Chapter 39: Fleeing for Their Lives
Countless violet crystal beasts thundered across the land, causing even the mountains they trampled to shake violently. Roars rose and fell one after another, like rolling thunder. The loudest of all was that crisp, piercing voice that rang through the sky: "Little ones, hurry, chase them, hurry!!!"
There was no need to look back—Linley and his group knew it was the voice of the violet crystal cub.
Linley moved like lightning, striding swiftly through the vast violet crystal mountain range. Sometimes he charged down slopes, other times he used his dragon claws and feet together to scale towering peaks. Under such gravity in the violet crystal mountains, flight was impossible.
"Faster, faster!!!" As he ran, Linley urgently transmitted his voice.
Among the six of them, the ones holding them back were Olivia and Garland. After all, Olivia was only a mid-level god, and his body wasn't as tough as Linley's or the others'. Garland, who cultivated the laws of fire, had no advantage in speed.
"Haha, you can't escape!" The little violet cub shouted triumphantly.
Linley and his group, however, ignored everything and kept charging toward the dense white mist. As long as their pursuers couldn't see them, they would be safe.
"Whoosh!" The cub opened its mouth wide, and a massive amount of white mist surged into its belly. The area around Linley and his group was now completely devoid of mist. The violet cub gloated, "Haha, let's see how you escape now. Hey, little ones, hurry up!"
Initially, the violet crystal beast horde was several miles away from Linley and his group, but after a short chase, the distance had shrunk to less than a mile.
After all, the violet crystal beasts were terrifyingly fast.
Moreover, the distance continued to close. Linley and his group could clearly feel the violent tremors in the earth.
"Whoosh!"
Like a fierce wind or a flash of lightning, Linley and his group sprinted at top speed. But behind them, violet afterimages gave chase. The pressure was mounting.
"These violet crystal beasts are really fast," Bebe said anxiously.
"There are people ahead," Linley suddenly said, his eyes lighting up. About a hundred meters ahead, a dozen or so people were fleeing in panic, running desperately while occasionally glancing back in terror. These people were much slower than Linley and his group.
Linley understood instantly: "These people must have heard the roars of the violet crystal beasts and tried to escape, but they're too slow." At the same time, an idea formed in his mind.
"Turn!" Linley transmitted abruptly.
With that, Linley stomped hard on the rock beneath him, launching himself like an arrow from a bow, veering diagonally into the distance. Delia, Bebe, and the others naturally followed him. They made a slight turn and continued fleeing. Their escape route was different from that of the dozen or so people nearby.
The violet crystal beast horde, meanwhile, came thundering in.
Some of the beasts surged toward the dozen people. These people had just entered the violet crystal mountains today—most were mid-level gods, and the rest were low-level gods. Against the violet crystal beasts, they stood no chance.
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
The frenzied violet crystal beasts howled as they trampled over the group with their thick limbs. The dozen people were too slow and were crushed under the stampede. The beasts deliberately aimed for their heads.
"Pfft!" Heads were crushed and burst open, and divine sparks rolled out.
The violet crystal beasts grew even more excited, roaring as they continued their charge. Only on the day of the mist tide did they have such an opportunity. Once the day passed, they wouldn't get another chance. Naturally, they intended to go all out today.
"Haha, run all you want. Let's see who's faster!" The little violet cub stood atop the largest violet crystal giant beast, shouting gleefully.
By now, the distance between Linley and the violet crystal beast horde was less than a hundred meters.
Soon, it shrank to fifty meters.
Thirty meters...
Twenty meters...
"What do we do?" Jarrod transmitted urgently. He could feel the hot breath of the beasts on his back and smell their heavy, unpleasant odor—the scent of violet crystal beasts. Jarrod hated that smell.
"Shut up!" Bebe transmitted angrily. "Just run for your lives. Every man for himself!"
Linley remained silent, sprinting at full speed. The violet crystal mountains were vast, with countless peaks. The terrain was anything but flat. Sometimes a mountain loomed ahead, sometimes a canyon appeared. When they encountered a mountain, they climbed it; when they faced a canyon, they plunged straight down without hesitation, then climbed up the other side.
In short, they couldn't afford to hesitate.
A moment's delay could mean being caught.
"Haha, you're going to die!" The little violet cub was thrilled.
The massive violet crystal beast beneath it swung its claws at Garland, who was lagging behind. This beast, standing seven meters tall, was the most powerful among the violet crystal beasts. A single swipe from its claws could easily tear apart a high-level divine artifact.
"Garland!" Jarrod yanked Garland hard.
But the claw was too fast. In that life-or-death moment, another Garland emerged from within Garland's body—clearly his divine clone. With a "squelch," one of the Garlands was crushed into pulp, and divine sparks scattered.
Jarrod was both shocked and furious.
"I lost a mid-level god clone," Garland said, unable to grieve. Just surviving was already a blessing.
Linley, running at the front, knew the situation was dire. He could feel the shadow of the violet crystal beasts looming over them, dangerously close. Suddenly, he noticed the terrain ahead and was startled: "A canyon ahead!"
Without hesitation!
Like the wind, Linley, Delia, Bebe, Olivia, Garland, and Jarrod shot into the mist-filled canyon like lightning. Even though no one knew what lay inside the canyon, none of them hesitated.
"Chase them, chase them!!!" The little violet cub was ecstatic, urging the violet crystal beast to leap into the canyon.
Countless violet crystal beasts crazily jumped into the canyon one after another. The canyon was extremely wide—from one cliff wall to the other was dozens of miles, and the other side was invisible through the mist.
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" As they fell, the wind howled.
Linley and his group not only didn't resist the immense gravity but actively accelerated using their divine power. Like six streaks of lightning, they plummeted rapidly. The canyon was dozens of miles deep, but with their incredible speed, they reached the bottom in an instant.
The canyon floor was solid rock.
Falling without resisting gravity and even accelerating—if they slammed into the hard rock at such speed, even a high-level god's body would be damaged.
"Swish!" Just ten meters from the ground, Linley suddenly decelerated, landing softly like a gentle breeze. Delia was even more graceful—her body dissipated into the wind upon landing, then reformed into solid form.
Olivia, Jarrod, and Garland each had their own methods to absorb momentum and slow down. It was nothing special.
Bebe, however, crashed into the rock floor without any restraint.
"Boom!" The ground shook violently. Bebe sank twenty or thirty centimeters into the rock. Given how hard the violet crystal mountain rock was, sinking that deep showed the immense impact.
But Bebe was completely unharmed.
No one praised Bebe—there was no time.
"Run!" The six of them continued their desperate sprint forward.
Violet crystal beasts didn't possess divine power and didn't understand the mysteries of the laws. They fell naturally, without accelerating. When they landed, they crashed heavily.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"
Like falling meteors, each violet crystal beast hit the ground and immediately resumed the chase, as if the impact had no effect on them. The little violet cub kept shouting, "Faster! They're getting farther away!"
During the descent, Linley and his group were faster, widening the gap to about fifty meters.
Hearing the thunderous impacts behind them, Linley and the others could imagine the terrifying scene of countless violet crystal beasts charging down. Their hearts trembled, and they pushed themselves to run even harder. If they were caught, the stampede alone would finish them.
"There's a lake ahead!" Linley spotted a lake through the hazy mist.
Without a moment's hesitation, Linley and his group leaped into the lake. In a chase, even if a sea of flames or a mountain of swords lay ahead, they had to charge through. Any detour or hesitation could slow them down and let the violet crystal beasts catch up.
In an instant—
A massive number of violet crystal beasts appeared at the lake's edge. The little violet cub, standing atop the giant violet crystal beast, frowned in displeasure. "Jumping into the water? Do they know I hate water? Hmph, none of you are getting away."
Then the cub shouted loudly, "Little ones, all of you get in there and catch those people!"
"Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar!"
Countless violet crystal beasts responded with furious roars, plunging into the lake one after another. The sounds of "splash" and "splash" echoed continuously. Meanwhile, under the cub's orders, many beasts surrounded the lake's shore.
"Surround the entire lake," the cub growled through gritted teeth. "Hmph, let's see how they escape. None of the playthings I've set my eyes on have ever gotten away!" It wrinkled its little nose.
Linley and his group were moving along a narrow path they had discovered at the bottom of the lake. The path slanted upward—the first half was underwater, but the latter half was above water. After a short while, they reached the end.
The end of the path was a cave carved into the mountain's interior.
"I can't believe someone dug such a clever, spacious cave," Jarrod said joyfully.
Linley finally relaxed a little and examined the cave. It was clearly man-made, and he was shocked: "The rock in the violet crystal mountains is incredibly hard. How much strength and time would it take to carve out such a large cave?"
Back then, Bebe had barely managed to split the rock with his divine spark dagger.
"Linley, will the violet crystal beasts find us here?" Delia was still worried.
"It's fine," Linley reassured her.
Garland, with a relieved smile, said, "Delia, don't worry. Although the violet crystal beasts are powerful, they don't understand the mysteries of the laws, and it seems they don't know how to use divine sense to search. This path is hidden among the weeds at the bottom of the lake—it's so secretive, they won't find it easily."
Linley nodded slightly.
When they had plunged into the lake, they naturally spread their divine sense to scan the surroundings. That was how they had discovered the hidden path.
"Yeah, what's there to fear? Even if they find this hidden path, it's so narrow. Those violet crystal beasts are huge—can they even squeeze in?" Bebe said carelessly. The violet crystal beasts were massive; there was no way they could fit.
"Bebe's right. It's fine. Let's rest for now," Linley said.
"No, it's useless," Jarrod said, shaking his head helplessly. "No matter how small the cave, the violet crystal beasts can get in. They can change their bodies."
"Change their bodies?" Linley was startled.
If they could really change shape, that would be disastrous.
Garland nodded solemnly. "Yes, but they can't shrink or grow arbitrarily. For example, they can reduce their height to just one meter, but their length would increase several times. To be precise, their volume doesn't change."
Linley understood somewhat.
These violet crystal beasts were like water—they could change into various shapes, but their volume remained constant.
Linley stared at the passage and said slowly, "We can only hope we're not discovered. If we are, we'll have nowhere to run."
"Don't worry," Garland said with a bright smile. "It's not that easy to find us. And once the mist tide passes, these violet crystal beasts will all disappear. Then we'll be safe, and we'll have a long, peaceful period ahead."
Linley let out a sigh and silently prayed, "I hope we can make it through today. After today, we'll be safe."