Rāhu Xiaoming abruptly looked back. By now, countless mountains had gathered together under the pulling force, blocking his vision.
Through the cracks, he could see a few stars embedded in the depths of space, silently glimmering with light. They were distant and quiet, but he caught the scent of unease from within.
Gu Yanying also looked over along his gaze.
“Something’s amiss! There’s an ill omen!”
However, the first one to speak was Li Qingshan. The spirit turtle had given a warning, where the good omen turned ill, and it was an extremely bad one at that. The shade of death that wrapped around them was as thick as the darkness of outer space.
Rāhu Xiaoming said, “If you’ve had enough fun, let’s leave here as soon as possible!”
“Let’s go!”
There were still many more mountains and world fragments that had not been absorbed, but Li Qingshan did not hesitate at all. With a wave of his hand, he dispersed the Watermirror’s Image and reversed the Force Field of the Earth, pushing the mountains and asteroids away. He shot back towards the kunpeng.
Their vision opened up as a result, and Gu Yanying narrowed her eyes. Something was approaching them from the depths of space. In the beginning, it was still as small as a speck of dust, but it had instantly expanded in size. She cried out, “So fast!”
The thing definitely moved no slower than the kunpeng. Even its size was no smaller than the kunpeng, but it was unlike any avian or beast. It did not even resemble an insect. It was completely a half-transparent bright-green, such that its organs were vaguely visible. A tendril even longer than its body grew where its head was supposed to be, producing ripples in space as it swam over quickly.
Rāhu Xiaoming said, “A space-devouring beast!”
“How strong is this thing? How many heavenly tribulations? Can we destroy it?”
Li Qingshan could not help but ask. His power had recently reached an unprecedented state, yet he encountered such great danger already, which he truly struggled to adjust to. He was tempted to go for a satisfying battle in outer space, however.
“Space-devouring beasts don’t face heavenly tribulations. They’re different from all living creatures. They’re almost equivalent to natural disasters. I’d advise you to stick to running away! When the smell of blood spreads in the ocean, it doesn’t just draw a single shark over.”
As soon as Rāhu Xiaoming said that, space-devouring beasts appeared in all directions.
Every single one was a different shape. One of them was perfectly round and covered with countless, short antennae. One was shaped like a yellow jellyfish, with a rough and uneven head and seven or eight long legs below. Another downright had no stable form, constantly moving around like liquid… They were basically ugly monsters from nightmares.
However, every single one of them was hundreds of kilometres across, and the largest one had even reached into the thousands. With their size, probably every single one of them would be a god-like existence if they were a proper living creature.
“What the hell are these? Let’s go!”
Li Qingshan immediately held back his fighting spirit and leapt onto the kunpeng’s back gently. He did not want to go to battle against a group of things like this.
“Qingshan, you open a path!”
The kunpeng’s wings spread out as it returned to its original size.
“Alright!” Li Qingshan gripped the Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens firmly and unleashed the Force Field of the Earth. Fierce winds swept away the mountains and asteroids like leaves, clearing all obstacles.
By now, the space-devouring beasts had already gathered over, like ants drawn to breadcrumbs. They tried to devour everything there. In just a few moments, two space-devouring beasts had devoured a mountain that stretched thousands of kilometres, and the spatial fragments had become a popular item that they all fought over too.
Li Qingshan could not help but feel rather relieved that he had the spirit turtle giving him warnings. If he had been one step slower, he would have been trapped in there. The destructive powers of the space-devouring beasts was far too great. However, he also felt slightly puzzled. These space-devouring beasts moved alarmingly fast, but it should not have been that fast!
At this moment, the space-devouring beast that constantly changed shape and resembled a liquid suddenly opened numerous eyes of different sizes. They were all blank and without any emotion, all fixed on the Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens in Li Qingshan’s hand.
“It spotted us!”
Li Qingshan gripped the Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens firmly and swung it violently. A great mountain moved over, blocking the space-devouring beast’s path, but it was devoured immediately. Then even more eyes appeared as if it was confirming its target.
A piece of Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens surpassed all of the mountains, and it even treated the kunpeng as food. It did not have the thought processes of a living creature, but under the control of its powerful instincts, it rapidly swam towards the kunpeng.
Li Qingshan’s heart sank. The sense of danger he experienced peaked. The space-devouring beast was several times larger than the kunpeng. If they were swallowed, they would probably be done for.
“Yanying, don’t worry about the obstacles ahead. Just accelerate and shake it off!”
Without any more regard, Gu Yanying flapped the wings and took off.
Li Qingshan cleared the obstacles in their path as he used the Force Field of the Earth to throw all the rocks behind him, creating obstacles for the space-devouring beast.
The space-devouring beast tailed them closely, devouring everything in its way. It did not slow down at all, instead gradually closing the distance between them.
Rāhu Xiaoming opened the cosmic pouch, and atmospheric winds rushed out. The kunpeng rode on the winds and moved a little faster, traversing the many mountains instantly. They saw the endless darkness of outer space again.
Two colossal objects raced through outer space in the most primitive pursuit possible at an unbelievable speed. They were only tens of thousand kilometres from each other. That was a tremendous distance in any world, but upon considering their size and speed, it was almost like a single step away.
Gu Yanying said, “Qingshan, if we keep flying for a little longer, we’re going to deviate from the path you calculated. Think of something!”
Li Qingshan turned around, gripping the Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens firmly and throwing out a punch.
Using the strength of the earth from the Swelling Earth of the Nine Heavens, the Tremors of the Ox Demon had been pushed to an unparalleled level of might. Even the dark space shook.
The kunpeng used that to accelerate again, but the space-devouring beast dove head-first into the trembling space. Its figure twisted and changed. It was unscathed, but it had slowed down drastically all of a sudden.
Li Qingshan beamed with joy inside, Sure enough, it works!
He threw punch after punch, decelerating the space-devouring beast again and again and widening their distance. It gradually seemed smaller as it grew further and further away.
Suddenly, the space-devouring beast vanished as if it had never existed.
Gu Yanying asked, “Did we shake it off?”
Li Qingshan frowned heavily. The sense of danger in him had not vanished. Instead, the shade of death grew heavier and heavier.
Rāhu Xiaoming called out, “No, up ahead!”
Li Qingshan abruptly looked back. The vanished space-devouring beast had appeared in front of them, its colossal body filling their eyes. Its half-transparent skin shone with bright, green light, and a crevasse of several thousand kilometres suddenly split open in it, stretching across outer space and waiting for the kunpeng to fly in by itself.
Finally, he understood why these space-devouring beasts could move with extraordinary speed. They could actually perform long-distance teleportations in outer space.
The kunpeng was moving as fast as it could, so even changing directions was too late. It dove head-first into the crevasse, which closed up again subsequently. Its bright-green surface surged around like a great big mouth that had swallowed the kunpeng in a single bite and was currently chewing away, savouring the taste.
