"Wah, wah, wah, here we go!"
A deep voice with a flustered tone shot out from behind a massive vine. A group of green, muscular figures shrieked and charged forward on all fours towards the agile fatty ahead.
Gu Zitan felt he had never been so disheveled in his life. With only two legs, how could he possibly outrun the bizarre creatures behind him? He hopped and bounced like a ball, darting everywhere.
"Hahahaha, someone really needs to record this." Su Qing stood beside Bai Cha, laughing so hard his stomach hurt. He thought he should have brought a pinhole camera to capture Principal Gu's embarrassing moments; they might even be worth money.
The group behind them couldn't help but chuckle, and the atmosphere of fear dissipated considerably.
"Go in," Bai Cha pointed to the green men's stronghold, a tree hole, which was the giant vine embedded with the crystal.
Beneath the massive tree hole, vines wound and intertwined, forming an uneven platform. The green men inside had already been lured out by Gu Zitan. The group exchanged glances. Although still apprehensive, they squeezed inside.
Gu Zitan was running headlong when he suddenly heard a crisp whistle. Looking up, he saw a thin bloodline rapidly approaching. Terrified, Gu Zitan retracted his limbs and, regardless of whether his body was balanced, landed on his belly and rolled away.
If anything, Gu Zitan's ample fat was incredibly elastic. He bounced up from the ground with the elasticity of his belly and stood up again. Turning his head, he saw the bloodline, as hard as a steel cable, blocking the green men who had charged too fast and couldn't brake in time, cutting them in half at the waist.
Even so, the upper bodies and heads of those green men fell to the ground, while their lower bodies continued to charge several meters before collapsing. Gu Zitan broke out in a cold sweat.
"Principal, this won't do, you're too much of a mess." Su Qing, grinning, landed in front of Gu Zitan, shaking his jade flute and laughing with schadenfreude.
Gu Zitan was almost driven to despair by the insane green men. Wiping his face, he felt he really shouldn't have come to join in the fun.
Bai Cha had said it was fine if he didn't come. Why was he so curious to retrieve that green crystal? He swore he wasn't interested in treasure, just pure curiosity.
More and more green men were sliced in half by the thin line. The remaining green men had only their targets in their eyes, no companions. Their corpses piled up like mountains, burying the bloodline. They stepped on their companions' bodies without a second thought and lunged towards the two figures, one red and one fat, before them.
A crisp flute melody rang out, and a straight line of cyan sonic waves penetrated the group of green men. These strange creatures immediately trembled in place as if electrocuted.
Su Qing took the opportunity to pull Gu Zitan and jump onto the tree. However, the jump almost failed, and the two almost fell from the tree together. If Gu Zitan hadn't quickly grabbed a branch above his head, Su Qing's waist would have been injured.
"Damn it, Old Gu! Can't you lose some weight!" Su Qing clutched his sprained wrist, almost crying with anger. "It's my first time flying, and I can't even get off the ground!"
He thought of how he and Li Rong were like graceful, elegant young men from ancient times. Now, they almost fell like clumsy turtles, without any trace of their former grace.
"It's natural, I can't lose it." Gu Zitan patted his solid belly, his fleshy face trembling slightly with grievance. "At worst, I'll carry you."
Su Qing glared at Gu Zitan and didn't stand on ceremony, climbing onto Gu Zitan's shoulders. Gu Zitan was tall, fat, and strong, like a small mountain. It was a free ride!
The green men's trembling only lasted for a few seconds. The green men, who had recovered, charged again, clawing at the tree trunks and stepping on their companions' bodies, trying to climb up and attack the two on the tree.
Another wave of melody spread out. This time, the melody was a pale blue arc that swept across the green men in the area. Pitying these green men, who had just been electrocuted less than two seconds ago, they were instantly frozen solid by frost, stiffening on the tree trunks and falling to the ground like ripe fruit, making crackling noises.
"Let's switch trees, move it, move it!" Su Qing quickly patted Gu Zitan beneath him. Gu Zitan immediately leaped up and jumped to another tree, accidentally breaking the branch he had been standing on.
Meanwhile, Bai Cha and Mo Ziye had finished counting the numbers and had cut out the platform separately. After settling these weaklings, Bai Cha began to consider the crystal.
The faint spatial fluctuations next to the crystal were still rippling, indicating that the unknown machine was operating. This machine was continuously cutting space and creating subtle spatial rifts that would be easily overlooked if one didn't feel them carefully.
Actually, Bai Cha could roughly guess that the owner behind this machine probably intended to intercept the goods halfway. It was likely that those people had already privately created a rough map and the locations of various crystals based on the data they brought out, but had not reported it.
However, since they were delivered to their doorstep, it would be a waste not to use them.
Bai Cha's gaze turned cold, and black scales instantly covered his arms, extending to his cheeks before stopping. Fortunately, the tight-fitting clothes Bai Cha was wearing this time were of good elasticity and quality, otherwise, these black scales might have poked through Bai Cha's clothes.
Closing his eyes, he held his breath and concentrated, Bai Cha stabilized his stance and focused his strength into a single point. When he opened his eyes again, Bai Cha's entire posture had changed, and the air around him had become slightly distorted.
"Go!"
Bai Cha roared and punched next to the spatial rifts. The space immediately distorted violently. That punch made this small area of space look like a spilled palette, with colors starting to twist.
The spatial rifts, which were already unstable, were pulled and diverted from their original direction, actually shifting towards the crystal. The seemingly indestructible vine was immediately cracked by the immense cutting force of the spatial rifts.
Seeing the vine shatter, Bai Cha reacted swiftly and grabbed the shimmering crystal with one claw. With his other hand, he waved, and two thicker bloodlines directly pulled Su Qing and Gu Zitan, flinging them into the tree hole.
The spatial rift that had been cut seemed to pause for a moment, as if it had just realized it had been detected by Bai Cha. It immediately moved towards Bai Cha, intending to cut the hand holding the World Crystal, but was deflected by a slap from Bai Cha's other hand.
The earth began to shake, and the entire world distorted with the crystal's detachment. Pieces of the sky fell, revealing black holes that frantically sucked in the creatures on the ground.
Giant trees erupted from the ground, and before they could enter the black holes, they were already shattered. The strange green men also stopped their frenzied pursuit. Their exposed muscular faces showed expressions of terror and despair.
They didn't look for caves or tree holes to take shelter in, as if they realized it would be futile. Instead, they huddled together in groups.
They were unable to speak, their mouths making muffled sounds to express their language. They hugged each other, tears streaming from their eyes. In the face of the apocalypse, they seemed to have suddenly evolved emotions, embracing each other tightly.
The world shattered, and everyone felt a lightness within them. The power of the dragons could be used again. Gu Zitan and the others quickly used their power to erect a barrier to protect this platform.
"They clearly didn't have emotions before, didn't they feel anything when their companions died?" Mo Ziye turned his head, unable to bear watching these failed evolutionary beings in their despair and sorrow.
He recalled the scene earlier when the green men had stepped on the corpses of their own kind to chase Gu Zitan. Mo Ziye couldn't understand why, when they were alive, the world hadn't given them emotions, leaving them cold and numb, but when they were about to perish, it made them experience sadness and pain.
No one could answer his question, not even Bai Cha. Perhaps this was the result of a world's failed evolution; it was destined to be a tragedy from the moment it failed.
It failed, therefore it was discarded.
Unbeknownst to Bai Cha and the others, when Bai Cha had shifted the spatial rift, the spacetime flow in all the world bubbles had become chaotic.
In the rainforest, Lucifer leaned against a tree, his arms crossed, his expression grim.
Since separating from Bai Cha, Lucifer's mood had not improved. A white crystal in his hand had even drawn blood from his palm.
However, this was not a major issue, as this minor injury seemed insignificant compared to Lucifer's bloody, mangled dragon claws. His black dragon claws' scales were flipped open, flesh and blood bloody.
Dragons had strong regenerative abilities, but Lucifer was in no mood to care about it now.
This world was different from Bai Cha's fragile one. The world Bai Cha was in was a complete failure, while this world was a semi-finished product and could exist for a certain period even without its World Crystal.
"Xiao Bai sent word, she's safe, but she won't come here immediately." Meng Qinghuan walked forward, looking at the black,阴风 (yin feng - gloomy wind) swirling around Lucifer and could only sigh in his heart.
Actually, Lucifer was not suited for the Shadow faction. He was too selfish, and the Shadow faction could not tolerate personal selfishness. If Lucifer weren't Bai Cha's dragon and had to stay, he would probably be no different from the young girl named Nightingale before. Bai Cha wouldn't have agreed to let them in.
"Mmm." Lucifer responded with a low hum, suppressing the surging killing intent in his heart.
Many people had also gathered here. It was an instinctive action for all the weaker individuals to gather around the strong. There were also discordant voices within, but Lucifer's aura was too terrifying and increasingly volatile, so these ordinary trainees dared not voice any opinions.
Before Lucifer was a giant beast the size of a small mountain, resembling a deformed Tyrannosaurus Rex. Its massive head had been pulverized into a bloody pulp, like juice and flesh splattering everywhere, like crushed dragon fruit, corroding the ground with a sizzling sound.
Meng Qinghuan shook his head, touched his smooth head, and walked away. He didn't want to provoke this malevolent star. When the master wasn't around, this guy was simply a mad dog.
When the giant Tyrannosaurus Rex appeared earlier, Meng Qinghuan had wanted to help Lucifer. However, Lucifer, enveloped in flames, shot into the sky and smashed the Tyrannosaurus Rex's head into pieces in a few moves.
The blood was like concentrated sulfuric acid, yet this guy, unafraid of death, directly reached into its head and fished out the crystal.
"Master, it still won't break." Yun He stood up immediately when he saw Meng Qinghuan return, bowed respectfully, and said, "This light screen is immune to mental power, but my strength is not enough."
Where everyone was gathered seemed to be the edge of the world. There was a light golden screen here. On one side of the screen was the rainforest where everyone was, and on the other side was chaos.
Everyone guessed this was the exit, but they couldn't open it. Meng Qinghuan refused to act, and Lucifer's oppressive aura made no one dare to speak to him. The group of trainees and teachers could only huddle together here and wait.
"Tsk, tsk, that guy is really something." Meng Qinghuan tapped the light screen lightly. As expected, it was immune to mental power. As soon as mental power entered, it disappeared like a clay ox entering the sea. However, brute force was effective.
"Master, you mean, it's really... them?" Yun He paused, glanced at the trainees beside him, and didn't utter those words, but everyone understood.
"Little Yun He, don't doubt your master, alright? Apart from Xiao Bai, I'm the most powerful one here, you know~" Meng Qinghuan had been relatively serious when he brought the message to Lucifer, but as soon as he saw Yun He, his true nature emerged. He pulled Yun He over and squeezed his cheek. "We'll just wait for news. Let's wait until Xiao Bai and the others are done. What's the rush?"