Blood covered Lin Meng’s face. She looked sad, as if she had lost her son. Slowly, an extreme hatred emerged in her pupils.
She had stashed those pellets for hundreds of years. If it weren’t the critical moment, she would never waste them. However, she had spat out one-third of the pellets she swallowed. They were all Sacred Grade medicines she had collected for so many years. They were the treasures of the Pure Land.
She hadn"t absorbed the energy from the pellets yet, and she was walloped enough to make her vomit them out. It was a slap on her face which struck dozens of times. It was so hard to press such pain and rage.
Lin Meng felt as if she wanted to burst out crazy.
However, what got on her nerves badly was the disconnection between her and the Original Universe Returning Cauldron.
At this moment, s.h.i.+ Yan, Yang Tian Emperor, and the others were swarming towards her. They were about to risk their lives against her.
Without the Original Universe Returning Cauldron, she couldn’t depend on her realm to perform the subtle attacks. Now, she could only depend on the remaining energy in her body.
However, she had just swallowed the pellets, and hadn"t absorbed the energy from them yet. At this moment, her power was weakest!
s.h.i.+ Yan’s group had seized the chance. They didn’t hesitate to attack her maliciously.
Different miraculous powers that looked like different halos covered Lin Meng’s pet.i.te body shortly. She was like a leaf boat in the seething ocean. Dangers were everywhere, and the seawater could devour her at any minute.
Nie Ruo had experienced the challenge of the thirty-six Exterminating Caves again. After he could finally get rid of the Mara, he was physically and mentally exhausted.
Just like that year, he was tired out like a panting dog. His vitality was worn out. He collapsed at the entrance of the caves.
Thirty-six ghostly spirits of the Ghostly Spirit sword were releasing their evil energy constantly to supplement his consumed energy.
Typically, he always supplied his blood and flesh to these thirty-six ghostly spirits. If this case happened, it was only in one situation – he had no Essence Qi anymore.
To break that mental challenge, he had to spend a b.l.o.o.d.y price.
When Lin Meng got rid of her challenge, she had consumed two-thirds of her energy, and her soul got hurt. In his case, he lost it all! The Essence Qi halo in his body disappeared completely, with nothing remaining. Even his soul was like a dried well. Seemed like his soul was about to vanish.
He was lucky that he had spent so many years to feed the thirty-six ghostly spirits with his blood and flesh. At the most critical moment, this divine weapon started to give him back part of power he had contributed to them.
Nie Ruo stood up, getting into the South Gate.
At first glance, he saw Lin Meng with blood covering her face. The Original Universe Returning Cauldron seemed to have turned into an unowned object. It was floating above her, but it couldn"t help her with anything.
Nie Ruo’s heart sank. He revealed his fright for the first time.
s.h.i.+ Yan... Was he really that dangerous?
Lin Meng was the strongest among them. Looking at her distressed appearance, he understood that she had endured hards.h.i.+ps. What was that kid’s profile? How could he do that?"
Nie Ruo suddenly regretted. He regretted that he didn’t put Lie Feng’s reminder in mind, and was so stubborn with his idea.
Lie Feng was his disciple. However, Lie Feng"s experience was totally different from his. That kid was an inborn genius of the Devil Valley. Lie Feng"s natural endowment was several times better than his. His sensibility was somehow really precise. Also, he was lucky enough that he had met almost no obstacles on his cultivating way.
From deep in his heart, he was jealous of this disciple, because the way he had taken to become the master of the Devil Valley was full of dangers at each step.
More importantly, Lie Feng had a unique point of view towards a situation. Later on, the reality proved his a.s.sumptions were all correct.
This was different from Nie Ruo. It seemed each decision he made was correct. However, it often turned out badly with many troubles.
Lie Feng used to tell him that s.h.i.+ Yan wasn’t an easy opponent. In the future, this guy might become the overlord of a place in the Divine Great Land. He could surpa.s.s Lin Meng soon.
But, he didn"t believe him.
Nie Ruo had always had troubles during his whole life. That was why he hated the innate talents, including Lie Feng, the disciple he favored the most!
However, the situation was going on the track his disciple had predicted. He figured out sorrowfully that he was wrong again.
He was grudging!
He wanted to overturn this mess!
He wanted to prove that growing through challenges for many years like he"d done was the experience the warrior should have. It should be the natural trend of the martial path.
That was why he stormed forward immediately. He wanted to help Lin Meng overturn the whole sky to prove himself, to prove that his efforts during his whole life were correct. He didn’t believe in ‘inborn talents.’ He believed that Mother Nature was fair to everybody.
Seeing the situation going on the track of his thought, s.h.i.+ Yan calmed down. However, Nie Ruo appearing here had broken his calm mind.
s.h.i.+ Yan slightly changed his visage, shouting. "Nie Ruo comes! Take Lin Meng down for me!"
Yang Tian Emperor’s group tried their best. They didn’t dare to hesitate, nor were they afraid of getting hurt. Their attacks became more furious.
Outside the city…
Yun Hao, Yu Wan Jiang, and the others were watching the battle in the city center. They became grimmer as they felt something wrong.
According to common sense, if the pagans were gazing at them, he and Yu Wan Jiang should have sensed something.
But it wasn’t like that.
He and Yu Wan Jiang had some surveying secret treasures. They always paid attention to any movement from a thousand miles away. However, up till now, they hadn’t detected the alien tribes’ direction of movement.
"Something’s strange. Why can’t we see the pagans coming? When Yan Ke and Wen Di got here, they told us that the alien tribes were marching towards the Perpetual Night Forest, didn’t they?" Yu Wan Jiang couldn’t help but frown.
Yun Hao had soon sensed something strange. Hearing him, he replied quickly, "Did you feel anything?"
"No," Yu Wan Jiang shook his head.
Although the pagans didn’t come, they couldn’t cheer up. Quite the contrary, their moods were much heavier than before.
This meant... something has gone beyond their control. Seeing a situation they couldn’t control, everybody would feel tense and anxious.
Suddenly, a strident screech came out from Yu Wan Jiang’s sleeve.
Yu Wan Jiang’s face changed dramatically. He put the other hand into the sleeve, as if he were trying to listen to something.
His face suddenly became dark and gloomy.
"What’s going on?" Yun Hao was frightened.
"They blocked the entrance to the Ice and Fire Secret Domain!" Yu Wan Jiang couldn"t endure it. His voice trembled. "The hotshots of the alien tribes! They didn"t try to break in, but they have sealed the Ice and Fire Secret Domain. We... can"t go back!"
Yun Hao’s face was ash-gray. He shouted, "How could it be? Only Human Clan knows the entrance to the Ice and Fire Secret Domain. How could the pagans spot it out?"
Yu Wan Jiang suddenly thought of a possibility, then shuddered.
"Some of us have been with the pagans beforehand!" Yun Hao said ahead of him. His heart sank as he scratched his head in distress. "d.a.m.n it! Someone is so shameless. Didn’t they know that it isn’t different from ma.s.sacring the entire humanity?"
"Fish mingles with dragons in our group. We have many types of people. Many have joined us from different corners of the Divine Great Land. When the pagans attacked them, in a situation where they couldn’t avoid death, using their lives to entice them is possible," said Yu Wan Jiang miserably.
"Old Long!" Yun Hao suddenly shouted. "Old Long"s right! He"s right! Our Ice and Fire Secret Domain isn"t safe enough. It can"t ensure the everlasting flame of our Human Clan!"
Yu Wan Jiang was struck. He seemed to comprehend the whole picture shortly.
"They’re still fighting! They’re still fighting!" Yun Hao’s mood was agitated to the acme. "Old Long was right! I know he’s always right! We’re wrong! It’s us who made the wrong decision! d.a.m.n it! Lin Meng’s team is still besotted. How could we continue this fight?"
"We should get into the city. If s.h.i.+ Yan knows the situation, perhaps... he will accept us," said Yu Wan Jiang. "In the Perpetual Night Forest today, only this place can be considered a line of defense. The entrance of the Ice and Fire Secret Domain is blocked. If the traitors support the pagans, they will enter the domain shortly. People who stay there can only be dead or enslaved."
Yun Hao was dumbstruck.
"d.a.m.n! The alien tribes have blocked the entrance!" Xue Mu from the seven ancient factions shouted in fright. His face was distorted in distress.
While they were looking at the city center, many people of that crowd who wanted to kill s.h.i.+ Yan had received the news. They faced the sky and yelled. Their hearts were all cold and desperate.
Everybody knew what it meant!
The Ice and Fire Secret Domain was the root of their survival. It was the safest area in the Divine Great Land. Because of having this safe base, the Human Clan dared to resist the alien tribes, as they weren’t afraid that the pagans could extinguish their flame of hope!
However, the entrance was occupied at this moment.
Only Human Clan’s members knew where the entrance was. And, they had set up many barriers to prevent intruders. Unless it was one of them, other people would never find it.
They knew what this meant.
There were some traitors in their organization! Someone had submitted to the pagans, the spoiled humans who had joined the alien tribes to eradicate the Human Clan!
These people deserved more hatred than s.h.i.+ Yan’s group, as they wanted to uproot the base of humanity!
"What should we do?"
"What to do?"
"What should we do?"
Anxious voices bloomed among the big crowd. Everybody was scared. They felt the helpless and desperate feeling for the first time in this calamity.
At this moment, no one could stay calm. No one was completely fearless. No one was still confident.
Their families and friends still stayed in the Ice and Fire Secret Domain. When the pagans intruded the domain, would they have the fighting will to counter?
Who dared to attack when his wife and children were hostages? How many people wouldn’t care about their families?
Even if they could fight, would they win? Could they stay alive from the attack of the five great alien tribes? Deep despair appeared in their eyes. At this moment, they finally recognized what kind of a sh*tty decision they had made.