Chapter 293 - The Infernal Vortex (2/2)

“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!”