“An… An Li… I can’t hold on any longer. I’m going to… sleep for a bit… If you don’t… hear me respond, just… call for me more…”
A heavy fatigue resonated in the voice.
“Hang in there! I’ll be back in the present world right away!”
But Vermilion Bird fell silent.
An Li hurried her pace.
This time to stop Crimson Dust Saint.
Even emperors had joined in.
You could say all the powerful beings were gathered; the entire River of Time was temporarily in a vacuum.
An Li held five treasure vaults.
They were the Ancient Heavenly Court vault, the Ancient Netherworld vault, plus three supreme Dao lineages.
All these forces were severely understaffed, since the situation had grown so urgent that no one could pay attention to anything else.
An Li initially wanted to snatch the treasury of the Great Western Heaven, but almost couldn’t leave; had she not wasted some time there, she felt she could have gained even more resources.
“Damn Great Western Heaven! While other forces cleared everything out to face Crimson Dust Saint, you folks never forget to keep a backup!”
An Li cursed upon returning to the present world.
She understood the intentions of Great Western Heaven.
If the other strong beings suffered heavy casualties while Great Western Heaven retained some of their powerhouses, then after all this, the Buddha Sect would surely thrive.
Others die, I live—ain’t that prosperity?
In truth, An Li was genuinely envious of Great Western Heaven because they were truly wealthy. Swallow their treasures whole, and she might just restore forty percent of her essence.
What a pity!
What a shame!
After returning, An Li began contacting Vermilion Bird.
“Vermilion Bird, where are you now?” An Li asked.
But, there was no response.
“Vermilion Bird???”
“Can you hear me?”
“Vermilion Bird! Wake up!”
An Li began to call out.
At this moment, Vermilion Bird’s face was pale and weak. Looking at Lu Ye before her, a faint light flickered in her eyes.
“Hubby…”
To accelerate the transformation of the River of Time, the Four Spirits of Heaven had truly exhausted themselves; even someone just there to fill numbers was this worn out…
“Hold on! I’ll set up a web of heaven and earth right away!” Lu Ye nodded at Vermilion Bird.
Vermilion Bird blinked and softly “uh-huh”’d.
Lu Ye then turned to the numerous Celestial Lords.
“Let’s get started!”
With so many Celestial Lords brainstorming, they began their layout.
This time, they absolutely couldn’t let An Li escape.
The Invincible Sword Lord was really pumped up.
Having just fought the Crimson Dust Saint and found the gap quite large, now with a nearly depleted saint, sorry, but when it comes to beating down someone who’s almost dead, he’s more than capable.
They didn’t need to lay out too many formations.
Too many could lead to flaws.
However, the Formation Celestial Lord quickly devised a Nine Extremes Annihilation Formation specifically for this situation on the fly.
To be honest, even Lu Ye was well-versed in formations, but without the System, he couldn’t hold a candle to the Formation Celestial Lord.
This guy became a Celestial Lord through formations; his mastery needed no further explanation.
It had to be fast!
And well considered!
The Ancient Celestial Lord directly slowed the flow of time here just to buy a bit more time.
Lu Ye watched the busy Celestial Lords and sighed softly.
Alright, alright, alright!
This time Lu Ye just wouldn’t believe… cough, can’t think like that; every time he did, the outcome wasn’t particularly satisfying.
Lu Ye began to simulate with the System again and observe meticulously for any flaws.
Anyway, he was determined to do this well.
And he wanted to put on a show, make sure An Li bit the bait!
Finally, everything was ready.
Lu Ye returned to Vermilion Bird’s side.
His voice was unusually gentle.
As long as he helped him deal with An Li, they were all good brothers and Dao friends!
“Alright, let’s call An Li over!”
Vermilion Bird’s eyelids were already incredibly heavy.
But upon hearing Lu Ye’s words, she still managed to reveal a faint smile.
A feather from Vermilion Bird began to burn.
“An Li… come…”
Vermilion Bird fell into a deep sleep.
Qing Long, Xuanwu, and White Tiger had long since been exhausted and fallen asleep; Vermilion Bird, however, had been thinking solely of helping Lu Ye, so she held on until now.
An Li received the message and saw the River of Time beginning to stretch open, no longer hesitating, she rushed toward the position Vermilion Bird indicated.
“Shouldn’t we wait until the River of Time has completely finished transforming?” Dark Origin God suggested.
An Li nodded.
“I naturally know to wait until it’s done, but I won’t be caught off guard this time!”
An Li wasn’t foolish; she was just getting closer and wouldn’t rush in blindly.
Once near, she’d check for any ambush before acting.
Not long after.
An Li arrived.
Looking ahead at the hazy chaos.
This was an extremely hidden light sphere, entirely comprised of the power of the Four Spirits. If not seen with her own eyes, it would just appear as the ordinary heavens and earth, since the entire cosmos was built upon the fundamental powers of the Four Spirits.
The Four Spirits of Heaven were right here.
An Li began to scrutinize her surroundings carefully.
But after searching high and low, she found nothing unusual.
Just at that moment, Lu Ye, Primordial Dao Lord, and the previous Outer Celestial Lord “returned” from the River of Time.
An Li hurriedly hid herself.
“Fellow Daoists, now is the weak period of the Four Spirits of Heaven. We must protect them for the peace of the world and prevent anyone from taking advantage!”
“I, Nine Lives, vow here; if you all help me this time, once we successfully hunt Dark Origin God, I’ll share the Saint Dao with all of you!”
“Ha ha ha, Nine Lives Dao Friend’s word is his bond; we all believe it!”
An Li watched this scene, her gaze reflecting a sense of, “I knew it.”
Lu Ye wasn’t a fool either; if An Li could recognize that the Four Spirits were currently in a weakened state, he naturally understood as well.
But little did he know, he had already restored thirty percent of a Saint’s power. Even if all these Celestial Lords banded together, they were still no match for him.
“What a pity the River of Time is about to normalize; otherwise, I could call in the Invincible Sword Lord. But with An Li’s strength, just us is plenty!”
“I’ll immediately gather my ninth life; even if An Li really restores a lot of power, I can still merge nine lives and wear her down!” Lu Ye said with a serious expression.
“Good, we’ll protect you!”
An Li listened to these words from her hiding spot, her expression shifting.
Nine Lives Merge?
Not to mention anything else, just hearing those four words was enough to realize just how terrifying that was.
“I can’t let him merge his lives! We must strike now!”
An Li said, a hint of urgency in her voice.