Chapter 697: Failed Attempt

Chapter 691: Failed Attempt

His body slowly sank. One cannot fight an enemy while stuck in a quagmire. Helian Chuan quickly grabbed a lightweight talisman and applied it to himself, immediately reducing his rate of descent.

This was an essential item for hunters in the Fuli Realm, originally used to counteract the Fuli Realm's quadruple gravity, and its effect lasted only for a few dozen breaths. Now that Helian Chuan was using it in his own realm, his body suddenly felt light and airy, he floated as he walked, and he stopped sinking for the time being.

Naturally, with the sudden change in gravity, his sword speed and force also changed. Fortunately, he had practiced this during his rehearsals, so he avoided any embarrassing mistakes.

A glass-like creature resembling a giant crocodile suddenly lunged out from below. It was three zhang long, easily comparable to a real giant crocodile.

As soon as Helian Chuan finished applying the talisman, a gaping maw with dozens of conical teeth suddenly appeared before him. He twisted his body, holding the Soul-Snatcher Mirror in his left hand like a shield, and slammed it forcefully into the creature's jaw.

With a clang, the giant crocodile's jaw was dislocated by his blow. Its massive body tilted and crashed heavily back into the Star Ring.

However, Helian Chuan was also pushed back one zhang. His body sank up to his calves.

This was truly difficult to move in; how could he fight if he couldn't even stand steadily?

“Watch out below!” the mirror warned.

A swordfish-shaped glass monster slyly circled beneath him. Helian Chuan didn't need to look down to know it wanted to skewer him.

Even if he had to die, he didn't want to die like that. Too rushed to curse, Helian Chuan swiftly pulled out an item and plunged it into the 'quagmire' beneath his feet.

It was an oval black stone, shaped like a heart, with faint red light emanating from its cracked surface.

In less than an eye-blink, it transformed into a black stone man, a zhang tall. Its body was covered in tiny, honeycomb-like pores, each spewing sparks.

It appeared just before the glass swordfish, naturally lifting Helian Chuan onto its head.

The swordfish, accelerating from below, leaped out of the glass quagmire. It swiftly, accurately, and fiercely pierced the stone man's crotch.

Helian Chuan hissed, clamping his legs together as his scalp tingled. Good thing he reacted quickly!

Crunch, several small stones were chipped off the stone man.

But that was all; it didn't feel any pain.

The swordfish struggled twice, then dejectedly fell back into the Star Ring.

This was the stone seed that Ju Ju had given Helian Chuan. In a critical moment, it could transform into a small lava-fire avatar of Ju Ju.

Helian Chuan hadn't expected to find himself in a 'critical moment' right upon entering the formation's core, forcing him to use the stone seed.

Like Ju Ju, bound by the Spirit-Gathering Grand Formation, this item couldn't attack anything belonging to the Heavenly Palace.

While it couldn't 'attack', passive defense was still possible, like serving as an effective sword-blocker.

The black stone man's body was as hard as diamond, impervious to knives or axes. And like lava, it was covered in honeycomb-like pores, allowing it to remain unsunk in the quagmire, making it even more effective than Helian Chuan's lightweight talisman.

Ju Ju had been watching this battlefield all along, an ancient monster who had lived for thousands of years. His control over chaotic situations and precision in dealing with enemies far surpassed Helian Chuan's.

Several more monsters arrived in quick succession.

Helian Chuan rode on the black stone man's neck, drew Fusheng, and cut two of them down consecutively. These two monsters weren't as cunning as the swordfish, easily losing their heads.

With a stable footing, he had room to maneuver, and his blade strikes were swift and ruthless.

The mirror suddenly exclaimed, “They can't regenerate!”

Helian Chuan responded, “I see it.”

The giant crocodile and swordfish that had previously attacked him, after falling back into the Star Ring, circled around and returned. However, the glass monsters he had sliced in half did not re-form after falling back; instead, they thrashed and struggled in the Star Ring, appearing to be in extreme pain.

Fusheng's ability to cut 'incorporeal' beings remained formidable.

Once these liquid monsters were cut open, they couldn't regenerate quickly.

With this previous example before them, the other monsters seemed to be wary. They no longer charged Helian Chuan recklessly, instead choosing to act opportunistically.

Commonly known as 'slacking off'.

Just as the threat from below diminished, red lights flashed repeatedly in the distance of the Star Ring. Immediately after, numerous guards charged out!

As expected, the Star-Picking Tower had indeed dispatched people immediately.

Their bodies were enveloped in a faint glow, clearly unaffected by the Star Ring's abnormal state. They moved swiftly over the softened glass ground, while the strange glass creatures paid them no mind.

Their target was unanimous: Helian Chuan.

Heh, they want to overwhelm him with numbers? Helian Chuan tossed out a dark red amber, and before it even landed, it transformed into a dozen black spiders the size of sheep.

This was his trump card secret technique: Madam Zhu Er's Spider Blood Amber.

Originally, according to the spell Madam Zhu Er had taught him, this amber could only produce three Bloodfang Guardians. However, considering the complex battle situation today, the Eyeball Spider had simply taught Helian Chuan its other uses as well.

One such use was to disperse the demonic energy within the amber to create a small spider team, instead of the original three Bloodfang Guardians.

Although the power distributed to each individual spider was reduced, it was better suited for group combat.

In the past few months, Helian Chuan had faced repeated dangers in Beijia. He had only used one spider blood amber when fighting Fan Sheng.

The current situation was critical; it wasn't the time to hold back.

The moment these spiders appeared, the high temperature of the glass made them squeak. Fortunately, Madam Zhu Er was a primordial demon, and there was no telling how many harsh environments she had dealt with. Each spider's claw tips immediately wrapped themselves in a layer of hard keratin, providing excellent insulation.

Of course, this still couldn't completely block the high temperature of the glass. Therefore, they infused their claw tips with a large amount of air. This was like a temporary air cushion, not only insulating but also helping them run on the viscous glass sea without sinking.

A dozen or so spiders rushed forward, spraying acidic fluid and webs at the guards.

As for the monsters in the glass sea, the spiders consistently avoided them, as if knowing their attacks would be ineffective against them.

In the blink of an eye, two guards were knocked down by spider webs.

The webs were extremely soft yet tenacious, and they were layered four deep. Even though they possessed primal energy, they had to struggle to cut through them multiple times.

Helian Chuan flipped and leaped onto the back of one spider. The latter, stretching its eight long legs, scurried over to the two captured guards,

It grabbed one of them and hurled him violently towards the large spherical object in the center of the Star Ring, which was the transparent prison containing Madam Zhu Er's immortal chrysalis.

Everyone watched as the captive slammed into the sphere. With a sizzle and a loud bang, lightning flashed, and the guard exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

“Holy crap!” Helian Chuan couldn't help but curse aloud. This large sphere looked unassuming, not revealing any electric currents, yet it secretly contained such a powerful formation. It was clearly designed to trick people. “Lightning Pool!”

If he hadn't heard about the 'Lightning Pool' from both Zaifu Kua and Ju Ju earlier, he would have backed away in apprehension.

Pew, another spider guard shot a poisoned dart at the sphere.

The next instant, the poisoned dart bounced back, more than twice as fast.

The spider guard dodged, and the poisoned dart struck another enemy behind it. That fellow collapsed without a sound, his body rigid, with faint electric arcs flickering across his skin.

The name 'Lightning Pool' was truly misleading, making one think of a large body of water. In reality, it referred to the surface of the large glass sphere in the center of the Star Ring, which was completely covered by extremely powerful lightning, leaving no blind spots!

The Heavenly Palace guards could walk on the Star Ring's surface and were immune to attacks from glass monsters. But they couldn't ward off the lightning.

Perhaps because lightning-warding artifacts were rare, and the 'Lightning Pool's' power was too immense?

Helian Chuan had the spider guard step on the remaining captive, using him as a springboard, and then leap high into the air!

Madam Zhu Er's amber spider guards possessed almost all the special skills of cave spider species. Besides spinning webs, spraying acidic fluid, and walking on water, the excellent jumping ability of jumping spiders was also indispensable.

That unfortunate fellow was instantly stomped into the sea of glass. The red light around him popped and shattered, and he screamed as he was scalded to death.

The spider guard, with a high leap, traversed a distance of three zhang and landed directly on the Star Ring. It was less than three chi from the glass sphere.

Helian Chuan had lightning-warding talismans, but the spider guard did not, so it had to be careful.

Guards were still arriving in a continuous stream, and even a few powerful monsters had charged in. These few spider guards wouldn't last long.

Time was precious. Without a moment's hesitation, Helian Chuan pulled out Madam Zhu Er's eye socket and began to blow into it.

Yes, that ocarina. Although it had nine holes, Madam Zhu Er had personally sealed one and told Helian Chuan to open the last hole only after finding her spider chrysalis.

Helian Chuan had waited and waited, and finally this moment had arrived!

He didn't forget to unseal the ninth hole.

Strangely enough, this ocarina usually had a beautiful tone, and Helian Chuan could play it with emotion and melody. But now that all ten holes were open, no matter how he blew, he could only produce a 'hissing' sound.

Like a snake flicking its tongue or a cat hissing, but Helian Chuan, who had heard the roars of cave spiders, knew this was Madam Zhu Er's sound!

Then what?

He was full of anticipation, waiting for aid to descend.

After all the hardships to get here, Madam Zhu Er should also put in some effort, right?

However, nothing happened.

The chrysalis inside the glass sphere remained motionless.

The Eyeball Spider jumped up and down on his shoulder, meaning the sphere was sealed, and his ocarina playing might not count this time; he had to break it!

Helian Chuan cursed.

It truly wasn't that simple.

He gave it a try, and it failed.

Undaunted, he pulled out a special ice talisman made by Li Qingge and threw it towards the sphere.

This talisman was refined from 'frost pellets' formed by beastless creatures in the Fuli Realm. Its potency was far greater than that of ordinary ice talismans. To deal with the flowing liquid glass gold, this was indispensable. Helian Chuan had almost lost his life in the Fuli Realm just to excavate those few 'frost pellets'.

With a soft pop, the ice talisman was bounced away by the glass sphere before it could even take effect.

The deflection array was active.

Moreover, as the ice talisman was thrown off, it exploded directly into a cloud of ice shards—

The power of the Lightning Pool activated.

“Uh…” Helian Chuan stared blankly. “You've got to be kidding me?”

For the ice talisman to work, it first needed to adhere to the glass sphere;

But the glass sphere had a deflection array and the power of the Lightning Pool, absolutely preventing anything from getting close!

If the ice talisman couldn't take effect, how was he supposed to deal with this glass sphere?!

With these two buffs stacked, it was an infinite loop of death. The problem was, he was running out of time! The spider guards wouldn't last much longer, and enemies were still rapidly approaching.