181 The Santu Riverbank

“I’m thirsty. I’m thirsty.” Zhou Yun felt as if his throat was about to dry up and his bones would split open! Every cell in his body was sending him a message that he was in urgent need of water!

“Where is this place? I remember that I should be preparing for the next attack of the Nine Heavens Array with Sect Leader Ling Qingyun. What am I doing here?” Zhou Yun opened his eyes. He struggled to sit up and looked around in confusion.

The rugged mountain range, the fog halfway up the mountain, and the clouds in the distance. The sky was turning white as if it was about to become daytime. He found that he was lying on a pile of broken stones covered with thorns, and there was no one around.

“Where’s Sect Leader Ling Qingyun? Where’s Qiao’er? And what about Xin Yu? Why did I not wake up? Could it be that Sect Leader Ling Qingyun lost the battle against Xin Yu?” Zhou Yun pushed the rubble with both hands and tried to stand up, but the intense pain and powerlessness in his hands made him fall back onto the pile of rubble. The next moment, he rolled down the slope. Without any strength in his body, he fell straight into the thorns!

“Hiss!” Zhou Yun sucked in a breath of cold air. He felt a sharp pain on his face. His entire body was wrapped in thorns, and the pain spread all over his body!

“I can’t move. In order to give the Divine Gate’s Nine Heavens Array time to prepare, I was injured both mentally and physically after forcefully activating the great momentum of heaven and earth. I was on the verge of collapse and could not even absorb spiritual energy.” Zhou Yun laughed bitterly. Even when he fell into the thorns, not a single drop of blood flowed out of his body. His injuries were too severe.

After Zhou Yun had obtained the Saint Fire Body, he relied on his body’s capacity to contain spiritual energy to increase his strength. However, he didn’t expect that his body was on the verge of collapse, and he couldn’t even absorb any spiritual energy!

That time, he was so exhausted that he couldn’t even maintain the Saint Fire Body. The phoenix fire that had been burning in his body had been extinguished, and he was completely out of energy!

Zhou Yun was unable to move at all. His spiritual energy had been drained and his body was over-exhausted. There were even a few sharp thorns that pierced into his eye sockets, almost piercing his eyeballs!

He tried for a while and found that he couldn’t move. He could only quietly let the thorns bind him.

“But no matter what the result is, if no one comes to save me again, I’ll be fine. I might not be able to make it past noon today.” Zhou Yun said bitterly. His throat felt like it was smoking, and there seemed to be no saliva in his mouth.

“I didn’t wake up from the last strike of the Divine Gate’s Nine Heavens Array and swing my sword for the last time. It looks like the battle had ended. It’s unknown if Sect Leader Ling Qingyun had won by relying on the Divine Gate’s Nine Heavens Array, or has Xin Yu already completed her plan?” Zhou Yun took this opportunity to think about the outcome.

“But no matter what the result is, if no one comes to save me again, I’ll be fine. I might not be able to make it past noon today.” Zhou Yun said bitterly. His throat felt like it was on fire, and there seemed to be no saliva in his mouth. He stretched his head out to lick the dewdrops on the thorns, but it was not enough!

“I’ll close my eyes and rest. There were still some condensed dewdrops on the thorns. Perhaps my body can recover and absorb spiritual energy after being nourished by the dewdrops. What I need to do now is to reduce the loss of physical strength.” Zhou Yun closed his eyes.

If the sun were to come out, Zhou Yun might think that his injuries were too severe and become the first foundation establishment cultivator to die from the sun!

Zhou Yun’s entire body was bound by the thistles and thorns, and he could only twist his eyes to the maximum to look around.

However, after struggling for a while, Zhou Yun could only give up helplessly because he was face down and trapped by the thorns. He could not see his surroundings at all.

“I’ll close my eyes and rest. There are still some condensed dewdrops on the thorns. Perhaps my body can recover and absorb spiritual energy after being nourished by the dewdrops. What I need to do now is to reduce the loss of physical strength.” Zhou Yun closed his eyes. His lips were dry and cracked, and his skin was like the cracked earth, with many cracks. In some places, it was so deep that bones could be seen!

After a long time, the sky gradually turned cold, and the temperature rose. But no more dewdrops condensed on the thorns. The dewdrops that had fallen from the thorns were just a drop in the ocean, not enough for him to recover to the point where he could absorb spiritual energy again!

Zhou Yun furrowed his brows. If he did not have more water, he might really die Here!

“Ha, I found it! However, is this monkey-like person also that missing disciple? Well, forget it. In any case, I’m definitely going to get the mission points!” A voice that sounded like an Oriole came from above Zhou Yun. It was a little cheerful and rash, but it made people feel very comfortable.

“There’s someone! I’m saved!” Zhou Yun was overjoyed. He did not expect to hear someone’s voice on this remote mountain!

However, while he was pleasantly surprised, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Was this person good or bad?

He hoped it wasn’t someone who would kill or set fire to him. He didn’t have the strength to resist at all if it was a person who burned, killed, and plundered.

“Whoosh!” The sound of huge wings whistling rang out. Zhou Yun felt a strong gust of air beating against him. The thorns that were wrapped around his body followed the strong gust of air. Not only did they not loosen their grip on him, they even tightened their grip on him!

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!” Zhou Yun’s entire body was in pain. Now, it was even worse! He knew in his heart that this was not good. From the looks of it, this person was a heretic cultivator who liked to torture others and enjoy the wailing of others!

“Thud!” Zhou Yun felt a huge footstep in front of his head. He twisted his neck slightly and could barely see an eagle claw that was bigger than his head. Next to the eagle’s claws were huge white wings.

An eagle? Could it be that it was not a human, but a demonic beast that was about to take human form? Zhou Yun cursed in his heart. Could it be that he had just died in the hands of a demonic beast after the battle with a nascent soul cultivator?

“Thud!” An even lighter foot landed on Zhou Yun’s head.

It hurt! Zhou Yun felt his head sink, but it wasn’t heavy. The problem was that he was now entangled by the thorns, including his head!

“Hahaha, I didn’t expect that I would really catch something. These points are mine!” The voice was very proud.

Then, Zhou Yun felt the weight on his head lighten. A cool breeze blew on his face and his face was turned over.

“Wow! This is the first time I’ve seen a missing disciple awake!” Zhou Yun saw clearly that it was the culprit who had blown the wind and stepped on him. It was a girl wearing a red and white robe.

The girl with two ponytails tilted her head. It was as if she had suddenly fallen into a daze after seeing Zhou Yun.

“Um, can you please save me from this thicket of thorns first?” Zhou Yun asked. He was really in pain right now, especially when he was being forcefully pulled out of the thorny undergrowth. Those countless sharp thorns had pierced into his dry skin. Zhou Yun felt that he was on the verge of collapse!

“Woah! It really is a missing disciple! My points have become spiritual swords!” The girl with two ponytails suddenly shouted. She held Zhou Yun’s head with both hands and lifted it into the air!

“Slash!” Zhou Yun’s entire body was pulled out of the thicket of thorns, and the sound of sharp thorns breaking rang out.

At that moment, he felt as if he could see the Santu riverbank, as if he could see Ling Qingyun, Qiao’er, Su Wanyi…

“Hey! Don’t faint! My points! My spiritual sword!” Before he lost consciousness, Zhou Yun only heard intermittent voices.