Chapter 861: Inevitable Fate

Previously, he had entered the secret realm unknowingly, preventing Naluotian from contacting him. Now that the secret realm had faded, Naluotian was desperate to speak with him.

An avatar, sent down at He Chunhua's request, had vanished without a trace. There was no way Naluotian would let him off the hook!

He Chunhua grimaced, telling his subordinates, "Let's return to the oasis. Send out more people to separately investigate the whereabouts of both the Rongshan people and the Andong people."

The longer this dragged on, the fiercer the gods' wrath would become.

Even He Chunhua, with all his arrogance, did not wish to offend "Destiny."

Finding the Rongshan people might lead them to He Lingchuan.

Soon after, He Chunhua returned to the South Gate and led the Blackwater City army away from the Panlong ruins.

They had arrived full of vigor, but departed in despair.

Only after they had left did a group of people emerge from behind the sand dunes outside Panlong City—Qiu Hu and the other Rongshan disciples.

"We're not going back to the oasis," Qiu Hu said, crushing the tabby cat mask in his hand and then setting it on fire. "We're going to Baiyuan Inn. The Young Master said to wait for him there if we got separated."

Where was He Lingchuan?

Still inside the secret realm.

Before beheading He Jing, he had pulled the Great Square Pot from General Hong's gauntlet.

While He Jing and others struggled endlessly to pull the treasure free, a light flick of his finger was all it took for it to drop into his hand.

Amidst the chaos, he, wearing Lord Boshan’s skin, quickly bounded away from the battlefield, taking cover behind some semi-collapsed low-rise buildings.

Everyone else had joined the battle for the Great Square Pot; his only intention was to kill.

As the roar of the King of Que Beasts erupted nearby, he was examining the small pot in his hand.

The pot was tiny and unremarkable.

He wiped it, and as the grime flaked away, its true appearance was revealed beneath.

It was neither gold nor porcelain; its material was unidentifiable.

The pot's surface featured finely carved patterns of flowers, birds, mountains, and water. He Lingchuan looked at it and couldn't help but smile. "Just as I thought," he murmured.

He had seen this pot before, in the Panlong world.

Most of the time, it sat on Zhong Shengguang’s curio shelf in his living room. When Zhong Shengguang was seated, it was always to his right.

Every time He Lingchuan visited, he would see it.

Zhong Shengguang seemed quite fond of it, as it was always polished bright and dust-free.

If this thing was the Great Square Pot, He Lingchuan would eat it!

Suddenly, an iron fist descended from above, and the roof was smashed to smithereens with a loud crack.

The King of Que Beasts had arrived, heading straight for his hiding spot.

As bricks and stones rattled down, He Lingchuan squinted, sprang up, and backhanded the pot at the beast.

The King of Que Beasts didn't dodge.

With a *smack*, the pot shattered cleanly into pieces against its body.

If He Chunhua, Bao Guanjie, and the others had witnessed this scene, what would they have felt? And as for He Jing, would he have been so enraged to discover that the "Great Square Pot" he died for was a fake, that he'd somehow come back to life?

He Lingchuan recalled that the pot had always been clutched in General Hong’s battle armor.

So, did General Hong trick everyone, or did the Great Square Pot intentionally mislead them?

*Tsk*, did General Hong have such a perverse sense of humor?

He dashed past a broken beam and sprinted outside.

He was agile, but the King of Que Beasts, with its height, long legs, and huge strides, was hot on his heels.

Hey, wait! He had been promised that his personal safety in the secret realm would be guaranteed!

They couldn't go back on their word.

He also quickly donned his mask, but when he ran outside, he saw that General Hong's tomb was already deserted.

To be precise, there were no living people left, only a scattering of corpses.

How could the other teams have withdrawn so quickly and thoroughly?

Just then, something ahead lit up, remarkably conspicuous in the dark night.

He Lingchuan looked up and saw that it was General Hong's armor inside the tomb, once again emitting a dazzling red light.

The light was warm and inviting, almost as if beckoning him.

With more and more Que Beasts closing in behind him, He Lingchuan changed direction and sprinted towards the tomb.

The Great Square Pot had a good reputation; this time, he chose to trust it too.

The King of Que Beasts, leaping along behind him, was no slower than he was!

Just then, the Soul-Absorbing Mirror in his arms shrieked, "Beware of the green light, look out ahead—"

The words "green light" sent a shiver down He Lingchuan's spine.

Sure enough, a green light emerged from behind the tomb, hurtling directly towards him.

He didn’t know how long it had been ambushing there. It was only slightly larger than a firefly, seemingly insignificant, yet it exuded an intense malevolence. Most terrifying of all, its speed was deceptive; what appeared slow was actually incredibly fast. The moment He Lingchuan spotted it, the distance between them was already less than ten *zhang*.

Ten *zhang*—a mere blink of an eye for anyone.

He Lingchuan was horrified.

Naluotian’s avatar!

The very same Naluotian avatar that had vanished suddenly from the dome, which even the colossal red figure couldn't locate!

While He Lingchuan had remained uneasy, it had been nowhere to be found. Now, just when he thought everything had settled, this insidious entity had reappeared!

Where had it been hiding? And how had it entered the Panlong secret realm?

Was this truly his inescapable fate?

Even He Lingchuan, with his iron will, felt a bone-chilling dread and despair in the face of that tiny green light.

After plotting for so long, where had he gone wrong?

At that critical juncture, a sudden burning sensation on his wrist abruptly pulled him back to his senses.

The Great Wind Army's mark lit up, glowing fiery red in the darkness.

He remembered General Hong’s instructions.

Had it foreseen the danger he would face, and therefore gone to such lengths to overcome the Great Square Pot's resistance and brand the mark onto his hand?

But the green light was hurtling from the direction of the tomb; before he could reach General Hong's armor, it would likely collide with Naluotian’s avatar.

He Lingchuan stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the glowing speck.

It appeared as though he was so desperate he had given up resisting.

Naluotian’s avatar suddenly accelerated, trailing a thin green line through the air. The King of Que Beasts also closed in, its colossal paw reaching for He Lingchuan.

Caught in a pincer attack, did he even have a third option?

He Lingchuan could even see the glow of Naluotian’s avatar reflected in his eyes.

It was too close.

Naluotian’s avatar was, after all, one step ahead of the King of Que Beasts. It had gone to great lengths to evade the Great Square Pot's pursuit and had specifically taken a roundabout way to emerge. Now, it was finally about to get what it desired!

In this multi-sided contest, there would ultimately be only one winner: Naluotian.

The divine vessel and the Great Square Pot—both would be its!

But just as it lunged at He Lingchuan, he suddenly vanished.

An illusion?

No, that’s not right! The young man had instantly teleported.

With He Lingchuan gone, the King of Que Beasts lost its target, and its massive paw swiped past, inadvertently aiming for the green light.

The glowing speck couldn’t dodge in time.

The King of Que Beasts clapped its colossal paw together, as if grasping something solid, and then stuffed it into its gaping maw—

*Gulp*, it swallowed.

Not far away, He Lingchuan reappeared inside the tomb, right next to General Hong’s battle armor.

From that angle, the armor's upright and sturdy silhouette looked exactly like a real person.

Earlier, during the ambush on He Jing, he had discreetly tossed the Ghost Cicada Exoskeleton into the tomb. The dim light and chaotic situation meant that neither the grave robbers nor Le Zhengqing noticed the inconspicuous, tiny translucent shell.

General Hong had instructed him to activate the armor at the appropriate time, meaning he needed to stay mobile and not stray too far from this precious item.

Indeed, this contingency plan had proven useful.

However, He Lingchuan was also dumbfounded to see the King of Que Beasts swallow the glowing speck.

What... what just happened?

The monster sent by the pot lid devoured Naluotian’s avatar?

How was that possible?

In just two breaths, the King of Que Beasts suddenly exhaled two plumes of white vapor from its nostrils, its gaze at him becoming strangely meaningful.

Its pupils had turned a faint green.

"Uh, no way?" He Lingchuan inwardly groaned. Could it be that even the Great Square Pot's lid couldn't suppress Naluotian's avatar?

It couldn’t be what he was thinking, could it?

"So, you are the petty thief who stole the Great Square Pot," the King of Que Beasts said, opening its mouth and emitting a perfectly human voice under He Lingchuan's incredulous gaze. "Who would have thought it was my own vessel that turned the Heavenly Palace upside down!"

Its gaze, its voice, and its manner of speaking were unlike anything a monster could possess.

"Naluotian?" He Lingchuan’s palms began to sweat.

The very scene he had tried so hard to avoid had finally materialized.

Though typically composed, his heart couldn't help but race—it was the terror of "destiny."

Yet, having overcome so many dangers to reach this point, he wouldn't give up easily. He Lingchuan slowly exhaled, stared directly into the face of this so-called "fate," and desperately cast aside his useless emotions. "You can just possess a Que Beast at will?"

Great! The two major problems he and the Great Square Pot faced—the celestial god’s avatar and the King of Que Beasts—had actually merged!

And the effect seemed to be more than just one plus one.

Naluotian’s avatar chuckled softly.

Despite the various twists and turns, now that it was time to confront He Lingchuan directly, it was no longer in a hurry. As it chuckled, the King of Que Beasts’ massive form began to shrink, its white fur shedding, its beastly face fading…

In just a few breaths, the colossal yeti-like monster transformed into…

…an old man with white hair and a long beard, clad in flowing robes, exuding an ethereal aura even more profound than Sect Master Xue of the Rongshan Sect.

His eyes, however, remained a light green.

"A Que Beast? This is San Shui Zhenren, an ancient immortal and one of the creators of the Great Square Pot." The old man, controlled by Naluotian's avatar, pulled a treasured sword from his sleeve with movements as graceful as strumming a zither. "After his death, his lingering soul was absorbed into the Qinling Bao Gai and forcibly merged with the Que Beast, unable to find release for thousands of years."

Qinling Bao Gai? He Lingchuan heard a new term. Did it refer to the Great Square Pot’s lid?

The Great Square Pot's lid had its own name?

"Just now..." He Lingchuan’s throat felt dry; he swallowed before he could speak again. "Where did you hide?"

This was a question that had baffled him.

He Lingchuan’s shocked expression brought Naluotian’s avatar great satisfaction.

"Before the Great Square Pot could deal with me, the Qinling Bao Gai took me away first," it said with a faint smile. "If I hadn’t spent so much time communicating with it, I would have come in and found you long ago."

He Lingchuan suddenly understood.

No wonder even the Great Square Pot couldn’t locate Naluotian. It turned out that the avatar had found a sanctuary first.

The lid had refused to yield to the Great Square Pot, and the struggle between these two divine artifacts had persisted for a long time. It was indeed a clever move for Naluotian’s avatar to exploit this opportunity.