Chapter 989: Chapter 989: Run!

Zen had a rough grasp of the scene he had just witnessed.

Freya was not able to take the jades, but that did not mean that he couldn't.

Freya's features morphed into frustration. Immediately, she said, “Let's leave this place. If the beast stirs, we'll be screwed.”

Zen, however, only reached out a hand towards her. “Hand it over,” he said.

Freya looked at his outstretched hand in confusion. “What?”

“Your robe,” Zen replied. “Lend it to me.”

A look of understanding dawned on her face. “You want to get the life vitality jades?” she asked, almost incredulously.

Zen nodded. Freya did not know what to make of it. She was a full realm higher in cultivation than Zen. If she had failed to get the life vitality jades, what more could he do?

As if reading her mind, he smiled. “Don't worry. I can make it.”

She had her doubts, but as she looked at his determined expression, she knew she had to. It was as if something told her that Zen would succeed.

After all, they were already here. It would be a pity to go back empty-handed. If Zen wanted to give it a try, she had no reason to refuse. She took off her robe and handed it to Zen's waiting hand.

“Thank you!”

The robe cloaked one's breath. Zen wore the garment, and instantly his energy was muted. His aura had become almost inaudible.

Then, wordlessly, he rushed towards the life vitality jades at lightning speed.

Freya barely had time to register what was happening. Zen was acting so recklessly. One of her hands went up in shock to cover her mouth. Her pulse picked up with his every step closer to the life vitality jades. She held her breath, not daring to breathe. He made no sound as he got closer, and she finally allowed a relieved sigh. 'This guy is too rash!' she thought.

As he approached the life vitality jades, Zen wanted to directly pull one of them down from above just as Freya had done.

However, it refused to budge from his tug.

Zen used the power of the dragon scales and gave it another pull.

He had activated 1, 000 dragon scales, but it was to no avail. The life vitality jade remained wedged from above. This time, however, he no longer increased his strength.

His current power would be enough to pull even huge mountains. This meant only one thing: there must be some Law of Causality hidden within the life vitality jades, which meant that this was not a problem that could be solved by force.

As he thought of this, Zen's body leaned to the side, his back facing Freya. Gently, he pressed his space ring and took out the Black Star. He moved discreetly, not wanting anyone else to know that he had it. From where she was, Freya probably wouldn't be able to see it.

Slowly, he extended the pickax and hammered at the stem of one of the life vitality jades. A very subtle sound rang through the silence.

Crack!

The life vitality jade had come loose and was now in his hand.

Zen's eyebrows creased as an idea formed in his mind. Why did he have to pry them off one by one? The life vitality jades sprouted from one root. Wouldn't it be faster if he pried the whole root up? 𝘙𝒶₦𝘰฿ĘS̩

He tested this idea, and began to pick at the root. The Black Star's Law of Causality had taken effect, and after his continuous prodding, he completely uprooted the whole plant.

Zen smiled at his victory and returned the pickax into his space ring. Then he turned his head and waved the plant in Freya's direction, beaming.

Freya could almost not believe her eyes as she saw the plant in his hand.

He had managed to take out the whole plant that she had spent so much effort pulling out with seeming ease. It didn't even look like he lost much energy, given the vigorous way he shook the plant.

'This guy's strength is incredible!' she thought.

Waves of relief and rejoicing filled her heart. Her intuition had been right—something that both delighted and worried her. Now that he had the plant, would Zen take all the life vitality jades for himself? However, she quickly dismissed the thought. She believed that Zen was no selfish man.

Zen held the plant in his hand and slowly walked towards Freya.

It was at this moment that the Nine-head Snake stirred. With a sniff, its heads moved around tensely. It knew that something was amiss.

The Nine-head Snake slept near the plant, safeguarding and absorbing its energy unto itself. Since the energy within it was already full, the excess would be released. It was for this same reason that Zen and Freya were drawn to the plant just now—they had sensed the abundant vitality between heaven and earth it released.

When Zen pulled the plant out, the Nine-head Snake immediately felt the change in the vitality between heaven and earth. It had disappeared. The snake quickly knew that something was wrong.

Hiss!

Hiss! Hiss!

The nine heads moved about angrily, as if searching for the culprit.

The snake wasn't able to detect Freya before because it hadn't yet opened its eyes. As the snake woke up, it saw a human not too far away taking away the plant. How could that Nine-head Snake not be enraged?

Zen had his back facing the Nine-head Snake, so it was Freya who noticed first that it had woken up. Her eyes widened in alarm as she pointed to Zen's back.

He sensed movement behind him.

Whoosh!

Zen did not need to turn his head to look—his instincts told him that he was in peril. Like an arrow, he shot towards Freya.

At the same time, a loud rumble came from behind him. A snake head opened its mouth wide and snapped forward to devour Zen. It was a narrow escape, but Zen managed to dodge. The snake head crushed the rock beneath Zen's feet, and the entire cave began to shake in protest.

“Run! What are you waiting for?” he shouted towards a petrified Freya.

Zen put the plant into his space ring and pulled Freya as he shot forward.

After Zen dragged Freya for a distance, she finally came back to her senses. She circulated her life vitality and also ran towards the front, choosing a random path in panic.

The body of the Nine-head Snake began to move. It was huge in size, but this did not hinder its agile movements. It was a level twelve beast, and its own speed was faster than Freya's and Zen's. It had quickly closed the distance significantly in only a matter of seconds.

“It's fast!” Freya circulated the life vitality in her body crazily, dragging sparkling and translucent snowflakes behind her.

As the Nine-head Snake chased after them, a tiny snake head in the middle spoke in human language. “A human at the Life and Death Realm dares to steal my life vitality jades? Your attempts at escape would be futile. I advise you to stop the senseless running. These nine brothers of mine have been starving for a long time.”

Zen's eyes flashed. It seemed that the Nine-head Snake was intelligent enough to communicate with humans. Coupled with its power, it was a dangerous enemy.

The Nine-head Snake was considered to be among the ranks of legendary beasts, just like the cyan dragon. It was much smarter than ordinary humans.

“Quick!” Zen shouted. “We will go through the cave in front of us!” Zen was running on the path that they had taken when they came. Freya was at a loss of what to do. If she didn't follow Zen, she might have run away aimlessly. If it happened, she would have alerted more and more vicious beasts and brought more trouble.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two of them ran, and the Nine-head Snake kept up the chase.

“Is there any way to make it slow down?” Zen asked.

As soon as he finished speaking, Freya turned around. Her life vitality spread out from within her body, instantly condensing into a rapidly dancing snow ring.

“Snowfall Domain!”

In normal circumstances, when a domain was condensed, it would follow its summoner and move around. However, after Freya had condensed this domain, she immediately threw it to the snake. She followed closely behind Zen.

When the Nine-head Snake passed through the Snowfall Domain, it slowed down. However, the next moment, it swung its tail forcefully and lightly knocked against the ground. The Snowfall Domain that Freya had condensed was shattered like shards of glass.