The Soul Reaper Envoy's parting threat sounded like a horn calling for their encirclement. Almost the instant Su Yan and the others rushed out of the stone house, the entire End Times Cult outpost erupted like a kicked hornet's nest!
Piercing bone whistles tore through the dim yellow sky as countless black-robed cultists poured from their tents. Corrupted Netherworld creatures—the Crimson-eyed Soul Devouring Beasts, Yin soldiers in armor coated with black slime, and even more grotesquely twisted, indescribable monsters—closed in on them like a tidal wave from every corner of the camp! Cries of battle, monstrous roars, and the shriek of weapons cutting through the air instantly set this dead land ablaze.
"Break through to the east! The terrain is complicated there—there's a forest of jagged rocks!" Su Yan made his decision at once based on the rough map they had obtained earlier. To the east lay a field of rugged black stone pillars, far more suitable for maneuvering than the flat terrain in every other direction.
There was no time to hesitate. The four of them and their pet immediately shot eastward like an arrow. As he ran, Mo Hen hurled every [Smoke Bomb] and [Explosive Mechanism] he had behind them, trying to slow their pursuers. Thick black smoke and a string of explosions temporarily blocked some of the enemy's vision, but even more foes flanked them from both sides.
"[Lightning Talisman]!" Su Yan spun around, and a bolt of lightning exploded outward, turning several overly eager corrupted Yin soldiers into charred husks. Yet more enemies immediately filled the gap. Xing Xuan guarded Su Yan's side, its [Starlight Breath] sweeping out in a fan-shaped barrage. The silver-white breath inflicted significant damage on the End Times Cultists and corrupted creatures, but there were simply too many enemies, and its spiritual power was draining rapidly.
Bai Zhi expanded the aura of [Universal Salvation] to its fullest. Its gentle Buddhist light not only healed the health they lost from their rapid movement and scattered attacks, but also continuously purified the lost souls-type monsters that drew near. However, her own mana was also falling rapidly. Yun Ji continuously cast [Calming Talisman] and [Wind Control Talisman], steadying everyone's minds and slightly increasing their movement speed.
This was a grueling running battle. They could not stop; they could only keep moving forward, then farther forward, using every piece of cover they could find to evade bone arrows, Yin fireballs, and all manner of bizarre curse spells fired from every direction. Injuries began appearing within the group. After blocking several heavy blows in succession, Mo Hen's Mechanical Beast was completely wrecked. Su Yan's shoulder armor was grazed by a corrosive energy blast, sending searing pain through him. Several deep scratches had also appeared on Xing Xuan's beautiful shell.
Pressure! Unparalleled pressure! It was as though all the malice of the entire Netherworld had converged upon their tiny group.
Just as they were about to rush into the black stone forest, hoping to use the complicated terrain to catch their breath, a violent distortion of space suddenly appeared ahead! An invisible region filled with fine spatial cracks blocked their path—the [Chaotic Space Turbulence Belt]! This was a common and dangerous terrain feature in the Netherworld. Its spatial structure was extremely unstable; charging in recklessly could randomly teleport them away or even tear them to pieces!
Pursuers behind them, a dead end ahead!
"Are we trapped..." Mo Hen's expression darkened.
Su Yan clenched the Compass in his hand. Under such intense battle pressure and desperate circumstances, the Compass seemed to have been stimulated as well. Silver light flickered at an unprecedented frequency, and unnoticed by anyone, its restoration level quietly rose from 60% to 61%... 62%... before finally stabilizing at 65%! At the same time, a brand-new insight into the use of space flooded Su Yan's mind!
[Astral Shuttle] (Active): Channel the Power of Stars to perform a small-scale, short-range group spatial jump for a brief period. Consumes a large amount of spiritual power and Spiritual Power. Has a lengthy cooldown. (Effect is influenced by the Compass's restoration level and the user's strength.)
A glimmer of hope in the depths of despair!
"Follow me!" Su Yan had no time to think further. With a roar, he frantically poured his nearly exhausted spiritual power into the Compass! The Compass blazed with silver light, and a gentle membrane of light, seemingly woven from countless stars, instantly enveloped the four of them and their pet!
The next moment, their figures blurred and vanished from where they stood. Almost simultaneously, they reappeared a hundred meters away, on the other side of the Space Turbulence Belt!
"Pfft!" Su Yan, having forcibly activated his new ability, spat out a mouthful of blood. His face was white as paper, his Spiritual Power nearly drained dry. He staggered and nearly fell before Bai Zhi hurriedly supported him. Mo Hen and Yun Ji also felt intense dizziness from the spatial teleportation.
Meanwhile, the pursuers crashed into the Space Turbulence without warning. In an instant, more than a dozen cultists and monsters were torn apart by invisible spatial forces or teleported to places unknown, throwing the forces behind them into chaos.
"We made it!" Mo Hen was both shocked and delighted.
However, before they could even catch their breath, a low, majestic voice carrying the weight of the entire Netherworld slithered into the depths of everyone's minds like an icy venomous snake:
"Not a bad trick... The struggles of ants always bring a little amusement."
It was the Netherworld Palace Lord!
His voice carried no emotion whatsoever, yet it contained powerful Mental Pollution. The group's minds, which had only just relaxed after their escape, tightened again. It felt as if a pair of invisible eyes hung high above the dim yellow sky, coldly watching their every move.
"Enjoy this final game. When the 'Core of the Fallen God' fully awakens and connects to the 'Well of Guixu,' this filthy old world shall receive its final 'purification.' And you... will be the first sacrifices to witness this glorious moment."
The Core of the Fallen God! So that was what they called the "Rule Tumor"! And it was about to connect with the Well of Guixu!
The news sent a chill through everyone's hearts. Their earlier suspicions had been confirmed. The End Times Cult's objective was far more insane than they had imagined!
The Palace Lord's voice was like a nightmare, echoing through their minds from time to time, trying to break their will with all manner of twisted words as it painted the "beautiful scenery" of the world's end. They had no choice but to devote part of their focus to guarding their minds against the pervasive Mental Pollution.
They were forced to make their way painstakingly along the edge of the stone forest and the Space Turbulence Belt. The environment here was extraordinarily dangerous. Spatial cracks appeared and vanished unpredictably, while the ground occasionally collapsed into dark pits leading to unknown depths. Even stranger Netherworld creatures adapted to this environment lurked nearby.
But pressure was also motivation. In this desperate struggle on the brink of life and death, the team's potential was further unleashed.
Bai Zhi discovered that when she recited the Rebirth Incantation with all her strength, she could not only deliver the lost souls twisted by the Power of the End and let them rest in peace, but could also draw a faint yet pure power of compassionate vows from their dispersal to nourish herself. Her Buddhist arts became more condensed, and her ability to adapt to the Netherworld environment improved slightly as well.
Mo Hen's most heavily damaged scouting Mechanical Beast underwent an unexpected mutation after absorbing too much scattered Netherworld Death Qi. Its shell became coated in a faint, dark layer that could absorb Yin energy. It moved even more silently, and its resistance to Netherworld Energy increased. Although its attack power had not changed, its survival and scouting capabilities greatly improved. Mo Hen jokingly called it the "Shadow Scout."
Yun Ji began trying out new talisman arts. She combined Mount Fangcun's [Soul Suppressing Talisman] with the Netherworld's Yin energy, creating the [Mystic Yin Soul Suppressing Talisman]. Once activated, this talisman formed a small-scale field of extreme cold. It could not only effectively freeze undead creatures in place, but also disrupt the energy circulation of End Times Cultists. Its effect was astonishingly good.
Even Xing Xuan, after devouring the core of a [Shadow Demon] made of pure negative energy that had tried to ambush them, let out a disdainful belch and spat out a wisp of pure starlight. Through the Soul Link, it sent Su Yan a vague thought: Tastes awful... Power of Stars tastes better. This little incident brought a rare moment of levity to the tense atmosphere, and it also made Su Yan realize that Xing Xuan seemed capable of purifying its own power by devouring certain kinds of energy.
Relying on the Compass's crucial [Astral Shuttle] and the various potentials the team had unleashed in desperate circumstances, they danced along the blade's edge. Again and again, they narrowly avoided encirclement by large enemy forces, dealt with small ambush squads, and advanced with difficulty yet determination toward Yin Soul Ravine, marked on the map and also the direction from which the Compass sensed the Core of the Fallen God's pollution.
They knew this so-called "game" was both the Palace Lord's cat-and-mouse torment and an open scheme to wear down their strength. But they had no way back.
The pursuers behind them still clung to them like shadows, and the whispers in their minds never ceased. Ahead lay deeper darkness and unknown dangers.
This deadly race through the heart of the Netherworld was far from over.
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