The head master has a new female apprentice

Chapter 395 Chicken, what will I do if you die? (6k)

"so serious?!"

As soon as Zhou Qing followed the Spirit Severing Realm cultivator into the passage, the sight before him caused his pupils to shrink abruptly.

The severely injured Ji Yunluo was weak, and the spatial gap was expanding at a visible speed, with dark spatial rifts constantly spreading along its edges.

The situation was critical, and he immediately transformed into a streak of purple-gold lightning and flew past.

Arcs of lightning roared through the passage, causing even the turbulent spatial currents to falter in their wake.

"call out!"

Ten thousand spiritual seals burst forth from his body, each radiating a unique Daoist charm.

Of these spiritual imprints, apart from a few that he comprehended on his own, the vast majority were copied from rare imprints left by Xuan Qingzi.

Although the quantity is less than that of Ji Yunluo, the quality is several levels higher.

The moment the spiritual seal entered the gap, the spatial rift, which had been expanding wildly, paused and its spread slowed down significantly.

"Do you have a formation diagram?" Zhou Qing asked urgently, his voice coming through the mask.

Ji Yunluo was taken aback at first, then her face lit up with joy, and she quickly took out the inheritance jade slip that Li Changhong had given her earlier.

She forced herself to reach the other side of the gap, her withered hands forming hand seals once more, and the thirty thousand spirit seals were painstakingly reassembled—this time, she clearly felt the pressure was greatly reduced.

"It turns out to be him!"

Li Changhong's eyes flashed with a sharp light as he stared intently at Zhou Qing's figure as he rapidly flipped through the jade slips.

Not long ago, with the help of the city's protective array, he immediately detected a small-scale fight between two Spirit Severing Realm cultivators and tried to stop them.

Unexpectedly, the person wearing the mask was actually a level four formation master.

Fortunately, he did not use his power to intimidate the other party at the time, and did not cause the other party to feel resentful, otherwise the other party would not have come all the way here to help him now.

He turned to the Spirit Slayer Realm cultivator who was leading the way, and the cultivator immediately reported back.

Li Changhong nodded slightly and waved for him to leave quickly.

The space inside the passage is extremely unstable at this moment; each additional person increases the risk of collapse.

"Masters, focus on the repairs. Leave the rest to me!"

Li Changhong shouted in a deep voice, his green sword gleaming with a blinding cold light, its blade pointing directly at the restless void beast at the other end of the passage.

At this moment, Zhou Qing quickly digested the contents of the jade slip, and Ji Yunluo said weakly, "Fellow Daoist, if we want to fully repair it, we need to work together."

Zhou Qing then noticed that the white-haired old woman in front of him was surrounded by 30,000 spiritual seals!
I'm only 20,000 coins away from advancing to the legendary fifth-level array master realm.

Zhou Qing took a deep breath and solemnly cupped his hands towards Ji Yunluo:
"I am Zhou Qing, and I have met with Master Ji. I have a general understanding of the situation."

His gaze swept over the widening gap, and he said in a steady voice, "Now, I will first repair the broken rune chains at the bottom to stabilize the array base. Senior can concentrate on repairing the core array patterns; we will work on both fronts simultaneously."

As he spoke, he quickly formed hand seals, and the ten thousand spiritual seals around his body suddenly split apart, turning into streams of light that precisely connected the broken rune chains.

With the timely replenishment, the chain, which had been shaking violently, gradually stabilized.

"Good!" Ji Yunluo's cloudy eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he immediately understood Zhou Qing's intention.

She suppressed her pain and her withered fingers formed complex hand seals: "I will now repair the core main array patterns. After Fellow Daoist Zhou stabilizes the array base, please assist in reinforcing the edge barriers."

Just as the two were working together, a deafening roar suddenly came from the depths of the gap, causing the entire passage to tremble.

The Void Beast, at the peak of the Spirit Severing Realm, once again poked out its ferocious head. Its head, covered in bone spurs, had a pair of scarlet eyes staring intently at the two people who were repairing the formation.

The corrosive liquid dripping from between the fangs continuously scorched the tunnel walls, causing them to hiss and emit white smoke.

At that moment, the old hen that had been quietly tied to Zhou Qing's chest suddenly raised its head.

Its bulging, chicken-like eyes pierced through the Void Beast's silhouette, staring intently at some being deep within the darkness, a glint of human-like greed flashing in its eyes.

"You beast, cease your arrogance!" Li Changhong's expression was solemn, and the cyan longsword in his hand emitted a dazzling cyan light.

He flashed forward, blocking the two array masters, his sword pointing directly at the void beast: "With me here today, you two masters will not be able to harm a single thing!"

As he spoke, his spiritual power surged, and the pressure of a Great Perfection of the Spirit Severing Realm was released without reservation.

Nine ancient runes appeared on the cyan longsword, each containing terrifying destructive power.

The Void Beast seemed to sense the threat, letting out a low roar, but did not attack immediately.

The two sides remained locked in a standoff in the passageway, the atmosphere tense and ready to clash.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qing and Ji Yunluo's repair work is progressing rapidly.

Without any interference, the two's spiritual seals worked perfectly together:
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, I have repaired 30% of the core array patterns. Please reinforce the support barrier in the southeast corner."

Although Ji Yunluo's voice was weak, it revealed an undisguised joy.

"Understood!" Zhou Qing responded and immediately manipulated the two thousand spirit seals to turn around, weaving into a dense grid in the southeast corner.

These spiritual imprints resonate with Ji Yunluo's spiritual imprint, forming a perfect complement.

Seeing this, Li Changhong felt much more at ease.

He stood with his sword in hand, like an insurmountable gatekeeper, firmly keeping the Void Beasts at a safe distance.

The nine runes on the cyan longsword flickered in and out of focus, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.

With the perfect coordination of the three, the terrifying gap was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

One by one, the cracks on the walls of the silver passage disappeared, and the previously turbulent spatial currents gradually subsided.
Just as the formation was about to completely close, the entire passage suddenly trembled violently.

At the gap, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, the space twisted and distorted like a shattered mirror, emitting a teeth-grinding "crackling" sound.

"Only three more array patterns are needed!" Zhou Qing's voice came through the mask, carrying a suppressed urgency.

His fingers moved swiftly, and ten thousand spirit seals moved in batches along the edge of the gap.

Each spirit seal that fell stabilized the distorted space by a little.

Ji Yunluo's withered fingers continued to work tirelessly, and the Thirty Thousand Spirit Seals formed a dazzling halo around her.

Her cloudy eyes were fixed on the core array patterns, but she let out a long sigh: "Don't worry, I only have one last thing to do on this side—"

Before he finished speaking, a sudden change occurred!
"Roar--!!!"

A deafening roar came from the depths of the gap, the sound so powerful that it caused ripples to spread across the silver barrier of the entire passage.

That Void Beast, at the peak of the Spirit Severing Realm, launched its most frenzied attack at the last moment!
Its movements are incredibly fast.

The massive body twisted at an illogical angle, its bony back grazing Li Changhong's sword, sending up a trail of blinding sparks.

Those scarlet beast eyes were fixed on Zhou Qing.

"Master Zhou, be careful!" Li Changhong's warning had barely left his mouth when the Void Beast's attack came crashing down.

"boom!"

With a muffled thud, Zhou Qing's body was struck as if by lightning.

The Void Beast's claws struck his back squarely, shattering his protective spiritual energy instantly.

He staggered forward, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth beneath the mask.

"Giggle!"

The old hen, with its quiver tied to its chest, squawked urgently, its feathers standing on end.

Zhou Qing endured the excruciating pain, trying to steady himself, only to see the void beast's blood-red maw suddenly open to an exaggerated degree—

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Countless slender, scarlet tongues shot out from deep within its throat!

These tongues, covered in barbs and dripping with corrosive mucus from their tips, twisted and coiled in the air like living creatures.

"Not good!" Zhou Qing's pupils shrank sharply, and the spiritual seal in his hand instantly turned into a defensive one.

But those tongues were so fast that they wrapped around his limbs and neck in the blink of an eye.

Ji Yunluo on the other side was also attacked.

Three tongues, like venomous snakes, coiled around her waist and abdomen, their barbs digging deep into her flesh.

She groaned, and the defense composed of 30,000 spirit seals was instantly corroded and a gap appeared!
"You beast!" Li Changhong was furious, and his blue longsword emitted a dazzling cold light.

"cut!"

Nine ancient runes lit up on the sword, and the sword light poured down like a silver river, instantly severing the tongue that was entangled with Ji Yunluo.

Just as Li Changhong turned to save Zhou Qing, another unexpected event occurred!
"Cluck cluck—!!!"

The old hen on Zhou Qing's chest suddenly let out an unprecedentedly sharp crow.

The voice contained an ancient and terrifying pressure that caused the Void Beast to freeze in its tracks.

Even more shockingly, the old hen's bulging eyes were now staring intently into the depths of the gap.

There, behind the distorted space, a human-shaped black shadow could be vaguely seen moving about.

"What is that...?" Zhou Qing's heart trembled, but before he could think about it, the old hen suddenly unleashed an unimaginable force!

"Whoosh!"

The rope tied around his chest tightened instantly, and Zhou Qing felt an irresistible pull.

The old hen dragged him like an arrow shot from a bow towards the gap!
"what?!"

Zhou Qing was shocked, and an unprecedented chill ran down his spine and up to his head.

He instinctively tried to untie the rope, but found that the seemingly ordinary rope was completely still.

"Big sister, stop messing around!" Zhou Qing's voice changed, and for the first time, a look of panic appeared on her face behind the mask.

He frantically channeled the lightning power within his body, and purple-gold lightning crackled in his palm: "I brought you here as a trump card to save my life, not to harm me!"

"Boom!"

A surge of violent lightning power coalesced in Zhou Qing's hand, transforming into a short blade crackling with lightning.

Without hesitation, he slashed at the rope, but just as the lightning blade was about to touch it—

"Whoosh!"

Three more scarlet tongues suddenly shot out from the Void Beast's mouth, coiling around his wrist like venomous pythons.

The sticky, slippery sensation made Zhou Qing's hair stand on end, and his lightning power was abruptly interrupted.

"I've spun my own cocoon!" Zhou Qing let out a desperate scream.

He watched helplessly as his body was pulled towards the gap by the combined force of the two forces.

"Master Zhou!" Li Changhong's eyes were bloodshot, and he unleashed his full spiritual power at the Great Perfection of the Spirit Severing Realm.

His figure transformed into a streak of azure light, moving so fast that he left a series of afterimages in the passage.

"Leave it here!"

Li Changhong's fingers had already touched the hem of Zhou Qing's fluttering clothes. He tried his best to grab it, but at the critical moment—

"boom!"

A jet-black spatial turbulence suddenly erupted from the gap, violently sending Li Changhong flying.

When he regained his balance, the last thing he saw was Zhou Qing's back as that scarlet tongue dragged him into the gap...

"Do not--!!!"

Ji Yunluo's shouts echoed through the passage.

She lunged at the breach like a madwoman, unleashing the thirty thousand spirit seals with all her might: "Stop! Stop it!" Her withered fingers plunged into the closing core of the formation, attempting to stop its repair with her own flesh and blood!
The spiritual seal collided with flesh and blood, producing a chilling "hissing" sound, and her hands were instantly torn open.

"Master Ji!" Li Changhong hugged her tightly. "Calm down!"

"Let me go!" Ji Yunluo struggled hysterically, her cloudy eyes bloodshot. "I have to save him! He can't, he can't!"

Her voice suddenly choked up, and she froze on the spot as if struck by lightning.

Following her gaze, Li Changhong saw a bronze mask slowly floating down from the gap.
That was Zhou Qing's mask.

"I...I couldn't..." Ji Yunluo's voice trembled uncontrollably, tears streaming down her wrinkled face. "A thousand years ago, the old man was also...given to me by the Void Beast in the same way."

Li Changhong's heart skipped a beat, his hands clenched tightly, his eyes filled with anger and resentment as he looked at the endless darkness.

“He’s not Old Man Weng.” Li Changhong pressed down hard on Ji Yunluo’s shoulder, his voice low.

Ji Yunluo's struggles gradually weakened, but the despair in her eyes grew stronger: "The void is where it's easiest to get lost; there are no coordinates, no direction."

Li Changhong could feel the trembling of the withered body beneath his palm.

He took a deep breath and tightened his grip: "I know he's here to help us. How can we abandon him?"

His gaze shifted to the gap that was repairing itself, and his voice suddenly became firm: "If we work together, we can stabilize the gap and stop it from repairing itself. He... he will definitely get out safely."

Ji Yunlu stared blankly at Li Changhong, then nodded heavily.

At this moment, the entire teleportation array has been basically repaired, and the array is rapidly repairing itself.

The gap shrank visibly, from being as wide as a person to half a person's height, and it looked like it was about to close completely.

"Make your move!" Ji Yunluo suddenly shouted, and 30,000 dim spirit seals surged out of her body once again.

This time, instead of using it to repair, she frantically attacked the core of the formation, attempting to disrupt its self-repair mechanism.

Li Changhong did not hesitate either, his cyan longsword drawing a mysterious trajectory in the air.

Nine ancient runes detached from the sword and directly embedded themselves into the key nodes of the formation's operation.

The two forces clashed fiercely within the formation, instantly halting the previously smooth repair process.

The rate at which the gap is closing has slowed significantly, but it is still shrinking irresistibly.
"Hold on a little longer." Blood began to seep from Ji Yunluo's seven orifices again, but she was completely unaware, staring intently into the depths of the gap.

But as time goes by, the gap continues to shrink relentlessly.

From waist height to knee height, then to just wide enough for one arm to pass through...
Ji Yunluo's 30,000 spirit seals had dimmed to the point of being like a candle flickering in the wind, yet they were still making their last struggle.

She was giving Zhou Qing hope, and at the same time, she was redeeming the obsession in her heart.

"No, no," her voice was so weak it was almost inaudible, as she prayed that Zhou Qing would break free in the next moment.

Once this glimmer of light disappears, all that will remain for Zhou Qing is endless darkness with no time and no direction.

Li Changhong's longsword also trembled with a mournful cry, and most of the nine runes had already been extinguished.

Blood began to seep from the corner of his mouth, yet he still stubbornly maintained the last output of spiritual energy.

The gap shrank to the size of a fist.
Then there's the thickness of a finger.
Finally, only a sliver of light remained.
"boom!"

With a soft click, the gap closed completely.

The entire passage instantly returned to calm, as if nothing had ever happened.

Ji Yunluo's body swayed violently, and all 30,000 spirit seals extinguished simultaneously.

She stared blankly at the scene before her, her expression shifting from shock to despair, and finally turning ashen.

Li Changhong staggered back two steps, his eyes bloodshot.

"It's over..."

……

Zhou Qing felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, his body being dragged into endless darkness by two irresistible forces.

The air was filled with the whistling turbulence of space, and the skin felt like it was being pierced by thousands of steel needles at the same time.

He instinctively closed his eyes, but he could still feel the violent void forces around him tearing at his body.

"Damn it!"

Zhou Qing bit his tongue hard, and the sharp pain instantly brought him back to his senses.

He forcibly circulated his spiritual power to protect himself, but he could not see anything in front of him. Then, his pupils suddenly split open—his blood-red pupils shone with an eerie light in the darkness.

Only then could he barely see in absolute darkness.

Everywhere you look, there is distorted chaos.

The blurry outlines appeared and disappeared in the blood-red vision, as if seen through a layer of blood mist.

Zhou Qing saw that several scarlet tongues were still tightly wrapped around him, with the other end connected to the ferocious void beast.

"boom!"

The purple-gold lightning exploded from his palm, transforming once again into a thunderous blade.

Without hesitation, Zhou Qing slashed at his waist and wrist, and the lightning blade burst into dazzling sparks the moment it made contact with his tongue.

"Roar--!"

The Void Beast let out a painful roar, its tongue retracting as if it had been electrocuted.

Taking advantage of this brief moment of opening, Zhou Qing quickly formed a hand seal, instantly suppressing his aura to its limit.

A huge meteorite just happened to drift past him, and Zhou Qing darted into its shadow like lightning.

The cold rock pressed against his back. He held his breath, his bloodshot eyes scanning his surroundings warily.

This sight sent a jolt through him.

Three enormous creatures were swimming nearby.

What we saw at the gap was only part of its body, and its body, covered with bone spurs, was covered with pitch-black scales, and its scarlet eyes were like two blood lamps.

Most chillingly, each of them had a rusty iron chain nailed to its forehead, with the other end of the chain extending into the depths of the void.

Looking in the direction of the iron chain, Zhou Qing's blood-red pupils suddenly contracted—

In the deeper darkness, a dilapidated chariot could be vaguely seen floating silently.

The chariot was entirely black, made of some unknown metal, and its surface was covered with strange runes.

The carriage shafts were broken, the curtains were torn, yet it still exuded a suffocating oppressive aura.

"What is that?" Zhou Qing's throat tightened.

Just then, a shrill scream suddenly came from the direction of the carriage!

"what--!!"

The humanoid creature we saw earlier was struggling frantically beside the carriage, seemingly fighting against something unseen.

The figure kept slapping against the carriage, each contact emitting blinding sparks.

"Cack!"

A familiar rooster crow suddenly came from the direction of the carriage.

Zhou Qing was shocked: "An old hen?!"

He then realized that his chest was completely empty.

Meanwhile, the old hen had somehow broken free of her ropes and was now appearing near the carriage!

"This...this..." Zhou Qing was dumbfounded.

It rushed so desperately into the void, all for that humanoid creature.

Will this help its recovery?
"Roar!!" Almost simultaneously, the three Void Beasts let out painful howls, their massive bodies twisting wildly.

But after a short while, the direction of the carriage became quiet, and there was no further movement.

However, the iron chain between the three-headed Void Beast's eyebrows broke inch by inch at this moment.

"boom!"

The moment the last link of the chain snapped, the three Void Beasts, as if granted a pardon, dashed into the depths of the void without looking back and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Suppressing his shock, Zhou Qingqiang finally understood why they would attack the teleportation array that had been running for tens of thousands of years for no reason.

"So it was that unknown creature controlling it," Zhou Qing muttered to himself, his blood-red eyes fixed on the strange carriage in the distance.

But then, a more practical question came to mind.

etc--

Zhou Qing looked around and immediately looked dejected.

Now that you've eaten and drunk your fill, how are we going to get out of here?

I've heard that falling into this void almost always means certain death. Even with my Four Flowers Gathering at the Top technique, I still can't escape.

In the blood-red vision, all around was distorted chaos, making it difficult to even discern directions.

Occasionally, broken, unidentified fragments drift by, bringing a chilling sensation.

So, since you rushed in without any hesitation, you must have a way to get out, right? You absolutely mustn't leave me behind.

Ignoring everything else, Zhou Qing quickly pretended not to see anything and clumsily "groped" in the void, slowly moving towards the carriage.

At the same time, call out softly in the gentlest voice:
"Family, where are you? I'm scared." His voice trembled just right. "Make a sound! Are you in danger? Don't be afraid, I'm here, I'm coming to find you."

As Zhou Qing drew closer, the surrounding spatial turbulence acted like invisible blades, occasionally leaving tiny cuts on his body.

Fortunately, the "Demon-Subduing Golden Bone" continuously flashed with golden light, rapidly healing the wounds.

Suddenly, a faint "clucking" sound came from afar.

Zhou Qing's heart skipped a beat, and his blood-red eyes immediately locked onto the source of the sound.

On a slowly rotating meteorite, an old hen lay weakly, her feathers dull and lifeless, one wing drooping unnaturally, as if she had been seriously injured.

It seems that it also paid a great price to devour that humanoid creature.

"Damn it, I was waiting for you to take me out, and now it's turned into this, who's going to take care of whom?" Zhou Qing cursed inwardly.

Then, watching the strange chariot float deeper into the void, he could only maintain his worried expression and clumsily "grope" his way downwards.

"Chicken, don't be afraid, I'm coming." He deliberately slowed down, pretending to be pushed about by the void turbulence.

Its body rolled clumsily in the darkness, occasionally letting out exaggerated gasps.

As soon as he landed completely on the meteorite, he rushed to the old hen and hugged her tightly in his arms: "Chicken, what happened to you? You can't die! What will I do if you die?"

The sound was so mournful, like a wailing, that it echoed in the void.

In the darkness, the old hen slowly opened her eyes, revealing an extremely human-like expression of speechlessness.

The chicken's beak twitched slightly, as if it was trying to suppress the urge to roll its eyes.

Then it let out a weak "clucking" sound.

"You're alright! That's great!" Zhou Qing's expression changed with surprise and delight, faster than flipping through a book.

He frantically took out a golden pill from his storage bag, pried open its beak without explanation, and forced it inside.

"How are you? Feeling better?" Zhou Qing asked with a "concerned" expression as he stroked the chicken's back.

(End of this chapter)