As the floating continent continued to crack and sink, all of the people who were stranded on the continent became rattled.
Dong Li’s expression flickered as she watched Qin Yan shoot up into the sky and then bounce back down to the earth.
“What happened, Qin Yan?" Dong Li hastily asked.
“I can’t get out!” Qin Yan raised her hand to point at the void and said very anxiously, “That ward is not only stopping the others from entering, but it’s also stopping me from leaving.”
A shocked expression even appeared on Pei Qiqi’s face as she heard these words.
“My great grandfather and those from your clan are all gathered above there.” Qin Yan sounded increasingly anxious. “But none of them did anything, but instead watched me fall back down. It goes without saying that they must have tried to come down here, but that ward stopped them.”
“c.r.a.p...” At this moment, not a smidgen of a smile could be seen on Dong Li’s face anymore.
Qin Yan’s gaze suddenly landed on Nie Tian, who was still sitting quietly in the lotus position, as if his expression wouldn’t flicker in the slightest even under the weight of Mount Tai. She turned to look at Nie Tian and shouted with her stern but charming voice, “He’s the one who uncovered the mysteries of this place and caused these changes. We’ll probably have to rely on him to get out of here!”
She had to admit that Nie Tian seemed to be the only one who would be able to save them.
Dong Li and Pei Qiqi’s gazes followed hers and also landed on Nie Tian.
At this moment, Nie Tian was still sitting unwavering, and the branches before him were still translucent like emeralds and s.h.i.+ning with misty light.
His mind seemed to still be wandering in some mysterious realm among the formation of branches before him, completely unaware of the upheaval taking place in reality.
If they forcibly woke Nie Tian at this point, it might disrupt his contemplation, therefore stopping him from obtaining any precious insight from this place.
But if they didn’t, every one of them would fall into the gray mist along with the whole continent. Probably none of them would survive.
Since a Profound realm expert from the Ice Pavilion Sect had entered the boundless mist and never returned, what would their odds be?
While Dong Li and Pei Qiqi wrestled with their dilemmas, the earth under their feet shook harder and harder.
One sky-reaching ancient tree after another fell and sank down as the floating continent gradually shattered.
“Big Sister Qin Yan!”
Feng Ying’s sobbing cry rang out from the distance.
Her slender figure constantly flashed about as she dashed through the cracking ground towards where they were.
After she finally rushed over and caught sight of the seventy-two sparkling branches before Nie Tian, she immediately realized who Qin Yan had been talking about earlier.
“Are you alright?” Qin Yan asked.
Tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g from her eyes, Feng Ying shook her head repeatedly. “I can’t get out of here!”
She had recognized the unfavorable situation as soon as she heard the loud rumbles from the earth, and thus tried to leave like Qin Yan had.
She knew perfectly well that some people had entered the dense, gray mist under the floating continent and never come back out, and all of those people had higher cultivation bases than hers.
Hence, she knew that once she fell into the dense, gray mist with the floating continent, her death would be certain.
“Don’t panic. There will be a way for us to get out.” Qin Yan did her best to comfort her. Immediately afterwards, she turned to look at Dong Li and Pei Qiqi and asked with a grim expression, “What are you still waiting for? If we don’t do something soon, and wait till we fall into the depths of that gray mist, none of us will survive! If you’re not going to wake him, I will!”
With these words, the gaze she used to look at Nie Tian gradually changed.
She knew very well that Dong Li and Pei Qiqi wouldn’t want to ruin Nie Tian’s fortune by waking him in the middle of his contemplation.
However, she also knew that everyone on this continent would die if they kept hesitating.
FIZZ! FIZZ!
One glowing spatial blade after another appeared over Qin Yan’s head, every one of them pointing at her.
At the same time, Pei Qiqi stepped forward and stood between Qin Yan and Nie Tian. She stared at Qin Yan and said, the look in her eyes fierce like a sharp blade, “I dare you to make another move.”
“Pei Qiqi! Do you think I’m scared of you!?” Qin Yan shouted furiously.
Off to the side, Feng Ying stood aghast, and then looked blankly at Nie Tian, puzzlement filling her face.
Nie Tian, who was now using the name Mu Han, didn’t seem impressive, and she had never heard of his name before.
But who was he?
Why would Pei Qiqi go to war with Sister Qin Yan just to protect him?
Sister Dong Li was known to be a smart and decisive person, but now that she knew perfectly well that the whole continent was going to fall and kill everyone on it, why would she grow hesitant over that Mu Han?
Sister Qin Yan and Pei Qiqi’s seniors were close friends, and they had met each other in person a few times. Why on earth would they point their swords at each other just because of that Mu Han?
Dong Li, Pei Qiqi, and Qin Yan all had powerful backgrounds, outstanding cultivation talent, and beauty that could sink cities. However, they were now all behaving very strangely because of this seemingly-unimpressive man, which shocked her greatly.
Feng Ying wracked her mind for an answer, but failed. In her eyes, the plain-looking Mu Han seemed increasingly mysterious.
Upon seeing that Qin Yan and Pei Qiqi were going to cross swords with each other, Dong Li became even more anxious.
She looked over her shoulder at Nie Tian, hesitant over whether she should wake him now.
At this moment, she noticed that the light the branches before Nie Tian emanated started to grow dim.
No longer s.h.i.+ning with dazzling light, the seventy-two branches returned to their original look of ordinary tree branches.
“Stop, you two!” Dong Li instantly called out. “Nie... Mu Han is waking up!” She saw Feng Ying, who was standing off to the side, and thus stopped herself from calling Nie Tian by his real name.
Qin Yan and Pei Qiqi, who were just about to engage in a fierce battle, stopped upon hearing her shout, and turned to look at Nie Tian.
At that moment, Nie Tian let out a long breath and opened his eyes.
He noticed the strange gazes the four woman used to look at him, but didn’t say a word. He collected the tree branches before him, feeling that they were much heavier than before.
He briefly scanned them with his psychic awareness as he pulled them out of the ground, and discovered that every single one of them seemed to be engraved with numerous profound patterns on the inside.
As he touched them, the branches felt as hard and heavy as steel.
Briefly amazed, he then realized that it wasn’t the time for him to learn about them, and thus swiftly pointed at them with his fingers, sending them flying into his ring of holding.
After the last branch flew out of the earth and disappeared into his ring of holding, an incomparably violent rumble echoed out from the earth under their feet.
Qin Yan looked up, and discovered that the dark-green ward around this floating continent had finally shattered and been reduced to green spots that filled the void.
It was almost as if the shattering of the impenetrable ward had been caused by Nie Tian’s act of putting away the tree branches.
Due to the falling of the enormous trees, the sky was no longer blocked by their lush canopies.
Qin Yan was able to see the late Profound realm Qin Yi and Dong Tuodi, their expressions growing increasingly anxious as the continent continued to sink.
The other members of the Dong Clan and the Water Moon Chamber of Commerce were gathered behind them, looking down anxiously at the sinking continent.
“The ward is broken!” Dong Tuodi exclaimed. After letting out a sigh of relief, he hastily called out to Dong Li and the others, “What are you waiting for? Come here now!”
“Come on!” With these words, Qin Yi shot down towards them with Dong Tuodi.
Dong Li snapped back to her senses and summoned her Rainbow Lightning.
Just as she was about to drag Nie Tian into it, Pei Qiqi, who had already summoned her Lightning Shuttle, beat her to it, and said to Nie Tian with an expressionless face, “Get in here.”
Nie Tian had the Rainbow Lightning on one side and the Lightning Shuttle on the other.
Both Dong Li and Pei Qiqi wanted him to get into their ride so that they could fly up into the void and leave this sinking continent as soon as possible.
“Umm, I came with Senior Martial Sister Pei, so...” With these words, Nie Tian jumped into the Lightning Shuttle, avoiding eye contact with Dong Li.
In the next moment, the Lightning Shuttle shot up into the heavens.
Anger instantly filled Dong Li’s bright eyes, and her pearl-white teeth made creaking sounds as she gritted them. “a.s.shole!”
With a smile, Qin Yan pulled Feng Ying into the Rainbow Lightning. “He didn’t choose you, but we do.”
With a glance at the look in Dong Li’s eyes, Qin Yan urged, “Alright, alright, now is not the time. How can that woman beat you at something like this? Besides, the two of them are going to travel with us, right? You still have plenty of time.”
Glaring at the Lightning Shuttle that was flying into the sky, Dong Li snorted coldly and said, “You’re right.”
Afterwards, she started her Rainbow Lightning and flew up as well.
Qin Yi, who was already halfway down, grew relieved after seeing Qin Yan and Feng Ying board Dong Li’s Rainbow Lightning. He came to a stop and muttered to himself, “Thank G.o.d. That was close.”