Book 6, Chapter 63: Safety Island
As soon as Su Chen realized that his connection to his clone had been severed, Su Chen knew that he was in trouble.
What his clone could sense, it was only natural that he could sense as well.
This spatial realm was soon to collapse.
Spatial collapse was a frightening prospect. Once it did, it would become impossible to survive within the realm.
If Su Chen wasn’t able to return to the exit before that happened, he would be in big trouble.
Su Chen was forced to charge towards the entrance as quickly as he could.
A large group of Sovereigns howled and chased after him.
Under these kinds of circumstances, there was no use in any kind of scheme. All that mattered was speed.
Su Chen pulled out a pill and swallowed it. This pill would increase his strength and activate his Origin Energy. Up until now, Su Chen had never been quite willing to use it, but now was not the time to worry about such trivial matters. He swallowed it and then immediately raised his speed to its absolute limit.
But no matter how quick he was, he wouldn’t be able to escape from the Sovereigns. After all, he was two realms lower than them in terms of cultivation base, so it was only natural that his strength was being suppressed.
As Su Chen watched the Sovereigns get closer and closer, a trace of despair appeared in his eyes.
So was he going to die in this secret realm after all?
If he didn’t die to the spatial realm collapsing, he would be slaughtered by the Sovereigns.
No, he wouldn’t give up so easily.
Su Chen gritted his teeth, preparing to unleash the Titan-Class puppets and the Catastrophe Bugs as a last resort.
At that moment, however, a giant swordfish charged forwards, closing in on Su Chen rapidly. Just as Su Chen was about to attack, the swordfish shot right past him and charged forwards.
Hm?
What was happening?
Su Chen watched on, stunned, as the swordfish continued to charge forwards, heading for the exit. The other Sovereigns also roared and completely ignored Su Chen.
Su Chen was stunned at first, but he suddenly realized what was happening.
The Sovereigns could also sense the space around them collapsing and realized that they needed to leave.
And without the Deep Sea Sorrow’s control, their repressed intelligence and freedom had been released. That was why the Sovereigns had chosen to escape.
“This...... fine,” Su Chen muttered.
Despite his slight unwillingness at being ignored, Su Chen continued to charge forwards.
At that moment, a sensation suddenly emerged in his heart, and he glanced up at the sky.
The sky suddenly cracked, revealing a large hole.
The space was beginning to actually decay.
This decay would take place faster and faster, and the manifestations of cracks appearing in the space meant that the space wouldn’t be able to live for much longer.
If this were to continue, he would never reach the exit in time.
At the exit.
The fleet was in the process of retreating, while the Sovereigns were recklessly charging forwards.
However, the Sovereigns were not interested in attacking, but simply to escape.
They wanted to leave this place.
Upon realizing this, Li Chongshan and the others immediately commanded, “Stop attacking and leave! Get out of here, now!”
“Give up on the formations. Everyone, retreat!”
“Retreat!”
“Wu!!!”
The signal to retreat sounded across the sky, and the fleet began to retreat under the command of the generals.
Outside of the Abyss, a massive wave suddenly roared out of the entrance, sending countless people flying through the air, accompanied by a few Sovereigns from time to time.
The vortex continuously spat out people like a whale exhaling through its blowhole.
The Sovereigns who had managed to escape didn’t attack the fleet. Instead, they cried out happily and then sank into the water, swimming away as they enjoyed their newfound freedom.
This caused the fleet to sigh collectively with relief as they reorganized themselves.
Within the Abyss, Gu Qingluo was still staring off into the distance agitatedly. “Su Chen, Su Chen...... Hurry up and come back!”
However, no trace of Su Chen could be seen off on the horizon.
The sky was still fragmenting, and the seawater was beginning to fly into the sky.
A few of the Sovereigns, who were further away, were also sucked up into the air by the waves. They howled and shrieked in fear, attempting to escape from the pull of the water. However, there was nothing that they could do.
Li Chongshan flew over. “Qingluo, hurry and leave. The space is about to fragment entirely. If you don’t leave now, it’ll be too late.”
“But Su Chen hasn’t......”
“There’s no time to wait for him any longer!” Li Chongshan yelled, his eyes bloodshot. “If you insist on waiting here for him, you’ll put yourself in danger as well.”
“I won’t!” Gu Qingluo yelled.
She didn’t want to hear that answer.
Shi Kaihuang flew over. “Su Chen’s quite hardy. He won’t die that easily. But if you stay here, you might become a burden to him.”
“Really?” Gu Qingluo gazed intently at Shi Kaihuang.
Shi Kaihuang hadn’t yet replied when she suddenly felt a blow collide with the back of her head.
She turned around in shock, only to find that Cheng Tianhai had already grabbed her hand. “Sorry. I wanted to knock you out and then take you away, but I forgot that you are now stronger than me.”
“......”
Everyone present was stunned. They were all Origin Qi Scholars, making them incredibly hard to kill, let alone knock out.
However, a moment later, Shi Kaihuang and Li Chongshan glanced at each other before simultaneously exerting pressure against Gu Qingluo. A powerful wave of Origin Energy suddenly restricted her movement. “Go!”
They threw her towards the entrance.
“NO!” Gu Qingluo roared as she instinctively began to unleash her Shining Dragon Bloodline.
“Please, Sect Master’s Wife, leave!” Li Chongshan yelled.
“Please, Sect Master’s Wife, leave!” A whole bunch of Boundless Sect disciples sprang into action simultaneously, gathering a wave of energy and shoving it at Gu QIngluo.
Gu Qingluo was powerful, as her Shining Dragon Bloodline could suppress even Sovereigns, so she was not afraid of this combined attack. However, if she were to attack forcefully, she might harm them, and in that moment of hesitation, the wave of Origin Energy enveloped her, sending her through the vortex. She disappeared without a trace.
After sending Gu Qingluo away, Li Chongshan yelled, “Everyone else, leave!”
There weren’t many soldiers remaining, and of the Boundless Sect’s disciples, only the most loyal ones remained. They were in no hurry to leave. Instead, they asked, “What will we do about Sect Master then?”
Li Chongshan gritted his teeth. “Sect Master is blessed. He’ll be fine. Right now, I command that you all leave.”
Everyone was still hesitating when Shi Kaihuang roared, “Get out of here!”
The Boundless Sect’s disciples could only slip into the vortex.
Li Chongshan and Shi Kaihuang glanced off into the distance as they muttered, “Su Chen, you must return alive.”
Even they were unwilling to retreat.
As if he could sense their thoughts, Su Chen suddenly felt as if he could faintly perceive the exit off in the distance.
He wasn’t far away.
Even so, Su Chen was aware that this distance was impossible for him to traverse.
The sky was already full of holes at this point, like a tattered roof. No gentle wind or breeze was present any longer.
Instead, the chaotic decay of the realm was whipping up a terrible storm.
Su Chen had already determined that he could not close that gap.
Once he realized this, Su Chen actually began to calm down.
If escaping wasn’t a possibility, then he needed to think of a way to survive.
The collapse of space around him was indeed frightening, and there was almost no chance that he would survive. However, almost no chance was not the same as no chance at all, so there was still some hope to be had.
In that instant, countless possibilities flickered through his mind as his consciousness crystal whirred to life. Eventually, he was able to determine what would give him the greatest likelihood of success.
Upon realizing this, Su Chen couldn’t help but sigh. “I never would have expected that I still have to rely on you in the end.”
As he spoke, he took out the small sapling.
The Deep Sea Sorrow.
As soon as the sapling appeared, the cracks around him seemed to begin to stabilize somewhat.
The Deep Sea Sorrow was a Divine Tool made of countless precious materials. Apart from those that could accelerate the growth process, it itself was a spatial Divine Tool, which was why the decay had begun to stabilize. This was obvious based on the fact that the realm had begun to fragment as soon as the Deep Sea Sorrow had been taken.
If there was an effect, then there had to be a cause as well.
If the Deep Sea Sorrow was the reason why the space had begun to decay, then it was also the source of stabilization that was currently taking place.
However, these opposite causes obviously had vastly different effects.
Destroying was always easier than building. Deep Sea Sorrow was the reason why the void had collapsed, but that didn’t mean that it could rebuild the space on its own.
Pulling away the support beams from a house would cause it to collapse. However, reinserting the support beams during the process of collapse wouldn’t cause the house to recover, and it might not even be able to stop the collapse, only buy some time.
Su Chen estimated that there was still far too little time for him to make it to the exit.
Thankfully, he had not been banking on that.
The house would fall, and this process could not be stopped by the Deep Sea Sorrow. Even so, using it to create a protective room for himself was not an impossibility.
The small sapling began to grow, and a flow of water began to trickle down from its leaves again - the Spring of Immortality.
No, it was more accurate at this point to call it the Revolving Spring, not the Spring of Immortality.
It was just like a streamer wrapped around the giant tree, revolving around it and gradually forming a stable, isolated space.
Su Chen felt that this space still wasn’t enough and pulled out a stone room.
The water flowing beneath his feet began to accumulate, forming a large pile of mud.
A small island began to form underneath him.
Yes, Su Chen was going to try and use the Deep Sea Sorrow to temporarily construct an isolated void for himself.
Even though it was impossible for him to stop the house’s collapse by reinserting the support beams, he could at least set them up over his head to protect himself, giving him a shot at survival.
Given how powerful the Deep Sea Sorrow was, constructing an isolated space like this was not difficult in the slightest. The statue from earlier was proof of this.
Unfortunately, Su Chen had no time to construct an elaborate space for himself. As such, he could only increase his living space as much as possible and prepare his living essentials to try and prolong his survival.
As long as the last vestiges of the realm were still intact, the vortex wouldn’t disappear, and Gu Qingluo and the others would be able to try and think of a way to save him.
Yes, the best choice for Su Chen was to construct a safe space for himself
Su Chen’s actions were very smart and effective. Very quickly, an isolated island began to appear.
In order to ensure that he had enough resources to survive, Su Chen even gathered some seawater, forming a space capable of self-sufficiency for some time.
Even so, he had only just prepared this when he suddenly heard a crack. His island, which had only just stabilized, actually cracked yet again.
How could that be?
Su Chen was stunned. He watched as a Sovereign began to charge into the small island he had created.