Bai Cha's sudden return had everyone too excited. More than half of the people rushed to the left side of the formation, nearly causing it to flip over.
"That's enough..." Bai Cha rubbed her forehead, quickly helping Yan Ziqing stabilize the formation, and added, "Where are those ungrateful wretches who were morally blackmailing me? You can leave."
The crowd was stunned and didn't react. Cang Liu was the fastest, grabbing a few people and throwing them down.
The crowd fell silent. Mo Ziye's excited expression faltered, and he looked a little dejected. "Xiao Bai, you're..."
He wanted to say that Bai Cha was a bit cruel, to start cleaning house right after returning. But then he thought about how those people had been like wolf hearts and dog lungs, spewing vile words, and Mo Ziye really didn't want to defend them.
It was truly agonizing.
"Scum doesn't need to understand the truth; they just need to disappear," Bai Cha waved her hand dismissively. "Their disappearance is the greatest help to this world."
"Let me take over the formation. this world is too distorted, and it's harmful to everyone's bodies," Bai Cha patted Yan Ziqing's shoulder, signaling her to step back. "To be precise, it's been polluted. The power of the Dragon Mother star system is invading, and we must leave as soon as possible."
"No wonder I felt a familiar sensation," Lucifer mused, "The negative energy is very strong."
"Yes, pretty much. So," Bai Cha paused, waving her hand at everyone, "Turn around."
Everyone: "?"
Turn around? Why?
Most people were confused, only a few realized what was happening. Meng Qinghuan's expression turned a bit displeased. He touched his bald head hesitantly. "Uh, Xiao Xiao Bai, is this necessary?"
"This way is faster," Bai Cha shrugged. "Saving people just now wasted time. If I don't do this, we might miss the best opportunity."
"In short, turn around," Bai Cha clapped her hands, a little annoyed. "You newbies who've never seen the world and are so easily startled are likely to disturb me."
Never seen the world...
Easily startled...
Newbies...
These words were quite unforgiving. However, with the precedent set by the disobedient individuals, everyone obediently turned their backs.
"Bang..."
A faint sound echoed in the distance. It seemed to come from above. Everyone looked up in astonishment and saw the sky screen ripple with pink waves. The entire world began to shake slightly.
"Alright, prepare yourselves."
Everyone was astonished, but Bai Cha felt much more relaxed. She gestured for everyone to return to their positions. "I'll take you up next. You'd best lie on the ground like corpses, understand?"
Understand, of course, they understood. If they didn't lie on the ground like corpses, they'd likely be kicked down and become corpses.
Everyone silently wiped the sweat from their brows and obediently sat down, turning their backs.
Except for Lucifer.
"Master," Lucifer's handsome brow furrowed. He held Bai Cha's hand, seemingly indicating his stance.
"Don't be difficult. I'll take you next time," Bai Cha said helplessly.
Next time, again.
Lucifer fell silent and retreated a few meters, but resolutely refused to turn around. Bai Cha rubbed her forehead. When she turned her head, she found Cang Liu facing her directly, sitting cross-legged with a calm expression.
He even nodded at her.
Bai Cha: "..." What were these two up to?
The sky screen let out another thunderous roar, much louder than before. On the gray sky screen, the cracked pink fissures were extremely conspicuous. The world dimmed, and the sky screen was on the verge of shattering.
Bai Cha had no choice but to give up. Blood condensed at her fingertips, but she still stared fixedly at Lucifer.
"Close your eyes," Bai Cha's voice softened, with a coaxing tone. "Be good."
Cang Liu's chest heaved, as if he sighed, and he obediently closed his eyes. Lucifer hesitated for a moment before also closing his eyes.
However, the very next second after Lucifer closed his eyes, a strange pain surged through his chest. Lucifer grunted and clutched his heart. The resonance weakened, and Bai Cha's connection with him became tenuous.
Overwhelmed by immense fear, Lucifer could no longer help but widen his eyes in shock and look at the person before him.
No wonder she had asked him to close his eyes. This suicidal sacrifice would only cause chaos for everyone! Even if everything returned to normal after leaving this great world, it shouldn't be so reckless. What if they couldn't hold on until they returned to their original world?
The person before him was holding a dagger, which was deeply plunged into her chest. Lucifer was stunned, unable to react, and could only watch as Bai Cha pulled out the dagger she had plunged into her own heart.
Blood gushed from her chest, but instead of falling to the ground, it circled Bai Cha with mournful cries. Bai Cha's body began to exhibit the same condition as Bai Ze's. Her heart was damaged, and her vital energy was uncontrollably surging, enveloping her in a mist of blood.
The blood transformed into a sea, then into a dragon, circling the formation. Under the extreme application of blood fiendish energy, the formation ascended at a speed almost a hundred times faster than before. The pressure immediately forced everyone to the ground. Ultimately, unable to resist their curiosity, everyone secretly looked back, only to be collectively shocked into stillness.
Master! You can't!
Lucifer was terrified. He could feel the connection between himself and Bai Cha receding at an extremely rapid pace, like a piece of iron that had been heated red and then thrown into ice water, cooling down swiftly.
The complete disappearance of resonance meant the end of the host's life. They were still a long way from the sky screen. At this rate, how could Bai Cha possibly last until they broke through?
Lucifer's heart turned cold. He instinctively wanted to rush forward, but then instinctively stopped himself. His legs felt as if they were cast in lead, unable to move.
He knew that this was the chance for survival that his master was exchanging for her life. He also knew that he should trust his master's judgment. He couldn't move; he couldn't interrupt her.
If it were millions of years ago, when he was still loyal to his "mother," he wouldn't have thought so much. At that time, his emotions were pitifully scarce, and his rationality dictated his instinct to obey orders.
But as time passed, especially after resonating with humans, the wisdom and emotions brought by humans to dragons had given Lucifer complex feelings.
Lucifer's hesitation lasted only a moment, but Mo Ziye's actions were not as considered. With a startled cry, he flipped over and charged towards Bai Cha. Michael, startled, reached out to grab Mo Ziye but missed. Before Michael could react, several blue lights pierced through the air, pinning Mo Ziye firmly onto the formation.
Cang Liu stood beside Bai Cha, his ice-cold face unchanging. The dragon tattoo on his left eye shone brightly, his ice-blue long hair disheveled by the pressure. He stood beside Bai Cha like a guardian god, his sword sheathed, calm and composed.
This time, even Bai Cha couldn't help but turn back to look at Cang Liu with surprise.
When Mo Ziye lunged at her, she was truly startled. If the ritual were interrupted, she would have to pay a much higher price to proceed. She hadn't expected Cang Liu to react as if he had foreseen this, subduing Mo Ziye immediately.
"Thank you," Bai Cha whispered gratefully. In fact, even if the ritual had been interrupted by Mo Ziye, Bai Cha still had many ways to send everyone out, but this was the only method that would minimize her own damage; the other methods came at a significant cost.
"You will succeed this time," Cang Liu said calmly, his words leaving Bai Cha somewhat bewildered.
Just then, the sky screen let out a stronger roar. A large hole was blown in the sky screen, and pink arrows shot through the air, piercing Bai Cha's heart precisely. Following that were several more pink arrows, like crystal nails, pinning Bai Cha firmly onto the formation as if nailing Jesus to the cross.
The pink power acted as a catalyst. After being infused with Bai Cha's blood, it almost instantly caused her blood to boil, making the formation ascend at an extremely rapid pace.
Suddenly, dragon roars and Buddhist chants erupted amidst the howling wind, protecting everyone. Everyone felt their vision blurred by the colorful pink light, and then they plummeted from mid-air.
This time, everyone was completely caught off guard. They tumbled down with their dragons, disoriented. Only a select few reacted swiftly and landed perfectly.
The World Tree had indeed said that they would return to normal upon exiting. However, that only applied to injuries sustained within those few world bubbles, not the spatial turbulence encountered during time travel. Even though everyone's most critical injuries were fully healed, their skin was crisscrossed with numerous scratches from the spatial turbulence, causing them to grimace in pain.
Lucifer held Bai Cha protectively in his arms. At the last moment, Meng Qinghuan, Cang Liu, and their companions had protected everyone else. He, however, had protected Bai Cha. In the end, Bai Cha was the only one who remained unharmed.
"Master, please don't take such risks again," Lucifer looked down at Bai Cha in his arms, his eyes filled with tenderness, heartache, and lingering fear.
"I truly worry, my master."
As he said this, he buried his head almost reverently in Bai Cha's neck. Bai Cha could clearly feel the violent fluctuations of emotion in Lucifer due to his fright.
"I'm sorry," Bai Cha smiled a little sheepishly. "I'll be careful next time."
"Xiao Bai!" The wounds on Mo Ziye, pinned by Cang Liu's sword energy onto the formation, had also healed. Without bothering to settle scores with Cang Liu, he jumped up to find Bai Cha.
The others also quickly came to their senses, their legs weak from shock at Bai Cha's final, suicidal sacrifice to heaven. They all crowded around. This time, most of their eyes held shock and gratitude, and their hostility had faded by ninety percent.
Cang Liu stood silently at the edge of the crowd, tugged at his hood, and turned away. His heart was complicated, yet relieved.
At least this time, in these three thousand years, everything was different from the last time.
He knew Freya would be waiting for Bai Cha at a designated time outside, so he endured the scorching desert heat and sunlight to ensure he wasn't a burden and arrived at the edge of the world bubble with everyone else on time.
He knew Mo Ziye would be a hindrance and disturb her, so he acted promptly to stop him.
He knew that if others were not protected, she would surely be distracted, so he did his best to protect everyone.
However, he also knew that he could only stand by her side, never able to touch her. It was the same this time as it was before.
"Hey, Cang Liu, thank you for saving everyone at the last moment." A clear voice with a hint of arrogance sounded beside Cang Liu. Cang Liu furrowed his brow and turned his head, indeed it was Zhi Yue.
The hostility in Zhi Yue's eyes had lessened considerably. She was stunningly beautiful and radiant, but her arrogance and imperiousness made a poor first impression. Zhi Yue did not lower her voice; instead, she raised it.
"At the critical moment, unleashing your dragon pattern must have also caused you significant harm, right?" Zhi Yue leaned closer to Cang Liu, exhibiting a surprisingly girlish demeanor that stunned onlookers. "Really, Cang Liu, you're so pure and the Crown Prince of the Sea Kingdom. How can you stay in the shadows? What's good about this place? Both the work and the methods are unspeakable. Why must you associate with hyenas from the gutter?"