Chapter 89: Island Merger (II)

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: Island Merger (II)

’Bao Yaoyao’s blade work is pretty good!’

Li Heng watched as Bao Yaoyao destroyed the stone blocks. Her strikes were crisp and clean, not the least bit sloppy. They even carried a faint, resolute air.

’It seems this girl really despises these altars!’

Bao Yaoyao worked quickly. Within minutes, all the blocks were reduced to rubble, which she then wrapped up in several large leaves.

"Ice Luan, take these bundles of rubble to the sea!"

Thinking it would be too troublesome to carry them down the mountain himself, Li Heng had summoned the Ice Luan to dispose of the rubble in the sea.

From Bao Yaoyao drawing her blade to crush the stones to the Ice Luan carrying them away, the entire process was as smooth as flowing water.

With the Rune Stone Blocks gone, the mountaintop looked somewhat barren in comparison, but it was a welcome desolation.

Bao Yaoyao’s joy was the most apparent, written all over her face. She was on the verge of dancing. After her initial excitement, she couldn’t help but glance at Li Heng, who stood beside her. His expression was placid, his calm demeanor unshaken.

Bao Yaoyao’s admiration for him only deepened.

’He really is a pro. No joy, no sorrow, as calm as an old well. This must be what my dad was always talking about... mental fortitude?’ Looking at Li Heng’s serene face, Bao Yaoyao seemed to think of something else and gradually fell into contemplation.

In truth, the reason Li Heng’s expression was as calm as still water was because, in his eyes, destroying these stone blocks was a truly trivial matter.

What concerned him far more than the stone blocks were the other nine islands that were moving along with theirs.

Due to the distance and his line of sight, Li Heng hadn’t yet noticed anything about the densely packed islands in the far distance.

But the nine islands nearby had drawn much closer to each other while they were dealing with the stone blocks.

Nine islands with mountains, plus the one he was on—a total of ten mountainous islands—were about to merge.

Li Heng was also very curious about what would happen when the islands merged.

In any case, with a Teleportation Talisman already clutched in his hand, Li Heng was perfectly relaxed. He could just sit back, wait for the islands to merge, and watch things unfold.

And so, they stood on the mountaintop, feeling the wind, watching the drifting islands, and occasionally exchanging a few words.

About half an hour passed before Li Heng slowly grew alert. The view before him was no longer just a barren mountaintop, but nine enormous, distinct mountains!

The distance between the nine islands and his own was shrinking rapidly. Li Heng watched as the nine great mountains slowly came into focus, eventually becoming so clear he could make out the texture of the rock on their peaks!

"Sir, what... what do we do now?"

Li Heng had more or less anticipated this change, so he wasn’t particularly fazed. Bao Yaoyao, however, grew tense.

And how could she not be? Before, she only had to feel the pressure of one great mountain. Now, with nine of them pressing in, she felt like she couldn’t take it.

Overwhelmed, Bao Yaoyao could only turn to Li Heng and see if he had any ideas.

"I don’t know either. Wait and see, I guess?" Li Heng replied.

If he had no ideas, Bao Yaoyao certainly didn’t know what to do. For the moment, she could only follow Li Heng’s lead and remain observant.

Li Heng remained on the mountaintop. At such a critical juncture, if he wasn’t leaving, she certainly wasn’t going to. So she stayed, chatting with him from time to time, but her eyes kept drifting away.

After all, with nine great mountains right before her, the pressure was despair-inducing!

Another half hour passed. The gap between the ten islands was now less than fifteen meters.

When the gap shrank to less than ten meters, a violent tremor suddenly ran through the ground beneath their feet, just as intense as the one from that morning.

ROAR—

SCREE—

HISS—

...

At almost the same instant they felt the tremor, an unending chorus of furious roars from various creatures began to reach Li Heng and Bao Yaoyao’s ears.

"S-Sir..."

The sudden turn of events made Bao Yaoyao’s face drain of all color. On one of the other mountains, she spotted the source of some of the sounds—two lizards, completely black!

Black Feathered Lizards, Tier Two Middle-Grade Soul Beasts!

Threat Score: 124!

And two of them had appeared at once.

Bao Yaoyao panicked. Her first and only thought was to rely on Li Heng.

Li Heng didn’t answer her immediately. He had also spotted the two black Soul Beasts. On the mountain at his ten o’clock, two sizable Soul Beasts were currently attacking each other.

Black Feathered Lizard: Enraged

Level: 25

Tier: Tier Two Middle-Grade Soul Beast

Strength: 28 (+3)

Agility: 25

Spirit: 20 (-2)

Soul Energy: 450

Soul Energy Skills: Black Feather Spike, Feather Refraction, Black Fire Fury.

The two Black Feathered Lizards were tearing at each other. Their black feathers flew like throwing knives, stabbing straight and deep into each other’s limbs and bodies.

Aside from the two fighting Black Feathered Lizards, Li Heng didn’t see any other Soul Beasts on the other mountains.

But the incessant roars reminded Li Heng that it was only a matter of time before others appeared!

And... it wasn’t just Soul Beasts!

Li Heng also saw that on the peaks of at least three of the other nine islands, there were identical "high platforms" built from stacked stone blocks!

’Just as I thought!’

’It wasn’t just this mountain that had those Rune Stone Blocks!’

This new discovery confirmed Li Heng’s suspicions.

The appearance of two Tier Two Middle-Grade Soul Beasts on one mountain likely meant that the other mountains also had Tier Two Soul Beasts.

Soon enough, all these Soul Beasts would probably show up on the mountaintops!

Li Heng reckoned he could take on a group of Tier One Soul Beasts without a problem, but he had never tried fighting a group of Tier Two Soul Beasts, and he had no desire to try it for the first time in this secret realm.

Most importantly, the distance between the islands was still shrinking!

The other platforms with Rune Stone Blocks, as well as the two Black Feathered Lizards, were getting closer and closer!

"You should get out of here first! This situation is definitely not right!" Faced with the changing circumstances, Li Heng wasn’t sure what would happen next, so he advised Bao Yaoyao to flee.

"B-But... Sir, what about you?"

Bao Yaoyao had, in fact, been wanting to slip away for a while. The last thing she wanted was to stay on this terrifying mountain!

She was just a lowly Soul Apprentice, utterly powerless against a Tier Two Soul Beast. The fact that she could still hold a semi-normal conversation was impressive enough.

So when Li Heng told her to run, her first instinct was to agree completely. But then she thought, if she left, what would he do? So she quickly asked.

But as soon as the words left her mouth, Bao Yaoyao regretted it. It sounded as if she could actually be of any help by staying. So, without waiting for Li Heng to answer, she quickly added in a solemn tone.

"Sir, you have to be careful! If things get out of hand, there’s no shame in teleporting away. Your life is what’s important! Well... I’m leaving now!"

Li Heng nodded just as solemnly and replied, "Don’t worry. I will."