Chapter 81: Battle in the Sea of Consciousness

Xu Chen was approaching rapidly, but due to the complex terrain and the distance of over ten zhang still remaining, it was already too late to save her.

Moreover, he had already sensed that several terrifying Soul Beasts had appeared in his vicinity; their aura was incomparably cold, and they were closing in rapidly from all directions.

"This woman will get herself killed by stupidity sooner or later!"

Xu Chen cursed inwardly, shoved a Great Origin Pill into his mouth, and used his full Divine Sense to constantly scan the nearby crevices and alleyways, trying his best to avoid the Soul Beasts as he moved toward the woman in black.

After wasting nearly half a cup of tea's time, he finally arrived near the alleyway where the woman in black was, with the distance between them now less than five zhang.

However, at this very moment, a giant black lizard with a long tail and a pair of huge fleshy wings appeared in front, right where the woman in black had fallen; its massive body almost completely blocked the alleyway, and its pair of huge eyes emitted a blood-red light within the Black Mist.

Xu Chen only met the gaze of this Soul Beast for an instant before he felt his Soul tighten, as if bitten by a venomous snake, and his entire body trembled violently before suddenly stiffening for a moment.

Although this terrifying sensation vanished quickly, a shock unlike anything he had ever felt surged in his heart, and the hairs all over his body could not help but stand on end.

This was the most terrifying Soul Beast he had seen since entering the rift, and its strength was unfathomable.

After the giant lizard glanced at Xu Chen, it also seemed to sense a trace of unease, but it did not retreat; instead, it let out a deafening roar of threat and opened its mouth, intending to swallow the woman in black into its belly.

Xu Chen naturally would not give up on the rescue, and his Flying Sword whistled as it slashed over.

With a loud boom, the Flying Sword felt as if it had struck a mass of leather; it was actually rebounded and crashed into the stone wall, erupting with brilliant light.

Xu Chen's Divine Sense was struck by the rebound force of the Flying Sword, and he could not help but feel his Soul sway, his vision go black, and he stumbled back two steps.

"Roar~"

The giant lizard let out another angry roar and actually abandoned the woman in black to pounce toward him.

At a distance of five zhang, given the lizard's size, it was no more than two steps away.

And at this moment, several huge Soul Beasts had simultaneously appeared to the side and behind Xu Chen, blocking him firmly within the alleyway.

Xu Chen felt bitter in his heart; he had no time to recall his Flying Sword, so he used his Divine Sense with all his might to contact the Jade Bead, communicating with his consciousness over and over again, hoping the Jade Bead would show its power and use the treasure bottle to suck all these Soul Beasts inside.

The greatest reliance he had for daring to enter the rift alone with two people from Yuqing Hall to gamble was the Jade Bead and the Blue Light Treasure Bottle.

Although he knew almost nothing about the abilities of the Jade Bead and the treasure bottle and could not control them, ever since he first communicated with his consciousness to collect the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus, he felt he had grasped a little bit of how to use them.

That was that although this treasure with self-awareness resisted his command consciousness, its intelligence was not high; as long as he communicated repeatedly, the Jade Bead would eventually compromise and help him.

He had already successfully tested this on the Two-Headed Demon Bat earlier.

Now, to survive, he could only rely on this method again.

The giant lizard arrived before his eyes in an instant, and the several Soul Beasts to his side and behind were also pressing in step by step, all within ten zhang.

In the blink of an eye, Xu Chen had communicated with the Jade Bead's consciousness over ten times and finally obtained a response; a blue light sprayed out from between his brows, transforming into an illusory treasure bottle over a chi long that hovered above his head.

Almost simultaneously, a huge suction force instantly drained the Qi in his dantian, and a starlight-flickering blue vortex appeared out of thin air at the mouth of the bottle.

Although it looked only about a chi in size, the rolling Black Mist was sucked into it like a tornado, and the entire alleyway instantly turned into a huge black hole vortex.

The giant lizard, which had already opened its bloody maw, instantly felt incomparable fear and roared, preparing to turn and flee, but the entire alleyway was almost completely blocked by its own massive body.

"Roar~ roar~"

The giant lizard retreated in panic and roared, but it was soon pulled by the vortex; its huge body began to crumble into large chunks within the violent Black Wind tornado, and then it turned into masses of Black Mist that were quickly pulled into the black hole. In just a few breaths, an incredibly terrifying Soul Beast had completely vanished from the alleyway.

The vortex did not disappear after swallowing the giant lizard but continued to rotate and swallow the rolling Black Mist.

The Black Mist from all directions surged in like a tide, then poured into the vortex like a twisting ink dragon.

The several Soul Beasts behind Xu Chen were caught in the surging black fog and pulled over; they let out terrified roars but were completely helpless, and in the end, they were all torn apart by the vortex and swallowed.

The Blue Light Treasure Bottle hanging above his head began to show a shade of ink within its translucent, illusory deep blue, making the bottle look a bit clearer, but at the same time, it carried a bit of eeriness, as if filled with demonic energy; inside, there were even the phantoms of a black lotus and several Soul Beasts, struggling and roaring within the bottle, seemingly wanting to break free.

A full quarter of an hour passed.

The Blue Light Treasure Bottle seemed to have absorbed too much black fog and could no longer continue to absorb; only then did the starlight vortex collapse, and the treasure bottle turned into a deep blue light and hid between Xu Chen's brows.

However, just as Xu Chen breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to check on the woman in black, he suddenly looked up and discovered another Soul Beast appearing in the alleyway.

This Soul Beast was not large, but it made Xu Chen somewhat panicked.

Because this was a bat-shaped Soul Beast.

If he guessed correctly, its ability was to invade the Sea of Consciousness.

If this Soul Beast had come for him, it wouldn't matter, but just as he saw the Soul Beast clearly, this Demon Bat had already pounced onto the woman in black like a mass of black fog.

Damn it!

Xu Chen pounced over almost simultaneously; he didn't even have time to use his Flying Sword, and while still in the air, he formed seals with both hands, and two fire Magic Spell attacks left his hands and smashed into the Demon Bat.

However, it had no effect at all; the power of such shallow Magic Spells was too weak, and the Black Mist on the Demon Bat simply deflected the firelight.

Xu Chen pounced onto the upper body of the woman in black in an instant and used both hands to grab and pull the Demon Bat away, but by this time, the Demon Bat had no movement left; its demon soul had already invaded the Sea of Consciousness of the woman in black.

This woman is dead for sure.

Xu Chen could not help but sigh in his heart, but he still did not want to give up; he frantically communicated with the Jade Bead using his Divine Sense. A moment later, he felt his Divine Sense shake violently, and an eerie space appeared before his eyes; he saw the phantom of a black Demon Bat pouncing toward a faint white light in the darkness.

And around the white light, there seemed to be a layer of faint green energy lingering, releasing the faint light and shadow of an Array.

This is... the Sea of Consciousness of the woman in black?

However, after a moment of daze, Xu Chen suddenly realized.

He had originally communicated with the Jade Bottle to see if he could release a vortex to suck out the bat demon soul that had entered the woman's body, but he hadn't expected the Jade Bead to send his Divine Sense directly inside.

This was an unprecedented, marvelous feeling.

It was as if he had pried open a door and broken into another person's home without permission.

But this was not the moment to experience such marvels, because the timing of his arrival was not too late; the Soul of the woman in black still had a layer of protection from a Magic Spell unique to Yuqing Hall. Clearly, the white light within that layer of Green Light Array was where the Soul of the woman in black resided.

Although Xu Chen had only entered with a wisp of Divine Sense, he roared and pounced toward the bat demon soul like a brave warrior fighting with bare hands.

"Boom~"

However, the moment he touched the bat demon soul, that layer of faint Green Light Array light and shadow completely shattered.

Xu Chen knew this was the last chance to save the woman, so he slammed into the illusory bat demon soul with all his might without hesitation.

"Squeak~"

The bat demon soul shrieked in anger, turning into a mass of black fog that wrapped around the white light and this wisp of Xu Chen's Divine Sense.

Xu Chen only felt his vision go black, and he was instantly dizzy and tumbling through the air, while simultaneously feeling a needle-like pain spreading throughout his entire body.

However, compared to the aftereffects left behind by using the Jade Bead's blue light to attack others earlier, this pain was completely not worth mentioning.

Therefore, Xu Chen gritted his teeth and persisted, condensing his Divine Sense into a sharp sword to hack wildly at the surrounding black light, while keeping the white light tightly protected in the center.

Once this cluster of white light was swallowed by the Soul Beast, the Woman in black would undoubtedly die.

A thunderous sound erupted within the pitch-black Sea of Consciousness, and a phantom bat light-shadow and a wisp of faint blue-white light tumbled and entangled within the boundless darkness.

The black bat continuously emitted piercing shrieks that penetrated the Soul; at first, it held the upper hand, and the blue light was torn apart and scattered by its sharp fangs and claws, but as time passed, the aura emitted by the blue light became increasingly sharp, eventually transforming into a three-inch-long Flying Sword that, like a thin needle, pierced back and forth around the bat phantom.

Every time the small blue light sword pierced through, it inevitably left behind a trail like thick ink, and the black bat phantom would let out a shrill, miserable scream; until finally, the small blue light sword became faster and faster, eventually turning into a cluster of pale blue phantom light that tore the black bat until it was almost riddled with holes, until at a certain moment, this cluster of blue phantom light exploded along with the black bat phantom.

"Boom~"

After a flash of blue and black intertwined light, the darkness returned to tranquility, leaving only a cluster of faint white light still swaying and flickering slightly, like a single oil lamp in the dark night, lonely and desolate.

And just at the moment the Demon Bat soul exploded, Xu Chen's body suddenly shuddered, and he opened his eyes with blood flowing from his nose and mouth.

And right now, the Demon Bat was already dead, and the Soul Beast must have also shattered and dissipated into Black Mist, so his hands had nowhere to rest and just happened to land on the woman's chest.

Fortunately, however, the woman remained unconscious.

Otherwise, it would have been somewhat difficult to clear his name today.

Xu Chen scrambled off the woman, and after a sweep of his Divine Sense, his brows immediately furrowed.

(End of this chapter)