Chapter 1118: The Golden Wheel Stirs

On the fog-shrouded Black Marsh, two sizable teams advanced slowly, lanterns radiating sacred light all around them; wherever the radiance passed, the cold white mist retreated, and the pitch-black water surface grew clear in its wake.

Yet no one in either team dared relax, for they could clearly feel that, as they pressed deeper, countless cold, eerie gazes from the depths of the Black Marsh were settling on them.

Beyond the region covered by the light, white shadows writhed, letting out strange, low whispers.

Moreover, as time went on, those white shadows grew ever more numerous, and the crowd could already see that they appeared to be fish, their entire bodies a pallid white.

The fish were thick and stout, but on closer inspection one would notice they had no scales; instead they were wrapped in a layer of bare, ghastly-white skin. Their eyes were startlingly huge, like human eyes, and within their gaping mouths were rows of sharp black fangs. Their smooth bellies kept writhing, and through them one could faintly discern a twisted face squirming within, as if its mouth were stretched wide in a desperate shriek—ghastly enough to make one's hair stand on end.

From time to time the bizarre white fish would breach the region covered by the lantern-light, and at once their bodies would swiftly catch fire, turning into pale flames that vanished into the water.

Clearly, the lantern-light was still quite effective at driving off these strange creatures.

Yet as the bizarre white fish kept streaming up from the depths of the Black Marsh, they piled up in a thick layer just beyond the two teams' firelight, a sight that made one's scalp crawl.

These strange fish-creatures were not of a high tier, but their numbers were vast; if they truly came surging in, they would likely cause no small amount of trouble.

Especially in this fathomless Black Marsh, no one knew whether other, even more terrifying creatures might be lurking.

So the two academy contingents kept their heads down and hurried onward, wanting to cross the water quickly, enter the giant city deep within the Black Marsh, then destroy the Evil Heart Pillar inside and complete this rescue mission.

But as time went on, those strange fish-creatures also began to grow restless, charging at the firelight's range in wave after wave—clearly unable to hold back any longer.

Countless strange fish-creatures crumbled to ash under the assault, but the sacred firelight within the team's lanterns also suffered a sharp weakening from this drain.

The side of the Saint Light Ancient Academy was still all right—Yin Yue Zhiyu single-handedly bore the brunt of the pressure. Her own strength was formidable, and she also possessed a ninth-grade Light Phase, which was overwhelmingly domineering; the sacred firelight radiated outward, purifying every strange fish-creature that surged toward them.

But on Li Luo's side, the situation was far worse. The girl named Zhou Yao was turning pale at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the firelight within her lantern was rapidly dimming.

"Replenish her energy!" Feng Lingyuan cried at the sight, immediately giving the order.

At once a student from the Third Star Hall hurried forward and pressed a palm to Zhou Yao's back. The "Ancient Spirit Leaf" on the back of his hand glimmered faintly, drawing the phase force from within her, then channeling and amplifying it before pouring it back into Zhou Yao's body to swiftly replenish her energy.

Li Hongyou extended slender fingers, and the tips of them swiftly turned a luscious, dewy red, as if ripe fruit. A faint, exotic fragrance wafted out, drifting through the ranks, and everyone who caught the scent felt the recovery speed of their phase force quicken, while the irritation and dread that had been stirred up by the eerie whispers coming from all around gradually settled.

Duan Mu stared at the layers upon layers of strange fish-creatures beyond the firelight and asked, frowning, "Should we step in?"

Li Hongyou said coolly, "There are bound to be an unknown number of Greater Evil Ku within the city, so our top combat power should stay at peak condition at all times."

Feng Lingyuan nodded in agreement. For them, these Da Tian Xiang Jing cultivators, the ones they most needed to guard against were those Greater Evil Ku; expending too much phase force here would not be wise. Although the team did have a few "energy packs," those were meant for the most critical moments.

Li Hongyou turned her head to look at Li Luo, who was holding a lantern and standing at the side of the team, and asked, "Are you all right?"

Li Luo nodded. Although strange fish-creatures kept charging at the flank as well, it was still far easier than what Zhou Yao was facing at the front.

Still, as he gazed at the lantern flame swaying ceaselessly in Zhou Yao's hand at the very front of the team, he wondered—could this situation really hold until they crossed the river and reached that water city?

Once the firelight defense was breached and a tide of strange creatures surged in, combined with the terrain advantage they held here, even Feng Lingyuan and the others might not be able to protect everyone, and casualties would be hard to avoid.

Li Luo turned his gaze back to the lantern in his own hand. Light phase force was streaming ceaselessly out from within him, but this current of phase force could only be counted as a trickle—after all, his Light Phase was ultimately only a secondary phase, normally used merely for support. To have it step into the spotlight now laid bare how woefully inadequate it was.

Even though he had fused his Water Phase and Light Phase into a dual-phase force, the Water Phase still dominated, and it did not simply add much in the way of the sacred, purifying quality of the Light Phase.

Yet the trouble was that this human-skin lantern required the stimulus of Light phase force to produce this firelight that could counter the strange creatures here.

"If only I could convert other phase force into Light phase force," Li Luo murmured to himself, sinking into thought. As he knew, those Title Marquis-level powerhouses could freely shift the phase force within them between different aspects.

But such a method was clearly beyond his reach—he was still only at Tian Zhu Jing.

Li Luo was lost in thought, and just as his mind sank into this line of reasoning, he suddenly felt what seemed to be a faint rumble of thunder pass through his body.

Li Luo was startled awake, then traced the source of the rumble with some puzzlement, and deep within himself he saw that mysterious, incomplete golden wheel.

Three positions on the golden wheel projected the phantoms of three phase palaces, and at its center burned a ball of the Small Phase-less Fire.

And now, the mysterious golden wheel, which had never stirred before, seemed to have turned a notch while Li Luo was deep in thought.

"What's going on?" Li Luo muttered, uncertain and uneasy.

This golden wheel, which on any ordinary day refused to give him face no matter how he drove it, had actually shown a little response now—why?

Was it because of what he had been thinking earlier?

Could this thing actually help him convert phase force?

Li Luo's heart stirred. This mysterious golden wheel was something he had obtained from the Golden Dew Platform baptism within the "Spirit Phase Cave Heaven," and his Acquired Phase originated from the "Small Phase-less Divine Forging Art"—which, as it happened, had been passed down from that ancient "Phase-less Saint Sect." So there was very likely some mysterious connection between them.

Thus, he began tentatively channeling his phase force, sending it flowing toward the golden wheel.

And while Li Luo was secretly making these attempts on his side, the others suddenly noticed that the countless strange fish-creatures around them had begun to thrash violently.

Layer upon layer of white fish piled up, letting out shrill, eerie shrieks. They writhed, then suddenly turned and attacked the other strange creatures beside them.

The strange fish-creatures fought and devoured one another.

As this slaughter intensified, the crowd watched with grim faces as even more powerful creatures were swiftly born among them.

They were massive in build, crab-like in form, their entire bodies a ghastly white, bearing varying numbers of crab legs, each leg tipped with eerie little fingers. Upon their shells, countless twisted, savage faces squirmed, and a powerful miasma of malice gushed forth.

Hiss, hiss!

The moment these crab-like creatures formed, they charged straight into the lantern-light. Though the radiance, redolent with sacred and purifying aura, did swiftly melt them away when it fell upon their bodies, this time they managed to charge more than halfway into the region bathed by the light before they were finally dissolved.

Moreover, as countless crab-like creatures surged in like a tide, the light within the lanterns also began to dim rapidly.

The Saint Light Ancient Academy's side was still in slightly better shape, but on the Tianyuan Ancient Academy's side, the four lanterns were beginning to look precarious—the light dimming layer by layer, the coverage steadily shrinking.

Everyone's face changed drastically.

And Zhou Yao, standing at the very front of the team, was straining even harder. Light phase force within her gushed out like a flood, pouring entirely into the lantern in her hand to keep the firelight strong and continuously dissolve those fearless crab-like creatures.

The immense pressure left Zhou Yao's forehead beaded with fine sweat.

"Senior Sister Feng, I can't hold on much longer!" Zhou Yao said through gritted teeth.

Feng Lingyuan saw the situation and let out a helpless sigh. Vast, surging phase force rose around her—clearly, if the firelight defense broke, they would have no choice but to disregard their condition and fight their way out with the team.

Not far away, the Saint Light Ancient Academy's team also noticed what was happening on this side.

"Should we go help?" Wang Kong asked, frowning. His ranking in the Saint Light Ancient Academy's Celestial Star Hall was higher than both Yin Yue Zhiyu's and Wei Chonglou's, but he was actually more low-key by nature. After all, although he was stronger, he had no background to speak of; in the past his cultivation had relied purely on his own bitter training, and he couldn't compare to prodigies like Yin Yue Zhiyu and Wei Chonglou, who had access to abundant resources.

Yin Yue Zhiyu hesitated slightly.

But Wei Chonglou said coolly, "Let's take care of our own side first. No one knows whether there might be lurking creatures watching us. If we split up our firelight, we might end up becoming the breach."

"Their side is in some danger, but Feng Lingyuan and the others haven't even stepped in yet. There's no need to worry on others' behalf."

Students close to Wei Chonglou immediately chimed in. Although the two sides were ostensibly cooperating, they still had to look after themselves first; besides, things over there hadn't truly reached a dead end.

Wang Kong saw this and, with a calm expression, said no more.

In this brief exchange, more and more crab-like monsters were born from the slaughter; they seemed to know that the team from the Tianyuan Ancient Academy was easier to break through, so more and more of the crab-like monsters roared forward, charging at the ever-shrinking flames.

The flame in the lantern held by Zhou Yao grew faint with alarming speed; even as she desperately urged the Light Phase Force within her body, she could only watch helplessly as the light dimmed rapidly.

She sighed somewhat weakly.

In the next instant, the flame in her hand suddenly went out.