KRECHASTT!
The Predator of the Void spoke in a grinding voice.
At once, every surrounding void creature, those in the midst of assimilating this fractured space into the void paused. Their bodies stilled as one, senses locking onto a single direction.
Yu Xuan.
Even now, already far away, his presence lingered.
The Predator of the Void could sll its prey from miles away.
They were a species born of contradiction, hunters that pursued those stronger than themselves, yet beings that still accepted offerings.
Perhaps that behavior was unique to low-tier Predators.
Or perhaps the higher ones simply demanded better sacrifices.
No one knew for now.
But one thing was certain.
The Void rembered Yu Xuan.
anwhile, Yu Xuan didn’t dare slow down.
He burned several more of the miniature golden cores embedded within his cells, forcibly extracting their Innate energy (Yuan Qi).
The process was brutal but effective.
Heat surged through his ridians as his reserves spiked enough to keep him moving.
In a flash, he erged outside the underground zone where the return gate had been constructed.
The concealed area lay quiet.
Using a hidden passage he already knew, Yu Xuan advanced and imdiately sensed traces of intrusion. Chaotic spiritual fluctuations, formation usage and lingering killing intent.
When he arrived inside the underground chamber, devastation greeted him.
The carefully carved space was in ruins.
Formation pillars lay shattered and the air still carried the tallic scent of fresh blood.
A massive battle had clearly taken place not long ago.
Near the return gate, several figures were standing.
At the far corner of the cavern, demonic corpses were piled haphazardly.
"He really ca back?!" Yu Zhen said, narrowing his eyes so sharply he looked like a villain out of so cheap play.
"I thought I’d finally get promoted to Young Master," Mo Lin muttered a dark joke.
Yu Xuan’s gaze settled on him.
Mo Lin coughed and imdiately shut up.
"He didn’t co alone, though," Yu Xueqing said, glancing toward the trembling walls.
Ming Tiani nodded.
"But the wait was worth it," Lin Fan said, exhaling.
"Let’s return now"
As if on cue, the distant rumbling grew louder.
Hundreds of Void creatures were pouring into this underground area, their forms clawing through space itself, converging toward them like a tide of madness.
"We will talk later and return first," Yu Xuan said curtly, already pulling out an explosive talisman.
"Wait!, are you planning to destroy the gate?!" Yu Bo blurted out with heated eyes.
He looked genuinely pained, his bloodshot eyes showing just how much effort he had poured into constructing it.
Yu Hao promptly smacked him on the back of the head.
"So you’re suggesting we let those things cross to the other side?" Yu Hao asked flatly.
Yu Bo groaned, clutching his head.
"...Fine."
There was no more ti to argue.
One by one, they stepped into the return gate.
The mont the last figure vanished.
BOOM!
The gate detonated violently, space itself collapsing inward as the pathway was completely severed.
The underground chamber shook, then fell silent.
Now, trapped within the collapsing gate world, only the creatures of the Void remained, and the Predator of the Void was sad, because the prey slipped beyond its reach.
***
Yu Xuan and the others erged onto the cloud platform but on the other side, just as the return gate shimred weakly behind them.
The gate flickered once, twice... then vanished entirely, as if it had never existed.
They barely had ti to steady themselves before being surrounded.
Figures descended on the clouds, auras pressing down like mountains.
So were relieved, so wary, so openly scrutinizing – every one of them eager to confirm what had just returned from the gate.
Before anyone else could speak, a presence arrived.
Lin Fan, Yu Xueqing, and Mo Lin stiffened as they saw the man approaching them.
"Master!"
All three bowed deeply as Daoist Flowing Sword, direct disciple of the Sword Peak Master of Martial Heaven Peak, appeared before them, robes fluttering lightly.
His expression was calm, but his gaze was sharp and scrutinizing.
Daoist Flowing Sword nodded once and imdiately began inspecting them.
His divine sense over the three probing them deeply, searching for traces of ntal erosion, hidden seals, or foreign will.
Finding none, his tense shoulders relaxed by a fraction as his expression eased.
Then his gaze shifted to Mo Lin’s sword.
Without hesitation, Daoist Flowing Sword extended a thin strand of consciousness and gently entered it.
The mont his awareness touched it.
The world shifted.
In an instant, he found himself standing before a vast and ancient presence.
And then, with perfect composure, he bowed.
"Senior."
His voice carried genuine respect.
Even reduced to a re vestige, the aura alone made his heart tighten.
A Celestial.
Though the being before him was no longer complete, her existence still stood far above his own.
Moreover, as Mo Lin’s master, he was already karmically connected to her.
Offending such an existence even unintentionally, would be courting disaster.
A hazy figure of an old woman materialized before Daoist Flowing Sword, her features obscured as if wrapped in fog.
"What is it?" the grandmother spirit asked lazily.
"Have you co to pay respects?"
After dealing with the bossy Mo Lin day in and day out, she found it strangely refreshing to speak with soone who didn’t imdiately give her a headache.
Daoist Flowing Sword’s eyebrows twitched at her bluntness, but he didn’t dare show the slightest displeasure.
Instead, he cupped his hands respectfully.
"Of course, Senior. I would never neglect proper respect," he said sincerely.
"This ti, I am here to thank you, on behalf of my... sowhat idiotic disciples."
He straightened slightly, his tone firm.
"Thank you for protecting them, and for safeguarding the other disciples of the Heaven Immortal Sect. Without your intervention, the losses and the grief would have been unimaginable."
It was not flattery.
It was conviction.
Given the fluctuations that ca from within the gate, Daoist Flowing Sword found it impossible to believe that these disciples could have returned so intact without intervention from a being of her level.
After all, among the entire group, only two appeared genuinely weakened.
The rest, while clearly exhausted looked as though they had rely endured an extre warm-up.
That alone told him everything he needed to know.
Of course, he didn’t know that he was 100% wrong.
User Comments
0 comments from readers