Chen Lusi had just shouted, "I want to play."
The feeling of weightlessness suddenly hit.
Consciousness was being torn apart.
It seemed as if a layer of fog covered his eyes, making it impossible to know where he was.
He only felt like he was always falling.
Constantly falling.
Thud—
Chen Lusi felt himself falling for nearly thirty seconds before finally landing.
He rubbed his aching waist and struggled to sit up, then froze.
He was not on the bridge, but in a dense forest so thick it blocked out the light...
Above, a full moon hung high, its light falling on the forest's branches below, creating mottled shadows that twisted like living creatures, wholly abnormal.
Additionally, by his side, there was a grave mound...
"...it's exactly the same."
Chen Lusi crawled forward a little, looking at the raised grave mound and the stones in front of it, just about to examine it further.
Suddenly, the sound of wind came from above.
Two people fell down.
One of them came crashing straight towards him.
Instinctively, Chen Lusi reached out his hands, catching Xia Panqiu, who had fallen from above.
...The girl was lighter than he had anticipated.
No, to be precise, she was extremely light.
Was this the weight of a normal person?
Chen Lusi was a bit puzzled, but before he could ask.
Xia Panqiu had already jumped down, looking up at the sky.
Wu You did the same; as soon as he landed, he immediately got up, warily looking upward.
Chen Lusi thought for a while and quickly understood why they were so tense.
He could say "I want to play," and so could Lu Hao and the others.
But.
They stared at the air for nearly five minutes... and nothing happened.
"It seems to be an independently limited Anomaly Realm... what a pity for Li Tian."
Wu You withdrew his gaze and exhaled a breath of relief.
He sat down heavily, turned to Chen Lusi, and managed a smile: "Little brother, thank you this time, it's fortunate you were quick-witted... and I'm sorry, it's my first mission, and things went wrong; I've never encountered such a situation, wanting to protect you but lacking the power to do so."
"Oh, it's fine... What is an Anomaly Realm?" Chen Lusi was somewhat curious.
"Now is not the time to talk about this; if we can make it back alive, I'll tell you then."
Wu You shook his head, covering his abdomen, and gasped: "Now, do me a favor and tear some fabric to bandage my hand; it's hard to do it with one hand."
"...Okay."
Hearing this, Chen Lusi nodded, went to his side, violently tore the hem of his shirt, and used the fabric strips to bandage his hand.
His right palm was stabbed with a hole, bloody and mangled, but the blood was blue, and upon closer inspection, the flesh around the wound was wriggling... it was somewhat disgusting, not quite human.
Is this the price of cultivation?
As Chen Lusi bandaged, he pondered.
"We can hold out for a maximum of two hours."
On the other side.
Xia Panqiu also struggled to sit down and whispered: "A legend of this region says an 'Activation'-created Anomaly Realm lasts at most two hours before dissipating."
Wu You looked at Xia Panqiu and sighed: "I know, do you have any ideas?"
Xia Panqiu thought for a moment and replied: "We can only call for help... first notify Ah Yue and Xiaoxiao."
"Ah Yue is in San Qin; there's no way he can make it here quickly, and Xiaoxiao... she needs to stay in Peng City."
Wu You replied softly: "Most of the main teams have gone to the Central Plains; any remaining team coming over would be a suicide mission."
Upon hearing this, Xia Panqiu fell silent.
"But right now, we really can't worry about that... first notify Xiaoxiao, let her think of a way to help, even if she can just send over a 'Tip' sniper rifle."
Wu You hesitated for a moment, then made up his mind: "If they really can't make it, then save who you can... Damn, Lu Hao must have calculated Ah Yue wouldn't be around, that's why he's causing trouble. As for his Technique, I really have no solutions."
"...Okay."
Xia Panqiu nodded, took out her phone.
This was the only way.
"That Technique... does it mean the Invisible Blade?"
Seeing them finish talking, Chen Lusi curiously asked.
"Yes."
Wu You turned to look at Chen Lusi, smiling wryly: "The official name of the Technique is 'Invisible Blade.' It's a high-ranking Detached Body Technique in Celestial Strategy's internal sequence. The Technique construction is something everyone can understand: first, shape the Spirit into a blade, then use Change Attribute to give the Spirit invisibility, finally, eliminate sound waves and related traces with the Spirit during an attack.
It sounds easy enough for anyone to use... but perhaps because Lu Hao's Authority is special, even though the Technique's construction was disclosed, we haven't learned it, mainly because we don't know how to make the Spirit invisible."
"In contrast, Lu Hao is getting more proficient with its use, making it particularly troublesome to deal with; since the blade is invisible, even though I can roughly predict the attack direction based on instinct, he can alter the blade's form mid-attack through shaping, leaving me to rely on instinct and luck to dodge.
Plus, Lu Hao's Authority Ability is Blade Control, whether or not there's an entity, basically, it's difficult to get any weapon with a blade near him... you understand how troublesome this is, right?"
Wu You paused, pointing to his own heart, and sighed wryly: "Additionally, he has already crossed the Oozing Blood Stage, with a 'Stone' condensed at his heart.
This means that if we want to truly defeat him, our only option is to shatter the 'Stone' at his heart; otherwise, even if we blow his head off, as long as he has a breath left, we will stand no chance."
But this time around, I only brought a handgun, and any weapon with a blade can't get close to him, nor did I bring an Ancient Object..."
"No wonder they dared to hand me a knife directly... Blade Control Authority and Invisible Blade."