Chapter 919: Deep into the Perilous Place

Taking advantage of the settling dust, Han Li saw that at the mountain pass, where rubble had previously buried the ground, a Black Scale Elephant puppet was raising its head, its trunk pointing straight into the sky.

At the tip of its trunk, a fading white light was slowly receding, while the fluctuations of star power emanating from it lingered on.

Han Li couldn't help but marvel that this modified and refined Black Scale Elephant puppet possessed combat power far beyond imagination.

It seemed that although the people of Puppet City could not match the City of Xuan in physical cultivation, their mastery of puppet arts was profound, enabling them to survive for so many years in such a harsh environment as the Scale Abyss, and to stand as equals against the City of Xuan, neither yielding.

This scene fell upon the eyes of the City of Xuan's people, and their expressions varied.

City lords like Equine and Chen Yang naturally showed nothing on their faces, but the rest stirred restlessly; some looked shocked, while others cursed, believing the Puppet City had done it deliberately.

Before the City of Xuan's people could finish their astonishment, with a "crack," the stone hall roof on the back of another Black Scale Elephant ahead suddenly opened, and a tremendous sound of air being rent rang out.

"Swoosh"

A streak of black light flashed, and a spear as thick as an adult's arm suddenly shot out. In a blink, it caught up with the double-headed scaled falcon that had already flown far away, piercing directly into its abdomen.

"Owww..."

The double-headed scaled falcon let out a long cry. Its body dropped heavily downward for a moment, then it flapped its wings again and sped away into the distance.

However, just after it had flown a little over a thousand zhang, a blinding white light suddenly burst from within its body, and it exploded in midair.

Clearly, the spear that had pierced its body was embedded with a star bone from an explosive scaled beast.

The aftermath of this small incident quickly passed. The Puppet City team set off again, and the Xuan City people, driving their scaled beasts, caught up.

...

Half a year later.

On a desolate black rock gobi, a violent wind swept across, howling and shaking the heavens.

Flying sand filled the sky, blotting out the sunlight. Though it was noon, the world was as dark as night.

On the earth, rumbling sounds continued without end. Countless rocks as large as mortars were blown about by the gale, colliding with each other.

On the flat, unobstructed land, two teams stood a hundred zhang apart. All the scaled beasts faced inward with their tails outward, gathering together to form two large circles, resisting the raging wind, sand, and flying stones.

On the stone roof of one scaled beast, a loud clattering sound was heard. With a sudden shake, a large roof slab spun up, lifted directly by the gale, flying away like a kite.

Immediately after, a tall figure stamped his feet hard on the ground, shot straight up from the open roof, and rushed into the dust.

The acupoints on his legs suddenly shone brightly. He walked in the air, following the wind to chase after the stone slab.

After just over ten breaths, the figure, holding the black stone slab with both hands, stepped repeatedly on the void and flying stones, returned, and placed the huge roof slab back in its original position.

After the roof was closed again, the man stood inside, slowly pulled down the cloth covering his face, revealing an ordinary face. It was Han Li.

He gave a bitter smile and glanced around the room, only to see that in the span of a dozen breaths, a thick layer of sand and dust had already accumulated on the floor. The stone table in the center of the room had also been split in two by a flying rock.

"This black sandstorm has already lasted over two months. I wonder when it will ever end..." Han Li sighed, raised his hand, and flicked his sleeve to sweep the dust off the stone bed before sitting down cross-legged.

Although at the beginning, when encountering attacks from scale beasts, the two teams still occasionally competed with each other, unwilling to show weakness in front of the other, as they delved deeper and the environment grew harsher, both sides had to temporarily set aside their differences and cooperate.

……

Time passed slowly, the road stretched long, and in the blink of an eye, several more years went by.

On a vast, boundless plain, a resounding horn call echoed, and the Puppet City team, which had been leading the way, suddenly stopped.

Close behind, the scale beast team from Xuan City, only a hundred zhang away, stopped as if by prior agreement.

Inside a stone hall on the back of one of the black-scaled elephants, Han Li and the other two were sitting around a stone table.

"Stopped again..." Gu Qianxun furrowed her brows upon hearing the horn call.

"Looks like we're under attack again," sighed Xuanyuan Xing. "The deeper we go over the years, the stronger the spatial pressure in this realm becomes, and the more powerful the scale beasts we encounter. Our pace is getting slower and slower."

"I had planned to cultivate in seclusion the whole way, but now I'm constantly interrupted, and I have to go out and deal with scale beast attacks. Still, killing one yields a beast core, so it's not a loss," Han Li said with a wry smile.

"Let's go out and see what it is this time," Gu Qianxun said, standing up.

With that, the three rose and walked out of the stone hall.

Once on the back of the black scale elephant, Han Li and the others realized the situation was somewhat different from what they had expected.

The terrain before them was unobstructed, and ahead everything was calm—no sign of any scale beast attack.

Han Li jumped onto the roof of the stone hall, squinting as he gazed into the distance.

A hundred miles away, the space above the ground was visibly distorted, and a chaotic storm of spatial rifts raged there, clearly tearing the void apart.

Beneath the area dense with spatial rifts lay an endless rift valley, stretching out of sight in both directions.

The abyss was pitch black, with wisps of black mist rising. At intervals, huge black vortices churned the mist, like demonic eyes staring into the abyss.

"What is that?" Gu Qianxun and the others came to Han Li's side, murmuring.

"I don't know what it is, but the spatial power within is extremely violent. Even from this distance, I can feel faint tearing forces. I hope the 'Great Ruin' we're looking for isn't there," Han Li shook his head and said.

As the three were puzzled, they saw Chen Yang flying over with the Crab Immortal, landing before them.

"City Lord," Xuanyuan Xing cupped his fists in greeting.

Han Li and the others also bowed.

"No need for formalities. You've all seen the black mist abyss ahead. The Great Ruin we seek is on the other side," Chen Yang said with a wave of his hand and a smile.

Xuanyuan Xing and Gu Qianxun glanced at Han Li—truly, what they feared had come.

"What now? Is there a way to cross that natural barrier?" Han Li asked.

"Not yet. City Lord Ekuai has gone to meet with Sha Xin. We'll know the outcome after their discussion," Chen Yang shook his head.

"This black abyss is so dangerous, I wonder if there's any way to cross it," Xuanyuan Xing said worriedly.

"I've heard City Lord Ekuai mention that the storm in the black abyss is at its weakest in nearly a million years. Even a century ago, the surrounding spatial rift zone was hundreds of miles wide. Even this area we're standing on was once an impassable death zone," Chen Yang sighed.

"If so, why not wait another hundred years? Perhaps the storm in the abyss will no longer be a concern," Gu Qianxun hesitated.

"Both Xuan City and Kui City have been monitoring this place for who knows how many years. Each fears the other will enter the Great Ruin first—one step behind means falling behind forever. City Lord Ekuai originally convened the Five Cities Tournament to select talents for entering the Great Ruin. Unexpectedly, Kui City approached us seeking cooperation, forcing Ekuai to advance his plans," Chen Yang thought for a moment and said.

"It seems Kui City's request for cooperation is mostly out of necessity. Facing this black abyss, they likely cannot cross it on their own," Gu Qianxun mused.

"I think it's more than that. They dare not explore on their own, probably fearing that their city will be left vulnerable and Xuan City will strike from behind," Han Li shook his head slightly.

"Fellow Daoist Li hasn't been in Xuan City long, but you have a good understanding of our situation," Chen Yang said with a smile.

Just then, a figure shot up from the Kui City contingent, arcing over a hundred zhang and descending toward them. Of medium build and ordinary appearance, his aura was immensely powerful—it was Ekuai.

As he neared the ground, he spread his fingers and pressed down gently in the void, slowing his descent and landing as lightly as a feather on the head of the ox-headed scale beast.

"Xuan City, hear my command: continue east along the black abyss. Watch for changes in the spatial rifts and do not stray into them." A not-very-loud voice rang out, yet it penetrated everyone's hearts with a soul-shaking force.

"We're setting out," Chen Yang said, then left with the Crab Immortal.

Afterward, the two teams, one after the other, set off again, slowly moving eastward.

The black abyss stretched eastward, not uniform along the way—some sections were wider, with a broader range of spatial rifts above.

Occasionally, they saw scale beasts blunder into the spatial rift zone, instantly caught and shredded by the rifts, dying miserably.

Other flying scale beasts, pursued by predators, passed over the abyss and were dragged down by the powerful suction of the huge vortices within, swallowed into the maelstrom.

Han Li once saw a four-winged scale eagle spread its wings at a thousand zhang, soaring out from the clouds, flapping its four wings in an attempt to cross the black abyss.

But as soon as it flew over the abyss, it was as if struck by a giant spiked club on its spine, its body bent sharply downward, plummeting straight into a black vortex.