Chapter 121: Risking It All

Gong Chenying also sensed that something was wrong, so she didn’t hesitate any longer. With a wave of her hand, the team halted their advance.

Then she turned around and looked back at the ancient path over a hundred zhang behind them, and immediately began retreating.

But it was already too late.

In an instant, the yellow sand beneath their feet stirred up into a sweeping storm. The setting sun’s afterglow dimmed drastically, and countless stone statue remnants slowly rose from beneath the earth.

They emerged like bamboo shoots after spring rain, or like the vengeful hands of ghosts from hell. From the distance came a variety of sounds, high and low, echoing eerily.

Through gaps in the sandstorm, Li Yan and the others could faintly see, under the blood-red sunset, a sweeping tide of darkness rolling in like black clouds trying to engulf the sky. It surged forward in layers, echoing the shadowy masses hundreds of zhang behind the ancient road.

It was like two blades of icy scissors slashing diagonally in from either side.

The sudden upheaval terrified Li Yan and his companions out of their wits.

But what truly chilled them to the bone was a crimson tide rising from the horizon, surging like waves on a sea, layers of red flickering toward them with frightening speed. Upon closer look, they were those red lizards.

Even Gong Chenying’s face turned pale at the sight. With both the red tide of insects and the encroaching black shadow, they stood no chance. At this rate, they wouldn’t even leave bones behind.

Faced with such a crisis, everyone exploded with unprecedented potential. While the only danger still came from the stone statue remnants rising from the ground, they threw caution to the wind and unleashed their strongest spells and spirit treasures.

In a desperate five breaths’ time, they forced their way back over seventy zhang!

But the shadow descending from the sky and the black-and-red insect tide surging across the ground had already drawn within less than a hundred zhang behind them.

While still clashing with the statue remnants, the group managed to fight forward another twenty zhang. Yet the insect tide was now nearly upon them, prompting many to scream in terror.

They believed they were doomed, certain death just moments away but just then, the red and black insect tide, along with the statue remnants continuously emerging from underground, suddenly came to a halt.

Only a few stray attacks continued. The insect tide, in particular, now seemed to hit some unseen obstruction and their speed slowed drastically. Though they were close enough to touch, they could no longer catch up with the escaping cultivators.

The swarm of insects crawled forward sluggishly, and the surrounding sandstorm began to lose momentum as well. The fragments of statues in the sand rose only with great difficulty and stiffness.

Only then did everyone begin to realize, the closer they got to the ancient road, the weaker the attacks became.

They seized the opportunity and quickly withdrew to the ancient path. The overwhelming black-and-red insect tide finally stopped advancing just ten zhang from the road.

Still trembling with fear, they watched the tide. The insects let out a sky-shaking hum of unwillingness before slowly retreating into the sands, taking the broken remnants of the stone statues with them.

Then, the yellow sand calmed down as if nothing had ever happened.

Recalling what had just occurred, Gong Chenying waved her hand to block another wave of attacks from both sides of the road and silently gave thanks. If they had ventured any deeper into the desert, none of them would have survived.

Everyone else looked with lingering fear at the sides of the ancient road. Even if they were given a hundred times the courage, no one dared take another step off it.

Although they guessed that only venturing too far triggered the large-scale insect tide, no one had any intention of testing that theory.

No one showed dissatisfaction toward Gong Chenying. Firstly, because they knew she meant well; secondly, because no one dared to show disrespect to a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator even if they harbored complaints.

But after this battle, the fear in their hearts had broken past a threshold. Facing the attacks from either side of the ancient road again, they actually felt much more at ease.

After all, once you’ve witnessed a black-and-red insect tide blotting out the earth and sky, and hands like ghostly claws reaching up from below, the rest of the attacks feel like mere drizzle against the face.

From that point forward, the cultivators abandoned passive defense entirely and began launching large-scale counterattacks.

As expected, this strategy was far more effective than simply defending. Their pace quickened noticeably, and along the way they slew thirteen red lizards and obliterated tens of thousands of black insects.

However, the drawback was the rapid depletion of their spiritual power. After covering just over six li, the average cultivator had already expended about thirty percent of their spiritual energy. This cast a shadow over everyone’s heart.

At this rate, by the time they completed the remaining three-plus li, even the more powerful cultivators would be down to just over fifty percent of their spiritual power, while the weaker ones might not even have thirty percent left.

And looking up at the massive black shadow just two li behind them, it was clear once they reached the next area and encountered the opposing team, it would be a repeat of the last stage with the Pure Land Sect, low spiritual power reserves against overwhelming strength.

Now, they could only pray that the other path was equally difficult for the rival cultivators or demonic clans. Only then would both sides be on equal footing.

At this moment, Gong Chenying’s elegant brows furrowed tightly. She had no better strategy. If not for Li Yan's suggestion earlier to rest before setting off again, there would be hardly any spiritual power left now and perhaps even casualties already.

Her thoughts churned rapidly. At their current pace, they could reach the ten-li mark in about fifteen minutes but by then, their spiritual power would be nearly exhausted.

Looking back at the looming black shadow devouring the sky, the ancient path had already vanished. In the desert, crumbled ancient buildings and statues were now nothing but black dust, quickly absorbed into that dark mass above. No signs of life remained.

Just earlier, when Gong Chenying had glanced back, she saw the sky swarming with flying black-shelled insects. Yet the moment the shadow loomed closer, those swarms turned into wisps of black smoke and vanished from the heavens entirely.

As she advanced, a sudden thought flashed through Gong Chenying’s mind, before the massive black shadow reached them, if they didn’t immediately enter the spherical battlefield, perhaps they could rest a little outside of it.

In the previous stage, once they entered the sphere, they found no exit before the Pure Land Sect appeared. Once the rival team entered, the shadow quickly descended upon the sphere.

This suggested that only one team could exist inside the sphere at a time; the other side couldn’t exit or reach them, they could only wait. Also, once both sides entered, it seemed to accelerate the arrival of the dark shadow.

With these thoughts in mind, Gong Chenying began to formulate a plan. Perhaps, just perhaps, it was worth trying.

The remaining three li unfolded just as they had calculated. After a quarter of an hour of the Wraith Sect cultivators pushing themselves to the limit, they had barely managed to widen the gap between themselves and the enormous black shadow in the sky by a little more than two li, this was the utmost their abilities could achieve.

At that moment, ahead of them on the ancient path, another enormous yellow sphere had appeared, causing everyone to let out a sigh of relief.

They launched another barrage of attacks in quick succession, clearing out the collapsed structures and broken statues closest to the yellow sphere. Only then did the surrounding assaults begin to lessen.

"You, you, and you… stand guard! The rest of you, use this time to recover your spiritual power!"

Gong Chenying quickly swept the area with her divine sense, glanced once toward the massive shadow looming behind, and without expression, pointed out eight cultivators and gave her orders.

The eight she selected were those in the best condition and that included Li Yan. Gong Chenying herself also needed to recuperate, having borne the brunt of the attacks and defenses during this trial.

Without another word, she ignored any reactions. With a flash of light, her azure halberd vanished. In its place, she took out two spirit stones, one in each hand, and sat cross-legged in front of the yellow sphere.

Seeing this, the rest of the cultivators dared not say a word.

Only the eight designated cultivators exchanged glances. A few smiled bitterly, they needed rest too. Their spiritual power had dropped to about fifty percent. But being in the best shape, who could they blame?

Li Yan circulated his spiritual energy while remaining vigilant. Though most of the immediate threats had been cleared, occasional red lizards and black beetles still appeared. However, they were few in number, and Gong Chenying’s arrangement was naturally sound.

Over the course of half a quarter-hour, Li Yan and the others fended off more than ten minor assaults by black and red creatures. Their eyes nervously watched the massive shadow less than a hundred paces away in the sky, it resembled a bottomless pit, a giant maw that devoured all.

The ground beneath the shadow silently twisted and rippled, before dissolving without a sound into the descending darkness.

A red lizard, sensing the shadow’s arrival, let out a series of shrill screeches and charged toward Li Yan’s group. But as it turned its head and inadvertently glanced back at the black shadow in the sky, it froze in place as if struck by a petrification spell.

Its body convulsed violently, as if trying to break free, but its head couldn’t turn back again.

It could only watch helplessly as the black shadow drew closer, then began slicing its body, inch by inch, like a knife carving scallions. Its bright red blood turned pitch black the instant it spilled into the air.

The lizard was clearly in agony. Its narrow, spindly head opened and closed rapidly, its eyes filled with unbearable pain. Yet Li Yan heard not a sound, as if all noise had been swallowed into the dark sky.

As its eyes and mouth began bleeding profusely, the creature’s front claws desperately scraped at the bluestone path, carving a deep trench nearly half a foot deep. It embedded its upper body into the stone in its death throes.

But slowly, even it and that entire section of the path dissolved into black smoke and became part of the looming shadow above.

Witnessing this, the other seven cultivators looked pleadingly at Li Yan. Though the shadow was still about fifty zhang away, their psychological endurance had reached its limit.

Each of them felt the overwhelming urge to turn and flee immediately. At the current speed of the shadow’s advance, even if it was within thirty paces, they’d still have time to dash into the yellow sphere.

But this agonizingly slow march of death was suffocating. None of them dared to speak out or rush a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

They didn’t know whether Gong Chenying, deep in her cultivation, was aware of what was happening. If they were in her place, they certainly wouldn’t be able to tell.

The cursed shadow was utterly silent, invisible to their divine sense. Only the naked eye could perceive its slow, unstoppable advance.

Li Yan sighed inwardly. Watching the reaper close in with every step, he too felt deeply unsettled.

He gritted his teeth and kept silent, his eyes locked onto the encroaching black mass. He knew that every extra moment bought for Sixth Senior Sister and the others meant a slight increase in their overall strength later.

Still, Li Yan had a measure of confidence. Unlike the others, he wasn’t relying solely on sight, he could sense the presence of the massive shadow with his divine sense.

Moreover, his spiritual power responded differently as the shadow drew closer. Right now, the Five Element forces within him were surging in chaos, like startled fish darting in all directions. But the sensation hadn’t reached a level that truly frightened him yet.

As the cultivators looked on in terror, the shadow closed in, eighty steps… seventy-nine… seventy-eight… thirty… twenty-nine…

The seven cultivators were soaked with sweat, faces pale, each holding a "Ghost Chariot Talisman" and a thick stack of various defensive talismans.

Should anything unexpected occur, they wouldn’t hesitate to slap the Ghost Chariot Talisman and dozens of defensive papers onto themselves in one go. Li Yan had already sent a voice transmission to them:

“Hold on just a bit longer, give Senior Sister Gong and the others a little more time. I’ll be the one to speak when it’s time to move.”

(Chapter End)