The next time blue butterfly returned to the real world from her dreamscape, she stayed. Giving Yan Jian Hong a furtive glance, she was clearly ready to do this.
He walked over and gave her a deep look, hoping that this would not have any adverse effect on her. But it wasn’t the right moment to say anything so he could only hope that he would be able to communicate what he meant with his eyes.
The four of them had spent so many years together, blue butterfly was indeed able to see what he wanted her to know. She smiled faintly but she did not want to think about it any further. Anyway, she was only doing this because there was no other choice. Thus, she nodded at him to show him that he could start.
Yan Jian Hong gave a hum. “I’m afraid we can’t be sophisticated about this.” Saying this, he grabbed her blade to slash his own arm, holding it up to her face. Prior to the battle, he had made sure to fill some vials with his blood for the key players of his sect and the other three big sects but by now, there likely weren’t any left. Not to mention that they didn’t have the time to search around.
Blue butterfly wasn’t pretentious about it either. She closed her eyes and drank some of his blood, waiting for her wounds to be healed and some of her strength to be regained.
Opening her eyes, she took a deep look at Yan Jian Hong and then pushed him toward Tong Chen. “You make sure he stays a little further away. In his current state, he won’t be able to react fast enough if something happens.”
Yan Jian Hong was also very much aware of this so he merely nodded and then retreated further. He still held his own weapon, but hung back and watched the others around him, not actively seeking out new opponents for himself but instead helping out where he could. This was the extent of what he could do at the moment. In fact, if he had been able to, he would’ve liked to take a break somewhere. But of course, at the current time, that was possible.
As for blue butterfly, with her strength regained, she didn’t waste any time. She once again conjured up her dreamscape, taking more pains to make it as similar to the actual plain they were on as she could. Then, she raised her hands and half-stepped out of the dreamscape, whistling sharply.
Yan Jian Hong grabbed his signal flare, igniting it with his spiritual energy and shooting it up into the sky. The flare burst into bright lights, the sound traveling far and wide on the plain.
The next moment, the ground shook and cracked beneath their feet. Even the air in front of them ripped, exposing a faint line that looked like a scar.
Yan Jian Hong and Tong Chen took a few more steps back while Shang Qiang got into position just a few steps behind blue butterfly to stop that crack from continuing to grow in this direction.
The righteous cultivators seeing the flare all started to use the various methods they had prepared to get away. Seeing them dash away from the fights, the demonic practitioners laughed at first, clearly thinking that they were fleeing in defeat. Some of them made derisive remarks while others wanted to pursue, but things already took a turn.
The speed at which the ground cracked picked up. The breeze that had been blowing over the battlefield, carrying the smell of blood, stagnated. It was still continuing on one side but suddenly stopped in the middle of the battlefield as if it had hit an invisible wall.
Blue Butterfly stared at that point and then once again tugged at her dreamscape, imposing those two dimensions onto each other.
From one moment to the other, the crack widened and a line shot through the battlefield. Whoever and whatever was unlucky enough to stand in its path was cut through as if they, as well, were nothing but air. Weapons broke with a harsh sound as if at the snap of a finger, pieces of fabric fluttered through the air, limbs were torn from the bodies of the practitioners whether they were demonic or righteous, blood splattering onto the ground.
The demonic practitioners standing to either side froze, staring blankly at their companions. Even the righteous cultivators watched on in horror. They had been warned but nothing could have prepared them for this sight.
For a moment, nobody could react. Then, with a shrill sound, the crack running through the battleground widened, pulling further and further apart in both directions, and shooting toward the northwest, engulfing all the practitioners in its way and pulling them down into the ground.
Back at the place where the crack originated, Shang Qiang grabbed blue butterfly and pulled her away, pushing her behind him. He held up his hands, pressing against the crack rushing toward them. He furrowed his brows and gritted his teeth, surprised at the strength that assaulted him.
He had seen this play out in the northern plains. He had seen the force behind this part of blue butterfly’s ability. He had always thought that it would just affect regular cultivators though. To him with his skin like stone, this should not be happening. He should hardly be able to feel this. But, in fact, it hurt. It hurt like hell!
He forced himself to stay silent, not wanting to alarm the others. Right now, he was the only thing standing between them and losing all the righteous cultivators that had evacuated in time. He had to make sure that this rip through the dimensions did not spread any further in this direction. He had to.
He concentrated his spiritual ability in his hands, strengthening them even further. The skin that had originally looked like that of any other person now changed color, whitening until it looked like jade.
It lessened the pain somewhat but Shang Qiang also understood that he couldn’t do this forever. They would have to see if they could make it. Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure whether he should warn the others now so they could prepare or not so that they wouldn’t fall into panic. Right now, he also didn’t have the mind to ponder that question. No, all he had went into defending the people behind him.
