CHAPTER 260: A DIFFICULT CHOICE

Nantian Yijian lay on the lightning giant's palm, carefully setting the unconscious Nantian Wan'er flat. Then he crawled to the edge of the giant's hand, peered down into the depths, and said in a trembling voice, "It's so deep... Little Jun, hold on tight. I don't plan to die this young."

"Sigh... Is there really no other way?" Jun Laoye's hands trembled uncontrollably. His grip on the Earth-Shattering Spear loosened little by little, and despair began to settle in. "Little Lu, aren't you the one who always creates miracles? Hurry up! I can't hold on much longer!"

Just then, the surrounding space fractured, and two furious shouts rang out near the ravine's edge.

"Red Fox! How dare you betray the king! I knew something was off about you earlier!"

"Who are you? Why are you possessing Red Fox's body?"

A blazing fire dragon spiraled through the air, charging straight toward Red Fox. Lu Chen had arrived, with flames wrapping around him and the Hunyuan Greatsword in his hands.

Nantian Yijian's eyes lit up as he watched the dragon soar. "That fire dragon! That's the boss's Dragon-Slaying Sword!"

He jumped excitedly on the giant's palm. "Boss! It's really you! Boss is back!"

Seeing Lu Chen, Jun Laoye's eyes welled up with tears. "Little Lu... you finally came."

Lu Chen glanced down at them, his brow furrowing tightly. Wind Dragon roared from within the Hunyuan Greatsword, sending a streak of dark blue sword light in the form of a dragon hurtling toward Red Fox.

Lu Chen leveled the greatsword before him and stepped forward. He unleashed the Divine Tree's vines from his left hand, wrapping them around Jun Laoye to pull him up.

Red Fox calmly raised her hand and shattered the dark blue dragon into fragments. "Heh...

You just destroyed one of my avatars. How dare you still not recognize me? My skeletal form may be gone, but I haven't given up. This fox body... suits me just fine."

Lu Chen's eyes burned blood-red. "So it is you."

Flames flickered violently across his body. Gripping the Hunyuan Greatsword tightly, he roared, "What do you want? Why keep coming after us?"

Red Fox laughed wildly as she backed toward the ravine. "Why? Because those tablets were never yours to begin with."

With a light push of her foot, she tilted backward and plunged into the depths. "I'll be waiting down there. What belongs to me will always be mine, unless, of course, you don't care to save your friends. Friends... or the tablets? Which will you choose?"

As she passed Jun Laoye and the others, she released a burst of spirit qi, condensing it into a flying dagger that slashed straight toward them. The Divine Tree's vines binding Jun Laoye were severed, and the sudden loss of balance disrupted his spirit qi flow. The lightning giant crumbled under the force of Red Fox's strike, shattering into countless sparks.

Nantian Yijian cried out, "Ah!"

He quickly grabbed Nantian Wan'er. Overwhelmed by Red Fox's energy, all three of them plunged deep into the ravine.

Wrapped in violet light, Red Fox laughed hysterically at Lu Chen before disappearing into the abyss. "I'll be waiting below with your friends. Why not jump down and join us?"

After saying that, she turned back into a fox and fell unconscious.

Jun Laoye cursed under his breath. "Damn it all..."

He realized the entity controlling Red Fox had already left. During the fall, he gathered his remaining spirit qi and surged forward to catch Red Fox in his arms.

Lu Chen's eyes burned red, veins bulging at his temples. "Bastard..."

He slammed the Hunyuan Greatsword into the ground, and thousands of Divine Tree's vines erupted from his back, stretching rapidly into the ravine. The vines twisted through the air, desperately reaching for his falling companions.

Just then, a colossal hand of black mist lunged toward Lu Chen from behind.

Caught between two threats, Lu Chen furrowed his brow, recalling the solemn voice that had once spoken within him, "Neither dead nor alive... only through death comes life..."

With the devouring force growing stronger by the moment, Red Fox and the others fell faster.

Lu Chen pushed his vines to their limit, yet he still couldn't catch up. With no other choice left, he prepared to leap after them. "So that's it... I really have to jump, huh? What rotten luck. Wind Dragon, get ready. We're going down."

Wind Dragon responded firmly through the disk, "Understood. If you've made up your mind, then do it. I still don't know who managed to convince you to rise again, but your inner demon can no longer sway your mind. Remember, their true goal is the stone tablets. As long as you don't take them out, they can't take the tablets."

He added in a somewhat tired voice, "They're also the only things we can use to bargain with it. From here on, it's all up to you. I can no longer call upon my Earth Core Realm strength."

"I understand. Rest well. A mere inner demon is nothing to fear."

Lu Chen snorted coldly at the approaching black mist giant. Anchoring one vine to the withered trees, he drew the Hunyuan Greatsword from the ground and pushed off the cliff, leaping into the ravine.

Watching him dive, the black mist giant let out a hoarse, eerie laugh before dispersing back into clouds of black mist, following him down into the abyss.

Feeling the black mist surging from behind, Lu Chen quickly wrapped the vines around his waist. He swung the Hunyuan Greatsword repeatedly and called out, "Nantian Dragon Ascent!"

In an instant, he was once again engulfed in a blazing fire dragon, twisting through the air to evade the black mist while heading straight for Jun Laoye and the others."

The black mist sizzled and hissed whenever it touched the intense flames surrounding him. The mist within the ravine seemed endless. It spread relentlessly as eerie laughter echoed, voraciously consuming the spirit qi around Lu Chen.

Lu Chen maneuvered the Hunyuan Greatsword to accelerate his descent while releasing the vines to reach Jun Laoye. "Little Jun! Hold onto the vines! Little Jun!"

Seeing the black mist giant swing its arm down again, he slashed a wave of sword qi upward to block the strike.

As the group fell, the black mist thickened, devouring spirit qi at an ever-faster rate. Eventually, Jun Laoye's spirit qi was completely drained, and he fainted. Nantian Yijian, right behind him, also lost consciousness. With the mist surging relentlessly, all four of them, including Red Fox, plummeted rapidly toward the bottom of the ravine.

Lu Chen called out anxiously, "Wan'er! Little Jian!"

He formed a series of hand seals. Flames around him flared violently as the Divine Tree's vines expanded at breakneck speed, surging toward his fallen companions.

Sensing Lu Chen's burst of spirit qi, the black mist swarmed over him, wrapping around the vines and greedily devouring the energy.

Sweat poured down Lu Chen's forehead. "How is there so much black mist? The deeper I go, the faster my spirit qi drains..."

Having endured several battles already, his stamina began to falter under the ravenous consumption.

Gazing down at Jun Laoye and the others, his vision blurred. His overtaxed spirit qi surged erratically, and his hand seal movements slowed. Gradually, Lu Chen's consciousness wavered. The fire dragon around him dimmed. The surrounding flames dissipated, exposing Lu Chen himself once again.

He mustered the remnants of his willpower to focus solely on Nantian Wan'er. This time, even as a fist crashed down from behind, he could not divert his mind to dodge. In a daze during the fall, the Hunyuan Greatsword slipped from his hands.

Wind Dragon instantly leaped from the Hunyuan Greatsword. "Roar... how dare you!"

With his massive form, he tore through the surrounding black mist, coiling protectively around Lu Chen to shield him from the crushing blow.

Thwack...

The black mist giant slammed its fist into Wind Dragon's back. Wind Dragon spat blood but strained to withstand the impact. Seeing the barrage of fists above, he turned and opened his jaws, crushing the giant's fist between his teeth.

Having already unleashed Earth Core Realm power against the skeletal giant and cut off from the small world by the spatial barrier, Wind Dragon had no chance to recover. Fatigue from forcibly amplifying his power still weighed heavily on him. Facing the black mist giant, boosted by the surrounding energy, he could at most muster the strength of the first layer of the Sunken Core Realm.

As the black mist giant's fist descended once more, Wind Dragon could not resist. He threw himself desperately in front of Lu Chen, absorbing the blow. His defense shattered, and another spurt of blood sprayed from his mouth. This was the first time that Wind Dragon, in his physical beast form, had sustained such a grievous injury in combat. The punch nearly shattered his body outright.

Sensing the dense spirit qi in Wind Dragon's blood, the black mist surged from all directions, greedily devouring his core essence and spirit qi. The ravine was its territory. With his defenses weakened and the protective power of the Hunyuan Greatsword compromised, Wind Dragon instantly became prey to its voracious grasp.

Spirit qi drained rapidly from him. Staring at the descending fist of the black mist giant, his eyes glimmered with despair. "Is this how it ends?"

Nevertheless, he stayed positioned above Lu Chen, ready to block the final strike.

With most of the surrounding mist surging toward Wind Dragon, Lu Chen's mind cleared significantly. Sensing Wind Dragon's rapid descent, he bit his tongue to stay awake. "Wind Dragon... how much longer can you hold on? I still have one last way to turn this around."

Seeing the extremely weakened Wind Dragon, Lu Chen formed hand seals and drew upon the remaining spirit qi in his body. "This way comes with significant consequences, but I have no other choice. I cannot, under any circumstances, allow you all to die here."

"One last way?" Wind Dragon's lips dripped dark red blood as he turned his head and questioned. "Does the last way involve striking a deal with that green-robed Daoist?"