The girl's words clearly stunned the Yan Yue Sect disciples. Based on their experience over the previous two days, any high-level demon beast trapped by their ancestor's Vermilion Bird Ring would need quite some time to break free of the ring treasure's restriction. Had this demon beast escaped so quickly this time?
Though their hearts were full of doubt, they did not dare ignore the girl's warning. They immediately became extremely cautious. At the same time, the attacks from the red and blue beams in their hands grew even fiercer. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen bloody holes had been added to the Ink Flood Dragon's body, and its bright-red blood dyed a large stretch of the swamp below.
Naturally, this only enraged the flood dragon further. It opened its mouth, and a continuous series of shrill hisses shook the entire underground world until it hummed loudly. Then, everything suddenly changed.
"Crack!" A strange tearing sound rang out in midair. By the time everyone had recovered their senses and looked carefully, all of them had gone pale.
The ring treasure was still suspended motionless in midair, but the Ink Flood Dragon trapped inside had vanished without a trace. Only a tattered black-scaled skin remained, draped over the ring and swaying endlessly. The demon beast had actually shed its skin and escaped!
The Yan Yue Sect disciples were astonished, but even the young girl was utterly shocked by the sight.
She had shouted for her disciples to be careful just now, but not because she had predicted that the flood dragon would shed its skin.
It was because the Ink Flood Dragon's struggling force had become too great, and her magic power was truly insufficient to keep the beast trapped. The demon beast should have known that the restriction of the Vermilion Bird Ring was weakening, so why would it make such a move that severely damaged its vitality? Could it be...?
A thought stirred in the girl's mind. She realized a terrifying possibility, and her face instantly turned deathly white. She hurriedly searched in every direction for the Ink Flood Dragon, hoping to confirm her worst suspicion.
"There!"
A sharp-eyed Yan Yue Sect disciple was the first to discover the demon beast swimming along the ceiling of the underground world. It had been completely transformed, and its appearance was worlds apart from before.
Its pitch-black body had become snow-white and scaleless. Its length had grown from three or four zhang to five or six, and it had thickened by more than a circle. The injured areas now bore only faint scars, so faint that they were almost impossible to see. Most astonishing of all, a pair of black, sharply pointed horns several inches long had grown from its triangular snake head, their surfaces gleaming faintly. A pair of white claws had also appeared on its belly, razor-sharp. The demon beast had actually transformed from a snake into a flood dragon, taking on exactly the form of the flood dragons described in legend.
The people of the Yan Yue Sect were naturally shocked and bewildered by the Ink Flood Dragon's new form. But before they could do anything, the girl standing at the front issued an order that left them utterly stunned, her expression turning ashen.
"Everyone, retreat immediately! The Ink Flood Dragon has evolved to the second rank. Its strength is comparable to that of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even all of us together would never be its match. Leave this place at once. I can hold it off for a short while."
After saying this solemnly, the girl immediately waved her hand and called the Vermilion Bird Ring back before her, taking up a fully defensive stance.
The male and female disciples behind her hesitated. Although the so-called Ink Flood Dragon had shed a layer of skin and changed dramatically in appearance, they had only just wounded it severely. It was hard to believe that the demon beast's strength could have become worlds apart in the blink of an eye.
But that moment of hesitation was enough to make some of them regret it for the rest of their lives. The white Ink Flood Dragon suddenly moved and shot like lightning into the air above the Yan Yue Sect disciples. It opened its great mouth, and an endless stream of purple liquid sprayed forth.
"Dodge! Don't block it!" the girl shouted anxiously. At the same time, the Vermilion Bird Ring instantly expanded several times and flew up to intercept most of the purple liquid.
Some of the quick-witted disciples either turned around and darted into the bluestone passage they had used to enter, or hurried forward a few steps and hid within the area shielded by the ring treasure. The remaining five or six disciples, however, trusted in the strength of their magical instruments. Instead of dodging, they released one or two gleaming objects to protect the tops of their heads, apparently intending to take the attack head-on.
"Idiots!"
When the girl saw that some disciples had ignored her words, a flash of green light crossed her face, revealing her anger. But her magic power limited her, and she could not expand the treasure's protective range any further. She could only leave them to their fate.
What happened next proved that the girl had not exaggerated. The purple liquid that slipped past the ring treasure surged viciously onto the heads of those disciples. The several magical instruments, clearly no ordinary items, flashed a few times before emitting wisps of green smoke and vanishing beneath the liquid's impact, dissolved completely.
The Yan Yue Sect disciples only had time to cry out once before they disappeared from the world without a trace under the purple liquid's assault. In the places where they had stood, only several-zhang-deep pits remained, melted through by the purple liquid. The surviving members of the Yan Yue Sect all turned deathly pale.
After destroying those disciples, the demon beast's savage fury eased slightly. It finally closed its mouth and stopped spraying, then fixed the girl with an icy stare. It seemed to understand that this ancestor of the Yan Yue Sect was its true rival.
"What are you standing around for? Get out, now! This beast has only just transformed from a snake into a flood dragon, so it should have very little dragon essence left. It won't be able to spray that liquid again so easily!" The girl ignored the Ink Flood Dragon's menacing gaze and instead ordered them coldly, her small face icy.
Then she muttered resentfully, "You're nothing but a little snake that has just reached the second rank, yet you dare act so arrogant in front of me. If my magic power had recovered, I would have captured you long ago and made you guard my cave abode!"
There was no need to mention how unwilling the girl looked. After seeing the fate of those disciples, the others of the Yan Yue Sect no longer dared to linger for even a moment. With a great rush, they all obediently withdrew into the passage and began sprinting outward.
Before long, the roars of the demon beast, the girl's angry shouts, and the rumble of battle rang out behind them again. The disciples scrambled and tumbled down the steps, their hearts pounding with fear.
Their ancestor had made it perfectly clear that she could hold the beast off for only a short while. If they were caught after leaving too late, each of them would be met by one mouthful of that terrifying purple liquid. There would be nowhere to hide in the passage. Wouldn't that be a completely pointless death?
At that moment, the girl was flying through the air drenched in sweat, constantly circling and harassing the Ink Flood Dragon. She wielded the Vermilion Bird Ring with astonishing skill, provoking the demon beast into repeated furious roars, yet it could do nothing to her agile movements for the time being.
The girl was clearly not using her full strength. She controlled the Vermilion Bird Ring with one hand, while the other held a red fire spirit stone and continuously absorbed its spiritual energy, trying to restore her magic power.
After a while, she felt that enough time had passed. She put away the fire spirit stone and took out a talisman shining with brilliant golden light.
Without a word, she waited until the Ink Flood Dragon's attention had been completely drawn to the Vermilion Bird Ring, then flicked her hand. The talisman transformed into a streak of golden light and shot toward the demon beast. When it reached the beast, the golden light suddenly split into countless slender golden threads. In an instant, they bound the demon beast tightly, leaving it unable to move at all. Enraged, it let out another series of thunderous roars.
A trace of mockery flashed through the girl's eyes. She then cast one reluctant glance at the golden box floating in the white jade pavilion before gritting her teeth and flying toward the passage entrance. She knew very well that this mid-grade, mid-tier Golden Thread Talisman could not restrain the demon beast for long. It was best to leave as soon as possible. As for the treasure inside the golden box, she would have to find another way to obtain it in the future.
After landing, the girl raised a leg to step into the bluestone passage. But a deafening peal of thunder suddenly came from within. The sound grew louder as it approached, leaving her suspicious and uncertain. Her raised foot did not dare touch the passage for a moment.
A dazzling azure divine light suddenly appeared inside the passage. Like a surging tide, it swept along the passage. Wherever it went, the bluestone walls seemed to come alive and desperately squeeze toward the center. In the blink of an eye, the passage, several zhang high, sealed itself so tightly that not even a crack remained. The girl retreated several steps as if she had seen a ghost and cried out in shock:
"Little Five-Element Sumeru Restriction!"
Her face turned deathly pale as she stared blankly at the vanished passage entrance. The confident expression she had maintained all along disappeared without a trace.
At that moment, in the air behind the girl, the golden threads around the Ink Flood Dragon began snapping one by one. The demon beast was about to break free of the restriction. When the girl came back to her senses and turned to see this, her heart sank with a thud, as though she had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
In the stone hall outside the passage, more than a dozen Yan Yue Sect disciples were all staring fixedly at a woman in white. She was none other than the willful girl who had claimed to be one of the Yan Yue Twin Beauties. But at this moment, her face was pale and she looked completely at a loss.
"Junior Sister Zhao, what exactly did you do just now? Why did the passage entrance disappear after you threw in that strange talisman? Were you trying to harm Ancestor Nangong?" The male and female disciples of the Yan Yue Sect questioned her harshly, panic written across their faces.
This was no laughing matter. If that ancestor truly could never come out again because of this, they would all suffer terribly. At best, their cultivation would be crippled and they would be expelled from the sect. At worst, they might lose their lives and suffer the ordeal of spirit dissolution. They all knew exactly what the loss of a Core Formation cultivator would mean to a sect, which was why they were so tense.
"I didn't do anything! I only placed a low-grade Little Five-Element Talisman at the entrance. I wanted to activate it when the demon beast chased us over and give it a little trouble!" the girl in white said in panic.
She knew perfectly well that no matter how powerful her backer was, it would be useless after causing such a disaster. At the thought of the terrible consequences if the other girl could not get out, her hands and feet turned cold.
"Enough nonsense! Let's see whether we can break through the tunnel and rescue Ancestor Nangong!" an older male disciple said irritably.
His words immediately reminded all the Yan Yue Sect disciples. They hurriedly brought out magical instruments of every color and continuously smashed them against the place that had once been the passage entrance, trying to break through the restriction and rescue the girl.
Several hours later, deep in the underground world dozens of zhang below the surface, the girl stared wide-eyed at the person who had suddenly appeared before her, unable to believe it. With one hand, he directed seven golden blades to attack the Ink Flood Dragon; with the other, he released a black iron shield that blocked in front of them both, preventing the flood dragon's spray from reaching them.
The newcomer was the little fellow from the Yellow Maple Valley whom she had met once and found faintly interesting. After spending several hours flying about and dodging the Ink Flood Dragon's attacks, she had nearly exhausted her magic power. At that critical moment, he had suddenly emerged from who knew where and rescued her from imminent danger.
Han Li barely parried the Ink Flood Dragon's attacks while glancing at the girl, whose face was filled with astonishment. He could only smile bitterly inwardly.
Han Li had originally been leisurely watching the Yan Yue Sect battle the Ink Flood Dragon, enjoying the spectacle. Even when the flood dragon changed form and advanced, he had merely been astonished and showed no panic. But when the girl tried to retreat and the bluestone passage entrance suddenly vanished, Han Li could no longer sit still.
If the passage entrance had disappeared, didn't that mean he could not leave this place alive no matter which side won—the girl or the demon beast? The thought threw Han Li into a panic.
By then, the freed Ink Flood Dragon had resumed its battle with the girl, and it was obvious that the Yan Yue Sect ancestor was completely at a disadvantage.
Although she kept urging the ring treasure to attack the Ink Flood Dragon, the demon beast, having shed its old skin and grown a new one, possessed an astonishingly powerful defense. Whether the ring treasure burned it with raging flames or struck it directly with the ring itself, it could not inflict much damage. At most, it left part of the beast's body charred or slightly swollen, which only drove it into a greater frenzy. Its pursuit of the girl became increasingly savage, and several times it forced her into desperate situations.
But the number of mid-grade talismans carried by this ancestor of the Yan Yue Sect also opened Han Li's eyes. Talismans that were rarely seen, such as Earth Escape Talismans, Water Prison Talismans, and Firebird Talismans, appeared one after another, allowing Han Li to witness them all.
Whenever the girl could no longer hold out and was about to be injured by the demon beast, she would throw out another talisman. Each one immediately produced a miraculous effect and turned danger into safety. Unfortunately, the girl clearly had no talismans with great offensive power, so each time she could do no more than protect herself with difficulty.
Using talismans to injure the Ink Flood Dragon was clearly impossible.
Watching the girl being driven into such a sorry state by the Ink Flood Dragon, Han Li's inner struggle grew fierce.
If the passage had still been intact, Han Li naturally would not have cared whether this ancestor of the Yan Yue Sect lived or died. But now that the passage had inexplicably vanished and this place had become a dead end, his state of mind was naturally very different.
After all, he had personally heard this ancestor of the Yan Yue Sect call out the name "Little Five-Element Sumeru Restriction." She seemed to understand the restriction that had caused the passage to disappear extremely well. Thus, his hope of escaping from underground had to rest on this woman. He knew nothing about restrictions of this kind. This young-looking "expert" absolutely could not die yet.
Even so, Han Li did not act rashly. He feared that the girl might still have some hidden trump card. Only after she was exhausted, most of her talismans had been used up, and she wore an expression of despair with no way out did he suddenly intervene and rescue her.
Apart from shock and delight at Han Li's sudden appearance, the girl also felt somewhat annoyed. She saw with complete clarity why he had waited until she and the Ink Flood Dragon had fought for so long before making his move.
Regardless, dealing with the ferocious Ink Flood Dragon before them was the urgent matter. After resting briefly, the girl said nothing and urged her treasure forward to attack.
The instant Han Li took the field against the Ink Flood Dragon, he began cursing inwardly. When he had watched the girl fight the beast earlier, he had not seen anything especially formidable about it. Only after facing it personally did he experience the flood dragon's terrifying power.
As soon as his golden blades approached the Ink Flood Dragon, it casually brushed them aside with two claws and a tail, sending them flying more than a dozen zhang away. They had no power to resist at all.
Even when Han Li relied on their numbers and sent several golden blades forward together, one or two might luckily slash the Ink Flood Dragon's body. Yet apart from leaving behind a white mark, they had no effect whatsoever. Han Li was left completely speechless.
Han Li also dared not be careless about the Ink Flood Dragon's attacks. He could not allow its claws or tail to touch him—not even the black water it occasionally sprayed. He used the iron shield to block every drop without letting a single one through.
Even so, this magical instrument that had saved Han Li several times was corroded into a pitted mess by the seemingly insignificant black water. He truly had no idea how much longer it could hold out.
If the black water was already this terrifying, how much more horrifying must that even more vicious purple liquid be? No wonder those Yan Yue Sect disciples had died so cleanly, with their magical instruments unable to do anything at all.
Han Li and the Ink Flood Dragon grew more alarmed as the battle continued. They relied almost entirely on their movement skills to escape the demon beast's fierce attacks, while the golden blades could not stop it in the slightest.
No wonder the girl had ordered all her disciples to leave. Apart from someone like Han Li, whose movement skills were unusually strong, he truly could not think of many Qi Condensation disciples capable of even circling this demon beast for a while.
Just then, the girl's Vermilion Bird Ring joined the fight, immediately reducing Han Li's pressure. After all, the ring treasure could still inflict some pain on the Ink Flood Dragon, making it somewhat wary.
"Little fellow, you've been hiding there for so long. Why didn't you act sooner? If you had, I might have had a chance to severely wound this beast!" the girl demanded angrily while controlling her treasure to attack.
"I was afraid you'd kill me and take my treasures," Han Li answered with complete honesty, leaving the girl speechless for quite some time.
Han Li knew very well that although the girl looked young, her true age was certainly enough for her to be his grandmother and more. It was better not to play too many little tricks. Only by laying everything out plainly could they join forces against the enemy without holding each other back.
As for her identity as a Core Formation expert and the difference in their seniority, Han Li simply pretended not to know and glossed over it. In any case, given her current strength, she could do nothing to him. Since the girl's magic power had been greatly depleted, Han Li no longer felt any fear of her.
"You're young, but you already have so many schemes. Aren't you afraid you won't live long enough to grow old?" the girl said sulkily after being depressed for a moment.
Han Li smiled when he heard this and did not argue. In his heart, however, he secretly replied, "If I had fewer schemes, I probably would have died several times already. What would there be to worry about in the future?"
Seeing that Han Li had stopped speaking and simply let her say what she wanted, the girl's anger eased somewhat. She began considering how they should deal with the enemy.
"Do you have any way to severely wound this flood dragon? If you do, say it now!" After fighting alongside Han Li for a short while and still being chased all over the place by the Ink Flood Dragon with no chance to strike back, the girl finally could not hold back her question.
"I do, but we need to restrain it for a short time and keep it from moving!" Han Li hurriedly replied while using the iron shield to block another spray from the Ink Flood Dragon and leaping constantly to widen the distance between them.
"Fine. I'll use the last bit of my magic power to trap it for a moment longer. I hope that will be enough for you. But is your method reliable?" A light flashed in the girl's eyes. She followed closely behind the Ink Flood Dragon as it pursued Han Li and angrily smashed the Vermilion Bird Ring against its head before asking urgently.
"I have a talisman treasure with tremendous power. Its might is extraordinary, and it will definitely break through this flood dragon's defenses!" Han Li said with absolute confidence. He did not believe the demon beast could withstand the full force of the Golden Light Brick Talisman Treasure.
"A talisman treasure?"
The girl was delighted to hear this. She had never imagined that the little fellow from Yellow Maple Valley before her could obtain such a rare item. Although she herself possessed one or two talisman treasures, none of them was as powerful as her Vermilion Bird Ring. Since he was so confident, it seemed that his talisman treasure must possess purely destructive power. That was an exceptionally rare thing.
Once she understood that Han Li's method was feasible, the girl immediately stopped in midair and performed the incantation that had once trapped the flood dragon. She made the Vermilion Bird Ring bind the demon beast tightly once more, causing it to struggle in shock and fury.
Seeing his opportunity, Han Li immediately raised the Flying Heaven Shield before him, drew out the Golden Light Brick Talisman Treasure, and sat down cross-legged.