Chapter 226 Bing’er: But, I want… (3)
Yun Li’s heart gripped tightly momentarily, as he instantly understood Zhou Weiqing’s meaning. The Heaven’s Expanse Palace had obviously already sent an investigative team previously, no matter what Shangguan Longyin had said, and it must have been the elites of the young generation from the Heaven’s Expanse Palace. If even they had not been successful in their investigations, then Yun Li knew it would also be a difficult task for him. Furthermore, after entering the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm, their positions would all be random, and not placed together. As such, if there were any sudden dangers, they would have to deal with it on their own without help from their team. Zhou Weiqing was thinking of his safety after all.
Although he was rather unwilling to do so, in the end Yun Li nodded in agreement. As for Ma Qun and Crow, they were also disappointed about not being able to partic.i.p.ate, but they had no choice. After all, their cultivation level had not reached the required stage yet.
Shangguan Longyin waved his hands, and the Heaven’s Expanse Palace personnel moved forward to present those Battle Team members who were entering the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm with a set of Spatial Ring and l.u.s.tre Gem.
Nodding his head, Shangguan Longyin said: “In the Spatial Ring you just received, there is sufficient food and water for thirty days. Prepare yourselves now, the teleportation will now begin.” As he said that, he lifted his hand and nodded towards the ten Elders behind him.
Ten white figures moved as one immediately, as they moved backwards in a flash, disappearing into the thick mist.
The mist around the Heaven’s Expanse Palace slowly began to change colour, the original white taking on a faint silver hue as the energy reverberations of the Spatial Attribute grew stronger and more obvious.
The rich Heavenly Energy around gave all of them an extremely comfortable feeling, and the silver colour of the mist grew stronger and stronger. Slowly, the silver mist began to swirl around Shangguan Longyin’s body in a whirlwind.
Piercing silver light began to s.h.i.+ne forth from the centre of the whirlpool, and slowly the silver began to turn to gold from within the centre, as if a door was being opened. If one focused hard enough, they could almost sense that another world lay behind the gold light.
As the gateway to the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm was open, Zhou Weiqing subconsciously held onto Tian’er’s small hand. Both of them exchanged looks, and nothing else need to be said, as they instantly understood each other.
As for the three Shangguan Sisters, their gazes all landed on Zhou Weiqing, though the three sisters had different expressions.
Shangguan Xue’er was her usual icy cold self, as if expressionless. However, if one who knew her well examined her closely, they would be able to see a slight hint of envy in the depths of her eyes.
Shangguan Fei’er had her lips pursed, looking at Zhou Weiqing with unfriendly eyes, while Shangguan Bing’er’s eyes were gentle, without any reaction as looked at Zhou Weiqing holding onto Tian’er’s hand.
Abruptly, Shangguan Longyin shouted out loud: “You may enter now, hurry up! Remember, no matter what, do not risk yourselves unnecessarily. As soon as you discover anything isn’t right, immediately use the l.u.s.tre Gem to transport yourselves out…”
Zhou Weiqing, still holding onto Tian’er’s hand, was actually the first one to step forward. In a bright flash, both of them disappeared into the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm.
In a step, they entered the gold light. Instantly, both Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er felt an indescribable sense of freedom filling them, and the entire world around them turned illusory. Next, a ma.s.sive suction force began to pull upon their bodies, and in a swoosh, they felt as if they had moved an uncountable distance in a single instant.
Right at that moment, the immense force of the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm attempted to separate the two, but at the same time, Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er had been constantly keeping up the large Saint Energy whirlpool, and in that instant they circulated their Saint Energy to the greatest effect, unleas.h.i.+ng it around them.
With Shangguan Longyin’s warning, they naturally understood that entering the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm this time would not be an easy task, and they would have to face large troubles. Under such a circ.u.mstance, if they wanted to investigate clearly what had happened, safety was their paramount importance first. To ensure that, being together was also of critical importance. As a result, Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er had decided to give a try to see if they could still maintain their transport together.
The reason why Zhou Weiqing did not call upon the three Shangguan Sisters was not because they were on a different Battle Team, but because he did not have the confidence that this would work in the first place, let alone being able to protect so many others as well. However, if it were just him and Tian’er, that might be different.
As the large Saint Energy whirlpool churned rapidly, a layer of thick silver white light instantly encapsulated the couple. The rest of the world around them was still a misty gold hue, but as soon as the silver white light appeared, both Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er felt the dragging sensation on their bodies disappear at once.
Their judgement had been accurate after all. The Saint Energy was an Attribute that was above all others, and even with the extremely powerful Spatial Attribute power of the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm, it was unable to influence them under the protection of the Saint Energy. This was a total difference in stage.
…
In a flash, the world began to reappear around them.
Unlike the previous time they had entered the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm, this time Zhou Weiqing did not feel the sense of out-of-sorts discomfort. After all, not only was his cultivation level much higher than before, his body and ability to withstand pressure was also much stronger. More so, he was also much more familiar with the Spatial Attribute and the pressure, far beyond the state he had been in the previous time.
However, in the next instant, both Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er’s expressions changed.
The sensation of searing heat instantaneously overwhelmed their entire bodies. It had to be known that they were currently at the sixth and seventh Jeweled stages respectively, and ordinary high temperatures would not easily affect them. Furthermore, both their physiques were far tougher and stronger than any ordinary Heavenly Jewel Master, and for them to actually feel such heat, one could imagine the sheer temperature in the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm.
The truth of the matter was as bad as they had thought. As soon as the world came into clarity around the pair, both of them immediately saw a patch of hazy red in front of them.
Indeed, it was an entire hazy red. Besides red, in a short period of time, they actually could not see any other colours around.
Just around them, there were large amounts of trees which were burning up in violent flames, and all the smaller plants around were already dried and withered. All about them, they could see the earth was parched and even cracked. Terrifying Fire Attribute Heavenly Energy raged through the skies, wave after wave bringing the heat continuously, as if wanting to turn them into mere fuel.
Facing such an environment, though both Zhou Weiqing and Tian’er were surprised, it was still not sufficient to affect them much. Instantly, their Heavenly Energy released, forming a milky white s.h.i.+eld of light around them, forcefully cutting off the flames and temperature from affecting them.
Zhou Weiqing’s brow furrowed slightly and he said solemnly: “It looks like things have really gone seriously wrong in the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm.”
Tian’er nodded and said: “What do we do now? Which direction should we head?” Originally, she had planned to nag at Zhou Weiqing slightly once they were alone in the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm. However, from the way things looked, the situation would no longer allow her to do so.
Zhou Weiqing paused to think for a while, before he finally said: “Wait here a moment, I’ll fly up to have a quick look.”
Tian’er was caught by surprise, saying: “You want to fly up? Haven’t you forgotten what happened the last time?”
Zhou Weiqing gave a bitter smile and said: “We do not have much of a choice now with such an environment… While it might not be too harmful for us, it is just too difficult to navigate or find anything. Furthermore, since the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm has become like this, I am certain it has something to do with the dragons. Besides the two Dragons, who else would have such power to turn the entire l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm into an ocean of fire? I need to fly up to have a look, at least determine what is going on in the surroundings first before I can make any decisions.”
Tian’er nodded, convinced. However, she still said: “Alright then, but do be very careful. As soon as you think anything is amiss, use your Saint Energy to protect yourself.”
Nodding, Zhou Weiqing did not speak any further, instantly entering the Dragon-Tiger Transformation State. The wings behind his back unfurled, beating hard abruptly as he soared into the skies.
The vegetation in the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm were all extremely precious treasures. After all, it was obvious that such flames had been burning violently for much more than a day or two, yet the ‘fuel’ that these vegetation had become were still able to endure and hold on. Zhou Weiqing had to charge past a ma.s.sive patch of flames before he finally reached the skies.
However, as soon as his body burst through the canopy into the skies, he was immediately stunned by the sight before his eyes.
Fire. Fire everywhere. As far as his eyes could see, the entire l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm was completely immersed in red flames. Even stranger, although the flames were everywhere, there was no smoke at all. The thick Fire Attribute energies in the air seemed to repel the existence of any other attributes. The temperature in the skies was surprisingly even higher than that of the ground, as the blazing flames engulfed the entire air wave after wave, making it truly look like an ocean of flames.
Zhou Weiqing drew a deep breath. Facing such a situation, even he did not have any bright ideas left. All he could do was to attempt to find a direction to advance towards, and see what they could find.
Right at that moment, Zhou Weiqing’s expression abruptly changed as he suddenly felt an incomparable and terrifying spiritual pressure force down upon him.
Without any hesitation, the wings behind Zhou Weiqing’s back wrapped around his body. Around the wings, he poured in his Saint Energy without thought about wastage.
*Puuu* A soft sound rang out, as the flames around Zhou Weiqing’s body in a hundred zhang radius were instantly extinguished by the ma.s.sive blow, and his body plummeted down from the skies, smas.h.i.+ng down onto the ground in a moment.
“Dragon… it’s one of the dragons…” Zhou Weiqing gasped out instantly.
Tian’er rushed to his side, holding Zhou Weiqing’s hand as the pair quickly established the large Saint Energy whirlpool to help him recover.
“What happened?” Tian’er asked concernedly.
Zhou Weiqing replied: “I am certain that it was one of the Dragons who attacked me. Just now, a powerful spiritual blow sent me falling down. If I hadn’t used the Saint Energy to protect myself, perhaps I would have been severely injured just now…”
The Dragons were Heavenly G.o.d Tier powerhouses, and their strength was definitely far beyond what Zhou Weiqing or Tian’er could handle.
However, even as he spoke about that, Zhou Weiqing’s brow furrowed as he continued: “I still think something is amiss. Although that spiritual pressure was definitely from one of the Dragons, but I could sense that its spirit was filled with craziness… as if from deep within, wanting to destroy everything. Previously, when we entered the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm, even when their child was in trouble, they did not show any of such craziness. I am now absolutely certain that the core reason for the troubles of the l.u.s.tre Spatial Realm is because something happened to the Dragons.”
Tian’er also furrowed her brow, saying: “In that case, are we really going to look for them? It will be a huge risk… after all, in front of those Dragons, even if we have the l.u.s.tre Gem to teleport us back, it will still be a great danger. If we are not careful, we can be utterly destroyed even before we can activate it.”
Zhou Weiqing laughed heartily and said: “That might be true for others, but since we have the Saint Energy to protect us, at least it should grant us sufficient time to activate the l.u.s.tre Gem and escape. Come on, just now I sensed the direction from which the spiritual pressure came from. We might as well investigate right now. After all, previously we have helped the Dragons, and as long as they have some lucidity and senses left within them, we should still be able to communicate.”
Right at this moment, Tian’er was placing Zhou Weiqing at priority and as a leader. As a woman, she wanted to support her man no matter what he did, and not try to a.s.sert herself over him.