Chapter 806: Wasteland World

A new interdimensional gate appeared before Li Yi; through one corner of the gate, he could glimpse a fragment of the appearance of World 17.

It should be a modern world, with skyscrapers standing far in the distance.

But this world seemed to have suffered some great catastrophe, appearing lifeless and desolate, though the environment was still decent—cosmic energy existed in the air, albeit at low concentration, sufficient to sustain cultivation.

"Go."

Li Yi did not hesitate for a moment and immediately charged toward the interdimensional gate.

But at that very moment.

The Moon Demon King, who was battling Earth's champions high above, noticed Li Yi's attempt to flee through the gate; instantly, several beams of moonlight pierced through layers of obstruction and shone toward him.

Although Li Yi moved swiftly, the moonlight descended even faster, enveloping him in an instant, its coverage so vast that escape was nearly impossible.

Li Yi had anticipated this; his two layers of Crimson Gold Divine Armor glowed with divine radiance, forming an impregnable defense—even if the Demon King's power poured down, killing him would be an extremely difficult feat.

He successfully broke through under the moonlight's embrace and entered the interdimensional gate.

But the interdimensional machine beside him was not so lucky—it was instantly crushed into powder, leaving only three intact artifacts undamaged: the Dragon Scale, the Phoenix Feather, and the World Heart Gem.

Li Yi's expression darkened; he swiftly seized the three intact artifacts before the gate closed and stored them inside the Five Elements Bracelet.

Yet without the interdimensional machine, did this mean he would be trapped in World 17?

"Li Yi, don't worry. When the time is right, we will open the interdimensional gate and retrieve you."

Li Weiguo, who was fighting the Moon Demon King, seemed to sense Li Yi's hesitation and immediately transmitted his voice.

Hearing this,

Li Yi finally dispelled his doubts and decided to temporarily hide in World 17, avoiding the risk that the Demon King, in a frenzy to kill him, might drag everyone on the battlefield into the conflict.

Just as the interdimensional gate was about to close,

Far away, Xuanzhen Shangren, Luo Bing, Feixue, and three other Mahayana cultivators stared in shock—Li Yi had fled through the gate; what should they do now?

They could not remain on Earth, nor could they return to the Xuan Immortal Continent—it was a dead end.

If they had known they'd have to flee, they should have taken themselves along.

But they lacked teleportation; they could not cross the dangerous moonlight barrier during the gate's final moments to reach World 17, and could only watch helplessly as Li Yi gradually vanished from sight.

Li Yi now noticed these Mahayana cultivators who had surrendered to him; though they were enemies, they were rare top-tier combatants who might prove useful in the future.

Staying on Earth's frontline was certain death—without him to restrain them, the evolved beings would never tolerate enemies near them; conflict was inevitable.

"Go to the Wildlands of Tianning City, to Chishan Mountain. There lies your path to survival."

Li Yi extended a finger; a surge of magic power shot out, crossing the interdimensional gate toward the cultivators.

Though the magic power vanished under the moonlight, his voice carried through.

Although Li Yi gave only a vague location,

These Mahayana cultivators swept their spiritual senses—finding the interdimensional point was easy; once they reached the Wildlands and spoke Li Yi's name, the Daoists there would naturally accept them.

With so many Three Flowers Realm experts at Chishan Mountain, these Mahayana cultivators could not stir up trouble—they could be more effectively contained.

Having done this, the interdimensional gate closed completely.

Li Yi now stood in an unfamiliar world; he no longer cared for the battlefield, instead scanning his surroundings—he found himself outside a city, with several highways nearby.

But the roads were littered with abandoned vehicles, and the climate was harsh.

Above, the sun blazed fiercely; the land around had turned to sand, and when the wind blew, dust filled the sky.

"This is a wasteland world," Li Yi noted—there was no sign of human activity.

It seemed that at some point in the past, a great catastrophe had struck here, yet he saw no human remains, which puzzled him.

But it did not matter.

At least this world was safe; let it be a wasteland—his Crimson Gold Five Elements Bracelet contained enough supplies to sustain him for a long time, and when the next interdimensional gate opened, he would have no problem.

With this thought, Li Yi immediately took off toward the city.

He planned to find a place to rest.

Soon,

Li Yi landed in the center of the abandoned city.

It was equally desolate; though the buildings retained their original form, they resembled the Hazard Zones after Heaven's Collapse—abandoned suddenly at some point, and severely eroded by nature due to the harsh environment.

"It's certainly safe—no people at all, of course it's safe," Li Yi muttered inwardly.

But he was glad he hadn't gone to the Spirit Worship World—if the interdimensional machine had been destroyed there, he'd be trapped forever, since no one else knew the coordinates of that world.

"Next time I return to Earth, I'll get several more interdimensional machines—better safe than sorry."

He had suffered a loss this time; he would remember it.

Li Yi had barely taken two steps,

When the Crimson Gold Purple Feather Armor, having endured repeated assaults from the Demon King's power, reached its limit—the great array upon it was worn away, the divine artifact's radiance vanished, and it suddenly shattered into fragments scattered across the ground.

Among the shards, the Crimson Gold still gleamed brightly—if reforged, it could be remade into a new battle armor.

"Even Crimson Gold divine artifacts cannot withstand the Demon King's power for long?" Li Yi shook his head slightly and gathered the Crimson Gold fragments.

Though losing one Crimson Gold divine artifact was regrettable, it did not greatly affect him—he still had several others; if one broke, he could simply replace it.

He found an abandoned, empty building, sat down, and took out the Tianyi Palace, swallowing a mouthful of Life Essence from within.

His body, still weary from the earlier battle, now recovered at an astonishing rate.

Then he activated the Heaven and Earth Qi Absorption Technique, drawing all surrounding cosmic energy toward him.

Although the cosmic energy concentration in this world was low, this wasteland-like realm had no cultivators—if all the energy in this region was reserved for him alone, it was more than sufficient.

As the energy gathered,

A glow of energy flowed around Li Yi; he inhaled and exhaled it, and his depleted magic power rapidly restored.

Time passed slowly.

Around two in the afternoon, a gunshot suddenly echoed through the silent city.

The sound was striking—it immediately startled Li Yi, who had been resting.

"Gunshot?" Li Yi slowly opened his eyes.

As a former external operations officer of the Tianchang City Investigation Bureau, firearms training was essential; though he had not heard a gunshot in a long time, he recognized it instantly.

"A wasteland world, an abandoned city—why is there a gunshot? Could these be survivors?"

He turned toward the direction of the gunshot.

It came from the other end of the city.

It seemed this wasteland world still had human activity.

Li Yi considered it, then decided to investigate—he needed to understand the true state of World 17, and he was sufficiently rested.

Immediately, he rose, summoned a cloud beneath his feet, and flew toward the source of the gunshot.

Meanwhile,

At the location of the gunshot, a modified truck was parked on the road of the abandoned city; on both sides stood numerous old buildings. Though abandoned, survivors were eager to search such places for supplies.

But the city harbored dangers—long since occupied by monsters; no survivor team willingly risked entering it if they could help it.

"Damn it, why did you fire? Didn't I say no shooting inside the city?" A middle-aged man, clad in a tattered bulletproof vest, with a muscular build, rough skin, and short hair, hissed in a low voice.

He was Du Peng, captain of this survival team; this risky entry into the city was to search for medicine—his teammate was ill, and in this wretched world, medicine was more precious than food. "It was Zhao Xiaofeng's shot, Captain—you shouldn't have let them bring guns in."

On another truck sat a short-haired woman, Huang Qiu, who also whispered: "Even though it's daytime, the gunshot will wake every monster hiding in the city—get them back now, or we won't make it out if we wait too long."

Captain Du Peng's face darkened—he understood perfectly. But if they retreated now, they'd get no medicine; not only would his sick teammate die, but the entire team would starve.

He gripped his battered walkie-talkie, then gritted his teeth: "Ten minutes—no more. At ten minutes, whether you have medicine or not, you retreat immediately."

"Captain…" Huang Qiu, the driver, was startled.

Du Peng said seriously: "We have no choice—we don't have enough supplies for another mission, not even enough fuel. Only medicine can relieve the pressure. Huang Qiu, if you don't want to stay, take the motorcycle on the truck and leave—I won't blame you."

Hearing this, Huang Qiu felt the hunger in her belly and the hardship of recent days; she smiled bitterly: "If the Captain's betting, then I'll bet with him."

She knew full well their supplies were exhausted—otherwise, they wouldn't have come here.

Du Peng fell silent, watching his watch.

Though the watch was damaged, it kept accurate time.

Yet during this waiting period,

In the dark corners of nearby buildings, unseen by sunlight, strange figures slowly crept toward them—they were no beasts, for nature could not birth such things.

Nor were they human.

They were monsters that did not exist in nature.

These monsters were numerous; in less than ten minutes, they had filled the surrounding buildings.

"If we're surrounded by this many, we're dead."

Du Peng scanned the surroundings, sweat breaking on his brow; he no longer hesitated, raised his walkie-talkie to urge his team back—

But at that moment,

Suddenly,

Three figures sprinted out of the abandoned hospital, each clutching a box, fleeing as if their lives depended on it.

"Captain!" one shouted.

Captain Du Peng, seeing their haul, was both shocked and delighted.

His earlier guess was right—the city's supplies were abundant, barely touched.

But in the next instant, his smile froze.

Behind them, along the corridor walls, countless monsters crawled like spiders toward them; the slowest teammate was immediately tackled to the ground by one.

A scream echoed; blood sprayed.

His body was instantly torn apart by the swarm of monsters.

"Get on the truck quickly."

Du Peng roared, then pulled a shotgun from his back and fired without sparing a single bullet, covering the escape of his two remaining teammates.

But even firearms inflicted limited damage on the monsters; bullets embedded themselves in their flesh and skin, unable to deliver fatal wounds.

The repeated gunfire seemed to anger other monsters inside nearby buildings.

These monsters now ignored the sunlight outside, pouring out of the buildings along broken walls, surging toward them like a dense swarm of ants.

"Captain, no time left—go now!"

Huang Qiu, the driver, couldn't hold back her cry; her voice trembled with terror as she slammed the accelerator and started the truck, preparing to charge out with everyone aboard.

"Damn it."

Du Peng, as captain, snapped to awareness—he saw the scene around him, his eyes sharply contracting, and his gun instinctively fell still.

Are there really this many monsters in the city?

Even someone with his extensive survival experience couldn't stop his body from trembling.

Fortunately, at the last moment, Du Peng successfully covered the remaining two teammates as they boarded the truck.

The instant the cargo doors slammed shut, the charging monsters slammed violently against the truck's thick steel plates.

The truck rocked; everyone inside was terrified.

"Huang Qiu, go—get out of here!" Du Peng roared.

Huang Qiu was drenched in cold sweat; she stomped the accelerator, the engine roared, and the heavy truck growled forward.

Could they escape this city?

The thought flashed through everyone's mind.

But soon—

Reality told them it was a delusion.

The surging monsters had blocked every escape route; though the truck plowed through obstacles, more monsters kept leaping onto it, causing violent jolts.

The modified, aging truck let out a final, feeble groan, then overturned heavily onto the ground, like a fallen prey, swiftly devoured by countless monsters.

Hardened steel panels were torn apart; the reinforced cargo compartment was ripped open by the monsters' claws. Huang Qiu, seated at the wheel, screamed in terror as the monsters had already shattered the windshield's protective layer and thrust in half a grotesque head.

The head resembled a human's, but had no hair—only gray-black skin—and its eyes glowed with ferocity and bloodlust.

"We're done."

All inside the truck now had only this thought—they knew they were going to die today, and had already accepted death's arrival.

But just then—

All the monsters froze simultaneously, motionless in place.

Huh?

Everyone paused, stunned by the monsters' bizarre behavior.

Then—

A terrifying force suddenly enveloped the surroundings, and the frozen monsters' bodies exploded outward, blood spraying everywhere.

Immediately after, the area fell into eerie silence.

Like the calm after a storm.

The few inside the truck were bewildered—until Huang Qiu, the driver, peered through the broken windshield and saw a sight that shattered her understanding: the most unbelievable thing she had ever witnessed.

The open ground before her was carpeted with monster corpses; grotesque blood flowed everywhere, dense and countless—no one could tell how many had died in that instant.

"H-how did this happen?" Huang Qiu gathered her courage, climbed out through the broken window, trembling as she scanned the surroundings.

This wasn't a dream.

The monsters were truly all dead.

But how? It didn't look like any weapon had killed them—she herself was still alive.

"So the spider monsters in the danger zone originally came from World 17," a voice suddenly rang out.

Huang Qiu spun around, searching frantically—but saw no one. Then she looked up, and froze in place: a man clad in ancient battle armor, wreathed in lightning, majestic and divine, stood atop a cloud of auspicious radiance, gazing down at her.

Clearly—

The monsters' deaths were his doing.

But was this even a human?

How could a normal person fly through the sky? His attire didn't belong to this world—he looked more like a god descending from heaven.

(End of Chapter)