Chapter 136: The Fall
Feng Shi felt a pang of heartache watching the scene. He didn’t intend to keep playing around. Pressing his palms together, he quickly formed a series of hand seals and muttered a few incantations under his breath.
As the spell was cast, a massive talisman array suddenly materialized in the sky above the spirit stone mine behind him.
The patterns within the formation were complex and numerous, shifting and changing in the blink of an eye. A red light beamed down from the center, enveloping the entire mineral vein.
Everyone around, including Quan Xinghai, who had yet to make a move, looked at the sudden appearance of this great array with drastically changed expressions.
Someone suddenly shouted, “Not good! He’s trying to take the entire mineral vein! Stop him quickly!”
However, it was already too late.
Feng Shi slowly opened his closed eyes.
Behind him, the mountains crumbled and rocks shattered.
Starting from deep within its foundations, the entire spirit stone mountain detached from its original position. It shrank smaller and smaller as it was pulled into the center of the array, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.
In the sky, the massive array snapped shut, turning into a single line of red light. It disappeared along with the mineral vein, leaving only a massive, empty crater behind.
“You little beast! How dare you play us for fools!”
With the spirit stone mountain gone, several people were instantly enraged and lunged forward together.
Feng Shi retreated while absorbing the incoming attacks, turning his head to shout at the person still suspended in mid-air:
“Elder Quan! Killing one another is forbidden within the Secret Realm! Are you still not going to make a move?”
Quan Xinghai gripped his folding fan with immense force, his teeth clenched tightly in secret.
“Quan Xinghai! This man has played us all for fools! He is utterly detestable! If we don’t eliminate him today, he will surely become a disaster in the future! Why aren’t you helping us kill him?!”
Quan Xinghai narrowed his eyes, his gaze snapping toward Feng Shi as if he were weighing his options.
At that moment, no one noticed that as the spirit stone mine was uprooted, the surrounding ground had begun to crack with countless tiny fissures…
Qingqingās voice rang out in Feng Shiās mind:
[Host, thereās been a slight change. Please be prepared.]
What change?
Before Feng Shi could even ask, he felt the ground beneath his feet suddenly vanish, followed by a powerful sensation of weightlessness.
In the chaos, Feng Shi only had time to grab Shen Songheās hand beside him and use a magical artifact to shield them both. Not far away, Quan Xinghe, who had just broken free from his restraints, let out a scream and threw himself toward them as well.
The technique Quan Xinghai had been brewing instantly dissipated in the face of this sudden upheaval. He looked down in disbelief at the ground that had suddenly caved in on a massive scale.
The earth within a one-li radius, centered on the original location of the spirit stone mine, had completely split open. Dust billowed and a deafening roar echoed as the sinkhole swallowed everyone within range.
Recovering his wits, Quan Xinghai hurried down to the ground to investigate. However, as he drew near, a powerful suction force dragged him toward the depths. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator like him found himself utterly helpless to resist…
The collapse did not last long. Soon after, the dust settled, but not a single soul remained at the site.
Everything was dim before his eyes.
When Ruan Ping woke up, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar place.
The passage seemed endless, resembling the belly of a giant serpent. Faintly glowing moss grew on the walls alongside a few clusters of colorful mushrooms.
He had been washed here by the soil. Since the left side of the passage was completely blocked by earth, he could only head to the right.
Ruan Ping coughed twice, raising a hand to wipe the thick layer of dust from his face. After moving his limbs and finding them intact, he attempted to stand up.
He pulled out a medicinal pill Feng Shi had given him and swallowed it. Suppressing the fear in his heart, he pressed his hands together, condensing spiritual qi at his fingertips to light a small lamp for illumination.
The moment the light spread, he jolted in fear and let out a low cry.
Not far ahead on the ground sat a giant egg the height of a man. The surface of the egg looked dusty and gray, making it impossible to distinguish its species by appearance alone.
Next to this egg, a person was shallowly buried in a pile of dirt. Their clothing and features were obscured, and it was impossible to tell if they were dead or alive.
Setting aside how eerie the place was, the path was blocked by a strange giant egg and an unknown person. Ruan Pingās mind was instantly filled with the contents of the horror novels he usually read. Terrified, he couldn’t stop himself from stumbling back several steps.
However, as luck would have it, just as he took two steps back, the giant egg before him suddenly twitched.
Dust cascaded off the egg with the movement.
It couldn’t be that this egg was about to hatch right now… Ruan Pingās legs went weak. He closed his eyes and began to pray: Please don’t let it be something weird!
Obviously, the prayer was useless. The egg began to shake even more violently, and tiny cracks spread across its surface, emitting faint beams of white light.
Ruan Pingās face instantly crumpled as if he were about to cry. He kept backing away, but he tripped over a piece of rubble and fell onto his backside.
The giant egg completely split open.
With a loud bang, a piece of the shell was kicked away by something, embedding itself into the nearby wall.
The light in Ruan Pingās hand was blown out. He couldn’t help but scream, shielding his eyes tightly with his arms.
“Pah, pah! What a piece of junk item. It’s so hard to use… one star review!”
“Hey! You there, kid! What are you screaming for? Did you see a ghost?”
Hearing a familiar voice, Ruan Ping, who had thought his life was over, was completely stunned. The tears about to spill from his eyes vanished in a blink as he mumbled blankly to himself, “Senior Brother Liu?”
Feng Shi patted the dust off his clothes and jumped out of the giant egg prop. While complaining, he dug out a red-faced Shen Songhe from inside the egg.
Hearing Feng Shiās voice again, Ruan Ping was finally certain he wasn’t hallucinating. He hurriedly lowered the arms shielding his eyes.
Looking toward the source of the voice, he indeed saw a familiar tall silhouette standing in the faint light.
The giant egg actually gave birth to Senior Brother Liu!
Ruan Ping wept with joy.
“Senior Brother!”
Just as Feng Shi pulled Shen Songhe out, he realized he had acquired a leg ornament. Looking down, he saw it was that kid Ruan Ping.
Scanning the surroundings, there were only three people.
Oh wait, there was another one who looked human.
“Junior Brother Shen?”
Ruan Pingās eyes lit up, and he intended to switch to the other leg. Shen Songhe subtly dodged the move and pulled Feng Shi toward him at the same time.
Feng Shi didn’t notice their small interaction. Once he regained his footing, he surveyed the area again, his gaze eventually landing on the person lying face-down on the ground.
“Ruan Ping, did you check that person?”
Ruan Ping, having calmed down slightly, wiped his eyes and shook his head. “I… I thought he was dead, so…”
Feng Shi nodded. He stepped forward and flipped the person buried in the dirt over.
Though the face was as filthy as could be, it didn’t stop the three from recognizing him.
“It… Itās actually him!” Ruan Pingās eyes widened.
As luck would have it, this person was none other than Quan XingheāQuan Xinghaiās younger brotherāwho had been shouting about killing Feng Shi not long ago.
Feng Shi placed his hand on the manās neck. After a moment, he said, “Heās still alive.”
As he spoke, he took two medicinal pills from his Qiankun bag and stuffed them into Quan Xingheās mouth.
Ruan Pingās eyes grew even wider, his face full of indignation. “Senior Brother? He’s a bad person! Why are we saving him?”
Feng Shi raised an eyebrow but didn’t explain much. “Heās useful.”
Ruan Ping muttered something, glaring at the person on the ground before saying reluctantly, “Fine then…”
Feng Shi clapped his hands and stood up, patting Ruan Ping on the shoulder. “Alright. Next, I’ll have to trouble you to carry him for a while.”
Ruan Ping looked at the unconscious man on the ground. “…Hmph!”
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