Chapter 319: Despair

A group of four-hoofed beasts was fleeing in panic, while following them were over a hundred terrifying eight-tentacled creatures from the Void Realm, already at the threshold of divinity. From the void, one deep-blue tendril after another shot forth like lightning, swift and devastating. Some lashed out violently, others coiled with eerie flexibility, and in no time, the four-hoofed beasts were swiftly annihilated.

“This is too terrifying,” Lord You Lan exclaimed, his face paling. In an instant, he zipped toward the core vine located several dozen miles away. With such a short distance and his immense speed, he crossed the space in a flash and landed upon the massive vine.

The eight-tentacled beings, which had been tracking him from the Void Realm, abandoned their pursuit.

For there was a rule within the First Vine-Leaf World.

Once one successfully steps onto the core vine, they have passed the trial of the First Vine-Leaf World and will no longer be attacked. Of course, this did not apply to conflicts among the demi-gods themselves!

“Hehehe,” Lord You Lan grinned, revealing his white teeth, his excitement evident in his eerie chuckle. “Though these eight-tentacled Void creatures may be weak in the subtleties of laws, their strength and speed are on par with gods. Each one is stronger than General Kumen! And they strike from the Void Realm itself—solo, I’d have a hard time dealing with them. Let alone facing so many at once.”

“Chen Jiu, your close combat skills are impressive, but even ten of these Void creatures would be enough to defeat you. As for Dongbo Xueying? You like to hide in the Void, making it hard for others to strike you. Too bad—this entire swarm of eight-tentacled monsters are Void beings!”

Lord You Lan had been waiting for this moment.

Ever since his subordinates discovered the group of eight-tentacled Void creatures within the mountain’s belly, Lord You Lan had been ecstatic, plotting for this very scenario.

…

Dongbo Xueying, Chen Jiu, and Fu Shu instantly realized that over a hundred eight-tentacled Void creatures were far beyond their ability to resist!

Their first instinct was to turn and flee!

“Cursed!” Dongbo Xueying felt the countless golden threads wrapping around his body. He even tried to enter the Void Realm, but those golden threads still clung to him, limiting his speed to merely fifty or sixty percent of his full capability. At this rate, there was no way he could escape the swarm of eight-tentacled Void creatures.

“You Lan!” Chen Jiu was furious, nearly beside himself.

He carried not only his own life upon his shoulders, but the fate of the Flying Sword Villa itself!

“Fu Shu, you must flee now—crush your talisman and escape!” Chen Jiu urgently transmitted his voice. “Wait for me in the Xia Clan’s world. As long as I survive, we will return to the Divine Realm together.”

At this moment, Fu Shu, the elderly bald man in the yellow robe, was also in a panic. Immediately, he took out several divine scrolls and began to use them.

“Don’t give them to me—give them to Dongbo! Use them to strengthen him!” Chen Jiu urgently transmitted again. “I have a divine armor set—I don’t need extra defense. Dongbo can’t withstand this!”

“Understood.” Though Fu Shu’s heart leaned toward his master, he knew Chen Jiu was right.

With divine armor already on, the Void creatures could not bypass the armor and strike directly. Thus, using divine scrolls for defensive enhancement would just be a waste.

“Whoosh!””Whoosh!”

Two divine scrolls were torn open in succession.

A red stream of light and a white mist enveloped Dongbo Xueying, making him appear as if draped in a thin veil of red and white.

“Lock!”

Fu Shu activated another divine scroll.

Invisible gray currents seeped into the Void Realm, wrapping around each of the eight-tentacled Void creatures. By now, the Void creatures had already slaughtered the herd of four-hoofed beasts and had set their sights on Dongbo Xueying and the other two. They were charging at high speed, with only three thousand li left between them.

“Ah!” Fu Shu was anxious. This was a large-scale control formation, capable of binding enemies across all layers of existence—whether the real world, the Void Realm, or the Shadow Space. In short, it could penetrate and bind every aspect of the world.

Yet, binding one hundred and thirty-nine Void creatures at once caused the formation’s power to disperse, reducing each creature’s speed by only half a notch. If focused on just three or five targets, it might have cut their speed by more than half. Unfortunately, slowing down just a few made little difference to the overall situation. Because being attacked by one hundred and thirty-nine Void creatures or one hundred and thirty-six made no real difference.

None at all!

Because the Void creatures were large in size, they couldn’t all attack simultaneously anyway.

“Cursed! Cursed!” Fu Shu was so enraged his eyes turned red. Though he still carried divine scrolls, he could no longer offer any meaningful aid.

“Flee!” shouted Chen Jiu, who was rapidly escaping, transmitting his voice urgently.

“Master, be careful!” Fu Shu gritted his teeth and crushed the talisman in his hand.

Instantly, an invisible force descended, enveloping Fu Shu.

Whoosh!

Fu Shu vanished into thin air, completely teleported away, expelled from Hongshi Mountain.

Once outside Hongshi Mountain, Fu Shu could no longer assist. Although according to the rules, he could enter again, there was a catch—one must wait at least one hundred years before attempting to enter a second time. Secondly, the gifts obtained through the Meteorite Bridge and the talismans could only be acquired once. Upon entering again, he would receive neither gifts nor talismans!

“Aaaa!” Chen Jiu fled with all his might.

“Chen Jiu, only eight hundred li left!” Dongbo Xueying transmitted beside him, fleeing alongside but not entering the Void Realm. Since the eight-tentacled creatures were Void beings themselves, whether he entered or not made no difference.

“Fleeing is useless now. We must fight!” Chen Jiu halted.

Dongbo Xueying also stopped.

Bound by the golden threads, they had no way to escape and could only face the enemy head-on.

“They’re here.” Dongbo Xueying spoke.

“Boom!”

The gravitational domain expanded outward, skillfully avoiding Chen Jiu and not affecting him.

“These Supernals dare to fight us?”

“Human, stop struggling and die obediently.”

The voices of the eight-tentacled creatures penetrated the real world as one deep-blue tendril after another shot forth from all directions. Dozens of long tendrils flew like illusions, swarming toward them. Chen Jiu manifested his eight arms, carefully guarding all sides. Dongbo Xueying also held a long spear, and the two of them stood only three to five meters apart.

The eight-tentacled creatures were large, so only a dozen or so could gather and attack Dongbo Xueying and Chen Jiu at once.

Dongbo Xueying and Chen Jiu each bore the assault of seven or eight creatures.

“Dongbo, be careful—I can’t protect you!” Chen Jiu struggled, swinging his eight arms desperately to block all directions. His arms and palms grew large, like eight shields, nearly covering his entire body.

Yet the deep-blue tendrils, reaching from the Void, not only lashed but also coiled, attempting to entangle Chen Jiu!

“Get off!” Dongbo Xueying had it slightly better. He could clearly observe each eight-tentacled creature in the Void Realm. Since they acted within his sight, he could react faster. Unfortunately, though their bodies were large, his gravitational domain wasn’t strong enough. Even with gravitational repulsion, their speed was only reduced by about one-tenth.

But each creature wielded eight tendrils! Dozens of long tendrils surged from the Void, attacking him from all sides.

“Boom!””Peng!” Dongbo Xueying unleashed his spear techniques repeatedly. He had only managed to use Starfall Annihilation once before being forced into a continuous defensive stance by the swarming tendrils. Starfall Annihilation required a seamless series of techniques—such as the extremely fast Point Penetration, repeated rapidly to defend all directions.

Even so, in less than half a second, “Peng!”

A tendril broke through his spear defense, striking Dongbo Xueying’s back with a soft yet powerful blow.

A surging force.

At the level of divinity… Dongbo Xueying was involuntarily sent flying forward, directly into a dense thicket of tendrils rushing toward him!

“Dongbo!” Chen Jiu, wielding his eight arms, was barely holding his ground when he saw this scene, his heart filled with anxiety and pain.