Chapter 548: Chapter 523: Viscous Lake
Disciples of the Three Emperors Alliance couldn’t help but attack the Soul Spirits.
"Leave a few to besiege these Soul Spirits, others, follow me to continue pursuing Lu Yan."
Sword Saint Situ transmitted his voice to everyone.
His speed didn’t diminish at all as he continued to pursue Lu Yan.
Another ten experts also followed Sword Saint Situ in pursuit of Lu Yan, leaving the rest to besiege the Soul Spirits.
"Danger..."
After running dozens of miles more, Lu Yan felt a sense of crisis in his heart. He swung his fists forward, borrowing the power of the earth, and eighteen angry earth dragons surged ahead.
A ghost-like shadow quietly emerged. Its claws, sharp as blades, frantically sliced apart the eighteen earth dragons.
It was that terrifying Soul Spirit Lu Yan had encountered previously.
Electricity enveloped Lu Yan’s body as huge bolts of lightning burst from him, striking at the Soul Spirit, while he turned into lightning himself, trying to bypass the Soul Spirit.
"Such a powerful Soul Spirit..."
Sword Saint Situ, who was pursuing from behind, was shocked, his eyes showing a fervent glow.
But he quickly suppressed the fervent light and continued his attack on Lu Yan.
Wings formed from his domain flapped rapidly, sending over a dozen golden Sword Lights at Lu Yan.
But just then, two figures, ghost-like, pounced towards Sword Saint Situ from both sides, silent and swift as lightning, their claw-like sharpness aiming for his neck.
"So many Soul Spirits..."
Sword Saint Situ’s heart chilled. His domain expanded, impacting on the two Soul Spirits, blasting them away.
Ah!
Behind him, a scream echoed.
Yet another ghost-like Soul Spirit attacked the disciples of the Three Emperors Alliance. Its twin claws pierced through the skull of a disciple, grinding his brains to powder.
And it also destroyed his Primordial Spirit.
"Kill."
"Kill it."
The other disciples of the Three Emperors Alliance joined forces to attack this Soul Spirit.
But the Soul Spirit’s body movements were unbelievably fast, evading every attack from the disciples; even those it didn’t evade simply brushed off its contorted body without causing any harm.
Then, with a flicker, it appeared before another disciple, its claws thrusting forward, and with a squelch, another disciple’s head was pierced.
The strength of this Soul Spirit was too powerful, ordinary beings of the Immortal Ninth Layer simply couldn’t contend with it.
Sword Saint Situ couldn’t continue his pursuit of Lu Yan, his domain rapidly expanding, encompassing both the disciples and that ghost-like Soul Spirit.
Within his domain, countless golden Sword Qis burst forth, blocking all three Soul Spirits.
"This place is dangerous, all of you retreat up the slope. As for that boy, I’m enough to kill him on my own."
Sword Saint Situ transmitted to the disciples of the Three Emperors Alliance.
The disciples, as if pardoned, rushed out of the domain towards the slope.
Lu Yan’s figure flickered, evading Sword Saint Situ’s attack, and he sent out dozens of thick bolts of lightning, repelling the Soul Spirit then, with a flash, leaped over the Soul Spirit and continued rushing towards the bottom of the slope.
"Lu Yan, you cannot escape."
Sword Saint Situ’s gaze never left Lu Yan; his domain quickly contracted then expanded again, shoving the three Soul Spirits backward.
With a flicker, he chased after Lu Yan at high speed.
Behind, four ghost-like Soul Spirits screamed and shot forth, chasing after both Lu Yan and Sword Saint Situ.
Between the three parties’ pursuits, they quickly crossed over a hundred miles.
Along the way, they encountered several more Soul Spirits.
However, the Soul Spirits that appeared later on were not as powerful as the first four; although they caused some disturbances for Lu Yan, they failed to halt him.
"Hmm, the temperature here is dropping rapidly, and it’s also filled with fluctuations of magic."
Lu Yan’s mind stirred.
The further down the slope they went, the lower the temperature became, and the more violent the magic fluctuations grew.
The terrain also gradually leveled out.
This place must be the bottom of the slope.
Once here, the Soul Spirits seemed to become extremely agitated; they continuously screamed and howled, frantically chasing Lu Yan and Sword Saint Situ.
Swish swish swish...
From the mountain forests around them, Soul Spirits continuously charged out, and even those with strength comparable to the first four, powerfully intercepting Lu Yan and Sword Saint Situ from all sides, greatly harassing both.
But relatively speaking, Sword Saint Situ was stronger, his domain imbued with power, able to continuously borrow strength from the Magic River. With endless Immortal Power, he pressed on fiercely, closing the distance between himself and Lu Yan quickly.
Lu Yan, turning into a rule himself, became a greyish magic river.
The reason it was grey was that four different rules were blended together.
This was a method Lu Yan had researched himself to mislead others, making it difficult for anyone to discern the specific rules he’d fused.
The magic river solidified into a saber, flying through the air, pushing back one Soul Spirit after another, struggling to break free from the encirclement.
Ahead, the space opened up suddenly.
In front, no trees obstructed view, no wild grass, no rocks, it was a vast white world.
Lu Yan took a closer look and saw it was a white lake, vast and endless, stretching as far as the eye could see.
The reason it was white was because of the water of the lake.
The lake water was snowy white and viscous, with strands of light emanating from the water, forming a white flame.
But this flame, instead of giving off any heat, emitted an extreme coldness.
Lu Yan was by the shore, a layer of ice crystals already forming on his body. The bone-chilling cold penetrated deep into his body, as if it wanted to freeze his flesh and blood together.
Rich magic fluctuations emanated from the lake water.
"This is the Sea of Magic, but it has already exhausted. Could it be that this lake is the ’depression’ left behind after the Sea of Magic dried up?"
Lu Yan thought to himself.
He circulated Immortal Power to keep the piercing cold at bay.
Behind him, Sword Saint Situ, slightly startled at the sight of the lake, quickly resumed his pursuit of Lu Yan. A beam of Sword Light split the air, leaving a golden sword scar in the void.
Lu Yan, wearing the Pure Light, churned the four types of rules, swinging his palm in retaliation and forming a deathly blade of light.
The clash of blade light and sword light lasted only a breath before the blade light shattered. Lu Yan’s figure flew backward, landing on the surface of the lake.
Bang Bang Bang!
His feet struck the lake surface, each step exploding through the water, ice crystals climbing up his legs.
It was only by running Immortal Power that he could shed the ice crystals.
However, the coldness from the water underfoot kept seeping into his body relentlessly, trying to freeze him and even to dissolve him.
Indeed, to dissolve.
The temperature here was low enough to directly liquify a person into a pool of frozen liquid.
Because, within this coldness, there lay the force of magic.
This magic wasn’t simply associated with the attribute of ice but a complex attribute formed by a mixture of different magics.
Although Lu Yan’s body was strong, and he was activating the Pure Sutra, the Saint Soldier’s Formula, fusing four rules, he still couldn’t withstand it. He could feel his flesh and blood decaying.
Yet as his flesh decayed, a tree within his Primordial Spirit exuded a rich life force, repairing the decaying flesh and keeping him in peak condition.
"This lake water can’t do anything to me."
Lu Yan, invigorated, stepped on the water and rapidly retreated.
"Little bastard, don’t think you can escape. This will be your burial ground."
Sword Saint Situ’s eyes shone coldly as he leapt up, landing on the lake surface and pursuing Lu Yan.
After chasing for a while, Sword Saint Situ’s complexion changed.
Even with his domain protecting him, he found it difficult to completely block the terrifying cold. Slivers of cold penetrated his domain, eroding his flesh and blood.
"Magic protect the body."
Sword Saint Situ growled. The Primitive Symbiotic Life in his hands emitted a brilliant light, causing profound fluctuations. In the depths of The sky’s Vault, the Magic River surfaced, resonating with the Primitive Symbiotic Life, and a powerful force descended from the Magic River. This enveloped Sword Saint Situ’s body with an ethereal Magic River.
With multiple enhancements, Sword Saint Situ finally blocked the encroaching cold and hastened his pursuit of Lu Yan.
The soul spirits, reaching the shore, let out roars and shrieks, but dared not chase onto the lake, restlessly running along the shore.
Soon, the two men had traversed over a hundred miles on the lake.
Here, they were approaching the center of the lake.
At this place, the coldness of the lake water became even more terrifying; even the water turned much more viscous, like glue.
Moreover, in the lake water, streamers of rosy light occasionally bubbled up. These streamers, like tiny dragons, danced and weaved.
"This rosy light, does it somewhat resemble a Spirit of Magic?"
Lu Yan’s mind stirred.
Having refined a Spirit of Magic before, the feeling was indeed similar, both emitting magic fluctuations.
Of course, these were not Spirits of Magic.
It couldn’t be that numerous; that would be too against the natural order.
But similar to a Spirit of Magic, they contained rich magic force.
"Could they be absorbed and refined?"
A thought crossed Lu Yan’s mind.
Unable to restrain himself, Lu Yan attempted to absorb a streamer of rosy light into his body.
As soon as the streamer entered his body, it exploded, spreading a horrific coldness within Lu Yan, almost turning him into an ice pop.
Fortunately, at that moment, his Primordial Spirit shone, and the tree inside extended its roots into Lu Yan’s body, unleashing a powerful suction force.
This force devoured all the coldness in Lu Yan.
Any energy formed by the rosy light was absorbed wholesale, good or bad.
Whew!
Lu Yan breathed a sigh of relief.
It was a good thing he had the tree; otherwise, he would have been in trouble.
It’s best not to tamper recklessly with the eerie energies of this bizarre place.
Whoosh!
Seizing the opportunity, Sword Saint Situ slashed with a golden Sword Light.
Lu Yan hastily retreated and defended.
Boom!
Lu Yan was thrown back, and a deep wound was cleaved into his palm, piercing through to the other side, nearly severing his entire hand.
The Sword Light landed on the lake, cutting through the viscous water and leaving a sword scar thousands of kilometers long.
However, the sticky lake churned, and the sword scar quickly sealed as if it had never been.
Lu Yan coughed up blood, ran the Nine Death Sutra to force out the Sword Qi in his body, and continued to stride towards the center of the lake.
He hadn’t gone far when his eyes suddenly lit up.
