Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the face of the terrifying suction force, the defense that Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars had built together was as fragile as paper; it collapsed in an instant. The two of them could not keep their posture stable and eventually got dragged into the depths of the tunnel involuntarily.
“Is this destined to be my doom? I have tried my best, but I still can’t get through it.” A strong sense of powerlessness emerged in the Maiden of a Thousand Stars’ heart.
It was not easy for her to break through to Heaven’s Reach. Her attainment in the Path of Origin had improved greatly, but she still couldn’t resist the impact.
Clasp!
Just as the Maiden of a Thousand Stars sighed, one of her hands was suddenly pulled, and her body froze in midair.
Looking up, the Maiden of a Thousand Stars saw the person holding her hand. Who else could it be other than Zhang Ruochen?
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen’s other hand was gripping the hilt of Ancient Abyssal Blade, which was deeply plunged into the stone wall.
At the same time, Moyin, the Saint Devourer, came out from Zhang Ruochen’s spine and stretched out many tensile vines, embedding them deep into the stone wall.
However, the suction force from the tunnel was too strong. Ancient Abyssal Blade couldn’t hold the force. The blade moved slowly and plowed a long ravine on the wall as it was being pulled.
Even the vines that Moyin had stretched out were breaking. They could not withstand such a fearsome pulling force.
Initially, Zhang Ruochen had wanted to send the Maiden of a Thousand Stars into the Secret Tome of Time and Space. However, he was upset and shocked to find that he could not open the Secret Tome of Time and Space. He could not even use dimensional artifacts, including Exquisite Dimensional Orb.
The Maiden of a Thousand Stars looked at Zhang Ruochen in a daze. She could not understand why this fellow would save her despite being in such a critical moment?
If it were anyone else, they would be thinking about how to protect themselves.
“Why don’t you let go? Do you want to die together?”
The Maiden of a Thousand Stars stared at him. She could tell that Zhang Ruochen, who had to grab her at the same time, could not go all out to save himself. She had always been prideful, but at this moment, she felt that she was a burden.
The Maiden of a Thousand Stars sighed and let go of Zhang Ruochen’s hand. She wanted to submit herself to the suction force. At this moment, her state of mind experienced a quantum leap as she had finally learned to be selfless to help others, willing to sacrifice herself.
Or perhaps, there were other feelings within her.
In short, she didn’t want to encumber Zhang Ruochen.
However, things did not act according to her will. Zhang Ruochen didn’t let go of her hand. Instead, he gripped it even tighter.
“Zhang Ruochen—” the Maiden of a Thousand Stars could not hold back to call his name.
“Shut up.”
Zhang Ruochen only uttered two words coldly. He mobilized even more powerful Saint Qi and fused it into Ancient Abyssal Blade. Suddenly, the blade’s entirety became wider and wider.
However, the blade still could not resist the pulling force. As he held the blade tightly, saint blood was oozing out of his fissured skin on his fingers and dripping.
Letting her drift into the depths of the tunnel despite being able to grab her hand was not something he could afford to do.
“D*mn you, do you have to be this bossy?” The Maiden of a Thousand Stars was annoyed, but there was also a hint of inexplicable joy within her.
Although they were falling into the depths of the tunnel, her heart had calmed down for some reason. She let Zhang Ruochen grab her hand and began to think of countermeasures.
Whether she admitted it or not, deep down, she felt that she should learn from Zhang Ruochen.
He would go for something despite knowing it was impossible and go all out no matter how difficult it was.
It seemed that his action had conquered the prideful Maiden’s heart.
“Master, I-I-I can’t hold on anymore—” said Moyin in a weak voice.
Crack!
A breaking sound was heard; Moyin’s strongest vine broke.
As a result, the suction force pulled Ancient Abyssal Blade out of the wall. It was too late for Zhang Ruochen to plunge it back.
The force in the tunnel became more and more violent. It pulled Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars tightly, sending them flying straight into the depths of the tunnel.
When they were sent flying, Zhang Ruochen held the Maiden of a Thousand Stars’ hand tight so they did not get separated.
If they really encountered another crisis, their chances of survival would undoubtedly be greater when they joined hands.
In a moment, the two arrived at the end of the tunnel. The space in front of them suddenly became clear.
Unfortunately, it was not a way out but an abyss. It was pitch-black below with malignant Qi of earth surging wildly.
Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars could not control the direction they went. They plunged into the pitch-black abyss at high speed.
After falling for thousands of feet, they finally saw the source of the suction force.
It was a huge monster that could not be seen clearly. At this moment, it was opening its bloody mouth and devouring everything crazily.
Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars’ eyes froze. They did not expect that there was such a huge divine-force monster entrenched in the depths of the tunnel.
Just as he was about to fall into the monster’s mouth, Zhang Ruochen caught a hint of mockery in the monster’s cold eyes.
“What’s going on? Could it be that this divine-force monster has developed spiritual intelligence?” Zhang Ruochen was shocked.
The over 100 divine-force monsters he had faced previously were powerful, but they only knew how to kill. There was no spiritual intelligence in them at all.
Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden couldn’t have successfully escaped into this tunnel if those monsters had spiritual intelligence.
“A monster that can swallow four kinds of divine forces and has spiritual intelligence, this—”
Zhang Ruochen’s mind was in turmoil. He didn’t dare to think further.
He even suspected that this divine-force monster was one of the five overlords that short skinny old guy had mentioned.
But according to that skinny old man, the five overlords should be staying in Dragon Temple’s main building instead of somewhere outside the temple.
Of course, now was not the time to think about these things. They were about to fall into the mouth of the divine-force monster.
“Charge.”
Zhang Ruochen shouted in a low voice and immediately used all his strength to shoot out Zangshan Demonic Mirror.
The dimensional suppression here was too strong, so any dimensional techniques would not yield much effect.
Over a million Supreme Inscriptions appeared on the surface of Zangshan Demonic Mirror. Even though the mirror’s power was under restraint by strong suppression, it could still release several streaks of supreme force.
The Thousand Stars Heavenly Maiden took out an ancient talisman. This was her only remaining talisman, and it was also the most powerful one.
A terrifying force of Origin surged out from the talisman. The force was unstoppable, going to break everything down into most rudimentary particles.
A glint of disdain appeared in the monster’s eyes. As it opened and closed its bloody mouth, four types of divine forces emerged at the same time, condensing into a terrifying vortex of divine forces.
The divine-force vortex instantly swallowed both supreme and Origin forces from the talisman. They did do any damage to the monster.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars were both sucked into the divine-force vortex. They didn’t have time to struggle before the divine-force monster swallowed them.
After the divine-force monster swallowed them, it slowly closed its bloody mouth and its eyes. The abyss then returned to a peaceful state.
The next moment, Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars were sucked into a dark space by the divine-force vortex. The space was so wide that it felt like it could accommodate a small star.
“It turns out that this tunnel is not free of divine-force monsters at all. It was occupied by the most menacing one. Hence, the instinctive fear of other divine-force monsters forbids them to come near the tunnel,” said the Maiden of a Thousand Stars with a serious expression.
Zhang Ruochen stabilized his posture and let go of her hand.
The Maiden of a Thousand Stars glanced at him and somehow felt a sense of disappointment.
Looking around, Zhang Ruochen saw more than a dozen divine-force monsters that had been swallowed before them. They were all struggling in pain.
The reason was that there were four-colored divine lights wrapped around their bodies.
Zhang Ruochen could tell at a glance that the four-colored divine lights were a combination of the forces of Time, Dimension, Origin, and Darkness. They were terrifying.
In the blink of an eye, the dozen divine-force monsters stopped moving. Their furious wills, which are their fundamentals, had disappeared, and they turned into huge divine force crystals.
When Zhang Ruochen saw this, his eyes became grim. The four-colored divine lights were truly terrifying.
Looking at the dozens of divine force crystals, Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars felt tempted. They wanted to take them immediately.
But in the end, they didn’t dare to make a move because they were afraid of the four-colored divine lights. They feared that they might get themselves into trouble if they took the divine force crystals.
Just as they were staring at the divine force crystals, strands of four-colored divine lights suddenly gathered toward them from all directions.
Upon seeing this, their expressions changed. They realized that something bad was about to happen.
“Let’s charge together. We can’t let this divine lights get close to us,” Zhang Ruochen said in a deep voice.
They had witnessed the power of the four-colored divine lights. These divine lights could easily smelt and refine divine-force monsters. If they got hit, they would suffer an unimaginable consequence.
Immediately, Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars made their moves together. They executed the power of Time, Dimension, Origin, and Truth to build a stable defensive shield.
The four-colored divine lights quickly gathered and attached to the defensive shield.
Screech.
An ear-piercing sound was heard; the defensive shield was eroded.
In an instant, the defensive shield was damaged. Strands of four-colored divine lights seeped into the tiny holes.
The Maiden of a Thousand Stars’s pupils constricted. “What a terrifying erosive force. It’s many times more terrifying than the impact of divine forces alone.”
Without hesitation, the Maiden of a Thousand Stars activated Origin Bead and released many rays of Origin divine light, trying to break down the four-colored divine lights.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Secret Tome of Time and Space and fused Saint Qi into it, trying to build a multi-dimensional space.
What he didn’t expect was that the multi-dimensional space formed by the Secret Tome of Time and Space was so tiny that it couldn’t contain him and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars.
Needless to say, it had something to do with that divine-force monster. Both powers of Time and Dimension were under great suppression.
Kaboom!
As more and more four-colored divine lights gathered, the defensive shield finally collapsed.
The four-colored divine lights instantly covered Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars. No matter what they did, they couldn’t block the lights.
This meant both of them were in big trouble. The four-colored divine lights infiltrated their bodies relentlessly, eroding their flesh, blood, Saint Qi, and even their Saint Souls.
“My lifespan…”
The Maiden of a Thousand Stars’s expression changed drastically.
The erosive force of Time was the most harmful to her. As it drained her lifeforce rapidly, her long dark hair began to turn gray.
Contrary, Zhang Ruochen, who was the master of Time, was highly immune to the erosive force of Time. However, the erosive force of Origin was very harmful to him.
His Five-element Chaotic Body was very solid, but at this moment, it showed signs of collapsing. His flesh and blood turned into countless tiny particles.
In addition, the two of them encountered the same problem. Their skin was turning dark as if they were poisoned, which was the result of the erosive force of Darkness.
After all, neither of them had cultivated Path of Darkness.
“Join palms,” Zhang Ruochen said.
As if they had a telepathic connection, the Maiden of a Thousand Stars immediately understood what he meant. She pressed her palm toward his.
Zhang Ruochen also stretched out his palm to join hers. He transferred his power of Time and Dimension to her continuously.
Suddenly, the crisis faced by the Maiden of a Thousand Stars was alleviated, and the draining of her lifeforce slowed down significantly.
The Maiden of a Thousand Stars calmed herself down and quickly transferred her power of Origin into Zhang Ruochen’s body to help him resist the erosive force of Origin.
Of course, even though they had strong immunity to the erosive forces of Time, Dimension, and Origin, they could not completely neutralize the erosion, so the crisis was still far from being solved.
“If this goes on, we won’t be able to hold on for long. What else can we do?” The Maiden of a Thousand Stars frowned deeply.
If they could not resist erosion from the four-colored divine lights, they would both die, and it would be a very painful death.
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes were calm, his mind unwavering. The direr the threat, the calmer he appeared to be, because panic would not solve anything.
Only by thinking of countermeasures would there be hope to survive.
After contemplating for a while, Zhang Ruochen said, “These four-colored divine lights are indeed very potent. They can erode almost anything. Even a Supreme Artifact cannot withstand them. The only way now is to try executing the Paths of Ancients’ precepts.
As he spoke, Zhang Ruochen had started mobilizing the precepts of Time, Dimension, and Truth within him. The precepts rushed out of Heavenly Stream like chains in order, twining around the four-colored divine lights that had infiltrated his body.
His words struck the Maiden of a Thousand Stars. She started to mobilize her precepts of Origin and Truth to counter the four-colored divine lights too.
Although Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars had only attained Saint Kinghood, their precepts of the Paths of the Ancients were with eternally indestructible nature. Even the four-colored divine lights couldn’t destroy them.
Soon, the precepts of Paths of the Ancients that they’d cultivated merged. They interweaved, forming an endless stream of precepts that flowed in their bodies.
At the same time, the Secret Tome of Time and Space and Origin Bead were placed in the stream of precepts. They released streaks of strange forces. As a result, the two were enveloped by a layer of dim Saint light.
After consuming a lot of power, most of the four-colored divine lights were finally expelled from their bodies and blocked by the dim Saint light.
“Phew.”
Both Zhang Ruochen and the Maiden of a Thousand Stars let out a long sigh of relief. The situation was finally getting better.
“There will be more and more four-colored divine lights coming. We can’t block all of them. We must find a way to improve our attainments in the Paths of the Ancients,” Zhang Ruochen said solemnly.
The Maiden of a Thousand Stars nodded and said, “We still have some divine-force crystals that we can use.”
Cultivation in the Paths of the Ancients was tremendously difficult. The only shortcut was to refine the divine-force crystals.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the dozens of divine-force crystals being refined by the four-colored divine lights and said, “We need more divine-force crystals.”
Upon hearing this, the Maiden of a Thousand Stars immediately understood that those divine-force crystals left behind by the monsters after their death would yield better effect for cultivation.
Immediately, the two joined hands and quickly rushed toward the dozens of divine-force crystals.
If they were a little later, the divine-force crystals might have all been refined.
With the help of Saint Light formed from the stream of precepts, the two snatched 14 divine force crystals and removed the four-colored divine lights wrapping around them.
Among them, five were divine force crystals of Time, four were divine force crystals of Dimension, three divine force crystals of Origin, and the remaining two were divine force crystals of Darkness.
“Let’s begin.”
Zhang Ruochen waved his hand and took out Sundial. What they lacked the most at the moment was time.
As their eyes met, they saw the determination in each other. They didn’t hesitate any longer and immediately began to refine the divine force crystals, trying to improve their attainments in the Paths of the Ancients so that they could escape the fate of being refined by the four-colored divine lights.
