Chapter 284

Chapter 284: Trust

Her mind and spirit were thrown into disorder.

Sweat beaded on You Lan’s forehead.

While resisting the Devil Seed’s temptation and controlling the gale, she was already close to her limit.

When the gale gathered again, You Lan slipped; the wind surged straight toward the two of them.

The Integration Stage Devil Seeds seized the opening and lunged.

Li Shuang’s heart tightened; something was wrong with You Lan. The attack was already in front of them, yet her blocking motion froze.

Gritting her teeth, Li Shuang yanked her aside to force her away from the fatal line.

Even so, a sharp claw raked You Lan’s shoulder and left a bloody gash.

You Lan started: “I…”

In the next instant, the leader of the Devil Seeds spoke with a light laugh: “Li, do you know why You Lan suddenly slipped up?”

You Lan’s face changed.

His voice carried a strange rhythm that bored straight into the sea of consciousness.

“Because I just told her to kill you: you stole her place as the top genius, you stole the City Lord’s attention, and you stole the Human Race’s favor. As long as she kills you, everything goes back to her,” he continued.

“You see, she listened. Didn’t she just show an opening on her own?”

“You Lan, why endure this? Join us and kill her. At worst, follow the True Devil; the Heaven Severing Lands will surely have a place for you.”

He began stoking discord right to their faces.

He did not expect them to split apart at once.

But as long as the tiniest doubt took root between them, this small Alliance would crumble in an instant.

“If you don’t want to go to the Heaven Severing Lands, that’s fine,” he coaxed. “Just make a few more ‘mistakes’ like before so we can kill Li. You will remain clean and innocent. No one will suspect you.”

You Lan clenched her jaw.

She wanted to speak, but her soul was not as tough as Li’s. Under that voice’s pressure, she could not even push out words.

“Li, you still dare to stand that close to You Lan? Aren’t you afraid she’ll stab you in the back?” the Devil Seed called to Li Shuang.

In a fight to the death, the slightest shake in one’s spirit means falling behind.

[I won’t. I won’t attack you,] You Lan told herself, anxious to speak. But her soul kept shivering; only broken syllables came out, and she could not form a full sentence.

In her panic, she miscontrolled the gale again.

The Integration Stage Devil Seeds caught the chance and rushed in close.

Li Shuang shouted, her voice cold and clear: “See! All! Beings!” She unleashed her Sword Domain in full and struck with her strongest sword.

After a brief pushback, Li Shuang grabbed You Lan’s arm.

You Lan glanced up at her, [Is she doubting me?]

Dragging You Lan, Li Shuang backed out of the gale’s range and ducked into a cave.

A bitter smile tugged at You Lan’s lips. [As expected. She still doesn’t trust me. But it can’t be helped. We only just met, and this is life and death. How could there be absolute trust now?]

“You Lan,” Li Shuang said evenly, “your soul is being shaken. Splitting your focus won’t hold. The cave mouth is narrow, and the rock here is unbelievably tough. A few Integration Stage Devil Seeds likely can’t break it. We’ll guard the entrance and fight them one by one.”

She moved to the mouth, watching the outside with care, her back completely exposed to You Lan.

You Lan blinked, then a faint smile flickered in her eyes. While the Devil Seeds still pushed through the Gale Formation, she snorted and said, “Do you have no guard against people at all? If I had struck you just now, you’d already be dead.”

Li Shuang gave her a helpless look and said, “Yes, yes, I’ll fix it next time.”

Only then did You Lan stroll up beside her.

The Devil Seeds passed through the Gale Formation and hemmed in the entrance.

The leader tried to bait them again, his words reaching for their minds.

It did little to Li Shuang. Her Soul Lotus had been tempered by the Thousand Mechanisms Hammer Array and the Solar True Fire. This level of goading could not shake her.

But it did affect You Lan. Each time he started speaking, her face went tight and pale.

Li Shuang hesitated, then asked in a low voice: “Do you dare open your sea of consciousness to me?”

You Lan looked at her.

“I know it’s asking too much, but this is life and death…” Li Shuang began to explain.

Suddenly, You Lan nodded and urged her with her eyes to hurry.

Li Shuang froze for a beat at that decisiveness, then didn’t hold back. She gathered the Power of the Azure Lotus into a soul ice shield and sent it straight into You Lan’s sea of consciousness.

You Lan’s spirit steadied at once.

Li Shuang glanced at her and said: “Do you have no guard against people at all? If I had struck you just now, you’d already be dead.”

“…Cut the nonsense,” You Lan shot back.

Talking as they worked, they took turns jamming the entrance. The Devil Seeds could only attack through that narrow gap and, for a time, could do nothing to break through.

“You still have time to chat? You really won’t give up until the end, will you? Do you think hiding in a cave helps?” the leader said when he saw his goading no longer worked.

His bones stretched higher; his flesh swelled.

His degree of demonization was clearly above the others, and so was his strength.

The other Devil Seeds smiled in an eerie way. In the next heartbeat, they melted into pools of flesh and blood. The leader opened his maw and began to swallow them one by one.

You Lan’s face changed and she snapped: “Quick, stop him.”

“On it,” Li Shuang answered without pause, and they struck from the left and right at the same time.

The Devil Seed curled his lips: “Now you’re willing to come out? Too late.”

The scattered flesh turned into streams of red light and shot into his mouth.

His aura surged.

A terrifying pressure rolled out.

In that instant he broke through the Integration Stage and stepped into the Void Refinement Realm.

You Lan’s face darkened.

The higher the stage, the harder it is to fight across a tier, let alone across a whole Major Tier. In any other place, faced with such an enemy, she would run first.

But barriers were everywhere here. Fighting was the only path left.

[The first wave alone might force us to use everything,] she thought.

She and Li Shuang exchanged a glance.

At the same time, they unfolded their domains.