Chapter 788: Testing the Gap (1/2, Request Subscription)

The voice that came through was none other than Jing Yan, who was already close at hand, ready to receive them on the boat.

Fang Yue's heart lurched; he frantically touched his face and felt his features twisting like a vortex—his eyes warped to where his mouth should be, his mouth twisted clockwise to his cheek, and all other features shifted and distorted to varying degrees.

What terrified Fang Yue most was that the distortion continued, as if some force were slowly twisting his face and body into a knotted rope.

In Jing Yan's eyes, Fang Yue's face had nearly twisted into a black vortex, and one ear, closest to the central black hole on his face, had already been pulled inside it.

"Ye Ge! Get on quickly, get on the boat!!"

At this distance, Fang Yue could have easily leapt onto the bow.

But the memory of his earlier jump—when countless eyes had sprouted all over his body—flashed through his mind, and he hesitated.

Yet the hesitation lasted only an instant; with the terrifying aura closing in from behind, Fang Yue gritted his teeth and leapt upward.

Just as before, countless blood-red eyes opened simultaneously all over his body.

As he soared high, Fang Yue felt his presence thinning, the images before him fading in and out, even his thoughts dimming—his mind went blank, forgetting why he had jumped, where he was…

Under the gaze of Jing Yan and the others on the boat, they saw Fang Yue's body gradually fading, becoming transparent, as if dissolving into light and merging with the air!

Their faces turned pale; they shouted out urgently—but the moment they opened their mouths, they realized the sounds they made weren't Fang Yue's name at all, but meaningless noises, as if memories of Fang Yue were rapidly peeling away…

Just as panic overwhelmed them…

Sssssss—

Seven or eight beams of radiant light shot swiftly from the wharf toward Fang Yue; as the light neared, their frozen minds snapped back to life, and their memories of Fang Yue instantly sharpened, everything returning to normal.

The countless blood-red eyes on Fang Yue's body all turned sharply toward the flying fragments of light—as if recognizing something—and simultaneously widened, then quietly closed and dissolved; the dense ripples on the river surface calmed once more.

When Fang Yue suddenly came to his senses, he found himself safely on the boat.

All traces of eyes were gone from his body; instead, seven or eight fragments of radiant light circled him slowly.

Fang Yue examined them closely—these were unmistakably the Linglong Baxiang Jade Flute that the black-robed man had worn at his waist.

What exactly are these things…

An idea struck him; Fang Yue pulled out the parchment that no longer responded to him.

Fortunately, though the parchment had lost consciousness, it remained tangible in his hand.

The moment Fang Yue produced the parchment, the fragments of the Linglong Baxiang Jade Flute shot toward it like they'd found their target—ssssss—and vanished into it.

The scene resembled how it had absorbed Silver Stones and Black Stones before, but this time the digestion was faster—within a blink, all fragments were fully absorbed into the parchment.

"Parchment?"

Fang Yue silently called out to it—but the parchment remained utterly unresponsive.

Fang Yue frowned slightly, a flicker of worry in his heart—had he done the right thing?

What if that flute possessed the sleeping parchment? That would be disastrous.

But right now, Fang Yue had no idea how to handle it—he could only suppress the matter for now.

"Ye Ge!"

"Ye Brother!"

"Xiao Ye!"

The others surged around him in delight, excitedly circling Fang Yue.

But Fang Yue suppressed their excitement and turned sharply to look behind him.

His gaze fell upon the Hanjiang Wharf, where the black-robed man stood, gazing across at the distant ship, locking eyes with him.

This scene matched almost exactly the vision foretold by the parchment—except that Fang Yue himself now looked far more disheveled than in the prophecy.

"Ye Ge, don't worry! He won't dare cross Han Jiang!"

"That's right! Only specially crafted boats can sail on Han Jiang's surface—no ordinary means can possibly cross it!"

Tian Ruichi explained beside them.

Even without Tian Ruichi's explanation, Fang Yue—who had just experienced Han Jiang's terrifying power—knew full well that even the black-robed man couldn't cross it so easily!

This river held something extraordinary!

Recalling his ordeal, Fang Yue felt his hair stand on end, still trembling with lingering dread.

If his palm, fully transformed into parchment, hadn't reverted back, and his body hadn't undergone some unknown change that abruptly severed the flood of memories surging into his mind—causing him to regain consciousness—he would surely now lie dead at the river's bottom.

And those strange eyes—just recalling them sent chills down his spine.

That thing was beyond any cultivator's capacity to fight—even a Yu-level powerhouse would struggle!

This was evident from the black-robed man's hesitation, still standing on the Hanjiang Wharf.

"Set sail immediately!"

Fang Yue stared fixedly at the black-robed man and spoke.

At Fang Yue's order, the others hurriedly instructed the crew to set off.

The great ship creaked into motion, leaving ripples spreading across the river.

Fang Yue noticed that as their ship, anchored on the river, began moving again, the black-robed man on the Hanjiang Wharf suddenly tore off his hood, his forehead veins bulging, face twisted in fury.

"Good! Good! Good! Very well—today, let me see just how great the gap is between me and that heavenly barrier!"

He flung the hood aside, drew his sword, and raised it high above his head.

The crimson giant sword he'd summoned before reappeared above him.

But this time, the crimson sword stretched a full kilometer long, piercing the clouds, stirring wind and clouds into chaos!

Layers of spiraling air currents coiled upward around the crimson blade, and faintly, characters seemed to emerge.

Drawing on his familiarity with Ancient Script, Fang Yue immediately recognized them as fragments of an amplification array.

Yes—only fragments. They weren't even complete Ancient Script characters.

Yet even these incomplete fragments caused the crimson sword to blaze with radiant bloodlight, glowing brilliantly, like a colossal crimson pillar standing between river and earth.

Seeing the black-robed man's stance, Fang Yue's face turned ashen—he roared at the top of his lungs: "Accelerate!! Get out of here now!!"

Although Fang Yue shouted urgently, the order still needed time to be relayed and acted upon.

By the time the ships began to pick up speed...

Beneath the night sky, above the river, a thousand-meter-long blood-colored greatsword had already come cleaving down in a single strike!

(End of chapter)