Imperial Cultivation

"Where exactly are we?"

Zheng Zhenxing tightly gripped the hilt of his Longsword, not daring to draw it out.

"I deduce we should be beneath that cave." Luo Yun said, "It might be an Array."

"Array, huh..." Meng Xianda grinned, "I won’t lie, but whenever I hear Array now, my scalp tingles; the Arrays in this Grotto Heaven are too sinister!"

Zheng Zhenxing snorted, "That’s not a cave at all; it’s just an Illusion!"

Luo Yun said, "Had it not been for the Flying Knife, we probably couldn’t have broken that Illusion."

Meng Xianda said, "Did you hear that sound?"

Luo Yun said, "The call was very strange, I couldn’t determine what was calling."

"The last Array had six Fierce Beasts; this time, is it also Fierce Beasts?"

"If it’s truly Fierce Beasts, we’re already dead."

"Perhaps like before, it’s a suppressed Fierce Beast."

"Brother Huang, at this point, we can’t afford to be stingy with the Flying Knife. Let’s use it to pave a path to survival!"

Zheng Zhenxing, speaking, reached out to touch the stone wall, shook his head, and released his hand.

No True Yuan at all; wanting to exert strength without True Yuan is futile.

Can’t even feel any resistance from the wall.

Luo Yun and Meng Xianda both looked at the Flying Knife in Huang Zhengyang’s palm.

The crystal-clear Flying Knife was firmly attached to his left palm.

Huang Zhengyang glanced at it and raised his left palm.

"Wow!"

A violent shake before their eyes, followed by a flash, as vastness enveloped them, their thoughts stopped again.

"Screech!"

"Wow wow!"

"Screech screech screech screech screech..."

The piercing whistles crisscrossed in the air, awakening the four.

"What’s happening now?!"

"Is it the Flying Knife?"

Luo Yun and Zheng Zhenxing quickly inquired.

Huang Zhengyang replied, "The Flying Knife moved by itself!"

Their vision gradually cleared, finding themselves still inside that small stone cave.

A Flying Knife hovered mid-air, flickering with Golden Light, appearing and disappearing.

The blade was pristine and pure.

Below the Flying Knife, a mass of fresh blood was slowly wriggling.

This blood was vividly colored, writhing jellyfish-like, gathering, growing smaller, gradually forming a sphere.

"What... is this?"

Their gaze was drawn to this vivid mass.

Immediately they felt a chill, stepping back.

From this blood cluster, they sensed a lethal threat, their hairs standing on end.

"Is this blood from that creature? What on earth is it?"

"Since the Flying Knife has struck, it’s certainly no good thing."

"Must be harboring murderous intent; previously, it spared us, now it’s after us."

...

They quietly shuffled, slowly distancing from the now formed red sphere.

The fist-sized red sphere looked stranger, and it lightly throbbed.

"Damn it, where’s the True Yuan!" Zheng Zhenxing angrily remarked.

Meng Xianda chuckled, "Have we truly lost our Cultivation?"

"Shouldn’t be completely lost," Luo Yun shook his head, "I feel something is amiss. Is it an illusion? ...We can actually activate the True Yuan, just feel we can’t?"

"Definitely no True Yuan," Zheng Zhenxing said.

"None," Meng Xianda said, "If there were, it wouldn’t be hidden this well."

"That’s puzzling," Luo Yun looked at Huang Zhengyang, "Brother Huang, what do you think?"

Huang Zhengyang shook his head, "If there were, the Flying Knife would activate it."

"So we’re just losing Cultivation like this?" Luo Yun asked.

Huang Zhengyang replied, "Once out of this Array, we should recover."

"How do we escape this Array then?" Zheng Zhenxing asked, "Even the Flying Knife can’t do it?"

Their eyes shifted to the hovering, eager Flying Knife.

The Flying Knife gently trembled, casting glimmers like ripples on a lake.

"Wow!"

Suddenly, a strange cry erupted from within the red sphere.

In the next moment, the Flying Knife appeared atop the sphere, half its blade piercing within.

The sphere emitted a glaring red light and gave a bizarre "Wow" cry.

With the cry, their vision wavered, bodies swayed as if drunk.

Vision blurred again, thoughts slowed, nearly halted.

"Screech screech screech screech!"

The Flying Knife suddenly detached from the sphere, slicing in cross patterns through the air.

Only faint white lines gleamed, as if ripping through the Void.

Their gaze tracked slowly and stiffly, struggling to keep up.

Only seeing the white lines the Flying Knife left behind, lingering.

Where the lines passed, blood droplets appeared amid air, falling to gather upon the ground.

Soon converging into a mass.

Just like the scene they’d seen earlier.

They now understood; this was the moment they had missed.

This time, they saw it.

The Flying Knife paused mid-air again, gently trembling, gazing at the blood below.

The original red sphere had dulled, more than half of its red hue faded, becoming semi-transparent and half-red.

"What is this?" Luo Yun asked wide-eyed, scanning around.

"Something that can conceal itself," Zheng Zhenxing gritted his teeth, "Or the Array hid its form."

Meng Xianda chuckled, "This thing could’ve killed us directly. Without the Flying Knife, we would’ve died many times."

Without True Yuan, even Spiritual Artifacts couldn’t be activated.

Facing attacks, they’d suffer death obediently.

"Old Meng, you’re impressive, still laughing!" Luo Yun shook his head, "We’re doomed this time!"

"We still have the Flying Knife," Zheng Zhenxing said.

Luo Yun asked, "Can the Flying Knife save us this time, Brother Huang?"

"No problem," Huang Zhengyang replied solemnly, "I trust Mr. Chu."

"Then we look to Mr. Chu,!" Luo Yun sighed.

Watching the blood wriggling, gathering, moving toward the former red sphere.

As they slowly seeped into the sphere, its color deepened, emitting a gentle red glow.

The Flying Knife trembled more fiercely.

Huang Zhengyang and others’ gaze fixed upon it; they felt it was gathering strength for an astonishing strike.

Luo Yun said, "Our life or death likely hinges on this moment!"

Meng Xianda laughed, "We are blessed, we won’t die."

"Let’s hope for your words of fortune, Old Meng!" Luo Yun said, "Pity we can’t help at all, just watching it battle alone."

As soon as he stopped speaking, the Flying Knife vanished.

In that moment, they heard a world-shaking "Wow" by their ears.

Followed by a white flash in their sight, blank encompassing, thoughts halted.

When they regained consciousness, they found themselves standing at their previous location.

It was where they hesitated approaching the discovered cave.

Before them, where the cave had been, lay quietly a palm-sized kitten.

Though it looked like a cat, it had three tails, all cleanly severed.

The kitten was dead.

"This...?" They stared wide-eyed, at the kitten, then around.

"True Yuan..." Zheng Zhenxing said with a somber face, "Hasn’t recovered!"

They noticed their True Yuan was still absent; Cultivation hadn’t returned.

Now they should have escaped the Array.

"Brother Huang, where’s the Flying Knife?" Luo Yun hastily asked.

Huang Zhengyang shook his head slowly, "Power’s been fully exhausted."

"Can’t use it anymore?"

"Hmm." Huang Zhengyang extended his hand, revealing a crystal-clear Flying Knife in his palm.

At sight of the Flying Knife, they recognized the anomaly.

Still pristine, but lost that peculiar Spiritual essence and lightness.

Clearly, it had expended its inner power.

Luo Yun sighed, "That’s its final burst, destroying that thing, saving us, we owe Mr. Chu our lives once more."

Meng Xianda chuckled, saying, "Too bad Mr. Chu cares not for our lives, can’t repay him."

Zheng Zhenxing examined the strange cat, "What was it?"

Huang Zhengyang and others shook their heads.

They’d never seen such a three-tailed cat, nor heard of it before.