<<Previous Chapter Index Next Chapter>>
Translator: Fate
Translation Checker: Silavin
It hadn’t been half a year since the invasion of the Otherworldly Sky Demons, but it had already caused great terror and disaster in their world. Many beings of the older generation even concluded that the next big-scale Sky Demon invasion would be the end of their world.
Many supreme experts who had reached the Earth Sword Immortal Realm all gathered at their respective sects to find a solution. The hunt for the source of the Sky Demon had been suggested by the Sovereign of the Shu Sect, the Yi Sword Immortal, who was claimed to have the ability to flatten all with one sword.
Her father was a famous supreme expert in their world, he courageously chose to go toward the rift in order to stop the scourge. However, there was no news of him after several months. Even those who had gone with him had disappeared without a trace. She had followed in her father’s footsteps without telling her mother; even if her father had died there, she wanted to at least bring his body home. She couldn’t die without finding traces of him.
Her memories made her expression turn distant. When she had crossed the Space Rift, she hadn’t expected there to be overpowering and thick clashes of Principles from different worlds, causing terrifying space turbulence and Chaos Storms. The armour her father had left her couldn’t withstand all this power and broke into pieces.
After walking for some time, she saw the familiar sight of the Otherworldly Sky Demons attacking. They attacked strongly and frighteningly on bronze battleships, weaving among the space turbulence like impervious mountains. The Chaos Storm couldn’t stop them at all.
It was then that she finally understood helplessly that they couldn’t defend themselves or fight against such mighty opponents. Even so-called unrivalled Earth Sword Immortals couldn’t take a single step in this space. Yet, those Otherworldly Sky Demons could walk around the place easily while operating terrifying weapons which could destroy the world. How could they ever fight against such terrifying enemies?
She hadn’t fled for long before she was captured by those Otherworldly Sky Demons. Her wrists and ankles were cuffed with heavy shackles and she couldn’t use any of her abilities, making her similar to an ordinary mortal. She had been locked in a cold damp cage after that and had a dark and fearful time inside.
Fortunately, she discovered that a Senior who had followed her father to destroy the source had been locked beside her. The Senior had been injured badly and couldn’t live for long, but he had braced his weak body to tell her some useful information.
The good news was that her father hadn’t been captured by the Otherworldly Sky Demons. He had a sudden breakthrough at the most critical moment and slipped into the chaotic space turbulence. He was nowhere to be found after that. However, the bad news was that the Otherworldly Sky Demons were only one Force in the enormous world they were in right now. Worse, the might of some of the other Forces weren’t something they could deal with. In other words, all their efforts had become a joke.
This was despairing news that the real supreme experts hadn’t shown up and they were still at the exploring stage. Yet, they could not even fight back against the current invading Force.
The Senior had used a secret technique to burn up his Life Force to create chaos which helped her escape. However, her attempt did not succeed since she was captured during her journey.
The only good thing was that her identity as an indigenous person hadn’t been exposed and she was locked together with another group of local hostages who had attempted to flee. From her cellmates, she finally got hold of information about this world.
“This world is infinitely enormous and wide. It is the centre of all under heaven and has countless experts. Since it was connected to every world, invasions and conquests of other worlds often occurred.”
After muttering what she recalled, the young woman remained unbelievably calm. She stopped recalling what had happened in the past few days, and started focusing on her escape. She knew well that the Otherworldly Sky Demons had been sent by the Force that was currently imprisoning her.
The Great Yu Celestial Dynasty was a frightening Force considered to be at the level of giants. Its history spans millions of years and numerous eras. In her world, the oldest Force had merely existed for a mere few hundred thousand years. They were like ants in the face of such a formidable opponent and there was no point in comparing them.
The sound of air rushing from behind her shocked her and she hid in the piles of stones nearby. She might not be able to use her cultivation, but she had sharp senses and could hear movement from not far away. Someone was coming towards her in great numbers!
She slowed her breathing and didn’t move. She was no different from a mere mortal right now and had no chance of survival against a group of cultivators. She could only pray that these people hadn’t noticed her yet.
“Hmm, we sensed prey in this direction. How did it disappear into thin air? Did I make a mistake?”
A group of young men and women in glamorous clothing arrived on fierce beasts, all surrounded by a glow that made them seem extraordinary. The speaker was attractive yet his expression was dark. He had a bejewelled bow in hand as if he was ready to shoot his prey anytime. He looked around in surprise as if he had seen his prey escape and was studying his surroundings.
“We may have made a mistake. Why don’t we look somewhere else?” another cold-looking man asked deliberately while smiling mockingly beside the lavishly-clothed man.
The others all laughed at this, smiling like cats who had caught mice. “The prey must have escaped. What a pity. We could have caught it if we came earlier.”
“A pity indeed. Never mind. Let’s look somewhere else.” The lavishly-clothed man sighed helplessly before the group turned to leave, planning to look around the other areas.
The girl continued to hide. Her entire body was stiff with anxiety and damp with sweat. She halted her breathing, not even daring to move. She exhaled in relief once she heard them leave, but she was extremely cautious and did not reveal herself at once. Instead, she continued to hide, choosing to wait until it was safe before leaving.
After some time, she felt that the danger was gone. The men and women had gone somewhere else and didn’t notice her, which made her sweaty body relax. Just when she was about to reveal herself from inside the rock to continue to run, a laugh suddenly came from another direction. It was so abrupt and she stiffened and turned pale at the sound.
Even with dirt on her face, she wasn’t just any normal individual and quickly recovered. She looked back at the group of men and women with a calm and cold gaze. Her hand clutched the dagger no bigger than several centimetres, making her resemble a cat about to pounce on its prey.
“Ha, this fool really thought we didn’t notice her.”
“How amusing. I love watching their expressions transform from hopefulness to desperation, thinking they have survived right before landing in hell. Did you expect this?”
“How intriguing.”
“The more desperate you are, the happier we are. It’s extremely entertaining to see prey making futile struggles at the brink of death.”
The group appeared from another direction while smiling teasingly. They hadn’t left but went around in another direction before turning back. They had thus watched the change in the girl’s expression as it changed from her initial relief to disbelief and shock. This was their favourite thing to do before killing their prey. How could they not find her with their abilities?
Still, the girl looked extraordinarily calm and fierce in response to the cruel mocking and bullying from them. Her dark eyes were calm, as if she was a mere outsider and did not contain the fear and desperation they all hoped to see. This made their smiles fade and the man frowned in dissatisfaction.
“How boring. Has she accepted her imminent death?” The cold man angrily spat out since the girl didn’t show the fright or helplessness they wished to see, much less plead for mercy. This suddenly made things less interesting.
“If you want to live, kneel and beg us. We might release you.” The man dressed in brocade looked condescending and behaved like he was offering something in sympathy.
If the girl knelt and pleaded with them for mercy while crying, they would show some hints of intending to let her go, wait for her to become hopeful before killing her. They were extremely experienced in torture. However, her reaction continued to disappoint him. The girl remained stoic, calm, and fierce, ready to fight them at any moment.
“You’re so boring. Let’s just kill her since this isn’t entertaining anymore. We will give you three breaths of time to escape. When that passes, fate will decide if you can escape my arrow,” the man dressed in brocade said mildly.
He began to prepare his bow while his attendants took out several arrows dyed with something faintly green and handed them to him. It was obvious that those arrows were poisonous and could kill a cultivator even if it was just a shallow wound. It would also cause pain and terror during her run, which she could do nothing about other than to wait for death to take her.
The girl’s expression shifted slightly at his words and she turned to flee into the swamp behind her. It was smelly and filled with mud and poisonous bugs, so these young men and women would never pursue her inside.
“One, three, …”
*Whoosh!*
The man smiled mockingly and counted only till one. He didn’t go on and instantly raised his bow to release his arrow towards the direction she had fled.
The arrow cut through the air with a frightening whoosh, splitting the layer of mud above the swamp to reveal the dry riverbed. Ancient trees around the swamp exploded to pieces from the onslaught and even powerful beasts exploded and died after being by it, much less someone with their cultivation sealed.
Everyone watched on with mock sympathy, waiting for the moment when she was killed. Nothing unexpected would happen as far as they were concerned.
[Am I going to die here?] The young woman hadn’t expected the man to be honest with a hostage like her and ran at once, yet she couldn’t move faster than the arrow pursuing her.
With that thought in mind, she stumbled and fell into the swamp.
