Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 627 - 622: Courage 8

Chapter 627: Chapter 622: Courage 8

Void Palace central hall.

Inside the rectangular hall, Song Danhao was standing in the middle at a long metal table, carefully studying the surface for a long time.

The table was jet black, with raised relief at each corner, carved with what seemed to be white shapes resembling a phoenix.

In the center was a large silver-patterned drawing.

The drawing depicted a large tree, beneath which stood two blurry figures facing each other, surrounded by many strangely shaped demons and ghosts floating about.

"The last token should be here; there’s no doubt about it," Song Danhao furrowed his brow. "How come it’s missing?"

Everything should have gone smoothly, according to his memory, yet an unexpected event occurred right in front of the last token.

Eh?

Suddenly, a surprised and doubtful voice came from Lin Yaoyang’s direction.

"Danhao, come take a look, is it that one?"

She was standing in front of a large door on one side of the hall, peering inside.

Song Danhao and the others quickly walked over, saw through the wide-open door, and finally located the fourth token.

The last token was lying quietly on the ground beside the face of a colossal creature.

Huh...

Huh...

This massive creature was over a hundred meters long, more than fifty meters wide, its body crimson red, like an enlarged version of an ice-sculpted bear, subtly translucent. It lay slumbering within a spacious secret chamber.

Its huge body was incredibly strong, with mere breaths creating arrow-like whistling tears in the air of the palace, even causing the space to warp and fluctuate slightly, constantly filled with small black cracks that appeared and quickly repaired themselves.

Strangely, the area around the giant bear faintly emitted a strong scent of liquor, as if many drinks had evaporated and were stewing, suffocating Lin Yaoyang to the point she couldn’t help but take two steps back.

Even with her high tolerance for alcohol, she couldn’t bear this smell.

"This is the Wine Bear, it won’t wake up, for it has been intoxicated by the Snowman King’s fine liquor and has never woken up since," Song Danhao said with a rather ugly expression. "I didn’t expect it to still be alive!"

"Since it won’t wake up, why don’t we simply go over and take the token? Why do you look so bad?"

Gongshang Baiyu asked softly.

"Scared, are you?" Xu Ling mocked.

"No... it’s not fear, but rather because," Song Danhao slowly shifted his gaze, looking towards a dark corner beside the giant bear.

"We are about to face big trouble."

From the darkness, rows of blue caterpillars slowly wriggled and crawled out.

These caterpillars were seven to eight meters long; their upper bodies resembled human men, muscular, standing upright, each holding a white double-pointed fork over three meters long.

"Wine Worm People... wherever the Wine Bear is, there will be traces of them."

Song Danhao slowly stepped back while also reaching out to shield the others and signaling them to retreat.

"Keep your distance. Within a ten-meter radius around them, the strongest liquor fumes will exist. Once you smell it, you will surely become intoxicated and be at their mercy."

"Why bother saying so much? How do we deal with them?" Lin Yaoyang slowly drew the Broken Sword, licking her lips.

"There is no solution. Wine Worm People normally live in the Sea of Liquor, and there is no passage connecting to our world.

They can only briefly appear here by taking advantage of the spatial cracks caused by that giant bear.

As long as we can hold out for the time it takes an incense stick to burn..."

Song Danhao had not finished speaking when he suddenly thrust both arms forward. Two Black Blades condensed and crossed harshly in the empty space right in front of the four.

Clang clang clang clang!

Invisibly, four consecutive collisions rang out together.

Song Danhao nearly spat out a mouthful of blood in reverse, his face turning a shade of red as he stumbled back two steps, only avoiding a fall due to Lin Yaoyang swiftly grabbing him.

"Ancient Dan Path! Ancient Dan Path!!"

The four Wine Worm People roared, swinging their double-pointed forks from dozens of meters away at the group.

"Quick, move! Stall for time!"

Song Danhao’s forehead talisman flickered, dark aura spreading out from him.

Clang!

Several more collisions fiercely burst out in front of him. The sounds were so rapid they merged into one.

The barrier of dark energy vibrated with ripples like water, almost breaking apart.

Lin Yaoyang and the others could offer no help.

Without spell methods, they were only slightly stronger than ordinary humans, masters of the Martial World. Facing such formidable and strange beings of legend, even Song Danhao, who could reach the Fifth Rank when exploding in power, was insufficient; it was even less likely that the three women could stand up to them.

"Combat maneuver! Extend the distance and stall for time!" Lin Yaoyang, with her extensive experience in actual combat, was the first to react, shouting her thoughts loudly.

Before Song Danhao could respond, he suddenly saw his body propelled upward, slamming onto the ground behind and dragging a clear mark on the ice.

In desperation, Lin Yaoyang threw her Broken Sword at one of the Wine Worm People.

Shick!

The Broken Sword stabbed into the skin of a Wine Worm Person, then bounced off as if hitting hard wood, utterly useless.

One of the Wine Worm People picked up the Broken Sword and stuffed it into its mouth, crunching it a few times, thoroughly chewing and swallowing it.

This sight sent a chill through the hearts of the three women.

"Scatter! This is the bloodline of Fidal, the Wine God’s descendant! Born of Fifth Rank, with a naturally powerful defense." Song Danhao shouted from behind and then got up to rush over again.

Lin Yaoyang was about to respond when he suddenly sensed something was wrong and immediately leapt backward, just far enough to be three steps away.

Boom!

The ground where she had been standing cracked, and four double-pronged fork marks instantly appeared on the surface.

"They’re not fast, and their strength isn’t great. We just need to be wary of their folding space tactics. Let’s delay and fight!" Song Danhao grabbed Gongshang Baiyu and rolled aside to dodge another attack.

Xu Ling quietly concealed herself, fully repressing her presence, holding a small bottle of green liquid in her hands, carefully pouring and sprinkling it on the ground to one side.

Song Danhao, his face flushed with exertion, hurriedly stashed Baiyu into a corner out of sight and then returned to join Lin Yaoyang, who was extremely harried, in incessantly dodging attacks from the Wine Bugs.

However, since the attacks came without any warning, both were hit several times in no time at all.

Even though the Wine Bugs weren’t incredibly strong, being on par with Fourth Rank at most, Lin Yaoyang was merely Fourth Rank as well, and Song Danhao’s Fifth Rank power could only burst forth for a short duration.

The two quickly found themselves embroiled in a tough battle.

No matter the attack, it proved ineffective against the Wine Bugs’ skin.

Seizing the moment when the Wine Bugs were preoccupied, Xu Ling continued to cautiously spill the odorless liquid. She quietly made her way around, inching towards the huge bear behind the Wine Bugs.

The Token was on the ground by the bear’s mouth, about seven or eight meters away from the Wine Bugs.

Xu Ling’s movements became even more cautious and slow.

Luckily, the four Wine Bugs seemed to be very dim-witted and had poor perception, completely failing to notice her sneaking in from the side.

Xu Ling carefully picked up the Token and started heading back in a roundabout way. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to gesture towards Song Danhao and his companion.

"Catch, Brother Hao!"

When Xu Ling was still over ten meters away from Lin Yaoyang and the others, she gestured in a direction, suddenly tossing the Token towards where Song Danhao had just gotten back up, landing it with pinpoint accuracy.

Song Danhao was overjoyed, reaching out to catch the Token.

Once all the Tokens were assembled, they would be able to unlock the Snowman King’s Seal, seizing the Snowman King’s Courage to use as a key to control the entirety of Snowman City. At that point, they could activate the Snowman City’s Ancient Formation to leave the Void Ruins.

Just as his hand was about to touch the Token.

"Boundary of Life and Death."

Suddenly, a deep male voice resonated throughout the hall.

Song Danhao’s movements abruptly froze, as did the Token rolling in mid-air.

Lin Yaoyang, who had been jumping in the air, also came to a suspended halt.

The two women were the same—all of their movements totally froze, as if turned to rigid statues in their spots.

Even the descendants of the Wine God, the Wine Bugs, were likewise immobilized, unable to move.

"Divide," continued the male voice.

Hum!

In an instant, countless crimson threads spread throughout the surrounding Void.

Strands after strands of threads interlaced, weaving into a net.

Masses of these nets combined to form spaces of varying sizes, like rectangular cubes, dividing the entire hall into differently sized blocks and trapping Song Danhao and the other four within them.

Four-Ears Du Qijun walked out with a smile, followed by Dong Shengping and two other capable subordinates, with more than ten Four Seas Fairy Mountains disciples closely following behind.

"All the stone Tokens are here." Du Qijun walked into the block where Song Danhao was and reached straight for the Token.

"Boundary of Life and Death can absolutely prevent anyone inside from escaping. It’s impossible to escape or jump through space. Even we can’t leave ourselves.

Only by determining a victor can one truly leave the Realm of Law.

Choose your opponents. Let’s end this quickly," he said, though his hands didn’t pause as he spoke.

"Yes, Master!"

The three subordinates responded in turn, each approaching Lin Yaoyang and his companions.

Du Qijun’s hand hesitated for a moment but ultimately still lightly touched the Token.

Boom!

It was as if the air trembled fiercely.

Suddenly, everything began to flow anew, time resumed, and everyone who had been rendered motionless before now returned to normal.

Through the cube-like blocks, they could see one another’s situations, separated by what seemed like crystal-clear glass walls.

Song Danhao’s complexion soured as he stepped back after losing a piece of the Token. But seeing that his three companions were all still safe, he felt slightly relieved.

"Du Qijun!" His eyes sharpened as he stared at the man across from him.

"Brother Song, long time no see. Are you well?" Du Qijun asked with a smile, whilst a small bottle slowly appeared in his hand.

The bottle had an odd shape: the top half was black, the lower half white. The mouth of the bottle was continuously releasing golden glimmers, like many golden spikes breathing in and out.

"Without death, there’s no exit from this Boundary of Life and Death," Four-Ears Immortal Du Qijun said with a hint of melancholy. "Last time, Brother Song, you tricked me badly. This time you won’t be able to run away again, will you?"

On another side, a veiled female cultivator faced Gongshang Baiyu.

Elsewhere, a man wielding a steel trident and dressed in white half-body armor squared off against Xu Ling.

And Dong Shengping, holding a Five-tooth Harrow, slowly positioned himself opposite Lin Yaoyang.

As the second strongest member of the Four Seas Fairy Mountains expedition this time, it was right for him, at Fourth Rank, to take on Lin Yaoyang.