Chapter 1918: Wang Mengbin's Countermeasure

Deng Yunbo’s brow furrowed, his expression unusually grim. A cultivator at the perfected Nascent Soul stage, specializing in lightning arts, was indeed formidable.

They had originally intended to search for the Gold Ring Divine Crystal, but unexpectedly, the Zhong family had gotten there first. They had planned an ambush, but Wang Mengbin discovered their hiding place.

Deng Yunbo flicked his wrist, and over a hundred thousand silver lights flew out from his spirit beast bracelet. These silver lights were none other than silver beetles, each with a silver horn on its head and a pair of exposed, scythe-like fangs. They had slightly arched backs and a pair of hard, shimmering silver shells, beneath which were thin ant wings. Underneath their bellies were rows of scythe-like claws.

The King Beetle was three zhang long and had golden patterns on its abdomen.

This was a fourth-grade, high-rank Silver Horned Rhinoceros Beetle. Silver Horned Rhinoceros Beetles feed on metal ores, are impervious to swords and spears, and are difficult for magic treasures to harm. Their bodies can be used to refine defensive inner armor.

The King Beetle let out a strange hiss, and hundreds of thousands of Silver Horned Rhinoceros Beetles converged, transforming into a massive silver fork, over a hundred zhang long, that sped directly toward Wang Mengbin.

“Insect Control Art!”

Wang Mengbin’s eyes flashed with surprise, but he showed no fear. He clasped his hands in a spell, and the black thunderclouds high in the sky violently churned. Countless silver electric arcs surged out, blurring for a moment before suddenly forming a massive silver lightning net, ten thousand zhang in diameter, that descended from above.

Zhong Yunxiu shook her wrist, and a red silk ribbon shot out, spinning rapidly. Countless crimson firelights appeared out of thin air, transforming into crimson fireballs that smashed toward the giant silver fork.

The giant silver fork was struck by the dense crimson fireballs, and raging flames enveloped it.

Soon, a blinding silver light appeared within the flames, causing them to dissipate. The giant silver fork remained completely unharmed.

The giant silver fork, now entangled by the red silk ribbon three times over, suddenly disintegrated at its handle, turning into tens of thousands of Silver Horned Rhinoceros Beetles. They opened their mouths, tearing at the red silk ribbon, forcibly shredding it into pieces and devouring them.

A hint of triumph appeared at the corner of Deng Yunbo’s mouth. His ancestors, for three generations, had expended vast cultivation resources to cultivate these Silver Horned Rhinoceros Beetles. By his generation, he possessed hundreds of thousands of them. His divine sense could not control all of them; he took half, and the other half was given to his older brother, who, unfortunately, died in Fallen Immortal Valley.

Among the hundreds of thousands of Silver Horned Rhinoceros Beetles, there were a dozen fourth-grade ones and over a thousand third-grade ones. When formed into a weapon using the Insect Control Art, their defensive capabilities were comparable to defensive spirit treasures, and their offensive power was not weak either.

Soon, the red silk ribbon was largely consumed by the tens of thousands of Silver Horned Rhinoceros Beetles.

A flash of green light appeared, and a shimmering green gourd materialized above the silver fork. After spinning, the green gourd rapidly expanded in size, spraying out a misty green glow that enveloped the silver fork. The silver fork visibly shrank, being drawn into the green glow.

The green gourd quickly shrank back to its original size and flew toward Zhong Yunxiu.

After flying about a hundred zhang, the green gourd suddenly shook violently, and a faint clanging sound of metal could be heard.

Zhong Yunxiu performed a spell, and the green gourd immediately burst with green light, ceasing its shaking and flying towards her.

With a "crack," a tiny crack suddenly appeared on the surface of the green gourd. The crack grew larger, and countless dense silver threads shot out. The green gourd shattered into pieces, and hundreds of thousands of Silver Horned Rhinoceros Beetles flew out. After a blur, they once again transformed into a hundred-zhang-long silver fork, heading straight for Wang Mengbin.

A silver lightning net descended from the sky, enveloping the silver fork. Dense silver electric arcs struck the silver fork, producing muffled crackling sounds.

Deng Yunbo performed a spell, and the silver fork suddenly disintegrated, transforming into thousands of silver arrows that streaked across the sky like meteors, striking toward Wang Mengbin.

A rumbling sound of thunder came from high above, and dense silver lightning bolts descended from the sky, striking the silver arrows. The silver arrows immediately fell from the sky, one by one.

At this moment, the thousands of silver arrows were less than fifty zhang from Wang Mengbin.

With a flash of silver light, the silver arrows each sprayed out delicate silver threads that intertwined, forming an immense net that enveloped Wang Mengbin.

The surface of the giant net was covered in multicolored spirit runes, appearing like a spiderweb when viewed from above.

This giant net was not formed by spiritual power. Instead, it was made from a special material produced within the Silver Horned Rhinoceros Beetles after they consumed large amounts of metal ores. This material was metallic and could be used for refining artifacts. It was also the most important and powerful substance on the Silver Horned Rhinoceros Beetles.

The silk threads sprayed by the King Beetle were covered in five types of spirit runes—gold, red, green, blue, and yellow—and their power was comparable to a spirit treasure. Even a defensive spirit treasure would not be able to withstand being ensnared by this net.

Wang Mengbin naturally wouldn't surrender. He was about to use his lightning escape technique to evade, but just then, a loud dragon roar sounded, making Wang Mengbin’s head buzz. To his horror, he found himself unable to mobilize any spiritual power.

Deng Yunbo held a palm-sized golden bell in his hand. A miniature flood dragon was coiled on the bell, exuding overwhelming spiritual energy.

This was the Golden Flood Dragon Bell, one of the Deng family’s three great ancestral treasures. This time, to obtain the Gold Ring Divine Crystal, the Deng family had gone to great lengths.

Zhong Yunxiu’s beautiful face changed dramatically. She tried to intervene, but hundreds of green flying swords shot toward her, sealing off all her escape routes.

She bit her red lips lightly, opened her mouth, and three rays of red light flew out. These were three red flags, shimmering with unstable red light and emitting terrifying fire spiritual energy, clearly spirit treasures.

As the most promising cultivator in the Zhong family to advance to the Deity Transformation stage, Zhong Yangming had spent a fortune to hire the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Soldier Sect to refine a set of spirit treasures for her. The Heavenly Soldier Sect was one of the foremost sects in the Azure World, skilled in artifact refining, and had powerful backing in the Spirit Realm.

A red light flashed, and the three shimmering red flags spun around her. Raging flames surged out, striking the incoming flying swords.

Loud explosions erupted, and fire waves surged like tides, with large amounts of flames scattering onto the ground.

At this moment, the enormous net approached Wang Mengbin, less than a zhang away, seemingly about to slice him into countless fragments.

Just at this critical juncture, a blue spiritual light flew out from the bottom of the sea, striking the enormous net precisely.

The massive net instantly stopped, as if frozen.

“Who dares to ruin my good deed?”

Deng Yunbo was furious. If it had been just a moment later, he would have killed his opponent and obtained a flying spirit treasure.

They had intended to ambush Zhong Yangming and his group, having lain in wait for some time, but they hadn't expected a third party hiding in the shadows.

The sea surface suddenly exploded, and countless yellow flying swords shot out, cutting toward Deng Yunbo.

At the same time, an urgent zither melody sounded, and a misty sound wave flew from the seabed, instantly arriving before Deng Yunbo.

Deng Yunbo was startled. He gently flicked his wrist, and after a deafening dragon roar, the Golden Flood Dragon Bell suddenly spouted a misty golden sound wave, meeting the incoming attack.

With a thunderous crash, the two sound waves canceled each other out.

The dense yellow flying swords reached him. Deng Yunbo quickly summoned two misty green orbs, which spun around him, forming a thick green light barrier that enveloped his entire body. Simultaneously, tens of thousands of Silver Horned Rhinoceros Beetles flew out from his spirit beast bracelet, instantly transforming into silver armor that protected his entire body.

With muffled “clanging” sounds, the dense flying swords were entirely blocked by the green light barrier.

Zheng Nan and Cheng Zhenyu flew out from the seabed, their expressions cold.

As two of the few Nascent Soul cultivators Wang Mengbin trusted in the Azure World, they naturally accompanied him on his treasure hunt in Fallen Immortal Valley.

Cheng Zhenyu performed a spell, and all the flying swords instantly merged into one, forming a colossal, misty yellow sword that, with unstoppable momentum, cleaved down upon the green light barrier.

With a rumbling thud, the green light barrier shattered into pieces. The colossal sword struck the silver armor, leaving only a shallow cut.

“If not for the help of my two friends, you would have succeeded.”

A man’s voice, devoid of emotion, suddenly came from behind him.

Deng Yunbo was startled. He suddenly realized something and looked across to where Wang Mengbin had been—Wang Mengbin was gone. He had suddenly appeared behind Deng Yunbo, his lightning roc wings on his back strikingly visible.

Countless silver electric arcs surged from Wang Mengbin’s body, and blinding silver lightning engulfed Deng Yunbo’s figure. Faintly, Deng Yunbo’s screams could be heard.