Chapter 1956: All That Matters Is Speed
Many people got chills just by looking at the “blue starry sky” inside the tree trunk. They retreated from the Null Dimension as it was a second too long to stay.
However, there were still many people who found the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree too hard to resist and stayed. After all, high risks came with high rewards.
Those who chose to go were very restrained. They did not fight with each other but kept an eye on their surroundings.
Inside the Null Dimension, forces from sides used their own ways to get near to the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree.
Amid a series of strange noises, a blanket of blue lights flew out of the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. The dotted lights looked as beautiful as the stars.
As Pan Ruo had said, the God-Eater Bugs were not affected by the Null Dimension. Their flying speed made a stark contrast with the snail pace of the Celestial Court and Deathkin cultivators.
Bang!
Yuanmo Shenzi struck with his Demonic Spear, piercing through the body of a fist-sized God-Eater Bug.
Despite being the disciple of the Fane of Destiny, and unlike Pan Ruo, Yuanmo Shenzi had not mastered the skill of enslaving the God-Eater Bugs. All he could do was to kill them.
Zhang Ruochen, Ji Fanxin, and Pan Ruo seemed to be most relaxed among the two hundred or so fighters. All Zhang Ruochen needed to do was to trigger the Qiankun Realm, and when the God-Eater Bugs sensed the scent of the sapling of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree, they would enter the Qiankun Realm automatically.
On the other hand, Ji Fanxin and Pan Ruo mastered the secret technique of controlling the God-Eater Bugs. Except for the larger ones, the God-Eater bugs posed no threat to them.
Zhang Ruochen made capturing the God-Eater Bugs his priority. There were too many people inside the Null Dimension, and they would become the obstacles preventing him from retrieving the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree.
So it was a good idea to let the God-Eater Bugs to help him clear the obstacles for him.
As the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree belonged to the Kunlun Realm, both the Celestial Court and the Deathkin cultivators were invaders. They would pay a high price if they wanted to take the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree.
A scream rose as a Celestial Court fighter was attacked by God-Eater Bugs. His body was burned into ashes in a matter of seconds.
Two more Deathkin fighters made the same fate.
The situation turned chaotic instantly. Many of them regretted it and could not wait to flee the Null Dimension.
But moving in the Null Dimension was slow, and the God-Eater Bugs were quick. Under such circumstances, they were pretty much a sitting duck no matter how strong they were.
Over ten fighters, including two Heaven’s Reach cultivators, had died from both sides in the blink of an eye.
Those two Heaven’s Reach cultivators were bitten to death by a larger God-Eater Bug, the vitality and defense ability of which was extremely strong. Even Path’s Anterior fighters had a hard time killing it.
Now this God-Eater Bug was eyeing another Heaven’s Rich fighter. It seemed that this bug chose top fighters as its target.
Zhang Ruochen had been observing this bug since the beginning and was happy to see it attacking the Celestial Court and the Deathkin fighters. But now, he changed his mind and wanted to stop it.
This God-Eater Bug was targeting Feng Wuxing, who was Feng Yan’s elder cousin. He could not just let him die.
Knowing that he was no match for this God-Eater Bug, Feng Wuxing quickly triggered a piece of ancient talisman, forming a tough shield around him as protection.
He then launched a counterattack with all his strength, trying to ward off that bug. The ancient talisman would not hold for long.
But this larger bug was much more powerful than he had expected. His ancient talisman had only lasted for a moment before the bug broke through.
Feng Wuxing screamed as the bug bit his arm.
Just then, Zhang Ruochen came up. With the swing of his Ancient Abyssal Blade, he cut off Feng Wuxing’s arm—the one that was bitten by the God-Eater Bug.
He had just saved Feng Wuxing’s life. Had he been a second slower, the blue flame would have spread up to Feng Wuxing’s shoulder.
While he used the sword, he had also triggered the Qiankun Realm to release the scent of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree’s sapling.
Just like the previous God-Eater Bugs, this one was attracted by the scent and entered the Qiankun Realm at once.
“Thank you for saving my life, friend.” Feng Wuxing was truly grateful.
He knew that Zhang Ruochen had come for him, and he would remember Zhang Ruochen for this.
“Think nothing of it. Feng Yan and I are blood brothers. It was the right thing to do. But take my advice: leave this place quickly. You don’t want to get stuck in the Null Dimension,” said Zhang Ruochen.
“I am thinking the same. Be careful, Brother Zhang.” Feng Wuxing then quietly spoke through telepathy. “Be careful of Red Fox King, Brother Zhang.”
After saying that, he immediately left. Since he was still not deep inside the Null Dimension, it was not too much of a problem for him to go.
“Be careful of Red Fox King?” Zhang Ruochen’s heart skipped a beat, and he could not help glancing at him.
As far as he could remember, there were no grudges between Red Fox King and him. Why did Feng Wuxing warn him about Red Fox King?
But he trusted that Feng Wuxing said that for a reason, and he had better take his word seriously.
During that time, there had been over a thousand God-Eater Bugs flying out of the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. Zhang Ruochen had captured over a hundred of them, while the Celestial Court and the Deathkin fighters had killed the rest.
Toward the end of the battle, and just like what Feng Wuxing did, there had been over a hundred people fleeing the Null Dimension.
There were over seventy people remaining inside the Null Dimension. They all did not want to give up the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree.
Both sides continued to encounter God-Eater Bug attacks as they pressed on. Each time there were over a thousand bugs attacking them.
Those who stayed were top fighters, but casualty was still inevitable.
As they finally approached the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree, only 57 of them remained—26 on the Celestial Court’s side and 31 on the Deathkin’s side. So the Deathkin had an advantage in terms of headcount.
Zhang Ruochen swept his eyes over those at the scene. Other than the Deathkins, quite several of them from the Celestial Court were his enemies, too.
There were four from the Blackdemon Realm, two of the Six Fatals of the Fane of Youshen, and Red Fox King— seven of them.
He would want to take them all down at once if can.
While he was thinking, he suddenly felt something move on his body. He took out that thing, which was The Secret Tome of Time and Space.
“This is…”
His heart missed a beat as he had apparently felt a strange energy enter The Secret Tome of Time and Space.
He found that the changes to The Secret Tome of Time and Space seemed to be harmonious with the Null Dimension.
He could not help but carefully study the changes.
There was no doubt that it was Saint Monk Xumi who left behind this strange energy, which perhaps only The Secret Tome of Time and Space could hold.
By the looks of things, the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree, which has been cut down, has withered. But the enormous Qi of the Divine Tree and Precepts of the Divine Tree inside the trunk are precious.
Everyone looked excited, standing in front of the trunk of the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree.
“Get the hell out of here if you all don’t want to die!” Yuanmo Shenzi brandished his Demonic Spear as he made the threat.
“Everyone leaves! Otherwise, I will turn you all into dead meat!” Chixing Shenzi sneered.
He had been thinking to wipe out all the Celestial Court fighters, but it was not easy, apparently. So they were hoping for them to go away, saving them the hassle.
If push comes to shove, they fought and won, they would still pay a high price for it. They might even lose one or two of the Shenzis and Ladies.
“Think again if you want to take the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. Do you all have the ability? You never know until we fight.” Bi Yunhai scoffed.
“You still have the nerve to sound off, Bi Yunhai! You are just a loser at the hands of Qi Yang!” Shengku Shenzi sneered.
There was a murderous look in Bi Yunhai’s eyes. “Qi Yang is powerful. But who the hell do you think you are? Fight me if you dare!”
“As if I am sacred!”
Shengku Shenzi was exuding a murderous air, too. As blood inscriptions appeared on the blood ax in his hand, a powerful burst of energy seemed wanting to slash the Null Dimension in half.
“Heck!”
Bi Yunhai hissed as he injected his saint Qi into the sky-blue gourd.
He would be seen as a coward if he did not respond to this provocation.
“Kill!”
Shengku Shenzi shouted, swinging his blood ax to strike Bi Yunhai.
Bi Yunhai had also made his move, meeting the attack head-on.
Under the constraint of the Null Dimensional, fighting needed to be in close range. Or else, even with the use of Supreme Artifacts, the attacking range would still be very limited.
Shengku Shenzi and Bi Yunhai quickly clashed, both using saint techniques and sacred artifacts as they faced-off against each other.
It was impossible to summon external forces here. In a place like this, even the use of sacred artifacts was restricted. They could only fight with their bodily strength, and both of them were undoubtedly confident of their strengths.
“It seems that a fight is inevitable. It is the only way to determine who will get to keep the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. Everyone, we need to work together. After beating the Deathkins, we will share the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree. We can’t let the Deathkins take the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree!” Xuanyuan Liekong called out.
No one on the Celestial Court’s side objected.
It seemed they would have to make do with it under such a circumstance.
If they were not united, probably none of them could get the Divine Sky-Connecting Tree, as the Deathkins could use a divide-and-conquer method to beat them.
The only thing was, the Deathkin had the advantage in terms of number, which put the Celestial Court at a disadvantage.
A brutal battle finally broke out, and no one could stay away from it.
Huo Nu summoned bone-chilling cold, ghastly white fireballs on his body, then charged straight at Zhang Ruochen.
He was no match for Zhang Ruochen on the outside. That was because Zhang Ruochen had summoned external forces. But in the Null Dimension, he was confident that he could suppress Zhang Ruochen and complete the task that Yuanmo Shenzi assigned to him.
Sensing a threat approaching, Zhang pulled his thoughts out of The Secret Tome of Time and Space.
“Die!”
Huo Nu roared in a low voice, casting out a dozen ghastly white fireballs to block Zhang Ruochen escape routes.
With such a close distance, and in the unique environment of the Null Dimension, he was confident that Zhang Ruochen would have no way to run.
He expected Zhang Ruochen to suffer from grave injury, or even death as long as he got hit.
In a split second, Zhang Ruochen’s body shifted position and dodged all the ghastly white fireballs.
“How could this be possible?”
Huo Nu looked in disbelief.
They were in the Null Dimension. Everyone’s movement was slow. How did Zhang Ruochen move so quickly?
While Huo Nu was still in shock, Zhang Ruochen had come in front of him, thrusting the Ancient Abyssal Blade into his forehead.
Thousands of Marks of Time appearing like the stars in the sky engulfed Huo Nu.
He might be quick in his response, but time seemed to have some to a standstill. It was too late to parry the attack.
The indestructible Ancient Abyssal Blade had pierced through his helmet into his forehead.
A destructive sword will rushed into Huo Nu’s body and destroyed his saint soul in an instant.
Huo Nu’s eyes were wide open, but his pupils dilated.
He thought he could beat Zhang Ruochen in the Null Dimension. Little did he expect Zhang Ruochen could kill him instantly with a sword as soon as he made the move. He did not even stand a chance.