HSSB220: The helpful Black Nightmare Mountain
They all gathered around Yan Zhaoge and the stone pillar, its surface flickering with a golden radiance.
The illusory light patterns condensed within the air seemed to reconstruct the broken, missing parts of the stone pillar.
Standing by the bottom of the stone pillar, Yan Zhaoge pressed on its surface with one hand. With his other hand, he extended his index finger, tapping lightly on his dantian.
He stared fixedly at the encroaching black storm outside that was breaking through the formation.
‘Elder Li’ and ‘Yao Shan’, meanwhile, had their attentions placed on Yan Zhaoge and Ah Hu, as well as Pan-Pan who had already retreated to Yan Zhaoge’s side.
Looking at the storm which was sweeping over towards them, Yan Zhaoge’s gaze flickered unceasingly as he swiftly calculated within his heart.
Within his dantian, the clear qi spread to the sides, and the chaotic qi mass began surging unceasingly.
The aura-qi suddenly flowed with a wondrous, unique rhythm; it was faint yet also vigorous.
Others were unable to detect its existence. But even if they could do so, they would be unable to understand it, unable to identify it.
The aura-qi infused through Yan Zhaoge’s palm into the stone pillar became more and more forceful, causing the light patterns on the pillar’s surface to become more and more dazzling.
Rushing over to Yan Zhaoge’s side, everyone looked nervously at him.
Looking back, the terrifying Black Nightmare Storm seemed to resemble numerous vicious dragons that ascended to the heavens and descended into the earth.
Wherever the storm passed, devastation was left in its wake as one gully after another was ripped out of the desert, levelling many sand dunes as a great amount of sand and wind swept violently everywhere.
With Yan Zhaoge’s vision, he could even see those tiny sand particles, after having been swept into the storm, shatter a step further to become even smaller than dust!
As the hurricane blew, because of the stone pillar’s connection to the desert, the sand in which it was buried remained stable as Mount Tai.
However, those standing on the desert’s surface would be hard pressed to escape; they were most likely going to be ripped apart by the rampant hurricane!
As the storm was already right before their eyes, and Yan Zhaoge still hadn’t done anything, everyone began to feel a little uneasy.
While a commotion did not arise, within their gazes were all ill-concealed looks of anxiety.
Earlier, it was because of Yan Zhaoge’s decision that they had not retreated to avoid the Black Dragon Dread.
Now, the Black Dragon Dread having arrived, if Yan Zhaoge really had no way of dealing with it, all of them would have to die here along with him.
Of course, they did not think that Yan Zhaoge might intentionally be putting them in this situation, because Yan Zhaoge himself was facing the same danger.
However, seeing the storm descend upon them now, without any reactive measures having been taken, they were all greatly disappointed.
‘Elder Li’ and ‘Yao Shan’ exchanged gazes, “He doesn’t intend to activate the power of that Sacred Artifact fragment? Is it that he isn’t willing to or that he can’t do it in the first place? Without a Sacred Artifact fragment, where does his confidence in not retreating stem from?”
“If that Sacred Artifact fragment of his truly cannot be drawn upon, we wouldn’t even have needed to induce a Black Dragon Storm! Now, it having descended, even we ourselves have been drawn in!”
‘Elder Li’s’ gaze was sombre, “While I am a little unresigned, if it really like this, that’s just fate. Bringing down along with us the first person of Broad Creed Mountain’s younger generation, a monstrous genius barely past twenty who can influence the overall situation of this world with a cultivation of the Martial Scholar realm-it would not be a loss for us!”
He gave a cold snort, “Raise your vigilance; perhaps he has a cold-blooded, selfish personality, and having a method to protect himself, he intends to let us perish, while he escapes unscathed”.
“If it is really like that, we must grasp that final chance, sending him on his way!”
Within a mere few short breaths of time, the terrifying storm had already arrived before them!
Those standing the furthest away from their centre, their footing unstable, were actually unable to stay rooted on the ground as they seemed about to be directly swept into the air!
Seeing this, everyone’s faces changed!
The shadow of death hung over everyone, as danger was already about to descend!
At this time, Yan Zhaoge’s hands pressed onto the pillar together!
The stone pillar on which light patterns flickered shook intensely, streaks of light shooting outwards in all directions!
Their radiance resembled numerous chains, shooting out like lightning into the rampaging storm.
For just that one moment, time itself seemed to freeze.
The terrifying black storm seemed to pause in mid-air, resembling the still image of a painting as bright radiance extended rapidly within the black winds, intermingling with the storm.
The next moment, time, seemingly having been paused for an instant, resumed once more, the fierce storm still lunging towards them.
However, at this moment, numerous thick spirit patterns reappeared on the sandy ground beneath everyone’s feet, enveloping the nearby area of desert.
Numerous streaks of spiritual light shot up into the air, enveloping all of them, holding off the storm once more.
Shocked, they watched the numerous radiances emanated from the stone pillar, still clashing with the tempest, dancing wildly in mid-air along with the strong, severe winds.
Yan Zhaoge exhaled and roared, “Condense!”
On the stone pillar radiating light, spiritual light flashed where the broken, missing parts were, with light actually extending unceasingly to fill up the areas in which the light patterns were missing.
It was as though the broken stone pillar had grown out once more, about to regain its original form!
On seeing this scene, everyone, ‘Elder Li’ and ‘Yao Shan’ included, was left staring and gaping in amazement, “Could it be that he can really pull this stone pillar out from the Great Western Desert?! Even elite Martial Grandmasters couldn’t do it ah!”
As the broken stone pillar stopped growing, illuminated by radiance, regaining its original appearance and contours perfectly, Yan Zhaoge let out a low roar once more.
“Up!”
Accompanied by Yan Zhaoge’s low roar, the numerous radiances that extended from the stone pillar abruptly grew taut!
The black storm that had originally brought them the threat of death now resembled thousands of divinities grabbing these radiant chains in unison, before pulling on them mightily!
The desert beneath the stone pillar shook intensely as it never had before!
At this moment, the very heavens and earth in the surrounding area seemed to be shaking along with it.
Then, under their shell-shocked gazes, that stone pillar which seemed to have completely merged with the desert, flickering with infinite radiance, lifted up from the ground!
The massive stone pillar emerged little by little from the desert, breaking free from the imprisonment of the sand below!
The ground beneath their feet surged unceasingly, the radiance protecting them also weakening non-stop.
However, that rampaging storm overhead was currently not of the leisure to cause any harm to them, instead being completely focused on being a pulley for the stone pillar.
Although they were not clear on the specifics of this, not knowing how in the world Yan Zhaoge had managed to achieve it, they all gradually realised, “He made use of the power of the natural disaster from the Great Western Desert itself, instead using it to help the stone pillar to break free of its imprisonment and merger with the desert…”
Everyone could not hold back on their praises within their hearts, “At the Martial Scholar realm, actually able to instead make use of the power of natural phenomena. This is just too incomprehensible, too terrifying! How exactly did he achieve this?”
Upon regaining their wits, ‘Elder Li’ and ‘Yao Shan’ stared at each other, “That was…instead making use of the Black Dragon Dread that we created?”
If not for the Black Dragon Dread that had sprung up, giving an abrupt boost to the storm in the surrounding area, if Yan Zhaoge had wanted to directly lift the stone pillar up with the Black Nightmare Storms in this area, it would definitely not have been so easy for him.
Realising that their side had instead helped Yan Zhaoge out, the faces of the two turned somewhat green, as though they had swallowed a dead rat whole.