Chapter 705: Packing Up and Taking Away

Chapter 699: Pack It Up and Take It Away

This thing was Zuju's fire seed. The moment it landed, it began to work diligently, growing in just two breaths into a giant python as thick as a bowl. Without hesitation, it tightly coiled around the monster's entire body.

Earlier, Zuju had been restrained by the great formation and couldn't directly attack its enemies. Now that the formation core was broken again, it and its fire seeds were powerful once more.

How many things in this world could withstand the scorching of true earth fire? Not even this monster, with its bronze skin and iron bones. The fire snake coiled tighter and tighter, searing the monster with a sizzling sound. He Lingchuan immediately smelled char.

A few breaths later, the little monster toppled over, no longer moving.

Its life force was already at its end; with its last breath, it vanished.

Only then did He Lingchuan climb back onto Zhu Erniang's head and call out loudly to Zuju, "The Spirit Gathering Formation is broken! The rest is up to you!"

Zuju chuckled, "Don't worry, I'll keep my promise!"

Having finally gained the upper hand, they would not delay and would give the Heavenly Palace no time to react.

Zhu Erniang left the formation core and jumped into its palm.

Zuju burrowed into the ground; its massive form and towering flames vanished instantly.

Only raging flames on Kaiyang Peak witnessed its rampage.

Zuju was a Mountain Marsh spirit, capable of moving within the Ruins Mountains without spatial restrictions.

With the formation core clutched in its hand, the rock-fire monster controlled the temperature precisely. Even though it was engulfed in flames, He Lingchuan and Zhu Erniang only felt a little warm.

He looked out through the rock-fire monster's fingers. All around was dark, and occasionally, they waded through lava—they were traveling through the mountain's core.

He Lingchuan paid no attention to anything else, swallowing several pills and quickly focusing on recovering his breath.

The series of fierce battles and surprises just now were merely a prelude; the upcoming actions were the main event of his night!

A few breaths later, they saw daylight again.

Zuju had already arrived at Tianzhu Peak and emerged from the Stargazing Pavilion's lava pool!

After a declarative roar of laughter, it grabbed the formation core as a weapon and relentlessly smashed the Stargazing Pavilion.

It's worth noting that the lightning barrier on the outer layer of the backup formation core had never disappeared because it wasn't originally powered by the Spirit Gathering Formation.

Zuju used it to strike the Stargazing Pavilion's barrier, which was like using the Heavenly Palace's own spear against its own shield, as both were proud creations of the Heavenly Palace.

It remained to be seen which was superior.

For a moment, lightning flashed across the Stargazing Pavilion's barrier, and the entire building glowed, illuminating the pale face of Chief Administrator Duyun.

Tonight's assault had experienced repeated twists and turns and two reversals, but in reality, less than a quarter of an hour had passed.

Reinforcements from below Tianzhu Peak hadn't even reached halfway up, and it was hard to say if the army from Lingxu City had begun to gather.

How could the situation at the Stargazing Pavilion already be so critical?

Zuju, however, was greatly exhilarated.

The Mountain and River Map had completely dimmed, indicating that the Spirit Gathering Formation was completely destroyed. Its biggest hidden danger was gone, and it could finally unleash its full power!

In a good mood, its destructive rampage became even more spirited.

After another seventeen or eighteen furious blows, the lightning barrier of the formation core crackled twice and then went silent.

It wasn't clear if its energy was depleted or if the barrier had been broken.

What encouraged it was that the Stargazing Pavilion's barrier, which had been impossible to pierce, now swayed like a soap bubble twice and then burst!

Now, there was nothing to impede it from the elites of the Stargazing Pavilion.

"Heavenly Palace's things are indeed the most useful," Zuju said, throwing away the formation core and laughing loudly as it extended its giant palm towards the Stargazing Pavilion.

It hadn't originally intended to completely break ties with the Heavenly Palace; after all, they were unmovable neighbors. However, it had a prior agreement with He Lingchuan and had to seize the item in the shrine.

If these guys had just let it take what it wanted, why would things have to be so awkward?

The Mountain Marsh spirit of the Ruins Mountains, fully unbound, transformed into a combat form nearly eighty zhang (over 260 meters) tall. It was the largest monster He Lingchuan had seen since arriving in this world.

A physique like this in the present day was simply unbelievable.

A monster nurtured by true earth fire, still blessed by the heavens even in today's era of weakened spiritual energy, was truly uniquely favored.

Although its energy consumption was extremely high, its massive size offered significant advantages, and its power also increased exponentially.

The Heavenly Palace guards continuously fired arrows at it. These arrows themselves caused minimal damage to Zuju, but they were imbued with elemental energy. Each one felt like a poisonous bee sting, as the elemental energy burrowed deeper into its body, accompanied by pain.

An ordinary person stung dozens of times by a swarm of hornets could die. Zuju wouldn't, but the elemental energy that invaded its body was as stubborn as bee venom and not easily dispersed.

For now, it could endure it, not only because the number of opponents was limited but also because the Heavenly Palace guards, after its earlier sneak attack, no longer clumped together. Instead, they had broken into smaller groups and acted separately.

There was no need for Zuju to deal with them individually, and that would be exactly what the Heavenly Palace wanted.

The troops from the Garrison Palace were still climbing the mountain. It had already dispatched several small fire beings to engage in guerrilla warfare to slow their ascent as much as possible.

Zuju decided to vent all its anger on the Heavenly Palace. Its punch was like a meteor falling from the sky—fast, brutal, and explosive—causing the crowd in the Stargazing Pavilion to scramble for cover.

A blazing fist, nearly as big as the roof, who would dare to face its might?

It must be said that the construction quality of the Stargazing Pavilion was extremely robust, with countless formations operating within it. Zuju's single punch only managed to destroy half the roof.

Unconvinced, it hammered away like a pile driver for a dozen more times, finally demolishing most of the building!

This ethereal, fairyland-like pavilion, worshipped by tens of thousands every day, now lay shattered under its violent demolition. This scene somehow possessed a cruel beauty.

But dozens of divine abilities also flew out from within the Stargazing Pavilion, heading straight for Zuju.

Just now, the backup formation core activated, suppressing Zuju again and buying the Heavenly Palace dozens of breaths of buffer time. Experts from other peaks in the palace had rushed to reinforce, so the defensive strength of the Stargazing Pavilion was already greater than at the beginning of the attack.

As Zuju pushed aside the collapsed roof to grab the shrine, Chief Administrator Duyun pointed to over ten archers behind him, who immediately went to the lamp keepers and dipped their arrowheads in a bit of candlelight.

When the roof collapsed, seven or eight lamp keepers selflessly shielded the everlasting lamps with their bodies, dying as martyrs. But four or five everlasting lamps were still preserved within the main hall; once an arrowhead was dipped into one, it immediately glowed with a faint blue light.

Then the archers drew their bows and nocked their arrows, firing at Zuju.

With such a large target, there was no reason to miss. Moreover, Zuju did not dodge or evade at all; it simply reached straight for the shrine.

This so-called shrine was a structure within the hall, like a tabernacle but without a roof. It stood a zhang higher than the third-floor landing, its position only second to the divine statue of Saint Lingxu. The lamp keepers had to climb a ladder to worship at the shrine.

Inside the shrine, two items were revered:

The Mountain and River Brocade Map, and the divine object He Lingchuan had been longing for—the lid of the Great Square Pot.

Upon seeing this scene, the faces of the divine envoys greatly changed.

Previously, no matter how Zuju acted up under the instigation of external invaders, it could still be considered an internal conflict among their own people. After all, they all knew Zuju couldn't leave the Ruins Mountains, and though they might fight, they would eventually reconcile.

Now, however, Zuju was reaching for the divine object!

What did this mean?

Its current outburst had a clear goal: it was coming for the lid of the Great Square Pot!

Furthermore, it indicated that the invaders were connected to the Great Square Pot.

Anything related to the Great Square Pot was a forbidden touch for the Heavenly Gods; Zuju had truly stirred up a hornet's nest this time.

All dozens of arrows, saturated with the tears of the everlasting lamps, hit their mark, striking Zuju's hand.

Centered on the impact points, blue frost rapidly spread. In just three breaths, Zuju's palm froze into a blue chunk of ice!

The raging flames on the surface of its fist were suddenly replaced by frost.

"Ow, ow, ow, so painful!" it roared. It hated divine power the most, and human elemental energy came second!

Zuju was also very surprised. Usually, it fought by relying on earth fire, able to draw infinite geothermal energy. How could this mere frost affect it?

But this frost was surprisingly stubborn, making it feel a freezing sensation on its hand.

It directly swung its frozen palm across the entire shrine.

Unexpectedly, a black light flashed on the shrine.

What shattered was not the shrine, but Zuju's fist!

The rock-fire giant roared. Although its palm was stiff with ice and lacked its previous power, the barrier on the outer layer of this shrine was too overbearing.

It had no idea such a thing existed.

The Heavenly Palace and the gods had truly built their lair to be harder to breach than a tortoise shell!

It hadn't suffered such a severe injury in a long time. If it hadn't sworn an oath, it would want to retreat now.

Just then, He Lingchuan's voice sounded in Zuju's ear: "Dig it out and take it with you!"

"Hmph, quite bossy!"

Zuju grumbled inwardly, but the kid was right. The barrier could only protect the shrine itself, not the stone wall behind it.

For conventional enemies, these methods were already top-tier protection. If He Lingchuan or other great monsters came personally, they would consider how to break or trick the barrier to steal the divine object inside.

But Zuju was clearly no ordinary monster; it had methods that relied on grand simplicity rather than intricate cunning.

It reached out a hand towards the stone wall behind the shrine, and with such ease, as if digging tofu, it quickly peeled the entire shrine from the stone wall. The bedrock behind it was thick, and the barrier couldn't harm it.

By this time, Zuju's broken hand had fully regenerated. Cupping both hands together, it carefully lifted the entire shrine out.

While it was breaking free from its restraints and unleashing its divine power, Bai Ziqi wasn't idle either. He turned and rushed towards the Heavenly Palace's great prison—

Yang Palace.

Guards came forward, but Bai Ziqi ignored them and charged directly into the deepest part of the dungeon.

Grandmaster Qingyang was here, leaning against a wall and looking out. From her vantage point, she couldn't see Zuju's rampage, but the light from the rock-fire giant's body illuminated the entire Tianzhu Peak. How could she not notice?

"Qingyang," Bai Ziqi said directly, "This is no time for pleasantries. The Emperor has decreed that your Grandmaster position is temporarily restored to fight against external enemies." With that, he tossed a token to her.

Grandmaster Qingyang turned and caught it.

This was the token she had surrendered when she was imprisoned. To have it returned at this moment filled her with mixed emotions.

In Lingxu's time of peril, the Emperor's first thought was still of her.

"Let's go," Bai Ziqi said, opening the prison door. She didn't hesitate and rushed out right after him. "Has Zuju rebelled?" she asked.

Otherwise, why would there be such towering flames outside?

The last time the Ruins Mountains saw such a display was more than ten years ago, before the Spirit Gathering Formation was completed.

"Yes, Zuju was instigated by external enemies to attack the Heavenly Palace," Bai Ziqi said concisely. "It has broken free from the Spirit Gathering Formation's restraints, and the Emperor has decreed to strip it of its Mountain Marsh spirit title!"

Thanks to everyone's support, May has finally concluded.

See you in June!

(End of Chapter)