Chapter 702: Selected the Wrong Person and Took the Wrong Side

Fortunately, Madam Zhu's demonic immortal body protected him firmly, and he was also lucky to be wearing the lightning-warding plaque; otherwise, he would have been utterly annihilated.

He Lingchuan got a small glimpse today of how ancient immortals single-handedly resisted the heavens and the earth.

Braving the might of the lightning, the Spider Immortal's massive body forcibly squeezed its way into the barrier.

Then, it forced its way through!

When Madam Zhu leaped into the formation's core, He Lingchuan also let out a long breath.

If it hadn't made it through, he would have been buried with it.

This formation core also had a completely transparent glass surface, and in its center lay a sacred object.

In the old core, the sacred object had been the star map on Madam Zhu's abdomen; but here, it was a turtle shell!

This turtle shell was larger than the old turtle's shell He Lingchuan had seen at the bottom of Spirit Lake, measuring about ten meters in diameter. It wasn't a leatherback turtle; its surface was slightly brown and unusually smooth, and it surprisingly also bore a star map!

"Ah!" He Lingchuan exclaimed inwardly, "The Heavenly Palace truly used this as a substitute; their powers are immense!"

Such star maps are all naturally occurring. If Madam Zhu could have one, why couldn't other demons?

But this rarity, tsk tsk, showed that Beijia had indeed put a lot of effort into it.

"Just a useless fake!" Madam Zhu sneered, "Even if it serves as the formation's core, this grand formation won't last more than two months."

The star map on this turtle shell was blurry and unclear, lacking hierarchy, color, and brightness. It was far inferior to the map on her abdomen!

A shoddy, unworthy item, no wonder it was just a spare.

Moreover, this turtle shell wasn't protected by a transparent glass sphere; it was merely illuminated by an ever-burning lamp. This showed that the quality of the spare was indeed inferior to the original.

The star map flew out from the shell and slowly hovered in the air.

Clearly, it was looking for the right angle.

Once it found and aligned itself, the Spirit-Gathering Grand Formation would likely restart.

Not much time was left for He Lingchuan and Madam Zhu.

At this moment, bird demons were flying in from all directions; their reaction speed was undeniably swift. But unfortunately, due to the turbulence outside the formation core, they couldn't descend to this spot.

Juju ignored the enemies from all sides and continued to hurl large fireballs at the formation core.

Now it also felt that rushing back so rashly was a bit reckless. But since it was already here, it might as well focus fire with its teammates.

It had to take down either the formation core or the Star-Plucking Tower.

This new formation core in the sky, being a backup, had limited strength after all. Every time it was hit by a fireball, He Lingchuan felt as if he were at the epicenter. After Juju's continuous, high-intensity bombardment, two pieces were smashed off the bottom of its star ring, and a crack appeared from the gap.

The Spider Immortal paid no mind to what Juju was doing. It took a few steps forward, about to swat the "fake" away with its claw, when unexpectedly, something suddenly pounced out from in front of the turtle shell, moving so fast it left afterimages.

This thing had originally blended in with the glass ground, and Madam Zhu's twelve eyes hadn't even noticed it.

When it was lying flat, it was just a flattened blob, less than a foot thick. The ground of this formation core was uneven, unlike the previous one which was smooth, and Madam Zhu hadn't paid much attention to it. As a result, this creature bit onto the tip of her left leg's claw and kept biting fiercely.

It was only about three meters tall, much smaller than Madam Zhu, but its movements were astonishingly agile, and its attack frequency was comparable to a woodpecker's.

Madam Zhu's leg was clutched by it, and she hissed in pain.

The Spider Immortal's legs were covered in sharp spines, harder than steel needles. The monster's mouth bled profusely from being pricked, but it had also dug a hole in Madam Zhu's leg, who couldn't help but shake it off with a powerful jolt.

A demonic immortal's body was inherently indestructible, so the monster's two attacks were no small feat.

He Lingchuan also got a clear look at its appearance. When it lay flat, it resembled an alligator, its body flattened for ambushing. But when it stood up, it seemed to inflate, its shape immediately changing to resemble a human somewhat, yet it could lie flat and squat, far more agile than a human.

It had four forelimbs and two tails behind it, one long and one short. Its body was covered in pustules, like a toad, but the sharp claws on its paws were a foot long and had hooks.

Its disproportionate appearance immediately reminded He Lingchuan of Dong Rui's demon puppets.

However, a moment later, the word "Ghoulbeast" surfaced in his mind.

Back at the Hanshui military camp, Elder Liang of Cloud-Piercing Pavilion had mentioned that many demons appeared during the Middle Ages, randomly devouring common folk and ambushing immortal disciples. The immortal sects then clashed fiercely with the demon race because of this. However, it was later discovered that those monsters were demons modified by the gods, called Ghoulbeasts.

Later, under the joint pursuit and suppression of both the immortal and demon races, the Ghoulbeasts became increasingly rare until they disappeared.

Dong Rui himself admitted that his inspiration for modifying demon puppets came from the Ghoulbeasts.

This monster's appearance was incongruous, and its strength was formidable, but it could only act on instinct, completely unlike a natural creation.

Now it seemed that the so-called Ghoulbeasts had not completely disappeared from the human world after all; at least this one had been hidden away by Ling Xu. Moreover, Dong Rui wasn't entirely correct; this Ghoulbeast could act on the Heavenly Palace's commands, not as he described, indiscriminate and muddle-headed.

Perhaps the gods' research on Ghoulbeasts had also improved over the years?

The Ghoulbeast's agility was astonishing, and Madam Zhu, with her large abdomen, found it hard to keep up with its pace, given her size. But she was a long-renowned demonic immortal with her own set of tactics, which was: you fight your way, I'll fight mine.

Although this monster was fast, it wasn't particularly skilled in divine abilities, which was a common failing among demons. Madam Zhu's demonic immortal body was too durable; the opponent found it very difficult to break through her defenses. Moreover, Madam Zhu's self-healing ability was astonishing—often, if the opponent opened a wound on her, it would heal completely within twenty breaths.

Madam Zhu employed her old method from the Demonic Nest Marsh, used against King Siwen: she released spider silk while fighting.

The spider silk fluttered in the wind, either falling to the ground or entangling itself around the opponent.

As a result, the Ghoulbeast soon stumbled, and the more spider silk clung to it, the harder it became for it to move.

Its eyes became bloodshot with rage, and it continuously spat corrosive saliva onto the binding spider silk. Its thick saliva was highly corrosive; as it dripped, it even etched small pits into the glass ground.

Only Madam Zhu's spider silk remained unaffected.

Even the spider silk from her current body was impervious to weapons, impenetrable by water or fire, and unaffected by corrosive liquids. How much more so, then, for her ancient demonic immortal body?

He Lingchuan, however, kept his eyes fixed on the turtle shell within the formation.

Just by watching the turtle shell's star map slow down, he knew it was about to complete its calibration.

Once the formation core became effective, Juju would be suppressed again.

This great fire monster was crucial to the success or failure of He Lingchuan's mission; they absolutely could not stand idly by.

"Madam Zhu, smash that fake!"

"I know." Taking advantage of the Ghoulbeast's slowed speed, Madam Zhu turned and shot a burst of spider silk towards the formation core, intending to forcibly drag it out.

If the turtle shell had other restrictions, she would deal with them as they came.

But the spider silk actually passed through the turtle shell, sticking to the ground without any obstruction.

"Damn it!" He Lingchuan stopped dead in his tracks and swore loudly.

It was an illusion? A lifelike illusion!

Even a mirage demon would have to admit defeat.

Why on earth was that Ghoulbeast protecting it just now?

At this moment, Juju's roar was also deafening: "Quick, destroy the formation core, hurry!"

The star map was about to complete its calibration. Would the freedom it had so painstakingly gained be lost just like this?

He Lingchuan's face was grim, and his mind raced.

The turtle shell's actual body wasn't on the ground at all. Was it submerged beneath the star ring?

Given the gods' typical way of setting up formations, this was highly probable. And they could also conveniently add an invisibility spell to ensure invaders couldn't see it.

This would maximize the time delay, allowing the Heavenly Palace to wait for more reinforcements.

What now, what to do!

As for the outcome of falling short at the last step, Juju wouldn't be the worst off. At most, it would be imprisoned, but He Lingchuan and Madam Zhu would be utterly annihilated!

Was there any other way to disable the formation core?

Madam Zhu asked He Lingchuan, "Are we leaving?"

She had already recovered her spider molting skin and should have left Mount Xu quickly. But out of consideration for He Lingchuan, she had stayed to help him.

Of course, this was also an agreement He Lingchuan and the Eyeball Spider had reached beforehand.

I help you once, and you have to return the favor, right?

But now that it seemed this help couldn't be rendered, she began to have second thoughts.

But He Lingchuan wanted to try harder, so he pointed at the star ring and said, "See that crack? Help me widen it! Juju—you help too!"

The formation core had previously been bombarded indiscriminately by Juju, creating a crack about two feet wide. He Lingchuan already had a plan, but he couldn't accomplish it with his own strength.

The rock-fire giant said nothing and hurled a few more large fireballs. The bottom of the formation core glowed red-hot from the heat, and stones melted into dripping water.

Madam Zhu pressed her eight legs against the edge of the crack, her entire body shimmering with black light, and forcefully pushed outward.

The Ghoulbeast seized the opportunity to attack, but Madam Zhu gritted her teeth and held her ground.

Among demonic immortals, she wasn't known for her strength, and the gap was particularly obvious compared to Juju. But her sheer size was undeniable, and as dull cracking sounds continued without end, the crack on the star ring was still pried wider and wider.

However, at this moment, the star map on the turtle shell suddenly became still.

From below, Juju let out a long howl of grief and indignation: "No—"

The formation core had become effective, and the Spirit-Gathering Grand Formation was activated.

Shackles reappeared on the rock-fire giant's neck.

This time, the mountains and marshes of Mount Xu were suppressed once more.

He Lingchuan struck his right fist into his left palm and sighed, "I told you, you shouldn't have come back here!"

The little fire-man on his shoulder roared, "I shouldn't have trusted you!"

It saw this guy's solemn promises and detailed plans, and thought this rebellion would definitely succeed, sigh!

Juju had been shrewd for over six hundred years, but it never thought it would also have a time when it misjudged someone and chose the wrong side.

He seemed somewhat reliable, but it turned out...

Seeing the Mountain and River Brocade Map glow once more, everyone inside the Star-Plucking Tower breathed a long sigh of relief.

The Spirit-Gathering Grand Formation had successfully restarted. Good, good!

Even if the turtle shell's star map was just a substitute, it could at least hold out for a while, allowing them to recapture the Spider Immortal and deal with her again.

Everyone knew that Sakihibi, the Ghoulbeast placed in the formation core, couldn't defeat the Spider Immortal, but it had successfully bought them some time.

They would deal with future troubles when they arose.

"A major threat removed, good!" The battle within the formation core was still ongoing, Commander Dudu Yun said solemnly, "Sakihibi won't be able to hold the Spider Immortal for too long. We can't let her escape; please, Hundred-Battles God, deal with her!"