Lin Wu meanwhile was watching everything secretly. He was still lying in the place that he had fallen at the start and had a good view of both the spatial rift and Young master Shirong. At first, he had been fine just lying there due to his weight, but as the size of the spatial rift increased, Lin Wu could feel the force acting on him.

The errors still kept on appearing in his notification feed, and Lin Wu knew that the system was fully engrossed in analyzing the current situation. Seeing that the spatial rift was still expanding and its suction force was increasing, Lin Wu had secretly extended spikes from his body that embedded into the ground.

This had solidified his position for now, but he knew that it was not for long. There were now people watching the entire thing, and thankfully he had not been noticed due to the flying dust and debris.

"Dammit, system is there any more progress?" Lin Wu questioned.

~Ding~

——

ANSWER: the system was able to detect that there are two different forces coming from that rift. One is the suction force that is pulling everything towards it, while there is also a second type of force. The system's preliminary analysis shows this as a type of energy that the host felt in the ring.

This energy is being released from the rift at regular intervals and is also likely to be the reason behind the corruption of the Virtual ring interface function.

——

Reading the system's answer didn't really provide Lin Wu with much and all he could do was to hold on and watch. If push came to shove, he'll just dig down but knew that if he did that he would be revealed.

Besides this, there was one thing that was bugging him. Shirong was in trouble too and would be sucked into the spatial rift if he was not saved. While Lin Wu had no attachment to him on an emotional level, he had invested far too much time in setting up everything with him.

Shirong was the perfect candidate to leech off. Not only did he have a great status that would open up Lin Wu to information and resources which he would usually be unable to find, but with all the events that had happened Lin Wu had created an understanding with Shirong… or rather one could say misunderstandings instead.

Lin Wu wasn't sure he would be able to replicate all that he did with Shirong. Losing him now could become a large setback for Lin Wu.

Still, he would not interfere unless he was sure of if it would work.

"I can only watch for now… hopefully, the others can save him." Lin Wu said to himself.

On the other side, the cultivators and Clan head Lu had finally finished setting up the protective formation array. If this was a normal situation, the formation array would be stable and solid, not allowing anything to escape it.

But with the interference of spatial rift, even a formation array such as this could only slow down the things that passed through it. The suction force on Shirong had reduced by a Little more than half and he was able to take a slight breath of relief.

"Do it now clan head Lu!" The group of cultivators spoke.

"GO!" Clan head Lu shouted as he threw the rope with all his strength.

~Shua~

The rope was able to travel straight and reach Young master Shirong.

"I GOT IT!" Shirong yelled in joy as he caught the rope with his left hand.

He quickly wrapped his hand around the rope and held on tight.

"YAY! We got him!" The group of cultivators shouted.

"Come help me pull him back. Rememberer only use spirit qi to strengthen your body, do not use it externally or it would be sucked into the spatial rift as well." Clan head Lu warned.

Even the formation array was only able to be set up because clan head Lu helped personally. If these cultivators tried to use spirit sense on their own, it would be sucked in which would give them a backlash. And if they suffered backlash now, they may lose control of themselves and be sucked.

"READY! ONE! TWO! GO!" Clan head Lu ordered.

"PULL!" They all shouted together.

~HUAA~

The rope was stretched taut and a great force acted on Young master Shirong's body. On one hand was the spatial rift sucking him in and on the other side the cultivators pulling him. These two opposite forces put a strain on his body, but all he could do was grit his teeth and hold on.

He had wrapped the rope around his waist so that it would be a bit more firmer. But even then his legs were unable to stick to the ground and were pulled towards the rift.

~GAH~

Shirong grunted in pain as his body was suspended in the air.

"Don't stop! Keep on pulling!" Clan head Lu shouted.

"Hold on, young master!" The other cultivators shouted.

About two minutes had passed and by now they had pulled Shirong to about half of the distance of the rope. But along with this, the force of the spatial rift increased once again. It was now five meters in diameter.

Due to this, the formation array destabilized again, until…

~CRACK~

~SHATTER~

The formation array abruptly stopped and the suction force increased by six times for the cultivators.

"NOO!" Shirong shouted as he felt the pain in his body.

The corners of his clothes were now getting ripped and sucked into the rift.

"Be careful…" The clan head Lu had just warned when one of the cultivators missed their step while pulling the rope.

"Aargh," the man shouted before his grip over the rope was loosened.

He tried to hold back hurriedly, but this only made him stumble.

~Foo~

The man was suddenly sent flying as he was sucked by the spatial rift.

"NOOOOOO!" Everyone shouted in unison.

Shirong was sent flying back as the rope was loosened, but the clan head Lu tightened his grip again.

"Dammit! I'm going to regret, this aren't I?" Lin Wu said to himself as he made up his mind.