‘Huang Deheng’s captured?’ Li Nianfan knitted his brows and pressed his lips together in deep thought. That meant that whoever it was, the opponent must be very powerful and it was obvious that Huang Sirou was here to request for his help. He should help them for he was the reason they were in this trouble in the first place. He would seem heartless if he did not help them. The problem was, he did not have a shred of cultivation in him, so how could he save them? He could only depend on the people around him. It was time for him to rally the people.
“Please, calm down, Miss Huang. At his level of cultivation, your father should be fine for a while,” said Li Nianfan, trying to console Huang Sirou. “I’ll send someone out to look for him.” He thought of the Heavenly Palace first and was about to go there when Qin Manyun and Shi Tuqin both stood up at the same time after exchanging glances with each other.
“Master, we volunteer to go there,” they said.
“The two of you?” Li Nianfan was slightly surprised and concerned at the same time. “Even Huang Deheng was captured. Do you think the two of you are the opponent’s match?”
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll bring others, too,” said Qin Manyun with a smile.
“Master, I’m indebted to you. Please, let me return the favor to you by bringing back the fruits,” said Shi Tuqin in all sincerity.
“Fine,” conceded Li Nianfang. “Remember to bring more people and be careful.”
Both Qin Manyun and Shi Tuqin nodded happily. “Yes, yes. Don’t worry. We’ll definitely bring the fruit back.” Then, to Huang Sirou they said, “Miss Huang, let’s leave now.”
Li Nianfan broke out in cold sweat when he saw how impatient they were to leave as if they were going on a field trip and not to some dangerous place. When did the two of them become so wild?
“Master, can we bring some fruit and wine?” asked Qin Manyun suddenly.
Li Nianfang became momentarily stunned. He started to wonder whether they were going on a picnic instead. He hoped that they would be more dependable than they were acting. He nodded his head at the request and reminded them to be careful again. The two of them nodded nonchalantly back at him.
Soon, the three of them exited the four-part architecture with Blackie following behind. Once outside, Qin Manyun became excited. “I just entered the Heavenly Realm not long ago and finally can test my powers for this mission.”
“Yes, I know what you mean. We should use our power in service of the Master,” echoed Shi Tuqin happily.
Listening to them, Huang Sirou’s heart started to sink. “Seniors, please don’t treat our opponent lightly. My father and elder with him are both fighters of the Heavenly Realm, too, and look how they ended up. I’m afraid things won’t be as easy as you think.”
“Do you not have faith in us, Miss Huang?” asked Shi Tuqin with a smile.
“No, no. I didn’t mean it like that,” replied Huang Sirou timidly.
“Don’t worry. We won’t disappoint you. We’re the expert’s apprentices after all,” said Qin Manyun. “Besides, it won’t just be the two of us.”
Huang Sirou was slightly taken back. She turned back and saw a bald dog with a haughty face following them. “Lord Dog’s coming, too!” She was overjoyed because she had seen first-hand how powerful Blackie’s mosaic leather pants were. Her confidence shot up with the addition of Blackie.
“There’s no way I’m not going since this matter concerns fruits for the master,” said Blackie seriously. “Not only does the Master have a fondness for fruits, but so do I! What the opponent did was steal food right from my mouth. I’ll never forgive him for that!”
“Yes, we need to make sure all loose ends are tied up,” said Qin Manyun carefully. “To be on the safe side, why don’t we ask Jiang Liu to join us as well?”
“Okay!”
After a while, the five of them—Huang Sirou, Qin Manyun, Shi Tuqin, Jiang Liu, and Blackie—set off from the Fallen Immortal Mountain and shot across the Chaos like a rainbow.
Meanwhile, Huang Deheng and Old Ling were enveloped in darkness once they were pulled into the planet by the black hand. Above their head was a golden pagoda which gave off a thick golden light, trapping them within the weird space. They were completely separated from the outside world.
“It’s all your fault, Brother Huang. Our energy’s being sucked out of us as we speak. We’ll surely meet our ends here if we don’t find the exit soon,” said Old Ling.
Huang Deheng rolled his eyes. “Can you stop being so negative, Brother Ling? You’ve already said that more than ten times and every time, my answer’s the same. My daughter will come back for us with some backup.”
“Backup? Are you referring to the expert?” Old Ling sighed deeply. “It’s been a month already! No one should take that long. You’re lying to me, aren’t you?” Although they could feel the changing of night and day, they held the ability to accurately guess how much time had passed.
“Maybe they ran into some other troubles on their way here. Just stop worrying, will you?”
They were pacing around the darkness when suddenly, they saw a huge portal in front of them and beside the portal was a blood-red letter, ‘seal’! Both of them smelled the scent of blood rushing toward their nostrils when they saw the letter as if they were standing in a river of blood. The scent was so strong that it began to prickle their eyes.
“It’s definitely a Wisdom level seal!” cried the both of them at the same time. It must be the work of a Wisdom Elite but what could be inside the seal? They looked towards the portal with eyes filled with fear. Inside was pitch black but they could feel a terrifying shadow staring back at them. Instantly, a chill ran up their spines and goosebumps broke out on their skin.
Suddenly they heard a voice calling out to them, “Come here…come here…come here.” The voice was hypnotizing and their minds went blank as they walked, zombie-like, toward the voice. Just as they were about to reach the portal, the golden pagoda above them shook and the flashing light woke them up from their stupor.
A terrifying, impatient roar was heard and a giant black hand shot out from the portal, aiming straight for the two of them. Before the giant black hand could reach them, the blood-red word ‘seal’ glowed brightly and a red barrier appeared on the portal, effectively blocking the giant hand from coming out. The giant black hand thrashed against the portal while screaming in frustration. Huang Deheng and Old Ling both broke out in cold sweat. They quickly stepped far away from the portal.
“What happened to us? Did that thing there just mess with our heads?” said Old Ling. He was filled with incredulity at the thought of a Heavenly Realm fighter being so easily hypnotized.
“Who would’ve thought there’s actually a Wisdom realm existence sealed here?” said Huang Deheng with shock in his voice.
There was no doubt that a Wisdom Elite was sealed inside the portal, but they were left with the question of who could possibly do that? They looked at the portal again and their pupils shrank rapidly because standing at the edge of a portal was a half-hidden figure. It was staring at them as if ready to strike at any moment.
Old Ling’s scalp began to tingle. “What a terrifying force. I’m sure we’ll be dead in a second when that thing steps out of the portal.”
“It’s a good thing it’s sealed up. It must be an existence of apocalyptic proportions for it to be sealed up this way,” said Huang Deheng in a relieved tone.
“Even so, things still don’t look good for us.” Old Ling frowned as he surveyed his surroundings. “The darkness around us is eroding our power and the Chaos World Stabilizing Pagoda can only last a hundred years before completely giving out.”
“Don’t worry. Hundred years is long enough for my daughter to bring the expert over to rescue us,” said Huang Deheng.
Old Ling shook his head. He did not hold the same sentiment as Huang Deheng’s optimism. They were in a Wisdom Elite’s territory. Who in the whole of the Chaos possessed the ability to save them from their imprisonment? Did the expert really even exist?
“Let’s sit and try to control our breathing. We might last longer that way.”
They both sat down in a cross-legged position and tried to master their breath. However, it did not work in this weird space and they discovered themselves to still be losing energy. Things would only get worse for the two of them from then onward. Although cultivators were said to be people who had gone beyond death, technically speaking, they had only gone beyond the limitations of a lifespan. It was still possible for them to die by other means.
As a cultivator, the most important thing to them was Spiritual Qi which was akin to what food was to humans. If they stayed in an environment where they could not replenish their Spiritual Qi for a long time, their cultivation would surely be affected. In the end, they would dry up and die from a lack of Spiritual Qi.
That was what happened during the Prehistoric times when the lack of Spiritual Qi caused a lot of Immortals to be sealed up. This applied to fighters from the Heavenly Realm and the Wisdom Elites, too—they would not survive for so long without Spiritual Qi and it was exactly why so many cultivators were willing to fight for this precious resource.
Currently, both Huang Deheng and Old Ling were facing a shortage of Spiritual Qi. Not to mention, their energy was being sucked away by the weird space. They felt their imminent deaths. In a blink of an eye, 10 years had passed. The light from the Chaos World Stabilizing Pagoda became a little bit dimmer and there were signs of time etched on both of their faces. They had aged much.
“Brother Huang, is your daughter coming or not? What about the expert? What’s going on?” asked Old Ling.
“Believe me when I say my daughter must be on her way here as we speak.” Huang Deheng held an unshakeable faith toward his daughter. “From the way I see it, there are only three possibilities. One, the expert doesn’t want to rescue us. If that’s the case, we should just succumb to death for no one else will be able to save us. Two, the weird space disappeared from its original spot and went into stealth mode after capturing us and that’s why they haven’t found us. Three, time moves differently in this weird space. What might be ten years here is maybe only a day outside.”
“I think number three sounds the most plausible,” said Old Ling. He suddenly realized the absurdity of it all and became filled with despair. “Then, that means there’s no hope for us anymore!”
“We should speak less to conserve our energy,” said Huang Deheng, equally frustrated.
They tried to master their breath while 50 years passed. During the last sixty years, from time to time, they would wake from their meditation. What greeted them was always the black shadow standing, unmoving from its spot, staring at them with a creepy smile. This caused them to be even more anxious.
The Chaos World Stabilizing Pagoda was standing on its last leg as it used up the last of its energy. It started to become ever dimmer and from time to time, it would blackout. To make it last longer, they had no choice but to limit the size of the protective barrier to only three feet wide which caused them to be smooshed up against one another.
Another 20 years passed and the protective barrier became even smaller—less than two feet. They were not able to sit in a cross-legged position anymore. All they could do was hold each other tightly which made them flush with embarrassment.
“Brother Huang, has it ever crossed your mind that one day we’ll be sticking so close to each other like this?” asked Old Ling.
“Don’t say something like this, Brother Ling! I almost want to puke,” said Huang Deheng darkly.
“Don’t you dare! I wouldn’t have ended up like this if it wasn’t for you! What would other people say if they discovered our corpses in this position?” said Old Ling angrily.
Huang Deheng’s face turned green with shock. “We should preserve our integrity! How about we used the last of our energy to fight off that thing?”
At the same time, four humans and one dog were standing mid-air in the Chaos. They were all staring at the giant planet in front of them with grave eyes.
“Lord Dog, this is the planet that took my father,” said Huang Sirou.
Jiang Liu knitted his brows gently. “There’s nothing on the surface at all. It’s a dead planet and it’s weird how my Sword Qi can’t split it apart. There’s certainly something weird going on in there.”
“I’ve come prepared. If this planet’s target is the fruit from the Spiritual Root then we can test it out with the fruits I brought with me,” said Qin Manyun with a smile.
