Lin Qingyu, Tian Shu, and Yue Bufan’s arrival eased Chu Tianle’s pressure. The Yingwu Continent forces, seeing they were outnumbered, attempted to flee. However, before they could escape ten steps, a dazzling golden formation blocked their path.
After a fierce battle, only Xia Yule managed to escape from the Yingwu Continent’s ranks.
Lin Qingyu clicked his tongue and walked up to Chu Tianle, saying meaningfully, “Little one, you… tsk tsk…”
Xia Yule had been fighting Chu Tianle. With Chu Tianle’s abilities, it was impossible for him to have been unable to stop Xia Yule.
Chu Tianle’s expression remained stern as he extended the item in his hand. “I have already retrieved Yu Le’s Black Obsidian Jun Stone. Your Highness the Demon King, Mountain Lord Yue Qing, and the Buddha’s Son, I have other matters to attend to. I shall take my leave now.”
“Stop!”
Chu Tianle’s steps faltered slightly. “Does Your Highness the Demon King have further instructions?”
“Little one, you are in such a hurry to leave. Are you perhaps looking for your friend?” Lin Qingyu found this child rather interesting.
Chu Tianle tightened his grip on the hilt of his saber, forcing out a few words, “Your Highness the Demon King jest.”
“Alright, alright. What’s wrong with a child having his own matters to attend to?” Yue Bufan disliked Lin Qingyu’s flippant way of teasing children. He waved his hand at Chu Tianle and said, “Go do your own things. Leave the rest to us old folks.”
Chu Tianle silently clasped his fists in salute to the group and left quickly.
Lin Qingyu pouted, “You let him go. What if something happens? Qinglan specifically told us to protect the safety of this Divine Revelation Mountain disciple.”
He wasn’t intentionally teasing Chu Tianle, but he was worried that Chu Tianle might get into trouble alone.
Yue Bufan said, “Protecting his safety doesn’t mean being like a mother hen to a chick. He’s young, what’s wrong with him going out to gain some experience and get hurt a little!”
Yue Bufan’s analogy left Tian Shu and Lin Qingyu in silence.
“Two seniors, we should go to the place Daoist Master Qinglan mentioned,” Tian Shu reminded softly. “It’s getting late.”
Yue Bufan nodded. After a few steps, he sighed again, “I wonder what happened to Shengyi and that Qin Si brat?”
“Achoo!”
In the spiritual energy-rich forest, the man in red strode forward with a stern and solemn expression. However, this serious demeanor was quickly shattered by a sneeze.
Xuanjing Tiger fanned its wings and chuckled, “Yo, a cultivator at the Void Piercing realm can sneeze too?”
Unlike his usual habit of arguing with Xuanjing Tiger, the man in red stopped and mused, “Chui Ming, don’t you think something is amiss?”
The longer Qin Si stayed in the secret realm, the stronger his sense of unease became. Yet, looking at the vibrant spiritual flowers and grasses blooming all around, and the spiritual beasts that frolicked without fear of humans, it was the picture of a paradise, making him wonder if he was overthinking things.
He looked at the crescent moon cats flitting among the flowers and thought, if A Yi were here, she would immediately use this cat to warn her dog, Er Gou, who always lay around idly, only knowing how to eat and play… Wait, A Yi?
A sharp glint flashed in Qin Si’s eyes!
“Chui Ming, how long has it been since we last saw A Yi?” Qin Si asked seemingly casually.
Chui Ming indifferently flicked its tail. “Master, have you forgotten? A Yi, in order to teach that wild pheasant demon a lesson, accidentally perished with it. Later, Little White Tiger, to save her, also went with her–”
Chui Ming’s voice vanished into the icy sword intent!
“Let this venerable one out of this place!”
In the dim space, the Reincarnation Brush and the Dream-Grabbing Vine, having finally found Bai Shengyi, surrounded her and chattered incessantly.
Of course, it was mainly the Dream-Grabbing Vine doing the talking.
“Master, you don’t know, the Black Mist eats too much. It has grown as big as Miao Miao’s original form. We can’t let it enter your sea of consciousness anymore.”
The Black Mist, unable to squeeze to the front of Bai Shengyi, let out muffled, dissatisfied whimpers upon hearing the Reincarnation Brush’s slander. However, it was black itself and couldn’t be seen by Bai Shengyi in the darkness. Moreover, her attention wasn’t on these little darlings at the moment.
“Little Reincarnation, is there really no way you can help Qin Si?” Bai Shengyi asked.
She had exhausted all methods here but was unable to destroy that formation.
The Reincarnation Brush shook its head helplessly. “His divine sense has entered someone else’s illusion. Unless the formation supporting the illusion is broken, or he himself realizes it’s an illusion and breaks free, there’s nothing I can do to help him. A Yi, why don’t you worry about yourself first?”
Bai Shengyi suddenly realized something and looked up.
In the dim surroundings, lanterns began to light up one by one. The lanterns floated, and as they drew closer, Bai Shengyi realized they were not lanterns at all, but swarms of maddened Void Beasts.
There were so many Void Beasts in this Nether River Gate!
Bai Shengyi grew even more curious about what the Nether River Gate truly was.
“Kill!” This group of Void Beasts was clearly targeting her and Bai Shengyi. Without hesitation, she raised the Heavenly Mechanism Sword and stood in front of Qin Si.
The Void Beasts let out shrill screeches and charged forward.
Azure sword light and viridian brush strokes intertwined and swept through the darkness, sketching out beautiful yet extremely dangerous pictures. With each beam of light that fell, a Void Beast would collapse to the ground.
Bai Shengyi held the Heavenly Mechanism Sword in her left hand and the Reincarnation Brush in her right. Her movements were effortless, her expression indifferent, as if a faint divine light emanated from her body.
For a moment, as if provoked, the Void Beasts became even more ferocious in their charge.
“Shengyi!”
“Master!”
The Reincarnation Brush and the Dream-Grabbing Vine watched as a giant Void Beast, taking advantage of Bai Shengyi being entangled by three other Void Beasts, stealthily pounced. They were anxious to rush forward and block, but were held back.
Just as the Void Beast flashed in front of Bai Shengyi, about to crash into her back, the entire dark space suddenly froze.
“Void, Stasis!”
A sharp, low voice echoed in the darkness. Qin Si strode out from behind Bai Shengyi and cleaved the Void Beast with his sword.
The Void Beast was dispatched as easily as cutting through vegetables.
“A Si!” Bai Shengyi embraced Qin Si in surprise. Qin Si held her tightly, filled with relief. “I’m back!”
In the illusion, he had spent over a decade before realizing Bai Shengyi was lost. In reality, for Bai Shengyi, only a short time had passed.
Bai Shengyi didn’t understand the intricacies of it all, but she didn’t push Qin Si away.
While instructing the Dream-Grabbing Vine and the Reincarnation Brush to kill the Void Beasts frozen by Qin Si’s spatial rules, she comforted Qin Si.
Qin Si quickly regained his composure and said, “A Yi, let’s get out of here first.”
Bai Shengyi’s presence here was to wait for Qin Si to wake up. Now that Qin Si was awake, they naturally had to leave.
However, before leaving, there was one more issue to resolve.
“A Si, do you know what this Nether River Gate truly is?”