Ask the Mirror
Chapter 170: High Altitude

The Demonic Beast's roar now carried an illusory force that could make demons and ferocious beasts tremble in fear, yet Yu Ci remained as unaffected as before. Only the shockwaves pierced through his eardrums, making him feel terribly uncomfortable.

At the same time, the message from the Elders was transmitted to him in a strange way. Yu Ci felt a slight stir in his divine soul. Recalling their words, he focused his mind and absorbed the external force. Upon a brief inspection, he found a vast stream of information, entirely composed of divine thoughts, bundled tightly together.

To condense divine thoughts across an entire mountain peak and transmit them so accurately—this old man’s mastery in the way of the soul was truly unfathomable!

Yu Ci was amazed, but he didn’t have the time to analyze the information. Just the current situation demanded most of his focus.

Right now, he was on the back of the Demonic Beast!

There’s a saying about how it’s hard to get off a tiger once you’re riding it—Yu Ci thought riding a Demonic Beast was a hundred times worse.

It wasn’t that Yu Ci didn’t know how dangerous it was to be on the beast’s back, nor that he didn’t want to get away. When he tried to leap up and put some distance between them, he found himself completely drained, the power in his body running dry. Meanwhile, the Demonic Beast’s body swelled suddenly, bursting through the rock Yu Ci had been standing on, and directly lifted him up.

“Showing signs of exhaustion… I overestimated myself!”

This was the price of Yu Ci forcefully using the “Light Concealment Escape Technique” to trigger earth escape. Among the five elemental escape techniques, Earth Escape was the hardest to master and the most exhausting, known as the culmination of the five. Mastering Earth Escape meant mastery of them all. That’s because the great earth encompasses the five elemental qi, and moving through it requires a solid grasp of all five techniques. That made Earth Escape the most difficult and the most dangerous.

Most cultivators at the upper stage of Divine Connectivity began with Water or Wood Escape, followed by Fire and Metal, and only attempted Earth Escape last. This step-by-step process helped minimize the risk.

Even so, it was considered remarkable if a cultivator at the Divine Connectivity level could travel underground for more than ten li in one breath. Any longer and their qi would weaken, and if they encountered a change in the elemental qi, their technique could break, and they’d be crushed alive in the earth. It’s said the true potential of Earth Escape could only be realized after one reached the Core Refinement stage.

Yu Ci was still far from that level, and his understanding of the five elemental escapes was shallow at best. He could only pass through the earth thanks to the Light Concealment Escape Technique. On top of that, he was still suppressing his internal organs to accumulate innate Qi, which made the process even more draining. In less than a li, he was almost completely drained—hence this mess.

“If I jump now… that’d be su!cide!”

The thought had barely formed before Yu Ci rejected it. He had seen the Demonic Beast’s speed before. Back then, he could still use the earth to escape, but now that it had somehow transformed into a flaming form, it could burrow through earth and stone even more smoothly than his Light Concealment Earth Escape. If he jumped now, it would really be a death wish!

At least, on the beast’s back—even though the long fur was like needles and the flames were scorching his body—there was one small advantage: the Demonic Beast’s long tail had been severed by some powerful foe. Without that deadly weapon capable of decapitating even Core Refinement-level demon beasts, it posed less of a direct threat to him.

Just as the thought ended, the Demonic Beast’s massive body leapt up.

Boom!

It slammed heavily into the cliff face, its spine almost embedding itself into the rock. Yu Ci performed an acrobatic move, clutching onto the long fur near the beast’s neck and suspending himself in mid-air, dodging the impact. Then, just as the beast separated from the cliff, he swung himself back onto its back.

He landed on a relatively flat spot near its shoulder and neck, face dark. The move wasn’t hard, but gripping that flaming fur was another matter entirely. His palms were already torn and blistered by the fire, and it was only sheer willpower that kept him going.

The failed attack only made the Demonic Beast more irritable. It was about to strike again when it suddenly raised its head and looked toward the sky. The next moment, it sprang up. Its limbs pulsed, fire and smoke billowing beneath it, and it seemed to find footholds in mid-air. In a few bounds, it had already soared hundreds of zhang above the canyon and was still climbing—faster and faster.

The Demonic Beast… was flying!

Yu Ci had known it could fly, but to see such a massive creature walk on air was deeply shocking. It was ascending too fast, and he had to press his body flat against its back to resist the sudden wind pressure.

But then he realized something was wrong.

The beast might be safe to ride for now, but he couldn’t fly. If they really reached a thousand zhang in altitude, his situation would become dire. Compared to that, being chased on the ground at least gave him some options.

Without hesitation, Yu Ci drew a Divine Movement Talisman, hoping to use its brief levitation ability to get back to solid ground.

In a flash, the talisman was ready. He glanced down—it was already quite far from the canyon rim, and the Demonic Beast was still climbing. Cursing inwardly, he was just about to let go when a sharp shriek tore through the sky.

Before he could react, a massive shockwave struck alongside the Demonic Beast’s roar.

The force ripped through his body. Yu Ci grunted and instinctively tightened his grip on the beast’s hide, refusing to let go even as flames and smoke scorched his hands.

A fierce wind brought a clear message: a demon—an incredibly powerful one—had arrived.

Their speeds were too fast. Bouncing around on the beast’s back, Yu Ci could barely see clearly. He could only sense that the Demonic Beast was zipping through the air like lightning, twisting and turning mid-flight as it clashed repeatedly with a vaguely humanoid gray figure. The booming sounds of their collisions filled the air, like thunder rolling across the sky. Razor winds howled past, cutting like knives.

Thankfully, Yu Ci had held on—anyone else would’ve been shredded by the chaotic turbulence. The fire and smoke surrounding the Demonic Beast also shielded him, though if the beast realized he was there, that might not end well either.

At this moment, the Demonic Beast burst forth in full power, swatting the gray figure miles away. Clearly injured, the figure made no attempt to continue fighting and fled immediately. Yu Ci finally got a good look: the creature was gray-black, humanoid in shape, but had a line of sharp spines running down its back.

The Demonic Beast roared and chased it for dozens of li, but just as it was about to catch up, the clouds split above, and two more flying demons emerged. They tangled with the Demonic Beast, though they were much weaker. After taking two savage blows, they were torn apart and fell. But the gray-black demon had vanished by then.

“ROAR!”

The Demonic Beast howled at the sky. The sound waves swept in all directions, even ripping apart the clouds above. Within those clouds, several hidden demon shadows were forced out. Some dove down to attack, others fled—it was chaos.

Yu Ci realized something was off. Was this Demonic Beast being hunted?

The beast lashed out again. Blood exploded in the air as it tore apart a few of the incoming demons. Then it soared higher, breaking through the lower clouds and rising beyond a thousand zhang. Though some demons still lurked below, those foolish enough to chase were all shredded, calming things for the moment.

Had the boundary-breaking demons locked onto it again? Yu Ci had previously wondered why the Demonic Beast had suddenly fallen from the sky. Now it seemed it might’ve been knocked down by a powerful demon.

This time, with a clearer head, Yu Ci noticed more.

Earlier, the situation was too tense to notice, but now he could see the Demonic Beast was in bad shape. Beyond its severed tail, its fur was patchy, its skin full of wounds—some healing, others still open—clearly the result of long-term battles.

Most striking of all was a bowl-sized wound on its left shoulder. The flesh inside was rotting and oozing pus. Yu Ci recognized it as the injury caused by Ye Bin’s sword strike. It had only worsened from neglect.

The poor thing had probably been fighting nonstop since the two realms' passage opened, without a single chance to rest.

Yu Ci let out a quiet snort, unsure whether to pity it or feel smug.

But what was up with those demons? They all seemed to target the Demonic Beast like they wouldn't stop until it was dead. Even back at Sky Rift Valley, where they had been stunned by its massive illusion, they’d swarmed it again moments later, forcing it to flee. Now that the passage was sealed and demon numbers had dropped, this strange pattern hadn’t changed.

As he pondered this, he sensed something wrong again. The wind howled louder, cold seeping into his bones. The Demonic Beast was still rising! Judging by the low-altitude clouds below, they must’ve reached around ten li—nearly two thousand zhang above ground.

Yu Ci’s face changed.

The altitude between ten and thirty li was said to be the legendary “Gale Layer.” Not only was the air thin and freezing, but the fierce ninefold gales raged year-round, cutting through flesh and bone, slipping through any gap. Aside from high-altitude birds that evolved to withstand such extremes, any cultivator who hadn’t reached Core Refinement—and whose qi wasn’t fully merged and harmonious—would be eroded by the gale’s force before they even realized it.

Being dragged this high by the Demonic Beast, even someone as brave as Yu Ci couldn’t help but silently curse his luck. And he didn’t know—was the Demonic Beast planning to climb even higher?

Above the Gale Layer was the so-called Celestial Realm, the territory of Void Stepping and stronger tribulation cultivators. Yu Ci didn’t know the details—only that rumors said anyone below Void Stepping would instantly turn to dust upon entry. No exceptions.

Maybe he had a bit of luck left. After flying past twenty li, the Demonic Beast finally stopped climbing. It even seemed to forget Yu Ci was on its back. Choosing a direction, it flew shakily onward, its heavy injuries now fully evident.

At first, Yu Ci still tried to figure out which way they were headed. But soon the howling gales nearly tore him from the beast’s back. The threads of gale force that permeated the world whispered in the wind, trying to slip through his body’s protective qi barrier… and pierce him through.