"Old You!"
Li Chen shouted with all his strength and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were bloodshot.
But he no longer had time to drown in weakness and grief. Several miles away, a black mass of demons had been startled by the tremendous explosion and was surging toward him like a tide.
They came with murderous fury and would soon rush upon him to devour him alive.
When that happened, his soaring ambitions and dreams of roaming the world would all turn to nothing in an instant.
The sole chance of survival that You An had painstakingly won for him, even at the cost of his life, would also be squandered.
Li Chen shook his head, bringing a little clarity back to his still-ringing mind.
An intense desire to survive drove him to struggle upright, and his exhausted strength seemed to return all at once.
"Yanji... move!"
Gritting his teeth, Li Chen circulated his power and recalled the Water Spider, which had been blown several dozen feet away. Then he climbed into the cockpit and drove it with everything he had.
At last, before the demons could encircle him again, the Water Spider soared into the air!
He flew on and on without regard for the cost. Only after nearly exhausting his spirit essence did he finally find a stone forest hidden from the demon army's sight and slip inside, shaking them off for the moment.
Utterly spent, Li Chen could hold on no longer. He landed the Water Spider atop a particularly thick stone pillar and climbed out of the cockpit. His vision went black, and he passed out.
An unknown amount of time later, Li Chen awoke to fierce hunger that burned like fire in his belly.
He struggled upright, pulled a water flask