Chapter 11: Hold My Sword
Mingyan emerged from the teleportation array. He looked up at the stone tablet outside, which bore the characters “Zhen Huang Mountain.”
He remembered that after reaching this place, a few more teleportations would take him to the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sacred Land.
It had been seven days since he had left the Yaochi Sacred Land.
The short-distance teleportation arrays were far slower than the large-scale ones. And they only offered point-to-point travel, unable to connect to various locations, which was quite inconvenient.
However, he hadn’t encountered any abandoned teleportation arrays. It seemed that after the large-scale gates became inoperable, many places had reactivated their smaller ones.
Although cultivators had long lifespans, it didn’t mean they had time to waste.
He was about to head to the next teleportation array when he noticed something strange.
Previously, Gu Hanshuang would have already surpassed him, and he would have seen her at the next teleportation array. But this time, she hadn’t caught up.
He looked back but didn’t see her. Hadn’t she said she was going to the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sacred Land?
He thought for a moment, then continued forward.
At the next teleportation point, he showed his identification and entered the teleportation array.
These arrays teleported at regular intervals, consuming a large amount of spirit stones each time. And for now, only disciples of Sacred Lands and prominent families could use them. Rogue cultivators were not accepted.
Each teleportation point was guarded by a local elder to maintain order.
Mingyan, being Yue Wu Xia’s personal disciple and the Wind Spirit Holy Son, was naturally not stopped.
The identification tokens of the Sacred Lands and prominent families had special anti-counterfeiting mechanisms and were difficult to forge.
He entered the teleportation array, looked around, but didn’t see Gu Hanshuang. He had just breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her also step into the array.
She was too conspicuous. Her body was surrounded by a violent sword Qi, and the other cultivators all kept their distance, not daring to get close.
Mingyan sighed helplessly. Forget it. He would just treat her as a stranger.
He closed his eyes and waited for the teleportation to begin.
About half a day later, the teleportation array activated, and they entered the spatial tunnel again.
Based on his previous experience, it would take another half a day to reach their destination.
He closed his eyes and waited quietly. After a while, he suddenly felt a strange sensation in his Qi Sea. He looked inside and saw the “*” symbol vibrating slightly.
Hmm? What was going on?
He came back to his senses and felt someone approaching him. He scanned with his divine sense and saw Gu Hanshuang coming closer.
“I have a bad feeling,” she said, approaching. The other cultivators near Mingyan naturally moved away, the sword Qi creating a private space for them.
Mingyan, remembering the vibrating “” symbol, frowned. The “” represented the future. Was it also warning him of something?
“Be prepared.” She took out her long sword, holding the hilt and offering the other end to him. “Hold my sword.”
“What is this for?” he asked, puzzled.
“If my feeling is correct, then we’ll have a problem in the spatial tunnel. We don’t know where we’ll be teleported to. It’s best if we stick together.” Her voice was calm, showing no signs of panic.
“Why should we stick together?”
“Because we’re the strongest and most likely to survive. With me, you’ll have a better chance of living. And with you, I’ll have a bit more help.” Her face was calm. “If you don’t hold my scabbard now, you won’t have another chance.”
Mingyan was silent for a moment but eventually took hold of her scabbard.
Shortly after, the spatial tunnel began to shake violently. The cultivators in the teleportation array all paled.
A problem with the spatial tunnel was definitely not a good thing. At best, they would be teleported to some random place. At worst, they could be lost in the spatial tunnel forever, unable to return to the real world.
He gave her a long look, and saw her draw her sword slightly. The blade shimmered with a faint light. She narrowed her eyes, then sheathed the sword again. “This isn’t far from the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow Sacred Land. I hope your master will notice.”
Just as she finished speaking, before he could ask what was happening, the spatial tunnel shook again, even more violently than before. He looked around and saw cracks appearing on the walls of the tunnel.
“Something is attacking the spatial tunnel…” she said. “It has a purpose. It likely sensed something. My sword is the Demon-Slaying Sword. Since it’s reacting, that thing is likely some kind of evil creature.”
“Boom!” The spatial tunnel shook a third time. Mingyan felt the world shake. He couldn’t stand firm in the teleportation array. He and Gu Hanshuang both fell. The spatial tunnel had shattered. He heard piercing screams. The scabbard he was holding was slipping. Seeing this, Gu Hanshuang hesitated for a moment, then grabbed his collar.
He looked up and saw a giant white bone hand appearing and disappearing in a huge crack in the spatial tunnel. He and Gu Hanshuang fell uncontrollably, hitting the edge of the spatial tunnel. His head spun, and he felt he was about to lose consciousness. Before he passed out, he grabbed her hand.
When he woke up again, he found himself lying at the foot of a mountain. He looked around but didn’t see her. He had been holding the scabbard of her long sword in his left hand and her hand, which was holding the hilt of the sword, in his right…
And now, only her scabbard was beside him.
Had they been separated? But at least he wasn’t lost in the spatial tunnel.
He sat up and observed his surroundings. The sky was dark, covered by black clouds. He could faintly see blood-red lightning flashing between the clouds, accompanied by deafening thunder.
Behind him was a forest, but the trees were all bare, seemingly dead. There were no signs of life, no other living creatures besides himself.
And he found that when he got close to the forest, he would shiver uncontrollably, goosebumps appearing on his skin, as if his body was rejecting him from entering.
Mingyan looked at the scabbard in his hand. A dragon pattern was carved on it, so lifelike it seemed to be a giant dragon wrapped around the scabbard. It was glowing faintly. He held it up and moved it around, finding that it glowed brighter when he pointed it in a certain direction.
Was it sensing the sword, or Gu Hanshuang, or the evil creature?
It was pointing towards the mountaintop.
He closed his eyes and felt the wind wailing. The wind here carried a hostile aura. This was definitely not a good place…
His divine sense was useless here, unable to be released, which meant he couldn’t know the situation nearby.
He sighed, looked at the scabbard in his hand, and then at the mountaintop. Since he couldn’t leave through the dead forest behind him, it seemed the only way was up the mountain.
