Condemning the Heavens

Sensing the seriousness of the situation, no one questioned his actions but picked up their pace and began rushing through the now more sparse vegetation of the forest .

Just as they had almost left the forest behind a large boom resounded throughout the forest . The forest which had previously been completely silent was giving off a boom that was even more resounding than the outstanding thunder that could be heard outside .

"Crap," Xue Wei was not one to swear, but right at that moment all hairs stood on end, and he was feeling very uncomfortable . Every cell in his body was screaming for him to get out of there right away .

Even the remnant soul fragments which had followed them like a dog following a bone before were now fleeing without a second thought . Their primal instincts were also telling them to escape .

"What’s that?" Lin Xiao asked, his eyes widening in fear, and his body starting to tremble from the pressure whatever had caused the boom was pressing down upon them .

"I think it is a fused remnant soul fragment," Bai Tianyi said slowly, and when he spoke, Luoluo’s face turned dark . Even the ones who did not know what it was were feeling uncomfortable . They could guess that if the typical remnant soul fragments were dangerous, then this fused one had to be horrible .

"We can’t outrun it . " Xue Wei said . He had seen the movements in the shadows, and he felt a headache coming his way .

"How do we defeat it?" Hei Gou asked as he looked at Bai Tianyi . The latter’s face was pale . Sweat was beading on his forehead .

"I am not sure," Bai Tianyi answered honestly . "I only knew about the remnant soul fragments and that they can fuse because I read of them in a book . I never encountered them before, so I don’t know how to defeat them . "

Xue Wei was silent for some time as he looked at the creature wiggling in the darkness . Right now it seemed slow, but he knew that if they moved, then it would become much more difficult to escape .

"It is an evil spirit," Xue Wei concluded after thinking for some time . "It can be defeated with light, fire, or thunder and lightning . Thunder and lightning is the nemesis of evil spirits, so I am quite surprised that so many exist within the Thunder Twilight Zone . "

"This is why they are here," Luoluo said silently . "They are forced to stay on this island because they cannot escape . The island is not being struck by lightning . The thunder cannot enter either .

"So the spirits can flourish on this island, but as soon as it gets to the outside, they can do nothing . They will die the moment they step away from the island itself . "

Xue Wei nodded his head as he considered what to do . He was a dragon, but he had no thunder and lightning abilities, and the only flame he had was his alchemist flame .

"You forget something," Bai Tianyi said after thinking for a bit . "I am a sword spirit . I am also a natural enemy of evil, but this might be a bit too much for me to handle on my own . "

"I have a beast flame," Lin Xiao suddenly said, his words surprising the others .

Beast flames were exceedingly rare . They were something that you had to take from a beast, and no beast would willingly give up their flames .

When a beast flame was taken away, it would never regrow, and the few beasts that had a beast flame would guard it with their lives .

But Lin Xiao was a diviner . It was not unnatural for him to command a beast flame .

"Why did you not use it before?" Hei Gou asked curiously . There was no blaming just confusion in his voice .

"I have nothing to use it for," Lin Xiao said as he shrugged his shoulders .

"My current attacks are much more connected to pure strength, and I have no techniques that rely on flames . "

Xue Wei nodded his head as he started to take numerous inscriptions out of his storage treasure . Most of them were explosives; some were flames others were bombs . Some were for the sake of lighting up surroundings; another was for burning your enemy to ashes .

Bai Tianyi with his dao of the sword, Lin Xiao with his beast flame and Xue Wei with his many inscriptions and formations, all of them stood ready for the battle that would begin .

Even Luoluo and Hei Gou had accepted inscriptions from Xue Wei .

After the two booms, silence once more descended into the forest, only a few rustling sounds interrupted the silence here and there .

"Okay, I doubt we can defeat it," Xue Wei said with a low voice, "but what we will do is we will attack and escape . This entity is far too powerful for us to deal with . "

Bai Tianyi heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this . He was afraid that Xue Wei wanted them to fight till the end, but he was just aiming for making distractions .

The others quickly accepted their orders and soon after the area was exploding with light, fires and random attacks .

These attacks went out in every direction, and soon, a screech could be heard . "Run!" Xue Wei yelled out as he began running . The others were also running for their lives; all of them were rushing out of the forest .

The flames and attacks behind them were blazing, the withered forest was unable to handle the flames and disintegrated from just being touched by the fire, but they managed to keep the fires alive for a short moment, and the screeching sounds of the fused remnant soul fragment was making cold sweat run down all of their backs, their faces were twisted in pain as the sound was excruciating .

As they ran, Xue Wei suddenly heard a muffled sound from behind him, and when he looked back, he found that Hei Gou had fallen flat on the ground, his body was slowly being dragged backward .

Xue Wei could not help but curse under his breath as he leaped back towards Hei Gou, got hold of his hands and tried to drag him back towards the exit of the forest .

Unfortunately, he had severely underestimated the strength of the shadow that was pulling Hei Gou, and with a slight tug, Xue Wei almost fell on top of Hei Gou .

Gritting his teeth, he called out, "Help!" and he saw how Bai Tianyi turned around, his pupils constricted and suddenly a massive sword made from spiritual energy appeared behind him .

This sword was not to be belittled, it was around fifty meters long, and it chopped down with a strength that could shake a mountain .

The shadow behind Hei Gou was cut into two, and it was possible for Xue Wei to drag Hei Gou with him to leave .

Another few inscriptions were thrown out by Xue Wei on the way, in an attempt to keep the shadows at bay, but he always felt worried and filled with lingering fear .

They managed to escape slightly faster this time, but when Hei Gou was released, Lin Xiao suddenly called out in surprise .

Before he had the time to help, the beast flame on Lin Xiao’s body erupted and cut off the shadows, causing the creature in the darkness to cry out in pain once more .

It was a gruesome sound . The Fused Remnant Soul Fragment was much more intelligent and powerful than the individual ones, but it was still far from human . It was a mixture of many sentiments that had merged during the cannibalism of other remnant soul fragments, and thus it was no longer a complete creature but a fusion of many .

As they ran, Xue Wei saw that the illuminating inscription in his hand was dimming drastically, and he used all his force to throw it into the darkness as he activated another one .

As the illuminating inscription landed in the darkness, Xue Wei had glanced at where he had thrown it, and suddenly, his heart stopped, and his mind shook .

In a split second, he had seen what the fused remnant soul fragment looked like, and it had been horrifying even to a cold-blooded person like Xue Wei .

Thousands of eyes had been upon the shadowy figure . It had once resembled a silhouette of a human, but now it had arms, heads, and legs growing on every spot on the body, and the heads were especially terrifying with mouths that were opened in screeches, the insides so red they resembled blood, and sharp teeth were looking as if they could rip through flesh .

Shaking his head, he awoke from his stupor, and a chill ran down his spine . If this shadowy creature got a hold of him and his friends, then it was evident that they would be doomed, so he had no other option than to continue fighting for their survival .

Having seen what they were fighting against, the feeling of dread had crept up on Xue Wei, but he forced himself to calm down before he began dragging the injured Hei Gou out of the forest .

Lin Xiao and Bai Tianyi held the back, they were throwing out attacks filled with the dao of swords, and the beast flame, while Luoluo was in front and was throwing inscriptions and formations left and right .

Eventually, they made their way out of the forest, and as they did, they collapsed on the ground .

All of them were panting hard, and they could not help but feel that they had indeed had a close struggle with death .

As they were gasping for air, they saw how the shadows were roiling in the darkness beneath the tree branches in the forest behind them, but they felt fortunate not to have to go through it again just now .

"How do we get back?" Lin Xiao suddenly asked, and everyone, who was happy that they were now alive, sighed and shook their heads .

"We think about it when that time comes," Xue Wei said, feeling dejected . He was not regretting his decision about entering the island, but he was starting to wonder if he should have brought his friends .

Just as the thought hit him, he looked at the many people around him, and he finally felt happy . Although it was dangerous, these people were able to make him feel human . They were able to make him think of warmth and friendship . Without them, he would not be much different from the undead; his only urge in life would be to kill .

Thinking like this, his features softened, and he felt much more at peace .

Just as he was about to open his mouth, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps coming towards them . The steps belonged to a group of people .

Standing up, Xue Wei gestured for the others to be careful as well, and they all caught their breath as they stood up, alert once more .

Was it more undead that had made their way towards them? It could not be remnant soul fragments as their movements left no footsteps, but these were all-powerful and not at all like the withered corpses of the undead .

Xue Wei looked at the distance, and shortly after a group of experts emerged . These were all looking haggard and somewhat dirty, but they were all alive . One or two were injured, but nothing serious .

"Who would have thought that another group managed to get this far in!" the leader said, but there was no greed or hostility in his voice . Instead, there was relief and happiness .