Chapter 1966: Trap

Volume 10: War in the Demon Realm

One cultivated Buddhist incantations, the other Taoist techniques. On such matters, they naturally couldn't see eye to eye.

Han Li, however, largely leaned towards the old man's view on these matters. Since he had embarked on the path of cultivation, he naturally no longer considered any future or afterlife, focusing only on achieving the Great Dao as soon as possible.

For the remainder of the time, Han Li slowly closed his eyes and entered meditation beside the giant pit.

The debate between the monk and the old man, naturally, yielded no results. Eventually, they also closed their eyes and remained silent.

Time passed bit by bit. In the blink of an eye, three days and three nights went by, yet the yellow mist in the giant pit remained unchanged.

On this day, Han Li's eyelids twitched, and he opened his eyes.

After casually sweeping his spiritual sense across the bottom of the giant pit, he couldn't help but frown slightly and asked, "How long have you two fellow cultivators been here? The date for the Yellow Millet Stone Spirit's tribulation won't be miscalculated, will it?"

"Rest assured, Fellow Cultivator Han," Reverend Heiyu calmly replied, "The fellow cultivator responsible for this divination is a renowned mighty expert from our Sacred Island, specializing in divinatory arts. The chance of error is extremely small. Master Tianchan and I haven't been here too long either, just a little over ten days earlier than you, Brother Han. According to the specific divination results, that stone spirit should undergo its tribulation within this month. Therefore, it won't be much longer. Perhaps there will be activity in the next few days."

"It seems I was a bit impatient! Eh, this is..." Han Li was about to respond but suddenly exclaimed, his expression changing.

Upon hearing Han Li's words, the other two immediately cast their gazes intently towards the great pit below, their faces showing grave expressions.

At the bottom of the great pit, the yellow mist now began to churn violently, and waves of an even colder aura than before emanated from it, silently freezing the lower half of the stone wall with a layer of milky-yellow, crystalline frost.

It looked incredibly strange!

With a "boom," another clap of thunder echoed high in the sky!

Han Li's heart stirred, and he looked up towards the sky as well.

Tens of thousands of feet above the mountaintop, fierce winds raged, and masses of ink-black clouds rapidly gathered, swirling and transforming into various shapes. At the same time, rumbles emanated from within, as if countless bolts of lightning were being formed.

"Could this be..." Han Li murmured, trailing off.

"Haha, precisely! It's the stone spirit's Heavenly Tribulation. It will soon emerge from the Underworld Netherflame. Master Tianchan, let's begin our preparations!" Reverend Heiyu burst into laughter upon seeing this, then moved, transforming into a black streak of light and shooting into the air.

The monk on the other side, his face alight with joy, flicked his large sleeve and likewise flew into mid-air.

Then, one of them chanted incantations, flicking his fingers continuously in all directions, while the other's sleeves danced non-stop. Array flags and formation plates, densely packed, shot out, instantly covering the entire area above the great pit. With a flicker, they all vanished from sight.

In the blink of an eye, a formidable restrictive array was jointly set up by the two, its power spreading over every inch of the mountaintop.

At this moment, Reverend Heiyu stopped his incantations, then suddenly spun rapidly in the air.

The sound of ripping air surged!

Countless black dots shot out from him, and with a flash, they burst apart with pops, transforming into countless black threads that vanished.

On the other side, Master Tianchan let out a low shout, and as he flipped his palm, a fiery red alms bowl appeared.

With just one flip of the alms bowl, a phoenix cry immediately emanated from it, followed by three crimson fireballs shooting out!

Each one was only the size of a human head, but with a flick of the monk's finger, they whistled and expanded wildly against the wind, instantly growing to over ten *zhang* in size. They then let out clear cries again and transformed into three giant fiery birds, entirely crimson.

"Fiery Phoenixes!"

Upon seeing the appearance of these three giant birds, Han Li couldn't help but gasp, blurting out in astonishment.

"Heh heh, I've made you laugh, Benefactor Han," Master Tianchan said with a slight smile. "These are merely three Violent Flame Birds with a trace of fiery phoenix bloodline; how could they compare to true fiery phoenixes? That stone spirit has lived in the Underworld Netherflame for so long that it should be an extreme Yin body. The breaths of these three Violent Flame Birds are quite profound and should be effective in restraining this spiritual creature."

"So that's it. If not for their slightly weaker aura, these Violent Flame Birds would be remarkably similar to the legendary fiery phoenixes." After hearing the monk's explanation, Han Li still exclaimed in wonder.

At this moment, after spraying out an unknown number of black light dots from his body, Reverend Heiyu suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a small, black-purple gourd.

This gourd was only a few inches in size, its surface gleaming with mysterious silver light. As its mouth opened, a completely azure crystal scorpion, merely a foot or so long, was spat out from within. It had a pair of translucent wings on its back, making it appear exceptionally delicate...

Next, the monk and the old man unhurriedly performed a series of incantations on the four spiritual beasts, concealing their forms and auras.

By now, the dark clouds in the sky had blotted out the sun, painting the entire sky the oppressive black of a pot bottom. Were it not for the occasional flashes of silver lightning within, one might easily believe it was the dead of night.

"Brother Han, let's temporarily withdraw beyond the mountaintop for now!" Reverend Heiyu lowered his head and said somewhat apologetically to Han Li, who was still meditating beside the giant pit. "Master Tianchan and I need to use our treasures to eliminate any traces of our presence here."

"That's only natural! These natural spiritual creatures all have astonishing senses. If we don't make preparations beforehand, our presence will certainly not escape their detection." Han Li stood up casually, and with a flicker of his figure, he transformed into a wisp of green smoke and vanished from his spot.

The next moment, a ripple appeared in the void outside the mountaintop, and Han Li's figure reappeared. He then floated motionless in the air, arms crossed.

Seeing this, the monk and the old man didn't stand on ceremony. One flipped his hand, and with a flash of white light in his palm, a crystal-clear, utterly transparent, and incredibly cold pearl suddenly appeared.

Reverend Heiyu, meanwhile, shook his sleeve, and a ball of green light shot out. It circled once, and within its aura, a green feather fan materialized.

The monk gently shook the crystal sphere, and immediately, five-colored runes flowed across its surface, as a vast, chilling white mist surged forth.

At the same time, Reverend Heiyu formed a hand seal with one hand and activated the treasure before him.

The green feather fan trembled slightly, then seemingly weightlessly fanned out several times in quick succession.

With a "whoosh," a swirling green gale also surged from the fan. As it dispersed, it transformed into towering hurricanes that immediately intertwined with the chilling power.

A blizzard swept across the entire mountaintop, engulfing everything in its icy might.

Almost instantly, the entire mountaintop turned into a vast expanse of white.

At this moment, after Master Tianchan and Reverend Heiyu exchanged glances, and after one of them uttered "Go," they moved, escaping the blizzard just like Han Li and appearing in the void outside the mountaintop.

The faint traces of aura left by the two in their original positions were immediately swept away and dissipated by the swirling snow.

"Reverend, use that item then! Judging by the celestial phenomena, the Yellow Millet Stone Spirit will appear within the next hour or so," the monk said, narrowing his eyes as he looked up at the sky again.

"Of course," Reverend Heiyu chuckled, rubbing his hands together. A burst of silver light suddenly erupted, and a thick, layered silver net silently materialized.

"Go!"

The ugly old man let out a shout and activated the silver net between his hands.

The silver mist rolled up, and with a flash, transformed into a vast expanse of thin silver fog, instantly enveloping the entire mountaintop below.

Following this, the old man formed a hand seal with one hand, and the thin mist became incredibly faint, eventually blurring and disappearing completely.

"Heh heh, with this Silver Firmament Thunder Net in place, it will be impossible for that stone spirit to escape through the air. The most remarkable thing is that the heavenly lightning tribulation has no effect on this net, so even with its astonishing senses, the Yellow Millet Stone Spirit won't be able to detect its presence," the monk said, stroking his palm and chuckling softly.

"Indeed. This thunder net is also a spiritual treasure ranked quite high on the Myriad Spirit List of Chaos. Had this mission not been so important, the Sacred Island would not have allowed this old man to bring it out of the island so easily. However, even if we've sealed off the sky, we cannot let the stone spirit seize the opportunity to escape back into the netherflame. Once this spiritual creature becomes weakened after its tribulation, we will immediately activate the array formations and restrictions to cut off its retreat. This formation might not be able to truly stop the stone spirit, so Fellow Cultivator Han, we will need your assistance then. You absolutely must not let it break through the restrictions and escape back underground. Oh, and Brother Han, please be extremely careful of this spiritual creature's illusions." Reverend Heiyu solemnly instructed Han Li.

"Rest assured, two fellow cultivators, if it's merely to prevent its escape, I am confident I can manage it." Han Li, considering his spiritual sense power to be no less than that of a Grand Ascension cultivator, naturally spoke without concern.

"Since Fellow Cultivator Han says so, I suppose there won't be any problems. The task of capturing the spiritual creature can be left to this old man and Master Tianchan."

Seeing Han Li's confident demeanor, Reverend Heiyu felt a slight unease in his heart but naturally found it difficult to say anything more.

After the three discussed a few more points, they each cast spells to conceal themselves.

In the blink of an eye, apart from the continuously howling blizzard, there was no other movement on the entire mountaintop.

After a while longer, the blizzard gradually ceased and dissipated.

The entire mountaintop became crystal white and exuded waves of peculiar coldness.

At the same time, the black clouds in the sky slowly rotated, actually coalescing into a colossal, dark vortex.

Within the vortex, countless silver arcs were faintly gathering, gradually merging into an exceptionally thick silver lightning bolt. Simultaneously, the previously incessant rumbling ceased, and the high sky became utterly silent. However, a far greater oppressive force than before filled the entire void, driven by an increasingly astonishing power.

At the same time, the yellow mist in the giant pit also began to slowly rotate, forming a small vortex as well.

The center of the vortex was pitch black, and visible wisps of white mist occasionally emerged from it, as if a spectral entity could burst forth at any moment.