CBGC - ch184

Chapter 184: Protecting the Master

Bai Su is an artifact refining master, so he has extensive experience with top-grade materials and high-level celestial artifacts. Yet, he cannot discern what material the rusted pillar is made of.

It appears metallic, but he has never encountered anything like it.

Tapping on the pillar with his fingers produces a hollow, metallic clang, and some rust flakes off. The sound suggests the pillar might be hollow, with something hidden inside.

Su Tingyun, who has little expertise in formations or artifact crafting, stands beside Bai Su, cautiously guarding him. She uses Big Bai’s tough hide as a shield in front of them, wary that something unexpected might emerge from the blood pool.

Her Springwater Sword remains stored in her ring dimension, unaffected by the absence of spiritual energy. When she sees Bai Su scraping at the rust with his hands, she pulls out the sword.

Without spiritual energy, the Springwater Sword is little more than an exceptionally sharp piece of ordinary steel. Bai Su takes the sword and lightly scrapes the pillar’s surface. The moment he does, the ground trembles violently. Several seaweed-like tendrils emerge from the depths of the blood pool, some of them entwined with corpses.

Thanks to Big Bai’s hide, the tendrils don’t immediately attack them. But before Su Tingyun can relax, the blood tendrils wrap around the hide, encasing them both, and the thing start dragging them into the blood pool.

Bai Su swings the sword to cut the shoots, but even the sharp Springwater Sword cannot sever the runners. In a moment of desperation, Su Tingyun summons her Heavenly Fire Inferno. Flames surge forth, forcing some patches of the algae-like blood to retreat. However, more tendrils quickly rise to replace them. The flames, though potent, are limited in size without spiritual energy to sustain them. Against the overwhelming tide of blood, the fire offers only a fleeting respite.

“Get into your ring!” Bai Su shouts, his feet already stuck in the blood pool. He lifts Su Tingyun onto his shoulders, holding her high above the danger.

Big Bai’s shed skin can block attacks, but it has gaps that the blood vines exploit. Without spiritual energy to form a barrier, the hide alone cannot keep them safe. Bai Su’s legs are submerged, the blood pool feeling more like thick mud than liquid, preventing him from sinking immediately.

The tendrils coil around Bai Su, pulling him deeper. Meanwhile, Su Tingyun, protected by the Heavenly Fire, faces fewer. Bai Su’s effort to lift her shields her further, though his movements become restricted as the tendrils envelop him.

The blood tendrils, seemingly alive, attempt to invade their bodies through their orifices. Without spiritual defenses, they are as fragile as paper. One tendril tries to drill into Su Tingyun’s ear but hesitates, deterred by her celestial body; the blood vine seems afraid. Still, the sensation of searing heat, like being burned by flames, causes her to shudder.

Bai Su and Jiu Yue felt extreme heat before, but Su Tingyun had been unaffected. Now, she realizes the heat’s source: the blood itself.

“How are you?” Su Tingyun asks, but before she can finish, a blood-weed slips into her mouth. The slimy, disgusting sensation makes her gag violently.

She doesn’t hear Bai Su answer either; he is entirely wrapped in the blood, immobile. Yet even in this state, Su Tingyun feels him summon all his strength to push her upward one last time.

“Forget everyone else. Enter your ring. These things can’t harm you there,” Xuanyuan Wentian says lazily, observing the situation. To him, it is only logical for Su Tingyun to save herself. If others cannot be saved, why risk her life? After all, Bai Su is sacrificing himself to create this opportunity for her.

However, Su Tingyun’s sea of consciousness surges. Her previously faint Heavenly Fire flares up, burning the tendrils around her hands. With a determined effort, she reaches forward, grabs the crooked pillar, and holds on tightly. Using one hand to cling to the pillar, she uses the other to grab Bai Su’s shoulder, pulling with all her might.

The force dragging them downward is immense. The violent pull nearly yanks Su Tingyun into the blood pool. Her arm scrapes against the rusted pillar, leaving deep cuts that bleed profusely. She feels the grip of her hand on Bai Su’s shoulder slipping, her hold weakening. Panic begins to creep into her mind as she struggles desperately to hold on.

They cannot use spiritual energy right now; if they are dragged into the blood pool, there’s no chance of survival. The blood tendrils invade bodies, devouring bone, flesh, and spirit!

The Heavenly Fire burns fiercely in Su Tingyun’s hand as she clutches Bai Su’s shoulder, consuming her soul energy at an alarming rate. This effort pushes back some of the tendrils, allowing Bai Su’s upper body to resurface. However, he remains unconscious, his eyes shut tightly.

The pull from the pool’s depths grows stronger.

Su Tingyun’s soul power weakens rapidly, her sea of consciousness nearly depleted.

The flames of the Heavenly Fire wane, and blood tendrils surge forward once more. At that moment, Bai Su’s eyes snap open—blood-red and filled with a swirling mist of crimson. The sight shocks Su Tingyun to her core. Clearly, the tendrils have invaded his body, and his gaze now mirrors the blood pool’s sinister influence.

“He’s being controlled by the blood pool,” Xuanyuan Wentian immediately warns. “Just like Jiu Yue earlier. If you don’t let go now, he’ll turn on you.”

The hand Su Tingyun uses to cling to the pillar is bloodied, the force below intensifies, and the area she could hold is getting smaller and smaller. In the end, her fingers barely hook onto a sharp protrusion scraped earlier by Bai Su using the Springwater Sword. The jagged edge pierces her palm, causing blood to flow freely down her arm, forming a trail…

The already crooked pillar begins to sway under the immense pulling force. Su Tingyun’s eyes brighten with hope. If the pillar falls, its length might span the blood pool, creating a bridge. She could use it to pull Bai Su out. However, there’s a risk—the collapse might cause the entire area to cave in.

The chances of collapse seem slim, and even being buried alive would be better than being dragged into the blood pool’s depths. Determined, Su Tingyun stretches her leg toward the pillar, attempting to hook it with her foot. At this moment, she curses her short stature and the disadvantage of her short legs.

“I told you to let go! What are you doing?!” Xuanyuan Wentian shouts furiously. “You’re hopping around like a grasshopper! Are you stupid?”

He has no intention of helping. As long as Su Tingyun enters her ring, she will survive. Bai Su, on the other hand—his death would be ideal. If he dies, Su Tingyun’s emotional turmoil might lead to inner demons, and Xuanyuan Wentian is more than happy to see that happen.

“Look at his eyes! If it weren’t for those tendrils still restraining him, he’d have torn you apart by now. Let go while you still can!” Xuanyuan Wentian sneers as Su Tingyun finally hooks her foot onto the pillar. Her sea of consciousness is dry, her soul utterly drained, and even her physical strength is waning. Nonetheless, she manages to twist her body, wrapping herself halfway around the leaning pillar, giving her hand a slight reprieve.

Because of her earlier desperate efforts, Bai Su’s body has been dragged further out of the pool. For some reason, the blood tendrils no longer lash out from the water, and his arms are finally free.

“He’s going to kill you,” Xuanyuan Wentian gloats, watching Bai Su’s blood-red eyes and unrestrained hands.

Su Tingyun braces herself, her nerves taut. One hand clings to Bai Su while her body hangs precariously from the swaying pillar, suspended in midair with no way to fight back. Straining to turn her head, she glances at Bai Su and says firmly, “Don’t worry. I’ll pull you up right now.”

As Su Tingyun finishes speaking, another massive force surges from below, yanking her downward. The pillar sinks further, and Bai Su is dragged deeper, leaving only his shoulders and head above the blood pool. The pull from the pool grows stronger, and despite Su Tingyun’s desperate effort, she cannot pull him out any further.

Bai Su’s gaze falls on Su Tingyun’s bloodied hand, and he raises his own hand.

“If you don’t let go, he’ll drag you in with him,” Xuanyuan Wentian remarks.

Yet, the blood threads in Bai Su’s eyes recede slightly, and a faint voice emerges from his throat, “Let go.” He grabs Su Tingyun’s hand and forcibly pries her fingers loose. In the next moment, he sinks entirely into the blood pool. At the same time, the crooked pillar finally collapses under the strain and falls.

Su Tingyun instinctively lets go of the pillar. Instead of retreating into her spatial ring, she plunges straight into the blood pool. Xuanyuan Wentian is stunned and shouts angrily, “I told you to let go, but not like this! Get into the ring now!”

She recalls how Bai Su saved her life, shielding her from arrows when they were hunted by the soul-capturing leader of the Moon Worship Cult.

Having a celestial body, the vines of blood are temporarily stayed from invading. In the blood pool, she is safer than others. If she retreats into her ring now, Bai Su would have no hope of survival.

“This isn’t just a blood pool,” Xuanyuan Wentian growls, frustration evident in his voice. “It’s the bloodstream and meridians of a Yayu! Don’t think your celestial body makes you invincible. Those tendrils will pierce into you within a quarter of an hour. Once they consume your body, the Yayu will awaken!”

Xuanyuan Wentian knows his own situation. But he doesn’t plan to tell it to Su Tingyun.

The Yayu is a fierce ancient beast. Its awakening would be advantageous to Xuanyuan Wentian, but that’s only if Su Tingyun’s shell maintains its ability to avoid the Heavenly Dao. Without that, his plans would falter.

“When the ancient Yayu died, it had an immature offspring in its belly. The Yayu has two lives. Though the cub perished with the mother, it still retained its second life. Before death, the mother Yayu crafted this sealed space to ensure its cub could survive millennia later.”

“This entire beast realm exists as nourishment for the cub. When it awakens, this realm will be destroyed. Normally, it would take another thousand years for the cub to wake, but if it consumes your body, it will awaken early!”

The ancient Yayu even accounted for the limited resources in this world, using the Bodhi Mirror of Reality to accelerate the realm’s growth. Once this world rivals the True Immortal Realm, it could lure ascended cultivators from other realms here to meet their demise. Xuanyuan Wentian marvels at the Yayu’s ruthless and meticulous plan, vicious to the extent that even Xuanyuan Wentian feels he should be ashamed of himself.

Su Tingyun hears everything Xuanyuan Wentian says but doesn’t retreat into her spatial ring. Instead, she struggles through the viscous blood pool and manages to grab hold of Bai Su, who is completely wrapped in the blood weeds.

But now, she doesn’t know what to do next.

Without spiritual energy, her strength is depleted. Her sea of consciousness is dry, and the Heavenly Fire is no longer accessible. Hiding in her ring seems like the only viable option.

But her spatial ring cannot hold another person.

“Come in now, you still have a chance to survive,” Xuanyuan Wentian says, his tone indifferent.

Su Tingyun resolves to use the blood tendrils to her advantage, binding Bai Su tightly to her back.

Realizing she won’t abandon her friend, Xuanyuan Wentian reluctantly releases a sliver of his divine soul to sustain her. He doesn’t want her body consumed; it’s too valuable. Once Bai Su is reduced to a skeleton, she will have no choice but to let go.

With this plan in mind, Xuanyuan Wentian channels a portion of his soul energy into Su Tingyun, keeping her conscious and ensuring she can hang on for a little longer.