Chapter 857: Crazy Battle

Logically, the hand seals he formed should have forcibly summoned the Ghost Beasts.

He Jing gnashed his teeth in anger.

Among the four Ghost Beasts, this one was the most powerful. If it appeared to assist, the Heavenly Palace team's pressure would be significantly reduced.

But it was cowering and refused to come out! He didn't know what the problem was.

He Jing was not an expert in raising Ghost Beasts, but when he brought these four creatures out, the professionals had sworn they would respond to a summons!

If he managed to leave the secret realm alive, He Jing vowed to beat that scoundrel senseless when he returned!

Wait, cowering...? A thought struck him. Seeing that the servant boy's lips were a little dark, He Jing suddenly demanded, "Have you been secretly taking medicine?"

"I..." The servant boy flinched in fear, drenched in sweat. "I heard that the arrival of the Child-Devourer would cause us extreme pain, so I... I just took some Humateng."

Humateng was poisonous, but its most potent effect was sedation and pain relief.

Even though the servant boy was prepared to sacrifice himself to the gods, and knew that after his sacrifice, his family back in Beijia would live in luxury, and his brothers would have better futures... a primal fear still lingered in his heart when faced with such agonizing pain.

"Fool!" He Jing's face twitched in anger, then he added, "Never mind, I'll give you a hand."

Such pain indeed deterred others, but there was a reason why the Heavenly Palace required Child-Devourer hosts to remain conscious and drug-free when the Ghost Beasts emerged.

Ghost Beasts were inherently unsuited to inhabiting human bodies, and once they fell asleep, they were even harder to awaken. Using servant boys was a regrettable necessity for long-distance transport.

Yet this boy had gone and used powerful sedative Humateng!

The Ghost Beast within him would also absorb the effects of the Humateng. Now, it was well and truly unsummonable.

He Jing slapped the servant boy on the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious, then pulled out a pale gold candle from his pocket.

A small, faint white flame flickered on the candle. He pinched out this flame and pressed it with the back of his hand onto the servant boy's eyelids.

Although He Lingchuan could not hear their conversation, he could tell from He Jing's actions that the summoning of the last Ghost Beast had gone seriously wrong, and He Jing was trying to salvage the situation.

Unfortunately, He Jing's most effective lamp spirit had already been extinguished by the Shadow-Piercing Lamp, and this small flame, when pushed into the servant boy's body, had no effect for a long time.

He Jing waited while fighting, but eventually had to give up hope.

What a waste of such powerful combat potential!

Fortunately, the Scaled Crimson Tiger still obeyed commands, directly attracting the attention of the Que Beast King. Its hide was thick and tough, almost unaffected by the ice. The Que Beast King struck it away twice but instead injured its own palm, roaring in pain. From the wound, several faint lights drifted out and entered the Grand Square Pot in the tomb.

He Lingchuan narrowed his eyes.

He hadn't seen wrong, had he? The Que Beast King's body seemed to have shrunk slightly.

Was it because the ethereal light in its body had flown away?

Conversely, how large and how powerful was this Que Beast King originally?

And who had gravely wounded it in the first place?

The Heavenly Palace guards themselves were formidable in combat, and with the help of the three Child-Devourers, they managed to withstand the Que Beasts' assault and establish a battle formation.

This formation, known as the Northern Polaris Guard Formation, was composed of sixteen Polaris Stones. As long as an enemy was wounded, the formation could extract their vital energy and spirit to replenish its own warriors, achieving a sustainable combat state where their strength grew as the enemy's waned.

Additionally, the formation would periodically release "Polaris Spirits," which were humanoid battle puppets hidden within the Polaris Stones, capable of attacking enemies independently. They felt no pain or fear, making them excellent supplementary attackers.

With the battle formation and the Child-Devourers in place, the Heavenly Palace team's pressure was greatly reduced.

However, soon after, a massive tide of Que Beasts from afar also heard the commotion and joined the fray.

General Hong's Tomb, once spacious, was now packed with people and beasts, and various divine abilities flew wildly through the air.

He Lingchuan was glad he had slipped away earlier; otherwise, with such a high density of divine abilities, he would inevitably have been caught in the crossfire, even with Mount Boshan Lord's skin.

The Que Beast King paid him no mind, probably because the Heavenly Palace team's desperate attempts to retrieve the Grand Square Pot had drawn its full attention.

Observing both sides of the battle from a distance, he harbored some theories.

He Jing was a highly skilled individual, seemingly with a background in warfare. He fought with methodical precision, whether alone or in a group, and directed his entire team's movements with clear strategy.

He had been ambushed by He Lingchuan and suffered backlash from the lamp spirit. Anyone else might have collapsed after coughing up so much blood, yet He Jing was still fighting on the front lines, relieving significant pressure from the entire team.

In such a life-or-death situation, as a leader, he had no choice but to act.

He Lingchuan watched as He Jing killed more than a dozen Que Beasts before leaning on his mace, swallowing medicine, and regulating his breath.

With that physique and endurance, if he hadn't been injured, He Lingchuan would have been reluctant to confront him directly.

As for the Que Beasts: when these creatures were gravely injured or died, the ethereal light in their bodies was absorbed by the Grand Square Pot. To He Lingchuan, this looked more like "refinement."

Previously, there were no such monsters in the Grand Square Pot, but now they were rampaging throughout the Coiled Dragon Secret Realm. He Lingchuan's only conclusion was that these monsters actually originated from the Grand Square Pot's lid.

If the Grand Square Pot could collect the heroic spirits of Coiled Dragon City, then it made sense that its matching lid could collect monsters, right?

While the pot lid was hidden in the Star-Plucking Pavilion of Mount Xu, it was said to be revered, but it was also a seal, likely preventing the monsters from escaping.

Considering the sky-piercing red light, the chaotic battle before him, and the monsters' hatred for all humans, He Lingchuan could only surmise that the other end of the Miasma Temple's well truly connected to the Grand Square Pot's lid, allowing the monsters within the lid to surge into the Coiled Dragon Secret Realm.

For the adventuring teams entering the secret realm, each Que Beast they killed was equivalent to reducing a portion of the lid's resistance for the Grand Square Pot. The more they killed, the faster the Grand Square Pot could refine and assimilate the lid.

In summary, the Grand Square Pot was thoroughly exploiting the foreign teams this time, making them work themselves to death for its own benefit.

How sinister, how cunning! He Lingchuan grumbled to himself. His original purpose for entering the Coiled Dragon Secret Realm was simply to lure the Naraka celestial avatar down to solve the divine seal problem in his mind. Yet, in the end, he was once again helping this pot achieve its ulterior motives.

Its exploitation of him and everyone else was truly undisguised and utterly shameless.

But so far, he and the Grand Square Pot were a community of shared destiny; the stronger the Grand Square Pot became, the more advantageous it was for him. Besides, he didn't want the Heavenly Palace team to leave alive anyway.

He sighed, rubbing his temples.

How could he ensure the demise of all the people and beasts before him? Would their mutual destruction suffice?

The battle for General Hong's Tomb was intensifying.

Que Beasts of all sizes were rushing here from every corner of the Coiled Dragon Secret Realm, their numbers gradually increasing from two hundred to four hundred, five hundred, eight hundred...

And there was no end in sight.

Spectators wandering nearby had to slowly move further away from the battle to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

Everyone also admired the Heavenly Palace team.

Had it been the Blackwater City army, they would have been overrun long ago. But amidst such a terrifying stampede of beasts, the Heavenly Palace team not only held its ground but even pushed through the pressure, steadily advancing towards the tomb.

Their goal, singular and unwavering, was to seize the Grand Square Pot from the tomb.

However, the Heavenly Palace team was well aware of their struggles, as the enemy numbers were simply too great, and everyone in the battle formation was under immense pressure.

Why hadn't the agile Child-Devourers managed to retrieve the Grand Square Pot amidst the chaos?

The Que Beast King's defense of it was incredibly thorough. Besides dispatching several small demon-faced monkeys to specifically guard the pot, it also threw several fist-sized ice seeds into the tomb.

These ice seeds grew independently after landing, following the path of ice trees, ice rocks, and ice walls.

In just over ten breaths, General Hong's armor and the Grand Square Pot were completely encased in a massive ice block, over ten feet high and wide!

This move was truly dishonorable.

The Heart-Piercing Mantis had tried several times; the ice was not only incredibly thick and tough, but any holes made in it would reform within a few breaths. If it drilled in, it might get frozen itself.

The Child-Devourers alone lacked the strength to drag the ice block back.

Fu Liang fired several explosive arrows and shouted, "Lord Commander, the battle formation isn't drawing vital energy; it can't replenish us!"

When those arrows flew out, three would transform into more than twenty. If a Thunder-Rune was added, chain lightning could be seen leaping back and forth among the beasts, making their destructive power outstanding.

However, the battle had already lasted for over fifteen minutes. Everyone in the formation was panting, and several were so exhausted their hands trembled.

The bow in Fu Liang's hands felt heavier and heavier.

The Northern Polaris Guard Formation was a masterful creation, integrating attack, defense, and replenishment. Besides its offensive and defensive capabilities, it could also absorb the opponent's vital energy and blood to replenish the Heavenly Palace guards, achieving the goal of sustained combat where their strength increased as the enemy's dwindled. However, this special effect was not working at all; no one was receiving the replenishment of energy.

Was the formation improperly set up?

The Heavenly Palace members quickly checked.

No, there was nothing wrong with the Polaris Stones.

So, was the problem with these Que Beasts themselves?

From the bodies of the dead Que Beasts, ethereal lights again drifted out, flying towards the Grand Square Pot, even passing through the thick ice block.

He Jing's mouth tasted of rust. Several times, a sweet taste rose in his throat, and he felt like vomiting blood, but he forcibly suppressed it. He was the backbone of the entire team; if he collapsed from blood loss at this moment, the morale of the Heavenly Palace team would crumble.

"These Que Beasts aren't living creatures to begin with, so how can they have vital energy and blood?"

Fu Liang was startled. "W-What did you say?"

"What creature could survive for years inside the Grand Square Pot's lid?" He Jing gave a bitter smile. "These Que Beasts are probably manifestations from the Grand Square Pot's lid! They're so lifelike, alas!" Everyone had been deceived.

"Break formation and move forward!" he ordered decisively. "Move to the edge of the tomb; I will personally retrieve the Grand Square Pot!"

There were only ten zhang separating the battle formation and the tomb, but in the fierce combat, this distance felt like an insurmountable chasm. For He Jing to make the entire team advance, they would have to force the Que Beast horde to retreat, and they would have to push forward against the pressure of the Que Beast King!

Everyone was fighting with all their might just to maintain the current situation.

Advancing further would be extremely difficult.

But the Heavenly Palace attendants responded with a collective "Yes." Several who were exhausted from prolonged fighting pulled out black pills from their pockets and swallowed them. A few breaths later, they were revitalized, their legs no longer trembling, and they had the strength to wield their magical artifacts again, becoming even more ferocious than when they first entered the secret realm.