Chapter 158 [Bonus ] Into The Rift
The Sun reached the zenith in the sky. It meant the time for opening the array had come. Commander Qian and the Array Master arrived in the sky above the gates.
The Array Master began to unlock the array and create a small entrance in the curtain of energy. While his colleague worked, Commander Qian issued a word of caution.
"Everyone should note that the Spatial Isolation Array will remain open only for three hours. If you fail to exit the Rift before the array closes, you will be stuck inside the array for another month."
Commander Qian's warning alarmed many but deterred none. Quite a few of them had prepared sufficient rations and they were confident of getting out in time.
A few breaths later, the Path Finder working on the array succeeded in making the entrance. He nodded to Commander Qian and two more Path Finders joined him to guard the entrance of the array.
Commander Qian took a deep breath and bellowed, "The entrance is open! You can now enter!"
Mu Shi's group took the lead. The eight Sense Trainers led by white streaked man walked through the array. Mu Shi paused near Zhen Ya who was also guarding the entrance and blew her a kiss.
"Wait for me, beautiful."
Her face flushed with embarrassment and aura flared with rage. She was left speechless by his actions. Helpless against the pervert, she had to endure and watch Mu Shi swagger into the Rift and disappear from their view.
One after another all the other parties jumped into the Rift formed a few feet above the ground. Finally, it was Ikasa's turn.
"Elder Yi, wait for us outside. Hopefully, we will all return together. However, even if I am late, I will be back in a month."
Ikasa instructed the Elder. He was unsure of how long he would be stuck inside if he met those mysterious speakers. So, he made arrangements in advance.
Elder Yi furrowed his eyebrows but accepted his instructions.
When Ikasa was about to jump into the Rift, he heard a voice whisper in his ears, "If possible kill that bastard son of Mu!"
He did not need to turn to know who the speaker was. Without responding to Zhen Ya, he picked up Moony and jumped into the Rift. Feng Yan, Xin Ruo and the kids soon followed after him.
As soon as he passed through the tear in space, Ikasa felt weightless as if there was no gravity acting upon him. He had trouble breathing and his ears popped.
Ikasa opened his eyes and saw vast starry fields. He felt like he was an astronaut floating in the space. But soon, he started to feel the lack of air and his breathing constricted.
Before he could realize what was happening, Ikasa was teleported to an unknown place. He could breath now but couldn't see. There was pitch black darkness all around him.
In this place, he could neither hear nor smell. Here, his physical senses had become completely useless.
He activated his Spiritual Vision and looked around. Suddenly, he could see everything in night vision with different colors for different energies.
Ikasa could only describe the place he was in as a wasteland. There was not a single tree in his visual range.
The ground below him glowed with red light, unlike the usual earthy yellow color of the earth-attribute energy.
He also saw many different colored spots around him. He judged them to be humans from the way their outlines.
' A large number of Sense Trainers had jumped into the Rift. It seems all of them have been teleported here.'
Ikasa concluded. He saw many of them stumble and blindly collide into each other. He was reminded of Elder Yi's words.
'As long as one has trained his Spiritual Sense, he can safely traverse through the Rift.'
Many of the teleported Sense Trainers seemed like they had yet to start training. They floundered like fish out of water in this place.
If they could not activate their Spiritual Sense, they should forget about finding treasures. In fact, they wouldn't even be able to return to the City.
After all, the mighty City Lord Qin who was also in the intermediate stage of Sense Realm, had lost his way inside this Rift.
Ikasa did not want the same fate to befall his group. He quickly decided to find Feng Yan, Xin Ruo and the Kids. As he walked, he felt weightlessness like he had experienced in the gray realm filled with mists.
'Where exactly is this?'
Ikasa wondered. He had a startling thought
'Is this probably the same gray misty realm?'
The idea made sense since he had entered that place with his Spiritual Body last time. Still, his first priority was finding his people.
"Old Man! Xin Ruo! Pei Yuan! Hei Ying! Where are you guys?"
Ikasa called out but he received no response.
"Don't bother. Those who have not trained their Spiritual Bodies are useless in this place."
A voice spoke to him. Startled Ikasa looked around for the source of the voice. He felt the voice speaking was more humane and different from the mysterious voices he seeked.
"Who?"
Ikasa asked while turning around, trying to locate the person speaking.
"I hear you like Zhen Ya. Hahaha!"
The voice spoke with ridicule. In the next instant, it turned cold.
"I will warn you just once; Stay away from my woman."
Ikasa suddenly felt a crisis. He hurriedly jumped back. His spirit felt something pass in front of his face with a whoosh.
'Which bastard spread this rumor? And more importantly, is the one attacking really Mu Shi?'
Ikasa thought as he tried to find a way out of this situation. His spirit was trained enough but he still could not find his opponent. It could only mean one thing.
His opponent had experience of fighting in the Rifts. Ikasa raised his guard. Out of nowhere, the voice screamed in pain.
"Damned Fox! I will kill you!"
Ikasa turned his Spiritual Vision to his right. He saw Moony's dark blue energy mixed with red. It was wrapped around something. When Ikasa watched closely, he realized it was a person.
Someone with a dark-attribute! His energy's color had mixed with the surrounding darkness, effectively turning him invisible.
Ikasa immediately took out the ax and chopped at the bound figure. A clang sounded and his ax was repelled. The dark figure easily broke the shackles of shadows and escaped further away.
He stealthily tried to attack Ikasa again. However, he was discovered this time. Moony had tainted him with his energy and he had lost his perfect camouflage.
Ikasa wildly swung the ax in his direction as he saw the dark blue spot approach closer. It jumped back and he heard the voice curse.
"Damned Critter! Don't think you will be safe, Ikasa! As soon as I cleanse this stain, I will be back."
The voice was becoming distant even as it spoke. Ikasa realized that the spot was running away from him. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice roar.
"Who the hell are you to threaten him?"
A clash of metal followed the shout. Ikasa smiled as he rushed towards the blue spot.
He had found Feng Yan.