Chapter 532: Mysterious Disappearance

“Using the same methods, the same skills—can my own capture techniques compare to his at the Mahayana stage?”
In that fraction of a second, such thoughts flashed through Su Che’s mind. He truly lacked confidence in his own capture skills.
Yet, at such a critical moment, he had to give it his all, fight desperately—because this was indeed a struggle for survival. Without effort, the outcome would be death!
Moreover, under these circumstances, Su Che couldn’t resort to other methods against Patriarch Ji Mu—there simply wasn’t enough time.
Life or death depended on this one grab!
With a whoosh, the Survival Token, located a hundred feet away, vanished—but it didn’t end up in Su Che’s hands.
“Did Ji Mu take it?”
Su Che’s heart sank. He turned to look at Patriarch Ji Mu, only to find that he was doing the same, staring at his own hands with the same expression.
“It’s not with him?”
Relief flashed through Su Che, only to be replaced by confusion. “I didn’t get it, and neither did Patriarch Ji Mu. Then where did the Survival Token go? Could it be that the mysterious old man took it back again?”
“Tian Yu, where is the Survival Token?”
Patriarch Ji Mu’s faint silhouette rippled, reflecting his furious mood just as much as his harsh tone.
“I was going to ask you the same thing!”
Su Che spread his hands, his voice equally icy. “I didn’t get it either. Are you up to some trick?”
“Tian Yu, hand over the Survival Token! Otherwise, I’ll kill you on the spot!”
Patriarch Ji Mu was truly desperate, his hoarse voice filled with anxiety and anger.
“Nonsense! If you’ve got the guts, just attack! Stop talking!”
Su Che snapped back, his own mood terrible. After all that effort, the Survival Token had vanished right before his eyes—a feeling indescribable.
Boom…
But no matter how frustrated or angry they were, now wasn’t the time to vent. The space around them was about to collapse completely. If they didn’t leave quickly, they might get trapped in the spatial chaos—definitely a death sentence.
Let’s go!

Su Che made a quick decision. Even if he didn’t get the survival order, there might be other opportunities later. He couldn’t just die here right away. So, he turned and walked away. Along the way, he didn’t recall the soul servants he had summoned earlier; instead, they used flight magic to surround him, protecting him from any ambush by the enraged Extreme Wood Ancestor.

The passage was full of cracks, with huge rocks constantly falling. What had originally been over ten zhang wide was now almost completely blocked in many places.

Fortunately, Su Che and his companions had a way to deal with these blocking rocks—they didn’t need to shatter them; they could simply store them in their own magic weapon spaces.

It was already clear that the summoned subordinates weren’t considered players in the eyes of the mysterious old man; they were merely seen as summoned creatures. Thus, by using flight magic, they avoided any punishment under the game rules.

Therefore, the two soul servants sped ahead using rapid movement magic, clearing the way so that Su Che’s progress wasn’t affected, allowing him to keep moving forward through the passage at full speed.

Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!

They could only walk, not run, and certainly not fly. Who couldn’t guess that in the next moment, the passage might completely collapse, leaving no way out? In such a crisis, it was truly agonizing.

Go! Hurry up!

“I must not die here!”

Su Che was extremely anxious, praying loudly in his heart…

As for the Extreme Wood Ancestor, he had entered a state of complete invisibility and was likely following closely behind. At this moment, his feelings must have been just like Su Che’s.

It seemed like just a blink, yet it also felt like a hundred years…

Finally!

A glimmer of light appeared ahead—the exit was right in sight.

Swish! Swish! Swish…

Under the protection of several soul servants, Su Che quickly rushed out of the passage.

Outside the passage, those two strange beasts were very smart—they had already run out and were waiting outside.

Howl…

Wow…

As soon as they saw Su Che, they became extremely excited and rushed toward him, as if eagerly embracing him. It was a pity their sizes were too large.

With a loud crash, as soon as Su Che stepped out, the entrance to the passage behind him completely collapsed. The mountain, shaped like a giant beast, seemed to have closed its “mouth,” completely changing its shape.

There was no doubt—that special space was gone forever!

“Phew! What a close call!”

Su Che took a deep breath, feeling relieved to have survived such a great danger. Even his frustration over the disappearance of the survival order was somewhat diminished.

But before the sense of relief could fade, another huge surprise suddenly struck.
“Su Che, don’t worry. The Survival Order is with me.”
The Shadow’s telepathic voice suddenly pierced into Su Che’s mind.
“What?”
Su Che couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.
“Yes, it’s indeed with me,” the Shadow continued via telepathy. “Just now, I realized your grasping skills were no match for that old fellow Ji Mu, so I took the initiative to retrieve the Survival Order before you.”
There was a hint of amusement in the Shadow’s tone.
“This is really…”
The overwhelming joy of regaining what was lost left Su Che stunned, unable to speak for a moment.
To be honest, ever since entering the mysterious old man’s private realm and starting this absurd Survival Competition, Su Che had always regarded his Shadow as his trump card, planning to use it only at the most critical moment in battle.
But in the struggle for the Survival Order just now, he had completely forgotten about the Shadow’s existence, never expecting it to be able to help him.
“Shadow, how did you do that? Why didn’t you tell me in advance? You left me…”
His joy was beyond description, and even through telepathy, his words stumbled.
“Hmph…” The Shadow laughed arrogantly and replied, “I have great abilities—many of which you still don’t know. As long as there’s shadow, nothing is too difficult for me.”
Then he added, “I also have a way to counter that old Ji Mu’s invisibility technique. If he continues to trouble you, I’ll help you deal with him.”
“Great!”
All the words Su Che had in mind turned into a single emphatic “Great!”
The Survival Order, which had disappeared mysteriously, was actually taken by the Shadow. This was because the Shadow realized that its grasping skills were no match for that cunning Ji Mu, and if it didn’t act, the Survival Order would surely fall into Ji Mu’s hands.
Now that it had obtained one Survival Order, at least its life was safe!
As for whether to confront Ji Mu, Su Che preferred to avoid trouble. The current situation wasn’t suitable for unnecessary battles; instead, it needed to find more Survival Orders and protect Tian Yin’s life, as well as those of Heng Yi and the others.
The more Survival Orders, the better!
But this was just Su Che’s plan—Ji Mu had his own ideas…
“Tian Yu, hand over the Survival Order!”

The voice of Patriarch Ji Mu echoed in the air, making it impossible to determine his location from the sound. At this moment, he was still completely invisible; it was utterly impossible to detect his presence with just the naked eye.
“Which eye of yours saw me obtain the Survival Token?” Su Che said coldly into the void before him.
“Stop talking nonsense!” Patriarch Ji Mu roared. “I already sensed something was off. From the surprised expression you showed just now, I knew for sure the Survival Token must have fallen into your hands. But you weren’t aware of it beforehand—probably one of your subordinates did the trick.”
It had to be said that a powerful being at the Mahayana stage like Patriarch Ji Mu not only possessed formidable strength but also terrifying wisdom. He could deduce the truth from even the slightest clues. Of course, without great wisdom, it would be impossible to reach such a supreme level.
“Believe it or not, it’s up to you. If you don’t believe me, then go ahead and attack.” Su Che shrugged indifferently. “I still need to go elsewhere to search for the Survival Token. I don’t have time to waste here with you.”
“Tian Yu, don’t think that just because you can summon a bunch of subordinates willing to die for you, you’ll be safe.” Patriarch Ji Mu continued to roar. “When it comes to numbers, I, Ji Mu, can easily summon thousands or tens of thousands of Yuan Ying cultivators. With sheer numbers alone, I can crush you to death. Tian Yu, if you’re smart, hand over the Survival Token. I swear an immortal oath—I won’t harm you and will even help you find another one. How about that?”
“Stop talking nonsense!” Su Che snapped impatiently. “If you want to fight, then hurry up. All your so-called threats and bribes are useless in this game. Everyone is fighting for their lives, competing to survive. In such a situation, who can you scare with the threat of death?”
Patriarch Ji Mu seemed momentarily stunned. Indeed, in this game of death, threatening others with death was utterly meaningless. No matter how powerful you were, could you surpass that mysterious old man?
“Tian Yu, don’t force me. If you won’t let me live, I’ll drag you down with me!”
A few moments later, Patriarch Ji Mu shouted again, “You should know I have the absolute ability to perish with you. If pushed to the limit, I’d rather risk breaking the game rules than let you live.”
Hearing this, Su Che was about to argue further when he received a mental message from Shadow: “Su Che, I’ve already determined his exact location. You can do this…”

The mental communication was extremely fast; in just an instant, the shadow conveyed the idea it had planned to Su Che. Su Che was very decisive and agreed right away. He then said to Patriarch Ji Mu, “Ji Mu, since you want to perish together with me, very well! If you have the courage, then fight me! But this battle between us two shall not involve any of our subordinates. I wonder if you have the guts?”