Chapter 57: This isn’t apart of the plan!

Chapter 57: Chapter 57: This isn’t apart of the plan!

Chen Yan’s spiritual energy suddenly surged outward.

And before anyone could react, a layer of invisible force wrapped around the carriage, covering Zhao Linger, Zhao Lianyu, Qingxue, and the two Royal guards together.

"Stay still..."

His voice entered their ears simultaneously.

Zhao Lianyu’s expression changed.

"What..."

Her vision blurred, colours flashing like a river. The world around them seemed to twist violently, and before she could even understand what was happening, the carriage was suddenly hurled sideways.

Swoosh!

Several kilometers were crossed in an instant, and the entire carriage flew through the sky like a leaf caught in a storm. The wooden bearings groaned, and the spiritual beasts roared in distress as they were unaccustomed to the sudden shift in space.

Zhao Lianyu immediately released her spiritual energy and stabilized the carriage, while the two Royal guards hurriedly reinforced it from either side.

Qingxue stumbled against the carriage wall, gripping the edge tightly as she looked outside.

Zhao Linger barely managed to steady herself.

"What happened?"

Boom!

A tremendous explosion erupted from where they had been moments earlier.

The sky seemed to collapse, visible wind shockwaves rapidly expanding over the scene, and then they reached the carriage.

A huge wave of spiritual energy swept outward, scattering the clouds and causing the mist below the Great Divide to churn violently.

Zhao Linger turned around in time, and for a brief instant, she saw two figures flashing across the sky like blooming fireworks.

They moved so quickly that even her eyes could barely follow them.

One figure struck.

Another vanished.

The sky exploded in return at each intertwined location where they intercepted. Then they collided again somewhere farther away, their movements leaving afterimages across the clouds as the tearing sound of their bodies moving at high speed reached the carriage.

"Senior!"

Zhao Lianyu’s face changed.

She took a step forward. But before she could do anything, Chen Yan’s voice suddenly rang through the sky, "What are you doing, you fool?! Go now!"

Zhao Lianyu snapped back to reality. She gritted her teeth and immediately turned toward the carriage.

"Move!"

The spiritual energy beneath the carriage erupted, and the carriage shot forward. Qingxue looked toward the battlefield behind them.

"Shouldn’t we help?!"

Zhao Linger also looked back, concern visible in her eyes. "Yes. Senior Chen Yan is fighting alone. Imperial Envoy, w-we should help."

"We can’t."

Zhao Lianyu interrupted them.

Her voice was hurried as she pulled out the dark jade compass and poured spiritual energy into it, causing the silver needle to spin before pointing toward their destination.

"That masked person can fight Senior Chen Yan head-on without losing his ground."

She glanced behind them. "That means he is a High Lord. We can’t help."

Zhao Linger’s expression stiffened.

"A High Lord?"

"Yes."

Zhao Lianyu tightened her grip around the compass.

"If we stay behind, we won’t be helping him. We’ll only become a burden. There is no difference between that and throwing our lives away."

Boom!

A deafening roar suddenly shook the heavens.

The mist above the Great Divide burst apart, and a terrifying wave of spiritual energy surged into the distance like a pillar of light.

Then Chen Yan’s voice came clapping through the sky.

"Creature lost from the light..."

His voice was cold and powerful.

"I banish you to the darkness!"

"Return to where you belong!"

Boom!

The entire sky trembled. Another explosion erupted behind them, followed by the sound of something enormous tearing through the clouds as if the world was ending.

Qingxue turned her head.

Even from several kilometers away, she could see flashes of spiritual light tearing across the heavens. Each shockwave rattled the carriage, the wheels bouncing over the air from time to time.

And yet, the carriage continued forward at full speed, the spiritual energy beneath it surging continuously as Zhao Lianyu pushed it toward the western horizon.

Behind them, the explosions from the battle between the two High Lords continued to shake the heavens.

Then, out of nowhere, a figure suddenly appeared in the distance. Zhao Lianyu’s pupils dilated in horror as she noticed it. "He is coming after us!"

The masked man was rapidly closing the distance.

His figure flickered repeatedly across the sky, each movement carrying him hundreds of meters forward. Despite the carriage already moving at full speed, the distance between them continued to shrink.

"Hahaha!"

His laughter echoed across the sky.

"If I can’t force you to spit it out through a fight, then how about when I hold these people hostage?"

His gaze fell toward the carriage.

"Perhaps you will think twice about it?"

Zhao Linger’s expression changed. Qingxue’s fingers tightened around the edge of her seat. Zhao Lianyu immediately increased the carriage’s speed, but the masked man’s figure continued to approach.

But then, almost in time, Chen Yan appeared behind him. His elderly face was cold as he chased after the masked man, a small bronze bell already resting in his hand.

"Don’t even think about it..."

Ring!

The bell rang.

An invisible wave spread through the sky, the mist vacating to either side, and the air seemed to tremble under it.

The masked man’s eyes blurred behind the two openings of his mask as the soundless force passed through his body.

His movements became sluggish for a brief instant, and his spiritual energy trembled under the strange disturbance. By the time his senses returned, Chen Yan had already raised one hand.

A gigantic palm descended from the heavens.

It was composed entirely of heavy water, its surface flowing like an enormous waterfall while carrying terrifying weight. The palm covered a vast section of the sky as it crashed toward the masked man.

"Stay down!"

The masked man’s eyes narrowed. Instead of using some sinister technique, he quickly formed a series of hand seals.

A brilliant golden light erupted around him.

"Golden Mountain Art!"

The spiritual energy around him rapidly condensed into an enormous golden mountain.

It was a perfectly orthodox cultivation technique, one that had once belonged to Chen Yuan’s old collection. Chen Yuan had long since mastered its principles and reached Proficient mastery over it, although he rarely had any reason to use it anymore.

The enormous golden mountain rose into the sky and collided directly with the descending palm.

Boom!

The impact exploded across the heavens.

The golden mountain shattered under the crushing weight of the heavy water, while countless torrents of water burst outward in every direction. A massive cloud of mist immediately swallowed the surrounding sky, spreading across the Great Divide and obscuring everything within several kilometers.

The masked man’s figure was thrown backward through the mist, his body flipping upside down several times before he quickly regained control of his body and laughed.

"It seems those creatures are awake now..."

His voice echoed through the mist.

Beneath them, the Great Divide suddenly began to tremble. Countless screams emerged from the depths.

The sounds echoed against the enormous walls of the chasm, rising through the thick mist like a tide of shrieking beasts.

Chen Yan’s expression darkened, and he looked down toward the bottomless darkness.

"You vile creature..."

The masked man slowly steadied himself in the air. A faint smile appeared beneath his mask.

"Then protect them."

He raised his hand toward the depths.

"Let’s see how long you can keep doing that while chasing me."

Before Chen Yan could answer, the masked man suddenly turned around and shot toward the carriage. His speed increased sharply.

Chen Yan’s eyes narrowed.

"You..."

He immediately pursued him. The distance between the masked man and the carriage continued to shrink.

Zhao Lianyu noticed it first.

"He’s catching up!"

The carriage shook violently as she poured even more spiritual energy into it. The two Royal guards followed her lead, reinforcing the carriage from both sides to stabilize it.

After all, no matter how fast they could go, they still needed to make sure the people inside were alive by the time they escaped from the pursuit.

Inside, Zhao Linger gripped the window frame as the carriage rattled heavily up and down.

"Why isn’t he slowing down?"

"He isn’t trying to attack us directly," Zhao Lianyu said through clenched teeth. "He’s trying to force Senior Chen Yan to follow him. I-I don’t know what’s happening myself, but it seems we are getting involved in something we shouldn’t know."

The masked man laughed from behind.

"You understand quickly, little girl."

His voice carried across the sky.

"Tell me, Second Princess, have you ever heard of the Ancient Lord?"

Zhao Linger’s expression changed.

The masked man continued.

"An existence from an age when even the current cultivation world did not exist. His tomb has been hidden for ten thousand years, and yet there are people who still search for it."

"Legends have it, the path that points toward the perfect Golden Core realm is in there! Hahaha!"

Chen Yan’s expression darkened.

"Shut your mouth."

"Hahaha! Why?"

The masked man turned his head slightly.

"Afraid she will hear something she shouldn’t?"

Chen Yan’s hand moved, and the bronze bell appeared again.

Ring!

An invisible wave swept across the sky.

The masked man’s body twisted sideways just as the wave reached him. His movement was only slightly affected this time, but that was enough for Chen Yan to close the distance.

The old man’s palm struck forward as a massive torrent of water erupted from his sleeve. The water rapidly condensed into dozens of enormous pillars that shot toward the masked man from every direction.

The masked man raised his hand.

"Mountain Suppression Art."

Golden light flashed.

Several enormous mountains manifested in the sky, colliding with the water pillars one after another.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The mountains shattered.

Water exploded across the sky, turning into thick mist that swallowed both figures. For several moments, the vision was obscured, but it was only for a moment.

Then a golden figure tore through the mist.

Chen Yan appeared first, and the masked man followed closely behind. Neither had managed to gain a decisive advantage from the earlier confrontation.

The masked man laughed.

"Still the same as ever, Chen Yan."

Chen Yan’s eyes narrowed as he stared at him.

"What are you talking about?"

The masked man’s gaze shifted toward the distant horizon, and the amusement in his voice gradually faded.

"The time is approaching, Chen Yan. Only by finding the Ancient Lord’s tomb can we survive what comes next."

Chen Yan remained silent, his expression becoming increasingly serious.

"The ocean of blood will bathe this world, and the divine will never stop bleeding." The masked man slowly raised his head toward the heavens, his voice carrying across the empty sky. "When the past finally returns, everything we know will be overturned."

He looked back at Chen Yan, a faint smile appearing beneath his mask.

"So tell me, Chen Yan. When that day comes, where will you hide?"

He suddenly raised his hand, and almost immediately, a massive golden spear formed above him.

Chen Yan’s expression changed as his pupils dilated.

"That technique..."

That’s a taboo technique. Is she trying to kill me?!

Chen Yan inwardly panicked. But then, the spear descended.

Chen Yan immediately raised both hands. A vast wall of heavy water rose between them.

Boom!

The golden spear pierced through the wall.

The impact sent water exploding in every direction, and the resulting mist spread across the sky, rapidly obscuring the battlefield.

Yet the masked man had already disappeared into the mist.

Chen Yan immediately turned toward the carriage, only for his pupils to contract when he caught sight of the masked figure emerging from the other side. He had bypassed him and was now heading straight toward the carriage.

"Get away from them!"

Chen Yan’s voice thundered across the sky.

Zhao Lianyu immediately looked back and saw the masked figure rapidly closing the distance. Before she could react, something moved beneath them, hidden within the thick mist below.

Then another shadow appeared.

And another.

The countless screams rising from the Great Divide suddenly became deafening as the mist below violently erupted, and a gigantic creature burst from the chasm.

Its body was covered in pale scales, its four twisted wings stretching dozens of meters across as it opened a mouth filled with irregular teeth.

Zhao Linger’s face went pale.

"What is that?!"

Before Zhao Lianyu could answer, several more creatures emerged. One had the body of a massive serpent but dozens of skeletal wings along its back.

Another resembled a giant bird with three heads, each one screaming as it flew.

Behind them came creatures of every shape imaginable, some covered in eyes, some with elongated limbs, others possessing enormous jaws and bodies that seemed to have been pieced together from different beasts.

They rose from the Great Divide like a tide and all of them were flying toward the carriage.

The masked man laughed.

"It seems the Great Divide has been hungry for quite some time."

Zhao Lianyu’s expression became grim.

"Keep moving!"

The carriage accelerated.

Behind them, the demonic beasts gave chase. Their enormous bodies tore through the clouds, and their roars shook the sky.

The masked man continued flying ahead of the swarm, deliberately keeping himself within sight.

Chen Yan followed from behind, his face colder than ever as he stared at the masked man.

"You planned this."

"Of course."

The masked man glanced back at him, a faint smile appearing beneath his mask.

"But whether I planned it or not doesn’t matter anymore."

His gaze shifted toward the endless horde of creatures chasing the carriage, their monstrous forms tearing through the mist as they closed the distance.

"They have already smelled the living."

His laughter echoed across the heavens as he looked back at Chen Yan.

"Now let’s see whether you can protect every single one of them."

Chen Yan’s expression remained cold, but inwardly, he was screaming.

This isn’t part of the plan, you crazy woman!