Across the bridge was probably a temporary lair for evil creatures. Several late-stage True Qi Realm creatures were patrolling back and forth across it.
"Go around?" Su Muxue asked quietly.
"We can't. This is the only way through. There are spatial rifts on both sides."
Lin Ye's expression was grave. "At least they haven't found the secret passage exit yet. We'll strike without warning, quickly take out the creatures patrolling the bridge, then rush across and use the ruins on the other side to evade them. From there, we'll head straight for the shelter."
"How many creatures are on the bridge?"
"Three late-stage, two mid-stage."
Chen Feng looked at Lin Ye. "Should we use the crystal's energy?"
"No. The crystal would make too much noise and only attract even more terrifying creatures. We'll catch them off guard and finish this quickly."
"Okay!"
Lin Ye took a deep breath and suppressed his aura to its lowest point.
After glancing at Su Muxue and Chen Feng, who were ready to move, he suddenly shot forward, lunging straight for the mid-stage True Qi Realm shadow creature with its back to the secret passage exit!
His sword flashed with blinding speed, stabbing straight into the creature's shadowy core!
Su Muxue followed close behind. With a light sweep of her sword, several frigid streaks of Sword Qi shot ahead and instantly enveloped the three creatures with the strongest auras.
Chen Feng let out a furious roar and swung his broken sword at another mid-stage creature, its blade wrapped in all the blood energy in his body.
"Roar—!"
The sudden ambush threw all five creatures into disarray.
The one Lin Ye had targeted barely managed a single howl before the sword light pierced its core. Its shadow scattered, turning into a wisp of black smoke that Lin Ye absorbed on the spot.
Chen Feng's strike didn't kill his opponent outright, but it sent the creature flying.
Furious, the three late-stage creatures forcibly broke free of Su Muxue's Sword Qi restraints. As they counterattacked, they let out a shrill, piercing alarm toward the far end of the bridge.
"Move!"
As soon as Lin Ye spoke, a terrifying Hua Yuan Realm pressure erupted from the ruins across the bridge!
A massive, hideous shadow wielding a giant shadow battle axe burst out of the ground, its violent aura sweeping toward them—
The shadow axe tore through the air, bearing the distinctive suppressive force of the Hua Yuan Realm as it came crashing down on Lin Ye!
Too fast, too powerful!
At the instant the blade was upon him, Lin Ye kicked off the ground. His body shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, narrowly scraping past the side of the axe blade.
"Lin Ye!" Su Muxue cried out.
At the critical moment, a thread of dark-gold Sword Qi, fine as a strand of hair, shot out and struck the creature's core with pinpoint accuracy!
"Pfft—"
A soft sound, like a bubble bursting.
The dark-gold Sword Qi bored deep inside and went on a frenzied rampage.
The battle axe frozen above the creature's head, its enormous battle-soul body shuddered violently.
"No—!!"
Its voice, dripping with venomous hatred, cut off abruptly.
The next moment, it exploded!
The shadow battle soul shattered completely. A violent shock wave sent broken stones flying, and cracks raced across the ground.
Lin Ye bore the brunt of it, blasted away as his blood and qi churned.
That single strike had nearly drained the last of his True Qi. The extreme concentration also left his mind swimming.
"That explosion must've drawn every creature in the area!"
Lin Ye forced himself up and shouted.
The three of them didn't dare linger. They plunged into the ruins ahead.
But the moment they entered, low growls rang out from every direction. Countless shadow creatures poured from the crumbling walls and rubble, hemming them in layer by layer.
"Don't get bogged down! Push through!"
Lin Ye charged ahead, the Star-Shattering Sword sweeping out a dark-gold curtain of light that shredded the creatures in their path. Su Muxue and Chen Feng kept close on either side. Like a sharp blade, the three of them tore a bloody path through the encirclement.
"A mass of creatures is closing in from the left!"
"Turn right! Into the alley!"
The narrow alley limited how many creatures could attack at once, but their pursuers clung to them like shadows, and creatures kept leaping down from the walls.
As the fighting dragged on, the three of them grew slower and slower.
"If we keep wasting time like this, we'll all die here!" Chen Feng panted, hacking apart a lizard-shaped creature that sprang at him.
Just then, Lin Ye's eyes lit up. "There's light ahead. It should be the exit!"
"Go!"
Summoning their last reserves of strength, the three raced to the end of the alley. But the sight before them made their hearts sink.
At the alley's end yawned a bottomless spatial chasm.
The safe land marked on the map lay on the other side, but the stone bridge connecting the two had long since broken in half.
"The bridge is broken!" Chen Feng's face turned ashen.
Su Muxue's voice tightened. "Can we fly across?"
"Use this!"
Lin Ye suddenly remembered the emergency short-distance teleportation technique recorded on the scroll. It required an Earth Vein Crystal to activate.
"Quick, gather around. Hold hands and don't let go!"
He took out the crystal and rapidly traced the teleportation runes with his fingertips.
The formation would take time to complete. They absolutely couldn't let it be interrupted.
"They're coming!"
Su Muxue and Chen Feng immediately stood back to back, shielding Lin Ye.
A tide of shadow creatures surged toward them. Seeing the three with nowhere left to run, they let out excited roars.
"Kill!"
The two roared and charged forward, Sword Qi and shadows colliding with a thunderous crash.
But there were simply too many creatures. In moments, the two were forced back step by step, their feet inching toward the edge of the chasm.
"Lin Ye! Hurry! We can't hold out much longer!"
Chen Feng roared.
"Grab on!"
Lin Ye's low shout rang out.
The dark-gold crystal in his hand suddenly blazed with dazzling light! A thick pillar of dark-gold radiance shot out from it, instantly enveloping the three huddled together!
A force that twisted space and tore at them surged over.
"Vmmm—!!!"
The pillar of dark-gold light carried the three of them away, and they vanished from the edge of the chasm at the end of the alley.
"Roar—!!!"
The tide of creatures, left grasping at empty air, roared furiously and rushed to the edge of the chasm, but could only watch helplessly...
At the edge of another shattered landmass, several hundred zhang away.
Dark-gold light flared, and the three stumbled into view on a desolate stretch of ground.
"Thump!" "Thump!"
Su Muxue and Chen Feng could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground, their faces pale as paper. The teleportation had taken its toll, too. The spatial tearing had only made their injuries worse.
Lin Ye also dropped to one knee, using the Star-Shattering Sword to prop himself up so he wouldn't collapse.
"Where are we?" Chen Feng asked, lifting his head with difficulty.
The barren ground stretched around them, with rolling hills faintly visible in the distance. The aura here seemed even more desolate than in the ruins they had just left.
Lin Ye forced himself to his feet, took out the map scroll, and quickly compared it with the surrounding terrain.
After a moment, he pointed toward the dark-red hills in the distance.
"That should be the Molten Wasteland marked on the map. Beyond those hills is a temporary shelter—the Wind-Erosion Canyon."
"We have to get there as soon as possible. The aura of the creatures here is faint, but that teleportation made quite a commotion. We may have disturbed something."
He looked at the two collapsed on the ground, then at the dimly glowing crystal in his hand and the heavy injuries weighing down his own body.
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