Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

To evade their pursuers, Cheese removed Li Yelai's tattered armor and jumped into the raging river with him.

She then tossed out two more golden peas, causing the two mimicking celestial soldiers to don her black trench coat and Li Yelai's armor and helmet, and continue advancing forward. They would split up after traveling a certain distance.

Since the tracking is being done using falcons and hounds, this might mislead the pursuers behind them.

The water flow can also wash away the scent on the two people, thus hindering tracking to some extent.

At the same time, Cheese put away the champion's cape that Li Yelai was wearing.

At this point, it's impossible to attract any more enemies.

Cheese quietly sank into the depths of the river, becoming one with the waters.

As the two ventured deeper into the riverbed, the surrounding light grew increasingly dim.

But this wasn't a big problem for them.

They all have the blessing of underwater breathing, and the cheese even has dark vision, allowing it to move freely in this pitch-black water.

'It should be safer here.'

Cheese looked at the dimly lit riverbed and thought to himself, but he still did not let his guard down. The abilities of psionicists were varied and unpredictable, and they might have even more unique methods of pursuit.

She picked up Li Yelai, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and continued walking deeper into the riverbed.

In this situation, she dared not use her psionic barrier, which caused her clothes to get soaked by the river water and made her feel a chill.

She instinctively hugged Li Yelai tightly, supporting his head and letting him rest on her shoulder and neck, as if she wanted to transfer all her strength to him. Feeling Li Yelai's breath and heartbeat brought her a sense of peace.

"You've saved me so many times, and I've told you I'd repay you with my body, but you never understood. Now, it's my turn to save you, so will you repay me with your body?" the cheese whispered. "If you don't say anything, I'll take that as acceptance."

Unable to respond while unconscious, Li Yelai exhaled a small bubble as he breathed underwater. The bubble grazed Cheese's neck and cheeks before floating upwards.

On the other side, two minutes later.

The pursuit force, personally led by the Lord of Qingjiao City, arrived at the riverbank.

The hounds caught the scent on the opposite bank and immediately alerted the Omnipotent or Whispering Psionicists in the group.

"The scent is still moving northwest," a psychic with the ability to speak the language of the Void Realm replied. "But it seems to have washed away some of the scent, making it somewhat blurry."

"Ha, so they really are outsiders. That direction is the territory of the Ruohai City-State. They have long since submitted to Lord Duoyuan, and they should be sending out search teams now." A powerful figure from the city-state sneered, "They're walking right into a trap!"

"Then we must hurry! If our city-state can welcome back that champion's representative, Lord Fallen Wish will surely bestow a favor. We can't let the people of Ruohai City-State beat us to it!"

Immediately, a pursuit team crossed the river, intending to continue the chase.

After all, city-states are in competition with each other. They don't want to let this opportunity slip away.

Among them, elites from the Bliss faction shouted, "Remember, no matter what happens, protect the champion's representative. He cannot be threatened in any way!"

"Yes!" the psionicists responded quickly. But they noticed that the Azure Dragon City Lord was frowning and standing still.

"Lord! What are you hesitating for? Don't you want an outsider's collectible the most?"

"We couldn't touch those prisoners before, but this time you can finally get what you want."

Several officers urged them on, as they were about to catch up with their target. They didn't want to waste any more time.

They were all well aware of the Azure Dragon City Lord's peculiar tastes, and in order to please him, these nobles went to great lengths to find young, beautiful girls or boys among the commoners or slaves. These people often became the city lord's collection.

The city lord actually wanted to gather outsiders, but the Bliss faction forbade it.

Now, however, an opportunity has arisen. The Bliss Faction now only wants to welcome back that champion agent and no longer cares much about the other official powerhouses.

"Shut up, you bunch of idiots." The servant of the Azure Dragon City Lord spoke up: "The City Lord has obviously noticed something."

Just as the attendant said, the Lord of Qingjiao City frowned as he looked at the river.

Years ago, he received the blessing; after all, a psychic who indulged his desires was too easily corrupted by ecstasy.

Now, his blessing power is subtly guiding him to look at the river.

The prey is underwater? And it seems to be a very delicious prey?

"Send one group to continue the pursuit following the scent, the rest of you, come with me into the river," said the Azure Dragon City Lord.

"This river connects to Qinghu Lake, and there may be dangerous supernatural creatures there," an officer warned.

"It's precisely because of this kind of thinking that we ignore this place," the Azure Dragon City Lord sneered.

On the other side, Cheese and Li Yelai moved like ghosts in the riverbed.

First, a rescue operation was carried out. Then, carrying an adult male and a backpack, they ran for more than ten kilometers before diving underwater to carry out another operation.

Even though Cheese is a five-sense psychic, he was already feeling tired.

But she still dared not linger, as she could still sense the energy fluctuations coming from behind her.

Have the pursuers not given up and started searching the river?
This made Cheese's heart sink. She was currently hiding at the bottom of the river, not daring to use her psychic powers. She was moving purely by physical strength.

In terms of speed, they are naturally no match for those reckless pursuers.

However, if psionic abilities are used, the location will likely be locked immediately.

Then it became another chase.

'The Mimicry Celestial Soldiers have five remaining: two with sixth-level Awakening and three with fifth-level Awakening. Even with my assistance, it will be difficult to eliminate the pursuers behind them.'

'Once we're tied down, pursuers from nearby will keep coming.'

Should we leave the water and send out a distress signal? Are we hoping there are teammates lurking nearby?

"It's too late! We're too close; we'll be spotted before our teammates arrive." Cheese didn't stop, and instead sped up.

Looking down at Li Yelai, who was unconscious, and seeing his brows gradually relax, Cheese couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Ultimately, it's a matter of insufficient strength.

If Li Yelai himself were awake, he would still retain some fighting strength.

Then it was their turn to hunt down the pursuers.

'You're just too weak. I kept saying I'd surpass you, but I still got overtaken.' Cheese thought to himself, 'If the person carrying Li Ye away right now were a doll, what would we be afraid of from the pursuers? We could just turn around and blow up the Bliss Legion.'

Is this what they mean by "beauty is only meant for the strong"?

Thinking of that shy girl, Cheese let out a long sigh.

'Compared to me, the doll is definitely more helpful to you.'

The resentment, bitterness, and jealousy in their hearts gradually amplified under the influence of the Heartless Fruit.

But Cheese suppressed the excitement in her heart and calmly considered her options.

'Now, the enemy is in the open, and I am in the shadows. As long as I don't use my psychic powers, they will have a hard time finding me. So, all I need to do is muddy the waters,' Cheese decided.

She immediately changed direction at a fork in the riverbed. Her original plan was to enter a tributary of the river and then head into the mountains to shake off her pursuers.

But the pursuers were still able to roughly grasp her direction of movement, which clearly meant they weren't just tracking her by conventional methods like smell or traces.

If we continue with the original plan, we'll be stuck in the mountains.

Therefore, she took a risky step and went into Qinghu, entering the sphere of influence of the extraordinary creatures.

Currently, a large number of the extraordinary creatures on the second level are parasitized by the Heartless Fruit. Such a blatant incursion into their territory by pursuers is bound to cause conflict.

This might be her chance to escape!
After entering Qinghu, Cheese could clearly sense that the surroundings had become dangerous.

Extraordinary creatures occasionally swam by in the distance. Fortunately, Cheese did not reveal any psionic energy, and under the 'cover' of the pursuers behind him, he did not attract the attention of the extraordinary creatures.

After lying in wait for a few minutes, intense battle fluctuations indeed erupted from the rear.

Cheese's eyes flickered, but he didn't act immediately.

On the other side, two kilometers behind, the city-state's powerful warriors emerged from the water, unable to breathe underwater. They couldn't stay submerged for long.

Meanwhile, the Azure Dragon City Lord frowned as he sensed everything. As a Six-Senses Spiritual Ability User, he was extremely sensitive to spiritual energy fluctuations.

But when he created the disturbance, he didn't sense any unexpected psionic fluctuations.

'Is my perception wrong? Or has she realized we're bluffing her?' The Azure Dragon City Lord narrowed his eyes.

Yes, the battle fluctuations just now were deliberately created by him. His aim was to lure Cheese into revealing his psionic abilities and escaping.

Now, with the lure plan failing, the cheese wasn't drawn out; instead, it alerted some extraordinary creatures in the vicinity.

Their bloodthirsty eyes were fixed on the investigation team. Under the influence of the Heartless Fruit, they became increasingly irritable and uncontrollable.

"What a hassle! I like intelligent women, but only in bed." The Azure Dragon City Lord made his move instantly.

As more complex and chaotic psionic fluctuations came, Cheese breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into a group of reefs.

'That's what I've been waiting for.'

However, the next second, Cheese felt his hair stand on end, and a deadly sense of danger came from his left!
The sense of danger came too suddenly; all Cheese could do was twist to the right as fast as he could and throw out the five golden peas he was clutching.

At the same time, without hesitation, he decisively unleashed his psionic energy.

Use Dragon Shout - Charge!

The body accelerates forward in an instant.

She was still holding Li Yelai in her arms, his head resting on her left shoulder! She had to avoid an attack from the left!
But in that very instant, just as Cheese hoped to dodge the attack, he felt a heavy blow to his back. His specially designed backpack was torn apart, and the candies stored inside scattered into the water.

A corner of a bright red cloak peeked out from the backpack, and it seemed as if an angry roar was coming from inside the cloak.

But at the same time, Cheese's face turned deathly pale, and an unbearable pain shot through her elbow.

She could almost hear the sound of flesh and bones shattering, the crisp sound of her hand bones breaking echoing in her ears, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

She received two blessings and one curse on the lucky wheel.

The curse is an increased sense of pain.

The unimaginable, intense pain nearly extinguished her will.

She could feel herself being dragged rapidly, her bones and flesh being torn apart and bitten off.

She held Li Yelai's body tightly with her right hand, speaking through her endless pain.

"Certainly!"

Immortal Register - Fixed!
In that instant, the dragging speed was stopped abruptly.

Cheese finally saw the attacker's appearance: it was a gigantic dragon!

It disguised itself as a reef, lurking among the rocks, and launched a deadly attack on the cheese!

If the champion's cape hadn't blocked some of the attacks, Cheese and Li Yelai would probably have been torn to shreds.

Even so, its terrifying and sharp teeth bit into Cheese's left arm, dragging her dozens of meters away, staining the water red with blood.

Cheese could see his numb left hand fingers trembling inside the dragon's mouth.

A nameless fear and lingering dread welled up within her.

They almost bit off his head.

At the same time, another thought popped into her mind: she probably wouldn't be able to wear a ring in her lifetime.
Despite the excruciating pain, Cheese did not hesitate. Before the dragon broke free of its restraints.

Dragon Roar - Charge!

This time, the advance was directed towards the rear.

In that instant, the sound of blood and bone cracking rang out as Cheese tore off his own left arm. He clung tightly to Li Yelai with his right hand and retreated rapidly.

Meanwhile, the last five mimicry heavenly soldiers released attacked the freed dragon.

Immortal Talisman - Entanglement!
The nearby reefs and seaweed seemed to come alive at this moment, twisting and gathering rapidly, all coiling around the dragon.

Despite the excruciating pain in his arm, Cheese tore open a cloth bag with his right hand and teeth, quickly dropped it, and turned to run away.

A strand of hair fell from the cloth bag, startling the pursuing dragon.

Those were strands of hair from a doll, now being used by Cheese to control a dragon.

This allowed her to escape several hundred meters with Li Ye.

Seeing that Cheese and Li Yelai were about to escape, the dragon roared angrily, twisted its body, and formed a huge whirlpool underwater.

Countless rocks were swept up and slammed forward with tremendous force.

Hundreds of rocks of all sizes crashed down like a meteor shower.

The cheese tried its best to swallow the candy and dodge it.

Dragon Roar Armor
Dragon Roar - Charge
Dragon Roar - Shoot Down!

The arrows protected her, allowing her to avoid a huge reef.

However, this blessing is time-limited and can only be triggered once per minute.

In a split second, Cheese felt a tremendous force appear behind her, slamming her down and sending her flying dozens of meters away.

Blood gushed from his mouth and nose, his internal organs seemed to be scorched by fire, and the sound of bones breaking rang out again.

After rolling around twice on the riverbed, Cheese awkwardly hoisted Li Ye onto her shoulder and tried to get up. She struggled to lift her legs, but found they wouldn't obey her commands.
"Listen to me," she said painfully, "keep moving and keep running!"

Driven by his ability, his numb legs rose again, propelling him towards the depths of the riverbed. (End of Chapter)