The two figures drew closer and closer.
One red and one blue, they were like two meteors streaking across the sky, trailing long tails of light. Their speed was absurd.
In the blink of an eye, they had closed the distance from dozens of miles away to within ten.
The auras of both constellations were very strong, comparable to Kui Mu Lang, both at the half-step eighth-stage level.
Chen Zhou estimated that at their full sprinting speed, they would reach the battlefield in ten breaths at most.
The Plague Rat also saw those two figures, and the expression on his face shifted from anger to horror.
Jian Huaishuang forced Kui Mu Lang back with a sword strike and retreated to Chen Zhou’s side, his breathing slightly ragged.
“My Lord, the situation is unfavorable.”
Chen Zhou nodded.
He knew.
Two constellations were already difficult enough to handle; four was the limit. If two more arrived, they might truly be unable to hold out.
Chen Zhou made a split-second decision.
He reached into his robes and pulled out a black token.
The token was the size of a palm and pitch-black. The moment it appeared, the surrounding air became heavy.
This was the item given to him by the Xuandu Ghost Emperor. It was called a keepsake, but Chen Zhou knew that the object itself was a divine artifact.
He activated the Source of Divine Power within his body and injected it into the Xuandu Ghost Decree.
The token lit up.
Black light surged from the token, swirling in Chen Zhou’s palm. It spun faster and grew larger until, in the blink of an eye, it formed a black pillar of light that shot into the sky.
The pillar of light pierced the clouds, tore through Mao Ri Ji’s Sunlight Array, and stabbed into the hazy gray vault of heaven.
High above, the clouds were ripped open by the light, revealing a massive hole that showed the pitch-black void beyond.
Deep within that void, stars were flickering.
Chen Zhou closed his eyes, and his consciousness followed the pillar of light into the void, weaving between the stars.
【Xuandu Ghost Decree】
【The talented are favored by heaven and earth. Some are born with knowledge, some realize it through learning, and some understand it through hardship.】
【The holder of this decree may consume one Source of Divine Power to steal any one ability from a hostile target, up to the rank of a Divine Technique.】
【If the stealing is successful, the original owner will lose that ability. The stolen ability lasts for a period of time depending on the original owner’s mastery of their own ability and the gap in status between both parties.】
【Note: Only one ability can be stolen at a time. The target must be within the line of sight, and the target ability cannot exceed the holder’s own status limit.】
Chen Zhou intended to steal Mao Ri Ji’s Sunlight Array.
Chen Zhou’s consciousness quickly found the star corresponding to Mao Ri Ji in the starry sky. It was shimmering with golden light, like a miniature sun, radiating scorching brilliance.
Densely packed rule threads were entwined around the starlight, each thread representing an ability.
The Sunlight Array was one of them.
Chen Zhou’s consciousness touched that thread.
The thread was very hot. Chen Zhou gritted his teeth, and his consciousness transformed into a giant hand that gripped the thread tightly, pulling it outward with all its might.
The thread was pulled taut, like a fully drawn bowstring, refusing to budge.
Mao Ri Ji sensed something was wrong.
It let out a sharp cry, and the golden light flared up as the suppression of the Sunlight Array suddenly intensified.
Chen Zhou felt as if his physical body outside was being crushed by a mountain, and the supply of death qi continued to weaken.
He steadied his mind, and his Source of Divine Power burned frantically, turning into a violent force that followed his consciousness into the starry sky and poured into the giant hand.
The hand squeezed hard, and the thread was peeled away from Mao Ri Ji’s star inch by inch.
The light of the Sunlight Array had already begun to flicker, pulsing erratically.
Mao Ri Ji panicked. It cried out desperately, trying to stabilize the Sunlight Array, but it was in vain.
A theft at the level of rules was not something it could resist.
Finally, the entire thread was ripped away from the star by Chen Zhou.
Chen Zhou’s consciousness withdrew from the starry sky and returned to his body.
He opened his eyes, his hand still clutching a ball of golden light. It was the Sunlight Array talent that the Xuandu Ghost Decree had stripped from Mao Ri Ji’s body, temporarily stored in his hand.
The golden wall of light in the sky collapsed with a roar, dissolving into a sky full of golden specks that drifted down. The hazy gray sky reappeared, with a pale sun hanging in the air, shining down on the cracked earth.
The suppression had vanished.
The death qi within Chen Zhou’s body surged frantically, his divinity became active once more, and his Ghost Domain resumed normal operation.
The Plague Rat took a deep breath as death qi surged from his body. His Great Plague Heaven expanded abruptly, and the dark green mist covered the sky, enveloping all of Bi Yue Wu’s clones.
“That’s better!”
The Plague Rat roared, and with a swipe of his claws, the dark green mist transformed into countless tiny toxic needles that shot out in all directions.
A large group of the meddling Bi Yue Wu clones were struck by the needles, and they festered one after another, turning into pools of black pus.
Because the suppression of the Sunlight Array was gone, the power of the Hatred Fire was restored. Chen Zhou raised a hand, and black flames surged out, incinerating the black pus completely.
Bi Yue Wu’s true body let out a muffled groan in the shadows, its silver-white eyes flickering several times as it retreated a few steps.
The Plague Rat was incredibly excited, his claws swinging as he lunged toward Bi Yue Wu.
“Come on! Weren’t you pretty tough just now?!”
“Fight me again!”
“Pipsqueak, Lord Rat is going to pluck all your bird feathers today!”
He shouted provocatively as he charged forward. The dark green mist on his claws grew thicker, and wherever it swept, the ground turned dark green and grew a thick layer of mold.
Chen Zhou frowned. He reached out and grabbed the Plague Rat by the tail, lifting him up.
The Plague Rat was in the middle of his charge when his tail suddenly tightened and his entire body was lifted off the ground. He froze for a moment, looked back, and said:
“My Lord, what are you doing?!”
“Lord Rat was just about to show off his divine might and teach that bird-man a lesson!”
Chen Zhou dragged him back by the tail, set him on the ground, and said calmly, “Retreat for now.”
“Retreat?” The Plague Rat’s eyes widened. “My Lord, we finally managed to turn the tables, and you say we should retreat?”
Chen Zhou gave him a look.
The Plague Rat shuddered under his gaze and swallowed the words at the tip of his tongue, muttering, “Retreat it is then, why did you have to pull my tail…”
Chen Zhou took one last look at the system panel.
【Stealing successful】
【You have obtained the temporary ability: Sunlight Array】
【Duration: One hour】
【Sunlight Array: Can summon a sunlight barrier in a designated area. All living beings of the hostile faction within the barrier will be suppressed and unable to escape.】
【Note: This ability is a temporary ability and will automatically disappear after the duration ends.】
One hour.
Chen Zhou only had one hour.
During this hour, he could use the Sunlight Array at will to trap those six constellations in return.
However, if he couldn't return to the realm, crack the Myriad Ghost Array, and cut off the constellations' energy source within that hour, facing the encirclement of six constellations once the Sunlight Array expired would only be more difficult.
To be honest, Chen Zhou wasn't very confident he could find the array eye of the Myriad Ghost Array in such a short time.
That array was hidden in the realm interlayer, and its range covered the entire passage. There was no telling where the array eye was hidden; finding it would require time and luck.
He didn't want to gamble.
The wisest course of action now was to escape as quickly as possible and meet with Xuan Cai first to investigate the situation in Qingzhou.
Encountering six false god creations blocking the entrance to the realm outskirts as soon as they arrived in Qingzhou was clearly unreasonable.
Either someone had known their itinerary in advance and set an ambush here.
Or Qingzhou itself had a major problem, and the constellations weren't blocking them, but rather guarding something and preventing anyone from approaching.
In either case, he needed to figure it out first.
Chen Zhou took a deep breath and waved his hand.
The Sunlight Array was activated.
Golden light surged from his palm and condensed inward.
A wall of light formed in front of him, identical to the Sunlight Array Mao Ri Ji had used before, but smaller in range and stronger in power.
The golden wall of light descended upon the six constellations.
Seeing the Sunlight Array, Mao Ri Ji let out a terrified cry and turned to flee.
But it was too late.
The wall of light was like a giant net falling from the sky, trapping all six constellations inside.
Within the Sunlight Array, the light was dazzling and blinding, and the temperature rose sharply, warping the air with heat.
When the sunlight hit Kui Mu Lang, the ghostly blue starlight on his body was instantly extinguished. His speed plummeted, and his healing ability also dropped significantly; the arm previously severed by Jian Huaishuang had yet to grow back.
Bi Yue Wu fared even worse.
He was an entity of shadow and feared sunlight most of all.
Under the radiance of the Sunlight Array, his body began to smoke. Pitch-black feathers fell off one by one, revealing the gray-white skin beneath, which was covered in blisters.
He let out a miserable scream and tried desperately to dive into the shadows, but under the concentrated sunlight, there were no more shadows for him to hide in. He had nowhere to run.
The six constellations struggled within the Sunlight Array. Some tried to charge out, while others tried to hide, but the boundary of the Sunlight Array was like a city wall that they could not break through.
Giving them a taste of their own medicine—after all, this was an enhanced version of the Sunlight Array stolen by consuming a Source of Divine Power. Its power was even more formidable than Mao Ri Ji’s original version.
Chen Zhou turned and left.
The Longevity Deer led the way, its four legs running swiftly, and the moonlight on its antlers was exceptionally prominent against the hazy gray sky.
It led the group through a patch of ruins, across a wasteland, and finally into a dense forest.
The trees in the forest were very old, with trunks so thick it would take several people to encircle them. The canopy was so dense it obscured the sky, blocking out the hazy gray light.
The ground was covered in fallen leaves, feeling soft underfoot. The Longevity Deer wove through the woods with ease, clearly familiar with this forest.
Chen Zhou followed behind it, observing the surroundings as he ran.
The forest was very quiet. There were no bird calls, no insect chirps, and not even the sound of the wind.
It was too quiet, which actually felt a bit abnormal.
Just as Chen Zhou was thinking this, he suddenly felt as if something were watching him.
It was a very strange sense of being watched, as if something had drawn close to him and was sniffing frantically.
Chen Zhou frowned and looked back.
There was nothing behind him, only the dark forest.
He looked forward again, but the sense of being watched remained. It felt as if an invisible tongue were licking him all over, which made him very uncomfortable.
Chen Zhou activated Cloud Sea Resplendence.
Clouds and mist surged from his body, masking his aura and the auras of everyone around him.
The sense of being watched faltered for a moment, as if it had lost its target. It swept around the area aimlessly a few times before vanishing.
Chen Zhou breathed a sigh of relief.
But in less than ten breaths, the sense of being watched returned.
And this time it was stronger and clearer, biting onto him relentlessly. The thing was tracking him, and in just a few breaths, the distance had closed significantly.
Chen Zhou’s frown deepened.
They had just escaped the Sunlight Array, and now they had run into something else?
With the lesson from the previous Heavenly Tribulation, Chen Zhou didn't dare to rashly perform divination to perceive it, but his intuition told him that being found by this tracking entity would certainly not be a good thing.
He patted Diting’s back.
“Tunnel into the earth.”
Diting opened its mouth and spat out several yellow bubbles that enveloped the group. Then it swallowed them in one gulp and plunged into the ground.
The soil parted around it like water and then closed back up.
It was very dark and stuffy underground, with a strong sense of pressure.
Diting traveled through the earth with incredible speed. Its superior earth-tunneling technique changed paths several times underground, and the sense of being watched vanished.
However, after a dozen breaths, before Chen Zhou could even sigh in relief, the sense of being watched and tracked returned.
Chen Zhou’s face darkened.
“Change directions.”
Diting obediently turned, tunneling toward the ley line on the left.
The sense of being watched vanished again.
A dozen breaths later, it returned.
“Change again.”
Diting changed directions again, tunneling toward the right.
The sense of being watched vanished and then returned.
“Change again.”
Diting changed directions once more, tunneling deeper into the earth.
The sense of being watched vanished and then returned.
Chen Zhou took a deep breath and patted Diting’s back.
“Let’s go up.”
Diting turned around and tunneled toward the surface.
The soil parted before it, revealing the hazy gray sky.
Chen Zhou jumped off Diting’s back, stepped onto the ground, and looked around.
They were still in the forest, but their location had changed. The trees around them were thicker and older than before, and the canopy was even denser, obscuring even the slightest bit of daylight.
The sense of being watched was still there, like a tail that couldn't be shaken off, following him relentlessly.
The Longevity Deer also seemed to perceive that something was tracking them. Its legs trembled with fear as it walked up to Chen Zhou, silver-white light glowing on its antlers.
Moonlight surged from its antlers—gentle and cool, like a layer of thin gauze—enveloping Chen Zhou and the others.
Then, the Longevity Deer let out a low cry.
Chen Zhou felt his body become light, and the surrounding scenery began to blur, as if he were looking at the world through a layer of mist.
The vegetation around them shot up, and the Longevity Deer tugged on Chen Zhou’s sleeve with its mouth, taking a step forward.
After that one step, the scenery became clear.
They appeared in a completely different place.
Above them was a deep night sky dotted with stars, with a full moon hanging in the center. Moonlight, like water, spilled across the land.
Beneath their feet was a grassy field, and they were surrounded by a forest.
The trees were taller and denser than the previous forest. Their trunks were covered in moss, and vines hung from their branches. Small white flowers bloomed on the vines, emitting a faint fluorescence in the moonlight.
Chen Zhou was stunned for a moment.
Ten thousand miles in one step—was this Shrinking Earth?
But just a moment ago, the scorching sun had been overhead. In the blink of an eye, the hazy gray sky and the pale sun had vanished, and their surroundings had turned into a moonlit forest.
What kind of place was this?
The Longevity Deer panted several times; clearly, the jump just now had taken quite a toll on it.
It tapped the ground with its hoof and then walked in a certain direction.
Chen Zhou followed.
The sense of being watched by the tracker was still there.
But it had become very weak, as if separated by a thick curtain—vague and barely there.
The chaotic moonlight flowed around them, disrupting Chen Zhou’s perception of this forest, but it also disrupted the perception of the thing tracking him.
Rate on N.U.
