Chapter 307: As Long As One Lives, There Is Still Hope

“Go!”

Chen Jiu, Dongbo Xueying, Old Rogue, and Fu Shu immediately surged forward.

In the instant both sides were about to clash—

Hua!

Out of nowhere, a group of demigods appeared—Sikong Yang, He Shan Zhu, Chi Qiu Bai, Elder Orland, and the three priests of the Demon God Cult. Nine virtual realm clones and thirty-six illusionary clones instantly emerged. At the same time, the large group of Dongbo Xueying’s party quickly split into two teams. One team darted to the left of the flying venomous scorpions, while the other darted to the right.

Chen Jiu and Fu Shu led nine virtual realm clones and sixteen illusionary clones into action.

Dongbo Xueying and Old Rogue led twenty illusionary clones into action.

According to their plan, both Chen Jiu and Dongbo Xueying were confident in their own strength. Old Rogue, relying on his illusions, was also quite confident. However, Fu Shu was the only uncertain factor. Thus, Chen Jiu personally took charge of protecting Fu Shu.

“Boom! Boom!”

The swarm of flying venomous scorpions was also quite intelligent. Instantly, they split into two groups to attack, targeting the four individuals—Chen Jiu, Fu Shu, Dongbo Xueying, and Old Rogue—who had appeared first.

“Hahahaha! Come on, come on!” the old man with a goatee, Old Rogue, was extremely confident. One-on-one, he had no fear of ordinary flying venomous scorpions. If surrounded or attacked by scorpions radiating purple divine energy, he could instantly switch to his illusionary clones. Around him, twenty illusionary clones were ready for switching. These flying venomous scorpions simply couldn’t harm him.

“Hmph.”

Dongbo Xueying also moved at high speed. Ordinary flying venomous scorpions couldn’t enter the virtual realm. Soon, two divine-level flying venomous scorpions targeted him. Surprisingly, these two scorpions flapped their wings and dove into the virtual realm, causing Dongbo Xueying’s expression to slightly change.

He knew that at the divine level, even time and virtual realms were no longer so mysterious.

However, after entering the virtual realm, the two divine-level scorpions seemed to sink into a mire, their flying speed significantly reduced to around six or seven hundred miles per second—comparable to Dongbo Xueying’s speed.

Dongbo Xueying, holding a long spear, did not wish to engage in prolonged combat. He quickly dashed toward the other side of the meteorite bridge, using his spear to continuously block the attacks from the divine scorpions. Fortunately, the divine scorpions’ attack techniques were relatively weak. They mainly relied on their agility and surprise attacks with their tails. Moreover, within the virtual realm, their attack power was significantly weakened by the realm’s suppression.

Thus, Dongbo Xueying found it quite easy to defend against them.

Within two seconds, Dongbo Xueying traversed the virtual realm and reached the latter half of the meteorite bridge. The long bridge formed by giant white meteorites lifted his spirits.

“Haha! This time feels much easier than on the floating island,” Old Rogue also arrived on the white meteorite and said with a smile, “Dongbo Xueying, thanks! Fortunately, you distracted those two divine scorpions. Otherwise, I would have had a harder time.”

“The divine scorpions attacked you too, but couldn’t hit you, so they came after me instead,” Dongbo Xueying replied.

“Ah! Once they miss, they’ll try ten or a hundred times again. Their speed is too fast, and their attacks are unpredictable. My illusionary clones must switch within a hundred meters. But for divine scorpions, a hundred meters is merely an instant. If one of them happens to strike my clone at the moment of transformation, I probably won’t even have time to react,” sighed the goateed Old Rogue.

Relying solely on dodging through transformations was purely a matter of luck. If his luck ran out and he was pierced, it would be all over.

Dongbo Xueying and Chen Jiu, on the other hand, were directly resisting the scorpions head-on—there was no element of luck involved in that.

“They’re coming too,” Dongbo Xueying said, looking toward the other side.

Fu Shu radiated golden light, illuminating the surroundings. The ground beneath the golden light faintly revealed countless magical rune patterns. Chen Jiu’s eyes gleamed with killing intent. His eight arms transformed into ten-meter-long limbs, sweeping in all directions. He was directly resisting the divine scorpions, holding off two of them completely. The ordinary scorpions posed little threat. Although occasionally one slipped past his defenses, Fu Shu himself was no weakling.

Thus, after a few more seconds than Dongbo Xueying’s group, they also landed on the white meteorite.

The pursuing flying venomous scorpions halted their flight.

“Hahaha! You two sure are fast,” Fu Shu, the bald old man in yellow robes, laughed heartily. Chen Jiu wore a faint smile, clearly in a good mood as well.

“Don’t celebrate too soon. The final obstacle at the end of the meteorite bridge will be the hardest,” Chen Jiu said. “Whether it’s the stone guardian on the floating island or the flying venomous scorpions, their mastery of attack principles is quite basic. However, at the end of the meteorite bridge, our opponent will be truly formidable in the mastery of rules and principles.”

“Mm,” Dongbo Xueying nodded.

The final obstacle.

Once he crossed the meteorite bridge, he should be able to detoxify. After detoxification, with his current cultivation realm, he believed he could immediately undergo a second awakening of his ancient bloodline, strengthening his body and advancing to the demigod level. With demigod-level battle aura powering his armor, his defensive capabilities would greatly improve. Moreover, without the poison, he could fully focus on refining his insights.

Currently, his three insights were all at the peak of the second stage. He couldn’t fully focus on refining them before. They had only naturally advanced while he trained in spear techniques.

If he could fully concentrate, he might breakthrough in one go and reach the third stage!

“If I can detoxify, I might be able to use the unique conditions of Red Stone Mountain for cultivation!” Dongbo Xueying had long planned this. The interior of Red Stone Mountain was vast and contained many special areas. Many demigods from the Xia Clan had explored it before.

Everything depended on detoxification.

…

Dongbo Xueying and his group passed safely. Three other teams then began to cross one by one.

First was the team led by Mountain Master Mei.

“Amazing,” Dongbo Xueying, Chen Jiu, and others watched from afar. Mountain Master Mei was accompanied by a white-robed girl and a man in black robes. The man’s hands were covered in black claws, and his palms seemed to contain endless darkness, devouring and annihilating everything. The white-robed girl wielded a sword, its radiant blade fending off the flying venomous scorpions.

The most formidable was Mountain Master Mei himself.

The space around Mountain Master Mei twisted, causing the scorpions’ attacks to often miss. The closer they got, the more they felt like sinking into a swamp. His attacks, however, were exquisitely precise. Each move was incredibly accurate, rivaling Chen Jiu’s eight-armed combat efficiency.

“Complete spatial insight, and his mastery of the surrounding space is incredible,” Chen Jiu remarked. “His two companions are also quite strong.”

Mountain Master Mei’s team also passed safely, every member alive.

“Congratulations,” Dongbo Xueying and Chen Jiu said as Mountain Master Mei’s team arrived.

“Same to you,” Mountain Master Mei smiled slightly. At this point, both teams had all survived.

Both teams continued to observe the following teams.

However, this time—

“Tian Lan, you go first!”

The golden-robed Sword Emperor brandished his blade in all directions, single-handedly holding off two divine-tier flying venomous scorpions. Even some lesser scorpions found themselves barred by his relentless strikes. Yet the towering, muscle-bound warrior, though formidable, moved with sluggishness—merely a dozen ordinary flying venomous scorpions instantly pinned him down, halting his advance. The sole member of their party capable of wielding divine scrolls had been none other than the bewitching enchantress from before.

The sword emperor and the tall, muscular man, Tian Lan, were both transcendent knights!

“Hurry!” the sword emperor urged desperately.

“Whoosh!”

Delay meant danger.

Although entangled by sword strikes, one divine scorpion lashed its tail out. The venomous tail moved like a phantom, about seven or eight meters long, directly piercing the tall man’s back. The tip of the tail pierced through his armor, and the poison erupted instantly.

The tall man’s face immediately turned purple. The other ordinary scorpions surged forward, gnashing their teeth and devouring him. The armor, already weakened by the piercing strike, could no longer protect him. In the blink of an eye, both his armor and body were completely devoured.

“No, no!” the sword emperor in golden robes cried out in desperation.

With all his might, he furiously slashed and killed.

But these flying venomous scorpions, even the ordinary ones, had bodies as unbreakable as steel. They couldn’t be killed.

The sword emperor finally arrived at the white meteorite.

“Sigh,” both Dongbo Xueying’s and Mountain Master Mei’s teams silently lamented.

This sword emperor was truly pitiful.

Two companions had successively perished on the floating island and the meteorite bridge. Moreover, the only transcendent mage, Xue Wei, had died under the stone guardians’ assault. If Xue Wei were still alive, she could have used divine scrolls, and with a slight speed boost for the tall man named Tian Lan, resisting the flying venomous scorpions would have been much easier.

“Brother, brother,” the sword emperor knelt on the cold white meteorite ground, its icy chill mirroring the coldness in his heart.

Xue Wei had been the eldest sister, already a transcendent when he was just an ordinary man captured into the Temple of Time and Space.

Tian Lan had met him even earlier. They had grown together, and in the early days, Tian Lan had been like an older brother, protecting him.

“How could this happen? It shouldn’t be like this. It shouldn’t be like this!” the sword emperor’s body trembled slightly. His eyes were terrifying, red with fury, almost hysterical. They were both dead. What was the point of him surviving alone?

Watching silently, Mountain Master Mei sighed inwardly. Many time-travelers from the Temple of Time and Space tended to become extreme, pushed too hard by life-and-death situations. He himself had experienced similar hardships. Back then, when his beloved perished, he had been overwhelmed with grief and rage, deciding to leave the Temple of Time and Space, even taking on three hell-level missions.

Mountain Master Mei sighed, “Sword Emperor, the legendary great beings of the divine realm transcend time and space, surpass all rule constraints, and are omnipotent. Even the dead can be resurrected from the river of time. Don’t lose hope. As long as you live, there is still hope!”

The sword emperor’s body trembled. His bloodshot eyes gradually returned to normal. He muttered, “Yes, as long as I live, there is still hope!”