Li Shen was in the hut-like bridge of the ship, his expression extremely ugly beyond belief.
Yang Su and the others were on the bow of the ship, with Fei Yin off to the side meditating.
Everyone was looking at Yang Su who was wearing an awkward expression.
ROAR!!!
SCREECH!!!
Various Spirit Beasts' roars could be heard echoing out.
They were currently flying over the Eastern Territory which was mostly desert. In the sand, gigantic worms nearly a hundred meters in size could be seen borrowing through the sand after their ship in the sky.
It was impossible for them to reach them but these Spirit Beasts' worms had lost all reason. It didn’t take long before the ship put a major distance between them. But their cries continue to be heard by the group causing the awkward atmosphere to increase.
But ahead of them, an eagle-like Spirit Beast with a wing span of forty meters was seen madly charging towards the ship.
“Mu Fan!”
Li Shen yelled from his position, and from his tone of voice, one could tell that he fuming with frustration.
Mu Fan wordlessly stood up and approached the front of the bow. His blade aura erupted from his before he gripped his burly body sheath saber and slashed it down.
Saber Qi filled with Metal Qi in the form of an arc left a red flash through the sky as it flew out towards the approaching bird-type Spirit Beast. Mixed with his Blade Intent, it gave the Saber Qi attack a terrifying sharpness.
The bird didn’t even have time to dodge as.. no wait. The bird didn’t even attempt to dodge the attack. Even as the Saber Qi split its body into two, its sheer determination and desire to reach the ship propel it forward despite already being dead.
However, its body would eventually split in two since in the face of death determination means nothing.
Mu Fan then walked back to his position and sat back down, never saying a word.
Everyone was silent as well as this had become a normal occurrence. If their path was traced back to where they entered the Eastern Territory, a trail of flying-type Spirit Beasts that was killed like this could be seen it.
After a moment of silence, Yang Su couldn’t bare the silence anymore and said.
“Junior brother Fan, how about I deal with the Spirit Beasts from now on?”
“No, absolutely not. You just stay there and not move a muscle!”
Li Shen immediately shot down Yang Su's suggestion harshly.
Yang Su’s mouth clamped shut and he scratched the back of his head while a bitter smile appeared on his lips.
Jun who had recovered a bit looked at Yang Su and asked
“Senior disciple brother, you should have told us something weird like this was happening to you.”
Hearing Jun, Yang Su grumbled in his heart. He was already getting reprimanded by Li Shen, he didn’t need Jun to join in.
“How long have ya been attracting Spirit Beasts like this?”
Yang Su thought for a moment then replied.
“It’s been happening ever since I formed my first Divine Platform, so around six months after we entered the Dimension.”
“For that long?!”
Jun couldn’t help but blurt out in shock. That meant Yang Su was facing the bombardment of Spirit Beasts attacks for a year?
“Well, it started out small, but as I form more of my Divine Platforms I began to realize it wasn’t simply bad luck that I was wandering into Spirit Beasts' Territory unknowingly. But it’s because they were actively seeking me out.”
Li Shen frowned as he listen to Yang Su.
‘Tai said he felt something strange from Yang Su as well. Tai isn’t a normal Spirit Beast but a God Beast, and yet still he was influenced by whatever strange aura Yang Su is emitting, albeit less than these other Spirit Beasts. Does this have something to do with his Dao Foundation?’
Li Shen’s frown deepened. He had to find out what was causing this before it devolve into something worse.
Looking ahead, he saw that the horizon had gained a tinge of blood red.
They were about to reach the Demon Grotto.
Li Shen decided to put the ship on auto-flight while he headed over to the group.
“If this continues that means ya won’t be able to come with us.”
Yang Su frowned at Mu Fan’s words, but he was right. If Yang Su was attracting Spirit Beasts like a magnet it would become dangerous for them if they enter the Demon Grotto.
Yang Su knew this, and that’s why he didn’t retort despite being discontented.
Lihua who was off to the side suddenly looked at Mu Fan went off topic and asked confused.
“Why are you talking like that?”
She had been holding back this question ever since Mu Fan open his mouth back at the Guardian Tree. No one seemed bothered by it but she found it strange.
Mu Fan opened his mouth to respond, but Li Shen suddenly interjected.
“It’s the dialect of the stone Golems in the Eastern Territory.”
Li Shen then looked at Mu Fan and asked.
“Did you pick it up when you were exploring the territory?”
Mu Fan nodded.
“I got so used to it that I didn’t even realize that I was using that dialect. If Lihua hadn’t said anything I wouldn’t have known.”
“Was that saber made by that old fogie?”
Li Shen’s eyes landed on his saber clutched in his arms.
Mu Fan nodded once again. He knew who Li Shen was talking about.
“You must have been liked by the Stone Golem race, they even made a weapon for you from such a big piece of their Ancestral Ore.”
Li Shen said that with a hint of jealousy. He was thinking about how he was trapped in here previously and had to struggle to get just a palm size amount to create his jade slip to teleport out. But Mu Fan was just handed this large piece.
Li Shen sighed.
He could tell Mu Fan had several stories of his time in this Dimension, and so did the others as well.
‘After we find Fang Chen and leave, I’ll have them tell me what their own experiences inside have been.’
Li Shen thought that as he saw the entire horizon had now become red.
Turning to Yang Su he said.
“We’ll find out what’s happening to you after this, for now, let’s focused on finding Fang Chen.”
“So he’s coming with us? Is that a good idea? You said this place was filled with monsters, isn’t bringing him with us the same as dangling a red cloth in front of a bunch of pissed-off bulls?”
“The monsters are manageable with our current strength. If anything does go wrong we have Tai’s Void ability. Just treat this as a grinding session to farm a lot of EXP.”
“EXP?”
“Uh, it means Experience. Its a reference from-”
Li Shen paused with a blank expression on his face.
“Never mind that.”
He suddenly changed the topic before turning to Jun and asking.
“Can you still feel the connection?”
Jun didn’t know why Li Shen just stopped talking, but like the others, he didn’t pay any mind to it as he responded.
“I can, but it’s quickly fading away.”
“Alright, then let’s hurry before it's severed. But be careful of that miasma. I can't sense it so if you feel the slightest discomfort don't hesitate to call on one of us.”
Jun nodded solemnly.
The ship then landed at the entrance of the Demon Grotto where the edge of the red fog was.
Standing just outside this place, everyone could feel the overwhelming killing aura in the fog.
“Fang Chen is in a place like this?”
Jun asked with an apprehensive expression on his face.
“Well, this couldn’t be a better place for him to cultivate. Is that why you chose it for him?”
Mu Fan said as he turned to Li Shen.
“What do you mean?”
Jun hearing Mu Fan’s question to Li Shen was confused by it.
Mu Fan pointed at himself and said.
“I was placed in the Eastern Territory because the Stone Golem race specialized in physical strength, which I was lacking because of me cultivating my Master's cultivation method wrongly. Also, this desert is the best place for me since I have Metal Qi element.”
Mu Fan then pointed at Fei Yin.
“My guess is that you were sent to the Western Territory because of that tree.”
Shifting from Fei Yin he moved to Lihua.
“You were sent to the Southern Territory, and I don't need to be there to know that it had Water Qi in abundance.”
Lihua didn’t refute Mu Fan’s words.
“As for you.”
Mu Fan stopped on Yang Su.
“I don’t know why you were sent to the Northern Region unless this demon wanted you to create an Ice element Qi Sea for some reason.”
Mu Fan then turned to Li Shen and said.
“And you sent Fang Chen here to develop his killing aura right? You planned our trip inside this Dimension by picking the best place for us to cultivate, right?”
Jun looked at Li Shen and saw him nod.
Judging by everyone’s unsurprised attitudes, he guessed he was the only one who hadn’t realized this fact.
Li Shen looked around at everyone and confessed.
“You guys must have realized the connection between the miasma we saw before and this fog as well. It’s my fault for Fang Chen’s current situation, if anything happens to him I’ll-”
Li Shen didn’t get to finish as Lihua suddenly interjected in an annoyed tone.
“Stop making this about you. If we’re unable to save Fang Chen then that's something every one of us has to live with, not just you. And aren’t we just wasting time standing here?”
Lihua threw that out before she turned and started walking towards the deadly-looking fog.
Fei Yin followed behind her but not before grabbing Yang Su and tugging him along. Mu Fan did the same to a resisting Jun who looked like he was waiting for Li Shen.
Li Shen stood there stunned, as he watched everyone walking ahead of him.
Without him.
As he looked at their backs he couldn’t help but have an inexplicable feeling rise in his heart.
“Aren’t you coming? You must be a statue.”
Lihua’s voice made Li Shen come to and he saw that they were all waiting for him.
That inexplicable feeling in Li Shen’s heart that was rising to drown him was ruthlessly and forcefully stomped on.
After living a lifetime of loneliness in his previous life, such a feeling had come to define him so much that even when he was around friends and family in this life, he couldn’t escape that feeling at times. But after being trampled upon over and over again by the people around him, and although it might not have been intentional, Lihua’s inciting actions just now were akin to holding his head and forcing him to see what was in front of him.
All he needed to do was accept it and take a step forward, absolutely nothing was stopping him.
Something also clicked in Li Shen’s mind, and he recalled the words his father’s told him before he entered the Dimension.
‘You can’t live behind a masked forever.’
“It was never about protecting them.”
Li Shen mumbled under his breath in realization.
Tai suddenly appeared beside him. He looked at the group ahead and back up at Li Shen confused.
“Why are you crying all of sudden?”
Tai asked as he saw Li Shen’s eyes glossing over.
Li Shen didn’t respond and only looked down at him with a smile.
Tai was about to take a bite of his Illusory Void fruit, but seeing Li Shen’s smile he thought his Master was acting strange.
Li Shen patted his head and took a step forward.
He eventually caught up to everyone and led them into the Demon Grotto to search for Fang Chen.
**
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