Chapter 1669: 解除束缚

Chapter 1653: Breaking Free

Tu Han, Shan Zezhong, and others were still attacking.

King Yao gasped for breath, knowing they were too far away to reach him quickly. He grabbed his speaking stone and issued a command.

Hearing this, Tu Han stopped and led his troops back, retreating over sixty feet from the Frost Immortal Hall.

The Great Hydrus had been glaring at Goddess Fengho, who now pointed at it and commanded, "Recall it immediately and hand over its inner core!"

King Yao's expression changed.

Before the royal army could arrive, this giant monster was his greatest reliance.

The gods' disdain for him was now undisguised.

What if he handed over the inner core, and then the gods and Bai Tan still wanted to kill him?

This "what if" seemed highly probable; he couldn't trust them.

At that point, he would have no means of self-preservation whatsoever!

He pondered, sweat pouring down his face.

Trapped between a rock and a hard place, he could only swear to the heavens: "Please order Qingyang and Bai Tan to withdraw from the palace, and I will immediately hand over the precious inner core! If I break this oath, may I be struck by nine bolts of lightning and my descendants be ground to dust!"

As long as Qingyang and Bai Tan left, his immediate crisis would be resolved.

As expected, one sentence revealed his true intentions. Goddess Fengho's eyelids drooped: "Only the insincere and disrespectful bargain. Very well, I will retrieve this inner core myself."

As the goddess conversed with the monarch, the officials in the hall were stunned and disoriented, not daring to breathe.

However, at this crucial moment, You Rongzhi stammered out a sentence:

"Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince is... gone!"

King Yao spun around abruptly to see Prince Rui lying on the soft cushion, his face ashen, his chest no longer rising and falling, and everything below his ribs already turned to wood.

The strange illness caused by divine magic was spreading through his body at an increasingly rapid rate. What did it matter if Goddess Fengho stood right there? She wouldn't even glance at Prince Rui.

The Fourth Prince, never receiving divine healing, finally passed away.

You Rongzhi turned, facing King Yao, and knelt, unable to rise.

King Yao closed his eyes, two lines of tears trailing down his face. Only one thought echoed in his heart:

Heaven seeks my demise.

This "Heaven" referred to the gods.

Yet, he was unwilling, indignant, and defiant!

He looked at Bai Tan behind the goddess. Bai Tan's gaze held a strange eagerness that reminded him of vultures circling a corpse.

This man clearly wanted to usurp his kingdom! Had he been blind all these years to mistake such a gaze for devotion and loyalty?

King Yao closed his eyes, sighed, and thrust the inner core forward:

"Take it!"

Just hearing those words, others might think he had finally submitted to Goddess Fengho.

In reality, he was extending his hand towards the Great Hydrus!

"In exchange, kill them!"

Goddess Fengho moved, but the Great Hydrus was already beside King Yao, moving with lightning speed.

It didn't even take the inner core from King Yao's hand; instead, it seized the man and snapped off his entire arm with a crunch!

Then, with a gulp, both the arm and the inner core were swallowed.

The white mist flowing across the ground paused slightly, then suddenly began to swirl clockwise, as if a great vortex was about to form.

The Great Hydrus's eyes rolled, transforming into dark red vertical pupils!

Its gaze was fierce and purposeful, no longer unfocused as before.

Amidst King Yao's screams, it slowly raised its trident, pointing its tip at Goddess Fengho.

This action was an extremely blatant act of provocation.

Previously, under King Yao's control, its actions wouldn't have been so emotional.

In just a few breaths, it looked completely different. If it had previously been a mere combat model controlled remotely by King Yao, now that model had come to life, truly resembling a killing machine.

Qingyang's expression grew more serious. She knew this meant the Great Hydrus had regained its self-awareness, or at least a portion of its autonomy.

She truly hadn't expected King Yao's trump card to be so formidable. This battle was becoming increasingly difficult.

Blood sizzled from King Yao's severed arm. He was in agony, nearly fainting, yet he miraculously endured, roaring, "Kill them all, kill, kill, kill!"

His eyes were bloodshot and bulging.

What if Goddess Fengho had descended? He, too, had the External Dharma Aspect of an ancient immortal as his backing!

As long as he killed Qingyang, killed Bai Tan, and even killed the vessel Goddess Fengho had descended into, he could still turn the tide; he could still save his empire!

As long as he eliminated the current enemies, tonight's coup would be nothing more than a disturbance. Tomorrow morning, the sun would still rise from the east over the Yao Kingdom!

As long as he won—he just needed to win—the Yao Kingdom would still have a future and could still flourish!

The Great Hydrus raised its head and let out a roar that echoed for ten miles.

Two silver lights also swirled around the tip of its trident, bringing forth a howling cold wind. The Great Hydrus gripped its great trident and plunged it heavily into the ground before it!

Thud, thud, thud! Where the trident's tip struck, layers of dense ice spikes erupted from the ground, like the surface of a cactus. These spikes, over four feet tall and sharper than needles at their tips, spread outwards in a ripple, creating a bloody fan-shaped pattern.

In just a few breaths, countless people were impaled by the ice spikes, their screams echoing incessantly.

Moreover, the ice spikes were an indiscriminate attack, harming both friend and foe!

Fortunately, Tu Han's army had already retreated. Seeing several temple guards impaled by the spikes directly in front of him and city patrols frantically fleeing, he knew this battle was beyond his involvement and made a gesture:

"Retreat, further retreat!"

In fact, this time Tu Han didn't need to give the order; the army itself turned and fled, retreating at least another three hundred feet, with many guards slipping away on their own.

They were there to assist the King, not to walk into certain death.

The situation inside the Frost Immortal Hall was even worse. With the courtyard walls obstructing them, it was difficult for Bai Tan's army to escape.

The ground was stained red with blood. If not for the protection of primal energy, the casualties here would have doubled.

The casual strike the Great Hydrus made after regaining its freedom was entirely different in power from the chaotic flailing it had displayed under King Yao's control.

Its aura was also completely different, with frost and cold air emanating from its entire body, like raging, malevolent flames. With a sweep of its fierce eyes, even the temple guards trembled, unable to muster the courage to advance.

Qingyang, Bai Tan, and others huddled behind Goddess Fengho, no longer needing to act themselves. Fengho stepped forward into the ice spike formation, and the two purple halos reappeared, expanding into massive rings that encircled everyone.

The ice spike formation was blocked as it approached, unable to penetrate.

When the purple rings vanished, the ground about six feet beyond the group was pierced by a dense circle of spikes.

Then, the Great Hydrus shook its body, sending countless ice crystals shooting in all directions.

They were dense, fierce, and highly penetrative. This indiscriminate attack caused those struck to collapse.

The courtyard walls and trees of the Frost Immortal Hall were riddled like sieves.

Even the demonic birds and eyeball spiders flying dozens of feet away in mid-air were not spared!

He Lingchuan exclaimed "Ah!" and covered his eyes.

Granny Zhu also rubbed her eyes and cursed, "Drat!"

The mirror and those beside it asked, "What's wrong?"

"The eyeball spiders were caught in the crossfire," He Lingchuan said, clearly annoyed. The fierce battle in Yao Palace had just entered its next tense and exciting phase, and suddenly the live broadcast was cut off.

Granny Zhu immediately corrected him, "No, Goddess Fengho seems to have noticed me too; she even looked up at the eyeball spiders twice. These goddesses have exceptionally sharp spiritual senses."

He Lingchuan made a decisive move, standing up and stretching. "We can't watch anymore. Let's go. Once the palace battle ends, we'll have pursuers. The next phase of the plan needs to begin, and we still need to quickly set up the final clues."

Granny Zhu hummed, "Oh, right, that Great Hydrus might not be a true Yin Hydrus."

He Lingchuan and the others were curious. "Is that even possible?"

"It doesn't need malevolent energy, but it requires frost and cold energy; its fighting style isn't entirely similar to a Yin Hydrus, and after it regained its inner core, its pupils turned vertical!" Granny Zhu analyzed seriously. "You've been on Yangshan Archipelago for so long, have you ever seen a Yin Hydrus with vertical pupils?"

Everyone thought about it; indeed, they hadn't. "Then what exactly is it, and why is it using a Yin Hydrus's shell?"

Granny Zhu walked alongside them, explaining, "That might be an External Dharma Aspect."

Everyone shook their heads, indicating they didn't understand.

"In ancient times, some great immortals could manifest External Dharma Aspects. Their size, appearance, and form could be entirely different from their main body, but they possessed special power," Granny Zhu casually offered an example. "For instance, 'Spirit Horn Great Immortal' was a white deer demon, skilled in divine abilities and spells, but its original body wasn't strong enough—compared to ancient immortals of the same level. So, the 'External Dharma Aspect' that Spirit Horn Great Immortal refined was a scythe monster, terrifying in appearance and completely unlike a deer. One strike from its scythe could tear through space and time. Spirit Horn used it in battle to compensate for its weaknesses."

Wang Fubao asked, "If it's so useful, why don't you refine an External Dharma Aspect?"

Granny Zhu stood up, showcasing her graceful figure, then scoffed, "Do you think my golden body has any weaknesses?"

Her legs were thicker than Wang Fubao's waist, and her leg hairs were sharper than steel needles. He could only chuckle, "N-none at all."

The Cave Spider Queen was indeed a born killing machine, capable of ranged or close combat, group battles or duels, stealth or charge. If one were to nitpick, perhaps her swimming speed wasn't fast. However, other demon species, and even humans, didn't possess such natural talents and could only compensate for weaknesses through postnatal cultivation. In that case, refining an External Dharma Aspect for oneself was a good method.

He Lingchuan reasoned backward, "So, you're saying the original form of this Great Hydrus is likely not good at powerful combat?"

"Precisely. Many demons have such weaknesses. For example, most avian demons are relatively lacking in strength, and Dong Rui's Snail Toad original form—a snail, and a toad—is naturally slower in movement," Granny Zhu corrected him. "Of course, when I say lacking or slow, I mean relatively. To compensate for their shortcomings, some ancient immortals might have refined more than one External Dharma Aspect. The most I've seen had five External Dharma Aspects!"

As soon as a battle started, they could transform and release five Dharma Aspects? A one-on-one fight would become a group brawl.

Everyone imagined the scene, finding it quite magnificent.

"However, External Dharma Aspects have many restrictions, both in refining and use; I can't explain them clearly to you all right now," Granny Zhu said, knowing their cultivation levels weren't high enough to grasp it. "But remember, there are advantages to having many, and subtleties to having few. Each External Dharma Aspect requires cultivation, which inevitably distracts the main body and dilutes resources."