"Damn it!" Shi Yu felt death approaching. Instinctively, he summoned all his strength to resist—he wanted to live.
He had no idea what power he had just triggered, but the falling speed of the Vajra Palm visibly slowed down. He teleported once more, moving away from his original spot. A heartbeat later, the Vajra Palm struck, leaving a deep palm print on the ground where he had just been.
"Haah…" Shi Yu gasped, shaken. He had nearly died.
"Was that… the power of time just now?" he thought, stunned, recalling the strange sensation he'd experienced after absorbing the soul ring.
"What kind of power is this?" Zhao Wuji frowned in confusion. His attack had clearly been slowed—not because he hesitated, but because something had interfered with its speed.
This kid was truly strange. Zhao Wuji's killing intent only grew stronger. Could it be that as a Soul Saint, he couldn't kill a mere brat?
The chase continued. Zhao Wuji's strikes came one after another, each one nearly fatal—but each time, Shi Yu narrowly avoided them.
Shi Yu had begun to consciously use time delay in tandem with his space movement. The pressure lessened slightly, but it was still overwhelming. A moment's hesitation, and he would be dead.
"Can you please just go away?!" Shi Yu shouted angrily mid-flight, hoping Zhao Wuji would give up.
Then, an idea struck him. If he could teleport—could he also force Zhao Wuji to teleport?
What if every time he moved forward, Zhao Wuji was pulled backward? Wouldn't that widen the gap between them?
Testing the idea, Shi Yu deliberately left a spatial channel behind him, attempting to drag Zhao Wuji away as he moved forward.
He failed several times, but on the fifth try, he finally succeeded—Zhao Wuji was pulled over 20 meters backward.
Zhao Wuji's expression darkened. This boy could actually manipulate space to move others passively? Dangerous.
Now that it worked, Shi Yu kept using the technique. Every time he teleported forward, he tried to throw Zhao Wuji back. The pressure on him decreased significantly.
The chase dragged on—for more than half an hour.
Still, Zhao Wuji hadn't managed to land a single decisive hit. Shi Yu's mastery over his spatial powers had become increasingly fluid. He no longer looked as flustered as before.
Shi Yu even tried to use the first soul ring he had absorbed… but it didn't seem to exist.
When he traveled ten thousand years back in time, he hadn't had a soul ring—yet his time and space powers worked just fine.
Now, even after obtaining one, it was as if the ring wasn't there at all.
The contradiction confused him, but he didn't have time to think about it. He was still running for his life.
Zhao Wuji's gravity-based skills continued to damage his body. Shi Yu was exhausted—his whole body felt as if it would fall apart. But he gritted his teeth and kept going. He knew one thing: if he stopped, he would die.
His survival instinct forced him to move.
"You little brat… let's see how you run now," Zhao Wuji suddenly said with satisfaction.
Shi Yu was still trying to teleport. He shifted forward more than 100 meters as usual.
But when he landed and looked ahead, his face changed instantly.
There was no path forward—only a massive chasm. One more step, and he'd fall straight in.
"I can only bet it's less than 200 meters wide," Shi Yu thought quickly. He didn't slow down. In fact, he accelerated.
Stopping meant death. Charging forward meant a chance.
He teleported again—this time appearing midair, close to the other side. His body continued moving, as if running on air, trying to close the final distance.
But he was still over ten meters away from the edge. He had no way to land.
"Aahh!" Shi Yu shouted as gravity took hold. He began to fall. In a desperate attempt, he activated both space and time powers again to try and save himself.
The bottom of the chasm was pitch black and seemingly endless. A fall like this was fatal.
"Go to hell," Zhao Wuji said coldly, standing on the opposite side. He didn't follow. Instead, he launched another Vajra Palm from afar, aiming to finish Shi Yu off mid-fall.
Being in the air made Shi Yu vulnerable. He was a beat slower than usual.
This time, he got hit.
"Zhao Wuji! I'll never forgive you!" Shi Yu screamed, his voice filled with hatred. The grudge between them was now irreconcilable.
His body was ravaged by the attack, nearly torn apart.
This was the power of a Soul Saint. Shi Yu's current body simply couldn't endure it. A single hit was nearly fatal.
His consciousness faded. His body dropped rapidly, but his hand still clutched the Man-Faced Demon Spider's external soul bone tightly.
Zhao Wuji stood at the edge of the chasm, frowning.
"What a waste… that soul bone," he muttered. "What rotten luck—to run into a crack like this."
He looked around. The fissure stretched for over a kilometer, and was mostly more than 200 meters wide.
It was likely caused by tectonic shifts. The Star Dou Great Forest, vast enough to dwarf entire kingdoms, was full of such terrain.
"That kid… should be dead for sure," Zhao Wuji said under his breath, though a sliver of doubt lingered.
He considered going down to confirm the death himself—but the sheer depth of the crack deterred him.
He couldn't fly, and if he descended, he might not be able to get back out.
"Why didn't I hear a crash?" Zhao Wuji muttered. He had expected the sound of a body hitting the ground.
But there was only silence.
He felt uneasy. Maybe the bottom was too deep, or perhaps the kid had landed on something soft?
Best case, the fall killed him silently. Worst case… he survived.
"It's unlikely he lived." Zhao Wuji shook his head, turned around, and left. He had to reunite with Tang San and the others—hopefully, they hadn't run into any real danger.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the endless dark chasm, Shi Yu lay on his back, breathing heavily. He was barely alive.
Falling from that height should've meant instant death.
But at the last second, the combined power of space and time—unleashed instinctively—saved his life.
He had used spatial energy to slow the fall and create a buffering force.
The time ability further slowed down the landing.
As a result, he didn't crash. But his injuries were still severe.
"Just my luck…" Shi Yu lay there, his entire body aching. He doubted he would live to see tomorrow.
But he hadn't given up.
No one wanted to die—and neither did he. If there was even the slightest chance to survive, he had to fight for it.
He slowly turned his head, eyes scanning the surroundings for anything that might help.
Soon, a glimmer of light caught his attention.
There, not far away, something was glowing.
Despite the pain, Shi Yu adjusted his body, trying to get a clearer look. Every movement was agony, but he endured.
It was a crabapple flower—with nine leaves, each one emitting a different light.
Nine distinct colors.
"A nine-colored crabapple flower?" he wondered, stunned. "What kind of treasure is this?"
There was no way an ordinary flower would glow like that. He wasn't hallucinating—he looked again and again to be sure.
It was definitely glowing.
"I hope this thing can save me…" Shi Yu whispered. It was his only hope now.
If he stayed put, he would die. Eating the flower might kill him too—but it might also save him.
Anything was better than waiting for death.
He tried to crawl toward it—but the pain was unbearable, nearly causing him to black out.
"My brain isn't working right now…" he muttered. Then he stopped moving—and used space power to pull the flower toward him instead.
The flower snapped off gently and floated over under the influence of his space ability.
As it neared, a faint fragrance filled the air.
Shi Yu felt an immediate sense of comfort, and some of the pain eased.
"This flower… might really save me…" Hope returned to Shi Yu's eyes.