Chapter 170: Chapter 167: Big Dipper Death Injection, Crisscrossing Starlight
The one struck by Song Ciwan’s blade was the person occupying the primary position in the Big Dipper Array.
According to the characteristics of the Big Dipper Array, it was supposed to have a comprehensive substitution cycle.
Among the seven positions, even if one person was injured or killed, as long as a substitute filled in promptly, the Array would not be greatly affected.
However, the problem now was this:
The Cultivator in the Megrez Position, struck by Song Ciwan’s blade, didn’t die instantly, nor did he collapse. He was just obviously wounded.
But he was suddenly in a daze, blood pouring ceaselessly from his mouth. He mechanically continued to perform the Gang Step according to the Big Dipper Array’s footwork, yet his pace was always a step behind the norm.
He occupied the Megrez Position with no intention of moving aside, preventing the substitute from ever taking their proper place.
The Female Cultivator in the Merak Position cried out anxiously, "Senior Brother Zheng! Wake up..."
Before the last word of her cry could even fade, the Big Dipper Array suffered a backlash.
Senior Brother Zheng of the Megrez Position opened his mouth again, spitting out more blood.
He turned his head to look at Song Ciwan, pointing a finger. "You! You’re not..."
What was he trying to say? "You’re not..."?
He couldn’t finish. A much stronger backlash arrived. The seven beams of starlight projecting down from the sky began to twist violently along with the chaos in the Big Dipper Array below.
A beam of starlight swept past, descending from above Senior Brother Zheng’s head and instantly slicing his head, along with the upper half of his torso, into nothingness.
In a corner, the two brothers, Lu Hui and Lu Yuan, were stunned.
Lu Hui was speechless. Lu Yuan sent a low-voiced transmission: "The Big Dipper Array has backlashed! Run! We have to run!"
The two brothers grabbed hands and, without another word, turned and fled.
As they ran, they glanced back intermittently.
They saw that by the west gate of Bright Moon Square, chaotic beams of starlight still rained down from the sky.
Wherever the starlight swept, if there was a living person, they were certain to be maimed or killed.
These distorted beams of starlight possessed immense destructive power, capable of sweeping all living things into nothingness wherever they passed.
The bodies of the Cultivators were like paper. If a beam hit an arm, the arm vanished. If it hit a leg, the leg vanished. And if it hit the head, they would end up just like Senior Brother Zheng from the Megrez Position—dead without a complete corpse.
Even Song Ciwan’s heart pounded in her chest. When she activated Divine Eye Opening just now, she had consumed nearly eighty percent of her True Qi in an instant.
In her Sea of Consciousness, the god that had opened its eyes swiftly closed them again.
But the consumed True Qi was not so easily replenished!
Song Ciwan’s lips moved slightly, and several Red Sun Pills materialized in her mouth, which she quickly swallowed.
At the same time, several, or even dozens, of starlight beams crisscrossed the air around her.
Song Ciwan witnessed a strange sight. Above Bright Moon Square, formless energies swayed as they rose into the air, while chaotic starlight rained down from the sky.
Wherever the starlight passed, those swaying, formless energies were also blasted into nothingness!
’So, even formless energy can be destroyed.’
’The power of the Big Dipper’s starlight is actually this immense.’
As for the Cultivators who had set up the Array and drawn down the starlight—in that single instant, five were maimed and three were killed. Some of the survivors scattered in different directions. Others tried to save their companions, only to be struck by the starlight themselves.
Fast. Everything was happening too fast.
So fast that Song Ciwan hadn’t anticipated such a turn of events. So fast that even with her speed, she had barely been able to evade the encroaching starlight.
A piece of flesh was torn from her arm, but she had no time to check the wound. She pushed her speed to its absolute limit, no longer bothering to maintain her persona as the Black-clothed Blade Master, a Martial Artist.
Combining Grasshopper with the Wind Manipulation Technique, she transformed into a shimmering silhouette within the wind. In a flash, she had fled nearly a hundred zhang.
Behind her, some were instantly annihilated by the starlight, not even having time to cry out in pain. Others shouted desperately, "Save me! Help!"
These people—some had high Cultivation, some had low. There were Male Cultivators and Female Cultivators, the mature and the young...
They might have been someone’s brother or sister, someone’s son or daughter. All of them were under fifty years old and should have had bright prospects and limitless futures ahead of them.
But such was the path of Cultivation. Sometimes, one careless step meant the death of both body and soul.
Other times, even if you were extremely careful and cautious, you might not escape a sudden, undeserved calamity.
Take Lu Hui and Lu Yuan, for example.
The chaotic starlight spread with incredible speed. Although Lu Hui and Lu Yuan were the first to flee, they weren’t fast enough.
Just as the starlight behind them was about to catch up, the two brothers were scared out of their wits.
Suddenly, a dark shadow drifted past them. Lu Hui screamed, "Fellow Daoist, save us!"
For Lu Hui, that shout was a desperate, last-ditch effort. He couldn’t see clearly, but he knew in his heart that the figure who had just passed them was likely the "Black Heart Demon Saber."
’Asking this Demon for help... would he actually save them?’
Lu Hui had no hope at all, but unexpectedly, while the figure ahead did not stop, a rope shot out from the shadows.
The rope, like a spirit serpent, swiftly bound Lu Hui and Lu Yuan. Then, the two brothers were lifted off the ground and sent flying like kites!
Lu Hui shouted, "AH!"
Lu Yuan also yelled, "AH! AHHH!"
The deadly starlight was still in pursuit behind them as the Lu Family Brothers experienced the strangest situation of their lives.
They were being flown like kites!
And yet, they didn’t dare resist. They couldn’t resist. They even had to be moved to tears with gratitude for the person flying them like kites.
At the same time, they had to try and keep their bodies low, not daring to fly too high—at least, not higher than the rooftops on either side.
After all, Pinglan City had a No-Fly Array!
Flying too high was just another way to die.
Lu Hui struggled to twist his head around and look back. He saw that the world behind them had all but transformed into an ocean of starlight.
Beneath the starlight, all those swaying, formless energies were being turned to nothing.
The strange thing was, the buildings and living beings of the present world were completely unaffected by the starlight.
They didn’t know that in the Otherworld, a bizarre and wondrous rain of starlight was falling—silent, yet capable of reaping countless lives.
At some point, Lu Hui and Lu Yuan were carried away from Bright Moon Square.
They also saw many Cultivators from the Otherworld in Bright Moon Square, scrambling away like panicked insects.
’Oh, so they’re also fleeing for their lives. It’s not just us...’
Lu Hui also saw two Scholars. One’s hair was a mess; the other’s cap was askew. But the one with the askew cap, even while fleeing for his life, was still clutching a cat to his chest, refusing to let go for even a moment.
The cat let out a pitiful cry: "MEOW! MEOW MEOW—"
Was this a comedy? Or a farce?
