Chapter 226: Tear in the Sky

Then they felt it.

A sudden thunderous boom followed by aftershocks rippling through the air.

All four of them froze mid-flight and instinctively looked back before Senior Brother Weilong, stone-faced, urged them to keep flying ahead. 

“Keep going,” he commanded, though his own gaze remained pinned on the distant mountain where the sounds of the raging battle could still be faintly heard. 

Yang kept looking back as he saw Senior Brother Weilong stay still for a few moments before he tore his gaze away with visible effort and turned back to fly ahead, overtaking all three of them at once as he guided them towards the exit from this hellhole of a world.

They flew over the barren land, maintaining their speed as they were led by the token towards a valley with a terrain made of closely packed, jagged edges protruding at unnatural angles. It looked as if the ground had been ripped off, similar enough yet different to the rocky terrain they had seen before, mostly because there was no chance this was a natural formation.

Yang was pretty sure the area previously have had some higher realm cultivator tearing through it like tissue paper sometime in the distant past.

As they ducked into the valley, Yang noticed a rift to his left. 

Its glossy black surface glistened slightly in the dim light reaching that particular crevice.

Yang almost veered into it before he noticed Senior Brother Weilong pause, lifting the ice-blue token to check it, before he flew past, calling out to them without turning back.

“Not this one.”

More and more rifts appeared the deeper they went. Some were small, barely the size of a door, and others large enough for a group of dragons to pass through. 

Often they had to maneuver sharply to avoid getting sent crashing into one of these rifts. 

It would have been far more suitable to navigate this area on foot.

But Yang was pretty sure that the ill-tempered goons back there wouldn’t be amenable to not using them as very convenient practice targets if they found them on foot.

As they zig-zagged through the valley, Yang realized these rifts were likely leading to other worlds. Maybe one day, he would even get the chance to visit one of these worlds using the bead.

Another thing he made note of was that some of the arches and structures framing the rifts had engravings etched onto them. A few even had formations carved on the ground right in front of the rift's threshold, leaving anyone crossing the rifts no chance to avoid them.

That's certainly one way of welcoming visitors.

He did wonder why this area had such a great concentration of rifts. And as the number of rifts they passed kept rising, he had to wonder exactly how many worlds were connected to this remnant.

Suddenly, a sharp sound cut through the air behind them, and Yang whipped around to find Senior Brothers Qing An and Fan Xiao, grim-faced, flying towards them, completely unaided, without any flying tool. 

“Don’t stop. Keep flying.” Senior Brother Qing An yelled over the sound of the wind, prompting them all to get back to their frantic flight, pushing their flying swords and carpet to their limits.

“Are they dead?” Senior Brother Zhen Hao asked over his shoulder. 

“Two of them, yes,” Senior Brother Qing An said. “Maybe the third one as well. But their leader is definitely still alive, and stronger than each of us, so stop wasting time.”

“We just managed to create obstacles to delay them.” Senior Brother Fan Xiao added as he positioned himself in the rear to cover their backs. “It's essential we cross through the rift before he has a chance to catch us.”

They all made a sharp turn as they came across a tight bend in the valley.

“Be careful.” Senior Brother Weilong called out from the front as Yang nearly went through the bend, almost flying headfirst into the rift that was suddenly in the middle of his flight path. He managed to wrench his carpet to the side in time, preventing himself from going on another interworld field trip.

Suddenly, just as Yang had managed to recover his speed, he had to slam the metaphorical brakes on again as a large piece of rock broke off from the valley and instantly slammed down in front of them, blocking the way ahead. 

Smaller pieces of rock also covered the front of all rifts in their vicinity.

Senior Brother Fan Xiao, without a second of hesitation, clenched his fist and punched towards the large rock blocking them, shattering it into thousands of smaller pieces.

But before they could move ahead, another large boulder slammed into place once more. And there, standing atop the boulder blocking their path, was the black-robed leader, glaring at them with hatred.

His gaze towards Senior Brothers Fan Xiao and Qing An was particularly vitriolic. Which was understandable, because while they hadn’t managed to kill him, he was certainly showing a lot of wear and tear, proving that his Senior Brothers were certainly tough adversaries.

The black-robed cultivator waved a burned hand, likely a courtesy of his Senior Brothers, and summoned a massive black banner dozens of meters tall that glowed an eerie blue before it pulsed brighter and erupted in a burst as hundreds of phantoms flooded out in a tide. Their hollow eyes fixed on Yang and his Senior brothers as they lunged at them.

Yang immediately launched three fireball talismans at the nearest ghosts, engulfing them in flames, though unfortunately only for a few seconds as the fire cleared out too fast, only managing to lightly singe them and delay their quest for Yang’s life by a mere few seconds.

As the closest phantom got within touching distance of him, instead of retreating as he intended, he instinctively drew out the Cherry Blossom Sword from his storage ring and made a clean downward arc from his upper left side. 

His arm went numb the second the blade connected with the ghost. As if his arm was suddenly plunged into ice-cold water. 

Painful

Luckily, this seemed to have worked, as the phantom dispersed into the air like nothing.

The sword technique he had just scored was really good. 

Completely worth being strung up like a marionette. Especially considering he was able to use the sword despite never actually having practiced a sword technique before. 

Or really even still not knowing how he managed to do it.

Hell. If this was the effect of a single session, he would spend every day reenacting the Texas Chain Saw Massacre with that psychotic blade.

All of a sudden, Yang felt a pulse of red energy pass through him from behind, destroying the remaining ghosts. He looked back and realized it was Senior Brother Fan Xiao using the same technique he had employed in the statue chamber. 

These phantoms thankfully appeared to be weaker than the ones they faced before, easily being obliterated by the red energy without any of that regeneration nonsense. But what they lacked in quality they more than made up for in sheer quantity, as waves after waves of phantoms kept spilling out of the banner fluttering in the sky.

And as if the continuous assault from his spectral minions wasn't enough, the cultivator made a hand seal and a round array appeared in front of him, and from its surface, the same grey mist came towards them in rolling waves.

He noticed his Senior Brothers standing ahead of him flinch as it reached them before spreading rapidly towards Yang. He let out a wince as he felt the instant burning sensation across his skin and the sharp, pungent smell in his nose. 

This wasn’t simply heat. It was like vaporized acid. Yang immediately backed away, retreating along with Senior Brothers Weilong, Yuan Shen, and Zhen Hao behind Senior Brother Fan Xiao.

Yang noticed Senior Brother Yuan Shen coming to stand beside Senior Brother Weilong, who quickly produced a vial from his storage. Downing it instantly in a single gulp as blood trickled from his eyes and nose. He was right in the front and seemed to have been hit the hardest.

Now back to the man of the hour. The black-robed cultivator raised his hand, materializing over a hundred grey, corrosive mist bolts behind him, each one aiming at them.

In response, Senior Brother Fan Xiao immediately summoned a shield, followed by all his Senior Brothers forming one of their own at the same time.

Yang was yanked the furthest back, with Senior Brother Zhen Hao taking his place right in front of him and creating a glimmering shield to cover both of them. 

The area looked like an eerily lit show with the various lights of the shield and the softly glowing spirits getting more and more concentrated. 

Then the attack began.

His hand tightened on the handle of his sword as a thunderous cacophony of impacts echoed through the valley as Yang got a front-row seat to the barrage of the bolts hitting the shields. 

This felt like a repeat of the fight over the mountain, only in reverse. 

The phantoms seemed to have become a secondary concern, as the red radiating shield was stopped by Senior Brother Fan Xiao to concentrate on the main barrier, which was stopping both the mist bolts and phantoms.

The bolt attack didn't seem to be ending at all; rather, it felt as if the intensity and the numbers were continuously increasing. The whole shield was practically covered in the corroding grey mist, eating away at its strength until they were barely able to see outside.

Suddenly, without any warning, Senior Brother Fan Xiao bent over as he let out a wet cough, with Senior Brother Qing An coming to support him in an instant. 

Then Yang noticed the blood on the ground as Senior Brother Fan Xiao had another coughing fit.

“This can't continue,” Senior Brother Weilong said, his gaze completely fixed on Senior Brother Fan Xiao.

Senior Brother Qing An turned to them at the sound, his face completely blank. “As soon as the shield breaks, Senior Brother and I will hold off the man.” He stared intently at Senior Brother Weilong. “Weilong, you will do your best to lead them towards the rift, and then you will destroy the rift from our side.”

Senior Brother Yuan Shen shook his head stubbornly. “We’re not leaving without you.”

“You will,” Senior Brother Fan Xiao said, wiping the blood off his lips as he made another hand seal, reinforcing the barrier. “Weilong?”

Senior Brother Weilong nodded, his face pale. “I will lead the junior brothers out.” He took a deep breath. “But I will leave the token in this realm so you may find the other rift.”

Senior Brother Fan Xiao didn’t say anything, just nodding grimly as he turned back to watch the onslaught against the now-cracking shield. 

Despite all of their best efforts and constant reinforcement, the cracks kept spreading.

Until, with a deafening sound, it shattered. Letting the bolts and phantoms through.

But before the bolts could reach them. Before they could do anything to defend themselves.

They froze.

All six of them and their attacker.

The grey mist bolts and the phantoms poured out from the banner.

Even the flutter of the banner stopped, as if time had frozen itself. 

A purple-edged tear appeared in the sky. 

And a person stepped out.

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