thoughts flashed through Xu Qi’an’s mind. He searched for a way to save himself, only to discover that he had no way at all.
Just then, the suction from the “black hole” Desolation had become suddenly weakened by several degrees.
At the centre of the black hole, a faint illusory figure slightly rose up, as though forcibly dragged out. The process didn’t even last a second, only the briefest instant.
On the other side, the Nine-tailed Heavenly Fox held the Huntian Divine Mirror, its mirror surface shining from afar upon the “black hole”.
After a long period of observation and charging, this magical treasure had successfully influenced Desolation, though only for the briefest instant.
At the same time, the Jianzheng’s voice came from within the black hole.
“The bone!”
The bone? What bone?
He was stunned at first, then thought of the section of spine he had fished out of the magma.
Without hesitation, Xu Qi’an chose to trust the Jianzheng. Grasping the fleeting chance created by the Huntian Divine Mirror, he freed one hand and reached into his robes, gripping the handle of the Earth Book fragment, then gave a hard flick towards the “black hole”.
The Earth Book fragment was linked to his mind and intent. It wouldn’t shake out anything else.
A grey-red piece of bone flew out from the mirror, and under the pull of the powerful suction, rapidly shot into the black hole.
Bang!
Brilliant flames exploded out, and then even the sparks were swallowed by the black hole.
Something miraculous happened. The suction of the black hole slowly weakened, weakening until it could no longer devour light. Desolation’s form reappeared before Xu Qi’an and the Nine-tailed Fox.
“Go!”
He used shadow jump and fled with the Nine-tailed Fox in the direction they had come from.
They escaped into that region where space was shattered and fractured.
If Desolation chased after them, they could use the constantly shifting nature of space there to entangle It.
“Jianzheng!”
Desolation gazed into the empty distance and spoke through gritted teeth.
It had missed a chance to eliminate Xu Qi’an.
The Jianzheng’s light chuckle came.
“If I don’t help him, should I help you? If you don’t like the sight of me, then swallow me. But you can’t do it.”
Desolation was silent for a while, suppressing Its emotions, then slowly said:
“Whatever. Obtaining that thing is what matters most. Whether or not you are the gatekeeper will soon be verified.”
It turned around and, amid heavy footsteps, walked into the depths of the dense fog, heading towards the centre of Gods and Demons island.
…
“It seems I still can’t beat Desolation on my own.”
On the desolate plain, Xu Qi’an, looking shrivelled and withered, sat on the ground and sighed.
The Nine-tailed Heavenly Fox said nothing, only warily looking around in all directions. A quarter of an hour later, they finally confirmed that Desolation had not chased after them.
“What was that just now? That piece of bone can restrain Desolation?”
The silver-haired yao beauty let out a breath of relief, then began thinking over this baffling matter.
Xu Qi’an thought for a moment, then shook his head and said:
“The fire spirit can’t possibly restrain Desolation. If it really could, then It would be far too easy to deal with. The power contained in that bone fragment wasn’t strong, and the force when it erupted couldn’t possibly have broken Desolation’s innate divine power either.”
The Nine-tailed Fox pressed her lips together and said thoughtfully:
“Then the mystery can only lie in the spiritual essence contained in the bone…”
Her eyes lit up. She vaguely felt she had grasped something, but for the moment she couldn’t sum it up.
Xu Qi’an also thought about it for a while, but couldn’t make head or tail of it, so he changed the subject.
“Why didn’t It chase after us?
“Given the hatred between It and me, there’s no reason It should’ve let me off so easily.”
Although space in this region was chaotic, at most that only made pursuit more difficult. It shouldn’t have been enough to make Desolation so wary that It gave up hunting down an enemy.
“Perhaps It has something more important to do, like restoring Its strength. Compared to that, I’m more curious how the Jianzheng knew you had that bone.”
The silver-haired yao beauty had seized the key point.
From the look of things just now, the Jianzheng clearly knew Xu Qi’an had a piece of bone in his possession. But that had happened only a few hours earlier, and at the time the Jianzheng had been sealed inside Desolation’s horn.
Since he was sealed, the Master of Heaven’s Mandate’s abilities were most likely unusable. If Desolation couldn’t even do that much, It could never have trapped the Jianzheng.
Then how had the Jianzheng known?
Xu Qi’an thought of one possibility.
“He’s monitoring us?”
As he spoke, a butterfly formed from thin mist lightly fluttered its wings and flew towards the two of them.
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