"If we really encounter danger, not only will we be unable to help each other, but we’ll become a burden."The words were direct, even somewhat harsh, but both Hong Yue and Liu Mingyu knew he was stating a fact.
Having witnessed Jiang Shu’s unfathomable Space Shifting and sharp tactics, those in the same Realm who could keep up with his pace were probably as rare as phoenix feathers.
"As for the life-preserving skills."
Jiang Shu’s tone returned to calmness.
"You should know, if I was able to escape once from that old demon’s hands, naturally I have some life-saving tricks."
"Reporting to the higher-ups now, back and forth would delay time; the arrangements over at the Desolate Sand Sea are probably already as tight as an iron fortress."
"The opportunity is fleeting; I must set off immediately."
Now having broken through to the Daoist Venerable Realm, unless figures like the Dragon Venerable or Phoenix Venerable personally show up, Jiang Shu is confident that even if the Heaven-Burning Ancestor arrives, he could still escape smoothly.
Hong Yue’s gaze shifted from Jiang Shu to the dark red mark on the sand table representing the Desolate Sand Sea, then looked up at Jiang Shu’s calm yet extraordinarily determined young face.
Even though he is a Daoist Venerable, in this war between the Human Clan and the Demon Race.
A Daoist Venerable cannot completely determine the outcome of the battle.
Not to mention, among the Daoist Venerables, his Realm is only at the Middle Stage.
His combat power might even be inferior to Jiang Shu’s.
The atmosphere in the tent was as heavy as if filled with lead.
A few breaths later, Hong Yue exhaled a long breath, unclenching his fist with a heavy unwilling acceptance.
"Forget it, I can’t stop you."
"Supreme Mysterious Daoist Venerable, be extremely cautious in everything. If you realize things are unmanageable, retreat immediately!"
"Your life is more important than a hundred Desolate Sand Seas. Report any findings immediately!"
"Don’t worry."
Jiang Shu only replied with two words, his figure slightly swaying.
Space rippled like water waves beside him, and in the next instant, his entire person seemed erased by those waves, vanishing from the spot.
There was no earth-shattering commotion, only a faint and almost undetectable space fluctuation, fleeting.
Liu Mingyu looked at the spot where Jiang Shu disappeared, his face still clouded with worry.
"Daoist Venerable, this..."
Hong Yue waved his hand, his voice carrying fatigue.
"Pass down the order, have all departments tighten the vigilance, suspend any probing attack in the direction of the Desolate Sand Sea."
"Activate all Perception Arrays, closely monitor any space fluctuations in the direction of the Desolate Sand Sea! Wait for his news."
In the core area of the Desolate Sand Sea, the scene was more bizarre than when Jiang Shu saved Lu Chong.
The air was thick with a peculiar power that eroded the Great Dao and suppressed Dao Rhyme, becoming more viscous and heavy, like a living creature.
The scorching yellow sand glimmered with an ominous grayish-white color, and the twisted heat waves caused everything in sight to slightly warp and deform.
At a deeper level, the sand sea seemed to lose its physical form, exhibiting a dark, thick, and paste-like state. Stepping on it felt not soft at all; rather, it was like treading on some kind of slowly pulsating massive organ, exuding a stench of decay, decline, and chaos.
Jiang Shu’s silhouette silently coalesced a thousand feet in the sky, his aura retracted to the extreme, making him seem merged into the background of this congealed space.
He stood on the Void, overlooking the irregularly concave-shaped huge gray-white area below.
That was the so-called "core."
His Divine Sense, like invisible tentacles, cautiously probed downward.
However, once his Divine Sense touched the hundred-foot space above that gray-white sand, it was like falling into layer upon layer of a chaotic mist made of billions of spider webs.
The space structure was twisted and folded by a powerful force, forming a perception blind spot.
His Divine Sense was forcibly disintegrated and dissolved, with the feedback information being fragmented and blurry.
"Sure enough, something’s wrong."
Jiang Shu’s eyes slightly narrowed.
A space Barrier capable of effectively shielding and distorting even a Venerable’s Divine Sense could not naturally form, it must be crafted by a Great Power truly proficient in the Array Dao, perfectly combined with this Desolate Sand Sea’s Earth Vein Evil Qi.
Ordinary Venerables entering this core area would likely have their full power suppressed to thirty to forty percent.
He closed his eyes, his Sea of Consciousness gently trembling with the newly established Mixed Cave Space, the World Tree Seedling rooted in Chaotic Qi lightly swayed, and an extremely pure space Dao Rhyme aura, originating from the primal Chaos, carefully extended like the sharpest invisible probe, slowly piercing into that layer of solidified space barrier.
This strand of space power, merging the two supreme Great Dao of Desolate and Taichu, seemed to hold a special "penetration" authority.
The solidified space barrier’s resistance sharply decreased before it, allowing it to enter laboriously but steadily.
A few breaths later, Jiang Shu finally "saw" the scene at a point on the inside edge of the barrier.
The gray-white sand was not naturally formed, and beneath the grains emerged distinct dark red lines resembling dried blood, weaving a very complex and massive trajectory that extended underground.
These lines were intermittently revealed, exuding an array Dao aura extremely similar to that of the previously destroyed Array Hub.
The aura that twisted vitality and sacrificed Ten Thousand Spirits was truly nauseating.
"It’s it!"
"Though the form is different, the core aura is consistent, it must be an Array Hub of the Ten Thousand Spirits Casting Venerable Array!"
Jiang Shu’s mind was instantly sure.
However, just as Jiang Shu focused on sensing those dark red array patterns, attempting to lock onto their core nodes, the strand of space probe seemingly triggered a highly delicate and hidden pre-emptive warning restriction deep within the array pattern!
Buzz!
Without any warning, the center of the gray-white sand region below suddenly inwardly collapsed, instantly forming a fist-sized point of utter darkness that devoured all light.
The moment this point appeared, a terrifying suction force suddenly erupted.
Within a few hundred feet radius of the core area, everything from the congealed air, scorching sand dust, to even the twisted space barrier itself, was like being seized by an invisible giant hand, fiercely pulling and collapsing inward.
Even scarier, this dark singularity did not keep devouring but instead rapidly expanded and exploded in reverse!
Boom!
A massive shockwave composed purely of chaotic space energy erupted, causing every inch of space it passed through to shatter, forming innumerable fine black cracks like webs.
The entire core area of the Desolate Sand Sea’s space was like a shattered mirror, instantly filled with cracks!
Jiang Shu, situated high in the sky, sensed a premonition the moment that dark point appeared.
His figure retreated rapidly, while his right hand pressed harshly against the Void before him.
Layer upon layer of spatial folds instantly overlapped into dozens of invisible space barriers in front of him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dense explosive sounds like bursting beans erupted.
The annular space shockwave, like a raging battering ram, smashed through the few dozen spatial folds Jiang Shu had hastily set up one by one.
"Such powerful space disturbance!"
Jiang Shu’s eyes turned icy cold.
The opponent’s trap activated with extreme swiftness; this space shock was not meant to harm him but to completely disrupt this place’s spatial structure, making Space Shifting extremely dangerous, and paving the way for the next step.
Sure enough, as the annular space shockwave rampaged and had yet to subside, while the fractured space rifts were still spreading, four ground directions silently split open four fissures, appearing like forcibly torn-open space gates!
Each of these four doors appeared different; the left one surged with extreme cold currents, freezing the Void.
The right was filled with golden light and sharp aura that cut through everything.
The front door was dimly yellow, with Earth Primordial Qi heavy and solid like lead and mercury.
The back door had boiling lava, burning away the Eight Desolations.
Four figures descended through these fissured gates in an instant.
Their auras were undisguised, vast, savage, and carried a killing will as if branded with some mission.
Four Demon Venerables!
Moreover, they were Demon Venerables extremely adept at combined strikes!
As soon as these Four Evils appeared, their gazes instantly crossed the space, firmly locking onto the high-altitude Jiang Shu.
Without any verbal communication, four distinctly different yet strangely balancing destructive demon powers erupted simultaneously, weaving into an invisible giant net and mercilessly covering Jiang Shu in the sky.
Chapter 1211: 646: Ambush of the 4 Demon Venerables! (Part 2)
7 min read