Chapter 857 - Spatial Beast

The ropes binding the young man were fraying, with more strands snapping under the pressure. When he was a few hundred meters from the Heavenly Peak's summit, the rope couldn't hold on any longer.

At the critical moment, Liu Wuxie suddenly grabbed the rope with a burst of power, accelerating the young man's return.

The rope finally snapped when the young man was twelve meters from the summit.

"Damn!" Liu Wuxie and the young man exclaimed as the latter was dragged backward, pulled toward the swirling vortex.

"Earth-Binding Chains!" Without hesitation, Liu Wuxie activated the chains, wrapping them around the youth’s waist and yanking him back with all his strength.

The young man had already resigned himself to death, believing there was no escape. But to his shock, Liu Wuxie’s intervention dragged him away from the vortex’s grasp.

When he landed on the summit, the two men looked at each other before they burst into hearty laughter. They had narrowly escaped the jaws of death together.

"Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy's Liu Wuxie!" Liu Wuxie cupped his hands in greeting, fully aware that he would have perished without the young man's help.

"Dragon Emperor Academy's Qiao Bian!" The young man returned the gesture, and their laughter echoed across the peak.

They could see their reflections in each other's eyes, and a single glance conveyed what words could not.

"Thank you, Brother Qiao!" Liu Wuxie cupped his hands together to express his gratitude.

"Likewise. I would've died if not for you," Qiao Bian replied with a carefree grin.

The two turned their gaze toward the depths of the Astral Domain. The profound talisman had completed its transformation, radiating a dazzling golden glow. The surrounding talismans seemed to awaken, undergoing their own changes.

The Astral Domain's rift slowly sealed as the massive talisman merged into it. When the last trace of the rift disappeared, only the faint silhouette of the talisman remained.

The raging astral winds dissipated, and a profound stillness settled over the land.

At this moment, a fluctuation came from the True Martial Continent's depth, doubling the continent's spiritual energy.

Spiritual energy rose as the laws became firmer, whether in the Southern Province, Eastern Domain, Western Barren, Northern City, or the Central Plains. Over the next few days, a large number of powerhouses would emerge as the laws became more complete.

"Brother Liu, it is truly commendable that you accomplished such a monumental feat and saved the entire True Martial Continent," Qiao Biao said, giving Liu Wuxie a bow and acknowledging his pivotal role in saving the world.

"The credit isn't mine alone. You also played an important role, and I will report it to the academy truthfully when I return," Liu Wuxie replied, cupping his hands together in response. He knew that even if he had succeeded, he would have perished without Qiao Bian's support.

Ancient powerhouses began emerging from various forces, their gazes fixed upon the Heavenly Peak. Having lived for millennia, they understood the significance of what had just transpired.

Though those who had only lived for centuries remained unaware of the exact events, they could feel the shift—laws had become more complete, and the spiritual energy in the atmosphere had grown richer.

"He did it!" The Heavenly Spirit Celestial Academy's grandmaster stood up in shock.

"As expected of the chosen one!" he said before vanishing to an unknown destination.

The two prodigies stood atop Heavenly Peak. With the astral winds no longer battering them, they sat on a boulder, steady and composed, and focused on comprehending the newly formed laws.

With a sudden spatial ripple, a colossal beast emerged from the Astral Domain and charged straight at them.

The two quickly stood up and looked at the sky. A stone dragon over ten thousand meters in length was wandering toward them.

"The Spatial Beast!" Liu Wuxie was shocked. Spatial Beast was a rare type of divine beast that survived by devouring spatial shards.

With the rift sealed, the astral winds had dissipated, and the surrounding space had stabilized. This had resulted in cutting off the Spatial Beast's food supply.

When Liu Wuxie first approached the rift, the area had been littered with spatial shards. Yet now, not a single one remained.

The Spatial Beast was an anomaly. It lacked internal organs and was composed entirely of spatial crystals. Any prey it devoured would be lost in boundless space.

Over the years, it had consumed countless spatial shards, expanding its internal space until it formed an entire world within itself.

"Quick, run!" Qiao Bian yelled.

He sprang to his feet and darted down the mountain with Liu Wuxie following closely behind. Neither of them had the strength to confront the Spatial Beast.

Most importantly, the Spatial Beast's body was composed of countless meteorites. These meteorites were incredibly tough, and even heavenly artifacts would struggle to penetrate through their defenses.

Only those at the Heaven Profound Realm, capable of shattering space itself, could hope to kill it.

Liu Wuxie and Qiao Bian turned into streaks of light, flying down the mountain. Now that the rift was repaired, they could finally take flight.

But suddenly, space around them fluctuated, and a massive vortex materialized, dragging them into its pull. Their speed faltered as if the very air had turned against them. An eerie scene unfolded. Moments ago, they had been fleeing down the mountainside. Now, they were back at the summit—as if they had never left.

"Spatial teleportation!" Qiao Bian and Liu Wuxie exclaimed in unison.

The Spatial Beast had terrifying control over spatial laws, bending them to its will. No matter how they fled, escape was impossible—the creature could distort space itself, trapping them in an endless cycle.

The Spatial Beast was enraged after losing its food source, and it could only quell its anger by killing the two humans responsible for its plight.

"Brother Liu, let's split up!" Qiao Bian called out. Though only a year or two older than Liu Wuxie, he made a swift decision.

"Okay!" Liu Wuxie responded without hesitation, and the two sped off in opposite directions.

Yet, the Spatial Beast continued to hover in the air without moving.

In an instant, Liu Wuxie shot thousands of meters ahead, pushing his speed to the limit in a desperate attempt to escape the Spatial Beast.

Qiao Bian also did the same, performing a profound movement technique to streak across the sky like a meteor, and he was even faster than Liu Wuxie. After all, he was at the high level of the Spirit Profound Realm with strength far beyond Liu Wuxie's.

This proved that the Dragon Emperor Academy was a place teeming with exceptional yet undiscovered talents. Not to mention, Qiao Bian was only one or two years older than him, possessing formidable strength.

Moreover, he was shrouded by a layer of fortune no weaker than Liu Wuxie's.

Just as Liu Wuxie believed he had reached safety after fleeing ten thousand meters, the space ahead warped, and a cluster of spatial fragments emerged.

In the next moment, Liu Wuxie found himself devoured by the fragments, unable to break free. Facing this dire situation, he could only let out a bitter smile.

The spatial backflow seemed capable of altering the fabric of time and space. Although Liu Wuxie had fled ten thousand meters, an unseen force dragged him back, returning him to the mountain peak.

Qiao Bian faced the same fate and was transported back no matter how far he ran.

The two could only exchange a glance with a trace of helplessness flickering in their eyes.

"Let's fight then!" Their only option was to fight since escape was impossible.

Liu Wuxie drew the Heretic Blade and was prepared to fight with the Spatial Beast.

After reaching the True Profound Realm, Liu Wuxie had yet to engage in a true battle to assess his current strength. His fight against the Golden-Scaled Roc had been a one-sided massacre, and no one was his match beneath the third-level Spirit Profound Realm.

Qiao Bian nodded in agreement and unsheathed his longsword, swinging it through the air, causing a series of explosions.

"What impressive swordsmanship!" Liu Wuxie murmured to himself.

Qiao Bian's sword technique contained traces of a dao technique, making it incredibly powerful. He could determine from Qiao Bian's aura that his combat prowess was extraordinary.

Positioning themselves on opposite sides, the two attacked in perfect sync, their blade and sword auras forming distinct dao techniques that surged toward the Spatial Beast.

Facing the two attacks, the Spatial Beast remained indifferent. Its massive head loomed like an immovable mountain.

Its eyes were deep, resembling two embedded meteors—grayish-white devoid of pupils.

Unlike ordinary profound beasts with blood and flesh, the Spatial Beast was an enigmatic creature. This was because its entire body was composed of spatial shards.

When the two dao techniques struck the colossal beast's frame, sparks erupted, covering the sky and unleashing a powerful shockwave with flame and dark clouds.

Yet, there was no reaction from the Spatial Beast as it remained in place, undeterred. As the cloud of dust settled, there wasn't any visible wound on the Spatial Beast's body. There were only a few shattered spatial shards from the surface.

"How can this be?!" Qiao Bian was baffled.

His understanding of the Spatial Beast was inferior to Liu Wuxie's, which was why Liu Wuxie had chosen to flee at first sight without hesitation. After all, the Spatial Beast was also known as the undying beast.

Like a centipede that wouldn't die even after being severed, the Spatial Beast didn't have any internal organs, and it wouldn't perish even with its body torn into countless pieces. It could only be annihilated by destroying the spatial laws in its body.

"What a powerful physique!" Qiao Bian was confident in his combat strength, but his encounter today had shaken him.

The Spatial Beast defied conventional classification. It had no discernible cultivation level and could not be perceived through ordinary means.

Suddenly, its gray-white eyes flickered with fury as it swept its gaze toward them. Opening its massive maw, it revealed an abyss-like void, a bottomless chasm capable of consuming everything in its path.

"This is bad!" Liu Wuxie roared.

He didn't hesitate to sheath the Heretic Blade and executed his ice dao technique, attempting to seal the Spatial Beast's mouth shut.

Qiao Bian also grasped the imminent danger—the Spatial Beast was preparing to swallow them whole. Without hesitation, he also sheathed his longsword and hurled a barrage of talismans.

The talismans streaked toward the creature’s gaping maw, detonating in a chain reaction of violent explosions. The Spatial Beast thrashed in midair as the concussive blasts disrupted the spatial shards composing its body. The once-unmoving shards clashed against one another, creating a deafening screech akin to shattered glass grinding together.

Meanwhile, Liu Wuxie's ice dao technique momentarily sealed the beast’s mouth, halting its attempt to devour them. However, within moments, the Spatial Beast effortlessly shattered the ice into countless fragments.

A terrifying suction force erupted from its maw, pulling Liu Wuxie and Qiao Bian toward the abyss-like void, along with massive boulders from the mountain's summit.