Chapter 626: Dragon-Startling Technique

She only felt a chill coming from her abdomen, and then the pervasive killing intent slowly washed over her face!

At this point, the situation had become extremely unfavorable for her!

"Sister!"

Zuji Shen was shocked and hurriedly flew over upon seeing this!

If it came any later, this sword would probably pierce straight through the Talented and Emotional Empress's flesh!

At this moment, in the center of the arena, the Talented and Emotional Empress stood alone, a finger-wide wound appeared on her abdomen, blood gushed out, staining her skirt red and dripping to the ground.

The perpetrator who caused the injury vanished again without a trace, leaving no evidence.

"Sister!" Zuji Shen exclaimed, flying over quickly, but Gu Ling had already concealed her whereabouts, nowhere to be found.

"Damn it, where did he run off to!" Zuji Shen said angrily.

The Talented and Emotional Empress furrowed her brows; the pain made her realize she was injured. She covered the wound and staggered back a few steps. This was the first time she had been injured while completely unprepared; although she had similar experiences before, this time it caught her completely off guard.

"That guy... what divine ability did he just use? It's so powerful!" the Talented and Emotional Empress asked through the pain.

Zuji Shen didn't know either; although she had been staring, everything happened too fast—so fast that their eyes couldn't catch even a trace of Gu Ling.

"Don't worry, sister; if he pulls another dirty trick, I'll definitely take care of him!" Zuji Shen stayed close by the Talented and Emotional Empress, fearing Gu Ling might appear again suddenly.

The spectators in the Chaos World were completely bewildered, their faces full of doubt.

"What on earth just happened?"

"Did anyone see what just happened?"

"How did the Talented and Emotional Empress get injured? Gu Ling seems to have never shown up at all!"

To everyone else, the scene was extremely eerie, but the Lord of the Great Wasteland and the Black Emperor found it familiar.

"Exactly, that must be a spatial formation..." said the Lord of the Great Wasteland.

"A spatial formation?" Emperor Duan asked doubtfully.

"It should be that one can hide one's physical body in a folded space, making it hard for others to see, then jump out from another exit, exploiting the opponent's delayed reaction to inflict damage." explained the Lord of the Great Wasteland.

"If that's the case, then Gu Ling would be tough to deal with," said the Chu Emperor. Because one can't see his figure or attacks, and once he flees into the folded space, no one can catch him.

"Old Huang, if that's true, doesn't that mean the Talented and Emotional Empress is bound to lose this fight?" the Chu Emperor said, somewhat incredulous.

Although diving into the time river is not uncommon, creating an independent folded space again within a created world to hide oneself undetected is something ordinary people cannot do.

"I'm getting more curious about Gu Ling's identity—what was he doing before in the Kyushu World?" the Wuzhong Great Emperor asked curiously. He regretted not having fought the strong ones of the Kyushu World back then.

At this moment, inside the arena, the Talented and Emotional Empress and Zuji Shen stood back to back, guarding against Gu Ling's sudden sneak attack.

"Little sister, sorry, I said I wouldn't let you get involved, but now I've dragged you into this." the Talented and Emotional Empress said weakly. Her lips were pale, obviously from excessive blood loss. She circulated her spiritual energy to seal the wound, temporarily stopping the bleeding, but this was only temporary.

"Big sister, don't say that; I have a duty to fight side by side with you, so I won't be a timid turtle!" Zuji Shen said firmly. Fighting alone now is less easy than cooperating.

"Little sister, be careful—Gu Ling is not simple... he seems able to wander through space and time at will; I can't even sense him with my perception; he might be laughing in some spacetime right now." the Talented and Emotional Empress warned, looking around vigilantly. If anything seems off, they can counterattack quickly.

The other two members of the Kyushu World team wouldn't stand by either. Heng Shu, their second senior brother, still looked despondent, unable to recover. So the remaining two had to act.

"Hey, we can't always let the senior and second senior brothers steal the spotlight!"

"Yeah, we've also put in a lot of effort behind the scenes; why can't we have a share too!" Although they hadn't complained before, they now couldn't help muttering.

Being able to step onto the central stage of the competition arena means each of them must display their strength, trying to curry favor with the Severing Sect disciples or Ye Qin, the big shot. Not a single mistake can be afforded, because one slip could ruin everything.

Such a big day isn't something everyone gets to experience, so those who made it here cherish this day's feelings and achievements deeply. They don't want this rare contest's outcome to be decided solely by the senior brother Gu Ling and the second senior brother Heng Shu; they must help out!

Thinking this, the two immediately rushed forward from behind. However, before they could strike, Zuji Shen anticipated their move and unleashed a palm strike. The powerful palm wind instantly shoved them into midair, heads drooping, unable to come down for a moment.

"Hey hey hey! Quickly let us down!"

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Let go, don't be unreasonable!"

The two restrained by Zuji Shen started to act arrogantly.

But Zuji Shen didn't care about them at all; her gaze remained fixed on searching for Gu Ling, who had never shown up.

"You just wanted to sneak attack, but this method is too lowly... stay put and don't move recklessly until I find Gu Ling, because I don't even know what might happen!"

As soon as Zuji Shen said that, the two panicked even more, not daring to move a muscle.

"Gu Ling, come out already! What's the point of hiding?"

Zuji Shen looked ahead, suddenly feeling that space was a bit distorted, not knowing if it was her illusion.

But at this point, she couldn't bother with that; she just threw a punch forward!

Boom!!

The ground ahead was instantly overturned, the earth as if pried open, cracking open a deep trench that stretched across the horizon!

"Tsk! This Gu Ling is really slippery! Always hiding in the folded space—how are we supposed to fight him?"

"Isn't this against the rules?"

The spectators outside also began to feel indignant for Zuji Shen and the Talented and Emotional Empress.

At first they still placed their hopes on the Kyushu World team, but now it's clear that these two women's strength is clearly superior!

The Kyushu World's senior brother still uses such underhanded tricks—truly embarrassing!

"Come out! Don't waste our time; if you have the skill, let's have a fair one-on-one duel!"

Zuji Shen shouted loudly.

Just then, something stirred above their heads.

The two looked up!

Only to see the heavens above suddenly rip open a huge gap!

A surge of hot stream instantly poured down from the sky!

Countless red lights, like molten lava from underground!

This scene frightened the Talented and Emotional Empress and Zuji Shen until their faces turned deathly pale!

"Sister, retreat quickly!"

"Ancestral Sacrifice God exclaimed, swiftly swung his right hand, striking Talented Emotion Empress's waist, a force pushing the two far away!"

"This retreat counted as dodging the dangerous central area!"

"Only seeing that red-hot flow pour down, instantly covering the entire area, even swallowing the two strong ones from Kyushu World that Ancestral Sacrifice God had lifted up!"

"In an instant, thick smoke billowed across the field, accompanied by piercing screams and wails!"

"The two strong ones from Kyushu World, who were also Gu Ling's junior disciples, thus perished in the lava."

"Their clothing burned to ash, then their skin, gradually rotting under the scorching lava, then flesh, tendons, bones……"

"Nothing left, completely melted!"

"Red lava flowed across the ground, forming a sea of fire!"

"Ancestral Sacrifice God and Talented Emotion Empress fortunately were unharmed."

"\"Phew… thanks to my sister pushing me just now, otherwise I wouldn't have reacted in time…\""

"Talented Emotion Empress patted her chest, letting out a breath of relief."

"Just now it was really dangerous; if lava had poured over my head, I would have melted already."

"\"This Gu Ling is ruthless! Not even sparing her junior disciple! \" Ancestral Sacrifice God swore through gritted teeth. She understood Gu Ling wanted to end the match in one fell swoop, instantly killing them both!"

"Even if she accidentally injured her junior disciple, it didn't matter, because after the match they could revive, and an apology would settle it."

"But Ancestral Sacrifice God deeply disliked such people."

"\"Sister, how should we deal with him now? \""

"\"He might have a way to enter a space only he can access, so we can't find him… but any technique has a counter; it's just that this method is a bit risky, I don't know if my sister dares to take the chance. \""

"Talented Emotion Empress turned her head and asked."

"Ancestral Sacrifice God stared for a moment, but soon laughed."

"\"Huh? \""

"Outside the arena, Black Emperor saw the two women exchange a smile, feeling somewhat puzzled."

"\"What's up, Old Black, did you notice something off? \""

"Beside him, Duan Emperor asked."

"No mistake, one first, one launch, one inner, one content, one at, one one look!"

"\"No, I'm just curious what method they came up with to crack Gu Ling's space secret technique. \""

"Hearing Black Emperor's doubt, the Lord of the Great Wasteland gave a faint smile."

"He had actually long seen through Gu Ling's little trick."

"He just didn't expect these two women to figure it out so quickly."

"But though it's easy to say, hard to do; it just depends on whether they can succeed."

"In the distance, the Three Xiao Sisters watched anxiously, especially Bi Xiao, who stared unblinking, afraid to miss any detail."

"\"Damn! What kind of person is Gu Ling? How can she be so sneaky? \""

"Bi Xiao complained."

"\"Sister, the rules don't say that traversing the River of Time is cheating; maybe it's just someone's ability. \""

"\"Hmph! No matter what ability, right now you're just a shrinking turtle, not daring to come out and fight! Coward! \""

"Bi Xiao snorted, even sticking out her tongue at the sky canopy."

"Duobao Daoist, hearing that, sighed helplessly."

"\"If Talented Emotion Empress and her can't even pass this stage, how could they qualify for the next stage's trial? \""

"\"Second stage? \""

"Bi Xiao tilted her head, asking doubtfully, \"Senior Brother, are you talking about the stage where the second stage is hunting ferocious beasts? \""

"\"Hehe, exactly. Compared to the first stage's team trial, this second stage is fraught with danger! \""

"\"If they two can't even pass the first stage, then once the second stage begins, they'll have no chance of survival…… You three should know this well, right? \""

"Duobao Daoist's words left Bi Xiao unusually silent."

"Indeed, among the three trials, the first is considered the easiest, after all it's a team competition; with teammates helping, although opponents differ, as long as they cooperate, there's a chance to create miracles."

"But when it comes to the second trial, it's different: at that time, the ferocious beasts conjured by the Sect of the Cutting's disciples will become their opponents."

"You should know, the cultivation strength of the Sect of the Cutting's disciples has already peaked in the Myriad Worlds; the ferocious beasts they control are inevitably a tremendous threat!"

"Moreover, during the trial there will be no teaming up, no teammates; only one person fights alone, surviving in this perilous environment and earning a high score to advance to the next round."

"In other words, the first trial is merely to eliminate those whose strength is relatively weak."

"\"Sigh… why does Senior Brother have to be so blunt? After all, Bi Xiao went to great lengths to let Ancestral Sacrifice God and her participate in the match…\""

"Yun Xiao also helplessly shook his head."

"Even if the result might not be as desired, at least Ancestral Sacrifice God and Talented Emotion Empress, under the current circumstances, have brought everyone a surprise."

"Just as several people were sighing, the trial arena underwent a drastic change."

"After Gu Ling's earlier move of a sky-filling molten lava, the entire arena was almost destroyed beyond recognition, a wasteland as far as the eye could see."

"Talented Emotion Empress and Ancestral Sacrifice God were forced back with nowhere to retreat, both hovering in midair."

"Although they avoided being injured by the ground lava, regarding Gu Ling whose hiding place is unknown, their situation remains extremely perilous."

"\"Tsk tsk, it seems the moves of these people from Kyushu World are rather sinister. \""

"\"If they really win, we must prepare; if we encounter them, we must find a way to break Gu Ling's space-shifting spell. \""

"Everyone discussed heatedly, yet no one could come up with a countermeasure."

"Just then, dark currents surged within the arena, and above the Azure Heavens a faint golden light began to appear."

"\"What's going on? \""

Everyone looked puzzled.

Just now, that flashing golden light—who was channeling Spiritual Power?

Turning their gaze, they saw only that in midair, the Talented and Virtuous Empress waved her hands, driving strands of golden light to swirl around her chest.

Then, streaks of holy light fell, covering the surroundings.

"What are they trying to do? Do they still think they can turn things around now? That makes no sense—if they can't break the opponent's move in a day, they'll just keep being drained like this!"

However, this calm pair before them gave off an impression of extreme confidence……

It seemed as if they had already found a way to counter that rascal's technique……

Beneath the void, Gu Ling, hidden in the dark space, let out a cold laugh.

"Hmph…… truly ignorant women, do they really think that this holy light falling will force me to reveal myself? How naïve!"

The spatial formation he deployed could send him into an offset space, similar to the center of a folded time compass.

Inside, he could see the people outside, but those outside could not see him.

This is gaining an advantage at the root.

It amounts to him and the Talented and Virtuous Empress being in the same space yet completely independent of each other.

The key point is that he can move freely within that space without any interference; even if the Ancestral Sacrifice God guessed his position and struck him face‑to‑face, it would not affect Gu Ling in the slightest.

This is the marvel of the folded‑space technique!

As for defeating the Ancestral Sacrifice God, he only needs to seize the moment when the opponent is off‑guard, briefly manifest from the folded space, unleash a Divine Ability, and kill them utterly without their knowledge.

That's exactly what he did just now against the Talented and Virtuous Empress, and also the sky‑full molten metal he used before.

Just bad luck—the opponent discovered it, so the second wave of attacks failed, which was a mistake. (End of chapter)