Chapter 165: Run, Grand-Disciple, Run

Ning Xianyu instructed Xuan-yuan Tunhan to move the flying magical artifact to the side, then back again. After doing this twice, she finally confirmed her observation.

"Look at the moon. It looks different from different angles. From the left, it's a complete crescent, but from the right, it looks like a piece is missing."

Xuan-yuan Tunhan flew straight up, circled back and forth in the air a couple of times, and also noticed the discrepancy.

Yi Tianling, Su Yun'er, and Xiahou Fang followed suit and observed the same result.

All five of them saw the problem and looked up simultaneously.

The moon appearing different could only mean something was blocking it.

Yet, whatever was blocking it remained invisible to them.

Su Yun'er said, "There must be something up there, but why can't we see it?"

Yi Tianling guessed, "Could it be that it's only visible under specific moonlight?"

He pointed at Ning Xianyu. "Didn't Senior Ning see Mount Qingxu during the full moon before? Now it's a crescent, and with so little moonlight, naturally we can't see it."

Su Yun'er found this reasoning plausible.

"I never imagined Mount Qingxu would be so well-concealed. Not only is it remote, but it also has such a clever array set up. No wonder no one has found it for all these years."

Yi Tianling smiled. "We owe it to Senior Ning's attentiveness; otherwise, we truly wouldn't have found it."

Ning Xianyu tilted her head proudly, thinking to herself that she was proving to be immensely useful, and would likely be needed for mending the heavens later on.

Alas, she wasn't even the female protagonist; why was she playing such a massive role?

This wasn't an underdog counter-attack story.

The system chuckled: [Isn't it great to be a hero yourself? By then, the whole world will revere you, and you'll be majestic wherever you go.]

Ning Xianyu quickly rejected the idea: [I just want to get rich quietly and keep a low profile.]

Unwilling to listen to her impractical daydreams any longer, Xuan-yuan Tunhan said, "Let's go up then."

He channeled power into the flying artifact, and the group soared directly toward the moon's position.

They flew very fast. By Ning Xianyu's calculations, at this speed they should have broken through the atmosphere and landed on Mars by now, yet they still saw no mountains, and the moon remained just as distant.

This planet was truly enormous, and the thickness of the atmosphere was terrifying.

They flew for a long time—an entire night, in fact. Just as Ning Xianyu felt they were about to touch the moon, violent gales suddenly erupted from above.

The wind came on suddenly and fiercely, striking their magical artifact and causing it to plummet rapidly.

Xuan-yuan Tunhan immediately shouted, "Xiahou Fang, steady the artifact."

Xiahou Fang was thoroughly uncooperative. "Why should I listen to you?"

Xuan-yuan Tunhan snapped angrily, "Fine, if any attacks come our way later, you can block them yourself!"

Yi Tianling also chimed in, "Senior Xiahou, you said you would help."

Only then did Xiahou Fang make a move, quickly stabilizing the flying artifact.

"The barrier must be dropped! Hold on tight and steady yourselves!"

With the barrier active, it was too difficult to stabilize the flying vessel. With a shout, he dropped the barrier entirely.

The moment the barrier was removed, Yi Tianling and the others felt fierce winds lashing against their faces and bodies like blades, cutting tiny wounds into their exposed skin.

They hurriedly channeled their spiritual energy for defense, shielding their heads and faces, not even daring to look up.

Su Yun'er had the lowest cultivation level and found it difficult to fend off the winds, so Yi Tianling pulled her close to protect her.

Ning Xianyu hugged the edge of the artifact herself, struggling to maintain a personal barrier to protect her own body.

Xuan-yuan Tunhan glanced at her, casually cast a barrier to protect her, and then shot upwards fiercely.

High above, driven by the howling gales, numerous sharp stone swords rained down.

He drew his sword to meet them, shattering the stone swords one by one.

Some stone fragments landed on the artifact, causing the small vessel to drop sharply once again.

Xiahou Fang kicked a boulder away, cursing, "Such an endless variety of tricks."

After a short while, the stone swords gradually vanished, but the danger was far from over.

Ning Xianyu lay near the edge, staring downward, when she suddenly shouted, "Those stones are coming back!"

The stone swords shattered by Xuan-yuan Tunhan had not fallen away; instead, they were flying back.

Furthermore, they were not scattering as they returned; rather, they were constantly gathering together. At first, their shape was indistinct, but soon the stones formed a massive ferocious beast with dozens of spikes on its head and thorns lining its tail.

The beast charged fiercely, slamming straight toward their flying artifact.

Xiahou Fang struck out with a palm print, forcing the beast back a little. However, the beast slid across the air, ground its hooves, and charged again.

Ning Xianyu watched in utter astonishment. This was simply too formidable—it could even drift across the air!

At that moment, Nian Laisheng shouted at the top of his lungs, "Grand-disciple, run!"

Recognizing that she was the weakest, the ferocious beast actually changed direction and charged straight toward her.

Terrified, Ning Xianyu scrambled out of the way. Xuan-yuan Tunhan arrived just in time, stepping down onto the stone beast's head before driving his sword straight down.

A dazzling brilliance erupted from within the beast, and it instantly shattered into powder.

The powder was swept away by the wind, scattering in all directions so that it could never reassemble.

Xuan-yuan Tunhan landed back on the artifact, still staring intently upward.

Up there, an even greater hazard awaited.

Moments later, they suddenly felt the surroundings grow quiet—an eerie, unnatural silence in which even the wind had completely vanished.

Everyone knew this was the calm before the storm; far from relaxing, they grew even more tense.

After an anxious wait, a massive fireball suddenly appeared overhead.

Xuan-yuan Tunhan immediately raised a barrier, enclosing everyone within it.

Yi Tianling and the others also maintained their own barriers, not daring to relax for a single second.

However, as they drew closer, they realized it wasn't a fireball at all, but a massive cluster of red insects gathered together into a spherical mass.

Because the insects were red and trailed red Qi behind them, they appeared like a ball of fire from a distance.

Upon crashing into the barrier, these insects did not bounce off; instead, they swarmed over the surface and began frantically devouring the spiritual energy.

Not only did they consume spiritual energy, but the red mist trailing from their tails also possessed corrosive properties against barriers. Even a barrier as powerful as Xuan-yuan Tunhan's was slowly being eroded, growing thinner and thinner.

Yet that wasn't the worst of it. Following closely behind the swarm of insects, Xuan-yuan Tunhan spotted three more stone beasts lunging toward them.

He had no choice but to drop his barrier, instructing the others to defend themselves, while he charged upward alone to meet the ferocious beasts.

Left without his barrier, the group had to rely entirely on self-preservation, while Xiahou Fang focused on protecting the flying artifact.

The red insects accelerated their consumption and corrosion.

Seeing that the barriers protecting Yi Tianling and Ning Xianyu were on the verge of failing, panic set in.

Yi Tianling demanded of his system, "What are these bugs afraid of? Think of something fast!"

Ning Xianyu similarly cried out to hers, "I'm willing to die by other means, but I really, really don't want to be eaten by bugs!"

Even bringing out the Universe Sword was useless in this situation; they had to think of an alternative.

Yi Tianling's leveling system shouted: [Use the Heavenly River Water from the primordial era! Heavenly River Water can extinguish all fire in the world, and can also contain all fire.]

Yi Tianling said helplessly: [Where on earth am I supposed to get Heavenly River Water?]

Meanwhile, Ning Xianyu's system yelled: [I remember now! The ocean in your spatial storage—those red waters! They can purify all fire! Quick, spray them!]