Chapter 52: A Dense Fog and the Delusion Vine


    Trantor: Strivon / Ash Editor: Geoffrey / Lancent


    “*Vrrrrrr!”


    Arge hole thirty to forty meters wide opened up in the front of the deck. A biting freezing wind was drawn suddenly into the deck and hold of the ship, causing the youths, who were only wearing sports tank tops and shorts, to feel a bone-piercing coldness.


    “Allpetitors…. Jump down!” the officer in ck pointed to therge hole as he spoke expressionless.


    As soon as these words were spoken, quite a few student’s faces went white.


    The Distant Expanse was floating several hundred meters above sea level. Devil Flood Dragon Ind was right beneath it. If they were to jump off from here, even if they fall into the ocean, they would simply be falling to their death. There’s no need to say what would happen if theynded directly on the ind.”


    “Whats wrong? Is no one brave enough to jump? Well, that’s fine too. You can still retire from thepetition; it’s not toote. The Limit Challenge Competition wasn’t made for cowards!” The officer dressed in ckughed with disdain.


    These words incited the bravery of quite a few students. The red pimpled youth who first said that he wanted to apply for the First Military College pushed through the crowd. He bellowed, “If you’re going to jump, then jump! What are you scared of? If you’re scared of death, then you can’t be a cultivator!”


    His pair of legs stepped forward, his pair of arms opened wide, and he jumped down the open hole. The throat-ripping battle cry of the pimpled youth was torn and silenced by the biting wind in a sh.


    With someone taking the lead, people started going continuously close behind. Actually, everyone knew that something had to be deployed down there to make sure that they don’t fall and die in vain. They just had to ovee their mental blockade.


    Li Yao was mixed in the crowd and soon was nudged to the edge of the hole. He looked down while the cold wind rushed at him and saw that the previous thousand youths who had jumped earlier still had yet to hit the ground.


    They were stuck in a giant transparent hanging midair, causing their falling velocity to be extremely slow.


    “A Slow Glyph Array?”


    Li Yao smacked his lips. The Slow Glyph Array was absolutely a necessary type of Glyph Array for those who flew on flying swords. In the case where enemies attack them, causing them to fall, all they would need to do is activate the Slow Glyph Array. Then, they can slowly float to the ground. They probably wouldn’t instantaneously die from a fall.


    However, the average Slow Glyph Array only covers an area of three-to-five meters. This Slow Glyph Array actually covered a diameter of several thousand meters; it really was drawn to be extremelyrge.


    Li Yao no longer hesitated and grabbed his white Puji Critter. He leapt forward and jumped down from an altitude of several hundred meters!


    The wind screamed by his body, birds flew below his feet. This sort of feeling, like surfing the wind on flying swords, was way too awesome for words!


    However, Li Yao enjoyed this feeling for less than two seconds before he felt a white light sh all around him. His body felt sluggish as soon as he was caught within, like he had sunk into a soft ball of cotton. His speed had suddenly slowed to the minimum.


    After several dozen seconds of being in this transparent cotton ball, his body loosened and his normal weight and velocity were restored. The wind started to scream in his ears yet again.


    And this time, not even two seconds had passed before he entered into a second ball of “transparent cotton”.


    He looked several hundred meters below where several hundredpetitors were pping their arms and legs as if they were in water. Li Yao was deep in thought; he finally understood the mysteries of the Slow Glyph Array.


    A dozen or so Slow Glyph Arrayyers were set up in the air space between the Distant Expanse and Devil Flood Dragon Ind. Everyyer had a cushioning effect.


    This way, thepetitors are able to safely arrive on Devil Flood Dragon Ind by going through theyers of cushions.


    This usage of this kind ofrge-scale glyph array was of the utmost ingenuity. Li Yao let out a sigh of admiration in his heart, having discovered that the things he needed to learn still numbered a lot.


    And from the depths of his mind came the flickering light and passing shadows of Ou Yezi’s memories; they emerged numerously and chaotically.


    Until finally…


    After passing through 10yers of the Slow Glyph Array cushioning, Li Yao managed to safely reach a height of a dozen or so meters above Devil Dragon Ind. A verdant and lush dense forest was as far as the eye could see. Quite a few students had alreadynded on the ground.


    The howls of Demon Beasts and the thundering ofpetitors came in waves through the depths of the dense forest.


    Within the first second, intense close quarterbat unfoldedpletely.


    Li Yao suddenly opened his eyes. His blood waspletely boiling, like when he would wait for the garbage ships in the Artifact Graveyard.


    His pair of legsnded lightly on a branch. Using thest of his falling force and borrowing the sticity of the branch, Li Yao changed his direction and fled into the forest, moving like a nimble ck panther. Hended steadily on the ground.


    He took a deep cold breath suddenly.


    While he was falling and observing below him, all he felt about Devil Dragon Ind was the fact that it was a strange shaped narrow ind with ck smoke swirling around it. He didn’t really feel anything too scary from it.


    But as soon as he stepped foot onto Devil Flood Dragon Ind, he discovered that actually the entire ind was covered with gargantuan trees that blocked the sky and shielded the earth.


    Lifting his head looking up, all he could see was the faint gray fog curling around in between the ck tree branches. It was practically impossible to see the blue skies and white clouds. No matter how intense the rays of sunlight were, when shone through the gray fog, the rays turned a blurry, faint yellow.


    A faint green miasma permeated through the air as far as the eye could see. It caused Li Yao to only see a distance of 3-5 meters clearly in his surroundings. Any further than that, all he could see were the gray outlines of crisscrossed canine teeth. The twisted giant trees were like corpses of Demon Beasts brandishing their ws as they swayed in the wind.


    Just a moment ago, he could hear the sounds of close quarterbat. Right now, it was as if the miasma had cut them off from him. Even the howls of Demon Beasts turned vague and indistinct. One second, the howls seemed toe from the horizon, and the next second, the howls seemed to murmur in his ears. It was as if a terrible Demon Beast were hiding behind his back.


    The three thousandpetitorsnding on Devil Flood Dragon Ind were like three thousand grains of sand entering the ocean, disappearing without a trace.


    It seemed like Li Yao was the only person left in this world, staying in this ind inhabited by dreadful Fiend Beasts.


    Li Yao was leaning his back against arge ck tree covered in knobs. He warmed up his arms and legs in a calm yet not slow manner, carefully observing his surroundings.


    There weren’t any pre-defined paths or roads on Devil Flood Dragon Ind; mud and decay ran underfoot. If one wasn’t careful, one would step onto the skeletal fragments of Demon Beasts, causing the soles of one’s feet to be stabbed very painfully. The green miasma released fumes that were somewhat irritating. The smell was quite simr to that of the Artifact Graveyard.


    “Hsss. Hss. The Demon Emperor won’t let you all go…”


    An extremely minute and warped shout came suddenly from behind the ck tree.


    Li Yao was terrified and frightened. He turned around to look and saw that the knobs on the tree were actually twisting and squirming. They converged together, condensing into an iparably ugly face of a Demon Beast.


    This face spoke with a nasty grin, “Just wait and see. The Demon Emperor has already amassed a Demon Army numbering a million forces on the Far Eastern Ocean floor. Soon, he will assault the coast, engulf the Federation, annihte all the males, and eat all the females and childrenpletely. Tss! Tss! Tss! Tss!”


    Li Yao sneered, speaking calmly andposed, “I’ve already carefully examined the introduction to Devil Flood Dragon Ind. It said that the ind is covered with a type of Demon nt called the Delusion Vine. It releases a mild green hallucinatory miasma day in and day out that’s capable of hypnotizing people’s minds, causing people to see and hear visible and audible hallucinations. You’re just an illusion, you can’t trick me!”


    The Demon Beast’s face suddenly froze and shattered into pieces, transforming back into tree knobs and fading away without a trace.


    Li Yao let out a breath of relief. But right when he was about to leave, the ck tree started to tremor. The bark wiggled and was actually pried open from the inside. A half-rotted human figure climbed out in aplete stiff manner. It lifted its head and chuckled at Li Yao.


    Its body was already half-rotted. Its flesh was mangled, and it’s organs were fused with the roots of the ck tree; they were blended together. The left side of its face was covered withrge chunks of bark and moss. Only the right side of its face was vaguely recognizable.


    It was actually… the form of Ou Yezi!


    “Did you think that it would be that easy to engulf my memories? One day, I willpletely possess this body! To be reborn in Cultivation Era Year 40,000!”


    Ou Yeziughed evilly as he spoke. A branch that had transformed into his arm swayed and lifted, heading to grab Li Yao over to him.