Chapter 531: Time Keeps Ticking

Zhan Yiran was shocked when Song Tianzun and Huangfu Meizhen explained the change in the space rift. She immediately tried to sense shifts in the qi in the air, and she finally realized something was amiss.

Zhan Yiran looked towards the central area, feeling a lot of pressure coming from there. "Who exactly are those people?"

"No one knows." Huangfu Meizhen glanced around them. "Most likely they are cultivators from higher realms, and they are much stronger than us."

"Higher realms?" Zhan Yiran was confused. "How do you know about all that?"

"Tang Xiao." Zhan Yiran looked at Song Tianzun. "Don’t ask me, Yiran. I don’t know how he knows all that, but the information he gave Meizhen is accurate, and the changes in the qi are proof of that. We don’t know the strength of the enemies who will appear soon, so we must always be alert and prepared to face the dangers that will come."

Zhan Yiran doubted Tang Xiao’s information, but she didn’t dare underestimate the situation either. "Does he know their strength?"

"They haven’t appeared yet, so he doesn’t know the extent of their strength." Huangfu Meizhen paused. "Judging from the quality of the qi in this place, those people should be stronger than us, and their cultivation might have already surpassed the saint level."

"Surpass the saint realm? Are there other cultivation stages after the saint realm?" Huangfu Meizhen and Song Tianzun could only shake their heads at Zhan Yiran, as Tang Xiao hadn’t told them anything. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"Wait and see." Song Tianzun looked towards the back. "We don’t know when those powerful cultivators will appear, but it will take our people a few days to reach the first area; therefore, we must stay in this area to divert their attention away from our people."

Zhan Yiran nodded in agreement. "Why don’t we join forces with other cultivators? Since Tang Xiao knows about all of that, I think we should join his group."

"The problem is that we don’t know his location, and he’s deliberately avoiding us." Zhan Yiran couldn’t believe that Tang Xiao would do that, especially since Huang Meizhen was the sect master of the Nine Profound Sect. "Although he joined my sect, he never had any intention of mingling with us, and he focused on his own affairs."

"Tch! He’s so cocky and selfish!" Zhan Yiran couldn’t help but curse Tang Xiao.

Huangfu Meizhen shrugged helplessly. "Aren’t all cultivators selfish, including us?"

"But he—"

"You can’t blame him, Yiran." Song Tianzun waved his hand to stop Zhan Yiran. "He didn’t want anything to do with us because of my parents, but he was still willing to give all that information to my wife because of her status."

Zhan Yiran raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"

"Didn’t you already know that my in-laws sent Shangguan Qingyue to my sect to get close to him?" Zhan Yiran nodded to Huangfu Meizhen. "You’re familiar with her character, right?"

"Yes."

Huangfu Meizhen continued. "She’s targeting Mu Qingge and the others, so Tang Xiao doesn’t want to have any relationship with us. If he didn’t have a good relationship with my grandfather, I’m sure he wouldn’t have shared all that information with me."

"I see." Zhan Yiran nodded in understanding. "At the very least, he was willing to share all that information with you and warn you about the powerful enemy coming soon, so we can warn the others."

"That’s right." Huangfu Meizhen nodded. "So don’t expect much from him."

"I know." Zhan Yiran looked towards the central area again. "When will those powerful cultivators arrive?"

"Tang Xiao is still in this area, so he doesn’t have clear information about them."

Song Tianzun immediately spoke to them. "Let’s move now! We need to find a better location, and we’ll wait for them to appear there."

"Let’s go."

The three of them immediately moved at full speed.

Song Tianzun turned to his wife. "Meizhen, I want you—"

"No." Huangfu Meizhen refused immediately. "You are my husband, and we have sworn to share life and death, so I will never leave you."

"I won’t go either! You two are my best friends; I will fight alongside you." Zhan Yiran said it in a firm tone. "My only regret is that I couldn’t find Song Tianlin before entering this space rift, and I won’t be able to see him again if I die here."

Huangfu Meizhen looked at her best friend with a complicated gaze; she knew from Tang Xiao that Mo Wang brought Song Tianlin into the space rift, but she didn’t know their location. Moreover, the male demon was one of the five demon generals, and she received information that his cultivation had reached the saint level. Even if they met him, they couldn’t defeat him.

Song Tianzun let out a heavy sigh as soon as Zhan Yiran mentioned his little brother. Before entering the space rift, he and his family had been looking for Song Tianlin for a long time, but they couldn’t find him. ’Where exactly are you now, brother?’

Tang Xiao’s clone, who had been following them from within the void, immediately checked the system map. He recalled that Mo Wang and Song Tianlin were moving toward Huangfu Meizhen and the others, and they were expected to meet soon.

Tang Xiao had initially estimated that they would cross paths tomorrow night, but Huangfu Meizhen and the others were moving away from Mo Wang’s route, so their meeting would be delayed. ’Just leave them be.’

Since Situ Qingze and his group were on their way back to the first area, Tang Xiao’s second clone didn’t follow them; instead, he went to the central area at full speed.

Tang Xiao’s clone wasn’t particularly afraid of the cultivators from the Canglan Realm, but the ones from the upper realm were different, so he decided to monitor their movements himself.

On his way to the central area, Tang Xiao’s clone saw many powerful beasts in every area he passed, and their cultivation had already surpassed the saint level. Fortunately, none of them could detect his movements in the void, so he could move freely.

Tang Xiao’s clone stopped when he found three of the five demon generals in the fourth area; he saw them surrounded by two powerful beasts. Their condition didn’t look good, and their bodies were covered in injuries and blood, but he had no intention of saving them and continued his journey to the central area.

After a long journey, Tang Xiao’s clone finally arrived in the central area and hurried toward the cave’s location. "Can you check inside, Xiao Ai?"

[The seal is blocking me, Master. By the way, it should open tomorrow, and the cultivators inside will come out.]

Tang Xiao’s clone furrowed his brows. "Tomorrow? Isn’t that too fast? What is their real goal? Are they going to attack us?"

[I can’t confirm their purpose yet, and we have to wait until the seal opens, Master.]

"Is this portal the only one?"

[Yes! I’ve checked all the areas, but I couldn’t find any other portals, so all the cultivators from other realms will come out of this cave tomorrow.]

Tang Xiao’s clone fell silent and thought about some things. "The people from the Canglan Realm need several days to arrive at the first area, and they probably won’t be able to avoid the cultivators from the upper realm."

[That depends on the speed of those cultivators, Master. If their cultivation has surpassed the saint realm, their speed should be much faster than yours, and they should be able to capture people from the Canglan Realm.]

Tang Xiao’s clone let out a soft sigh as the situation was more dangerous than he expected, and he lacked the strength to fight against cultivators from the upper realm. He was confident in facing cultivators from the Canglan Realm, but he lacked the confidence to fight cultivators from the upper realm. "It looks like I have to send them into the ark now, or it will be too late if those people come out of the cave tomorrow. By the way, is the entrance portal to this place still there?"

[It’s still there, Master. However, you cannot leave this place, and it will automatically kick you out when the time is up. Do you want me to meet people outside, like Huangfu Lingxuan?]

"No need." Tang Xiao’s clone shook his head. "If those people enter this place, they will only send themselves into danger. Sigh! I’ll wait here until the seal opens, and I’ll figure out my next move once I have some information about them."

Night fell quickly, and Tang Xiao discussed the situation with his wives and their families. He didn’t want Xuanyuan Yueyao and the others to know about the ark, but he had no other choice because their safety was paramount.

Xuanyuan Yueyao and the others were shocked when Tang Xiao sent Tang Yin and the others, including Taixu Wuxian, into the ark. Some of them immediately questioned him, but he was unwilling to explain the truth.

Tang Xiao looked at them one by one. "I sent them to a safe place using my element."

"What exactly is your element? How can you do that?" Xuanyuan Mengli asked.

"Just think of it as the space element." Tang Xiao’s indifferent answer made them frown, especially Zhu Xuan’er, Jiang Haoming, Xiao Qingning, and the elders of their three clans. "The portal is still sealed, but the seal will open by itself tomorrow. I can’t confirm their strength yet, so we must prepare for the worst."

Xuanyuan Yueyao observed their expressions one by one and sighed inwardly. "Alright, we’re seasoned cultivators, and we’re used to facing dangerous situations, so we have to rely on ourselves to survive until the time runs out."