Death… And Me

Chapter 4640: Endurance

A few minutes later, Tobao noticed something. Although he was struggling more than anyone else, the rest of the group hadn’t moved any farther ahead of him. They were still crawling at roughly the same pace, despite having greater immunity to Godly Pressure.

Tobao wasn’t an idiot. It didn’t take much thought to figure out what they were doing. Everyone was deliberately matching his pace so that he wouldn’t be left behind.

’You should just go ahead,’ he told them through Godly Sense.

Rean, who was crawling closest to him, shook his head. ’If we activate the Yin Yang Sanctuary and only the rest of us suddenly start moving faster, it’ll be even more suspicious. It’s better if we stay with you for now and use the Sanctuary only if we can’t make it to the shop in time.’

Tobao considered that explanation for a moment. He knew perfectly well that it was mostly an excuse. If the twins really wanted to move ahead, they could have done so without any trouble. Still, Rean’s reasoning wasn’t entirely wrong. Moving together would certainly look more natural than suddenly Tobao’s speed matching them.

In the end, he decided not to argue. ’Thank you.’

*Rawr, rawr, rawr!*

’Go, Rean, go! You can do it! All of you, you can do it!’

Luxa, meanwhile, was having a wonderful time cheering everyone on. She kept leaping from one side to the other, occasionally hopping in front of the group before darting somewhere else to encourage them. Her enthusiasm was certainly admirable, but her constant shouting and jumping were proving considerably more annoying than helpful.

Naturally, nobody had the energy to complain to her.

Soon, half an hour had passed, and the group had begun to grow slightly more accustomed to the overwhelming Godly Pressure. Their bodies were still struggling, but the weakening sensation no longer felt quite as unbearable as it had when they first arrived. They could crawl a little more efficiently, and their movements had become somewhat less awkward.

That was when Luxa noticed something unusual about the surrounding buildings.

They were enormous, standing several hundred meters tall, with pointed tops that resembled the tips of gigantic spears. Their architecture was strangely consistent, as though the entire city had been designed according to a single principle.

More importantly, the light of day was finally beginning to reach them.

It touched the very tips of the tallest buildings first, spreading across their pointed roofs before slowly descending toward the lower levels. At first, Luxa thought the red glow was merely an unusual effect of the morning light. However, she soon realized that something far more dangerous was happening.

*Hzzzzzz...*

The moment the light touched a building’s tip, its surface began to glow red. A shimmering heat haze rose around it, making the surrounding air appear to ripple and distort. The red glow intensified as the light spread, gradually transforming the upper portions of the buildings into what looked like enormous pieces of heated metal.

Then Luxa realized what she was witnessing.

It wasn’t merely a visual effect.

The temperature was rising drastically!

Wherever the light touched, the temperature soared by several thousand degrees, maybe more. The buildings’ pointed tops were effectively being heated to an absurd degree, and the advancing light was gradually turning the city into a gigantic furnace.

Luxa quickly examined the streets below. The cultivators who had been crawling everywhere just moments earlier were now hurrying toward the nearby buildings, struggling to cross their entrances before the approaching light could reach them. Those who had already made it inside were moving away from the doors and windows, apparently familiar with the danger.

The streets were emptied fast, and only a few in a similar situation to the twins’ group were still trying to make their way into the buildings, obviously earlier newcomers.

’Everyone, you won’t make it in time if you keep moving at Tobao’s pace,’ Luxa warned through their Soul Connection. ’I should just grab all of you and pull you inside.’

Roan shook his head.

By now, he had grown accustomed enough to the pressure to lift his head briefly and examine what Luxa was seeing. The approaching light was certainly dangerous, but they weren’t as far from shelter as she seemed to think. ’We have two minutes and something. That should be enough.’

Roan then glanced toward Rean. The two exchanged a brief look, and Rean immediately understood what he meant.

It was time to use their skill.

[Yin Yang Sanctuary]

[Activate?]

’Yes!’ the twins willed together.

[Yin Yang Sanctuary activated.]

[Duration: 120, 119, 118...]

In an instant, the overwhelming Godly Pressure surrounding the group vanished without a trace.

The sudden relief was almost startling. Their bodies no longer felt as though an invisible burden was crushing them into the ground, and their limbs could finally move without having to fight against the weakening effect. Even Tobao felt the difference immediately, finding it much easier to support himself and drag his body forward.

Sister Orb carefully controlled the Sanctuary’s range. Although it could cover an area of up to two hundred meters, she restricted its effects to the twins’ group alone. If they had activated its full range, the sudden disappearance of Godly Pressure would have affected every nearby cultivator, making their actions far too conspicuous.

For now, nobody outside their group seemed to notice anything unusual.

The twins’ group continued crawling toward the shop, gradually increasing their speed. They could have stood up and run straight toward the entrance, but that would have raised too many questions. Instead, they maintained the appearance of cultivators desperately struggling against the pressure, simply putting a little more effort into their movements.

They even made sure to keep their expressions suitably strained, allowing sweat to trickle down their faces as they crawled. From the outside, it looked as though they had finally begun to push beyond their previous limits.

In reality, they were no longer fighting the Godly Pressure at all.

Of course, they weren’t taking any unnecessary chances. If something went wrong and they realized they couldn’t reach the shop in time, they would enter the Great Void immediately, regardless of the consequences. Whatever rules this place enforced, they weren’t going to let themselves be killed just to maintain their cover.

Now that the Sanctuary was active, however, they had a much easier path forward.

Not far away, at the top of one of the towering buildings, the expert who had kicked Roan’s pill out of his hand watched the scene from a window.

By then, the daylight had already reached his position. The surrounding surfaces glowed a vivid red, and the temperature had risen to an absurd level. Yet, the expert appeared completely unaffected. A faint golden barrier shimmered around his body, shielding him from the deadly heat.

He wasn’t the only one.

At various points throughout the city, other experts were similarly positioned, watching the streets and the cultivators struggling below. Some stood on rooftops, others watched from windows, and a few remained inside buildings, observing those who were already inside.

Their purpose was clear: ensure that nobody violated the rules.

To the cultivators crawling along the ground, these observers were practically invisible. Most could barely extend their Godly Sense a few meters, let alone perceive experts who were deliberately keeping their presence concealed. They had no way of knowing how many were watching them, where those observers were positioned, or whether their every movement was being scrutinized.

Several experts were watching the twins’ group, too.

They noticed that the newcomers had begun moving faster, but none of them seemed particularly concerned. Under such extreme circumstances, it wasn’t unusual for cultivators to exceed their usual limits when faced with the prospect of imminent death. The approaching daylight was a powerful motivator, after all.

The expert who had kicked Roan’s pill, however, narrowed his eyes.

He couldn’t detect anything unusual about the group. Their Godly Energy circulation seemed normal, and there was no obvious sign of an external influence. Nevertheless, something about their sudden improvement made him suspicious.

He continued watching for a while, but ultimately decided not to intervene.

The rules he had explained earlier prohibited external aid and assistance. They didn’t forbid cultivators from using techniques powered by their own strength to overcome the Godly Pressure. As far as he could tell, the newcomers were simply trying harder because they had realized the danger they were in.

Of course, that wasn’t entirely true.

The Yin Yang Sanctuary was a skill that only Rean and Roan could use, and the rest of the group was benefiting from it. Technically, other than Rean and Roan, the rest of them were receiving external aid, but the effect was so precisely restricted that nobody outside the Sanctuary could perceive the difference.

Meanwhile, the red glow had begun descending from the buildings toward the streets. The advancing light was getting closer and closer, and the temperature around the group was rising steadily. Even without being directly exposed to the light, they could already feel the growing heat.

It wouldn’t take much longer for the deadly light to reach them.

Fortunately, they were almost there.

The shop’s entrance was now only a short distance away. The twins’ group continued crawling, maintaining their pretense until they finally crossed the threshold and made it inside.

’Quick, get away from the door!’ a cultivator farther inside warned them through Godly Sense. ’Don’t get close to it unless you want to be fried!’

The warning was unnecessary, but the group didn’t argue. They quickly crawled farther into the building, joining the other cultivators who had gathered away from the entrance.

A few seconds later, the daylight reached the doorway.

The effect was immediate.

The light spilled into the shop, and everything it touched began glowing red. The temperature around the entrance soared, making the air shimmer violently. Any cultivator who had remained too close would have been exposed to an unbearable heat capable of killing them in an instant.

The cultivator who had warned them examined their cultivation levels. Once he realized how weak they were compared to what this place apparently expected, he couldn’t help shaking his head. ’You probably won’t survive today, but do your best. No one here will waste their energy trying to help you, and they wouldn’t be allowed to do so anyway.’

He paused briefly before adding another piece of advice. ’If you have any Godly Crystals, you’d better take them out right now and start absorbing them. You’ll need that energy.’

Before Rean or the others could ask why they would need so much energy, the answer became painfully obvious.

The temperature inside the building began to rise as well!

And it wasn’t rising slowly.

Even though they were safely away from the direct light, the heat continued climbing by the second. The interior wasn’t nearly as hot as the areas directly exposed to the daylight, where the temperature had already reached thousands, if not tens of thousands, of degrees. Nevertheless, the temperature in the shaded portions of the shop was climbing by several hundred degrees, and it showed no sign of stopping.

The walls, floors, and shelves were all gradually heating up. The cultivators gathered inside had escaped the immediate danger outside, but they clearly hadn’t found a place where they could simply relax.

Roan felt the growing heat and immediately understood the situation. ’Seems like we’re in for an endurance test.’

The others braced themselves.

They had escaped the first danger, but judging by the rising temperature, their ordeal was only beginning.