CHAPTER 2255 QUAKES AND FISSURES
Wave after wave of the dark energy lashed at the group, but the Great Shield held up well. The others also defended successfully with their own skills and about fifteen minutes later, the waves finally stopped.
~huu~
Everyone took a collective breath of relief as the barrage finally stopped.
"What was that?!" Daoist Chu finally asked the question that was on everyone's mind.
"I have no idea… But it certainly isn't good." Lin Mu replied furrowing his brows. "We should leave… I have a bad feeling about all this." He added.
"I agree." Crown Prince Feng Shun replied. ~RUMBLE~
But just as he said that, the entire place started to shake.
"We spoke to soon." Ziran said as he looked around.
Even if the dark energy waves had stopped, that didn't mean the area had returned to normal. It was still dark and the dark energy itself had not dissipated. It was now suspended all around them like smoke and showed no signs of disappearing.
~TREMBLE~TREMBLE~TREMBLE~
"An Earthquake?" Lin Mu could now tell this was different than what they had experienced earlier.
"Is this due to that rock too?" Crown Princess Shang couldn't help but ask.
"It does seem likely… But we best retreat for now. We have no idea what would be happening now." Lady Kang suggested.
"Yeah, let's return to the base." Lin Mu replied before checking the dark energy. "We'll have to push through the dark energy, I don't think it's going to leave anytime soon." He added before dispelling the great shield.
~SHUA~
The Dao Shell and Dao Embryo returned to Lin Mu's body, while Lady Kang's Skill also dissipated.
~WHOOSH~
Crown Prince Feng Shun threw out a palm imprint, causing a gust of wind that cut through the dark energy. "Looks like we can do that at least." Crown Prince Feng Shun said, seeing that the dark energy was movable.
~RUMBLE~
More rumbling sounds were heard as the earth continued to shake. "Let's move!" ~SHUA~SHUA~SHUA~
Crown Prince Feng Shun created a constant gust of wind, that cleaved open a path for them. Everyone moved as fast as as they could but the earth didn't stop shaking. It intensified until finally it started cracking apart!
~CRACK~
~RUMBLE~
"Fissures are opening!" Elder Hu warned as they elevated their altitude of flying.
~HISS~ HISS~
The twins seemed to have sensed something and alerted Lin Mu right away.
"That's not all!" Lin Mu heard their words and informed the others. "Death Qi is coming!"
~GUSH~
A few seconds later, a geyser of Death Qi spurted out of the fissure, blocking their path!
"Dammit." Crown Prince Feng Shun who had been leading them, was forced to stop. "Go up!" he said as he sent another palm imprint upwards.
~WHOOSH~
The palm imprint pushed aside at least a hundred meters of dark energy, but it was stopped after that.
"What's happening?" Daoist Chu saw the imprint being stopped and was surprised.
"The density of that dark energy is still high in the sky… We can't go higher up." Crown Prince Feng Shun frowned. "We can't go straight either with the Death Qi." He said looking at the geyser that was at least five hundred meters high.
It was as if an entirely new Death Qi boundary had been created. But this one was several times thicker than the thickest one they had seen. Not to mention its height was also greater than the others.
"We'll just have to go around it." Lin Mu said, making them change the direction.
~SHUA~
They had to go diagonally and after about a couple minutes, they finally reached the edge of the fissure. ~TREMBLE~
The earth had not stopped shaking and Lin Mu knew the fissures would keep on appearing. He could sense the movements of the earth and knew the entire area was being filled with fissures every minute. "Xiao Yin, Xiao Yang, can you sense where the Death Qi is spreading from?" Lin Mu asked them.
"Yes!~" Xiao Yin replied. "It's everywhere underground." She stated.
"Everywhere?" Lin Mu's eyes went wide.
"Yes, and it's spreading upwards in some parts." Xiao Yang added.
"So that's what's causing the Earthquakes and fissures." Lin Mu now understood. "This won't be good if we can't reach the base in time…" he furrowed his brows, knowing the danger they were in.
~CRACK~
Another fissure blocked their path, and a geyser of Death Qi spurted from it too.
"This won't do." Lin Mu muttered. "LITTLE SHRUBBY!" he called out to the beast.
~SHUA~
Little Shrubby immediately appeared in front of him, knowing the situation. He grew to his maximum size, as Lin Mu jumped to his back.
"Everyone, get on!" Lin Mu called out. "We need to be much faster than we are right now. Or we'll get trapped here!" he warned.
"YES!" Crown Prince Feng Shun and his companions had already seen Little Shrubby's speed earlier, and so had Lady Kang.
Lady Kang had even ridden on him before. as such she knew how fast the beast could be.
~ROAR~
Little Shrubby let out a roar and burst into a sprint, making everyone grab on tight.
"Storm King Immortal Arts: Great Wind Coat!" Crown Prince Feng Shun used a Qi skill, surrounding themselves in a curtain of wind.
It protected them and also created a 10 meter wide area where the dark energy could not reach. It accompanied Little Shrubby and cleaved a path for them as they continued onwards, as if it were a snowplow attached to a train.
"TURN RIGHT!" Lin Mu suddenly said.
~BOOM~
Little Shrubby pivoted off a hill and suddenly turned right, making the group a bit unease.
"Why did you—" Qiao De wanted to ask the reason for the sudden change but soon received the answer.
~CRACK~
~WHOOSH~
A fissure opened right next to their turning point and a Death Qi geyser burst out of it. "That was close…" Qiao De's heart raced like crazy.
"You can sense them?" Elder Hu asked.
"How are you doing it? We can't use our Immortal sense for it due to the Dark Energy." Crown Prince Feng Shun asked.
"I'm not. It's the twins that are," Lin Mu said, as the two snakes raised their heads. "They can sense it better than all of us." He stated.
"That's great." Crown Prince Feng Shun praised. "They'll inform us in advance so that we don't get trapped in between two geysers." Lin Mu said as Little Shrubby sped up again.
~WHOOSH~
Soon he was a red blur tearing through a sea of darkness while death Qi geysers sprang up from time to time.
Lin Mu's nerves were stretched taught knowing that the situation was getting worse with every passing minute.
"The Death Qi is getting stronger." Xiao Yin spoke. "It's getting closer to the surface again." She warned.
"STOP!" Lin Mu ordered Little Shrubby.
~CRASH~
Little Shrubby's claws dug into the ground, leaving deep marks as he braked.
~BOOM~
Merely half a meter from them, another geyser opened up causing Crown Prince Feng Shun's skill to be forcibly dispelled.
"Ugh… The Death Qi is too strong." Crown Prince Feng Shun recoiled from the skill being forcibly dispelled. "I'll cast it again." But he wasn't going to back down just from that.
~SHUA~
The wind curtain surrounded them again, as Lin Mu plotted out a new route with the twins' advice.
~WHOOSH~
They began their escape again, while dodging the fissures and Death Qi geysers.
But their journey was anything but smooth. They had to change directions too many times, and a short path to the base was also not possible for it had been blocked off by the Death Qi.
It had now been an hour and they were still at least five hundred kilometers from the base.
In normal times, they would have already reached the base with Little Shrubby's full speed. But with the constant changing, they were slowed down, not to mention being forced to go around in circles at times.
~BIHIHIHIHIHI~
But in all this, they saw another surprising thing.
"The Auroch Chimeric beasts," Lin Mu saw a swarm of them running.
"They're scared too." Crown Princess Shang spoke. owns this.
~BOOM~
~BIIIIIIIJIIII~
And not long after, a fissure opened up right under the swarm, destroying them all with the Death Qi geyser. Lin Mu and the others saw as the bodies of the Chimeric beasts were assaulted by the Death Qi as they turned into skeletons within seconds.
"No wonder they're scared of it…" Monk Hushu muttered.
"Of course." Ziran replied. "Though this situation does not seem normal." He said.
"Yeah, the Chimeric beasts wouldn't have been able to live here otherwise." Lin Mu agreed. "Whatever we unleashed from that rock, is definitely behind this," He stated.
"It's certainly a chain reaction of some kind." Elder Hu replied.
~WHOOSH~
Little Shrubby sped up more as he felt the urgency.
He even debated using his innate skill to speed up even more.
"Not for now." Lin Mu rejected it.