I Can Only Cultivate In A Game-Chapter 237: The Rescue

Victor had a look of worry on his face. Not for the players since they could always respawn if something happened... No, his worry was for Xuan Qing who was an NPC.

"I should have given her my anchor disk..." he muttered.

The piece of the anchor disk had allowed him to teleport instantly to players back then due to the corresponding piece. If he had given it to Xuan Qing, he could’ve reached her by now.

No time to dwell.

He asked for Aeri and Brin’s location. After syncing coordinates, he blinked forward again and again, carefully skirting between bursts of lightning that turned the floating ridge into a death trap.

By the time he arrived, it was well into the "evening"—though in this realm, there was no sun, just endless night. Aeri Fan and the third player greeted him at a half-formed cave nestled in the side of a narrow peak.

"We’ve scouted about three klicks in every direction," Aeri reported. "But no sign of Xuan Qing or the others."

Victor nodded grimly. "Then we keep looking."

---

(( Elsewhere on the Floating Ridge ))

Xuan Qing stood near the precipice of the left craggy floating ridge, gazing up at the massive cavern mouth embedded in the cliff wall ahead.

The entrance was over three hundred feet high, shaped like the mouth of some unknown collosal beast. From within the shadows, faint echoes drifted, like wind whispering across a bone flute.

"That’s where they were dragged..." she murmured. "By those things."

Her hands clenched at her sides as the memory clawed back.

--- ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

[Flashback — Days Ago(Ascendant Realms Time)]

She had been traveling with the remaining three members of the player group after parting ways with Victor and the others.

The terrain had been surreal as they crossed the floating river in between the two ridges while doing their best to avoid getting hit by lightning.

Despite all that, the real danger arrived when the humanoid figures appeared.

At first, they looked almost comical with small, thin bodies, glowing white eyes and elongated limbs. Barely Foundation Establishment aura. But then they moved.

Fast.

Stronger than they had any right to be.

One by one, the trio was overwhelmed.

The two Nascent Soul players, Mirael and Juno, couldn’t land proper hits. For every one they struck down, two more surged out from the dark.

"Xuan Qing—RUN!"

The shout had come from Mirael as a claw ripped through her shoulder.

And she ran.

It tore at her soul to do so, but they had screamed for her to go. They told her to survive and that since they were players they’d be fine.

From a distance, hidden behind a veil of shadow, she watched them get bound by sinewy ropes and dragged toward the towering cavern.

In the process of movement, they were being... *prodded*. Poked. Examined.

Like cattle.

Like meat.

The creatures did not kill them. Instead them seemed somewhat curious. One even licked Juno’s skin causing him to grimace in disgust.

---

(( Present Moment ))

Xuan Qing took a deep breath and extended her hand.

From the summoning tattoo on her forearm, light erupted in arcs of violet flame.

*SHHRRRRRKKKKK!*

With a roar that trembled the very sky, the Shadow-Eyed Moon Serpent descended from above and coiled protectively around her.

It’s skin had gone from grey moon colored to reddish-black as the abyss with glowing silver patterns that shifted like constellations.

The mythical spirit beast radiated strength that would shock Victor if he were to come into contact with it right now.

It was more than seventy feet in length now.

Its single moon-like eye blinked as it nuzzled her while it’s horn glittered like stars.

"This is a perfect world for you, isn’t it?" she whispered. "Always night. So many moons. You’ll be much stronger here."

The serpent hissed in approval.

Xuan Qing climbed atop its head, staring at the cavern again.

"I’m going to get them. And if those things want a fight, they’ll learn what a mythical shadow moon eyed serpent can do."

With a silent command, the Shadow-Eyed Moon Serpent surged forward with it’s tail whipping through the air as it dove toward the gaping entrance.

---

Meanwhile...

Victor, Aeri Fan, and Brin trudged across the broken terrain of the floating ridge, still no closer to locating the others.

Every step felt heavier, every hour more hopeless. The altered physics of the realm still wreaked havoc on their coordination.

Every now and then, one of them would stumble, swerving left when they meant to veer right.

Although they had spent a lot of time in this world and had slightly gotten used to the altered laws, the disorienting nature of the place constantly kept them on edge so it was normal to occasionally make mistakes.

They had searched for hours—caves, spires, the sides of inverted cliffs where gravity dipped sideways. Still nothing.

Brin finally muttered, "Maybe they’re in a situation where they can’t respond."

Victor was about to reply when a fluttering caught his eye. Just ahead, a long strip of grey fabric flapped in the ethereal wind, caught on the rough edge of a protruding spike.

"That’s Tarkos’ robe," Victor instantly recognized it and sprinted in its direction.

He leapt forward and snatched it up.

The slightly coarse texture was unmistakeable, embroidered with that tiny, crescent moon insignia near the hem.

Victor eyes narrowed as he turned it in his hand.

Brin stepped up beside him. "But how did it get all the way here?"

Aeri Fan gaze scanned the horizon as she looked around. "Maybe he passed through here or perhaps it’s the one from before and it got stuck here somehow..."

Suddenly, the robe slipped from Victor’s fingers as if pulled by some unseen force.

"What the hell—?"

"It’s still active," Brin said quickly. "The tracking technique. The qi thread."

Sure enough, the fabric hovered midair again, the invisible tether from before pulled it forward.

Victor didn’t hesitate. He turned and nodded at the others. "Let’s follow it."

They pushed forward into the abyss once more as the robe floated steadily ahead, like a compass needle toward fate.

As they left the bounds of the floating ridge and stream, the terrain began to shift.

They began leaping from floating platform to floating platform once more as the ridge behind them disappeared into the distance.

But soon they landed on a terrain that extended as far as the eyes could see...

The skies remained locked in eternal night, but the moons above changed positions. The thunderclouds faded into a hazy pink fog that curled and danced like tendrils across the new terrain.

Strange spires jutted from the ground. Some were made of glass while others of what looked like bone.

Their structures twisted in impossible ways like someone had begun to build a city and lost their mind halfway through.

By the time they reached the edge of a crystal-like clearing, the robe slowed. It spun in place, swaying lightly, like a compass reaching its destination.

Victor raised his hand to signal a halt but before he could say a word, someone lunged from behind a structure and grabbed him with incredible force.

He barely had time to react as a blade pressed to his neck.

"Who sent you?" the attacker growled.

Victor’s eyes widened as he recognized the voice. "Tarkos?"

The blade stopped. Then slowly lowered.

"...Fang Chen?"

Tarkos pulled back the hood, and the lines of battle fatigue on his face softened in surprise.

"No way..." Tarkos murmured.

Victor chuckled while panting slightly. "Took you long enough."

---

(( Elsewhere — The Cavern ))

Xuan Qing clung to the back of her Shadow-Eyed Moon Serpent with a blade in her grasp as she slashed through one of the strange humanoid guards.

The serpent reared its fangs and hurled dozens of the grotesque beings into the rocky walls with its tail, causing blood to burst out of their bodies as bone cracking sounds rang out.

She skidded down one of its coils and ran toward a part of the wall where the three players were completely immobilized with thick qi draining ropes.

"Hang on!" she yelled while slicing through bindings.

Both players instantly fell on their butts and staggered up.

"You...you came back?" Mirael voiced in disbelief.

"You think I’d let you be eaten?" Xuan Qing replied breathlessly.

"Damn, you really saved our asses. It would have sucked to end up dying and losing a cultivation... The stupid game system claims that we’d keep getting respawned here," Juno voiced in annoyance.

But there was no time to exchange pleasantries. A thunderous roar echoed through the cavern as more of the humanoid beings began pouring in from every direction.

One of them who happened to be taller than the rest, adorned in chitin armor and bone piercings, let out a warcry that rattled the walls.

The leader.

The serpent let loose a barrage of moonlight arcs from its tail, slicing through rows of attackers, but the numbers were overwhelming.

It’s reared its massive head high and opened its mouth to unleash a soul attack.

A good number of the attackers fell to their knees, giving Xuan Qing and the others behind an opening.

"Go!" Xuan Qing shouted to the freed players. "I’ll hold them off with my serpent!"

"We’re not leaving you—!"

New novel chapt𝒆rs are published on free(w)ebnovel(.)com