Chapter 300: Settled

"Pfft!"

Song Jinhe and Xuanwu simultaneously spat out a mouthful of blood; this life-or-death dance battle ended.

Song Jinhe collapsed to the ground, and in her dying moments, her eyes searched for that figure, revealing a faint, relieved smile.

"Madman!"

Xuanwu knelt on one knee, clutching her chest, glaring viciously at Song Jinhe.

The dance was merely a facade; in reality, it relied on physical movements to guide the flow of True Qi within the Array, thereby controlling the direction of the Array.

This process appeared simple, but it was actually very difficult and dangerous; once there was the slightest error, not only would the person inside the Array perish, but the person dancing would also have their physical strength instantly drained, leading to death from exhaustion.

However, during the dance battle just now, Song Jinhe had completely disregarded her own safety, channeling her True Qi like a madwoman, so much so that no matter how Xuanwu chased, she could not shake Song Jinhe in the slightest.

Xuanwu glanced at the sky; the moment of the full moon had passed, the radiance of the Blood Moon was fading and drifting back toward the horizon, while the thin, aged figure of Gu Yuanzong drifted down like a withered leaf.

The Ritual ended in the worst possible way.

"Since you can go to such lengths for Chen Che, then just go die for him!"

Xuanwu was filled with towering rage; she could not accept that the god about to be born had fallen just like that, and at the hands of these ant-like people!

Xuanwu's figure flashed, and she raised her hand-blade high, slashing it fiercely toward Song Jinhe's head.

"Pfft!"

Blood splattered.

Xuanwu widened her eyes, watching helplessly as her own right hand flew away from her wrist, a fountain of blood spraying from the severed stump.

"Ah—"

Xuanwu screamed instinctively, but the cry came to an abrupt halt; Chen Che continued to swing the Lightning Spear, and after severing Xuanwu's wrist, he continued on to pierce through her shoulder.

"Pfft!"

Blood gushed like a spring.

Xuanwu was already near exhaustion due to the Ritual, and now, severely wounded by Chen Che, she had no strength left to resist; with a dull thud, she took another kick to her lower abdomen.

"Pfft!"

She arched her body like a shrimp, spat out a mouthful of blood, and flew backward.

"Senior Sister, Senior Sister!"

Chen Che did not press the attack, but instead crouched down to pick up Song Jinhe, calling out to her over and over again.

Song Jinhe struggled to open her eyes a crack, but closed them again in less than three seconds.

Chen Che let out a sigh of relief; fortunately, it was only exhaustion, and she was not injured.

"Boom!"

A dull thud came from not far away.

Gu Yuanzong fell straight back to the ground, and Azure Dragon and White Tiger stumbled over toward him.

Because they had accidentally entered the Array earlier, their True Qi had been consumed significantly, and at this moment, they had almost no physical strength left.

Before they could even reach Gu Yuanzong, they collapsed to the ground one after another.

At this time, Gu Zhengying, Gu Zhangsheng, and Gu Yao, who had been hiding and observing, rushed to Gu Yuanzong's side.

Gu Yuanzong's appearance at this moment gave them a shock; his gray hair and beard, and his once-resolute face, were now as aged as an old man nearing his end.

"Dad!" "Grandpa!"

The three of them helped Gu Yuanzong up; the latter slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with desolation and wild rage.

"Dad, let's go quickly!"

Supporting Gu Yuanzong to his feet, Gu Zhengying said this immediately, and without waiting for Gu Yuanzong to answer, Gu Zhangsheng and Gu Yao tacitly helped Gu Yuanzong walk toward the speedboat.

They understood the situation best at this moment: the Ritual had failed, Gu Yuanzong had suffered a backlash, and the three Protectors no longer had the strength to fight.

Yet Chen Che, benefiting from the Array, was not only full of vigor but had also severely wounded Xuanwu.

If they didn't run now while Chen Che's attention was elsewhere, they would all die here in a moment.

However, Gu Yuanzong forcibly stopped his steps at this moment, ignoring Gu Zhengying's worried dissuasion, and turned to walk toward Chen Che's direction.

"I planned for decades, and just as I was about to succeed, it was actually ruined in your hands!"

"Chen Che, even if I cannot become a god, I am still at the Heavenly Master realm; even if I only have one breath left, I will definitely kill you today!"

Gu Yuanzong stomped his feet on the ground, roaring ferociously, and channeled all the True Qi in his body.

For a time, wind and thunder rolled, and giant waves surged to the heavens.

"You go quickly, don't worry about us... you can definitely escape on your own..."

Su Xiao had had too much True Qi sucked away and was now extremely weak, yet she still forced herself to hold on and persuade Chen Che to leave.

"As long as I am alive, I will not allow anything to happen to you!"

Chen Che shielded Song Jinhe, Su Xiao, and Fang Yuying behind him, facing Gu Yuanzong, "You are at the Heavenly Master realm, very good, then let me see how long your current body can hold out!"

Chen Che changed his hand seals, True Qi swirling around his body, and wisps of blood-colored spiderwebs crawled all over his neck, winding toward his face.

Su Xiao's expression was slightly startled; she knew that Chen Che had given up suppressing the poison and wanted to go all out to fight to the death.

In this situation, her Yin Cold Body could help him the most, so she absolutely must not fall asleep.

"Little brat, go to hell!"

Gu Yuanzong let out a long howl toward the sky; the sea surface around Moon Shadow Island surged with towering waves, and water pillars that seemed to reach the sky twisted and distorted, transforming into two giant beasts that opened their maws and roared ferociously.

"Crack!"

A violent thunderclap rang out, and the two flood-giant beasts lunged down simultaneously; the world-ending tide swept across the entire Moon Shadow Island.

Chen Che slammed his hands onto the ground, and stone walls rose one after another, but they were no match for the flood-giant beasts and shattered in an instant.

Chen Che gritted his teeth and quickly changed his hand seals; a bright green light was released from his chest, as if carrying the fresh scent of grass and dew, refreshing the heart and spirit.

"Tree World Advent..."

Chen Che let out a murmur like sleep-talking, and the entire Moon Shadow Island began to shake; massive tree roots, like giant snakes, writhed and broke through the soil.

Towering trees stood tall, their branches lush and leaves thick, covering the entire Moon Shadow Island.

The flood-like beast lunged down, swallowing the island within it; after the gale and torrential rain passed, the towering trees still stood as before, appearing even greener after being washed by the seawater.

………

The sky grew bright, and sunlight pierced through the clouds, shining down upon Moon Shadow Island.

The towering trees had long since retracted back into the earth, and the soil, which looked as if it had been plowed, returned to its original state under the washing of the seawater.

The morning sea rippled like a cradle, and the speedboat that had been docked at the shore had vanished, leaving only a long white wake upon the sea surface.

Su Xiao stumbled, running with all her might toward the coast to pull Chen Che, who was soaking in the water, up onto the shore.

Last night's battle had been earth-shattering; although Chen Che had ultimately resisted the attack from Gu Yuanzong, he had lost consciousness at the very last moment due to the erosion of the Great Red Sun Poison and was swept into the sea by the waves.

Fortunately, because of the backlash from the Ritual, Gu Yuanzong had fainted first, and Gu Zhengying and the others had long since lost their nerve, so they took Gu Yuanzong and left without a moment's delay.

Su Xiao plopped down onto the ground, touching Chen Che's ice-cold cheeks, which had been soaked by the seawater, feeling a sense of relief mixed with heartache.

She still remembered that in the final moments before falling unconscious, Chen Che had not forgotten to turn his remaining True Qi into a Protective Shield to protect the three of them.

"You fool, you only know how to protect others; why don't you know how to protect yourself?"

Su Xiao said softly, her tone chiding but filled even more with heartache.

Chen Che's cheeks were already covered in spiderweb-like blood-colored toxins; Su Xiao pulled open his collar and discovered that the toxins had indeed entrenched themselves on his chest and had already finished spreading throughout his entire body.

Chen Che's heartbeat was also weakening; this was his most vulnerable moment, and the moment when the Great Red Sun Poison was at its most rampant.

"They said my cultivation isn't high enough to help Chen Che completely eliminate the poison..."

Su Xiao pondered as she muttered, "Forget it, saving his life is what's most important right now; with the abilities of those senior sisters, there must be other ways."

Su Xiao stood up and continued to drag Chen Che further onto the island, wanting to find a place that could shield him from the sun.

But having experienced last night's battle, Moon Shadow Island was now like a wilderness, and she discovered that Chen Che's body temperature was rising—no, it had already been very high, but she hadn't noticed it before because of the effect of the seawater.

At this moment, the seawater on his body was being evaporated by his internal heat, emitting white steam.

She could not delay any longer; if this continued, Chen Che would never wake up again.

Su Xiao gazed at the sparkling sea surface, bit her lower lip, and made up her mind; she pried open Chen Che's clothes, then nimbly stripped off her own.

"Whether you accept it or not, from now on, don't even think about shaking me off!"

Su Xiao lay upon Chen Che, his scorching body temperature making her shiver involuntarily.

The tide rose and fell, surging and ebbing; a stream of red liquid bloomed across the water at the shore, and fish vied to leap out of the sea, cheering and jumping.

Seabirds circled the island, letting out one melodious cry after another.

…………