Chapter 52
“*Vrrrrrr!”
A large 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.
“All competitors…. Jump down!” the officer in black pointed to the large 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 Island 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 they landed directly on the island.”
“Whats wrong? Is no one brave enough to jump? Well, that’s fine too. You can still retire from the competition; it’s not too late. The Limit Challenge Competition wasn’t made for cowards!” The officer dressed in black laughed 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 become 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 flash.
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 overcome 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 net 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 extremely large.
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 flash 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 hundred competitors were flapping 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 Array layers were set up in the air space between the Distant Expanse and Devil Flood Dragon Island. Every layer had a cushioning effect.
This way, the competitors are able to safely arrive on Devil Flood Dragon Island by going through the layers of cushions.
This usage of this kind of large-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 10 layers of the Slow Glyph Array cushioning, Li Yao managed to safely reach a height of a dozen or so meters above Devil Dragon Island. A verdant and lush dense forest was as far as the eye could see. Quite a few students had already landed on the ground.
The howls of Demon Beasts and the thundering of competitors came in waves through the depths of the dense forest.
Within the first second, intense close quarter combat unfolded completely.
Li Yao suddenly opened his eyes. His blood was completely boiling, like when he would wait for the garbage ships in the Artifact Graveyard.
His pair of legs landed lightly on a branch. Using the last of his falling force and borrowing the elasticity of the branch, Li Yao changed his direction and fled into the forest, moving like a nimble black panther. He landed 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 Island was the fact that it was a strange shaped narrow island with black 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 Island, he discovered that actually the entire island 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 black 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 claws as they swayed in the wind.
Just a moment ago, he could hear the sounds of close quarter combat. 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 to come 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 thousand competitors landing on Devil Flood Dragon Island 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 island inhabited by dreadful Fiend Beasts.
Li Yao was leaning his back against a large black 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 Island; 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 similar 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 black 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 incomparably 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, annihilate all the males, and eat all the females and children completely. Tss! Tss! Tss! Tss!”
Li Yao sneered, speaking calmly and composed, “I’ve already carefully examined the introduction to Devil Flood Dragon Island. It said that the island is covered with a type of Demon Plant 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 black tree started to tremor. The bark wiggled and was actually pried open from the inside. A half-rotted human figure climbed out in a complete 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 black tree; they were blended together. The left side of its face was covered with large 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 will completely possess this body! To be reborn in Cultivation Era Year 40,000!”
Ou Yezi laughed evilly as he spoke. A branch that had transformed into his arm swayed and lifted, heading to grab Li Yao over to him.