Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Disappearance

BANG!

Fang Chen didn’t hesitate for a second. He kicked the car window next to him with all his might!

The glass shattered instantly. He didn’t want to use the front door; Yang Chen had just died there, and heaven knew what else was lurking outside. With a flip, he leaped out through the broken window!

Seeing this, the other students woke from their daze and followed suit. They scrambled to jump out of the shattered window, throwing the scene into utter chaos.

Landing on his feet, Fang Chen swiftly pulled down the hood of his Combat Suit, pulled out the gloves from his sleeves and put them on, then activated the Spiritual Crystal Stone on his chest. At the same time, with a SHING, his longsword was already drawn.

He quickly scanned the area ahead. He saw that the two military off-road vehicles leading the way had been smashed and twisted into deformed scrap metal, as if crumpled by some massive force. The parts of the heavy machine guns and rapid-fire cannons mounted on them were scattered across the ground, reduced to useless fragments.

Further ahead, the two High Martial Realm experts guarding the convoy were engaged in a fierce clash with a blurred black shadow! Their speed was too fast for the naked eye to track. He could only see the blinding flashes of light erupting from the collisions of True Qi and hear the piercing shrieks of tearing air.

The shockwaves from the battle continuously destroyed the surrounding ground and vegetation. Its intensity and sheer might far exceeded the destruction caused by the tentacle monster he had seen that day!

Fang Chen’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately looked behind him. The students in the bus behind them were also fleeing the vehicle in panic. Further back, he could faintly make out two other High Martial Realm guards engaged in a desperate struggle with an incredibly fast black shadow. The battle there was just as fierce, with leaking energy distorting the very air itself.

Both the path forward and the retreat backward were completely blocked by these terrifying battles!

How could the students who had just disembarked have ever seen such a terrifying scene? Most were pale with fright and entirely at a loss, subconsciously turning their gazes toward Fang Chen for guidance.

At that moment, mixed within the sounds of battle and the monster’s roars, came the hoarse, desperate shouts of the other military officers, "Run away!"

Hearing this, Fang Chen knew the situation had reached a critical boiling point. He forced himself to calm down and rapidly surveyed the terrain. To the left of the road was an almost vertical, unscalable cliff face; to the right was a steep drop-off leading down a ravine.

He rushed to the edge of the right-side drop and peered down. The cliff face was over a dozen meters high. Below seemed to be a dirt path, where a few wild wolves could be seen scavenging. Further out, a winding river cut through the landscape, and across the river lay a dense forest.

"Go! Head down!"

Fang Chen only barked out this single command before taking the lead. Spotting a few protruding rocks and shrubs on the cliff face as footholds, he moved with agility. With a few quick leaps—TAP TAP TAP—he leveraged his momentum and landed cleanly at the bottom.

Seeing this, the other True Martial Realm students mimicked Fang Chen’s actions and quickly climbed down. The remaining students lacked cultivation and their Leg Techniques weren’t as exquisite, but the foundation they had built through years of martial arts practice was still there. They gripped the rock crevices and stepped on the uneven surfaces, carefully inching their way down. Though slow, they managed a steady descent.

The moment Fang Chen’s feet touched the dirt, a howl rang out.

"AWOOO!"

The wild wolves he had spotted from above quickly surrounded him.

"You’re courting death!" Fang Chen’s eyes turned cold, and he swung his longsword!

SLASH! SLASH!

The lunging wolves were cleaved in two while still mid-air. Their mutilated remains and internal organs tumbled to the dirt, painting the ground red with blood in an instant.

Fang Chen didn’t delay for a second. Without casting another glance at the corpses, he sprinted straight toward the river! Are you kidding me? Even High Martial Realm experts were struggling against those things; staying here was just waiting for death!

Reaching the riverbank, he slowed his pace and swept his gaze across the water and the opposite shore, observing carefully. He thought, "There are no powerful auras in the water or on the opposite shore for now."

He was the first to step into the river. The icy water instantly submerged his thighs. Fortunately, the Combat Suit had exceptional performance. Not only was it waterproof and insulated, but it even came with an underwater vision enhancement feature, allowing him to barely make out his surroundings in the murky river.

He swam toward the opposite shore with all his might, and the other students followed closely, jumping into the water one after another, like dumplings tossed into a boiling pot.

The river appeared to be less than fifty meters wide, yet Fang Chen felt as if he were perpetually stuck in the middle. Summoning his energy for a sudden burst of speed, he finally made it more than halfway across. The water was now shallow enough for him to stand, requiring him only to wade through.

However, a bad premonition gnawed at his heart—the auras behind him were growing fewer and fewer. He subconsciously turned his head.

Hmm? Fang Chen’s brows instantly furrowed.

When he had just entered the water, he had clearly sensed a chaotic jumble of auras behind him, indicating a large number of people. But now, within his field of vision, there wasn’t a single splashing figure.

Where did everyone go? Could they all have drowned? That’s impossible! Even if one or two didn’t know how to swim, could the entire group be clueless? He hadn’t even heard a single cry for help!

Alarm bells blared in Fang Chen’s mind. He thought, "Is this a special ability of those Demon Beasts? Or... the work of some unknown Superpower?"

The chill deepened. Fang Chen didn’t stop to look around. He abruptly accelerated and rapidly charged toward the opposite shore.

With a SPLASH, he broke through the surface of the water and set foot on dry land. The Combat Suit quickly drained the water, leaving behind only a slight dampness.

He didn’t immediately plunge into the dense forest. Instead, he turned around and swept his gaze over the river once more.

Empty.

Aside from the flowing river and the gradually settling ripples he had just created, there was no sign of anyone, nor any sound of wading. It was as if the dozens of students who had followed him into the water were nothing more than a collective hallucination.

He forcefully suppressed the doubts in his mind and turned to examine the forest before him.

Huh? Fang Chen frowned deeply as an intense sense of discord washed over him.

Was this the right place? Why did it feel... completely different from the landing spot he had observed from the opposite bank?

The forest was still the same forest, with towering trees and entangled vines, permeating an aura of primal vitality and danger. But he clearly remembered that while on the opposite bank, he had chosen an unusually tall, ancient tree as his marker before entering the water. His plan had been to swim in a straight line and enter the forest right beside that ancient tree.

But now, his landing spot was off by at least a hundred meters from that landmark tree! He had practically landed at a tangent to the riverbank. The frontal entrance he had originally planned to use was now far off to his side.

He thought, "No wonder such a short river took so long to swim across. Was I moving in a diagonal line this whole time?"

He stared intently into the deep, dark woods, extending his Spiritual Power outward. However, its range was limited, and he couldn’t probe the situation further in. To the naked eye, the shadows of the forest seemed to dance, and the vegetation was unusually dense, as if countless pairs of eyes were peeking from the darkness.

Since he couldn’t comprehend the bizarre situation before him, and retreating was even more perilous... then he might as well scout the path ahead first.

Time Stop!

In an instant, everything froze.

Fang Chen’s taut nerves finally relaxed slightly. As long as he didn’t do anything reckless in this domain, he was absolutely safe. He began to carefully observe this frozen space and time.

However, just as his gaze swept across the surface of the river, an anomaly occurred!

It was as if an invisible, mist-like film before his eyes suddenly peeled off and dissipated like shattering glass! The river surface, which had been completely empty just moments ago, now revealed numerous figures frozen mid-swim!

It was the very same students who had entered the water with him!

Fang Chen’s pupils contracted sharply.

He wondered, "Why can I see them during a Time Stop, yet in the real world, they seem completely erased? What was that peeling, dissipating ’mist-like film’? Could it be... that what I’m seeing now in the Time Stop Domain is the true reality?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.