The instant the blue light swallowed them, Chen Wuya could still feel Bai Zhi's hand twitch slightly in his palm. Her breath rested against his shoulder, light and steady. Mo Feng's voice came from behind and to the side, a little tight. "It's still moving. The compass isn't broken."
He did not look back, only drew Bai Zhi half a step closer into his arms. The stream of light beneath their feet began to spin. It was no longer a motionless blue curtain, but surged in from all directions like flowing water, winding around their calves and crawling up along their meridians.
[Central Plains energy field detected. Return mode activated: Misaligned Force Transforms into Wings!]
The true qi within him suddenly sank, then surged upward in reverse. He had intended to circulate the Canglang Art to steady his breath, but that misaligned force erupted on its own, tearing open an invisible rift behind his back. Golden light burst forth, and a pair of luminous wings condensed from twisted force unfurled at either side of his spine, their edges constantly flickering as they broke apart and reassembled.
"This thing can fly too?" Mo Feng's voice rose.
"It's not flying." Chen Wuya gritted his teeth. "It's dragging us along."
The light wings shuddered, lifting his entire body off the ground. He instinctively tightened his hold on Bai Zhi, then reached back with his other hand and grabbed Mo Feng by the sleeve. All three rose at once, tangled in countless threads of light, as if an invisible net were carrying them into the depths.
The current of light overhead suddenly accelerated, forming a spiraling passageway. A faint fleck of gold appeared in the distance, like sunlight piercing through clouds, growing brighter and brighter.
Mo Feng lowered his head to look