Chapter 83: Her

Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Her

The sheer agony and fury in the cry were enough to make anyone who heard it grieve and anyone who saw it weep.

Almost everyone in the entire ruin was drawn in by the miserable howl, instinctively pausing what they were doing.

A few Divine Sea Realm cultivators, who were using Sword Flight to dodge the great fire, were so distracted they forgot they were flying and plummeted from the sky.

Fortunately, they reacted in time and didn’t fall into the sea of fire to be turned into barbecue.

’Hm? It’s gone?’

Recognizing the voice as belonging to the phantom that called itself the Array Spirit, Su Han sensed a spatial node. He activated his Distanceless Skill and, in an instant, appeared beside the phantom.

"What’s wrong? Did you lose your Great Treasure Sword?"

"It’s gone! I don’t know which bastard—"

Before it could finish, the phantom whipped its head around, staring at Su Han in utter disbelief.

"You... How did you...?"

Its eyes were wide, its fingers trembling slightly, a clear sign of the turmoil raging within it.

"No Distance! That was No Distance... You’re connected to *her*!"

Su Han: ".....???"

’What?’

’Who?’

’Who am I connected to?’

’And... this thing actually knows about No Distance?’

’Does that mean... it knows of, or perhaps even knows, the being who created the Distanceless Skill?’

"You... know about No Distance?"

The phantom didn’t answer. It just stared at him, its eyes filled with... profound fear.

This fear was countless times more intense than the apprehension it had felt when it suspected he might be an existence even more powerful than a Great Saint.

It was as if... the "her" it mentioned was the very source of all fear.

"Hey... I’m asking you a question."

Seeing the phantom so terrified, Su Han frowned. "You know about No Distance? And... who is this ’her’ you’re talking about? Why would you think I have any connection to her?"

The phantom’s eyes widened even further, as if it had just heard something unbelievable.

"You’ve clearly mastered her ability, and you’re telling me... you don’t know who she is?"

Su Han was exasperated. He’d mastered plenty of abilities.

Take his Suiyuan Swordsmanship. He knew it was the signature technique of a woman named Gongsun Li, but he’d never met her.

He had the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace and the Nine Swords, both incomplete skills left behind by his ancestors, but he’d never met them either.

He even knew Celestial Punishment. Did that mean he and the Celestial Dao were best buds or something?

’Still...’ Looking at the phantom’s reaction, Su Han vaguely guessed that the creator of the Distanceless Skill must have been an incredibly formidable existence.

’After all, just knowing I have the Distanceless Skill is enough to terrify this Array Spirit. That person must have left an indelible psychological scar on it.’

’What’s more, for almost every other skill he’d obtained, he’d seen a figure of light demonstrating it during the inheritance process.’

’The only exceptions were the Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace and Celestial Punishment; no figure had appeared to demonstrate those.’

’And when he acquired the Distanceless Skill, he hadn’t seen a figure then, either.’

’All of this suggested that either the Distanceless Skill itself was insanely overpowered, or the being who created it... was special.’

’Seeing the phantom’s reaction now, he was leaning toward the latter.’

"So... do you know who she is?"

The phantom remained silent, just staring at Su Han.

Seeing this, Su Han sighed in resignation. "Why don’t you tell me her name? I’ll see if I recognize it."

WHOOSH!

The phantom shot back several hundred meters, staring at Su Han as if he were a lunatic.

"You... What did you say?"

Su Han gave it a strange look. "I said, tell me her name so I can see if I recognize it."

In truth, he knew he almost certainly wouldn’t.

After all, aside from a trip to the Imperial City, he had never left Lingzhou City his entire life.

But when Su Han repeated his question, he was met with the same look from the phantom—the kind one gives a lunatic.

It was as if Su Han were a madman dancing on a razor’s edge, knowingly walking into hell itself.

"Hey, what’s with that look? I’m just asking for a name..."

"Lunatic! You’re a lunatic!"

The phantom turned to flee, no longer even caring if Su Han was going to tear its home apart.

But even though his Distanceless Skill was on cooldown, the creature was still well within the range of Su Han’s Divine Thought.

No matter how it tried to flee, Su Han kept it locked down with his Divine Thought, using instantaneous teleportation via the Space Law to shadow its every move.

After dozens of failed attempts to escape his sight, the phantom finally broke down and cried.

"What in the world do you want from me?"

Seeing its state, Su Han grew annoyed.

"I’m just asking you for a name. Do you really have to be like this?"

The phantom: "..."

It nearly suffocated itself holding its breath. The phantom glared at Su Han for a long moment before yelling furiously, "If you have a death wish, can you please not drag me down with you?"

Su Han: "..."

’What’s that supposed to mean? How do I have a death wish?’

’I’m loaded with life-saving skills. I’m doing just fine, and I plan to live an even better, longer life—an eternal one!’

Annoyed, Su Han opened his mouth to ask again, but before he could speak, the phantom began shaking its head frantically.

"I don’t know! I don’t know anything! Don’t ask me! I really don’t know! No one knows!"

Su Han: "..."

’Well, isn’t this interesting. "No one knows," huh?’

’I’d have to be a fool to believe that. No matter what, she has to have a name, some kind of title, right?’

Still, seeing how terrified the phantom was, he decided not to press the issue.

He wouldn’t get any answers out of it, no matter how much he asked.

"Fine, I won’t ask anymore. Just take me to the treasures in these ruins. I’ll pick one thing and leave."

The phantom eyed him suspiciously. "For real?"

Su Han nodded. "For real."

"Then..."

The phantom hesitated, its eyes full of distrust as it looked at Su Han. After a long pause, it finally nodded. "Fine. Follow me."

It was about to teleport away, but before it could disappear, Su Han spoke up. "Wait. Take me with you."

The phantom: "..."

’You’ve already mastered *that* kind of ability, and you want *me* to take you?’

Grumbling internally, the phantom nodded anyway. It manipulated the Array, and the two of them vanished.

「The next moment...」

"HOLY SHIT! WHERE’S MY SOUL SUPPRESSING BELL?"

Another roar from the phantom echoed throughout the ruins.

It teleported with Su Han again, and then...

"FUCK! WHO STOLE MY GODSLAYING STELE!"

"DAMN IT! HOW IS MY HEAVEN-TRAPPING LOCK GONE TOO?"

"MOTHERFUCKER! THE SCRIPTURE? WHERE’S THE WORDLESS CELESTIAL SCRIPTURE THAT WAS HIDDEN HERE?"

Su Han: "..."

Looking at the frantic, enraged phantom, Su Han couldn’t help but feel a sliver of sympathy.

’Whoever this rotten bastard is... even thieves should know when to stop!’

’Swiping one or two things would have been enough. How could they make off with *all* of its good stuff?’