Netherworld Retrograde

Chapter 761: Chapter 357 Calamity Has Arrived_2

“Die for me!”

Li Yelai roared, the golden dragon emerging on the long spear in his hand, biting towards the Great Wind and Ye Han, who had been immobilized on the spot.

However, the solidified air around the Great Wind suddenly began to flow. In an instant, the Great Wind spread its wings, and with the powerful speed of the Mythical Mimic, it took off with Ye Han, heading towards the direction of the Snake Bone Stairs. Meanwhile, the Little Mad King and Ma Hongyi, repelled by the Doll’s curse, were enduring discomfort and quickly gave chase.

Beams of Light Spears flickered, and from the shadows, a giant sword slashed out, igniting blood-red flames…

And Li Yelai, who had cleaved empty air, was utterly astonished. How could the Snow Mountain Blind Hero or Ye Han tear apart the solidified air of the Doll? Even with the bloodline of a Spirit Extinguisher, Ye Han shouldn’t have been able to do this.

The solidified air itself was an air wall shaped by the Doll through compressed air, which didn’t contain any Spiritual Energy. It was like a filled balloon where the Spiritual Energy was the surface of the balloon, and the air inside didn’t contain Spiritual Energy.

Touching the Spiritual Energy wouldn’t be useful even if the Spirit Extinguisher came.

How did they break through this barrier?

Then, Li Yelai heard a noise behind him.

The girl behind him seemed to have suffered some kind of injury, staggering for a moment, leaning heavily on the chariot beside her to keep from falling.

Li Yelai’s heart tightened, and he moved closer, intending to help the girl up.

“Xiao He, what’s wrong with you?”

However, the Doll suddenly shook off Li Yelai’s outstretched arm, releasing a burst of strong Spiritual Energy that seemed to be both a threat and a warning.

“How dare you!”

The girl’s voice was still pleasant to listen to, yet it carried a strange warning, like that of a noble Divine who could not be profaned.

Li Yelai stood there blankly for a moment. The Doll now felt very unfamiliar, her demeanor completely different from before.

The girl who had once cuddled in his arms with eyes full of warmth, now seemed to have become an arrogant Empress.

But the next second, the girl’s demeanor changed again; she reached out and grasped Li Yelai’s arm. Her tone became gentle once more: “No… it’s Xiao Ye…”

Li Yelai quickly supported the girl: “What’s wrong with you?”

“My head hurts, there are voices…” the Doll seemed very exhausted, leaning on Li Yelai.

Voices?

Li Yelai thought of the unfamiliar temperament just now. Could this be the bizarre change that the Little Mad King had mentioned before?

Did the Divine Demon Stele have some unpredictable effect on the Doll?

“Every time I ascend, there is a period of time when I hear her voice. With time, the voice gradually fades. Just now, her voice became so loud…” the Doll whispered, “Just now… it wasn’t me. Now, it’s much better…”

This shook Li Yelai to his core and, at the same time, filled him with dread.

Thankfully, the Snow Mountain Blind Hero had grabbed Ye Han and fled, avoiding any further effects of the Divine Demon Stele on the Doll. If they had stayed nearby, it’s uncertain what other changes might have occurred to the Doll under its influence.

What exactly was that voice, a second personality? An inner demon? Or… a Void Realm Creature?

Could this be one of the Book Holder’s plans? To use Ye Han to awaken the owner of the voice within the Doll’s consciousness?

Li Yelai held the Doll close, feeling a surge of fear and towering rage.

No, he couldn’t let the Doll have any more contact with Ye Han, not even to encircle and kill. The Divine Demon Stele’s influence on the Doll was too great.

He needed to take her away first…

The Doll leaned on Li Yelai for a while, her breath gradually steadying, but her head still throbbed faintly.

Soon, the Little Mad King and Ma Hongyi rushed back from a distance.

“It’s no use, without the Doll’s restraint, the Snow Mountain Blind Hero’s movement is too fast. They’ve entered the Snake Bone Stairs. And we haven’t met certain requirements, so we can’t enter. We can only watch helplessly as they ascended the stairs.” Ma Hongyi approached, and seeing Li Yelai holding the Doll, frowned and said, “What happened to you both?”

In the plan, the Doll was supposed to restrain the fastest mover, the Snow Mountain Blind Hero, while the other three would encircle. Yet, inexplicably, a glitch had occurred, allowing Ye Han and his companion to escape.

“The Divine Demon Stele had an unexpected reaction on the Doll, she can’t continue to pursue Ye Han,” Li Yelai said.

“Let’s take her back first. Now that Ye Han has entered the palace, we only need to guard the entrance,” the Little Mad King nodded, deeming the safety of their companion more important than killing Ye Han.

“Ye Han must die, the sooner, the better.” Li Yelai nodded, then shook his head, “Why can’t you ascend the stairs? And Ye Han can?”

“At present, it’s unclear what the judgment mechanism of this long stairs is,” Ma Hongyi shook his head.

“I’ll give it a try. If possible, I need to kill Ye Han before he obtains any inheritance!” Li Yelai said.

The Doll’s incident made Li Yelai all the more urgent to kill Ye Han. Only by killing Ye Han could the Doll be free of any risk.

Instead of waiting painfully at the entrance, he might as well try to enter. At least find out the rules for entry.

Soon, Li Yelai, supporting the Doll, arrived at the location of the Snake Bone Stairs with the Little Mad King and Ma Hongyi.

The enormous Snake Bone Stairs stood between heaven and earth like a chasm, each segment of bone emitting a faint jade-like luster, exuding an ancient and mysterious aura. It twisted and wound its way up to a golden palace above the clouds, and at the place where it connected to the ground, there was a light golden light curtain.

Li Yelai approached the light curtain and reached out to touch it, passing through effortlessly.

“Huh? Why are you able to enter?” Ma Hongyi frowned.

After pondering, Li Yelai responded, “Perhaps, I have conquered a palace. Only those who have conquered a palace are qualified to step on the stairs!”

Most official members didn’t have time to conquer palaces, at least not where Li Yelai was assembled.

Just finding and gathering teammates and rushing to meet up would take a lot of time, who would have the leisure to conquer a palace?

And for the Divine Treasure Vault, the challengers did not enter the palace interior, so they didn’t count as completing the challenge.

And that beast Ye Han didn’t need to protect and gather human fellows, so he naturally had time to conquer palaces.

“You actually took the time to conquer a palace?” Ma Hongyi was surprised.

“I was directly thrown to the entrance of a palace and forced to conquer it,” Li Yelai replied, then took Ya Yu’s hand, “Since I can climb the stairs, I will be the one to kill Ye Han.”

“Just you alone? Why not wait until we’ve conquered a palace and then go together?” Ma Hongyi frowned, “Going alone is too risky. And Ye Han isn’t going anywhere.”

“Have you forgotten? Old Ma, I’m the one who killed the Divine Chosen Burning Roar,” Li Yelai replied, then patted Ya Yu, “Besides, I also have this Sixth Sense Battle Power Mountain King Avatar and Old Ma Number Five…”

Ma Hongyi slightly nodded, he was quite confident in Li Yelai’s battle strength. Then it dawned on him, wait a second, what’s this Old Ma Number Five?

The Doll, however, clung to Li Yelai’s arm. She very much wanted to go with Li Yelai, but the voice that had just ceased in her mind made her worry. She feared she might be influenced again by the owner of that voice. Even worse, she might completely turn into someone else.

“Once I’ve killed him, you won’t have to worry,” Li Yelai whispered.

After hesitating for a long time, the Doll slightly nodded. She knew very well once Li Yelai made up his mind, he wouldn’t change it.

She had no choice but to hand Li Yelai the Blue Sky White Cloud Gourd at her waist, which was also a powerful trump card for him.

Then, Li Yelai looked towards the Little Mad King.

“I’ll keep her safe, teammate,” the Little Mad King stated calmly, without offering advice.

Li Yelai nodded and rode Ya Yu straight through the light curtain and charged up the Snake Bone Stairs.

…

Unknown to them, a seemingly illusory figure appeared atop a distant mountain peak.

Clad in a Taoist robe, his demeanor was transcendent.

He watched the distant Snake Bone Long Stairs and murmured, “So-called destiny is nothing but a chess piece played by stronger forces for their own ends…”

…

Meanwhile, in a corner of the world,

The Book Holder sighed lightly, “Indeed, a complication has arisen, and the Divine Demon Stele has failed to revive the Fear Queen successfully. But it’s not too bad… At the least, he has activated the Ascending Immortal Long Stairs.”

“So, the great Calamity has arrived!”

Afterward, the Book Holder activated the ship ticket and arrived inside the Ark Hall.

At this moment, it was time for the ark gathering, yet the attention of many electors was drawn to the fifth mural.

Jing Lin was sweating profusely at the sight of it.

In that fifth mural,

He saw the Time Tree growing rapidly, and also saw… that giant Snake Bone connecting heaven and earth!