Chapter 173: Array Gate

Senluo Secret Forest.

Xu Xiaoshou stared blankly at the dark rift in the sky. If he hadn't reacted quickly, he probably would have been sucked right in.

Resisting the terrifying pull of the rift, he shifted sideways.

But the red trees below weren't so lucky—they were directly dragged into the black rift.

"Space fragments flow..."

Xu Xiaoshou recalled the Bainian Shou that Ye Xiaotian had used that night. The dean had once torn something like this open with his bare hands.

Tianxuan Gate rumbled again. This time, after the roar, the entire small world didn't quiet down but started trembling with a buzzing vibration.

"What's going on?"

Mu Zixi's rampage state was forcibly halted, and she looked around at the ground in panic.

"I'm afraid something's wrong with the small world..."

As soon as Mo Mo finished speaking, the three of them heard Ye Xiaotian's voice.

"One quarter of an hour?"

"Assemble at the array gate?"

Xu Xiaoshou flew back to the ground and used a human restraint technique to pin down his junior sister. He looked around but couldn't spot the array gate anywhere.

"Mmph, let go of me!"

Mu Zixi struggled violently.

"We're about to die, and you're still causing trouble?"

Mu Zixi fell silent for a moment, then roared angrily, "You pink pigeon! You're the pink pigeon! Your whole family are pink pigeons!"

Xu Xiaoshou felt embarrassed. Was she really holding a grudge that long?

He turned to Mo Mo and said, "Senluo Secret Forest is too far from our initial landing point, but I'm afraid the array gate is at that starting location."

"Can you make it in one quarter of an hour?"

Mo Mo lowered her head. If the gray mist figure hadn't passed out, she could have made it in time, but now...

As she pondered, she suddenly felt the world flip upside down, everything rushing backward.

No!

It was Xu Xiaoshou who had scooped her up with one arm?

She felt a bit shy and struggled, saying, "Let go of me..."

Xu Xiaoshou ignored her completely. Seeing the girl's expression, he knew Mo Mo had no solution.

Given her current weakened state, traveling on her own would be as good as suicide.

With one in each arm, Xu Xiaoshou hoisted the two women into the air. He unleashed his grandmaster-level "agility" to the fullest, his feet igniting with flames as he shot forward like a bullet.

"So fast..."

"So he wasn't even going at full speed before..."

Shocked, Mo Mo looked up from Xu Xiaoshou's embrace and saw the sharp lines of the young man's jaw. Amid the howling wind, she buried her slightly flushed face against his chest.

Thump, thump, thump!

That was the slightly rapid heartbeat she could hear, syncing with her own.

Her dark hair danced in the wind, partially covering her face as she stroked the white bracelet on her right wrist.

If only this moment could...

"Xu Xiaoshou! Can't you stop carrying me like this? I'm getting so dizzy!"

Mu Zixi bounced on his shoulder, feeling like she was about to throw up.

"Keep your skirt down—it's blocking my face!"

"Cursed, passive value: 1."

"Can't you just flip me over?!"

"Uh, I guess so..."

A smile tugged at Mo Mo's lips as she found it amusing. She looked past the boy in front of her toward the black rift in the sky.

The sky exploded again, with chunks like shattered mirrors falling. Everything in the world was being consumed into nothingness.

It seemed that after this quarter of an hour, not a single trace would remain in this place.

There weren't many people in Tianxuan Gate. Seeing the state of this small world and hearing Ye Xiaotian's call, everyone realized something was wrong and hurried toward the array gate.

When Xu Xiaoshou arrived, he found a small group already gathered at the entrance.

These were mostly the newly promoted thirty-three, each with exceptional cultivation and top-notch escape skills. Since they weren't too far away, they had arrived quickly.

The only one who seemed a bit out of place was Chao Qingteng.

He normally wouldn't have made it here, but...

The usually stern young man glanced at the woman beside him in a purple veil, and his expression softened considerably.

That was his third life...

Seeing Xu Xiaoshou flying in with the two women, the group grew excited.

"He's here! We're almost all accounted for—time to open the passage!"

"But there are still two more..."

"We can't wait any longer. If we don't open it now, we'll all die here."

Xu Xiaoshou landed and tossed the two women aside, then turned to look behind him.

Space was fracturing inch by inch, like the end of the world, with black holes swallowing everything and closing in on their location.

"What passage?"

He turned to the only familiar face who had arrived earlier, Luo Leilei.

"The dean said that if the Tianxuan Gate small world wasn't breaking apart, we could force the passage open. But it's too unstable now—opening a space channel to the outside will only last a second at most." Luo Leilei explained briefly, which was rare for her.

"One second is enough! So what are we waiting for? Open it!"

Xu Xiaoshou was getting anxious, but he quickly counted the people—eight?

Oh, right, Yuan Tou was lost...

And one more...

His eyes scanned around. These were mostly people he'd only met once, but the familiar burly guy, Zhou Tianshen, was missing?

He looked at Chao Qingteng and asked, "Zhou Tianshen isn't here?"

Chao Qingteng furrowed his brows and shook his head slightly without speaking.

So, Xu Xiaoshou and Senior Sister Leilei knew each other?

Damn it...

He clenched his fist, but then saw Luo Leilei stepping forward to talk to him: "Xu Xiaoshou, I've asked everyone here— no one has touched the town boundary treasure..."

"What town boundary treasure?"

Luo Leilei rolled her eyes. "The Black Fall Sword Sheath!"

"So?"

"So, what else did you take?"

Xu Xiaoshou grew wary. Was Luo Leilei trying to snatch it again?

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing, I just wondered if you took the other two pieces?"

Xu Xiaoshou thought about it—he had indeed taken the Life Spirit Seal and the Sealing Stone, though the latter was just a ring now. There was no harm in admitting it; she probably couldn't beat him anyway.

He nodded.

"As expected..."

Luo Leilei suppressed the urge to give him a good thrashing. Looking at the young man's innocent expression, she felt frustrated.

You're the one who destroyed this world!

How did you even get the other two town boundary treasures in such a short time?

Who the hell is the spy here?

Taking a deep breath, Luo Leilei said no more. "No time left—let's contact the dean first. We can talk outside!"

She pulled out a jade slip that Ye Xiaotian had left there. As the first to arrive, she had hidden it away.

"Wait!" Xu Xiaoshou raised his hand to stop her. "The passage only works once, and the contact opportunity is probably just once too?"

"That's right!"

Luo Leilei narrowed her eyes. "You want to wait for those two?"

As soon as she said it, the others grew restless. With the world collapsing, who had time to worry about others?

"Xu Xiaoshou, we already agreed that once half of us are here, we'd go. Waiting for you few is already more than enough."

"Exactly, think about yourself now. Those two are probably lost in the space rifts anyway."

"Stop!" Seeing the crowd getting agitated, Xu Xiaoshou quickly added: "Who said I want to save them?"

"Uh?" Everyone was stunned.

If not them, why are you stopping the contact?

"Suspected, passive value: 7."

"What are you up to?" Luo Leilei asked.

"Well... can I do the contact?" Xu Xiaoshou eyed the jade slip in Luo Leilei's hand and rubbed his hands together.

Luo Leilei instinctively clutched it tighter. What was this guy scheming now?

"Forget it if not." Xu Xiaoshou shrugged indifferently, then changed his tune: "But when you contact, can you ask a question for me?"

"What question?"

Xu Xiaoshou looked a bit embarrassed but said, "Just ask if, when Tianxuan Gate explodes, the other town boundary treasures will also be blown out?"

His eyes lit up. After all, there were still eight other treasures here!

Not taking them would be such a waste...