Words cannot describe my frustration — the internet went down last night and wasn't fixed until now, so the update is late.
*********
Upon hearing that Yang Kai and the other three had been summoned by Fei Zhitu to help with his rescue, Qian Tong's face filled with gratitude and he offered his thanks. The three young Saint King Realm cultivators naturally demurred, insisting they hadn't done anything worthy of such praise. When he then learned that after passing through the black-and-white space gate the group had scattered, and that the old woman had perished beneath the puppet's massive hand, Qian Tong's expression darkened with a hint of self-reproach.
In short order, Yang Kai laid out the full sequence of events. Qian Tong furrowed his brow. "So what you're saying is, you don't know where Old Fei and the others are now?"
Yang Kai and the other two slowly shook their heads.
Qian Tong laughed bitterly. "This time I'm the one who's dragged you into trouble. There's no way out of here now. Even if you retraced your steps, you probably wouldn't find the path back."
"Then what do we do?" Du Sisi asked, her face anxious.
"There are only two options!" Qian Tong sighed with a measured calm.
"What are they?"
"See that space formation over there?" Qian Tong pointed, and following his gesture, Yang Kai and the others realized that at the far end of the palace, there actually stood an intact space formation.
"It should lead to the outside. If you're confident you can shake off those puppets, you could try it — but I wouldn't recommend it. The others are one thing, but that wolf-type puppet's speed is terrifyingly fast. Even I'm not sure I could outrun it."
The three of them had just fought a pitched battle against a puppet moments ago — the last thing they wanted was another round with those things. Even if the puppets here weren't as strong as the previous one, their numbers alone were enough to make Yang Kai's scalp tingle.
Moreover, although the space formation over there appeared intact, activating it would still take some time. That brief delay would be more than enough for the puppets to close in.
In a situation like this, who would dare make a rash move?
"Other than that, we wait — wait for Old Fei and the others to arrive. Then we can figure something out together." Qian Tong noticed the helplessness and despair on Cai He and Du Sisi's faces, and couldn't help but offer some comfort. "Don't worry. If it really comes down to it, I'll step in and hold those beasts back, buying you enough time to escape."
"Absolutely not!" Cai He blanched in alarm. "Elder Qian, you mustn't do that. The Shadow Moon Palace is rife with internal strife right now, and they still need you to hold things together. If you were to fall here because of us, the three of us would be sinners for all eternity. We could never bear that kind of responsibility."
Du Sisi nodded vigorously from the side.
Qian Tong chuckled and waved it off with easy nonchalance. "It's the only option if nothing else works. Rest assured — I won't resort to it unless there's truly no other choice. I'd like to live a few more years myself."
Only then did Cai He relax slightly.
With no path of retreat and the way forward blocked, the three Saint King Realm cultivators had no choice but to sit cross-legged in meditation, chatting with Qian Tong now and then to pass the time.
Through their idle conversation, Yang Kai finally learned that the stone stele actually bore an exquisitely refined artifact-forging technique. Although no one could decipher the ancient script inscribed on it, having an artifact smith meditate beside it would be enormously beneficial for improving their own crafting skills.
The middle-aged man among them had already gained some insight and was only short of actually forging a Void-grade Artifact with his own hands. Once he could accomplish that, he would become the Shadow Moon Palace's new generation Void-grade Artifact Grandmaster.
With his assistance, combined with Qian Tong's methods and prestige, quelling the Shadow Moon Palace's internal unrest and restoring peace would be child's play.
Time flew by, but the bitter waiting gnawed at everyone's nerves. No one knew what Fei Zhitu and the others had encountered — for the next half month, they remained completely without a trace.
After that half-month of rest and recuperation, however, the hidden injuries Yang Kai and the other two had sustained from their battle with the puppet had all fully healed.
One day, while Yang Kai was meditating, he suddenly sensed a strange energy fluctuation in his surroundings. His eyes snapped open at once as he probed the disturbance with startled focus.
At the same moment, Qian Tong sensed it too, casually releasing his spiritual awareness.
Cai He, Du Sisi, and the others, on the other hand, noticed nothing.
But in the very next instant, shock and horror crept across their faces. The palace they were in had begun to shake violently, fine dust and debris raining down from above as though the entire ancient ruin had become unstable.
"This is…" Qian Tong's eyes went wide, as though he had grasped something.
Yang Kai's gaze sharpened with surprise as well. He didn't know what Qian Tong had discovered, but he could feel a terrifying spatial power surging through the ancient ruin.
He had cultivated this very power — he recognized these bizarre fluctuations with perfect clarity.
BOOM. Booming crashes erupted from every direction, like mountains collapsing and the earth splitting apart, as if the end of days had arrived. Cai He, Du Sisi, and the middle-aged man beside Qian Tong all cast their gazes around in panic.
Meanwhile, the dozen or so puppets that had been hovering around Qian Tong also reacted — red light flared in every puppet's eyes, and with something almost like fear, they began slowly retreating.
The change came far too quickly. Before Yang Kai could probe any further, an unimaginable repulsive force exploded from the surrounding space, enveloping every person's body and making it difficult to breathe.
Rather than alarm, Yang Kai felt a thrill of joy — because he had felt this sensation once before.