"Are you crazy!"
Yan Xi was startled.
But glancing back at the monster relentlessly pursuing them, she gritted her teeth and followed.
In the endless world of flesh and blood below.
There was a cave dwelling, surprisingly untouched by the flesh and blood, floating and sinking in the sea of flesh.
"This is a cave dwelling left by at least a ninth-tier Heavenly Emperor. The restrictions within are not completely destroyed. If we hide inside, we should be able to hold on for some time!"
Ling Fan said quickly.
"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go in." Yan Xi was also anxious, abandoning all pretense of composure.
"Try going in yourself? There are restrictions! You hold them off while I try to break them as quickly as possible."
Ling Fan retorted impatiently.
Without waiting for Yan Xi to respond, he began to study the restrictions above the cave dwelling.
Boom, boom, boom!
The sounds of fierce combat echoed from behind.
But Ling Fan seemed oblivious.
His entire focus was on breaking the restrictions.
If he couldn't break the restrictions,
They would both die.
"Fortunately, as I expected, these restrictions are derived from ancient dragon seals. Although it's a ninth-tier Heavenly Emperor's cave dwelling, part of it has been eroded by the curse, so there's still hope of breaking through. As long as I can break through to the seventh-tier Heavenly Emperor inside, there's hope of survival."
Ling Fan rejoiced inwardly and focused even more intently on breaking the restrictions.
...
"Are you done yet!"
...
"Hurry up!"
...
"Fan, are you done?"
Yan Xi's anxious urging came from behind.
...
"Are you deliberately getting back at me? I'm telling you, I can't hold on any longer. Do you think I'm an eighth-tier Heavenly Emperor to deal with monsters of this caliber!"
"I don't care anymore!"
"Ah!"
A scream.
Yan Xi flew over, crashing heavily onto Ling Fan's back.
And behind them.
A terrifying sound of air being ripped apart.
The monster condensed a fearsome finger, like a Sumeru mountain being overturned, and struck down.
"Done!"
Ling Fan's heart leaped with joy.
Swish!
The restriction flashed with light.
The figures of the two vanished from outside the cave dwelling.
Bang!
The monster's condensed, terrifying finger struck the cave dwelling fiercely. Immediately, endless evil and defiled light exploded, impacting the cave dwelling and sinking it deep into the sea of flesh and blood.
After a while, it resurfaced.
But the cave dwelling, apart from a few more cracks,
Was not broken.
"Creak, creak!"
The monster, as if tireless, continued its frenzied destruction.
...
Inside the cave dwelling.
Ling Fan and Yan Xi were gasping for breath.
A shared joy of surviving a disaster filled their hearts.
They looked at each other.
Suddenly, they both shook their heads and burst into laughter.
"What are you laughing at?"
Ling Fan wiped away tears of laughter and asked.
"What are you laughing at?"
Yan Xi retorted.
"Of course, I'm laughing because I'm still alive. Isn't being alive good? Isn't it worth laughing about?" Ling Fan said.
"Since I was born, I've been adopted by the Tianyi Sect. My cultivation has been smooth sailing my entire life. Although today's experience was incredibly perilous, it allowed me to experience something different from the past."
Yan Xi said with a touch of emotion.
She lowered her head.
A cascade of black hair fell over her shoulders.
It made her face appear as radiant and flawless as a moon disk.
"Never mind that, what do we do now? We can't stay in here as turtles for the rest of our lives, and besides..."
Yan Xi said, pointing upwards.
The sounds of immense impact continued from above.
And cracks were spreading.
Some restriction patterns lit up and then extinguished.
"This cave dwelling won't hold on much longer."
Ling Fan frowned slightly and said, "When you came in, did you sense those auras? They are at least ninth-tier Heavenly Emperor level. They should be attacking the true body of this curse."
"I sensed them, but we can't even deal with one eighth-tier Heavenly Emperor monster, let alone participate in a ninth-tier Heavenly Emperor battle. We'd die even faster."
Ling Fan said, "The only two paths we can take now are:"
"Tell me."
"The first path is to wait. Wait for those ninth-tier Heavenly Emperors to kill this curse. If they act quickly, we might survive."
"The second path is to break through. You break through to the eighth-tier Heavenly Emperor, or I break through to the seventh-tier Heavenly Emperor."
"At the Heavenly Emperor level, increasing even a little bit of strength is incredibly difficult, let alone breaking through a realm," Yan Xi said heavily.
"Although I'm awakening more power now, and my strength is close to the peak of the seventh-tier Heavenly Emperor, it would still take at least ten years to break through to the eighth-tier Heavenly Emperor. For you to advance from a half-step Heavenly Emperor to the seventh-tier Heavenly Emperor, it would likely take even longer. Where would we find so much time?" Yan Xi said.
"Waiting is also a slim chance of survival. This curse was planted across the entire Abandoned Continent. It has fused countless high-grade Emperor Weapons, supreme Emperor Weapons, and even fragments of Dao Artifacts left by the Qi Zhou. Let alone ninth-tier Heavenly Emperors, I suspect even an Emperor Lord might not be able to completely eliminate it."
Ling Fan finished.
Both fell silent.
The atmosphere was extremely heavy.
"Am I really going to die here?" Yan Xi chuckled, but with a hint of nonchalance.
This woman possessed a very special charm.
"There's still one more way."
Ling Fan looked at Yan Xi and suddenly said.
"What way?"
"Awaken your Heavenly Venerate cultivation from your past life. Then breaking through to the eighth-tier Heavenly Emperor will be a trivial matter."
"Heh, do you think awakening is that simple? As far as I know, there are quite a few reincarnated Emperor Lords and even Heavenly Venerates, but many never awaken in their lifetime and are forever lost," Yan Xi said.
"Ordinary means are naturally difficult for awakening, but there is one method: dual cultivation."
The moment Ling Fan uttered the word,
Yan Xi, like a startled rabbit, looked up at Ling Fan in astonishment.
A blush crept onto her cheeks.
She stated firmly, "No!"
Ling Fan said, "Do you think I want this? Who knows who will be at a disadvantage. I, a half-step Heavenly Emperor, can kill a seventh-tier Heavenly Emperor. Even if you and Qi Honglou combined couldn't kill me, do you think my talent is that poor?"
"Furthermore, that curse clone outside is coveting your Yin essence. You won't be able to die, you'll be defiled by this curse. Consider it yourself."
Saying that,
Ling Fan moved his mind.
A torrent of blood-red light surged.
Nirvana Fire coiled around his shoulders and the back of his head like a flowing ribbon.
In addition, strands of Heavenly Emperor laws intertwined, encompassing all paths and containing everything. Yan Xi actually felt a majestic aura of creation from them.
She couldn't help but look at Ling Fan in shock.
She said nothing.
But her trembling pupils already conveyed her inner turmoil.
She was a reincarnation of a Heavenly Venerate.
A true peerless prodigy.
Even in the entire Central Heavenly Realm, she was considered a top-tier prodigy.
Yet, even so, why did she now feel a sense of inadequacy in front of Ling Fan?
This person's talent and strength were truly astonishing.
She had never seen such a monstrous individual!
Thinking this way,
Perhaps dual cultivation with him wasn't... impossible?