A Thought Through Eternity

Chapter 52 - The Fallen Chen clan’s Betrayal!

Meanwhile, in an enormous underground palace beneath the Fallen Chen Clan’s residences, there was a lake filled with blood. Inside this bloody lake, there were countless of skeletons.

Basking in the light of a formation array were countless Chen clansmen; men, women, the old and the young. Each clansmen was kneeling on a node that was part of the formation array.

Each of them was silent as they slashed their right arm. Blood would ooze out and coalesce into the nearby nodes. The accumulated blood from all the clansmen would then flow into the blood lake in the centre.

At the heart of the blood lake, an old man with a head full of white hair was calmly seating cross-legged, meditating. With each of his breath, the blood lake seethed.

At this moment, the elder suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a thick killing intent within.

“What is happening!!!?” His cold voice echoed throughout the underground palace.

Within the closest group of kneeling clansmen, a youth spoke softly.

‘Patriarch, there were three disciples from Spirit River Sect that suddenly showed up and I was caught unprepared by their arrival. As I was worried about them interfering with our clan’s secret plot, I attempted to use my puppet body to coordinate with the other puppet bodies using spells to kill all three of them. Unfortunately… I am incompetent and I could only kill one of them, allowing the remaining two to run away. As for the disciple that was captured previously, he was also… rescued by them.” This youth was the one that Bai Xiaochun and company fought with during their previous encounter.

The youth was feeling gloomy too. When a Spirit River Sect disciple lost contact with the sect, it usually took around half a year’s time to confirm the missing case. The sect would only arrange for other disciples to conduct investigations after half a year’s time. As such, the investigating disciples would require approximately nine months to show up at the Fallen Star mountain range.

However, only 4 months had passed and unexpectedly, disciples from the Spirit River Sect had already been looking for them, which not only the youth, but even the entire Fallen Chen Clan, failed to foresee. After all, the one captured was merely an outer sect disciple, and morever, the clan didn’t leave any traces behind. Based on their reasoning, the investigation shouldn’t have arrived at the Fallen Star mountain range so soon.

As for Hou Yunfei, if he had not discovered the Fallen Chen Clan’s secret plot, they wouldn’t have captured him either. Originally, the plan was only supposed to take six months, and once it succeeded, the clan would rise from the ashes and extricate itself from Spirit River Sect’s control!

Now, however, they were one month short...…

“Two outer sect disciples… humph! I have already started the spell and have sealed the the entire area. Quickly arrange some clansmen to kill those two! Just one more month… and everything will be complete!” the elder ordered indifferently. He was not too concerned about the two disciples and once again, closed his eyes.

The youth took a deep breath and nodded in agreement.

Soon after, seven figures quickly departed from the Fallen Chen Clan’s residences. The first one of them was the youth himself, now with his real body, who appeared to be at the eighth level of Qi Condensation.

Among the remaining six figures, the weakest were all at the sixth level of Qi Condensation, and two were in the seventh level of Qi Condensation.

‘They couldn’t have escaped so far. Catch them!” In the next second, all seven of them darted toward the forest, filled with killing intent.

Within the forest, Bai Xiaochun and Du Lingfei were carrying Hou Yunfei who had lost consciousness. As they were running away from their pursuers, Bai Xiaochun had continuously tried to summon the flying boat, but the surrounding spell seemed to not only have disabled the ability to transmit information, it even stopped the Flying Boat from working.

After learning of this, Bai Xiaochun and Du Lingfei’s expressions turned even uglier.

The duo were silent as they gnashed their teeth and kept running while supporting the unconscious Hou Yunfei.

Bai Xiaochun’s face paled. At the moment, his danger sense was at its peak, and every fiber of his being was screaming, as though urging him to quickly escape!

He was certain that slowing down would mean death!

The feeling of danger that he felt now was countless times more intense than what he had felt from Feng Yan. After all, even if Feng Yan wanted to attack him, he would have to think twice as he needed to kill Bai Xiaochun stealthily.

Bai Xiaochun would just need to be cautious, and even if he let his guard down, he could still avoid most of Feng Yan’s attacks; he could even find opportunities to counterattack.

However, as of this moment… when Bai Xiaochun thought about what he knew, his heart shuddered and cold sweat dripped from his forehead. After discovering information that pertained to a clan of cultivators’ plans for betrayal, not to mention it was the Fallen Chen Clan, Bai Xiaochun himself would get killed without hesitation.

The clan would definitely do whatever it takes to silence him.

It wouldn’t be a sneak attack, but a direct attack, just like a lightning strike.

The clan wouldn’t give them much time to escape, those clansmen might already be hot on their heels.

“The damn Law Enforcement Agency! This mission… this mission is simply not for outer sect disciples to take on!” The very thought of the elder in the Fallen Chen Clan who had already reached Foundation Establishment made him shiver in fear.

“Foundation Establishment… comparing my Qi Condensation with that patriarch’s Foundation Establishmend is akin to comparing a mortal with a Qi Condensation cultivator…” Bai Xiaochun breathed heavily with his eyes bloodshot.

“My purpose for cultivating… is prolonging my life......” Bai Xiaochun cried without tears. He took a glance at Hou Yunfei, but he just couldn’t bring himself to abandon him jso they could run faster.

Du Lingfei paled as well as she was the weakest cultivator among them, and she couldn’t even recover any of her spiritual energy. She was bitter because she knew that there was only a slim chance for escape, and the probability of dying was substantial. If Feng Yan, who was a cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Condensation, was there, and so long as no Foundation Establishment elder was not pursuing them, there was still a chance to fend off the enemy.

However, with Feng Yan’s death, added to the fact that she herself was only at the fifth level of Qi Condensation and was unable to breakthrough, and as for Bai Xiaochun… with his fear of death, she had no hope left.

“I have never thought that I would die after taking my first mission...” Du Lingfei laughed bitterly. However, she clenched her teeth tightly, determined to not give up on the hope to survive until the very end. She took out a medicine pill and swallowed it. When she looked at the terrified Bai Xiaochun, she sighed softly. At this moment, she looked at him without any trace of contempt as she took out a medicine bottle and tossed it to Bai Xiaochun.

“Junior Brother Bai, be mindful of your spiritual energy and replenish it when necessary.”

Bai Xiaochun was shocked. He caught the medicine bottle from Du Lingfei, then he silently opened it and immediately swallowed a pill. After thinking for a moment, he took out two medicine bottles from Feng Yan’s storage pouch.

“Senior Brother Feng had some medicine pills too.” He splitted it into two and shared it with Du Lingfei as he spoke.

Du Lingfei accepted them in silence. The duo maintained their speed and soon they arrived at the place where they first discovered Hou Yunfei’s jade slip. Upon seeing the huge tree, Du Lingfei softly sighed.

Regreting now was useless, the duo supported Hou Yunfei and continued their escape. Gradually, Du Lingfei’s speed slowed down and Bai Xiaochun got worried. He then grabbed Du Lingfei’s arm and dashed forward while dragging both her and Hou Yunfei.

Du Lingfei had long discovered that Bai Xiaochun’s speed had always been lightning fast. When he grabbed Du Lingfei’s arm, subconsciously, she wanted to struggle and shake off his hand, but when she looked at the fear displayed on Bai Xiaochun’s face, she released a sigh from the bottom of her heart and allowed Bai Xiaochun to grab and drag her.

At this moment, Hou Yunfei moved. He slowly opened his eyes, looking exhausted.

“Junior Brother Bai, I have never imagined that our paths would cross here after we parted ways several months ago.” Hou Yunfei laughed bitterly as he saw both Bai Xiaochun and Du Lingfei supporting him.

Once Du Lingfei noticed Hou Yunfei regain consciousness, she immediately took out a medicine pill and tossed it to him.

“Senior Brother Hou……” Bai Xiaochun sighed again when he turned his sight to Hou Yunfei.

“We still have hope. For their own personal gain, that Fallen Chen Clan has resorted to killing mortals to obtain their blood! As for the patriarch, he has to focus on taking charge of the formation array, and as such, it is impossible for him to pursue us personally. Furthermore, the entire Fallen Chen Clan is within their own residences so… there shouldn’t be too many pursuers!”

“Even though we are not able to transmit information to the sect from here, we can definitely do it once we escape from this place’s vicinity!”

“Also, for such crucial matters such as a clan of cultivators’ plans for betrayal, the sect will definitely send reinforcements as soon as they learn of it!” Hou Yunfei laughed. He swallowed the medicine pill tossed to him by Du Lingfei and felt reinvigorated; no longer relying on Bai Xiaochun to carry him, he clenched his teeth and dashed alongside the duo.

Because of that, the trio’s speed grew a little faster, and soon they saw the edge of the Fallen Star Mountain Range. A short while later, the trio rushed out of the woods. Du Lingfei immediately took out a jade slip and attempted to connect with the sect, but her face turned even paler and she bitterly shook her head.

“It still doesn’t work…”

Bai Xiaochun’s heart sank and Hou Yunfei was silent.

The trio remained quiet, and one by one, they continued on their way. Suddenly, they heard a roaring sound, and by the time their expressions changed, WOOSH! Seven figures appeared from the forest behind them, speeding towards them.

The first of the men was the youth who had attained the eighth level of Qi Condensation. Upon seeing Bai Xiaochun and company, killing intent flared in his eyes.

“I have said it before, all of you… cannot escape! Remember, the one to kill you is named Chen Yue!”

“Kill them all!!” Each of the clansmen drew their weapon as they coldly glared at the trio and charged towards them.

Bai Xiaochun and company’s expressions greatly changed. Each and every one of them gnashed their teeth tightly and ran even faster.

Chen Yue laughed coldly. With a single swing of his arm, a purple skull immediately emerged from the ground, growing enormous and laughing eerily. It quickly chased after the trio, and when it was about to reach them, Chen Yue waved his finger and the purple skull explosively self-destructed.

Boom! The shockwave tore the group apart. This forced Du Lingfei and Hou Yunfei to stop, and they were immediately surrounded by the Fallen Chen clansmen.

As for Bai Xiaochun, he had always been very fast, but he was moving slowly in his attempt to escape with both Du Lingfei and Hou Yunfei. When he was separated from them, he did not think much of it and ran as fast as he could. With the gust of wind, his speed increased tremendously, and before the clansmen could surround all of them, he had already rushed dozens of zhang away from the encirclement. Furthermore, it appeared that he was still accelerating .

(ED note: one zhang is approximately equal to 3.58 meters, or 3.67 yards.)

Regardless of whether it was the youth who had attained the eighth level of Qi Condensation or the remaining six clansmen, all of them were shocked by the tremendous and abrupt acceleration of Bai Xiaochun.

“Since you run so fast, we shall kill these two first before we chase after you!” Chen Yue spoke indifferently. He waved his hand and rushed straight at Du Lingfei and Hou Yunfei with an immense killing intent.

BOOM! Du Lingfei spat out blood. She had difficulty standing and was covered in blood from head to toe. Being surrounded by numerous clansmen, she knew that she was definitely going to die. She had a bitter smile on her face when she saw the back of Bai Xiaochun far away.

She knew from the beginning that Bai Xiaochun was scared of death. She couldn’t help but have some complicated thoughts flash through her mind, most of which were bitter and hopeless thoughts.

“Junior Brother Bai, I hope you succeed in escaping……” Du Lingfei made a hand seal and her flying sword swept around as she relied on ‘Lifting the Heavy As Though It Was Light’ to fight with the enemies. Once again, she spat out blood, on the verge of collapsing from the injuries.

Hou Yunfei also laughed bitterly. His eyes flickered with determination and he growled. He was afraid that his spirit energy was close to being exhausted, but even so, he was determined to not give up. Even if he was to die, he wanted to take a few of the clansmen with him so that he could gain more time for Bai Xiaochun to escape.

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5th guaranteed chapter of the week, and 2/3 for today. Chapter 53 is one of the best chapters of atte! Be prepared! :P

Translated by: KK

Edited by: Crimsonguard, Arch

We are planning on changing our approach with the measurement system, for which we will introduce a poll in one or a few of the next chapters. Feel free to give your suggestions in the comment section below.