Chapter 662: Sky Isle
“Long Chen, you can stop now,” Little Cat said after Long Chen was more than fifty Li away from Lady Xuan. He was certain that Lady Xuan wouldn't be able to catch them.
Long Chen was recovering his strength rapidly while Xiaolang ran through the forest as fast as he could. The two of them had escaped into a desolate mountain range.
The brothers stopped after hearing Little Cat speak. “Fat Cat, what other nonsense do you have to say?”
Little Cat was visibly annoyed by Long Chen’s tone and chuckled. “I do have something else to say. Let the little girl out. That woman won’t be able to catch us now. In fact, I’m more worried about the little girl.”
Long Chen had a bad feeling.
Something was definitely wrong if Little Cat said that. Since they had put a lot of distance between themselves and Lady Xuan, Long Chen jumped down from Xiaolang’s back. As soon as he touched the ground, he took the purple wooden bathtub out of the Primordial Realm and carefully placed it on the ground.
He did a quick check and was relieved to find that Huangfu Qi’s heart was still beating. Long Chen thought she was dead when he heard Little Cat say he was worried.
Huangfu Qi was motionless in the green liquid. Even her face was green.
Xiaolang returned to his human form and peered into the wooden bathtub. He was worried, so he said, “Fat Cat! Are you dozing off right now? Check her out right now! Is she alright?”“Huh? You actually want to go against me, you little black dog? If it weren’t for him, I would’ve disintegrated you with a single breath.” Fat Cat huffed with his large belly and looked at Xiaolang with disdain.
“Alright, enough fighting. What’s wrong with her?” Long Chen’s voice was cold and commanding. Fat Cat truly could be annoying at times, but when Long Chen was stern, even he would shut up and listen.
“I will keep it short. She’s in grave danger. In fact, her current condition is no different than death.”
“What?!” Long Chen and Xiaolang shouted at the same time and looked at Little Cat in disbelief.
“Why are you guys shouting at me? I’m not the one who killed her, it was that lady.” Little Cat grumbled.
Long Chen calmed down and demanded, “Alright, Fat Cat, enough talking about nonsense. Tell me what’s wrong in detail, and can we save her?”
“We can still save her, but there’s a small chance of succeeding.” Little Cat said this first because he feared that both Long Chen and Xiaolang would beat him up if he beat around the bush.
Long Chen and Xiaolang sighed in relief. Even though the chances were slim, they could still save Huangfu Qi. Long Chen would never give up if there was even a tiny sliver of hope left.
“Can you tell me what’s wrong with her?”
“She’s currently being soaked in a green liquid called Greenwitch Liquid. It’s made from thirty-eight different spiritual herbs. Its special property is to kill off the brain while leaving the victim’s other organs alone. Right now, all organs except for her brain are still alive. Unfortunately, she has been immersed in it for so long that her consciousness is most likely gone. The only thing left of her is her body. That’s how that lady was going to extract the Heavenly Wind Veins from Huangfu Qi.”
“Greenwitch Liquid?” Long Chen grit his teeth. Lady Xuan was much more venomous than he had thought. He clenched his fists as anger filled his heart.
“I will not stop until I tear her apart!”
“We must remove Qi Qi from the liquid now!” Mo Xiaolang, who was usually calm, had also lost his rationality due to his anger. He wanted to take Huangfu Qi out of the bathtub since the Greenwitch Liquid was the thing killing her.
“You stupid mutt, stop,” Little Cat said lazily.
Xiaolang stopped. He was confused rather than being angry at Little Cat for scolding him. “What’s wrong?”
“Her body is functioning by absorbing the nutrients from the Greenwitch Liquid. If you take her out now, you will kill her physical body. We won’t be able to save her then.”
It was clear that both Long Chen and Xiaolang cared for Huangfu Qi a lot.
“Fat Cat, just tell us how to save her. We will listen,” Long Chen said calmly as he stared at Huangfu Qi’s green face.
But his tone was laced with an icy anger. Little Cat trembled a little and quickly explained, “There’s only one way to save her right now. I think there’s a place called the Immortal Sea here in the Divine Martial Empire, where a Category Four King-tier Heavenly Phoenix lives. It’s the descendent of the legendary Divine Phoenix. The Divine Phoenix was as strong as me and the Golden Crow back in our peaks. The Heavenly Phoenix, on the other hand, has a slight trace of its ancestor’s blood, which grants it immortality to a certain degree. If we kill the Heavenly Phoenix, harvest its blood, and soak the little girl in it for three days and three nights, her consciousness could consolidate again and she will revive! Absorbing the blood will also grant her other benegits.”
Heavenly Phoenix!
“So the only way is to kill the Category Four King-tier Heavenly Phoenix?” Long Chen raised his head.
He had heard of the Heavenly Phoenix when he first reached the Divine Martial Empire. The Category Four King-tier demonic beast was as powerful as the Martial Overlord. The Heavenly Phoenix was an infamous beast here that had made its nest at the Immortal Sea.
The Immortal Sea was not actually a sea, but a large swathe of mist in the sky at a certain region of the Divine Martial Empire. Inside the clouds and mist were numerous floating islands, the ideal habitats of bird-type demonic beasts like the Heavenly Phoenix.
The Immortal Sea was even more dangerous than the Cloud Dream Swamp. It had a pretty name, but it was a famously dangerous place. Even though its name contained the word “immortal,” most people died when they entered, except for those as strong as the Martial Overlord.
There were various King-tier demonic beasts in the Immortal Sea. The collective strength of the demonic beasts residing there could rival the Martial Alliance. There was the Category Four King-tier Heavenly Phoenix, several Category Three King-tier demonic beasts, numerous Category Two King-tier demonic beasts, and a lot of Category One King-tier demonic beasts.
Thankfully, the beasts of the Immortal Sea limited their activity range to the sea of clouds. They rarely appeared anywhere else, or the Martial Alliance would be in trouble. Long Chen doubted that the Martial Alliance would be able to do anything to flying beasts.
A Category Four King-tier demonic beast with a trace of the ancient Divine Phoenix. A demonic beast of this caliber would be even stronger than a wounded Lady Xuan. If Long Chen wanted to rescue Huangfu Qi, he needed to go to the Immortal Sea and hunt the Heavenly Phoenix down. He had to do the impossible!
“The Category Four King-tier demonic beast should be hard for you to deal with right now. You might lose your life even if both of you were to go there now. I recommend that you don’t go there. If she’s unlucky, she will die, but that’s the end of it … Wait, what are you doing?”
While Little Cat was nagging, Long Chen put Huangfu Qi back in the Primordial Realm without saying a word. Xiaolang then transformed back to his beast form. Thanks to his increased regeneration properties, his external wounds healed rapidly. Even though he was tired from using the Nine Devils Ancestral Fire, traveling would use only a little bit of his energy, so he was fine.
Long Chen sat on Xiaolang’s back and worked on recovering his essence as quickly as possible so that he could be at full strength once he reached his destination.
“Hey! Why are you guys so determined to do this?” Little Cat was worried. He had just warned them not to go to the Immortal Sea, yet both Long Chen and Xiaolang had decided to go without any hesitation.
“We are going to the Immortal Sea.”
“You guys can’t defeat it. Aren’t you just looking to die?”
“How will we know if we don’t try?” Long Chen said.
Little Cat couldn’t persuade them, so he returned to the Primordial Realm.
“You will probably change your mind after you see how strong the Heavenly Phoenix is.”
Everyone ignored the cat.
Mo Xiaolang ran as fast as he could. He was but a blurry shadow that moved too fast for regular people to notice him.
Long Chen was focused on recovering his essence.
Running from Lady Xuan had depleted his essence, though he had benefited a lot from watching her fight with the Martial Overlord. While he was recovering his strength, he was also focused on recalling the fight and copying the Martial Overlord’s movements.
The Three Martial Realms emphasized the cultivator’s martial arts. The more they fought, the stronger their bond with their martial arts became. Long Chen had gained a lot of insight in regards to his martial arts after witnessing the clash between Lady Xuan and the Martial Overlord. While traveling to the Immortal Sea, he took the time to comprehend his learning.
Sitting on Xiaolang was the only time he could cultivate.
Long Chen had traveled a lot after he left the Battle clan. This would most likely be his last trip. He could finally wait for the Ancient Token after he saved Huangfu Qi.