Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 1122 - 1122 0656 Burned Bridges_2

Chapter 1122: Chapter 0656: Burned Bridges_2 Chapter 1122: Chapter 0656: Burned Bridges_2 At first, they hadn’t noticed anything amiss, but after Emperor Jianwu and his companions had traveled along this forked path for some time, the various oddities that appeared made Emperor Jianwu and his companions realize that this path they had chosen was very likely a dead-end. Travelling along such a dead-end was certain death; in fact, it was tantamount to courting a fate with no return.

Emperor Jianwu and the princes continually used the Sound Transmission Skill to engage in frequent discussions. Shortly after entering this forked path, they finally came to a consensus. They decided to stop advancing and instead, the front of the group would become the rear, and the rear would become the front as the entire group turned around. They decided to head back, disregarding anything else, with the priority being to exit this forked path and return to safety, and then to choose another path from there.

Emperor Jianwu’s orders were swiftly communicated to every cultivator’s ears. However, when all the cultivators turned around and prepared to retreat, a peculiar scene unfolded.

They unexpectedly discovered that, at some point, a thick fog had risen behind them. This fog was extremely dense, obscuring everyone’s vision so that even if they extended their Divine Sense, they could not make any progress within the thick fog. Moreover, this fog also concealed the path from view; even standing on the edge of the fog, and straining their eyes as hard as they could, they could not see what lay at their feet and had no idea whether they were standing on the path or not.

Upon being informed, Emperor Jianwu hastily joined the other princes to examine the edge of the fog. After studying it for a while and holding an urgent consultation, they selected two cultivators, tied ropes around them, and then sent them into the fog following the forked path to probe ahead. The goal was to see what the situation inside was like and whether it was possible to continue along the forked path and return to the original point.

The two chosen cultivators acted swiftly, securing ropes around their waists. These ropes were magical tools of great toughness, resistant to cuts, fireproof, impervious to extreme cold, and slightly elastic—making them an undoubtedly suitable choice for a safety line for pathfinders in this situation.

The cultivators wasted no time, and after tying the ropes to their waists, they plunged into the fog. Someone was assigned to manage the rope from outside the fog, gradually releasing it to allow the cultivators inside the fog some room to maneuver.

Initially, everything went smoothly. Emperor Jianwu and the others could clearly see the rope extending bit by bit into the fog. No matter how much rope the person holding the safety line released, the extra length would soon get pulled into the fog. However, this good situation did not last long. Soon, the cultivator holding the rope felt that something was wrong—he released the rope from his hands, and it just fell to the ground in a heap, showing no sign of being dragged into the fog. He immediately reported this anomaly to Emperor Jianwu.

Emperor Jianwu’s expression changed instantly. He immediately ordered the rope-holding cultivator to start pulling the rope back in, irrespective of the situation of the cultivators inside the fog. They needed to be pulled out at once, as ensuring their safety was the top priority.

The two cultivators responsible for the safety ropes started pulling the ropes back without delay. One of them felt something was wrong as soon as he began. As he pulled on the rope, he felt no resistance; it was eerily light as if nothing was attached to the other end. He quickly sped up, pulling the rope back rapidly. In no time at all, he retrieved the entire length of the rope and was shocked to discover that his companion who had been attached to the other end was gone. The end of the rope was frayed, as though it had been worn through by something.

Emperor Jianwu, who had been observing from the side, grabbed the rope and inspected it closely. His expression became extremely grave; he then ordered another cultivator, who was also pulling the rope, to speed up the retrieval.

Following Emperor Jianwu’s command, the cultivator quickened the pace of hauling in the rope. As he did so, he sensed something amiss. Although there was resistance on the rope, he felt that the resistance was steadily decreasing, which was abnormal. The other end of the rope was tied to a living person, and the resistance it offered should have been fairly consistent, not diminishing like this. Yet, an impossible situation had occurred, and he knew for certain there was a problem.

Without needing Emperor Jianwu’s instruction, he hastened the retrieval of the rope. Soon after, the cultivator had pulled in the entire safety rope, and when he saw what was tied to the end of it, his face turned deathly pale.

The comrade who had secured the safety rope around his waist was dead. The cultivator’s face didn’t pale just from the death of his comrade, but because the body was no longer simply a corpse; it had become a mutilated one. The head and limbs were all devastated, with not a single intact part, appearing horrifying to behold.

Emperor Jianwu and his company were sufficiently prepared mentally, but the sight still unavoidably saddened them. However, they didn’t waste time lamenting and instead crouched to investigate what could have caused their comrade to die in such a manner and become so mutilated.

Emperor Jianwu and Emperor Yonghe could be considered very experienced and knowledgeable; there weren’t many incidents within the Imperial Family Secret Territory that could elude them. After thoroughly examining the mutilated remains, they arrived at a unanimous conclusion: the culprit that had led to their comrade’s swift death and the mutilation of his corpse was neither human nor ghost, but a terrifying sandstorm.

Once these sandstorms occurred, they would whip up grains of sand into the air, swirling and moving at incredibly high speeds. Due to their velocity, these grains carried enormous energy, and upon striking a person, they could inflict severe damage. Killing even those in the Gold Core Realm was effortlessly within their power.

These dreadful sandstorms were not a new phenomenon within the Saint’s Tomb; they had appeared there scarcely throughout the long history of thousands of years. Compared to other dangers, these sandstorms were relatively rare, but their infrequency did not diminish their ferocity. Whenever they struck, they often signified massive loss of life.

Confronting these sandstorms head-on was definitely not a wise choice, as they covered a vast area upon their occurrence. Within this area, one might face their onslaught at any moment; there was virtually no safe zone.

If it were solely the occurrence of such a sandstorm, it wouldn’t necessarily pose an insurmountable danger to Emperor Jianwu and his group; there was a tactic known as “if you can’t fight, then run.” Since they knew these sandstorms were to be avoided at all costs, they could simply detour around upon sighting the storms from a distance. However, the issue now was the simultaneous appearance of the sandstorm and a dense fog. In such a thick fog that they couldn’t see their hands before them, it was impossible to detect the sandstorm in advance and steer clear. If one encountered such a sandstorm in the fog, there would only be one outcome — death; a second scenario was out of the question. Not just them, even Manager Chen, should he face this situation, could do nothing but sigh in despair.