Chapter 00177: Are We Friends
# Are We Friends?
Chapter 177
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 177: Are We Friends?
With a crack, the first barrier was melted away.
At the same moment, Lan Xiaobu felt a lightness in his primordial spirit, and his divine sense surged.
He had finally pushed the Spirit Refining Technique into the fifth stage.
With his true essence and divine sense violently swirling, the halberd embedded in the ground loosened slightly.
How could Lan Xiaobu miss such an opportunity? He fed his true essence and divine sense into a fiery blaze, unleashing a chaotic tearing force that surged forward.
No matter how tough the halberd was, it was yanked up directly under the onslaught of Lan Xiaobu's burning true essence and divine sense.
Boom! It was as if something had been ripped apart.
A terrifying vortex swept through, carrying the breath of boundless void with it.
Lan Xiaobu hurriedly pulled back, but Liu Li was not as strong as him and was about to be swallowed by the black hole.
At that moment, Lan Xiaobu realized what was happening.
He quickly reached out with the halberd and anxiously called, "Grab hold of it..."
Liu Li caught the halberd with one hand and threw out a storage bracelet, shouting, "This is my thing!"
Lan Xiaobu's true essence surged as he tried to pull Liu Li out.
Yet, even before he could manage that, a more violent power from the black hole rushed toward him, threatening to drag him in as well.
This was undoubtedly a top-tier void teleportation vortex, and the teleportation force was growing stronger.
This was because the array was forcibly triggered when he pulled out the halberd; otherwise, Liu Li would have been transported away in an instant, with no chance to rescue her.
Lan Xiaobu knew all too well that he couldn’t pull her back.
Without hesitation, he charged toward Liu Li.
Bang! An extreme force slammed into him, and in that moment, Lan Xiaobu felt as if he would be torn apart and flung away.
Fortunately, he still had the halberd in hand, preventing him from being thrown off completely, and he managed to pull Liu Li a little closer.
Despite being a sixth-level array master, Lan Xiaobu recognized this was a single-person void teleportation array.
Without hesitation, he took out a ring and quickly tossed it to Liu Li, shouting, "Liu Li, there's an antidote in the ring! Hurry and grab it!"
Liu Li’s hand had already slipped from the halberd, but upon hearing Lan Xiaobu’s words, she reflexively reached out and managed to grasp the ring.
With all her strength, she called out, "Lan Xiaobu, are we friends?"
Without thinking, Lan Xiaobu replied, "Of course we are."
Before Liu Li's next words could reach him, an even more terrifying force enveloped her, drawing her deep into the black hole.
It was uncertain if she heard his response.
Lan Xiaobu stood there, staring blankly at the disappearing black hole, his mind still a bit foggy as he struggled to grasp what had just happened.
Soon, he regained his focus.
Though he didn’t know why Liu Li had come here, one thing was certain: Liu Li had saved him.
He was at a disadvantage, competing against the murderous intent within the halberd.
If things didn't improve, he would only find it harder to escape.
In fact, he had even considered whether entering the Cosmic Dimension might allow him to evade his fate.
At this moment, Liu Li's appearance significantly altered the balance of power.
With her help, he ignited his true essence and momentarily suppressed the killing aura before yanking the halberd free.
The massive black hole vortex was clearly a top-tier teleportation array, surpassing any he had encountered before.
The aura of teleportation and space rules was astonishing.
Even an idiot could see why there was a teleportation array here.
The halberd in his hand was obviously not just lost; it had been intentionally placed there.
There were two purposes for the halberd being planted here: one was to harvest the lives of cultivators and swell the murderous aura; the second was to absorb the spiritual essence of the surrounding area.
The spiritual essence within a radius of millions of miles in the western Yuan Continent had been completely drained, and it was clear that the halberd was responsible.
If the halberd hadn’t grown to a certain extent, no one would have been able to take it.
All the cultivators seeking the halberd would end up losing their lives here.
The souls or primal spirits of these deceased cultivators would bolster the halberd's killing aura.
Once the halberd had grown sufficiently, it could absorb spiritual essence from across the Yuan Continent, thus allowing someone to pull it out.
When the halberd was removed, the teleportation array would be activated, drawing the person who pulled it out, along with the halberd, into the array, sending them back to the one who originally placed it there.
However, this individual was careless; the halberd was halfway into the vortex when Liu Li grabbed it, thus the array mistakenly believed Liu Li had taken the halberd.
So, it transported her away while leaving him and the halberd behind.
This might not even be called carelessness; they likely feared that too many people would disrupt the teleportation positioning.
Thus, it was set so that as soon as the halberd's aura entered the teleportation vortex, it would prevent other cultivators from teleporting at the same time.
Lan Xiaobu felt a twinge of discomfort in his heart.
He would rather have been the one transported.
If he had gone, he could still enter the Cosmic Dimension midway.
What form the Cosmic Dimension would take, even Lan Xiaobu didn’t know.
In his sea of consciousness, it appeared as a seven-sided pyramid, but that was merely a dimension representation.
He stood there for several hours before finally glancing down at the bracelet in his hand.
He had long been puzzled about why Liu Li had come here.
Had she come to seek the halberd too? That seemed improbable; her strength was far from sufficient to take it.
If Liu Li knew he was here and came to find him, that also didn’t make sense since there was no reason for it.
Had Liu Li come to find an antidote? That seemed plausible, but why hadn’t she gone to Mubei Immortal City to find him?
The barrier on the bracelet was simple, and Lan Xiaobu easily opened it.
Inside were mostly Liu Li's personal belongings; besides clothing, there were some spiritual stones and low-grade spiritual herbs.
Two Star Moon Bamboos were wrapped securely within the barrier, clearly things Liu Li had obtained from Dark Bay Swamp.
All these items were contained and sealed in one corner of the storage bracelet.
Lan Xiaobu speculated that she must have realized her time was short and organized everything beforehand.
In one corner of the bracelet lay a letter.
If it weren’t addressed specifically to him, he might not have looked at it.
He would have just put the letter with Liu Li's other belongings.
Taking it out, he opened the envelope to reveal exquisitely crafted paper.
The words were few.
"Brother Xiaobu, by the time you receive this letter, I should already be dead. Don't be surprised at how I address you. After I left Western Kunlun, I realized I didn’t even have a single friend. I forced myself to find a friend, and that friend is you. Since you are a friend, it is only right I call you Brother Xiaobu. I thought, perhaps you don’t see me as a friend, but during my time away from Western Kunlun, I couldn't help but wonder. If I have to see anyone as a friend, you are the only one..."
Lan Xiaobu sighed inwardly.
Liu Li seemed proud on the outside, but perhaps she had also been leading a difficult life.
Others saw her arrogance, but couldn’t glimpse her vulnerability.
She stood tall, yet didn’t have even one person to talk to.
Perhaps it was only at the moment she left Western Kunlun that she realized her own sadness.
"Brother Xiaobu, back at Mubei Market, you called me a shameless woman; I didn’t take it to heart then. After leaving Western Kunlun, I realized I might indeed have been shameless. But I never intended to be such a woman. I am a woman, and I cherish my pride. I gave all my belongings to the sect, yet when I left, they chased me. My senior sister let me go... I came to Dark Bay Swamp alone, struggling to survive just like countless lowly cultivators. It was in Dark Bay Swamp that I finally understood that you were right; I am a shameless woman. I viewed all injustices as justified, simply because I am a disciple of the Western Kunlun sect. I failed to see their struggles for survival and only did what I thought was right. When I was constantly slapped in the face, when I was made to pick up a few spiritual stones, and when I pleaded with others submissively, the person I hated most was myself. It wasn't fear of death; it was about atoning for my past actions deep within my heart. When my cultivation fell to the Dan Nourishing Stage, I realized that death was very close to me. The one I wanted to see the most was you, my only friend. You saved me twice, and yet I couldn’t repay you. Besides my master, you have spoken with me the most and spent the most time together with me, giving me the most sincere truths. Brother Xiaobu, before I die, I wish to see you once and tell you that I am no longer that shameless woman. Also, you are my only friend. Perhaps, perhaps I still have a little desire to live… because you once told me that you have a way to help me with the poison. I’m sorry, I want to live so badly. I didn’t have the courage to find you before, but now I can no longer reach Mubei Immortal City. If my corpse remains, please help me keep it. If one day you can enter the Primordial Ruins, or if your descendants can enter, please bury me under the giant knife-sliced stone of the Five-Colored Immortal Mushroom. In memory of my brief life, everywhere else fills me with disgust; only there can bring me fond memories..."
Lan Xiaobu put away the jade slip, feeling a bit unsettled.
Wanting to live was not wrong; no one wishes to die.
Looking at the halberd in his hand, he suddenly felt uncomfortable.
If it weren't for this halberd, Liu Li wouldn’t have been transported away because of him.
Although Liu Li was not dead when she was swept away, Lan Xiaobu knew well that her chances of survival were slim.
Suddenly, Lan Xiaobu pulled out a set of array flags to set up a confinement array; in a short time, he had completed a Spirit Locking Array.
He suspected there was an artifact spirit within the halberd.
If there was an artifact spirit, Lan Xiaobu planned to refine the halberd while dealing with the artifact spirit.
He felt a growing discomfort; even if the artifact spirit became his, he wouldn’t feel at ease.
(End of this chapter)