The words of Qiong Qi gave the elves present hope of survival.
"Since you understand spatial dao, you should know that it's difficult for us to withstand such turbulent flows," Nuo Na said, looking at Qiong Qi.
"You don't need to truly block it, just hold it for a moment," Qiong Qi pretended to ponder for a bit before giving a number, "About... five seconds."
Xu Mu nodded upon hearing this.
Five seconds seemed very short, but when applied to spatial turbulent flows, it would be enough to destroy them thousands of times over.
"One second at most," Hai Man said.
"Three seconds at least," Qiong Qi turned his head and looked at her seriously, "I need to enter space to spy on the great dao laws here, which is very difficult and consumes a lot of my soul power."
"Three seconds is too long," Xi Er Fu said with a grave expression, thinking of the terrifying spatial turbulent flows. With their strength, blocking the turbulent flow for a moment would already be their limit. If it dragged on any longer, they might be swept away by the currents.
In that case, the best outcome would be to get lost in the void and die in loneliness and solitude.
"Three seconds, no less, or I'll teach you the spatial great dao, and you can enter by yourselves after you learn it," Qiong Qi said coldly, then slowly sat down beside Xu Mu and closed his eyes to rest.
The elves looked at each other, and in the end, they could only give bitter smiles.
The spatial great dao was one of the supreme laws. If they didn't have talent in this area, they might not grasp even a sliver of it in their entire lives. It was impossible to learn it in such a short time.
"Three seconds, so be it," at this moment, Kang Ge Li Fu stepped forward, surprisingly agreeing to Qiong Qi's request.
"My Fire Elf tribe, giving our all, should be able to hold on for three seconds."
Qiong Qi did not open his eyes upon hearing this.
"If that's the case, then our Wind Elf tribe can too," Xi Er Fu said with a sigh, looking at the many guards behind him.
"We two can too," Nuo Na and Hai Man said with solemn expressions. Three of the four great elf tribes had agreed, leaving only the Frost Elf tribe yet to express their opinion.
Ao Wei Xi Si, looking at the gazes of everyone, especially Kang Ge Li Fu's mocking eyes, couldn't help but say with a grim face, "I have no objections."
"You better truly be able to hold on," Qiong Qi slowly stood up, dusting himself off. "Otherwise, if I die, you will all truly die."
"And more importantly, if he dies, I won't live either. We'll all die together then."
Qiong Qi pointed at Xu Mu, then intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Kang Ge Li Fu.
"Damn it, pushing his luck." Kang Ge Li Fu's facial muscles twitched violently.
The anger in his heart drove him to want to kill Qiong Qi and Xu Mu right then and there, but the problem was that he couldn't do without Qiong Qi at the moment, so for the sake of survival, he could only endure.
"Don't worry, we will all protect him," the elves exchanged glances and said in unison.
"Mm," Kang Ge Li Fu also nodded reluctantly.
"Then, let's begin," Qiong Qi took two steps forward, pushing away the surrounding white bones to clear a space, then turned his head and asked, "Who's first?"
"Let's go in the same order as before," Nuo Na said, looking at Kang Ge Li Fu.
"If I'm to go, then I'll go. Let's go!" Kang Ge Li Fu snorted coldly, leading a group of five-realm guards behind him to stand behind Qiong Qi.
"I'll count down, and we'll go in together," Qiong Qi's voice was calm, then he opened his mouth and said, "Three, two, one, go!"
He roared, using his claws to painstakingly pry open the complex, intertwined space, then propped open a circular, half-human-tall chaotic teleportation gate. The void aura revealed from the gate, the roaring turbulent flows in the universe, and the deep and terrifying surging sounds made the hearts of all present tremble fiercely.
As soon as Qiong Qi pried open this異 space gate, he immediately darted in, followed by Kang Ge Li Fu and the elves of the Fire tribe.
Xu Mu and the others remained outside, sensing the horror within while still able to see what was happening inside.
They saw Qiong Qi dart out more than ten meters the moment he entered, swimming freely in this space, his head turning, his claws moving like swimming, the fur around his mouth constantly trembling, seemingly due to the great dao.
Kang Ge Li Fu and the other elves followed by Qiong Qi's side. They looked at the empty void around them, their foreheads beaded with sweat from nervousness, but they found no trace of the void turbulent flows.
"What's going on?" Everyone was stunned. Where were the promised spatial turbulent flows and the extreme danger? Why was there nothing now?
"Here they come!" Just as they were wondering, Kang Ge Li Fu saw several terrifying energies, turbid like mud flows, suddenly surge from the black and red void in the distance. Before they even made contact, the rumbling explosions deafened their ears.
"Hurry up, three seconds are up!" Kang Ge Li Fu shouted in terror. He didn't have the courage to resist these turbulent flows, but Qiong Qi was still lingering in space, as if carefully observing something.
"Kang Ge Li Fu, if you dare to run away by yourself, I will definitely kill you!" Nuo Na shouted sternly from outside. Seeing that the spatial turbulent flows were about to rush over, and Kang Ge Li Fu and the other elves hadn't moved yet, she was so anxious she even wanted to go in herself!
"Damn it, get on with it!" Kang Ge Li Fu took one last look at Qiong Qi, his entire body engulfed in flames, as were the Domain Lords behind him. Their flames gathered together, creating a terrifying and awe-inspiring might. The moment they unleashed their attack, the space was illuminated as if by the sun.
"Rumble rumble rumble!!!"
A dense barrage of collisions resembling chaotic thunder erupted. The spatial turbulent flows were successfully blocked for a moment, and then they instantly swallowed the blazing flames, creating a grating, piercing shriek that churned everyone's brains.
At this moment, Qiong Qi was finally finished. He turned around, dodged the turbulent flows with lightning speed, and darted back into reality.
Kang Ge Li Fu and the other elves were half a step behind. Because of that half a step, two Domain Lords were swept in and crushed to pieces.
The spatial entrance closed, and the ear-piercing, terrifying sound slowly disappeared. Xu Mu and the others slowly lowered their hands from covering their ears. They looked at Kang Ge Li Fu with astonished and complicated expressions.
At this time, the latter was standing covered in blood where the spatial entrance had vanished, his face grim and disheveled.
"You bastard, you deliberately want me to die, don't you? I'll kill you right now!" For the first time entering, having lost two of his trusted subordinates at the Domain Lord realm, Kang Ge Li Fu was enraged.
He turned his head, releasing his Dharma Form in the confined space, intending to kill Qiong Qi. However, the elves of the other three tribes reacted swiftly, almost simultaneously, blocking in front of Qiong Qi.
"Retreat!" Nuo Na and Hai Man shouted sternly.
"Damn it, you're trying to trick me, aren't you? We'll all die together then!" Kang Ge Li Fu, who had just escaped a near-death situation, was almost mad. He took a step forward, intending to fight against the three tribes alone, but the outcome was predictable. He was met with several equally terrifying magical energies that repelled him.
Boom!
"This matter is still up for discussion, don't be impulsive!" Xi Er Fu shot an arrow, hitting Kang Ge Li Fu's shoulder armor, and said calmly.
Then, without waiting for Kang Ge Li Fu to speak, he turned to Qiong Qi and asked coldly, "Why didn't you leave when the three seconds were up?"
"The three seconds I mentioned were the time you could intercept the spatial turbulent flows," Qiong Qi said, lying on the ground. "I said my opportunities to enter space are limited. Since there were no spatial turbulent flows, I naturally had to stay a bit longer. After all, it's for all our benefit."
"As for the death of your subordinates, what does it have to do with me? You yourselves failed to dodge the turbulent flows. I was farther away from you, yet I could escape first."
The elves were all slightly stunned upon hearing this.
What he said... did have some sense. If there were no spatial turbulent flows, it was natural to stay longer.
Otherwise, with just those three seconds, how long would it take them to get out of this seemingly endless underwater tunnel?
"I think he's right. You misunderstood and didn't cooperate well," Nuo Na said after some thought.
"That's right," Xi Er Fu and Ao Wei Xi Si also spoke, their stance consistent.
Kang Ge Li Fu fell silent. He looked at the frost on his chest, the palm prints that had caved in his ribs, and the arrow stuck in his right arm, his expression grim.
"In any case, it's not my fault. It's your fault for not explaining clearly!" Kang Ge Li Fu said angrily. He pulled the arrow from his right arm, his eyes scanning each face in front of him, and then unresignedly shouted, "I am the victim! Two Domain Lord confidantes are dead, and you still shot me, hit me twice, and froze my bones! You must provide some compensation!"
Upon his words, the space fell silent.
After a long while, Hai Man spoke first, "Each clan compensates you with five top-tier immortal herbs, how about that?"
"Ten plants. If even one is short, we'll all die together," Kang Ge Li Fu was unyielding, slowly clenching his bow and arrow, as if he were prepared to fight to the death.
"Are you desperate for money!" Ao Wei Xi Si couldn't help but curse, pointing at his nose, his eyes wide with anger.
Immortal herbs were priceless. Many rogue Domain Lords might not possess even a single one in their entire lives, yet Kang Ge Li Fu was asking for ten!
Although they were all kings or leaders of their respective elf tribes, parting with so many at once would surely make their hearts ache!
"Alright," Nuo Na frowned, not wanting to fuss further, and directly agreed, taking out ten top-tier immortal herbs and handing them to Kang Ge Li Fu.
"Alas," Xi Er Fu sighed, his facial muscles twitching slightly, then gritted his teeth and handed over the immortal herbs.
"I hope you live to use them in the future," Ao Wei Xi Si said with a frosty expression. He casually threw out a ball of light, and the aroma of immortal herbs immediately permeated the space, making Xu Mu feel utterly refreshed.
"Since that's the case, I'll reluctantly forgive you."
Kang Ge Li Fu grinned from ear to ear, distributing one immortal herb to each of his subordinates, and pocketing the rest.
"Since there are no more issues, follow me. Let's go to that fish," Qiong Qi said, walking slowly towards the fish marked by Fuxi.
That was the first critical point that could truly help them escape this underwater tunnel.
"From this spot, take five steps diagonally backward. Note, it must be exactly five steps. Then, touch the wall, bend down, advance three more steps, and finally, walk two steps to the left. You will then exit the first spatial loop."
Qiong Qi said this and demonstrated it himself. After a series of strange movements, his body had unknowingly appeared a hundred meters away.
In the deep blue, dark tunnel, the elves' faces were filled with astonishment, which then turned into excited joy. They all began to imitate him.
Watching the elves cautiously imitating the movements for a long time, Xu Mu also walked over, pretending to be extremely clumsy, and slowly passed through this area, arriving beside Qiong Qi.
"The spatial great dao is truly magical. I didn't sense any crossing or teleportation-like instantaneous movement, yet I arrived here," Xi Er Fu said with a smile, looking at his feet. He had been fully focused and hadn't sensed the slightest anomaly, as if after he had taken that step, he was supposed to appear here, without any sense of transition.
"It is indeed magical," Hai Man and Nuo Na also exclaimed.
After a while, all the elves had exited that spatial loop. They looked at Qiong Qi with entirely different eyes. Some elves even ran up to Qiong Qi with smiles, offering him precious elixirs to curry favor and secure their survival.
In an instant, Xu Mu and Qiong Qi were surrounded by a group of elves. Among those showering them with attention were even elves from the Fire tribe.
Seeing this, Kang Ge Li Fu's expression was as if he had eaten feces, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Here, his strength was great, but he could only kill, not save. That beast, however, could lead them out of this endless tunnel.
No, could it still be called a beast? This little tiger was simply a divine beast!
"There's a saying in the mortal world that is true: gold truly shines everywhere it goes," in just a few seconds, Qiong Qi had gained a lot of spiritual medicine, becoming incredibly rich.
Xu Mu, on the other hand, shook his head with a wry smile. If these elves knew that Qiong Qi was actually acting and would abandon them in the end, they would probably jump up and curse in anger.
"It's almost time. We'll try to get you out today," Qiong Qi turned his head, looking at Nuo Na and Hai Man, and smiled faintly, "I'm about to begin, two beautiful ladies. Are you ready?"
...