Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 906 Rushing Out

After a day and a night of waiting, Xiao Ran and the others' treasure ship began to slowly float again.

Clearly, it had replenished its energy reserves. The engines beneath the treasure ship creaked and groaned as the ship slowly began to rise.

Jin Chanzi stood at the bow of the ship, his fingertips gently moving across the golden disc. The star chart and compass were combined to calibrate the course, heading towards the direction of the Great Silent Mountain Range.

Lu Da then untied the ropes on the dock.

Wu Man then busied herself starting a fire and cooking.

“Big Brother!!”

Just then, shouts came from afar from Situ Sheng and the others. Xiao Ran walked to the side of the boat and saw that several children had already caught up with them in a small boat.

"This was given to you by my father!!"

With a forceful throw, Situ Sheng sent a dark box flying.

Xiao Ran reached out and took it, immediately realizing that the box was incredibly heavy.

Situ Sheng waved to Xiao Ran: "Big brother, thank you for saving me last time. Come back if you can't win!"

Xiao Ran smiled upon hearing this and waved to Situ Sheng and the other youngsters.

He turned around and opened the box.

Inside the box was a mask.

This mask is neither gold nor wood, neither iron nor jade; its material is unknown. The mask is jet black and extremely heavy.

Xiao Ran picked up the mask.

Immediately, the information on the mask appeared before her. However, when Xiao Ran saw the attribute information clearly, her expression turned strange.

"what??"

Wu Man curiously leaned closer to look at Xiao Ran's mask and asked her a question.

Xiao Ran handed the mask to Wu Man, who took it and looked at it, exclaiming in surprise, "Isn't this just asking for trouble?"

A Grade A cursed item, the Twin Masks, has been discovered. This item is a special cursed item and does not require activation.

Note: Either surpass yourself, or be surpassed by me.

Privilege 1: I am not myself
Once you put on the mask, it will create another version of you, inheriting all your abilities, profession, attributes, and cursed items.

The "you" that emerges from this will relentlessly hunt you down.

Until they kill you, or you kill them.

Privilege 2: Superego Life
Defeating the masked man will earn you a super reward; the higher your score, the greater the reward.

(Note: You will not receive any reward if the masked man is killed by someone else!)
(Warning! Any non-self-involvement will greatly reduce your final score.)
Grade A cursed items are definitely top-tier rare items.

The problem is, this thing is designed for myself.

Create a being that is exactly the same as you in terms of attributes, abilities, profession, and even cursed objects, so that it can hunt you down.

If it were just an ordinary person with weak personal strength, that would be fine.

But at Xiao Ran's level, it's like creating a formidable enemy you can't defeat, and this enemy is not only strong, but also knows all of your methods.

Wu Man returned the mask to Xiao Ran: "This thing isn't fun." But then he changed his tone, "However, it's not like you can't play with it. You can use it before you advance to B-rank, and then turn the tables on him after you advance to B-rank."

Wu Man, being the resourceful one she was, immediately came up with a way to break the deadlock. In fact, it was to use the level difference to kill the opponent in this way. Theoretically, this would not violate the original purpose of the mask and would maximize the reward.

However, Xiao Ran just smiled at Wu Man's thoughts and didn't take them to heart.

"There are many levels of deception, but deceiving oneself is the hardest. If a magician starts to believe that his magic is magic, then that magician is not far from death."

Wu Man was taken aback, and her expression became unusually serious: "That's true."

As the two were talking, the treasure ship was about to completely leave the town's boundaries and began to slowly sail into the vast snowstorm.

Just then, Xiao Ran suddenly caught a hostile gaze.

He suddenly turned his head and saw the golden-clad youth standing proudly on the mountaintop in the distance, watching them leave.

Wu Man also noticed the golden-clad youth, his expression turning cold. He noticed that the youth had no accompanying experts, and his eyes narrowed slightly: "Should we kill him now? If the whole group attacks together, he'll be dead!"

Xiao Ran rolled her eyes at him: "What? Is Situ Xuankong just for show? If you dare to make a move here, he can come up with a knife and chop you into a human stick right now."

Thinking of the power of Situ Xuankong's spear, Wu Man got goosebumps all over and quickly waved her hand: "Hey, my soup is ready, I'll go cook. We'll have noodles tonight."

After Wu Man left quickly, Xiao Ran looked at the golden-clad youth. Their eyes met for a moment, then Xiao Ran turned and left, ignoring him.

"Oda!"

Seeing Xiao Ran leave, the golden-robed youth called out softly. Behind him, a man covered in a gray robe stepped out, knelt on the ground, and said, "Holy Son."

"How long until the ship can set sail?"

"Two days."

Although the Silver Treasure Ship has the ability to roam freely in the snowy region without any restrictions, it takes longer to dock than Xiao Ran's treasure ship.

"Then... let him live a couple more days."

The golden-clad youth sighed. He had finally found a nemesis, but he hadn't expected to miss him in this way. Although he was unwilling, there was nothing he could do.

After leaving the town, the treasure ship sailed eastward.

Xiao Ran didn't sit idle along the way; instead, she carefully honed herself.

Just as Situ Xuankong said, although he was quite strong, he had even surpassed the Gu family patriarch in terms of his mastery of magic.

But ultimately, it wasn't the path I chose.

Whether it's the Soul Cultivation Technique or the Mahayana Sutra, both are indeed top-tier divine skills.

However, I will neither truly detach myself from the physical body like the Plum Blossom Taoist, nor will I mold a golden Arhat with distracting thoughts as recorded in the Mahayana Sutra.

What I need to do is to find a path that suits me.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, the black relic, formed from distracting thoughts, slowly rotated, suppressing all those distracting thoughts.

The Soul Cultivation Technique, however, resembles an invisible, misty white fog surrounding the black relic. If Xiao Ran needs it, he can instantly extract countless distracting thoughts from the black relic and transform them into pure spiritual power.

Although Xiao Ran combined the two, they did not truly form a complete system.

seem……

There's something missing to truly integrate the two.

What's missing?

Xiao Ran racked his brains, transforming his mental energy into countless possibilities to deduce various feasibility studies, but without exception, they all ended up in dead ends.

Forcibly fusing the two methods will inevitably lead to the collapse of one's physical balance. Either the physical body cannot withstand it, or the black relic will backfire and drive one insane, or one's mental strength will be too strong, forcibly dissolving the physical body to become the next Plum Blossom Taoist.

None of these paths are what Xiao Ran wants.

Just as Xiao Ran was racking her brains for a solution to this problem...

Suddenly! The ship jolted violently, more violently than any previous jolt! The entire treasure ship seemed to have crashed into an invisible wall, emitting a piercing "creak" sound, and the bow even tilted slightly upwards.

Xiao Ran suddenly opened her eyes.

Wu Man and Lu Da jumped up from beside the fire. Wu Man grabbed them with his large hand and quickly pressed down the tiger demon and the red-blooded horse that had been thrown into the air.

With a leap, Lu Da landed heavily on the bow of the boat, forcefully flattening the raised bow.

"what happened??"

Jin Chanzi strode to the deck, holding a star chart in one hand and comparing it to the left and right, while constantly calculating the direction with the other hand.

Xiao Ran's gaze was sharp as lightning, piercing through the heavy wind and snow, looking directly at the bow of the ship.

Suddenly, the wind and snow twisted and turned, forming a gray-white tornado that stretched across the sky, and the sky burst forth with eerie, colorful rainbow light as if it had been torn apart!

"Bullneck, what the hell is this place?!" Wu Man shouted at Jin Chanzi against the howling wind.

Jin Chanzi repeatedly compared the star map in his hand, his face grim: "No... this place is not a forbidden area, the star map doesn't mark it at all!" He suddenly pulled out a ginseng spirit curled up in a ball from his sleeve and demanded sharply, "Speak! What exactly happened!"

The ginseng spirit was so disoriented by the wind and snow that when it finally saw the strange rainbow light flowing across the sky, it trembled all over.

"Hengming Wind! It's Hengming Wind! Run!" Its voice was so sharp it cracked. "The Changbai Absolute Ferocity ignores magical treasures and physical bodies, it devours souls! If you get even a trace of it, at best you'll suffer a broken soul and become paralyzed, at worst you'll be completely annihilated!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a visible storm mixed with snow swept in.

Xiao Ran raised his hand and took out the Crimson Gold Divine Lamp.

The lights were lit, shimmering with golden threads, keeping the horizontal wind at bay.

But at the same time, he saw the golden flame inside the lamp swaying left and right, and just now, his mental energy was inexplicably reduced by 2 points.

The loss of 2 points of mental energy was negligible to Xiao Ran.

However, the number of crosswinds around them was increasing. Even Xiao Ran dared not be careless now.

He raised the lamp in his hand, and strands of gold lighted a path ahead.

"Go to the left!"

Upon seeing this, the golden toad immediately turned around and lay down on the golden plate to adjust its direction.

However, this adjustment speed is obviously too slow.

With the occasional erratic crosswinds blowing from both sides, even with Xiao Ran protected by the [Crimson Gold Divine Lamp], the treasure ship was unable to move due to the fierce impact.

At this moment, the difference in class between the treasure ships became apparent.

If it were the silver treasure ship that the golden-robed youth was riding, it wouldn't back down at all, even if it encountered a predicament like a sudden storm.

They could even completely crush them all the way through.

However, the ironwood treasure ship that Xiao Ran and his group were on got caught in a crosswind and clearly lost power.

No matter how Jin Chanzi tried to maneuver it, the treasure ship remained motionless, as if trapped in a quagmire.

"No, this broken ship can't be moved at all. We need to think of another way."

Jin Chanzi was so anxious that cold sweat poured down his forehead.

At this moment, Xiao Ran's eyes suddenly changed. In the dim light ahead, dozens of gray-white tornadoes, stretching from the sky to the ground, were closing in and crushing towards them! The rainbow light coiled around the wind pillars like venomous snakes, distorting space wherever it passed, and turning the wind and snow into dust.

These dozens of gales had not yet gotten close.

Xiao Ran immediately felt her mental energy rapidly decreasing.

If these strong winds get closer, I'm afraid I won't be able to withstand them.

"Prepare to abandon ship." Xiao Ran didn't hesitate any longer.

Abandon ship. With Wu Man's strength and the Crimson Gold Lamp in his possession, he could forcefully fly them out of this area.

At least we can find a sheltered place to hide.

Otherwise, staying on this ship would truly be a dead end.

However, just as Xiao Ran finished speaking...

"Old Xiao, behind you!!"

Wu Man's voice came through.

Xiao Ran glanced back and her face darkened instantly.

It was about ten minutes' walk away.

A huge treasure ship was heading towards them, its crimson flames illuminating the surrounding void.

Occasionally a crosswind would approach, but after it blew on the treasure ship, the ship didn't even sway slightly.

Upon closer inspection, one could see the golden-robed youth sitting high on a golden throne, holding an orange in one hand, and looking at Xiao Ran with a smile.

"Hahahaha, I was worried you guys would run away, but it turns out you're trapped like turtles in a jar."

Beside the throne, several burly men in heavy armor saw Xiao Ran and the others trapped in the crosswind and unable to move, and burst into unrestrained laughter.

"Your Majesty, this is a golden opportunity. Their small boats have no chance of crossing the turbulent winds. Before long, their boats will be destroyed and everyone on board will perish. Your Majesty can kill a nemesis without lifting a finger. It is clear that Your Majesty is the chosen one."

A middle-aged man dressed in a blue robe, holding a white fan, respectfully offered his congratulations to the young man on the throne.

"Ok!"

The young man nodded slightly. Although he was in a good mood, his face did not show any joy or anger. He just stared at the treasure ship where Xiao Ran was and said, "Slow down. If they don't move, we won't move either."

"Holy Lord, why not just charge straight in? With our treasure ships, we can crush him to the ground and ensure his eternal damnation."

“Indeed, Holy Lord, even if they abandon ship and flee for their lives, we only need to unleash a volley of arrows, and even a god could defeat them.”

Several armored men asked, puzzled.

These people were all top-notch experts with extremely high martial arts skills and rich combat experience.

Knowing the importance of kicking a man when he's down, and seeing that their Holy Lord wasn't taking the initiative, they all spoke up to persuade him.

"No rush!"

The young man raised his hand, and everyone fell silent. He then said softly:
"Since he's a sworn enemy, he must have his own abilities. If we rush over now, he'll run away without a care in the world, and we might not be able to catch him. Let's wait here and make him hesitate. When the wind intensifies, he'll miss his chance to escape. Then we'll make our move, and he'll have nowhere to run."

Although the boy was young, his methods, shrewdness, and personal authority were extraordinary. His thoughts were meticulous, and his calculations left no room for maneuver, which made the experienced men around him admire him.

"Damn it, how did we end up here?"

On the treasure ship where Xiao Ran and the others were, Wu Man was already cursing her bad luck.

They are in a very awkward situation now, and the other party's appearance at this time is incredibly lucky.

Seeing that the enemy's treasure ship was hovering motionless behind them, Jin Chanzi immediately realized the enemy's intention: "No, we can't wait. Let's abandon ship and run separately. We can save whoever can. If we delay any longer, it will be too late to escape."

Wu Man took out dice from her spatial storage: "Let's take a gamble and rush out from the left. They might not be able to catch up with us."

"Wait a moment!"

At this moment, Xiao Ran stopped Wu Man from transforming.

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and his thoughts raced through his mind.

Abandoning ship at this point would also be a dead end. The other side would not let them leave. Although Wu Man's transformed roc was fast, the treasure ship the other side was on was also fast and ignored the influence of the horizontal wind, so they could be used as targets.

But if they don't abandon ship, there's only one way to go.

Xiao Ran looked ahead and saw the direction illuminated by wisps of golden light. His peripheral vision swept to both sides, and he noticed the towering mountain walls on either side. His brows furrowed slightly: "Let's rush over there."

Charge forward?

Lu Da looked at Xiao Ran in confusion: "How do we charge? This broken boat doesn't even budge, I can't possibly push it over there."

"I have a solution!"

As Xiao Ran summoned the [Decapitation Sword], activated the sword, and then with a thought, the sword tip flew out and instantly began to rapidly circle the two mountain peaks.

Wu Man and Jin Chanzi took a closer look and immediately understood Xiao Ran's thoughts, exchanging a glance.

"Madman!" Wu Man couldn't help but curse.

Jin Chanzi then shouted, "Infinite Heavenly Venerable!"

Without further ado, the two immediately took out ropes and quickly tied the tiger demon and the crimson horse to the mast of the treasure ship.
Then he handed the rope to Jin Chanzi and Lu Da. Lu Da held the rope with a puzzled look on his face. When he turned around, he saw that Wu Man and Jin Chanzi had already wrapped the rope around their bodies.

"what?"

On the treasure ship behind them, someone noticed Xiao Ran and his group's movements and asked in confusion, "What are they doing?"

As they were talking, the man whom the boy had previously called Uda walked to the bow of the deck.

Beneath the gray robe, a pair of eyes gleamed with blue light, allowing them to clearly see Xiao Ran and the others' every move even from a distance.

"They tied themselves to the boat."

Upon hearing Wuda's words, everyone was stunned and stood frozen in place. Then, a huge burst of laughter erupted from the entire treasure ship.

"Hahahaha, tying themselves to the boat! Are these idiots afraid they won't die fast enough??"

"A whirlwind can blow away your soul no matter where you're tied to it. These people aren't abandoning ship; they're still tying themselves to it?"

"Hahaha……"

The people on deck were laughing so hard they couldn't stop, as if they had seen the funniest joke ever.

But the boy sitting on the throne frowned uncomfortably.

Unlike his subordinates, he was acutely aware of his own position.

The Holy Son of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Divine Child of the Heavens, the number one person in the last five hundred years, is a genius recognized by the heavens.

Despite all the accolades, he knew very well that it was all because of the Five Dragon Bracelet on his wrist.

Similarly, the other boy with the Five Dragon Bracelet, who is also his nemesis, should be someone as intelligent and resourceful as himself.

Since he is an exceptionally intelligent person, how could he do such a foolish thing?

"wrong!"

The boy suddenly stood up from his chair.

"Full speed ahead! Crush them!!"

Faced with the Holy Son's sudden order, the crowd, who had been laughing wildly, froze in place for only a second. The next moment, almost everyone immediately sprang into action.

On ordinary days, they might chat with the Holy Son and make harmless jokes.

But if the Holy Son issues an order, then it is an ironclad rule for them.

Ask any questions later, but if the orders are not carried out properly, the Holy Son will not hesitate to take action.

Suddenly, the enormous treasure ship began to slowly restart.

However, large ships always have their drawbacks, and restarting them will naturally take some time.

Meanwhile, Xiao Ran had already retrieved the [Decapitation Sword].

He glanced back to make sure that Jin Chanzi and the others were ready, then the light from the [Crimson Gold Divine Lamp] in his hand receded, from covering the entire treasure ship to only covering a few of them.

Without the protection of the Crimson Gold Lamp, everyone felt the surrounding temperature drop sharply, and the once stable treasure ship immediately began to shake violently.

"Hold on tight!!"

As Xiao Ran spoke, she waved her hand, and the sails behind her suddenly opened.

"boom!!!"

The moment the sails were unfurled, they were immediately billowed by the oncoming gale. The treasure ship, which had been neither advancing nor retreating, began to slowly move backward due to the resistance of the wind.

"Boom!!!"

As the ship continued to move backward, a sound like the twisting of steel wires could be heard in the air.

Even the rocks on the surrounding mountain walls began to crack.

If you look closely now, you can easily see that the entire ship is covered with fine silver threads.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

As the silver wire tightened, the hull emitted a screeching sound, and the sound of the planks cracking could even be heard.

Xiao Ran ignored all of this, her eyes fixed on the silver threads around her, which were being stretched straight by the wind.

"Rumble..."

At that moment, the air itself seemed to begin to vibrate.

"Xiao Ran!!"

Wu Man glanced back and his face instantly turned ashen. He saw that the silver treasure ship was already rushing towards them. Compared to this treasure ship, their treasure ship was obviously much smaller.

"Don't worry!"

Xiao Ran didn't turn around to look; his gaze remained fixed on the taut silver thread. He knew better than anyone how resilient the [Fate Stitch] was, and clearly, this was far from its limit.

"Ready!! Crush them!!"

The silver treasure ship drew closer and closer, and the crowd could even hear the shouts coming from the ship.

"Kakakaka!!"

It was at this moment that a silver thread seemed to begin to emit a piercing ringing sound.

"Right now!"

Xiao Ran's ears twitched, and he suddenly drew his Longyuan sword, slashing it back at the ship's mast.

"Crack!"

At the same time, the [Crimson Gold Divine Lamp] tightly held in Xiao Ran's left hand suddenly burst out with unprecedented golden light, and the light shield instantly expanded to its limit, firmly protecting the entire ironwood treasure ship!
"Boom!!!"

The tension in the silver wire, which had been built up to its limit, was suddenly released!

Everyone's bodies suddenly lurched backward, and their ears were instantly filled with a rapid whooshing sound. The treasure ship, which had been almost stationary, suddenly shot forward at an astonishing speed.

(End of this chapter)