Chapter 645: Buried
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Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Even if Tan Bingxiu’s physical body had died, and even if the other two peak-stage Combined Aperture Tempering realm pract.i.tioners had died as well, this formation would still have been activated after Master Haiyue’s departure, to be executed by other Combined Aperture Tempering realm pract.i.tioners from the Fallen Heaven Pavilion.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, pract.i.tioners in the Mountain Sea realms would have disdained fighting with those in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm. Even if they had faced Combined Aperture Tempering realm peak-stage pract.i.tioners, this sentiment would have remained.
Master Haiyue was solitary by nature and was even more unwilling to engage in such matters.
However, the Fallen Heaven Pavilion could not have left all outcomes to the preferences of their opponents. It would have been preferable if Master Haiyue had not taken action. Even if he had killed all three Combined Aperture Tempering realm peak-stage pract.i.tioners from the Fallen Heaven Pavilion before leaving, the formation would still have been activated.
Sensing the changes on the periphery of the Fallen Heaven Pavilion, Gu Danying and the others’ expressions had changed abruptly. They had been about to forcibly kill Tan Bingxiu and the other two, only to find that their figures had already disappeared.
Not only Tan Bingxiu, but the surroundings had also undergone drastic changes. In almost the blink of an eye, the world had transformed.
In the secret chamber, Chen Fei had just stored away the jade bottle in his hand when he had felt the trembling of the world’s vital energy. Almost instinctively, Chen Fei had activated his innate talent for shifting.
However, when Chen Fei appeared outside the secret chamber, he found that the surroundings had already changed drastically. The entire sky was hazy gray, and this was not the Fallen Heaven Pavilion. All the original buildings of the Fallen Heaven Pavilion had disappeared without a trace.
Not a single one of the numerous Combined Aperture Tempering realm pract.i.tioners could be seen now.
Out on the boundless sea, the Haiyue Cave Mansion descended from the sky, instantly shattering the newly risen formation. However, within the Fallen Heaven Pavilion, there was now not a soul to be found.
Not only the attackers from Thousand Feathers City, but even the disciples of the Fallen Heaven Pavilion had vanished completely.
In all directions around the Fallen Heaven Pavilion, the Combined Aperture Tempering realm pract.i.tioners who had been tasked with preventing the disciples from escaping now faced each other in bewilderment. They had not expected such a turn of events in what had seemed like an almost foolproof extermination.
Under the hazy night sky, Chen Fei looked up at the blood moon above. The Heavenly Eye on his forehead continued to flicker, revealing that the blood moon was merely a projection, not a physical ent.i.ty.
A strand of sword energy appeared at Chen Fei’s fingertips, but it dissipated rapidly upon manifestation. Not only that, the elemental energy within Chen Fei’s body was rapidly draining away, and attempts to draw in the surrounding vital energy proved futile.
Chen Fei’s figure flickered and landed directly in a mountain hollow. In the brief moment of suspension just now, the rate of elemental energy consumption within Chen Fei’s body had increased exponentially.
Though he could still perceive the vital energy of the world, Chen Fei found that the vital energy here was much richer than in most places within the Thousand Feathers Alliance.
However, no matter how Chen Fei tried to manipulate it, the vital energy remained unmoved, as if it had a will of its own, refusing to obey any commands.
The Profound Heavenly Sword spun rapidly within Chen Fei’s body, slightly slowing down the loss of elemental energy that had been occurring. However, it was still difficult to halt the dissipation of elemental energy within his body.
Even comprehension of techniques at the Great Completion stage was unable to stop the loss of elemental energy.
At this moment, Chen Fei felt like he was in the middle of an ocean, with himself being a drop of ink continuously diluted by the surrounding seawater. Techniques could only slow down this dilution, but they couldn’t completely stop it.
“What place is this exactly?”
Chen Fei looked around, unable to call upon the vital energy of the world, which carried a bone-chilling coldness within it. This coldness felt eerie, much stronger than the usual sense of eeriness.
Martial artists could refine and a.s.similate Evil energies, although it was somewhat troublesome, it was indeed achievable.
But now, the vital energy of the world seemed to have turned into stubborn rocks, unmoving. As the elemental energy within his body continued to drain away, the icy sensation spread throughout his body.
Below the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, in such an environment, it was not certain death, but survival would indeed become extremely difficult. Even for Combined Aperture Tempering realm pract.i.tioners, once their bodies lacked elemental energy, their physical strength would weaken gradually.
As time pa.s.sed, the consequences became increasingly unpredictable!
Chen Fei formed hand seals with both hands, and his body trembled violently with the intense suction force, drawing all the elemental energy from his surroundings into his Combined Aperture Tempering realm.
“I can only address the symptoms. After a battle, the elemental energy within the Combined Aperture Tempering realm will also be depleted.”
Chen Fei lowered his head and sensed the Qiankun Bag. There seemed to be spatial barriers, but the contents within, including elemental energy and spiritual essence, remained intact.
Therefore, relying on the elemental stones or pills inside the Qiankun Bag, he could sustain several battles. However, due to the surrounding environment, the elemental stones would likely be rapidly drained once taken out.
Even pills would be plundered by the surroundings during internal refinement.
The effectiveness of both the elemental stones and pills would probably be only a fraction of their usual potency.
“Is this the final secret of the Fallen Heaven Pavilion?”
Many couldn’t fathom the reason for the Fallen Heaven Pavilion’s betrayal. Perhaps all the reasons lay within this peculiar s.p.a.ce.
When Chen Fei’s Heavenly Eye scanned the area just now, he didn’t see the boundaries of this s.p.a.ce. Clearly, this s.p.a.ce encompa.s.sed an area of at least a hundred miles, if not larger.
“Whew!”
A sudden chill swept in with the wind, and faintly, it seemed like voices were echoing in Chen Fei’s ears, melancholic yet expressive.
Chen Fei turned his head to look behind him, where a red figure flashed by. In this dreary environment, the red attire stood out glaringly.
The sky began to rain, starting off small but quickly escalating into a torrential downpour. The chill in the rainwater was even more intense, several times worse than before. Even with Chen Fei’s physique, he felt the cold penetrating to his very marrow.
Suddenly, a piece of paper floated past Chen Fei’s eyes. Upon closer inspection, it was not just any paper but paper money.
And with the appearance of one piece, more and more followed, rainwater mixed with paper, falling around Chen Fei.
Not far away, a procession seemed to appear, accompanied by the sound of music and suona. The procession swayed slowly, as if carrying a heavy load, steadily making its way towards Chen Fei.
The surrounding chill intensified, permeating not just his bones but his entire being, inside and out, enveloping him constantly. Even his mind began to feel heavy and dull.
“Sir, care to accompany me?”
A soft voice sounded in Chen Fei’s ear. Somehow, a cold hand had rested on Chen Fei’s shoulder, its touch so icy it seemed to freeze the heart.
Yet, deep within his subconscious, he found himself tempted to accept the offer.
The conflicting tearing sensation threatened to shatter his mind.
“Chi!”
Chen Fei thrust the blade behind him, even though the sword he used at the moment was just a low-grade magical weapon, devoid of elemental energy.
But with Chen Fei’s current physical strength, the attack with the sword was still remarkably powerful.
It was like a red-hot blade piercing through b.u.t.ter, emitting a smell of burnt flesh.
However, there was no sharp cry coming from behind. Chen Fei frowned slightly, looking down at his abdomen, where a large wound had appeared at some point.
The wound was messy with flesh and blood, staining the surrounding clothes. Chen Fei felt no pain, only a chilling sensation as if his organs were being frozen.
“Sir, care to accompany me?”
The voice behind him grew softer, but the coldness on the hand resting on his shoulder became even more terrifying. The distant sound of suona became more fervent, and the paper money falling from the sky increased.
Feeling drowsy and lethargic in his consciousness, Chen Fei almost succ.u.mbed to sleep.
With a slight movement of his gaze, Chen Fei disappeared from the spot.
Dozens of miles away, Chen Fei’s figure emerged, turning to look at his shoulder. It was now pitch black, but Chen Fei felt no pain, not even a sensation, as if he had lost all feeling.
The wound on his abdomen, initially messy with flesh and blood, now began to decay and turn black directly. The surrounding vital energy, resembling stubborn rocks, remained motionless despite Chen Fei’s attempts to call upon it earlier.
Now that Chen Fei was injured, the surrounding vital energy suddenly became active, surging towards him. However, these vital energies were not here to heal but to exacerbate Chen Fei’s injuries.
Not only did the injuries on his flesh worsen, but Chen Fei could also feel the increasing chaos in his mind as the injuries deteriorated.
The vital energy around him seemed poisonous, and any contact with it would result in self-harm.
Although Chen Fei’s physique was strong, compared to the immense vital energy, he was undoubtedly much weaker.
His Combined Aperturesbegan to tremble, and pure elemental energy flowed out, rushing towards his abdomen.
A foul and chilling odor emanated from the flesh and blood. As the elemental energy continued to cleanse, the blackened flesh began to regain its normal color, and the black mark on Chen Fei’s shoulder began to fade away.
After a moment, Chen Fei’s powerful regenerative abilities began to take effect. The abdominal wound gradually healed, then returned to its original state, and there were no abnormalities on his shoulder.
If it were in the Boundless Sea, Chen Fei’s previous injury, which had not truly affected his vital organs, would have healed in an instant.
But now, in this place, not only was the healing slower, but thirty percent of his elemental energy had also been directly consumed.
Chen Fei had originally estimated that the elemental energy within his body could endure a battle. However, upon rea.s.sessment, any slightly intense battle would suffice to completely deplete his elemental energy just to maintain his injuries without worsening.
While Chen Fei had a considerable quant.i.ty of elemental stones and high-grade third-tier pills in his Qiankun Bag, at this rate of consumption, no matter how many elemental stones and pills he had, they would not support him for long.
“I must find a way out! Unfortunately, the talent for shifting can only be used to move to un.o.bstructed areas. In this kind of spatial barrier, it’s impossible to forcefully leave, and even shifting into it is prohibited.”
Chen Fei frowned, scanning the surroundings with his Heavenly Eye. He chose a direction, stepped back with his right foot, and disappeared from the spot.
“At this rate, our situation is dire!”
“We must find the others!”
In a dense forest, two individuals tread cautiously: an elderly man and a slightly younger one.
They had already noticed the anomaly in the vital energy of the world and the dissipation of elemental energy within their bodies. However, compared to Chen Fei, who could draw the elemental energy into his Combined Apertures without further loss, these two individuals undoubtedly lagged behind.
Even though the elemental energy had been concentrated into the Combined Apertures at this moment, it was still slowly dissipating.
“There’s a tomb over there!” The younger Combined Aperture Tempering realm pract.i.tioner pointed ahead and spoke softly.
The old man’s footsteps involuntarily halted for a moment. He didn’t rush forward but instead fixed his gaze on the soil mound ahead.
As the old man concentrated his elemental energy into his eyes, the tomb became clearer.
In front of the tomb stood a stele with several lines of distorted writing, including the name of the tomb’s owner.
Seeing the name, the old man was startled because it was the same as his own!