CHAPTER 473: CHAPTER 424: THE YOUNGER GENERATION

The Shadow Demon gave them no more time to react. Shadows rapidly spread and climbed along the walls, reaching the roof tiles under their feet.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE—

The tiles loosened and trembled, instantly collapsing with a thunderous crash.

Li Ang and He Fanshuang suddenly found themselves stepping into nothingness, uncontrollably falling downwards. Above their heads, a large hand made of shadows swiftly closed in, attempting to trap them both.

Telekinesis: Suspension.

Li Ang unleashed his telekinetic power, suspending himself and He Fanshuang in mid-air and stopping their descent. Simultaneously, he pulled out a Mechanical Crossbow with his left hand, firing several talisman arrows at the building’s wall in quick succession.

BOOM!

The talisman arrows effortlessly shattered the wall, and the intense firelight they released tore a small fissure in the shadows.

"Let’s go!"

Li Ang flung out several Mind Threads with his right hand, wrapping them around He Fanshuang’s waist. Then, without hesitation, he increased his telekinetic strength, carrying them both toward the crack.

The shadows covering the outside of the wall healed at a visible speed. He Fanshuang slashed forward with her sword. The sharp Sword Qi crushed the wooden wall, carving deep into the shadowy veil and breaking through the wall of shadows once more.

Wood chips flew everywhere. The two leaped out of the building, sweeping across the street from above. Below them, thousands of oblivious Xingzhou people walked towards the location of the Jianquan Monk.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE—

The Shadow Demon noticed their presence and directed even more attention their way.

Shadows shot out from the sky, the ground, and the walls, transforming into all kinds of bizarre shapes and giving chase.

Trees, bricks, river water, the flags and lanterns hanging outside the shops along the street—it seemed like everything was trying to kill them.

Had the Shadow Demon not already spread over the entirety of Xingzhou, its strength greatly dispersed, they wouldn’t have lasted even one round of this assault. Yet even so, every escape was a narrow miss. The slightest miscalculation would have left them shattered to pieces.

"Head south of the city!"

Li Ang shot arrows tipped with Micro Light Talismans and Blast Talismans from both hands, repelling wave after wave of the Shadow Demon’s onslaught. He Fanshuang’s Sword Qi crisscrossed through the air, cutting through the obstructing shadow walls. "Not going to the garrison?" she asked, her voice firm.

"There’s no time." Li Ang glanced at the slowly collapsing garrison building in the distance. "The Nearby Worm has probably fallen into Jianquan’s hands or been killed by him directly. The Communication Iron Plate has also failed."

It was uncertain whether Jianquan’s Zen cultivation was too astonishing, or if he had awakened new abilities after succumbing to demonhood. But the current state of Xingzhou City was like that of Chang’an City hit by the Chaotic Wind during last year’s Qixi Festival. Turbulent spiritual energy fluctuations were causing many Mutated Objects and Arrays to fail. These included the Bitter Realm Lotus and the arbitrary gate. Li Ang couldn’t even contact the distant Ink Silk Clone to relay information.

"The nearest State Mansion with a Nearby Worm is Wei State," He Fanshuang said without a moment’s thought, "It’s about sixty miles away."

If they escaped now, with their strength, they could likely get out of Xingzhou City. But the souls of the eighty thousand common people in the city would surely fall into the Reincarnation Illusion created by Jianquan.

They had to do something.

Li Ang released his telekinetic force, repelling countless shadowy tendrils approaching from the front. He asked sternly, "How long would it take you to reach Wei State using sword control?"

"If I push it to the fullest, less than three quarters of an hour."

Li Ang quickly calculated. By the time he and He Fanshuang reached Wei State, used the Nearby Worm to call for reinforcements, and waited for them to arrive, it would take at least over an hour.

Li Ang quickly said, "You go to Wei State. I’ll go back to help Senior Sister Sui."

"..."

He Fanshuang didn’t show surprise or doubt. She just silently looked at Li Ang.

In the direction of the prison, the gleaming light from the Yinghuo fires continued unabated. That level of battle, even if a regular Cloud Patrol Realm cultivator went, they would just be cannon fodder. What’s more, Li Ang hadn’t yet reached the Cloud Patrol.

"I have a way." Li Ang spoke seriously. "This is our only chance."

"Okay."

Seeing Li Ang’s determination, He Fanshuang said no more. Leaving behind the words, "Don’t die," she swung her sword to break through the shadow wall ahead and plunged out of the city.

The Shadow Demon did not continue the pursuit. After He Fanshuang landed, she merged with the sword’s glow and sped toward Wei State.

Don’t die. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to take this risk either.

Li Ang smiled bitterly to himself while maintaining his suppression of the surrounding shadows. He pulled out the Ten Thousand Spirit Book from his chest and flipped through the pages, then quickly asked, "If I want to know the way to stop the Jianquan Monk, what price must I pay?"

The writing in the Ten Thousand Spirit Book slowly changed, revealing words.

*Half the lifespan of a loved one.*

It wasn’t enough for it to scam the host; it wanted to scam the host’s loved ones too? Profiteering from disaster? No wonder the book’s last owner said that it was not a gift, but a curse.

Li Ang did not hesitate to reject this option and continued to ask, "If I want to know the way to save the Xingzhou people, what price must I pay?"

The writing in the Ten Thousand Spirit Book changed again.

*Twenty years of lifespan.*

For the two different questions, the Ten Thousand Spirit Book gave different answers.

A spark of insight flashed in Li Ang’s eyes, and he immediately realized the crux of the issue.

Stopping the Jianquan Monk does not equate to saving the Xingzhou people. The difficulty of the former is greater than that of the latter. What does this mean?

His mind raced as Li Ang desperately recalled the Jianquan Monk’s earlier monologue.

Earlier, in the Xingzhou Prison courtyard, Jianquan had suddenly attacked and killed Gongsun Changyi and Xiong Tuohai, leaving no one in Xingzhou City able to stop his grand scheme. He claimed to want to create the Six Paths of Reincarnation, leading eight hundred thousand people in their transformation and ascension.

Perhaps creating the Six Paths of Reincarnation and transforming eight hundred thousand Bodhisattvas aren’t absolutely synchronized. I might be able to find a way to bypass this so-called Reincarnation Technique and save eight hundred thousand lives.

The vague idea took root and began to sprout like a seed.

Li Ang took a deep breath and dove toward the Xingzhou Prison.

"Such talent in one so young is truly fearsome."

The Jianquan Monk pressed his palms together and sighed deeply, the edges of his kasaya sparkling with slowly burning embers.

At this moment, the courtyard of the Xingzhou Prison was unrecognizable. The earth was shattered, strewn with gullies and holes. The courtyard walls had completely collapsed, and the bodies of the garrison soldiers, their weapons, and armor lay scattered everywhere. Tall timber and stone structures, set ablaze by Yinghuo Sword Energy, radiated intense heat waves, accompanied by the occasional creaking sound of collapsing timber.

"Even across three hundred years of Academic Palace history, those your age with such cultivation are probably no more than twenty in number."

"Senior overpraises."

On the other side of the crevice, Sui Yi, holding a sword in one hand, forced a slight smile.

Her condition was worse than it had been long before, at the Jialan Sect ruins. Her skin emitted billowing steam. Many of her bones had bent, deformed, and even broken from bearing too much power. Her Spirit Veins ached with continuous, piercing pain from releasing excessive Spiritual Power. The most fatal damage was to her Qi Sea. To gain maximum efficiency, she had recklessly run power through it, causing her internal organs to burn.

It could be this second, or the next, that she might burn out completely and perish.