Refining the Mountains and Rivers

After breaking almost half of his soul and having a tough time escaping, Li Quanji's eyes lit up as he examined the weird-looking and fully transparent equipment in front of him.

I am a freaking genius!

Using such a simple and crude material and with no experience, I have succeeded at refining this only after trying a few times!

Buzz -

There was a slight tremble in the air, and the aura of the object stabilized. This object was nowhere near perfect, and could probably only be used a number of times.

No matter, as long as it could help him to communicate with the West Desolate and tell the Desolate King about that clan's Half-King situation, the Desolate King would definitely send someone strong to keep him safe.

As for why Li Quanji was being so stealthy and not approaching West Desolate cultivators for help when he was in such a weak position…the reason was simple. All seven West Desolate True Saints who had accompanied him had their puppet bodies destroyed. He had even planted some of his people in this place to assist him. However, all of them had been gotten rid of by Li Zhouyi.

In such a situation, Li Quanji was heavily injured and could only hide. If not, the first person that would attempt to murder him would be Li Zhouyi.

Of course, Li Zhouyi would not get his hands dirty himself. There were many ways for Li Zhouyi to take Li Quanji's life.

Now that he had refined the Cross-world Communication Device, the political situation was about to change. As for Soft Peach, that goddamned girl…I've never suffered such a huge loss in my life. You will pay for this!

Li Quanji grit his teeth and took out the Communication Device. With a loud humming sound, it started to vibrate and glow.

Closing his eyes, a strand of divine sense instantly left his body. It rose higher and higher, traveling through boundless space towards the West Desolate. As long as it went past the entrance of the Connecting Passage, the transmission of the message would be successful.

Li Quanji increased his focus. Almost there!

Then, he cried out. His eyes snapped open and blood spewed from his nose and mouth.

His face was pale and he staggered for a few seconds before being able to stand properly without falling to the ground.

The energy inside the Connecting Passage was extremely strong. Like a giant beast with frighteningly sharp teeth, when his divine sense entered the Connecting Passage, it was instantly shattered into pieces.

This also meant that the Communication Device he had painstakingly refined had been temporarily disabled.

Damn it!

What exactly happened?

Li Quanji was shocked, angry, and in pain all at the same time. He had used the Soul Shattering Technique to forcefully escape from Soft Peach's confinement spell, causing his soul to be inches away from completely crumbling.

Now, his divine sense had been shattered, worsening the condition of his soul that was already in a very bad condition. He had almost put himself in a life-threatening condition.

What was worse was that he had lost all chances of communicating with the West Desolate, which also meant that there was not going to be any aid coming for him. He would have to rely on himself.

It was a huge challenge to stay alive with the current situation in Bounded Zero Place, unless he escaped now and hid in a fragmented area to heal himself…however, if he did this, it would mean giving up his original mission in coming to Bounded Zero Place. Even if he managed to live, he would be a huge disappointment to the Desolate King.

Everyone in the West Desolate knew that he was the Desolate King's most favored child. However, no one knew just how much he had sacrificed for such a title. It was a result of countless years of determination. He was about to enjoy the fruits of his labor; he could not give up now!

Originally, Li Quanji had other choices, such as self-destructing his puppet body and going back to the West Desolate, and then putting the blame on that clan's Half-King. It was not an honorable choice, but at least there would be an explanation for it and it could also minimize the damage to his true body.

Now, this option was no longer feasible. His soul was in such a bad condition that he was uncertain whether he would even make it through the Connecting Passage without shattering into pieces halfway.

What should he do now?

His eyes darted around as he thought of a solution. However, he would no longer have to fret over making a decision because something else had helped him.

Buzz -

Buzz -

It was not his head that was ringing. It was a sound produced by the rapid flapping of a pair of wings. It was a sound that caused one's hair to stand on end.

Li Quanji whipped his body around. There was a mosquito about the size of a human's arm. What was even stranger was that its entire body was bright red, as if it had been coated with blood. Its eyes were filled with a ruthless aura.

Its pupils suddenly shrunk, causing Li Quanji to scream, "Soul Devouring Mosquito!"

In Bounded Zero Place, the West Desolate and that clan were caught in a constant struggle against each other. Every situation was life-threatening.

For example, this Soul Devouring Mosquito fed on people's souls. Their bodies contained a lethal poison which could cause a soul to wither rapidly. The West Desolate and that clan used to suffer great losses because of these beasts, so they made an alliance and wiped out almost all of the Soul Devouring Mosquitoes. It had been many years since there was even a trace of this creature.

Who would have thought that Li Quanji would be so unlucky to have come into contact with one? Furthermore, he was already in such a bad condition. He would be lying if he said he was not anxious. In fact, he was anxious to the point that he almost peed himself.

Getting stung by a Soul Devouring Mosquito was as lethal as drinking an entire bottle of its poison. It would cause the soul to shatter instantly.

Li Quanji turned and ran for his life without any hesitation. He rushed out of the small world fragment, allowing himself to be thrown into the turbulent space waves.

Swish -

Li Quanji disappeared.

As he was being wrapped up by the turbulent space waves, he did not feel relaxed at all, in fact he looked like he was about to cry. It was because the buzzing of the Soul Devouring Mosquito's wings continued to follow him.

When he turned his head to look through the distorted and turbulent space waves, he could see the slight silhouette of the Soul Devouring Mosquito trying to chase him.

Back then, this creature had caused the West Desolate and that clan to sustain huge losses. Naturally, they were not affected by turbulent space waves. As long as they locked in on their prey, they would definitely be able to chase after it and kill it.

I have to escape!

After moving through four small world fragments, Li Quanji was full of sorrow, realizing that it was simply impossible for him to escape the Soul Devouring Mosquito. He panted heavily and his ears rang, feeling like he was about to faint any time.

I can't continue to escape like this anymore. If it really catches up to me, the only thing waiting for me is death.

Gritting his teeth, Li Quanji rushed back into the turbulent space waves and tried to communicate with the four Eyes of Darkness.

In the next moment, his expression changed drastically. He almost cursed out loud!

Li Zhouyi, you piece of garbage, what did you do?! The West Desolate spent a countless amount of resources to build the Eyes of Darkness. Yet, the Eyes of Darkness were now shaky, like a frail lady that had been violated by hundreds of strong men.

But it was not the time for such concerns. Li Quanji activated the Eyes of Darkness' power. With his position, he had the right to do so.

Ka-cha!

It sounded like something broke. The next moment, the power of the turbulent space waves started to decrease, and Li Quanji disappeared into thin air.

……

Soaring Sky received a letter from Qin Yu, which made Soft Peach very unhappy, giving him a few side glances. It made Soft Peach wonder if Qin Yu was gay and had been hiding it all along. Thankfully, Qin Yu had not exhibited any behavior to suggest that he was indeed gay, otherwise Soft Peach would have to pull him aside for a chat.

Rice Paper stood beside them, not saying a word. Soft Peach was convinced that their conversation earlier today had been effective.

After finishing reading Qin Yu's letter, Soaring Sky shattered the message on the jade slip. "Mister Ninth has written in the letter that we need to rush the Mysterious Clan to quickly take action because there is going to be someone extremely strong coming to assist the World of Darkness."

Soft Peach raised her eyebrows slightly, "Is this 'someone' as strong as the person I met last time?"

Soaring Sky slightly bowed. "Mister Ninth did not go into detail, but seeing as how he feels anxious, it must be someone rather formidable."

Soft Peach rose. "Let's start moving then."

Half-Kings were dangerously powerful people. Even though Qin Yu was strong, his power was still unable to rival that of a Half-King.

Soft Peach would not let anything happen to Qin Yu!

"Yes, Aunty Peachy."

Soft Peach pushed the door open, with the other four people following behind her. She ordered the cultivator standing guard outside, "We have urgent matters to report to your leader; lead the way!"

Number 327 was punctual to the meeting. When he learnt about the contents of Qin Yu's letter, his face changed immediately. "Can we trust Virtuous Nine's letter?"

Soft Peach replied, "Since we have decided to work together, Virtuous Nine would definitely not lie about such an important issue. The World of Darkness will be assisted by a very formidable person, if you are planning to make a move, this is your only chance!"

Number 327 started to think. He had already known that the Patriarch of the other clan had descended into the West Desolate and was going to forcefully seal off the fragmented area Connecting Passage.

He had already gone to confirm this for himself. The Connecting Passage had indeed been tampered with by a huge force, preventing anyone from going in or out.

This also meant that whoever that strong person was would have nowhere else to go.

However this did not mean that the news Soft Peach brought to him was entirely useless.

If he examined the details, he could infer some things - for example, it was probable that the West Desolate had paid a price to summon the fourth Half-King to come to Bounded Zero Place. Or, perhaps the West Desolate had not made the necessary preparations to go to battle, otherwise they would not have to summon a strong cultivator to come and assist them.

This was not a matter to be taken lightly. Getting a Half-King to descend to Bounded Zero Place definitely required a price. There was no way that the West Desolate would do something like this if they did not have to.

But since they had indeed done it already, it meant that they needed this strong cultivator to help fight their battles. This was an important point that Number 327 inferred.

Simply put, the West Desolate was not ready for battle!

Since they were not ready, it was the perfect opportunity for them to make a move. Taking a deep breath, he said, "My clan is able to take action immediately and attack the World of Darkness, but where are the rogue cultivators from the Vast Brightness? Since both of us have agreed on working together, of course we must fight this battle together too."

Number 327 had no intentions of revealing that the strong cultivator the West Desolate invited could no longer assist them. His clan was only working with the rogue cultivators for practical reasons; letting them feel anxious and fearful was a good thing for him to keep them in check.

Soft Peach said, "You don't have to worry about this. Virtuous Nine has already promised that our Vast Brightness cultivators will take the lead in attacking them, as long as your clan arrives in time to lend a hand."

"If that's the case, then please let Virtuous Nine know that we will definitely follow up as long as Vast Brightness cultivators make their move too."

Soft Peach nodded her head. "We will relay the message to him immediately." She turned to look at Soaring Sky to get him to reply to Qin Yu's message, feeling slightly indignant that it was not her who Qin Yu was communicating with.

Why did Qin Yu trust this junior over her? Qin Yu, just you wait, I will make you change your mind about me!

Soaring Sky felt slightly uneasy about the way Soft Peach was glaring at him. However, there was nothing he could say in such a situation. He retrieved the jade slip, marked down his message, and turned it into dust.

A moment later, 'Border Cliff Saint' who was in his own room opened his eyes and took out his jade slip. He examined it with his divine sense and managed to decipher the true message of Soaring Sky's words - his plan was progressing smoothly!

It also meant that it was time for him to make his move.

'Border Cliff Saint' stood up and walked to a dark corner of the room. Then he suddenly disappeared into thin air.