Lord of the Desert

Chapter 511 Afraid

March 7th, God's Capital.

The sky was crowded with clouds, grey and gloomy.

Under the eaves, Hong Fan had disheveled hair, dark circles under his eyes, and was wearing a purple silk robe that was dirty and smelly, forcing the crowd to avoid him.

After a while, the strong wind blew away the clouds, and the sky was blue, without the giant shadow of the celestial sphere.

"call……"

Hong Fan took a deep breath, and then moved his feet as if waking up from a dream.

I left Zi Wu Chang on the afternoon of the sixth day of March, and the process was just as vague as my entry.

Zhang Chaohan, the assistant commander of the Hanzhou Martial Academy, was still leading his troops stationed on the Dahua border. After Hong Fan informed him, he stayed up all night and traveled west.

Thousands of miles away, the capital remains unchanged.

The white and blue of Yuzuo Mountain and Diyan Lake, the glazed tiles of the imperial palace reflecting the sunlight, the fireworks in the streets and alleys, the melodious shouts of peddlers...

Hong Fan stared at all this greedily, almost convincing himself that his previous experience was just a bizarre nightmare. When he woke up the next moment, everything would go back to early February.

But it couldn't be a dream.

With the power of the Dragon Soul Fruit, his cultivation has reached the fifth level of the Innate Realm, and he has made 20% progress on the sixth level.

Walking through the crowd, Hong Fan entered the main gate of Zhangwu Academy.

Gao Daxing, adhering to the creed of "cultivating supreme martial arts and being angry for justice", stared at the newcomer with his unwavering fiery bronze eyes.

Jianwei Palace.

Guan Qimai dropped his current affairs and summoned him immediately.

"I experienced the conjunction of the celestial spheres in the Purple Impermanence."

At first, Hong Fan was still calm.

"You should have heard of the Instrument Design Supervisor's celestial sphere theory - the world beneath our feet is a sphere, suspended in the dark void."

Guan Qimai nodded.

As a martial saint, he has the ability to verify these hypotheses personally.

"The Ye family, the Prison Palace, and other enemies that we considered as our biggest troubles before we entered are not trouble at all. The real trouble is the doomsday environment."

Hong Fan shook his head and laughed.

"On the first day, the Ye family died in a storm that spanned the sky and the earth. On the second day, the earth was torn apart by the magnetism, and the lava that spewed out was higher than the wind and clouds. On the third day, all the water in the world rushed to one place, submerging everything in sight."

As he spoke, his voice gradually became lower and lower, like a whisper.

There are usually no seats in the Jianwei Hall.

But this time, Guan Qimai waved his hand and a wooden chair emerged from under the floor tiles, motioning for him to sit down.

"Thank you."

Hong Fan leaned back in his chair, holding the armrest, and felt the heat on the back of his neck and numbness on his fingertips.

Flying beasts, carnivorous plants, giant trees, underground worms, six-legged arboreal beasts...

He took a few breaths to adjust his state and continued his statement.

"When I ascended to the sky, I saw the blue-green arc-shaped outline of the earth on both sides. The atmosphere in front of me was condensing into ice, and the light of the stars was as sharp as needles and pierced me."

Hong Fan soon lost his mind again.

"The last glimpse was of the Thousand-Eyed Demon God's countless limbs stretched out on the ground, densely packed like a ball of earthworms, or like varicose purple veins growing under human skin..."

He tried hard to describe the extreme contradiction between big and small on the astronomical scale. After he had organized his words with all his strength, he found that his whole body was cold and immersed in the drowning-like fear at that time.

"You haven't slept for too long."

Guan Qimai interrupted.

He released the gentle Yimu True Essence, which raised Hong Fan's body temperature and slowed his heart rate.

The topic was advanced to the end.

"Hulumen can control spiritual energy to fly, at least he is at the Yuanci realm, but I can't tell how high it is. When he sent me out of the Wuchang realm, he burst out with extremely amazing power, which exceeded my understanding of the power of the five levels of Yuanci."

Hong Fan tried to distance himself from the situation, but his face still twisted when he mentioned the name. "That's probably a unique power system of the Supervisory Council. It seems that Guan Qianjian sent more than just a fourth-rank pacification envoy this time."

Guan Qimai nodded heavily.

He listened carefully and trusted Hong Fan's judgment - the latter had personally witnessed the fatal battle between Duan Tiannan and Feng Mubai in Yunlan City, so there was absolutely no problem with his vision.

From falling into the water in "The Book of Gods and Demons" to escaping alone, Hong Fan confessed everything without reservation except the Dragon Soul Tree.

Finally, he took out the handful of colorless crystals he had obtained when he crossed the star realm.

It looks like pure crystal without edges and corners, with occasional liquid ripples inside. Although there is no physical connection between the particles, when one is moved, the remaining ones will follow spontaneously.

"I have never seen this thing before, but judging by its features, it is probably a precious treasure called 'Wuxiang Ling'. This is your trophy. If you want to identify it, go find a weapon to supervise it."

Guan Qimai looked at Wuxiangling absentmindedly for a while, then handed it back.

"I didn't expect that this time, the elite forces of the academy in the three northeastern cities of Hanzhou were wiped out..."

Hearing this sigh, Hong Fan's eyes appeared the scene of Lai Hua hiding under the sea of ​​stars and straightening his clothes.

"So I've done it?"

He clenched his fists and spoke in a self-deprecating tone, with anger and shame in his words.

Because he was unable to bring them out, because of Hu Lumen's death, and because of the powerlessness of not being able to control his own destiny - this feeling was so familiar and unforgettable that he had experienced it for the third time from Zhan Yuanzi to Duan Tiannan.

"of course."

Guan Qimai returned immediately.

"It will only take you one day to return, but it will take longer for the others. Once we have received follow-up information and completed the cross-verification, you can come to the Hidden Martial Pavilion to hand over your skills at any time."

Hong Fan smiled a sad smile and wanted to speak but didn't know what to say.

He knew very well that it was not Guan Qimai's fault.

The so-called "person who is 90% sure to come out" indeed came out safely, and the mission that Wu Dian did not take back was indeed completed - every guarantee that Hong Fan received in Jianwei Palace before leaving Shenjing was fulfilled.

So whose fault was it that only one of the twenty-six living people came back?

Or maybe it was the fault of the team leader Hong Fan.

Or maybe it was the Dragon Soul Tree and the Thousand-Eyed Demon God’s fault.

Or maybe life never tells who is to blame.

It turns out that wanting to hate but not being able to do so is the most cruel thing.

"So, from now on, I am no longer a Tiqi."

Hong Fan staggered to his feet and glanced down at his scarred purple silk robe with cloud patterns. For the umpteenth time in the past two days, he recalled the scene in which he was speechless under the explosion of ice crystal dust.

【After going through so much, I am still so afraid of death. 】

He stood up and was about to leave, but was stopped.

"Hong Fan, knowing fear is a good thing!"

Guan Qimai's voice was earnest and high-spirited.

"If a warrior does not know fear, he will think he is superior to others, and think that the power and status he has gained come entirely from his personal ability and fearlessness. In the end, he will naturally lose all empathy and all compassion. For example, Feng Jianke, I think that is a dead end."

Hong Fan paused when he heard this.

"Will a martial saint be afraid too?"

He asked quietly, without looking back.

"Yes, I am afraid of many things. There are some things that I am so afraid of that I dare not even think about them."

Guan Qimai laughed once and then stopped.

Hong Fan could not help but look back, and for the first time he saw the middle-aged Martial Saint slumped in a chair, looking like an old man.

It's close to noon.

The shadow of the window pane shrank lifelessly against the wall.

Hong Fan stared at the light and shadow in astonishment. After a long time, he nodded and staggered out of Jianwei Hall.

(End of this chapter)