The arrow had pierced Tang Lin's right lung as blood spurted from the wound.
Seeing his dead allies, the arrow dude decided to flee the scene.
"Tang Lin!" Fang Yue yelled urgently.
"How could you do something so reckless? You barely even know me", she said guiltily as she put his head on her lap, tears falling down.
'Salty', he thought.
Struggling for air, Tang Lin managed to form a sentence.
"Bring t-them here", said Tang Lin weakly, while pointing to the dead bodies of the swordsmen.
Although Fang Yue didn't understand why, she still decided to quickly do as he asked.
"What now?" she asked.
"Just watc-...", said Tang Lin, unable to finish his sentence.
Tang Lin reached out his right hand as a strong suction force appeared. The bodies of the two swordsmen greatly thinned as both of their blood essence were extracted; floating in the air.
"You're a demonic cultivator?" Fang Yue asked concerningly.
Absorbing the blood essence, Tang Lin managed to rapidly recover as the arrow wound was already starting to stitch itself.
"No. Unlike demonic arts, I don't lose my sanity and at most this power is unorthodox. Although, I still don't know much about it, but I hope you won't tell anyone", he answered.
"Don't worry, you saved my life. I won't tell anyone", she reassured him.
'Hm?' Tang Lin thought.
Some of the blood essence he absorbed was being redirected elsewhere. After sitting upright and sensing its direction, Tang Lin discovered its destination.
'Shit! This egg is not a useless heavenly treasure, but it's even taking a share of all the resources I cultivate. Now my cultivation speed is going to slow down even more. I hope this egg hatches into a powerful divine beast', he thought with a frown.
"Is something wrong?" she asked; snapping him out of his own thoughts.
"It's nothing, but we need to focus on recovering first. We don't know what dangers lurk in here", Tang Lin suggested.
"I guess you're right", Fang Yue replied, while sitting down on the opposite side of Tang Lin.
***
Half an hour later.
Opening his eyes, Tang Lin saw Fang Yue already prepared and waiting to leave.
"We should go now", she said.
"Okay, okay. Just give me a few more minutes", Tang Lin said.
Searching around, he grabbed the black sword on the ground and the white sword from the white swordsman's hand.
"The black sword's power is able to change its weight to what the user desires. As for the white sword, I don't suppose you know what it does, do you?" asked Tang Lin.
"What you've just told me has confirmed my suspicions. Those are the Dual Dao swords. According to what I know, those swords each have an individual name and come as a pair. The black sword and white sword are called Gravity and Spirit respectively. Gravity is a low earth-tier sword, while Spirit is a middle earth-tier weapon. Spirit's power is able to attack its opponent with spiritual attacks, but most cultivators never manage to form their divine sense to use its abilities. So, not much information is available on it", Fang Yue informed.
"I see then. Thanks for telling me", thanked Tang Lin.
'Looks like I won't be able to use Spirit's power in a while then', he thought.
"What you didn't know is that these two swords were stolen in the auction house of Yi city and went missing, which caused quite a commotion last year. I don't know how these guys managed to get a hold of them, but be careful in the future", Fang Yue advised.
"Yeah, okay. Let's get moving now, we're wasting time being stuck here, while everyone else is collecting points", he replied.
"Fang Yue, if you haven't realised yet then you should know now. The guardian spirit can't protect us if we die before its protection reaches us", Tang Lin warned her.
"I've noticed as well", she confirmed.
***
After exploring the labyrinth for an hour, they came across many bizarre engravings and skeletons lying around.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, but time moves twice as fast in here than outside. Every trial also has a giant portal leading to the next trial, which opens after the time limit. From what I heard, you can use your points and then choose whether to leave or continue the trial. So, there's a possibility of dying or getting trapped in here if you don't make it to the giant portal. Since, the guardian spirit's protection stops working after the end of the trial", Fang Yue informed after being reminded from the sight of all the skeletons.
"Okay then, but don't worry. We'll make it out alive from here", he cheered, but Fang Yue simply smiled at him.
They had been walking around the labyrinth for quite a while now, which made one thing clear to them. There was no escape from the giant two doors everywhere they went, which seemed to indicate that freedom and death stood behind these doors side by side.
"Are you sure about this? It looks like whatever is behind these doors won't be so pleasant", Tang Lin gulped at the size of the doors.
"What are you talking about? I'm willing to risk my chances rather than be stuck in here forever", said Fang Yue, holding onto his hand to calm his nerves.
"You're right", he said as he squeezed her hand.
Both of them each pushed a door open.
As they both walked in, everything was engulfed in darkness, save for the murderous intent that lingered in the air. Tang Lin gulped nervously again; he felt a bad omen as they walked deeper into the intangible abyss. Suddenly, the faint outline of a giant creature was discernible by the small glimmer of its shiny, golden fur.
*Fwoosh*
Torchlights lit up around the room. Teeth bare, ready to pounce. Its existence looked at them with disdain.
"What the hell is that?" he asked.
"It's a chimera", Fang Yue replied with worry.