Chapter 247: Sacrifices and Escapes

Far in the battlefield... the masked women and the other three people looked into each other's eyes. Would they still dare to have the slightest hesitation? They quickly flew in the direction of the magic circle.

"Evildoer, you can't run away!"

A thunderously loud and furious voice was heard. It was followed by a white light that flashed over; it was the Ancient White Seal!

However, a huge abstruse magic character could be seen beneath the White Seal this time. The white ripples proliferated and covered the entire area of the Sparkling Gem Pavilion's ruins.

Liu An's complexion changed very drastically. The surrounding air under the scope of this white light had become incomparably viscous. In addition, the operation of the black magic circle had also slowly stopped by its impact.

Elder Taoist Wu Chen's strength had far surpassed his expectation. The fact was that Wu Chen was a Heaven-ranked powerhouse, and his invincible strength was formidable enough to slaughter the Demon King Luo Tian very conveniently. Therefore, the possibility of these five people's survival was slim to none if they couldn't succeed in getting teleported right away.

"I offer my blood as a sacrifice to our Dark Lord..."

Liu An whirled around as these words fell into his ears. He saw that the masked woman's stature soared high up in the sky. Then, she turned in midair and flew towards the White Seal.

A grey-colored blazing flame bubbled-up on the surface of her body.

The seven luminous star shadows behind her head radiated magnificent brilliance. Then, one of them exploded with a loud rumbling sound.

Then the second, the third...

This woman had detonated the power of all seven stars at the same time!

The masked woman's body began to exude an increased number of magic power waves as the wisps of the grey fog integrated into her body one after another. In fact, it was several times more than before!

"Sister Yao, what are you doing?! Stop at once!" Liu An exclaimed.

The masked woman turned around and shot a profound look at Liu An. Then, the corner of her mouth smeared with a touch of a smile. After that, the grey bone-wand she held exuded splendid black radiance. Then, an extremely thick grey light beam galloped from inside and bombarded on the White Seal in a fierce manner.

The huge White Seal received a sudden jolt. Simultaneously, the white ripples that it was emanating also revealed a burst of tremor. However, it didn't disappear.

"We will defend our dignity in the name of our Dark Lord. We will obtain the eternal life in the endless darkness..."

The silver-haired young man and the short-and-stout man also followed the masked woman. They also started to detonate the star shadows behind their heads. The grey-colored blazing flames also appeared on their bodies in a similar manner.

After that, another two grey light beams rose high up. They then simultaneously plummeted down on the huge White Seal.

The Ancient White Seal trembled in a violent manner. And, the white ripples seemed as if they were on the verge of collapse.

Suddenly, a grey-colored silhouette appeared in front of the White Seal. Its whole body was covered with a layer of black hair.

This silhouette turned out to be the red-painted-faced man! His hands curled into a fist-hammer, and he pounded them towards the White Seal.

The surrounding void issued exploding sounds as the fist-wind passed!

Bang!

The radiance on the surface of the White Seal flashed, and the Seal started to tremble in a violent manner. Consequently, the white ripples disintegrated and disappeared.

However, the red-faced man also experienced a powerful jolt from the counter-shaking power of White Seal magic weapon. He was sent flying backwards like a worn-out sack as a result. The aura around his body also subsided and became a lot weaker in a fleeting moment.

The masked woman and the other two people's bodies were also shaken this time. They staggered and fell to the ground in a weak manner.

The white ripples that had pervaded the surrounding space finally faded away. Liu An's black magic circle returned to its normal state at the same time. Then, a mass of black light rolled out from the circle without further ado. It then enveloped Liu An's body. Then, the light again flashed and disappeared without a trace.

Elder Taoist Wu Chen rushed to the spot with a flash of white light. But, it was already too late.

Elder Taoist sucked in a long and deep breath. After that, he shifted his vision and looked towards the masked woman and other three people.

The aura around these four people's bodies seemed to have become extremely feeble by this time. They had fallen to the ground, and were unable to budge even an inch.

Elder Taoist Wu Chen moved quickly and swooped down.

...

Far on the garret's roof... the golden gleam in Shi Mu's eyes dissipated and his eyes resumed their original state.

A hint of excitement flashed through his eyes. That intense battle between two Heaven-ranked powerhouses had left his blood to boil with great enthusiasm.

He gazed in the direction of the Sparkling Gem Pavilion's ruins for a moment. Then, he sprang and jumped down the garret. And, he rushed into the distance at an extremely fast speed.

...

The old house which was the Dark Moon Cult's foothold in the Heavenly Yu City...

The red-robed maiden was beside the black teleportation magic circle in the underground space of this old house. She was half-knelt on the ground, and was soaked in a layer of fragrant sweat.

Liu An's silhouette seemed to be standing upright in the center of this black circle like a stone pillar. His long and blood-red hair looked like a waterfall. But, he was silent, and his head was lowered.

He remained standing there for a moment. Then, he raised his head and his eyes gleamed with glaring radiance. He took a big step and strode toward the outside.

"Stop!" a soft voice resounded. The Red-robed Maiden stood up.

"Big Brother, you want to throw away your life?" the Red-dressed Maiden shouted.

But, Liu An's stature didn't show the slightest signs of coming to a stop, and he continued to move towards the outside.

"Sister Yao and others risked their lives to save you. Do you want to let their efforts and sacrifices go in vain?!" The Red-dressed Maiden's stature flashed and stopped in front of Liu An to block his way.

Liu An's body received a jolt and his foot stopped.

"You are the most highly talented amongst all of us. We can stage a comeback if you are alive. And, there would be the possibility of waging a war against the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult again. Don't forget our respected master's instruction when he was in the last hours of his life," the Red-dressed Maiden said.

Liu An's body quivered as he heard the two words 'respected master'. He then held his head with his hands.

"I'll come along with you if you still want to go out. I don't care whether we will live or die..." two clear lines of tears streaked across her cheeks as she said.

"Ah..." Liu An raised his head upward and issued a long growl.

The Red-dressed Maiden walked over and embraced him in a gentle manner.

Liu An eventually calmed down after a long time.

"Big Brother, let's go. We have to abandon this place now," the Red-dressed Maiden said.

Liu An's eyes had regained their normal state by now. However, they were smeared with ice-like coldness. He heard her words and nodded in a slow manner.

...

Shi Mu's facial expression looked calm at the moment. He was advancing in the northern direction of the city.

A burst of clamorous sound mixed with all kinds of voices spread from the street ahead. Shrill yelling and roaring sounds could also be heard amidst this chaos. Then, a large group of people welled up from afar and packed the streets tightly.

The pedestrians soon plunged into turmoil as the people kept flooding-in from afar. All the people — whether they were walking, riding a horse, or sitting in a carriage — were scurrying all over the place and bumping into each other in confusion like headless houseflies.

"Run fast, there are many zombies that side!"

"Monster... monsters are killing people!"

"Skeletons, skeletons are everywhere!"

...

Shi Mu focused his vision and gazed through the chaotic stream of people. He could vaguely see a few lofty skeletons and zombies far behind the crowd.

His mouth moved rapidly as he started to read an incantation. Then, a huge mass of white Qi clouds emerged around him. The surrounding pedestrians looked surprised as they saw this. The Qi clouds supported his body and flew in the air along with him. Shi Mu again continued to head in the direction of the northern city-wall.

He looked afar while flying over this chaotic crowd and saw that four human skeletons and two green zombies were chasing down the front crowd. Those skeletons held bone-spears and blades in their hands.

In addition, a dozen or more corpses of old and young people lay scattered over the street behind them.

One of the spear-carrying skeletons soon caught up with a slow-moving grey-dressed old man. Then, it thrust its bone-spear and pierced the spearhead deep into the old man's heart.

His blood gushed out following the bone-spear like spring-water. Then, the skeleton flicked the bone-spear and the old man's body flew to the roadside like a worn-out sack. After that, the skeleton once again ran after a pink-dressed pregnant woman with a big belly.

A murderous look surfaced in Shi Mu's eyes. He stretched his right hand and pulled out the black blade from his back. The blade flared up with blazing flames the next moment.

Then, Shi Mu aimed below and wielded his blade in a violent manner. Six blazing blade-lights plummeted down like meteors. They then galloped separately towards the four skeletons and two zombies.

The soul flame in that skeleton's eyes flashed and the skeleton stopped. Then, each one of them received the fiery-red blade-light with their respective weapons.

"Puff! Puff!" a series of mild sound was heard.

The white bone-spears and blades were chopped into two parts instantaneously. Then, the remaining strength of the blazing red blade-light fell on the four skeletons, and chopped them into halves from top to bottom. The skeletons changed into a pile of lifeless bones in a split second as a result.

The two green zombies' reaction-time was slightly slower. Hence, they were similarly hewn into two sections as the red blade light touched their bodies. Then, they similarly collapsed on the roadside.

Then, Shi Mu flew past the heap of bones riding his Qi clouds.

Many exhausted people in the fleeing crowd fell to the ground when they saw that the Dead Spirit creatures had been exterminated. They felt as if their limbs had become completely numb. Some of them knelt and pressed their heads to the ground facing Shi Mu's flying clouds.

However, Shi Mu also landed on the roof of a three-story garret very swiftly like a feather. Then, he mumbled something again, and a mass of white Qi clouds again appeared. It held him and flew away once again.

He barely flew a short distance when a crescent-moon-shaped grey-colored spear-edge was projected towards him from a shop below. Then, "Chi!" "Chi!" an ear-piercing sound was heard near his Qi clouds.

Shi Mu's lips slightly moved, and a white light flashed on his body. Then, a layer of white protective-shield emerged on the surface of his body.

His right hand took a pinching gesture and cast a magic art at the same time. A cloud of white Qi darted from his hand and bundled the skeleton cavalryman on the spot. The skeleton had barely rushed out the shop when he was tied-up tightly.

Then, Shi Mu's mouth slightly opened and spouted a thick white Qi cloud. It bombarded on that skeleton's head like a bolt of white lightning.

"Bang!" a rumbling sound was heard.

The skeleton cavalryman's head burst into pieces, and its lofty body crashed to the ground with a loud sound.

Shi Mu couldn't help but fall to the ground again. He shot a glance towards the shop and vaguely saw a few people lying prone on the ground.

He decided that he shouldn't deploy the White Qi Cloud technique again to pass through this place. The fact was that he had finally realized that he could easily become others' target if he continued to fly in the air after this incident.

His stature moved, and he once again advanced towards the north of the city by following this street.

Shi Mu turned around a corner of the street after a quarter of an hour. But, he had barely turned when he saw that four blue Taoist-robed Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult's disciples were engaged in a fierce battle with a grey-colored zombie.

The grey zombie brandished its hands and a grey claw-shadow darted out. A middle-aged Taoist man - who stood on its opposite side - waved his sword and a Sword Qi emerged in a crisscross pattern. And, it blocked the grey claw-shadow the next moment.

The other three young Taoist men held their respective weapons and were also dancing in a group of cold light. They continually tried to encircle, attack, and inflict injuries to that zombie.

Shi Mu acted as if he hadn't seen anything. He swept past this battling group and continued to move ahead.

Shi Mu finally saw the lofty northern city-wall. The sky had already been smeared with darkness by this time.

He constantly came across various kinds of Dead Spirit creatures and native people along the way. He noticed that the people were fleeing in all directions in confusion. In addition, he also encountered many martial warriors and magicians in the city who had joined hands to slaughter the Dead Spirit creatures.

Shi Mu wouldn't have hesitated to undertake the task of exterminating these inhuman Dead Spirit creatures and rescue a few innocent people in a normal scenario.

However, he could have run into some the blue-colored Taoist robed Elders and disciples of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult in this process. Therefore, he had chosen to stay away from them in spite of helping them out.

Liu An's previous warning had made him realize that he-himself was also a Soul magician. And, Soul Magicians were considered a taboo in the eyes of the Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult.

Moreover, he was also a disciple of one of the branches of the Heavenly Demon Sect. He had once heard Jin Xiao Chai saying that the relationship between Heavenly Demon Sect and Transcending Heaven Immortal Cult was somewhat sensitive. Therefore, he had been keeping his profile low ever since he had stepped into this city.

Moreover, the present situation was already very unusual. Therefore, Shi Mu had decided to leave the Heavenly Yu City in order to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Shi Mu stood in front of the North City-wall. He then turned around and gazed towards that thousand-feet-high small mountain in the Western District of the city.

He saw that a huge stream of golden light was ascending in the night sky. The glorious light and flames in the sky were illuminating the golden walls of the palace on the hilltop.

He retracted his gaze and turned around. Then, his mouth moved as he read an incantation. Subsequently, a huge mass of white Qi Clouds wrapped him up and soared into the sky.

However, a warning alarm was issued-out from the broad city-wall. Then, a military officer rushed out and shouted at him.

Shi Mu pretended as if he hadn't heard his words. A pale-white light-shield appeared on his body, and he flew outside the city.