Chapter 709: Final Move

"So fast?" He Lingchuan was startled. If someone was powerful enough for the demon fairy Zhu Erniang to call them a formidable opponent, He Lingchuan knew he wouldn't be able to defeat them even if he stayed. So, he thanked her and jumped to the ground. However, Zhu Erniang suddenly popped out one of her eyeballs. Midway through its descent, the eyeball transformed into a jumping spider with legs more than four times its body length.

He Lingchuan mounted the jumping spider, which immediately launched itself from Zhu Erniang's body, covering over twenty *zhang* in a single leap! This was far faster than He Lingchuan could run on his own; it was almost like riding the clouds. If not for the spiritual rain making its feet sticky, it could have jumped even faster.

Zhu Erniang's assistance to He Lingchuan wasn't entirely out of kindness. They were in the same boat, and the method to escape Beijia was in He Lingchuan's hands. Only if he quickly obtained the divine object could they both leave Mount Xu. As an experienced great demon, she instantly grasped the situation. With such a powerful adversary, if they didn't unite and cooperate closely, there was almost no chance of success in this operation.

While riding the jumping spider, He Lingchuan still had time to look back and saw Zhu Erniang turning to face their pursuer. A fleeting white figure approached, moving faster than a cannonball. To his surprise, it was a young girl, about fourteen or fifteen, with a face frozen in a cold expression. He Lingchuan found her face somewhat familiar. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Lu Shishi, a divine attendant from the Heavenly Palace.

The last time the Demon Emperor issued an edict, commanding him to accompany Fu Shanyue up Mount Xu, it was Lu Shishi who had served as his attendant. Later, when he was ambushed by the Heavenly God Miaozhan in the Hall of Reverence, it was also Lu Shishi who helped him back to rest. He knew the young girl possessed some cultivation, but he never expected her to be so incredibly swift, covering thirty *zhang* in a single stride. Even he had to admit defeat in terms of speed.

"Hmm?" He Lingchuan was slightly surprised. "She came alone? Is she the 'formidable opponent' Zhu Erniang mentioned?" Her demeanor was indeed completely different from what he had seen before. Lu Shishi's gaze swept over Zhu Erniang before settling on He Lingchuan. Her eyes were like lightning, piercing his own the moment their gazes met, causing him to quickly turn away in pain. What level of cultivation was this?

"Could it be...?" He Lingchuan hissed, urging the jumping spider to move even faster. What was happening behind him was a high-level battle, and he had no place in it. At that moment, the jumping spider was only one last leap away from Tianji Peak. Not only was the enormous body of the Dao Inquiry Tree visible, but even the leaves on its canopy were clearly in sight.

Lu Shishi immediately recognized him as an intruder, changed direction, and charged towards him like a cannonball. However, Zhu Erniang intercepted her, spitting a mouthful of spider silk directly at her. Normally, spider silk loses its stickiness when wet. With the spiritual rain falling, its properties would be further diminished. But Zhu Erniang, as a demon fairy, truly had her own unique abilities.

The spider silk she sprayed this time was red, not only incredibly sticky but also laced with strong acid. If Lu Shishi were to accidentally get any on her, her beautiful face would be disfigured. Her gaze, however, remained fixed on He Lingchuan. Seeing the jumping spider take another leap, she diagonally swiped her hand through the air!

Because the Imperial Preceptor Qingyang had summoned the spiritual rain, the sky was already overcast with thunder and lightning. With her gesture, a bolt of lightning suddenly shot out from the clouds, striking directly at He Lingchuan! The purple-red lightning, thick and potent, resembled an arrow or a halberd. If it truly struck him, wouldn't he instantly be reduced to ashes?

Yet, He Lingchuan was mid-air with nowhere to hide. The sky above suddenly lit up, casting his face in a pale glow. With a crackling sound, the lightning struck its target directly, radiating blinding light. At that moment, he was the brightest point on Mount Xu.

However, Hundred Battles Heavenly immediately tensed, his expression hardening. Although the intruder was struck by the heavenly lightning, he didn't turn into charcoal; he merely shivered, then continued what he was doing. In contrast, the jumping spider he was riding instantly vanished, demonstrating the lightning's power. "Does this fellow possess a lightning-repelling talent or a lightning-repelling artifact?"

Only then did Hundred Battles Heavenly recall that there was also a "Thunder Pool" within the array's core, yet it hadn't been able to harm this individual. A massive figure then blocked its vision. "Where are you looking? Your opponent is right here!"

"Oh, Zhu Erniang?" Hundred Battles Heavenly scoffed. "We're old acquaintances. Why aren't you fleeing this time?" Zhu Erniang silently lunged forward.

Meanwhile, a second bolt of lightning followed closely – He Lingchuan had just passed the Dao Inquiry Tree, and the lightning striking at him was intercepted by the tree's canopy. The canopy was indeed higher than his position. Lightning snaked across the Dao Inquiry Tree's trunk, yet not a single piece of its bark was scorched.

Having endured the baptism of an apocalyptic catastrophe, a few lightning strikes were merely an inconvenience to this ancient, towering tree. The moment he swept past the Dao Inquiry Tree, He Lingchuan thought he heard soft whispers in his ears. Some were laughing, others speaking to him, and he seemed to sense their earnest advice and sincere admonitions.

Was this an elder from the Great Restoration Sect giving a lecture beneath the tree? But when he concentrated to listen, all he heard was the rustling of countless leaves. He Lingchuan had no time to ponder; he swung forward with his grappling hook. Without the jumping spider, he had quickly deployed his hook, making a perfect swing from the Dao Inquiry Tree and launching himself forty *zhang* through the air.

The voices beneath the tree instantly vanished, but he still clearly heard the last two words: "Ling Mountain!" So many whispering voices, all saying "Ling Mountain" to him. He Lingchuan landed back on the ground. For his second ascent, he was familiar with the technique, swinging directly to the edge of the hot spring pool.

This was the entrance where he had first dived into the earth's core and found Juju. He Lingchuan took out the turtle talisman from True Person Dongli and threw it into the pool. The water level rapidly receded, revealing a hidden passage below. He dove in. The underground cavern was no different from his last visit; the roots of the Dao Inquiry Tree extended deep into the area, and magma lay far beneath the surface, neither churning nor surging.

Just as He Lingchuan descended, Juju himself rose from the magma. Its body was heavily scarred and full of pits. He Lingchuan watched as it scooped up magma and pressed it onto its wounds. The magma quickly turned black, and the wounds rapidly shrank. After seizing the divine object, Juju had also abandoned the Star-Plucking Tower battlefield and traveled directly here, arriving two steps ahead of He Lingchuan.

He Lingchuan asked, puzzled, "Why aren't we trading outside?" Juju looked at the glowing red magma beneath its feet. "The rain outside is too annoying." Drops on its skin felt like sulfuric acid, causing excruciating pain. It had no desire to wait for He Lingchuan out in the open, being drenched. Of course, the most important reason, which it left unsaid, was that it needed to heal its injuries as quickly as possible.

Only by standing in the earth fire could it continuously replenish itself. What if that Shen Yuan could resist fire? At best, it wouldn't suffer fire damage, but it could never extract energy from the earth fire and heal quickly like Juju could. Juju secretly snorted. The two of them were simply not in the same league!

"I've brought what you asked for," Juju said, tossing an object onto the ground with a clang. "Our transaction is complete." The object was covered in bright red magma, which quickly solidified into black rock upon contact with the air.

He Lingchuan, unafraid of burning his hand, quickly picked it up. He could only discern its round, flat shape, with what appeared to be a pointed top, indeed resembling a pot lid. Wrapped in magma, its specific details were completely obscured. Most importantly, his divine bone necklace was heating up frantically, as if it would burn a hole through his neck.

Seeing how excited the Grand Square Pot was, Juju clearly hadn't swapped or mistaken the item. Under normal circumstances, He Lingchuan would have carefully removed the magma piece by piece to examine the Grand Square Pot's lid, which was stained with numerous lives, to see its true appearance.

But now was not the time; he feared prolonged complications. He Lingchuan raised the lid to his chest, tapped the back of his hand—seemingly storing it in his spatial ring, but in reality, the divine bone necklace absorbed it. With a whoosh, the lid vanished. He could feel the divine bone necklace's impatience. The moment the lid disappeared, the necklace cooled down.

"Now what?" He Lingchuan waited for two breaths. With the divine artifact complete again, shouldn't there be some welcome change? Although his pre-planned Mount Xu strategy hadn't accounted for the Grand Square Pot's transformation, any unexpected assistance would be more than welcome!

However, there was nothing. The divine bone necklace remained quiet, as if it had eaten its fill and fallen asleep. He Lingchuan stared, dumbfounded: "That's it?" He had gone through immense hardship to retrieve the lid, and he was still in mortal danger. Was this all the feedback the divine bone necklace was going to give him?

It was truly disheartening. He wondered if the Grand Square Pot could try to perform better, given the chance. Juju grew impatient, shaking the large bangle on its wrist to remind him, "The contract is complete; it's time to release the chains!" Oath chains could only be unlocked once the agreement was fulfilled, or when both parties consented.

"No, the agreement is that our cooperation is only complete when we leave the Mount Xu region!" He Lingchuan didn't give Juju an opportunity to take advantage. "We're not out of danger yet." All his tasks in Spirit Void City were now complete. The next step was to escape.

Escaping Mount Xu and Spirit Void City alive wouldn't be easy. Juju snorted, "Then let's go now."

"No, the Spider Fairy is still outside Tianji Peak, holding off the descending Heavenly God," He Lingchuan told him. "Do you know which great deity that is?" Zhu Erniang was helping him block the pursuers; how could he just abandon her and run?

"The one who descended might be Hundred Battles Heavenly; I don't want to fight it!" Juju extended a hand to him. "Get on! I can take the Spider Fairy with us, but we need to be quick. If the Demon Emperor seals that *gui* beast as a Mountain God, it will also gain the ability to travel through mountains." At that point, it would be difficult for them to shake off their pursuers.

He Lingchuan immediately jumped onto its palm. He knew that by "that *gui* beast," Juju was referring to Shen Yuan. Shen Yuan's power was terrifying; if it could travel through mountains like Juju, and with the addition of the descended Hundred Battles Heavenly, they would be in serious trouble.

Not to mention, they had already incited the wrath of the entire Spirit Void City. With a single command from the Emperor, countless great demons and skilled experts were undoubtedly rushing towards their location.

Time was of the essence. Every extra moment spent on Mount Xu increased their chances of failure. The immediate priority was to escape!

Only by escaping could they consider their next move. Juju closed its palm and submerged back into the magma. It knew Zhu Erniang's location precisely and could find her with a single dive and ascent.

However, just as Juju was surfacing, He Lingchuan felt it jolt violently, like a speeding train suddenly thrown off course, causing it to tumble twice underground. He immediately knew something was wrong. Had the pursuers arrived?