Chapter 273: Minor Realm [Volume 4 – Perpetual Conflict]    

The ranks above the dark race viscount were all divided into three ranks, however, there were always situations where a person’s strength surpassed his level. What they feared was that the spatial restriction assault would ignore one’s rank and, instead, act according to his strength.

As an expert in space and origin arrays, Li Rui was extremely clear regarding the dangers of spatial restrictions. It was just that Great Monarch Andruil had been missing for thousands of years, and such spatial defenses could still be worn down to depletion no matter how powerful they were. Duke Garis made it clear that his intention was to let those experts enter first to serve as cannon fodder.

Two hours had just passed when dozens of vampires arrived on the scene and, under Duke Garis’ eyes, disappeared into the spatial door one after another.

Duke Garis stood in the air in front of the spatial door with his hands behind his back and seemed as if he wasn’t doing anything. However, Li Rui noticed several indistinct strands of blood energy flowing out continuously from the duke’s foot and into the spatial door.

Li Rui probed the spatial door once again and was shaken. The violent energy hidden beneath its seemingly calm facade was actually being reduced gradually. Duke Garis’ domain was actually able to control space. A duke from an ancient clan was indeed unfathomable.

Any minor doubts Li Rui might have had before were completely dispelled at this moment. A strand of dissatisfaction flashed across the depths of his eyes as he turned back and said, “Li Zhan.” 

Li Zhan stepped forth and said in a deep voice, “What is your command?”

Li Rui said slowly, “You go in with some men and capture that brat. I want to see his person if he’s alive, or his corpse if he’s dead.”

Li Zhan’s strength was already quite close to a viscount—entering the door, for him, would be akin to walking along the borders of the underworld. However, he did not show the slightest bit of awkwardness and only replied in the affirmative before jumping into the spatial door with a number of rank-eight to rank-nine warriors.

Duke Garis didn’t comment on this. Currently, they had completely no idea about what was going on inside. The addition of a number of humans could also be considered an extra attempt opportunity.

Qianye was currently running through the forest at full speed. Many towering ancient trees flashed past beside him.

He had been running for nearly an hour, but there was only the boundless forest in front of him. It felt as if the woods were without end.

According to the human race’s understanding of vampires, Qianye had, at first, thought Andruil’s treasure would be hidden within an ancient tomb or an underground city. He had never expected to fall into a vast sea of trees upon entering the space.

Fortunately, the Wings of Inception maintained a lasting reaction to a certain place in the distance, and that was the location of the Eye of Truth. Otherwise, Qianye might not even be able to grasp the correct direction in this vast sea of trees.

Suddenly, his ears captured a number of subtle and rapid footsteps. This vampire viscount had been on Qianye’s tail since he entered this space and refused to give up all this time—he just couldn’t shake the former off no matter what method he used.

Qianye frowned. He took note of his surroundings as he ran, hoping to find a landscape he could utilize. Although he had once gravely wounded a Lone Ghost regional chief, that was a sneak attack he had launched while the other party wasn’t prepared. Presently, Qianye had no way to fight head-on against a vampire viscount. His chances of victory were quite slim even if the other party was only third-rank.

But the forest was largely uniform with hardly any utilizable terrain. Qianye’s several attempts at harassment found no success, to speak nothing of laying down traps in leisure. The vampire viscount displayed similarly abundant combat experience and patience, not giving Qianye the slightest opportunity to retaliate. It was just that he wasn’t able to close the gap between them either.

It was during this period of deadlock that a sense of extreme danger appeared in Qianye’s heart. The scenery not so far in front of him suddenly distorted—a gap was torn in the space between two large trees, from which a person tumbled out.

Qianye immediately recognized this human as the leader of the first batch descending from the lone peak!

More people have come? Did the spatial door not close? Or was it reopened? Could it be that the entry points were random?

Many questions flashed through his mind at once. However, he was in no condition to think of extra things because, once that man landed safely, Qianye would fall into a dangerous situation with a tiger in front and a wolf at his back. 

A surge of valiance rose up within his chest as he released a loud roar and slammed into the back of the falling Li Zhan! In addition to the fact that he was running at full speed at the time, the collision was backed by the eruption of his full strength. Without any fancy tricks, the two collided with a muffled bang like the impact of a falling meteorite.

Li Zhan hadn’t yet recovered from the jolt of spatial transportation and was still focused on stabilizing his descent. He was thus caught completely off-guard as Qianye slammed squarely into him. Several bones were broken amidst a series of cracking sounds, sending Li Zhan flying at an odd incline.

Qianye wasn’t feeling good himself and could feel an intense fishy smell gushing up his throat. He forcefully swallowed the mouthful of fresh blood and pulled out the Twin Flowers at lightning speed. He didn’t even have time to merge them before he pulled on the triggers and fired two shots.

Li Zhan let out a muffled groan as blood sprayed out from his legs—he had been shot. The aftershocks from the origin bullet explosion crashed violently onto his defenses. In the end, he couldn’t help but cough up a mouthful of blood.

However, Li Zhan’s reactions weren’t slow at all. Despite suffering successive attacks, his consciousness had recovered from the muddle-headedness of spatial translocation. He immediately drew his origin gun and aimed accurately at the potential direction of the follow-up attack.

Qianye, however, had no intention of going in for the kill. After firing the two shots, he ran into the distance without even a moment’s pause.

Li Zhan couldn’t help but feel amazed while looking at the figure rapidly disappearing into the distance.

The vampire viscount swiftly arrived and came to a sudden halt dozens of meters away from Li Zhan. He stared at the latter with bloodshot eyes and did nothing to hide the greed therein.

To a vampire, the essence blood of a human expert of Li Zhan’s strength was a great supplement. This third-rank vampire viscount might even advance a level if he could suck the man dry. 

Li Zhan only let out a cold snort and shot the vampire viscount a glance. He then proceeded to holster his origin gun, sit down, and handle the wounds on his leg. It was as if he didn’t even care about this viscount who had been eyeing him covetously.

The viscount was restless and, on several instances, had the urge to pounce forward. But the intense sense of danger would always stop his movements at the final moment. He felt as if the man before him wasn’t a sheep to be slaughtered, but instead a natural predator.

In the end, the viscount slowly retreated and put a certain distance between them. Human marksmanship was more powerful than the dark races. It was obvious from how Li Zhan had drawn his gun after he was ambushed that he was an expert in this field. Since the vampire had no plans to take action, the wisest course of action for him was to move out of gun range.

Li Zhan spat hard and said disdainfully, “What a spineless vampire! Your daddy here would skin you alive if the master hadn’t strictly forbidden me from taking action!” 

The vampire’s face twitched. “Good, very good! I’ll be sure to relay every word you said just now to Duke Garis.” 

Li Zhan mumbled after the vampire viscount’s figure vanished into the dense woods, “You still want to leave here alive?” He applied simple first-aid to the wounds and continued his pursuit in the direction Qianye had left.

After gaining some distance with great difficulty, Qianye didn’t even look back and continued running toward the location he was being guided to by the Wings of Inception. Currently, he had fallen into a mysterious space. Even if he were to discount the people chasing after him, there was no way for him to leave this place without any understanding of spatial pathways and origin arrays. His only hope was to find the Eye of Truth.

The reaction became increasingly clear as Qianye rushed out of the forest and the scene before him abruptly opened up. He stood in place and was momentarily distracted.

The scene that had appeared before him was a soothing plain which extended all the way toward the horizon. There was a great river winding across it, and a majestic city towering over its bank. 

There were white clouds drifting in the lofty blue dome above, and the midday sun was moving ever so slightly toward the end of this sky. Meanwhile, a gigantic red moon hung just above the distant horizon.

This scenery had never existed in Qianye’s memories before, and neither had he ever read of such a place. He hadn’t expected that beyond the sea of trees was such a vast land and sky. This wasn’t like a sealed space at all and was more like a minor realm on its own.

For the first time, Qianye suspected whether or not he really was in Great Monarch Andruil’s space. These vast mountains, great rivers, and this deathly still city all stood as a silent testament to the Black-Winged Monarch’s might.

Qianye was momentarily startled but soon set out once again and dashed toward the distant city. He had only covered a couple of kilometers when the vampire viscount and Li Zhan charged out of the woods one after the other.

The vampire viscount was hardly any faster than Qianye. Li Zhan, on the other hand, was probably originally faster, but his legs were affected by the wound and had thus fallen behind even the viscount.  

The three figures, one fleeing, and two chasing, were akin to flashes of lightning as they shot across the plain and darted toward the city.

A layer of faint mist rose up in front of Qianye’s eyes after stepping into the city perimeter. His range of vision became fairly limited, and he could only see objects within several meters. This mist seemed to have risen abruptly because there wasn’t the slightest sign of its existence before entering the city.

The mist also greatly obstructed one’s perceptions. Qianye discovered that his night vision had been rendered ineffective, and even his hearing had become impaired. It felt as if the world had shrunk down to a few meters after entering the city.

This wasn’t a bad thing for Qianye because he believed his pursuers, the vampire viscount, and Li Zhan, wouldn’t be able to escape the effects of this mist. He swiftly traveled along the streets and dashed past several street blocks. He then made two continuous turns into a couple of alleyways before activating his bloodline concealment to withdraw all of his aura.

Hereafter, it would depend on pure luck for both human and vampire to find Qianye’s trail within this city.

Qianye leaned on a tall wall and gradually regulated his breathing before beginning to observe the surroundings.

The buildings in this city were quite special. They were built with foundations of stone and metallic frames. The walls, windows, and eaves were all decorated with metallic sculptures and ornaments. The style gave off a feeling of exquisite magnificence amidst the solemnity. The greater half of the metallic materials consisted of steel and copper. 

Judging from the height of the buildings and sculptures, it was evident that the residents were humanoid creatures slightly taller than the current humans and vampires. Their average height should be around 200 centimeters. 

The wall Qianye was standing on belonged to a certain building with a great steel door just nearby. Qianye walked over and reached out to push on it.

There was no lock on the fairly heavy door, and it was, almost miraculously, free of rust. At this point, the door opened slowly and silently.