Chapter 040

Chapter 40: Is That Ye Wan Wan?!

A sharp cry rang out, fast and urgent: “Don’t let go, let me do it!”

At that life or death moment, the Secret Realm Spirit turned into a streak of light and shot straight into the Violet Cloud Ring. The ring flickered, its aura rising and falling.

Ye Wan Wan instantly noticed that the spirit was merging with the Violet Cloud Ring. She lifted a brow and asked: “Didn’t you say you didn’t want to leave?”

Lord Star Marsh gritted his teeth and snapped: “You already grabbed everything and took over my lair. What choice do I have?”

His voice sounded young, but it shook with anger. Ye Wan Wan shrugged, yet she didn’t stop channeling her spell as she said, calm and even: “I only want the Pill Tree and the Spirit Lake. You don’t have to come along.”

He shot back, exasperated: “Those two are my lifeline. If you take them away and I don’t follow, do you want me to die?”

Ye Wan Wan smiled: “I was just afraid you’d be stubborn.”

Star Marsh ignored her. As his aura fused with the Violet Cloud Ring, the ring that Ye Wan Wan had Blood Bound to her was changing. She could feel both the space inside shifting and the outside shape changing.

As the inner space expanded, Lord Star Marsh finally spoke: “It’s ready.”

By then Ye Wan Wan had burned through most of her spiritual power; her dantian already felt overdrawn. Hearing him, she didn’t hesitate. She focused all her will and drew the Spirit Lake and the Pill Tree into the ring. When the last drop of the lake vanished inside, a deafening cracking boomed on all sides.

The world shattered like glass. A boy’s voice yelled: “Go!”

Ye Wan Wan bolted for the original entrance, which was also the exit, but the collapse chased her fast. The clatter of falling space rushed closer, then it was behind her in a blink: three meters, two meters, one meter, half a meter. Just one body length more.

Star Marsh screamed: “It’s a void collapse. If it swallows you, you won’t even leave bones. Run!”

Ye Wan Wan wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. The backlash from forcing up her level was heavy, and exhaustion kept pounding in. Hearing his shriek, she still joked with a crooked smile: “Great. Then I can even skip the coffin.”

[Weirdo.]

Without looking back, she felt the destroying breath of the abyss lunging at her, like a monster about to swallow her whole. Her steps never slowed. At the last second her spiritual power exploded, and in Star Marsh’s despairing gasp she burst out with the strength of the Mid Nascent Soul Stage. Star Marsh realized she had ignited a second Golden Talisman right as she dove through the exit. Lake water flooded around her.

She knew she was back at the bottom of the valley lake. She didn’t stop, but broke through the surface and landed on the valley floor.

“We’re out!”

Ye Wan Wan still didn’t slow. Star Marsh glanced back and knew it wasn’t over. The valley lake was caving in fast. From the center outward, ground collapsed in every direction. Anyone a little slow would be done for.

Star Marsh’s heart jumped into his throat as he blurted: “I’m screwed.”

Ye Wan Wan let out a low laugh: “Thrilling, right.”

The ground roared and shook. The thick fog that had hidden Ye Qian and Dou Ming as they cracked the array arts, and the mist that hid Sun Qu as he hunted them to settle scores, all churned from the noise.

Ye Qian still felt confused, but when the earth’s violent shaking hit and the darkness spread across the valley, her voice turned sharp with fear as she cried: “Senior brother, something’s wrong!”

Dou Ming had just unraveled the array arts and dug up a whole Pill Tree. He looked back at the scene and his pupils tightened as he barked: “Run!”

Ye Qian moved at once, not daring to linger. Dou Ming moved just as fast, snatching a few Core Formation Fruit, grabbing Ye Qian’s hand, and sprinting with her.

The fog that had hidden their tracks was devoured by the collapse and vanished without a trace. Darkness kept eating the valley behind them.

Even Sun Qu fled. In his headlong escape, he saw the bodies of Li Qun and the other disciple not far from Dou Ming and Ye Qian. His eyes went red with rage as he shouted: “You killed my junior brother!”

Dou Ming didn’t spare him a word. The devouring force was too fast, so he ran full out.

Sun Qu was choking on grief, but he didn’t dare stop either. As the collapse closed in, all three watched the bodies of Li Qun and the other disciple get swallowed clean by the darkness. Not even bone dust was left. A chill slid down their backs.

There was no time to ask what had happened. They could only sprint for the valley mouth. Out of the corner of her eye, Ye Qian thought she saw someone fleeing near them on their right, very close. She wanted to look closer at that Daoist figure, but any glance slowed her down.

Dou Ming snapped, breathless with anger: “Junior sister, what are you doing?”

Warned, Ye Qian didn’t dare look back again and ran harder. But the whole valley was being pulled backward; even their bodies and speed felt dragged. To live, they had to use desperate measures.

Sun Qu burned his bloodline and shot forward, about to pass Ye Qian and Dou Ming. Ye Qian was clever. The hate in Sun Qu’s eyes told her that the moment he passed, he would try something. She shouted: “Senior brother, he’s going to hurt us!”

Dou Ming understood. He bit his tongue, spilled blood, and used Burning Essence to surge ahead, shaking off Sun Qu. Sun Qu lunged and grabbed Ye Qian’s long skirt: “If I die, you die with me!”

Ye Qian’s eyes turned cold. She spun, drew her spirit sword, and slashed at Sun Qu’s arm and at her own skirt hem. She made the kill without hesitation. At that instant she and Dou Ming leaped out through the valley mouth. Sun Qu was one step short and stayed inside forever, swallowed by the dark.

Outside the valley, the collapse stopped spreading. Dou Ming finally dared to halt, palpitations lingering. He looked at Ye Qian with a strange gleam: “Junior sister, just now…”

Her icy look and clean kill were nothing like the gentle Ye Qian he knew. Her eyes reddened as she pointed at her finger and said, small and wronged: “Senior brother, did I do wrong? If I hadn’t killed him, both of us would have died.”

Dou Ming blinked, then nodded. She was right. If Sun Qu hadn’t died, they would have. He ruffled her hair and praised her: “You did nothing wrong. You did great. If you hadn’t acted fast, both of us would have been trapped inside.”

Ye Qian sniffled, then smiled: “About that Pill Tree…”

Dou Ming laughed: “Right here with me. Once we leave this place, you can have as much as you want.”

Ye Qian brightened: “You said it. No take-backs.”

“When have I ever lied to you?”

They chatted to ease their nerves. Dou Ming took one last look at the black abyss and said, still shaken: “We should not stay. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

They hurried away. As Ye Qian drew back her gaze, she saw a figure standing not far from the valley mouth. She froze. Her eyes landed on those familiar brows, and her pupils shrank: “Ye Wan Wan?!”