202: Chapter 201 Strange Pillar of Light
The moment Ye Wushuang caught Lin Fan, the ice wings of the Bingli Heavenly Phoenix on his left arm wrapped around Lin Fan's body. The power of frost formed a thin layer of Ice Armor on their surfaces, buffering the impact of the fall.
As he landed, his knees bent, and the lightning of the Thunder-Scaled Hou Rabbit on his right leg exploded into a burst of sparks beneath his feet, stabilizing his stance and preventing a fall.
Lin Fan was draped over his shoulder, covered in blood and filth, his aura faint and gasping, showing no reaction at all.
Behind them, the aftershocks of the dark red spiritual energy wave were still surging across the sand, but their speed had slowed, like a receding tide.
The Desert Emperor Scorpion stood in place, its six black eyes staring at the backs of Ye Wushuang and Lin Fan. Its giant pincers opened and closed, and the purple speck of light on its tail stinger throbbed.
Its spiritual energy consumption was also immense. The purple light film on its surface had turned from bright purple to dark purple, and the spiritual energy steam leaking from the gaps in its carapace had thinned considerably.
“Run.”
Ye Wushuang's voice squeezed out from between his teeth. The lightning on his right leg exploded again as he charged forward, carrying Lin Fan.
The pillar of light was less than two hundred meters ahead.
A pale gold, transparent barrier shimmered under the moonlight like a thin eggshell.
Xu Ziyan was being held by the back of his collar by Yu Nian, his right foot dangling in the air.
He glanced back at the giant scorpion behind them and suddenly spoke: “It seems to be slowing down.”
Yu Nian also noticed it; its speed was dropping.
It seemed that for every meter it got closer to the pillar of light, the Desert Emperor Scorpion's eight legs had to exert more effort just to stand firm on the sand.
“The pillar of light is suppressing it!”
Xu Tao's voice was torn out of tune in the wind and sand.
The pillar of light drew closer. Two hundred meters, one hundred and fifty meters, one hundred meters.
From a distance, the barrier looked like a thin eggshell, but up close, it was revealed to be a transparent wall of light rising from the ground.
Eighty meters, sixty meters, forty meters.
The Desert Emperor Scorpion's speed suddenly increased. It wasn't a natural acceleration, but a 'final burst of life'.
It was using its last bit of strength for one final gamble.
Its giant pincers opened, and two dark red orbs of light condensed on the serrations inside the pincer tips, while the purple light at the tip of its tail expanded simultaneously.
It intended to release one last attack under the suppression of the light pillar.
Ye Wushuang ran near the back of the group, carrying Lin Fan.
He heard the sound of the scorpion's tail cutting through the air behind him. The sound was as sharp as a whistle, following a trajectory that stabbed down from a height.
He didn't look back. The lightning on his right leg exploded as he poured the last trace of the Thunder-Scaled Hou Rabbit's spiritual energy into his legs, pushing his speed to the limit in an instant.
Twenty meters, ten meters, five meters.
Shen Shuang was the first to rush into the barrier, with Ye Qing following closely behind.
The moment her body passed through the light wall, a chill poured from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, like a bucket of ice water being dumped over her.
Immediately after, Yu Nian streaked past her, carrying Xu Ziyan.
Xu Tao was the third to rush in. As he crossed the barrier, the last trace of spiritual energy in his right eye was completely exhausted.
He ran a few more steps with his eyes closed, only stopping when he bumped into Shen Shuang's back.
Ye Wushuang was the last to rush into the barrier, still carrying Lin Fan.
The Desert Emperor Scorpion chased them to within twenty meters of the barrier, its six eyes staring fixedly at the seven people inside the light dome.
Its giant pincers were raised above its head, the dark red light orbs inside the tips having expanded to their limit. The purple speck of light at the tail tip was like a star that could explode at any moment.
The giant pincers slammed down violently.
The dark red light orbs shot out, dragging long tails of light as they crashed into the barrier.
The purple beam from the tail stinger followed immediately. The two forces merged in mid-air, transforming into a dark purple pillar of light as thick as a water bucket, which slammed into the surface of the barrier.
The barrier shook violently.
The golden light dome buckled inward under the impact. Cracks spread frantically from the point of collision in all directions, making a crisp sound like breaking glass.
At that moment, the runes at the base of the light pillar suddenly all lit up, condensing into a golden Light Shield at the point of impact.
The instant the dark purple pillar of light hit the Light Shield, the shield exploded with a blinding golden radiance. This radiance traveled back along the dark purple pillar, recoiling along the Desert Emperor Scorpion's attack trajectory.
The golden light shot out from the surface of the barrier, hitting the Desert Emperor Scorpion squarely in the head.
The King Scorpion's head snapped back violently. Its six eyes simultaneously burst into a mist of blood, and a crack exploded across its left pincer.
Dark purple body fluid gushed from the crack, dripping onto the sand and corroding deep pits into the surface.
Its body trembled violently on the sand, and its eight jointed legs buckled at the same time, as if it were enduring an irresistible pressure.
The power within the barrier continued to surge outward. As the golden light shone upon it, the spiritual energy steam in the gaps of its carapace was evaporated completely, revealing a series of parched, cracked patterns.
The Desert Emperor Scorpion hesitated no longer; it turned and fled. Its eight legs paddled frantically across the sand, its speed more than twice as fast as when it was giving chase.
After running nearly a hundred meters, its body began to sink. Soon, the sand surface returned to its level state, as if the forty-meter-long behemoth had never existed.
Inside the barrier, only heavy breathing remained.
Lin Fan was slumped over Ye Wushuang's shoulder, having completely lost consciousness.
He laid Lin Fan flat on the cold stone surface. The wound on Lin Fan's left shoulder was still seeping dark purple blood, and black lines spread from his collarbone to his jaw. His lips had turned a bruised, dark purple.
“Ye Qing.”
Ye Qing had already knelt down beside Lin Fan.
She pressed both hands above Lin Fan's left shoulder. The phantom of the Forest Whisper Phantom Feather Deer antlers above her head lit up in the moonlight, and emerald green antlers extended from both sides of her forehead.
Green specks of light throbbed at the tip of every branch.
She closed her eyes, and life force surged from the tips of the antlers, flowing down her arms to her palms, and then seeping from her palms into the wound on Lin Fan's left shoulder.
The green spiritual energy spread over the wound like water. Wherever it passed, the muscle tissue that had been corroded into a dark purple by the toxin began to turn pink from the edges.
The black lines on the left side of Lin Fan's face receded from his jaw to his collarbone, and from his collarbone to the edge of the wound.
His lips changed from purple-black to a pale white, and his breathing shifted from shallow and hurried to much more stable.
Ye Qing withdrew her hands and sat back on the stone platform, bracing herself with her hands behind her, gasping for air.
Yu Nian walked over, fished a bottle of Spiritual Energy Recovery Potion out of his Spatial Ring, and handed it to her.
She took it, unscrewed the cap, and gulped down a few mouthfuls. A bit of color returned to her pale face.
Before long, Lin Fan slowly woke up.
“He's awake.” Xu Ziyan's voice brought him back.
Lin Fan propped himself up on the stone platform and sat up.
“Don't move around. The toxin hasn't been completely cleared yet.”
Ye Qing's voice came from nearby.
Her complexion looked better than before, but it was still very pale.
Lin Fan sat on the stone platform, letting his body adjust to the pain of the wound and the weakness from blood loss.
After about half a minute, he used the edge of the stone platform to stand up and then walked toward the pillar of light.
The pillar of light rose from the center of the stone platform. Black lines crawled slowly across its deep purple surface.
A transparent barrier spread outward from the base of the pillar, forming a circular area about fifty meters in diameter that enveloped the three-tiered concentric stone platform they were on.
Shen Shuang walked to Lin Fan's side. She looked up at the pillar of light for a long while before speaking.
“Is this pillar... the door to the next level?”