Chapter 1841: Entanglement

Elder Ning, certainly no lightweight, performed an ungainly, frog-like leap forward, which at least got him out of the staff's swirling wind zone. Had he remained on the ground, he would undoubtedly have been affected by the earth-shattering vibrations generated by the staff's force.

The Ghost Ape's first staff strike missed, immediately followed by four swift diagonal slashes that blurred into afterimages. Among ancient demon-immortals, those naturally endowed with immense strength—such as tigers, leopards, bears, and apes—typically honed their inherent abilities. They would ultimately pursue a path where their strength was their enlightenment, their raw power becoming their most formidable divine ability, unlike humans who tend to rely more on spells.

Now, with spiritual energy resurging across the land, monsters are once again embracing their ancestors' wisdom.

He Lingchuan had even custom-designed a 'Wind Splashing Staff Art' for the Ghost Ape. Its first four forms were unparalleled in ferocity; combined with the Ghost Ape's strength, they could pound enemies into the earth like stakes. The final move was a horizontal sweep, guaranteed to either shatter a skull or fracture a spinal disc.

Elder Ning, not known for his brute strength, had no desire to engage the ape head-on. Seizing the opportunity, he backhanded the secondary wheel out.

His Sun and Moon Twin Wheels were a pair; the main wheel had been thrown to kill Dong Rui, so now the secondary wheel was directed at the Ghost Ape.

The secondary wheel arrived instantaneously. The Ghost Ape, changing its sweeping attack into a swing, struck the flying wheel as if hitting a ball.

With a loud clang, sparks flew everywhere.

The flying wheel was knocked into a low arc, flying straight towards Xiao Wencheng.

The Ghost Ape itself was knocked back three paces, its staff buzzing, and the web of its left hand split open.

As expected of an immortal's technique, even a hurried flick of the finger carried such immense power. The ape quickly glanced down, relieved to see that its Purple-Gold Staff was completely intact.

Just then, the main wheel also flew back. The twin wheels combined, crisscrossing through the air, forcing the Ghost Ape into a frantic defense.

The Black-Armored Army nearby couldn't see the wheels themselves, only streaks of flying shadows around the Ghost Ape, accompanied by incessant clanging and flying sparks.

The Ghost Ape roared repeatedly. If Elder Ning could understand, he would know it was shouting:

"Hurry up!"

Because it saw Elder Ning pull out a palm-sized feather fan, which looked anything but harmless.

These immortals in the Upside-Down Sea didn't have to worry about spiritual energy; their collection of treasures was truly vast.

Indeed, Elder Ning shook the fan, and it expanded to the size of a banana leaf, then delivered two blows to the Ghost Ape.

One vertical sweep, then one horizontal.

A violent gale immediately erupted, mixed with countless wind blades and frost swords, surpassing even the Midnight Divine Wind. The ground itself was instantly scoured away by three feet.

In contrast, Elder Ning's twin wheels maintained their flight paths, unaffected.

The Ghost Ape was exceptionally agile; as soon as the fan was swung, it immediately performed a side jump. Had it been touched by those wind blades, it wouldn't just have lost balance; even its bronze skin and steel bones might not have withstood them.

Fighting the twin wheels while enduring such wind blades would have exhausted it to death.

Elder Ning pursued it, fanning through ninety degrees. The Ghost Ape couldn't dodge the last strike and was swept by the wind's tail on its left leg, stumbling and falling.

Its left leg was bleeding profusely.

The Sun Wheel seized the opportunity, swooping down to slash its neck.

Fortunately, a blurred shadow rushed in from the side, fiercely batting the wheel away.

The Bat Demon Puppet had finally found an opportunity to strike.

However, those several gusts of fierce wind remained concentrated, blowing far away and even knocking Madam Zhu off balance.

With about ten clinking sounds, more than a dozen sharp spines on the spider's legs were shorn off by the frost swords. Although Madam Zhu couldn't close her eyes, her rows of eyes could retract directly into her body to avoid being blinded by the wind and frost.

Xiao Wencheng seized the opportunity, and the Gou Mang Sword once again emitted golden light, immobilizing Madam Zhu.

This divine ability couldn't be used at will, but if it couldn't immobilize He Xiao, surely it could immobilize this large spider?

As the golden light flashed, Madam Zhu's body was indeed fixed, unmoving.

Just as Xiao Wencheng was about to activate the golden sword to strike it down, he suddenly felt the hairs on his back stand on end:

Something was attacking from behind!

He had his divine sense fully activated; the area behind him had been empty, yet somehow a smoke ring opened, and a massive head emerged from it, biting at his neck.

This head had spiraling horns, a face five parts tiger-like with a pointed muzzle, a mane on its crown, and a beard beneath its jaw. It emerged silently, with no killing intent before it pounced.

Xiao Wencheng instinctively dodged sideways, grabbing his whisk with his right hand and striking towards the monster's eyes.

The creature tilted its head, and the whisk only struck its face, yet it swept the creature directly away!

Only then did he get a clear look: it was a monster resembling a crimson tiger, covered in red spines instead of fur. The sound of the whisk hitting it was like striking worn leather.

Xiao Wencheng hissed, drawing in a sharp breath.

It turned out the monster had also left two long claw marks on his right arm, deep enough to show bone, with golden blood gushing out.

Ancient great immortals possessed indestructible bodies; even divine weapons might not be able to pierce their skin. Moreover, his robes were treasure garments with three major functions: force reduction, defense, and protection.

Looking again, red light flickered within the wound; this was the monster's demonic power, condensed and refusing to dissipate, desperately trying to penetrate his meridians and wreak havoc.

No, it wasn't just demonic power!

“A Hou?” Xiao Wencheng, being well-versed, could mostly identify it, even if the monster's appearance wasn't entirely like the giant Hou under the Black Dragon God-Venerable. “No, it's more than that... this is a Gui Beast!”

Mount Ling and the Heavenly Palace had battled for years. Since the Middle Ages, the Heavenly Palace always cultivated monsters from powerful demons and divine blood, calling them Gui Beasts. Xiao Wencheng was naturally very familiar with them; just recently, the Heavenly Palace team had released several Gui Beasts that his fellow disciples had struggled greatly to eliminate.

But those Gui Beasts were not as powerful, agile, or difficult to deal with as the ones Dong Rui possessed!

Speaking of which, the only creature Dong Rui had openly displayed by his side in the Upside-Down Sea was the small, monkey-like Ghost Ape. No one knew he still hid several trump cards.

The Scarlet-Light Hou, knocked away by the whisk, twisted its body and swung its tail in mid-air, landing on all fours. It had a long wound from its forehead to its temple, but from the moment it turned to pounce again, the wound sizzled, already beginning to heal.

However, before it could charge two steps, its body shrank smaller and smaller. Originally larger than a leopard, it was only the size of a cat by the time it neared Xiao Wencheng.

This was the power of the whisk bestowed by Qianhuan: within the Upside-Down Sea, the realm created by Qianhuan, wounds inflicted by the whisk could cause enemies to shrink in size and weaken in power, lasting up to half an incense stick's time.

This whisk was originally used to counter divine meteorites, but it was just as effective against flesh and blood.

Therefore, Xiao Wencheng's next move was to take out his Purple-Gold Alms Bowl, intending to collect the cat-sized Scarlet-Light Hou.

However, before the bowl could be aimed at the Scarlet-Light Hou, the small creature suddenly exhaled a smoke ring forward.

Its size diminished, the smoke ring it exhaled was also tiny, appearing to have no power. However, the Scarlet-Light Hou didn't expect it to harm the enemy; instead, it plunged into the ring itself.

The Purple-Gold Alms Bowl was brought down, only to disperse the smoke ring.

The Scarlet-Light Hou was gone.

It vanished as inexplicably as it had appeared.

Xiao Wencheng frowned. This divine ability of the Gui Beast was very similar to Goddess Fengho's spatial folding divine art. Considering that Gui Beasts were monsters modified with divine blood, was there some connection between the two?

However, he had no time for deep thought. The Cave Spider Queen behind him was no easy foe, and his true target was He Lingchuan.

Logically, the Gou Mang Golden Light should have immobilized Madam Zhu for up to seven breaths, but not far away, Wan Qifeng threw over a Heaven-Overturning Seal. This object spun a few times in the air, expanding from the size of a stamp to a door panel, then directly struck the Gou Mang Sword.

Wan Qifeng himself couldn't block this divine sword, but the moment the Heaven-Overturning Seal obstructed it, the golden light was indeed interrupted. After all, this was an ancient magical artifact dug out from True Person Minghui's junkyard; the Gou Mang's golden light couldn't penetrate it in an instant.

By the time the Gou Mang Sword split the Heaven-Overturning Seal in half, the Cave Spider Queen had also broken free. She immediately leaped to attack Xiao Wencheng, perfectly taking over from the Scarlet-Light Hou.

Entangled by her, Xiao Wencheng simply couldn't free his hands to kill He Lingchuan.

Given more time, he could certainly defeat Madam Zhu.

But the problem was, the ancestor in his Sea of Consciousness couldn't wait!

Just then, Xiao Wencheng heard Elder Ning exclaim loudly, “Brother, He Xiao has escaped!”

Xiao Wencheng turned in surprise and indeed saw that the most crucial target was missing from the battlefield.

Madam Zhu and the Scarlet-Light Hou had tied him down, the Ghost Ape, Bat Demon Puppet, and Black-Armored Army had tied down Elder Ning, yet He Xiao had vanished without a trace.

Just now, he had fought the Blood Demon. The Blood Demon fled, and He Xiao seemed to have followed.

Xiao Wencheng was so angry he almost spat blood. He formed hand seals to summon the Blood Demon, but his summons were like a clay ox entering the sea; it simply refused to appear.

Only after urging it three or four times did the Blood Demon send back a faint ripple through their contract:

"No, no. The contract I made with you doesn't include eliminating He Xiao!"

Therefore, the contract had no binding force on it.

It was difficult to summon a sand table during combat, so Xiao Wencheng could only point his Gou Mang Golden Sword, making it fly into the air and emit brilliant light.

The ruined wood and broken tiles of the ruins became transparent under its intense light. Conversely, the living beings on the battlefield were plated with a golden glow, appearing exceptionally bright.

Under such penetrating light, if He Lingchuan were nearby, he would have nowhere to hide and would certainly be spotted.

But Xiao Wencheng released his divine sense and carefully searched, still finding no trace of the man.

Could he be hiding underground?

If He Xiao had run out of the Divine Fire Barrier's range, they would never catch him again—though this possibility was very small.

Meanwhile, Elder Ning was also extremely vexed by the Ghost Ape and Bat Demon Puppet clinging to him; these two creatures were too agile, and their attack angles were exceedingly tricky.

The Black-Armored Army wasn't idle either; they drew their weapons and joined the fray.

Ordinarily, it wouldn't take much effort for Elder Ning to deal with these dozen or so people. However, he had expended too much energy in previous battles and was being fiercely held back by the two great demon puppets, making the Black-Armored Army's attacks as annoying as bees.

One or two stings wouldn't kill, but they still hurt.

When the Black-Armored Army fought him, they spread out and attacked desperately.

In less than five breaths, one person was swept away by the gale generated by the feather fan. The wind blades and frost swords shredded him to pieces; when he landed, his flesh and armor flew off together, leaving almost nothing but a bloody skeleton.

An immortal's divine abilities were indeed this fierce; ordinary cultivators would find it hard to resist.

But Elder Ning was secretly alarmed. The guards brought by He Xiao were fearless of death; even with comrades dying miserably before their eyes, they attacked with unwavering focus and perfect discipline. Alas, if his own Illusion Sect disciples had such military quality, the Heavenly Palace forces would long ago have been no match for them!

Just then, the Bat Demon Puppet finally made a mistake during the high-intensity battle:

It was slow to dodge, its wings were struck by the fierce wind, and it immediately lost balance, plunging headfirst to the ground.