Zheng discovered the third floor was a space of chaos and disarray, unlike the formations of the four beasts, the eight trigrams, or the Taichi in the floors below. Refined Qi and Magic fused in a perfect state… or perhaps, one could describe this fused energy as a higher tier energy. Zheng couldn’t recognize it. It was through luck and chance that he came into possession of refined Qi and Magic after all.
Exotic shaped weapons and items floated in this space. Each item had a tempo. They breathed energy as if they were alive. Even an idiot could instantly tell the value of these items. They were the essence of the heritage left behind by the Cultivators. These items were perhaps powerful or perhaps possessed unique abilities. They ought to be more valuable than rank A or even AA items from the exchange system. Zheng was like the thief who broke into a safe holding ten tons of gold. He could only watch and take nothing away.
“Damn it! Who was it that broke apart this land?” Zheng nearly couldn’t keep himself from screaming.
Every one of these items looked so valuable. It was a pity to leave even one of them behind, not to mention the hundreds and perhaps over a thousand of them here. Barring the ability to grab these items with the spatial rings and bags, it would take the team days to take out every item, given that they had a safe environment to do so. However, one or two might be his best bet with the limited amount of time he had.
“No time to think…”
The explosions happening outside were growing more intense by the second. Zheng knew the tower could collapse at any time now. Once these items fell into the lava, not even peak fourth stage could allow him to salvage anything underneath. The items would sink and burn in the lava until the stream carried them elsewhere years after or perhaps they would keep sinking until they reach the core. This was Zheng’s last chance!
(Their sizes vary. I don’t know which ones are the most powerful. Damn it. If only WangXia is here. He’s familiar with Chinese mythology and should be able to identify powerful Cultivation items. It would be unfortunate if I grab something with unique ability but isn’t powerful.)
“Damn it! I’ll just have to grab as many as I can. Pick the smaller items!”
The several smallest items were the size of the Na Ring. The biggest item was a shield that looked like a wall. There was a metal staff about five meters long which seemed incredibly powerful. Golden energy flowed on its surface, which made it superior to the current Tiger’s Soul. The familiar color of its appearance reminded Zheng of the weapon used by a certain monkey. If it was true, this staff should be more powerful than even the complete Tiger’s Soul.
Unfortunately, that huge size of the staff stopped any attempt he might want to try. His vision immediately moved over to the smaller items. One that was nearest to him was a mirror about the size of his hand. On the top of the mirror’s frame was a little ring. Zheng grabbed the mirror then put it on his finger. He rushed at another item.
He nearly tripped the moment he arrived at an antiquated bronze bell as the floor started shaking. Zheng subconsciously grabbed the bell. He faintly felt a message ‘Inscriptions… Bell… East’. This feeling was quickly interrupted by the floor collapsing. Zheng fell along with fragments of shattered stones and wood.
These stones and wood were nothing extraordinary. In fact, he wouldn’t get damaged even if the whole tower were to fall on him. Zheng flapped his wings and attempted to grabbed a few more items before leaving. Just as he flew a few meters, the refined Qi and Magic crashed with each other violently. The two polar energies lost the constraint that kept them peacefully together. They would react similarly to Explosion and Destruction when the chance arrived or perhaps, they might become the Magic Cannon.
“Could it be that… my life ends here?”
A blue light sparked and instantly enveloped the whole tower with its blinding brightness. The tower then collapsed.
Those watching from afar dropped their jaws in shock. No one knew the structure of the tower and the energy formations inside, so they didn’t know the cause of the blue light. Still, it wasn’t difficult to tell the danger for anyone inside when the tower collapsed. And the person inside at this time was Zheng. He was strong, among the teams in God’s realm. But he wasn’t strong enough to become the main character of a fantasy web novel. Even a pile of plasma bombs could damage him, not to mention this blinding blue light. Was this going to be the end of Zheng?
WangXia’s mind went blank for a few seconds. He thrust his arm forward. A plasma bomb flew toward the flesh that wasn’t too far away and vaporized a ten-meter area. He yelled. “Xuan! Is Zheng still alive?”
Heng and YinKong were still in a shock. Xuan on the other hand continued firing his pistols using the Lambda Driver without a word. He didn’t seem anxious at all.
WangXia grabbed him by the collar and yelled at his face. His eyes were bloodshot. “Xuan! Is Zheng still alive? You pushed him to get those Cultivation manuals! Say something!”
Xuan quietly looked at WangXia for several seconds before he replied. “The metal plate I gave him is still intact.”
“Eh?” WangXia asked. “What does it mean?”
“All the plates I handed out are connected to my glasses. I will know instantly when they are damage. These plates were crafted with materials exchanged from God so not even the Na Ring can cut off the connection after Zheng stores it inside. Since the Na Ring doesn’t have defense of its own, its wielder is alive and has enough energy to protect it.”
Ignoring the collar being in WangXia’s hands, Xuan fired two more two empowered shots at the flesh. “From the time Zheng entered the Sky Tower until it exploded was a total of eleven seconds. Given Zheng’s speed, he should have obtained something useful. It will be interesting no matter what those things are. WangXia, do you believe in me?”
The question surprised WangXia. He had nothing against Xuan. It was only his worry about Zheng that made him grabbed Xuan’s collar. There was no issue with trust to begin with. If there was one person who could decide the fate of team China and the fate of their enemies at the same time, that person had to be Xuan. You couldn’t stay calm being his comrade since you might unwittingly become his chess piece. However, he was worthy to be trusted as a comrade. Or perhaps, it was impossible to not trust him, because he was a god when it came to plans.
Xuan said. “This land will fall into the lava in twenty seconds. Imhotep needs thirty seconds to come down. Which means we will be in absolute danger for ten seconds. Neither Heng nor I have the power to protect ourselves during this time. You and YinKong are the only people we can count on here. Falling into the lava means death, so… we will leave our lives to you.”
WangXia was even more surprised. Had he ever seen Xuan looked so fragile? Had he ever seen Xuan asked for help? Never! When he finally got the chance to witness this Xuan, he was struck by fear. It was like watching the sun rise from the west. Either he went insane or the world was coming to an end. Obviously, he hadn’t gone insane, which left him with only one possibility… Xuan believed he was going to die or they were going to die.
“Are we… going to die soon?”
WangXia uttered similar words to what Zheng had said. Just then, the land they were standing on began to break apart. The flesh fell before them and the four people soon followed. To their back, a whirlwind was diving down, yet the distance between the whirlwind and them were further than the distance between them and the lava.
Twenty seconds left before the four members of team China would fall into the lava.