Despite having escaped his pursuers, for the time being, Qianye’s heart was covered in a layer of dust. This uncomfortable feeling was a sign that danger hadn’t left. That six-armed giant possessed terrifying vitality and would heal in less than half a day’s time. Actually, the wound didn’t really hamper his ability to chase them down.

Qianye began thinking of a plan while fleeing.

Just running wasn’t a solution because the six-armed giant possessed boundless stamina—almost as though it would never grow tired. Qianye could run all the way back to the Imperial fort due to his full essence blood stores, but he would also be luring the giant over. Although Ji Tianqing had described the fort as incomparably sturdy, there was no telling if it could actually stop the six-armed giant.

Neither fight nor flight seemed to be a viable option. Qianye’s all-out attack had struck the monster’s head, a weakness for most creatures, yet the six-armed giant was still fine. Qianye was at a loss about what to do since the only way was to find its true weakness and deal a single lethal blow.

Zhao Ruoxi had mentioned her killing a six-armed general, but according to her recount, the opponent was only half the size of this one. The strength of the creatures in the high-gravity region corresponded to their size. Those without sufficient strength couldn’t even stand up.

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Zhao Ruoxi had killed a six-armed general with relative ease mainly because she possessed the Red Spider Lily. The magnum had grown exponentially more powerful in the Great Maelstrom, and its attack targeted space and spirit, the bane of such creatures. Her easy kill caused Qianye to underestimate the enemy’s strength. Only after personally fighting the six-armed giant did he truly experience how terrifying it was.

Such a terrifying creature also possessed secret arts that could see through Qianye’s Spatial Flash. It could also discover people with hidden auras, which would turn any potential ambush into a disastrous joke. How was one to fight such an enemy?

The first thing to do now was to find a way out.

Qianye recalled the map of the Great Maelstrom as he ran. The map he had in his mind was pieced together from the data provided by the Ji, Li, Song, and Zhao families. There was probably no second map so complete, but from what he had experienced on this journey, it would seem the map only covered a small corner of the Great Maelstrom.

The map was incomplete in many areas, much like ink spots on a sheet of white paper. And that was exactly where Qianye planned to go.

These empty areas intersected closely with the Empire’s charted lands. Just as the Constellation Well had belonged to the Empire for a long time, these places were resources controlled solely by Evernight. Human experts had never paid them any attention because they were useless for the Empire. The number of people entering the Great Maelstrom from each faction was very limited, so no one would spend limited human resources on useless things.

Qianye plotted a convoluted route that would pass through several empty regions. This was a plan to divert one’s calamity. It was fine if no one was around in these spots, but if the dark race experts happened to be around, they would find that the six-armed giant’s attacks were a force to be reckoned with.

Having formulated his plan, Qianye switched directions and ran swiftly ahead. That murky feeling in his chest never went away, which meant that the six-armed giant was still targeting him.

One day and night passed by in the blink of an eye. Qianye was still running along the mountain range. Far away behind him, several pillars of smoke could be seen rising into the air.

That was a mining zone. The dark races had built a small fortress at some point, and there were a dozen or so experts guarding it. There were also a large number of servspiders, some of them dozens of meters in height. These creatures, possessing a basic level of intelligence, served as manual labor for the mines. Apparently, the dark races were planning something important here.

Qianye ran past the fortress walls without any concealment, alarming the entire base. Alarms blared as the dark races swarmed out like the tides. However, Qianye was so fast that he was already long gone by the time the fortress had reacted. Meanwhile, a massive figure began to appear over the distant horizon.

An arachne count was in charge of defenses here. His legs went soft the moment he saw that giant figure, almost collapsing to the floor. Before he could even issue an order, a heavy arrow flew in from yonder.

“T-This…”

All sound was temporarily devoured by the earth-shattering explosion.

Several days passed by as Qianye weaved through eight such dark race territories. Most were empty, but three of them were well-constructed, just like the Song clan’s Heavenschild Pasture. Unlike the pasture’s single occupant, however, the dark race settlements were garrisoned by various races. The most useful of the lot was still the arachne servspiders.

Developing the three resource points to this state was a decade’s worth of work at least. After Qianye passed by with the six-armed giant on his tail, the monstrosity destroyed everything in its wake. This misdirection was extremely malicious, and dealt a heavy blow to the dark races who had decided to set up camp here.

Qianye discovered that he couldn’t shake off the six-armed creature no matter what he did. During the several days of pursuit, not only did the giant not grow tired, but it even started to move faster and faster—it was clearly adapting to the low-gravity environment. Qianye’s troubles weren’t just behind him, though.

Several four-armed warriors walked out of the forest in front of him. They glanced over at Qianye, weapons at the ready.

Qianye accelerated calmly. As the two sides closed in, he let out a loud roar and swept forward with his domain power, taking this opportunity to pass through the staggered enemies.

These four-armed natives finally steadied themselves and were about to give chase when a massive shadow appeared. Soon, a giant leg descended from the air and crushed two warriors into meat paste.

The six-armed giant was entirely ignorant of the situation beneath its foot—perhaps it wouldn’t care even if it was aware. It merely took the next step and was soon dozens of meters away.

After the six-armed giant had left, the surviving four-armed warriors walked about in confusion for a while. Then, as though having sensed something, the natives quickly formed a group and ran away in a certain direction.

In Qianye’s consciousness, the map was already filled with a tangled mess of lines—that was the route he had just weaved through. Although he had destroyed several dark race bases in the process, he still couldn’t lose the six-armed giant. He didn’t dare approach the Imperial settlement, either. If Song Zining and the others were hiding there, everyone would be done for.

After playing cat and mouse for so many days, there was a question Qianye couldn’t quite figure out: how was that six-armed giant sustaining itself?

The giant’s build was massive, and as a native of the high-gravity region, every muscle in its body was incomparably heavy. Every step should rightly drain a great deal of energy. Yet, the monstrosity had chased Qianye for several days and even forced him to use Spatial Flash in the most recent exchange. The latter had already exhausted all essence blood in his body, and there was no backup stock in the Book of Darkness, either. He had no other choice but to fight the intercepting four-armed warriors and use Life Plunder to replenish himself.

At this rate, the six-armed giant would catch up to him sooner or later.

Qianye felt worried as he checked the map. He had been running back and forth, but every time, the six-armed giant would intercept him. Each trip wasn’t much, but the giant had run for shocking distances in accumulation. Currently, the monstrosity was on par with Qianye in terms of speed and possessed much greater endurance. Leading it in circles wasn’t a practical idea.

While thinking about what to do, Qianye’s eyes suddenly landed on an eye-catching mark.

Pond of Life!

This was a dangerous location, but also one of great opportunities. Ignoring everything else for now, just the Marine Lotus alone was enough for countless Imperial experts to throw themselves in. On the other hand, this was the most notorious place, so much so that it could only be more perilous than the high-gravity region where Qianye had started out.

He had several ways to deal with the frigid night, like robbing white-fruit wine and using it to suppress the effects. Those possessing higher cultivation and certain secret arts wouldn’t need to pay a steep price. Ji Tianqing, for instance, was surviving quite well on her own before meeting Qianye.

The Pond of Life, however, was different. This trial of spirit and willpower had nothing to do with one’s cultivation. Stronger experts usually possessed greater willpower and determination, but all of this was relative. According to Imperial records, less than half of the divine champions could even approach the pond.

Besides, one couldn’t fake the trial or try to pass just by boasting about determination. Hypnosis or risking one’s life wouldn’t work, either. That was why countless experts had fallen in the Pond of Life, including many famous names. There were even geniuses among them at Zhao Jundu’s level.

Because the Pond of Life posed a greater threat than the benefits it offered, the empire had no choice but to figure out a different plan. For instance, they would pick out a desperate or crazy prisoner, and teach him special secret arts. Then, he would be placed in the Great Maelstrom for the Pond of Life.

These people afforded the empire a stable method to harvest the marine lotus and other secret herbs.

This kind of secret art involved a great price. Once over-channeled, the operator would lose all emotions and be left with neither sorrow nor joy. In the end, they would be devoid of all desires and wants, completely transforming into a living dead. Hence, from a certain perspective, those entering the Pond of Life were more or less expendable.

The Pond of Life was part of Qianye’s planned trips back when he was in the high-gravity region. Hence, Ji Tianqing had taught him this secret art. In case Qianye lost control of himself and couldn’t leave the pond in time, channeling this art would allow him to hang on to dear life. The process of zombification required a month or two at least, just enough time to make arrangements for the future.

The Pond of Life placed great restraint on both humans and dark races. It didn’t hold back against the natives, either. Every year, a large number of strange new beasts would be produced here from the cross-mating. Most creatures, however, would lose themselves and ultimately sink to the bottom of the pond.

The six-armed giant had been heavily injured, and it was going berserk out of instinct. Qianye wanted to lure it into the Pond of Life and see how firm its willpower was. If it was affected or even controlled, Qianye would have the opportunity to escape completely.