Chapter 293 - The Infernal Vortex

Qingluan and Ziyun’er had returned. Xiao Chen walked to them. Word of the massacre had reached his ears, although the scale of news had grown faster than what he had imagined. “I’ll be taking the Leopard Cat Spirit with me into the Violet Illusory Lands. So be careful out here for the next few days.”

The night’s breeze brushed gently that night as he sat beside the unconscious Zhiluan. A sudden rustle came from outside, and Xiao Chen’s Divine Sense throbbed. He sprang up, booming loudly, “WHO GOES THERE!”

The door creaked open slowly. Basking in the placid glow of the moonlight was a gentle-looking little girl in a red dress. Her hands were held behind her back as she giggled, “I’m relieved to find you well, Handsome. I was so worried for you when I heard you went missing…”

Xiao Chen’s forehead creased as he recognized Yu Linglong, the young woman who was one of the Devil’s Practice whom he last met at Canglan City. “Why are you here?” he asked icily.

Yu Linglong gave another impish chuckle that would have looked adorable if not for her background. She peered inside. “I heard that a friend of yours is hurt. So here I am. I might have ways to help you.” She took a step and walked past him into his room.

But Xiao Chen quickly stopped her with an arm. “I’m sure I’ll be able to manage just fine. There’s no need to trouble yourself with my business. Please see yourself out,” Xiao Chen growled.

Yu Linglong grumbled through pouted lips, “Argh… There’s no need to be so cold every time we meet…”

Xiao Chen snorted and shot a frosty glare at her. “Leave this place at once. I do not care what reasons you have for being here or what all of you of the Devils’ sects intend to. Just leave!”

“You’ve misunderstood me, Handsome… I only wish to…”

“Leave. We are on the grounds of the League’s citadel. A simple yelp from me and this place will be swarming with men who can’t wait to arrest you! GO NOW!”

“Humph!” Yu Linglong stomped angrily. She cast a quick spell with a hand seal and vanished under the veil of the moon’s lethargic luminescence.

Xiao Chen waited until the last of her was gone, before he wiped away cold sweat with the back of his hand. “What was she thinking?” He almost cursed, “This is the League’s citadel!” She might not have ulterior motives for wanting to approach him, but Xiao Chen knew he could ill suffer being seen with her, not especially with him being the talk of the city now.

It did not take long for Qingluan and Ziyun’er to come knocking. “Has there been anyone here, Master?”

“It’s fine. Go back to rest,” Xiao Chen shook his head.

The next morning, Xiao Chen cradled the comatose Zhiluan in his arms as he walked towards the cave entrance. Furtive murmurs and hushed whispers followed in his wake as much as the number of hands pointed at him behind his back, he realized. Word of the massacre and his supposed association with the incident must have covered every inch of the city by now.

The pair of Elders of the League charged with manning the entrance saw him carrying Zhiluan. They could instantly see that it was in fact an Immortal Lingzhi in the form of a cat, although they did nothing to stop him, merely hoping that he would cause no troubles here.

Once inside, he was immediately surrounded by Yu Yifeng and the others who pelted him with questions. Xiao Chen merely shook his head and sighed, disentangling himself from his friends and moved alone to the spring 1500 meters to the north of the great oak tree.

When he got there, there were many other students of magic meditating in silence. But they kept themselves well away from the water.

There was a little island in the center of the pond with a flowering tree growing handsomely. Xiao Chen stepped into the water and slowly waded to the island, much to the chagrin of the others who merely watched with displeasure, while a few yelled derisively at him.

Hardly eager to antagonize anyone, Xiao Chen carefully placed Zhiluan under the tree and waded back to land, where he sat away from the spring and began meditating himself.

Before long, Yu Yifeng and the others came by to look. They sat down in silence to accompany him. Despite being able to absorb the rich natural Spiritual Qi around him, Zhiluan’s injuries were simply too grievous for them to notice any recovery.

It was in the evenings when Xiao Chen opened his eyes. He could sit still no more. Despite the abundance of Spiritual Qi in the area, Zhiluan would need a more powerful source of spiritual energies for him to heal lest his condition worsens and he would return back to his ordinary plant form.

Realizing the need for a place with a greater concentration of Spiritual Qi, he remembered the patch of forest guarded by magical barriers. He recalled the extraordinarily fertile Spiritual Qi in the area that would have easily dwarfed the supply of this spring.

But Yu Yifeng instantly knew what he was thinking of doing. “Don’t even think about it,” he pressed with a hushed voice, “The magical barriers there are a sign that the place is off-limits.”

Xiao Chen’s forehead curdled as he slumped into deep thought. But in the end, he decided that he would go nevertheless. Zhiluan would never be able to recover in time before their twenty days are up if he were to allow him to recuperate here. Moreover, he had long been intrigued by the barriers himself. “Why were enchantments guarding the area which has the strongest supply of Spiritual Qi? It’s strange.”

“Must you really go, Xiao Chen?” Yu Yifeng implored.

Li Muxue and Luo Shangyan knew better. They had known him for two years and Xiao Chen had never once wavered from any decision once he had made up his mind. “That place must be dangerous, Junior Brother Xiao,” she begged hopefully, “Otherwise the barriers would not be there. How about waiting for the Seniors? They might still have ways to help Zhiluan.”

Xiao Chen shook his head. “I can’t. Back when we were lost at the Thousand Summits Mountain, it was this worthless fool who had saved me. Furthermore, Xian’er has never stopped crying since…” His voice broke, but it was clear that his will had not.

Everyone else watched in silence, fully aware of how intransigent and stubborn he was. Until a shrill and stern voice from Li Muxue made everyone’s head turn. “Must you behave thus? Must you put yourself in danger and make everyone worry about you?!”

“I…” Xiao Chen could not bear to say anything else but a melancholic “I’m sorry.” He stepped into the water again and trekked through the water to collect Zhiluan. “I’ll bear all responsibilities myself if anything happens,” he said again when he came back.

But Li Muxue and Luo Shangyan sprang up suddenly and cried in unison, “We’ll go with you!”

Xiao Chen stopped them. For all they knew, the place could be extremely dangerous, just like what Luo Shangyan said. And Xiao Chen would never allow anyone else to venture into peril like him. “Go to Xian’er. Tell her that everything will be fine,” he said to them.

Faraway in the wooded patch barely five kilometers to the west, two acolytes of the League were guarding the magical barrier. One of them was meditating in silence, his eyes shut as he absorbed the Spiritual Qi around him, while the other was yawning about with hardly any vigilance in his duties. Xiao Chen spent half an hour setting up his Nine Heaven-scorching Flames magic and waited; until the two watchers relieved each other, he then activated his diversion.

The entire mystic domain shuddered wildly as a gigantic column of flames burst into the sky as a result of the explosion. The two watchers got to their feet and left their posts, frantically scrambling to the site of the scene.

With his plan working, Xiao Chen darted to where the magical barrier was. Yu Yifeng and the others watched him from afar and they could only shake their heads while sighing heavily.

The barrier was erected decades ago by the collective powers of several Elders of the League and would take a feat to defeat it. But being an extremely gifted student in the crafts of magical formation, it was merely child’s play.

All it took was a heartbeat of a second and Xiao Chen succeeded in undoing the magic of the barrier. But before he could take another step with Zhiluan in his arms, his senses alerted him to the presence of Xiaoyue. “Is she also nearby? Waiting to enter this place too?” But time was of the essence and he could afford no longer to wait. He dipped his head and rush right in.

But he had barely stepped inside the forbidden area, when the entire mystic domain shook again. Only this time, the shock was very much stronger than the explosion he had created as a diversion that even those in the lower levels of the Illusory Lands could feel the tremor from above. Everyone’s eyes blinked opened and all were bewildered on what was happening.

Outside, at the entrance leading into the Illusory Lands, the two Elders shared an aghast look as they realized what was happening. “Oh no! Somebody has disrupted the magical barrier and broken into the forbidden area!”

They rushed inside to find nothing but chaos. Massive earthquakes rocked the ground and everyone was running for their lives. Seeing no other way, the two Elders took flight, stepping onto their swords and flew quickly towards the wooded patch.

When they got near, the lush and tranquil forest was no more. In its place, was a dark and mysterious vortex, spinning and swirling so gently that anyone could have mistaken it for something harmless, if not for the infernal aura seeping out of it. The two acolytes were standing at a distance, frightened beyond words as they looked on with horrified looks on their faces.

One of the Elders landed and raised the veritable question of “What is going on here!”

The acolytes crumbled to their knees, convulsing with panic and fear as they mumbled, “We don’t know… There was an explosion not far away just now and we went over to check. But when we returned, it has already become… this.”

“Fools!” The Elder spat. Beside him, his colleague barked, “Perform an immediate roll call! That might give us an idea of who is behind this!” He strode closer to the vortex, hoping to properly examine it, when an invisible force slammed into him, sending him careening away for more than one hundred feet before he crashed, puking blood and saliva.

“Li!” His colleague, the Elder in red livery exclaimed with fright and ran over to help him. Elder Li got up and croaked hoarsely, “Quick! Alert the others and have this place sealed!”

A headcount was swiftly carried out and Xiao Chen was determined to be the perpetrator. Before long, Zi Mo and the others came quickly, having received word of the distress. Zi Mo slapped at Yu Yifeng behind his head. “What in the hell is going on here! Where is he?!”

Qingyu explained hastily, “It’s not Senior Brother Yu’s fault. Xiao Chen was stubborn and he insisted on going in…”

Yu Yifeng was in a daze. He never would have imagined that things would take such a serious turn that even the oldest and most venerable of the League’s Elders, who have long kept themselves from the eye of the public, had come because of this incident. If only he knew, Yu Yifeng regretted, he would have done everything to stop Xiao Chen.

The Elders were together near the vortex, but none of them dared to hazard another step closer. “SEAL THIS PLACE AT ONCE!” One of them boomed.

“YOU CAN’T!” Zi Mo thundered at them, “The boy’s still inside!”