ASER - Chapter 218
Chapter 218: Leap
A'Diao fled into the lake, and not long after the Black Bone Corpse King pursued her, the lake quickly returned to calm. Then, people arrived.
Weren't they the others who had entered one after another?
The others were fine. Anyway, after the three Mountain Heads entered, they discovered this was a small secret realm, which matched their previous judgment. But their first action was to unleash their mental power and spiritual domains to search for Chen A'Diao.
A'Diao certainly had status. Which other cultivator could make the three Mountain Heads so concerned?
However... the density of this space was incredibly high. Whether it was energy or mental power, the difficulty of projecting it outwards was over a thousand times greater than in normal space outside.
This directly reduced their original detection range of hundreds of kilometers by a thousand times or even more, because the attrition rate in between had also increased.
Such a detection range was simply insignificant compared to their movement speed, so the meaning of detection was lost.
Yu Xuanji's eyes showed amazement: A small secret realm with such density was too terrifying.
One had to know that the density of their secret vaults and the otherworldly small secret realms of the Three Heterodox Imperial Clans was only over a hundred times greater.
This was simply not achievable by human power, including the peak realm of a Great Spirit King, the limit of humanity. No matter how many people were gathered, they could not create such a secret realm.
It was clearly given by the Celestial Clan.
Could this be the benefit of being favored by the Divine Maiden?
Yu Xuanji subconsciously thought of Lord Changting's appearance, "a radiant gentleman, his brilliance dazzling."
Regarding Lord Changting and the Divine Maiden, Yu Xuanji dared not think too much. After all, their past was very mysterious. Although humans later fabricated stories of Lord Changting betraying the human race, no one had embellished this aspect. On the other hand, the affair between Chen Gui and that Celestial Maiden was a confirmed fact, known to everyone.
Thinking of Chen Gui's appearance, Yu Xuanji's heart grew even more complicated.
"When it comes to beauty, my Old Ancestor Kunlun is the most formidable. Why didn't he...Sigh, what a pity."
"However, A'Diao does have quite the aptitude in this regard. But she has a mouth that, while seemingly teasing, is actually being a hooligan, offending people to death, specializing in getting old masters beaten to death..."
Once this thought arose, Yu Xuanji quickly dismissed the idea of having A'Diao use her looks to develop Lushan.
This scumbag might offend people even more than her ancestor Chen Gui.
Forget it, forget it.
But this child was quite clever, disappearing in a flash.
Yu Xuanji thought this in his heart, but out of caution, he still checked the air. Finding no residual energy aura, he finally felt relieved.
The three Mountain Heads quickly flew off in different directions.
Looking at the current situation, they needed to find the ruins they were to inherit themselves.
This was a good thing.
Tong Guang's plan was—to kill Chen A'Diao before she found the Celestial Clan ruins she could inherit, or kill her after she inherited them, and then devour the ruins.
But he had to avoid the other two.
He knew Baiyue Lingxi was already leaning towards Lushan, which was not good news.
Once they left, the others also quickly dispersed to search for ruins. However, Song Ling and the others were well-behaved, sticking together with Qing Zan and her group.
They had lost all their hot-blooded impetuosity; in subtle ways, their style resembled a certain person's cautious approach to survival.
This made the Wu Mountain side a little nervous.
Baiyue Lingxi glanced at the other factions and decided on a plan with her Wu Mountain experts: stick together, stay close to Lushan and the Heavenly Spirit Clan, and don't get separated. Otherwise, the probability of being assassinated by these people was too high.
In a sense, this secret realm was now equivalent to a closed slaughterhouse.
Since it was about inheritance, why was it designed this way? Couldn't it be directly allocated according to inheritance quotas?
Baiyue Lingxi thought subconsciously.
This secret realm... it felt strange.
Relieved, my ass! No aura was left behind because the spatial density was high, and the energy aura was quickly absorbed by the space's own dissipation ability.
But it was also because A'Diao was usually so damn cautious that others didn't think much of it, and no one knew that A'Diao was currently fleeing underwater in the lake, a thousand meters away from them.
The lake water was very deep, unfathomably so—most importantly, it wasn't closed off but connected to several river sections. After A'Diao darted downwards to escape, she found the great Corpse King relentlessly pursuing her from behind. Terrified, she immediately burned her dragon body's essence blood... to flee downwards?
No, she burned her dragon body's essence blood + activated all the hundreds of stars of mental power she had accumulated + all the energy in her body, just to achieve one...
The water current behind her suddenly turned bone-chillingly cold, because a mass of black qi had already enveloped her from behind.
It was too terrifying; its speed was four or five times hers. So after entering the water, A'Diao frantically dove more than a thousand meters deep, but in reality, the other party caught up in the blink of an eye...
At this moment, the black mass behind her transformed into a tearing, ferocious maw, like the decaying, bloody, devouring mouth of a corpse monster, lunging to swallow A'Diao from behind!
Shua!
A'Diao was pounced upon and swallowed.
In... that very instant.
Spatial burst.
A supreme ability similar to that of a spaceship driven by a 360-ring composite energy system.
Spatial leap.
It was several tiers higher than teleportation and instant movement.
Because teleportation required a time delay and activation, and instant movement was easily interrupted.
Only spatial leap was an active, forced escape method born for perilous situations, and it could directly sever any tracking information attached to her.
This was also the latest ability A'Diao had learned from the spatial notes. Combining all five scrolls, it was very difficult. Focusing solely on this, A'Diao had spent 300 days in the secret chamber space to master it. Moreover, in principle, the stronger the energy expended, the better its spatial leap effect.
So... the second she was swallowed, A'Diao disappeared.
Disappeared from the mouth of a Great Spirit King-level existence.
Leaving no trace of aura behind.
The black mass swallowed nothing but emptiness. It remained still in the deep water for a moment, then spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Only 19 years old..."
He could feel her fresh and vigorous life force, only 19 years in the mortal world.
19 years old, in his era, was practically the same concept as an infant.
But...
"Favored by the era... possesses karmic luck."
The black mass distorted slightly, as if making a swallowing motion.
He became even more famished.
But sensing upwards, he detected the presence of the three Mountain Heads.
Not yet fully recovered... avoid them for now, eat the smaller ones first.
In the vast secret realm space, A'Diao could have chosen the timing of her spatial leap. But at the moment of the leap, she had actually been half-swallowed into its mouth. The black corpse qi touched her dragon body, instantly corroding it and severely injuring her physique, which could perfectly withstand a Lesser Spirit King's attack. It was terrifying.
So at that time, she could only hastily choose a distance for the leap that she felt was the most favorable and safe at first glance.
Shua! After the successful leap, A'Diao fell to the ground and spat out a large mouthful of blood. But just as she finished, she looked up and saw a person suspended in mid-air in front of her.
This person was looking at her with a stunned expression.
A collision. This was a collision with odds of one in tens of millions.
And this person was Dantai Liaoluo.
In that second when their eyes met, given their scheming minds, countless thoughts must have raced through them. For example, Dantai Liaoluo was shocked by A'Diao's severely injured and fleeing state. Why was she like this? Who was trying to kill her? Could it be the Mountain Head of Bronze Mountain? Or was there some danger in this secret realm?
But regardless, their mental states ultimately converged into a short word and a punctuation mark.
A'Diao: Fuck!
Dantai Liaoluo: Ha!
Dantai Liaoluo hesitated for only a second before deciding to act.
Because it was a choice between two options.
Not kill? No way, he couldn't bear it. Eight humiliating face-slaps were more insulting than digging up his ancestral graves to build a toilet.
Then he could only kill.
But was her current state faked?
To lure him into attacking...
Chen A'Diao was a demon, full of tricks. Dantai Liaoluo hesitated for just that instant, and in the next second.
Dragon transformation, dragon roar + dragon tail whip...
Dantai Liaoluo was struck before he could react—he never expected that this severely injured person would choose to strike first!
But A'Diao was right, because Dantai Liaoluo had already sent a message to notify certain people.
He might have to be secretive about killing A'Diao himself, but others wouldn't. He could use others to do the deed and then be the oriole waiting in the wings.
A'Diao guessed Dantai Liaoluo's plan and decisively struck first.
However, Dantai Liaoluo was a super elite, after all. Previously, A'Diao had predicted that at her strongest, she could only handle these members of the Crown Prince's faction in a 1v1. She wasn't afraid of anyone in a solo fight, but one more opponent would be too much.
But now, she was severely injured and had consumed too much energy, while Dantai Liaoluo was the strongest among the Crown Prince's faction. This encounter would definitely put her at a disadvantage.
So, striking first was to gain an initial advantage, but...
Bang!!!
When Dantai Liaoluo was hit by the dragon tail, his body armor manifested. Withstanding the terrifying impact, he slammed into the ground, creating a deep pit three meters in diameter.
The material density of this small world was super strong, so it only created a three-meter diameter pit. The visual effect might not seem as violent as outside, but the intensity of the energy released was still extremely terrifying, at least at the level of a top-tier Lesser Spirit King.
Such destructive power... could anyone nearby have sensed it?
Anyway, Dantai Liaoluo's cool black-gold armor had already covered his entire body. After taking the hit head-on, the armor was damaged, and he suffered flesh wounds, but the damage wasn't too severe.
Just as Dantai Liaoluo created a crater in the ground and while enduring the flesh-damaging injury, he had already locked onto A'Diao. Two treasures appeared on him: a spiral-shaped composite shuttle and a crystal bead-like treasure. The latter amplified destructive power, while the former was the main offensive weapon.
Dantai Liaoluo activated his Book of Civilization. Veins of energy condensed on his special armor, and golden light shot from his palm into the shuttle in front. The shuttle erupted, disintegrating into nine flying blades that shua shua cut through space, like the strongest dimensional blades, besieging and bombarding A'Diao from perfect angles.
The speed was too fast. A'Diao's spiritual body had already suffered an impact and originally couldn't dodge at all. But her Eye of the Yellow Springs was still active, possessing predictive abilities. So, she foresaw Dantai Liaoluo's impending attack and managed to concentrate her remaining meager power on her vital areas: the brain, heart, and the twin cores in her abdomen.
Boom!! A'Diao was also sent flying... After landing, the ground shook and stones flew, but her physical defense was even superior to these members of the Crown Prince's faction; she just lacked their powerful treasures. At this moment, the transcendent equipment Old Man Yu had given A'Diao also burst forth, barely deflecting part of the destructive force, while her body endured the rest.
Impressive, truly strong. A'Diao swallowed the mouthful of blood from her injuries and suppressed her wounds.
But Dantai Liaoluo had already teleported over, right before her eyes!
The Sky Shuttle flying blades reassembled into a longsword.
The Dantai Imperial Clan's ultimate martial technique, Floating Leap Pierce!
Instantly gathering the spiritual energy in the area, condensing and amplifying it, causing the critical strike damage to triple!
He was going for the kill, but... A'Diao had already predicted this strike with her Eye of the Yellow Springs.
Thus, timing it with this node of spiritual energy gathering, a complex ancient Spirit Gathering Formation and five Great Spirit Gates appeared beneath A'Diao's feet. If she only absorbed the spiritual energy gathered at this moment, it certainly wouldn't achieve much effect.
But that ancient Spirit Gathering Formation had been improved by A'Diao—she didn't have Chen Xun's professional modification skills and wasn't proficient with Forbidden Items, but she excelled at talismans and formations. So, she had long since modified this Grade A equipment, and it was designed to be used in conjunction with the Spirit Gate formation.
Yes, the Spirit Gate formation. This was the trump card A'Diao had yet to reveal. Firstly, she didn't want to expose her Devouring Spirit Gate bug. Secondly, it was initially used for cultivation and only gained offensive power after becoming stronger later on.
After using them in combination, A'Diao once again timed it with Dantai Liaoluo's spiritual energy gathering and damage amplification node to snatch the spiritual energy he had gathered...
A direct confrontation?
She couldn't win. With this amount of energy and her current physical state, she couldn't withstand Dantai Liaoluo's strongest attack.
So... A'Diao directly performed a second spatial leap.
Not enough energy, so she could only make a short-distance leap.
Shua!
A'Diao escaped Dantai Liaoluo's attack and was about to flee when she was instantly immobilized.
It wasn't Dantai Liaoluo, but... Tong Huang and his companions who had arrived. Good heavens, it just so happened that these six people were in the same area.
She had clearly struck first and blocked the message Dantai Liaoluo sent, so these people must have been nearby.
She had spatially leaped right into a den of fierce ruffians!
Immobilized, A'Diao watched as the other five people joined Dantai Liaoluo to attack her.
At this critical moment, what chance of survival did she have?
Was she doomed?
As the five arrived and were about to strike, the shattered dragon scales within A'Diao's body instantly vaporized, turning into a special...
Special grayish-white gas.
It was poisonous gas.
This poisonous gas was very special; it had never existed in this world before.
But it itself was not a substance of this world.
However, as soon as Dantai Liaoluo and the others came into contact with this poisonous gas, their armor sizzled, and they immediately realized!
The effect of Sun Image substance?
Could this Chen A'Diao actually extract its corrosive substance from the Sun Image substance?
Damn!
What was originally a 100% certain kill situation was dismantled in the blink of an eye. These six people were scared to death and couldn't care less about killing A'Diao, all fleeing outwards. And A'Diao wasn't afraid of these toxins because they were indeed separated from the Sun Image substance—part was mutated matter, and part was this corrosive substance. Being of the same origin, she naturally wasn't afraid.
After scaring off these six people, before they could launch a ranged attack from outside, A'Diao decisively relied on the next wave of energy gathered by the Spirit Gathering Formation and Spirit Gate formation...
Leap!!!
At the same moment, the six fleeing individuals tacitly launched a coordinated ranged attack.
Bombardment!
The space where A'Diao had been shattered, but she herself was gone.
"She has consumed too much energy and her strength hasn't recovered. She definitely couldn't have fled far. Chase her!"
When it came to hunting down A'Diao, Dantai Liaoluo didn't even need to scheme against the others. With a single command, he had everyone enter pursuit mode.
This time, A'Diao chose her leaping destination well: the end of a deep ravine cave in a mountain stream.
A pale hand steadied itself on a stone pillar. After spitting out a mouthful of blood, she weakly plopped into the stream, her blood swept away by the current.
Weakened, A'Diao gasped for breath, took a replenishing potion, and entered Space 303 to hide.
Seeing A'Diao vomit like this, Toilet's heart ached terribly. It immediately took out a basin from its space.
It was a very large basin, a rural-style, large, floral, porcelain-enameled iron basin with a "Dragon and Phoenix Bring Prosperity" design.
"Vomit in here. It's hard to clean if you vomit on the ground."
A'Diao slapped its large white ball form, rolled her eyes, and huffed, "You're still laughing at me!"
Toilet felt a bit wronged. It wasn't laughing; it was just amazed that she could still escape from the siege of six people. Truly badass.
But it also proved how unlucky she was.
Some people's lives move upwards without needing to go against the current. A'Diao was different.
If she didn't go against the current, she would die.
But as long as she didn't die, she would...
A'Diao quickly sat up and, enduring her injuries, began to make arrangements.
Hiding like this wasn't safe either; she had to conceal herself perfectly.
Formations, feng shui, and equipment—none could be lacking.
Ten minutes later, A'Diao finally felt at ease. By this time, her injuries had recovered somewhat, and she no longer looked as weak and on the verge of death as before.
Her physique was a cheat; her recovery ability was truly formidable—colloquially speaking, she was durable.
Once her condition improved a bit, A'Diao seized the time to cultivate.
There was something fishy about this secret realm. She not only had to deal with those from the Crown Prince's faction, the Mountain Heads, and various experts, but most importantly, the secret realm itself.
Damn it, the seasoned hunter got pecked in the eye by the goose.
Just these two unexpected disasters had caused her to exhaust all her mental power and other resources in one go. She couldn't even upgrade. Currently, she could only rely on breaking through to Grandmaster and the previously planned cultivation steps to strengthen herself.
1. Super Spirit Gate Formation.
2. Complete the Fused Dao Tablet.
3. Domain Divine Weapon.
4. Grandmaster.
A'Diao began to cultivate in hiding, even putting aside any thoughts of ruins.
At this time, the six members of the Crown Prince's faction outside were cautious. Although they were hunting A'Diao, they pretended to be searching for ruins to deceive the senses of Yu Xuanji and Qu Xia'er.
Qu Xia'er actually vaguely guessed that A'Diao was in danger, and most importantly, she sensed the presence of that mass of corpse qi.
Unable to find A'Diao, she went to Yu Xuanji's area and informed him via voice transmission. The latter was stunned.
"Corpse King?"
"Oh no, it couldn't be that person!"
Qu Xia'er: "Who?"
Yu Xuanji said gravely: "I once heard Old Ancestor Kunlun say that during the final period of the Spiritual Energy Revival, he sensed the aura of Yan Xi, who had been missing for many years and was rumored to be dead."
"He wasn't dead, and he might have participated in a large-scale war, which led to his Corpse Core being shattered and his aura leaking out."
"But he wasn't sure which war it was; at that time, he was on a battlefield fighting Demon Spirits."
"Looking at it now, perhaps it was in the Guixu Ruins. But it's unknown whether he belonged to the faction that annihilated Langya, or conversely... died fighting for Langya."
Qu Xia'er was indifferent to this, saying faintly: "I only know that if he has truly revived now, then this reappearance of Guixu initially had a planned phase for his revival—a shattered Corpse Core cannot revive on its own unless someone repaired his Corpse Core. Someone orchestrated all of this."
Yu Xuanji, of course, also knew the severity of the situation, and they had fallen into a trap.
Who was behind this?
"Then, what he most urgently needs for his revival is..."
Yu Xuanji's expression changed.
And Qu Xia'er looked into the distance.
Her voice was faint, as if originating from the depths of her soul.
"Food."
The place where the battle was currently erupting, was it related to A'Diao? Was it related to Yan Xi?
But Yu Xuanji said decisively: "I'll go find Baiyue Lingxi and the others. The biggest disadvantage now is that even if someone is devoured, Bronze Mountain and their group might not believe it's Yan Xi. Instead, they might think you did it and shift the blame back onto you."
Qu Xia'er seemed thoughtful, "You mean you want me to go with you to prove my innocence?"
"No." Yu Xuanji sneered, "If it really comes to this, they won't care about the truth. If you go, it will only give them an opportunity to act out on a whim."
"I'll go and talk. You stay hidden. Anyway, use your presence to deter the others, make them all group together and shrink inwards to avoid that Yan Xi. In any case, Yan Xi will eventually be unable to resist coming out to find food. You can observe then."
In other words, gather all the bait to lure out the big fish.
Yu Xuanji's thinking was ruthless; it was very likely that some people would die in the process, but this was the most effective way.
The overall situation dictated it.
Anyway, doing nothing would result in even more deaths.
A'Diao was terrified. She wasn't afraid of being found by the Crown Prince's faction and the others, but because her sudden fight with them earlier had caused too much commotion, which could attract not only the three Mountain Heads but also that great Corpse King.
Hiding here, she could temporarily evade the Crown Prince's faction and the others, but she didn't know if she could hide from that great Corpse King.
"But the good thing is that fellow should still be in a weakened recovery period and wouldn't dare to directly confront the three Mountain Heads. Nine times out of ten, he's looking for other cultivators to devour and recover. Old Salted Fish and the others should know by now, because Qu Xia'er would definitely contact him, hoping they can group together..."
When A'Diao thought about being trapped in the cage with this fierce tiger, Yan Xi, she felt nauseous. But under immense pressure, her rate of improvement was also terrifyingly fast.
First, she finally had time to digest and process the pile of Great Spirit Gates and fifteen Extra-Large Spirit Gates she had obtained from her clone.
After absorbing these Spirit Gates, A'Diao set up the Orthodox Thirty-Six Big Dipper Spirit Gate Formation, and then began to fuse the Dao Tablet...
The comprehension effect of the Secret Record had laid a top-notch foundation. Now, A'Diao was experiencing a period of explosive growth after long accumulation. Next, she only took 3 hours to get the Fused Dao Tablet to 99% completion. She held back on the final 1%, waiting to complete it just before breaking through to Grandmaster.
Then came the Domain Divine Weapon. Another 12 hours, and it too was stuck at 99% progress.
This was called exploiting a bug.
Finally, A'Diao sorted through the inheritances from those Lesser Spirit Kings, piling their Skeletal Remains Dao Tablets and other resources onto the floor of Space 303. Then, she activated the Super Spirit Gate Formation + Toilet's spiritual energy, and so on.
Such vast power was enough for her to break through, achieve all her plans, and break through to Grandmaster.
Inside Space 303, A'Diao's body released a dense pressure; she was about to break through to the Grandmaster level. In that brief instant, just before the Grandmaster Tribulation appeared, she pushed the final 1% of the Dao Tablet + Domain Divine Weapon along the same line as her Grandmaster breakthrough.
Breakthrough!
The Grandmaster Tribulation arrived.
Within the secret realm, celestial phenomena formed on their own, but this time A'Diao was undergoing her tribulation in her own dimensional space. The tribulation lightning was born directly within the space.
But this lightning was very strange. There was only one bolt, looking ordinary, like a small lightning strike commonly seen during a typhoon.
But the terrifying Spiritual Dao actually had a substantializing effect.
This was an effect that ordinary cultivators might only achieve when advancing to the Great Spirit King level.
Her achievement was too high; the Spiritual Dao acknowledged it.
But the prerequisite was that she could withstand this bolt of lightning.
If she couldn't withstand it...
Toilet watched as A'Diao's body was obliterated by this unimpressive, dried-pickle-like bolt of lightning.
...
Day in and day out, being blasted to bits and then reforming her body.
Could she try a different method?
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