Thirty-Five: The Ten Thousand Foot Abyss

The Angel God tapped the armrest of the chair, watching the events within the illusion. "Those who would accomplish great things must first temper their bodies and bones. Practicing your coordination and honing your combat experience in the illusion is also a good thing."

The Angel God chuckled softly and continued watching the two within the illusion.

Within the illusion, after Bi Zihan and Qian Renxue were sent flying by the giant snake once again, they could not help but start blaming each other.

"Can you stop messing things up? Without you, I could have dealt with this giant snake by myself. Even if you can't help, can you at least stop holding me back?" Bi Zihan drew in a sharp breath and rose from the ground.

"Bi Zihan, you bastard! Who's holding who back? If it weren't for you, this giant snake would have been dealt with long ago. And now you're turning around and blaming me?" Qian Renxue shot Bi Zihan a glance, her grip on the Sword of Angels tightening involuntarily.

"This snake is clever, but aside from the beginning, it hasn't taken the initiative to attack me. It's merely blocking the doorway and keeping us from leaving. So if we want answers, we need to deal with this giant snake first."

"Take turns attacking. Don't attack together, or this snake can easily use the chain to send us flying. Strike a snake at seven inches—don't jump around and attack blindly!"

After each spoke, Bi Zihan and Qian Renxue charged toward the giant snake. This time, however, Bi Zihan was in front and Qian Renxue behind him, and both targeted the snake's vital spot.

After evading the giant snake's attack, Bi Zihan swung Doomsday Judgment horizontally at its vital spot. Doomsday Judgment easily sliced through the snake's scales, but after cutting in about three inches, the sword could go no farther.

Crimson blood flowed from the wound, drawing a hiss of pain from the giant snake as rage filled its eyes. At that moment, the Sword of Angels in Qian Renxue's hand struck Doomsday Judgment, driving its blade completely into the giant snake's body.

Bi Zihan pulled out Doomsday Judgment and leaped high into the air, thrusting the sword straight at the giant snake's head. The giant snake looked at the chain connecting the two of them, then swung its enormous tail toward it.

Watching the massive tail sweep toward her, Qian Renxue tapped the ground with the tip of her foot and leaped up. As she dodged the tail's strike, she lightly stepped on it, using the giant snake's tail as a foothold to leap into the air once more.

Doomsday Judgment pierced into the snake's head, while Qian Renxue used the force of her descent to stomp on Doomsday Judgment. The tremendous force instantly drove the sword completely through the snake's head, sending it crashing toward the ground.

A heavy crash rang out as the giant snake's body slammed into the ground. Its enormous body continued to writhe, but with its head pierced through, all its struggles were futile.

Seeing that the giant snake had been dealt with, Bi Zihan and Qian Renxue both let out a breath of relief. In unspoken coordination, they pulled their swords from the snake's body and began hacking at the chains on their hands.

Yet, they had no idea what material the chains were made of. No matter how the two hacked at them, they could not leave even the slightest mark.

After a long while, Bi Zihan and Qian Renxue sat on the bed, wiping the sweat from their foreheads as they looked helplessly at the chains on their hands.

"There's something strange about this place. Not only can we not summon our martial souls, but we can't use soul skills or spiritual power either. Qian Renxue, do you know where this is?" Bi Zihan looked at Qian Renxue beside him, his voice full of helplessness.

Here, martial souls, Soul Power, spiritual power, and soul bones were all unusable. The only things they could rely on were their own strength and combat techniques. Moreover, the quality of these chains was simply unbelievable. They had hacked at them with Doomsday Judgment for so long, yet all they had produced were a few sparks—not even a trace of damage.

"How would I know where this is? In any case, we're definitely not in Spirit City. There's absolutely no place like this in Spirit City." Qian Renxue rolled her eyes at Bi Zihan. She also desperately wanted to know what kind of damned place this was.

"How about we go out and take a look? At the very least, we need to figure out where we are before discussing anything else." Looking at the chain on his hand, Bi Zihan decided to set the matter of the chains aside for now and first determine where they were.

"Fine, let's go take a look." Qian Renxue nodded and agreed readily. Since they could not cut through the chains, they might as well figure out where this place was first.

The two rose at the same time and walked to the room's door. Reaching out, they pushed it open, and a black forest appeared before them.

The forest was deathly silent. No sunlight could be seen, and the only sound was the rustling of leaves stirred by the breeze. The two exchanged a glance before walking directly into the forest, but both remained intensely alert, wary of everything around them—and wary of each other as well. Neither of them could be certain whether this place had been created by the other.

As they walked through the silent forest, their gazes continuously swept over their surroundings. Suddenly, dense clusters of green lights appeared amid the darkness, like eyes fixed tightly upon them.

A sense of danger rose in both Bi Zihan and Qian Renxue's hearts. Within their sight, spiders nearly two meters in size crawled out from the ancient trees and the ground around them. A rough count put their numbers at several hundred.

This time, the two were exceptionally in sync. Without the slightest hesitation, they sprinted forward. There were simply too many spiders. If they could summon their martial souls, they might have tried to fight, but with their martial souls unavailable, it was practically impossible to win through physical combat alone. After all, both of their stamina was limited.

The two fled rapidly ahead while the enormous spiders chased relentlessly behind them, continuously spitting green venom from their mouths. Whenever the venom landed on the ground or ancient trees, it immediately produced a corrosive hiss.

After running for an unknown length of time, Bi Zihan and Qian Renxue suddenly stopped. Before them lay a bottomless abyss, while the spiders continued their relentless pursuit from behind.

The two reversed their grips on their swords and stared at the approaching giant spiders, determination filling their eyes. Behind them was a bottomless abyss; before them were enormous spiders.

Though jumping into the abyss might not necessarily mean death, compared to trusting in such vague and uncertain luck, the two would rather trust in their own strength.

"Don't hold me back. In this situation, we're grasshoppers tied to the same rope—if one prospers, we both prosper; if one falls, we both fall!" Bi Zihan chuckled as he tightened his grip on Doomsday Judgment.

"You're the grasshopper. Just worry about yourself. Don't end up needing me to save you." Qian Renxue glanced at him, the Sword of Angels in her hand pointing toward the giant spiders ahead.