Inheritance Begins

Mu Qin Yue was the fifth fragment.

According to Desert Wood Venerable's original script, the inheritor should have entered the Inheritance Space with four fragments in hand to receive the inheritance.

But who could have known that the appearance of the Barren Wood Ruins would draw so many factions together? Among all these powerful figures, aside from her identity, Mu Qin Yue had barely any presence at all.

The struggle for the Barren Wood Ruins had already exceeded the level it should have reached.

The source of all this did not feel like a coincidence.

Bai Ye looked at the open Space Tunnel and waved his hand. Four fragments floated in the air around him.

Xue Liuli had already nestled in Meng Youran's arms. Compared to Cai Xiao, whose aura made her feel oppressed, Meng Youran made her feel slightly more at ease.

"Be careful."

Xue Liuli warned him.

Even she, normally somewhat carefree, sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere. Everything within the Barren Wood inheritance was unknown, and the unknown had always been synonymous with danger.

Bai Ye nodded. He grabbed Mu Qin Yue by the shoulder, exchanged one last look with Cai Xiao, and then their figures turned into ice crystals and vanished from where they stood.

Cai Xiao watched the two leave, then turned her gaze back to Luo Shu.

Luo Shu silently watched it all without the slightest reaction. He still smiled without speaking, like a puppet, his smile somewhat eerie.

The atmosphere outside grew increasingly still, like the calm before a storm.

Inheritance Space.

With the four fragments and Mu Qin Yue's bloodline, Bai Ye and Mu Qin Yue smoothly passed through the Space Tunnel and entered this independent realm.

Unlike the vast forest outside that blotted out the sky and sun, this place was a pitch-black void. There was nothing here at all, merely an undeveloped, unaltered expanse of space.

"What do we do next?"

Mu Qin Yue took the initiative to ask.

Even if the situation had changed slightly, her goal remained the same: to obtain her ancestor's inheritance.

Within an Ancient Clan like the Wood Spirit Clan, strength represented attention. Only by gaining the attention of the higher-ranking elders could her branch have any hope of rising. No matter how forbidden the Wildwood Sutra was, she did not care.

Bai Ye looked up at the space without immediately answering Mu Qin Yue's question. He always felt that something within this space was especially out of place.

The feeling made him deeply uncomfortable.

With that thought, his Gilded Gold eyes instantly turned silver. His gaze swept back and forth through the space, trying to find the source of that discordance.

After receiving no reply for a long while, Mu Qin Yue's delicate brows furrowed slightly. "If you have no other plans, then I'll search for the inheritance myself."

As soon as she finished speaking and tried to move, she discovered that at some unknown point, a thick layer of frost had wrapped around her feet. Her feet were frozen in place, and no matter how hard she tried, she could not take a single step forward.

"What do you mean by this?"

Mu Qin Yue suppressed the anger in her heart and spoke to Bai Ye.

She knew that shouting in anger would solve nothing. She first had to understand Bai Ye's intentions before she could negotiate.

Bai Ye ignored her. He seemed to have found the source of that strange feeling.

Staring intently at the spot that looked as though it had collapsed inward, Bai Ye fully activated the Yan Tian Scripture, sending his divine soul deeper and deeper within.

Gradually, the deeper it went, the stronger that sense of discord became.

"Thump, thump."

It was like the sound of a violently beating heart, ringing clearly beside his ears and making his entire divine soul shudder.

Bai Ye's pupils contracted. At that moment, the Yan Tian Scripture began frantically warning him.

Danger. Extreme danger.

"I suggest you leave this place first."

Bai Ye turned to Mu Qin Yue and spoke calmly.

Mu Qin Yue looked puzzled, and just as she was about to speak, Bai Ye's eyes widened slightly. Light Shadow flickered through his silver eyes.

The next second, before Mu Qin Yue's shocked and bewildered gaze, Bai Ye struck her shoulder with his palm.

Bang—

Mu Qin Yue's body flew backward at high speed.

The instant that happened, countless Black Wood Vines shot out from the void and instantly tore through Bai Ye's body. Countless ice crystals scattered as Bai Ye appeared directly behind Mu Qin Yue. The vines surged toward the two of them like claws blotting out the sky.

Frost condensed in the air, and the temperature suddenly plummeted. Walls of ice enclosed Bai Ye and Mu Qin Yue within.

The Black Wood Vines showed no hesitation and lashed directly against the Ice Walls.

Crack—

The Ice Walls shattered instantly, and the vines crazily rushed at the two within.

Bai Ye grabbed Mu Qin Yue by the collar and threw her upward with all his strength.

Mu Qin Yue shot into the air, escaping the range covered by the vines.

Amid the encirclement of vines, Bai Ye took a deep breath. An Ice Lotus bloomed in his hand.

Rumble—

Violent Cold energy instantly blasted apart the surrounding Black Wood Vines. Bai Ye turned into a streak of Flowing Light and shot straight upward. He caught Mu Qin Yue as she fell, ice-blue spiritual energy surging around his body as he rapidly shifted his movements and charged with clear purpose toward the exit of the Space Tunnel.

Mu Qin Yue was completely dazed. Bai Ye carried her in a mad dash, the black space around them seeming to flow backward like water. With the Ice Void Art reinforcing him again and again, Bai Ye's speed had reached the limit of what his current body could endure.

Mu Qin Yue looked behind them. The black space that had once been a void now seemed to have transformed into a black forest, countless terrifying Black Wood Vines chasing after them like mad.

Bai Ye's Silver Eyes flickered constantly, as though he had eyes on the back of his head. Every time, he precisely evaded the deadly attacks of the Black Wood Vines.

At this point, even Mu Qin Yue, obsessed as she was with her ancestor's inheritance, understood the strangeness of this Inheritance Space.

An inheritance left for later generations could never look like this.

"Hold on tight!"

Bai Ye's cold voice rang out. Mu Qin Yue instinctively grabbed his arm as Ice Prisms appeared around him. They surrounded Bai Ye and Mu Qin Yue, and just as Mu Qin Yue wondered what he intended, she learned the answer the next moment.

The Ice Prisms spun rapidly around them. From the outside, they looked like a massive spiral drill boring forward.

Boom!!!

The drill crashed head-on into a Vine Wall.

The instant the Ice Prisms touched it, they shredded the Vine Wall before them to pieces.

But immediately after, the moment the two broke through the Vine Wall, a Thorn far larger than any of the previous vines charged directly toward them. The pressure it carried, as if it could cut through everything, made Mu Qin Yue feel suffocated.

Bai Ye's gaze flickered. He directly shook off Mu Qin Yue's hand and used his spiritual energy to send her flying into the distance.

Mu Qin Yue's body was hurled backward.

Bai Ye remained where he was, his gaze fixed on Mu Qin Yue. He had a guess he wanted to verify.

Whoosh.

At that moment, the Thorn that had been charging toward Bai Ye abruptly changed direction without hesitation and shot toward Mu Qin Yue instead.

The Thorn was far faster than Mu Qin Yue's backward flight.

In the blink of an eye, it was about to reach her body.

Seeing the Thorn rapidly closing in, Mu Qin Yue clenched her teeth and unleashed all her spiritual energy.

Though her spiritual energy was rapidly torn apart like paper before the powerful Thorn, it still delayed it for one second.

At that life-or-death instant, Bai Ye appeared beside her right on time. Like a flash of lightning, he merely appeared, touched her shoulder, and both their bodies vanished from the spot once more.

At that moment, they were only inches from the exit of the Space Tunnel.

Still held by the collar in Bai Ye's grasp, Mu Qin Yue was clearly still shaken. She panted heavily, unsure what to say.

Just now, she had been less than a second away from death.

"Listen."

But while she was still in a daze, Bai Ye's icy voice entered her ears again, instantly snapping her awake.

"After you get out, tell Cai Xiao exactly this: she must protect you."

She must protect me?

Was there really nothing wrong with saying that?

Mu Qin Yue's mind was still reeling when she felt a familiar pushing force.

Her body flew out again, but this time, an Ice Giant Hand was behind her, continuously pushing her forward. Taking advantage of the moment when she had lost her strength, she instinctively turned to look behind her. That tall figure had already turned around, Ice Swords condensing in both hands as he faced the sky-filling mass of vines charging toward him.

In an instant, heaven and earth were divided into black and blue.

The next moment, the darkness in her eyes completely faded, and a long-lost yet familiar light appeared before her.

She could feel that she had been sent out of the Inheritance Space.

The instant she appeared outside the Inheritance Space, Cai Xiao and the others noticed her. Mu Youze caught Mu Qin Yue as she rushed out of the Inheritance Space, his puzzled voice following.

"What happened?"

"I don't know." Mu Qin Yue felt her mind buzzing. "It was full of vines. Bai Ye sent me out and told me to pass a message to Cai Xiao."

"What message?"

Cai Xiao asked.

Mu Qin Yue raised her head and truthfully replied, "He said you must protect me."

Protect Mu Qin Yue?

Behind her mask, Cai Xiao's beautiful face froze.

Why?

Although she had not known Bai Ye for long, she had learned something of his personality. He definitely had not asked her to relay those words out of simple tenderness toward a woman. Could it be...

Bang—

Just as a flash of insight led Cai Xiao to a possibility, countless Black Wood Vines surged madly out of the Space Tunnel. The vines burrowed underground, and then, before Cai Xiao and the others' astonished eyes, the Barren Wood Ruins, once a forest, began changing at a terrifying speed.

The once lush jungle began to twist. The forest, which had seemed full of life, swiftly withered and transformed into vines that wildly writhed their bodies.

Watching this, Luo Shu gently closed his eyes.

He let out a breath, and his entire body relaxed.

It was time to welcome the moment of his mission.

"My clan shall endure for all eternity."

His body began rapidly disintegrating at a speed Cai Xiao could not stop, his whole person dissipating like a geometric construct of spiritual energy.

Witnessing this, a dense chill flashed through Cai Xiao's cold, beautiful eyes.

She had been wrong from the beginning. Luo Shu's purpose had never been to seize anything. His task was to cross the distant border and die here at the most suitable moment.

Everything had been for some living being within the Inheritance Space.

"What do we do?"

Mu Youze brought Mu Qin Yue and Meng Youran to Cai Xiao's side. The situation was simply too frightening. That endless forest had completely turned into vines and was wildly surging toward them.

There was nowhere left to retreat. They could only carve out a path to survival.

"Protect Mu Qin Yue."

Cai Xiao's stern voice rang out.

Mu Qin Yue had to be the key. She was like a valve; if that valve was opened, what they would face next would be even more terrifying.

As for these vines...

Cai Xiao gave a soft laugh and took a step forward. A wisp of flame seemed to sway in the wind at her fingertips.

Let the flames burn this ugly sight clean.

Seven-colored fire flew from her fingertips. As if meeting an old friend after a long separation, the instant the flames touched the vines, the seven-colored fire enthusiastically ignited them one by one.

At that moment, blazing fire stretched across the heavens.

The world that had belonged to the vines was instantly swallowed by a sea of flames, forming a Flame City.

At that moment, Bai Ye stood motionless within the Inheritance Space. Ignoring the vines flying past him, he raised his head and looked toward the collapse he had seen earlier.

There, an incomparably violent power was rising at a staggering rate.

A sense of oppression was taking over the entire space.

The vines sealed shut the entrance to the Space Tunnel. Black Wood Vines, like giant black snakes, fixed fierce gazes on Bai Ye.

There was nowhere to retreat, and he had never intended to retreat.

"I should've let Cai Xiao come in. The trouble in here must be worse than outside."

Bai Ye let out a breath and removed the mask from his face. He did not want the mask Elder Sister had given him to be damaged in the coming unpleasant situation. Even the slightest scratch would drive him mad.

"Looks like you still can't come out completely. Is it because you haven't devoured Mu Qin Yue?"

Ice Swords slowly condensed in Bai Ye's hands.

His Gilded Gold eyes shone ever brighter.

At this point, there was no need for any more words.

This aura was incredibly powerful. If it recovered, Du Long and Mu Qingshan would be nothing worth mentioning.

Bai Ye had a feeling that this might be the greatest challenge he had faced since making his name.

But...

"I'm getting excited."

An ice-blue Supreme Sea appeared. The battle was about to begin!