Seeing the two Night Walkers who had died without a sound, Zhang Yuanqing felt the hair on his arms stand on end. The Pure Yang Sect Master's condition was like a dried-up lake; he had no level restrictions, because he was a weakened Dominator.
Given enough lunar and astral energy, he could swiftly restore himself to his peak.
The death of those two Night Walkers set alarm bells blaring in Zhang Yuanqing's head.
Having devoured their lunar energy, the Pure Yang Sect Master was now undeniably among the very best of the Transcendent stage.
The stronger the enemy grew, the more perilous their situation became.
"Did you see him make a move?" Zhang Yuanqing asked, staring into Yin Ji's eyes.
Yin Ji gave a slight shake of her head, guilt coloring her voice. "I didn't notice..."
Everything had been utter chaos, and she had barely been able to protect herself. She had initially kept an eye on her two sect brothers, but after Yuanshi Tianzun tackled her to the floor, she lost sight of them.
Zhang Yuanqing had been in the same boat. He let out a heavy sigh. "I didn't catch it either."
A fierce sense of crisis welled up inside him. He cycled through every skill and item in his mind, and his thoughts landed on Little Red Riding Hood.
Little Red Riding Hood contained its own independent space. If he pulled everyone inside, it might save their lives.
The problem was that doing so would leave him alone to face the Dominator-grade item.
If he died, the people trapped inside Little Red Riding Hood wouldn't survive either.
And alone, his chances of dying to a Dominator-grade item were practically one hundred percent.
There was strength in numbers. Even setting aside the search for the Pure Yang Sect Master, having more people meant they could share the danger when facing the item's lethal trials, just like with the previous volley of arrows.
As his mind raced, the question that had puzzled him from the start surfaced once again:
*If the Pure Yang Sect Master is right here in this dining hall, where on earth is he hiding? A spirit form could never escape my eyes and Yin Ji's. Unless... my line of reasoning was wrong from the very beginning, and he never possessed anyone at all...*
The moment that thought arose, Liu Zhiyi's panicked shriek shattered the air. "The second wave of arrows is coming!"
Screams from Xie Lingyun, Manyan, and several other female guests joined in.
Energy arrows were rematerializing across the illusory round table.
Even the Saints' faces went pale. Surviving the first wave had come down to two factors: the protection of their items, and sheer luck that let them scrape by through gaps in the barrage.
Yet their items were already damaged, and luck was not something that lasted forever.
"Screw it!" Ling Jun's expression turned fierce. Retracting the rattan armor from his body, he grabbed a stone tablet from his inventory and slammed it into the floor before him.
A hazy yellow glow surged upward, forming a thick, sturdy wall.
At the same time, his body abruptly grew limp. His legs pressed together and fused; his arms pulled back into his torso; and pitch-black scales pierced through his skin. His form swelled massively, transforming into a giant, black-scaled python as thick as a water vat.
His expanding body shoved aside tables, chairs, and scattered furniture, grinding broken wine glasses, tumblers, and porcelain shards to fine dust.
In the blink of an eye, the massive serpent took up half the dining hall.
The black-scaled python parted its gaping maw and spoke in a human voice:
"Quick! Gather around me and hide behind my body!"
Miao Teng'er was the first to react, darting nimbly behind her cousin's barrel-thick frame.
Ling Jun coiled his body swiftly, encircling her in the center and using his bulk to shield her.
By then, arrow after arrow was rapidly taking shape. The second volley was imminent.
"Hurry, get inside!" Ling Jun bellowed.
"It's useless! You can't block that! Run! Get to the rooms next door!" Liu Zhiyi suffered a complete mental breakdown, dashing heedlessly toward the lounge at the back of the dining hall.
His panic triggered a herd mentality. Many people lost their composure entirely, spinning on their heels to flee.
Ling Jun roared, "Don't panic! Don't run! Running is completely pointless!"
This was a Dominator-grade item, and its arrows targeted everyone. Believing reinforced concrete walls could stop them was gravely underestimating what a Dominator could do.
Yet his words fell on deaf ears. Terror detonated in the crowd's hearts. The guests fled like startled rats, scrambling toward the restrooms and lounges—hardly acting like seasoned Spirit Realm walkers who had survived countless battles.
The Pure Yang Sect Master was spreading fear once again, seizing upon the terror within their hearts with surgical precision and magnifying it.
*If this continues, everyone is going to die...* Zhang Yuanqing turned to Yin Ji and instructed in a low voice, "Hide behind Ling Jun."
With that, he dissolved into a flash of starlight, reappearing right in front of the fleeing crowd. He raised his hand and swiped it across his face.
A brilliant golden lacquer shone across his forehead and washed down his cheeks like flowing water, while pigments of black and crimson outlined his eyes and mouth, painting an imposing, righteous, and fearsome opera mask.
"Get back there!" Zhang Yuanqing barked in fury.
Those who had lost their nerve were the ordinary staff and Transcendent walkers. If the Pure Yang Sect Master could manipulate their minds, the golden mask could just as easily cow them.
The Military Soul Mask was a Saint-grade item; even Saints would be swayed by its authority.
The panicking crowd came to a dead halt in unison. A deep dread welled up within them, compelling them to obey his command without conscious thought.
Seeing everyone turn back to take shelter behind Ling Jun, Yin Ji breathed a sigh of relief. She cast a deep look at Yuanshi Tianzun and said, "Come over here..."
With that, she vaulted over the serpent's body and joined the crowd.
Ling Jun coiled his massive form tight, encircling everyone inside. Layer upon layer of thick coils rose like a towering black fortress wall.
Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the stone tablet planted in front of the giant serpent, then looked at the arrows ready to unleash their fury. His heart grew exceedingly heavy.
The stone tablet was a Saint-grade item and could only hold out for a fleeting moment. Though Ling Jun possessed formidable defense in his python form, how could mere flesh and blood withstand such a monstrous barrage?
Even if they weathered this wave, what about the third?
They seemed to have walked straight into a dead end.
Just then, his gaze drifted downward to the battered Purple Thunder Shield in his grasp. The cracked face of the shield showed a faint purple glow that had filled a third of its surface.
A thought struck Zhang Yuanqing. If he could absorb a substantial portion of the arrow attack and fully charge the shield, he could unleash its stored energy to ward off the third wave.
Once activated, its energy could negate a single attack of any power level.
That was its absolute rule.
*It's worth a shot!*
He quickly produced the Unyielding Heart Mirror, leaped onto the serpent's coils, and landed right beside its head. "Ling Jun, swallow this."
He thrust the mirror forward.
Without a second thought, Ling Jun opened his massive maw and swallowed the item whole.
Next, Zhang Yuanqing shifted the Purple Thunder Shield into its Purple Thunder Hammer form and then switched it right back into the shield. In an instant, the round buckler was completely restored to pristine condition.
Above the illusory table, the arrows finished solidifying.
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
The second volley screamed through the air.
Zhang Yuanqing dropped flat at once, thrusting his shield high to protect the serpent's head.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
A dense hail of arrows slammed into the hazy yellow wall. Energy exploded, detonating into dazzling halos of light.
It held for barely two seconds. After absorbing roughly a third of the arrows, the stone tablet crumbled into shattered dirt and gravel.
The remaining arrows rained down, instantly engulfing Ling Jun.
The Unyielding Heart Mirror held for only a single second before its golden protective barrier was torn to shreds.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Energy arrows detonated against Ling Jun's scaly coils, sending scales and torn flesh flying in every direction. With each blast, his massive body shuddered, instinctively coiling tighter against the agony.
He was enduring excruciating pain.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
After absorbing three arrows, the face of Zhang Yuanqing's raised shield shattered.
He had no choice but to pull it back, shift its form, and hoist it overhead once more.
By now, the skin between his thumb and forefinger had split wide open. Blood ran down his arm and seeped into his armpit, and the shockwaves of exploding energy raked across his body in agonizing waves.
"Aaargh!"
A bloodcurdling scream erupted from within the serpent's coils.
An arrow had blasted clean through Ling Jun's body, piercing his fleshy barrier, and the guest standing directly behind that breach was obliterated by the subsequent projectiles.
At the same time, Zhang Yuanqing realized that Ling Jun had stopped moving altogether. Snapping his head down, he saw that the serpent's head—sheltered beneath his own body—had lost its focus, its vertical pupils dilated and lifeless.
Ling Jun was dead.
Finally, after the Purple Thunder Shield shattered and reset three times, the second wave of arrows came to an end.
Covered in wounds, Zhang Yuanqing slumped down against the still serpent, sliding to the floor.
He shifted the weapon once more to restore the buckler to pristine condition. The entire face of the shield was now washed in a deep, vibrant purple radiance, signaling that its energy was fully charged.
*It worked!*
Backing away with the shield, Zhang Yuanqing drew out the Mountain God Scepter and began quietly mending his injuries.
On the other side, the surviving guests crawled out from the perforated coils one by one, their faces bathed in the relief of having cheated death. Yet the moment they looked back at the illusory round table, where another set of arrows was already beginning to form, sheer dread gripped them again.
Yin Ji climbed out from beneath the coils and looked around, searching for Yuanshi Tianzun right away. Only when she spotted him standing quietly in the distance, wearing the golden mask and nursing his wounds, did she breathe a sigh of relief.
"There's still a third wave coming! Think of something! We just need to block it one more time and it'll be over!" Liu Zhiyi, a third-generation walker, pleaded with the crowd, his eyes practically begging.
Everyone avoided his gaze.
"Even Ling Jun is dead. Who else can help? He had the highest level here. Is there a Mountain God among us? Even if there were, a Mountain God couldn't protect this many people," someone remarked bleakly.
"Who else has defensive items? Don't hold back now! Take them out!" Liu Zhiyi grew hysterical.
"Our defensive items were destroyed in the first wave! Besides, what good are ordinary items? Can you pull out a Dominator-grade defense?" Broken Bridge Residual Blood snapped back, thoroughly irritated.
A female guest began to weep.
"Are... are we all going to die? If I had known, I never would have come to this dinner. I... I don't want to die..."
Xie Lingyun, fragile at the best of times, immediately teared up.
The Deacons possessed stronger wills, yet facing life and death, none of them could remain composed. Every face was grim, masking deep-seated terror.
Just then, the dead eyes of the black serpent flickered with a spark of vitality. Its massive form contracted rapidly, shifting back into human shape.
*Cough! Cough!*
Ling Jun had revived. His complexion was pallid and sickly as he coughed violently, visibly drained.
Miao Teng'er had already stripped the black shirt and trousers from a fallen security guard and handed them to her cousin with deep concern.
Seeing Ling Jun wake up, Liu Zhiyi pressed forward urgently. "Ling Jun, do you have any more tricks? Use them, fast! You're the son of the Taiyi Sect Master; you must have Dominator-grade items! Step up and take the front line again!"
The rest of the crowd looked at Ling Jun with desperate hope.
Ling Jun gasped for breath, lacking even the strength to speak.
Liu Zhiyi urged frantically, "Hurry up! The third wave is almost here!"
Miao Teng'er's brows knitted in anger. "Aren't you an elder's grandson too? Why don't you have any Dominator-grade items?"
"I..." Liu Zhiyi found himself at a loss for words, then snarled, "Why are you taking it out on me? Aren't I doing this for everyone's sake?"
He then swung his gaze toward Yin Ji, yelling, "Yin Ji, weren't you the Demon Lord's old lover? Didn't he leave you any treasures? Did you let him sleep with you for nothing?"
Yin Ji froze, a flash of indignation crossing her eyes.
"Watch your mouth!" a Deacon barked.
"Like hell I will! I'm about to die, and I can't even speak my mind?" Liu Zhiyi glared back, completely unfazed by the Deacon's authority.
Pushed to the brink, he was ready to burn every bridge.
"And you!" Liu Zhiyi turned on Miao Teng'er next. "Didn't the Demon Lord sleep with you too? Don't think I don't know about the sordid history between you two! The Demon Lord had treasures out the wazoo; did he really leave you nothing to save your life? If you hadn't thrown this stupid dinner party, would we be in this mess? You're a Beast King too—show some initiative, transform, and protect us!"
Miao Teng'er trembled with fury.
A white-haired elder stepped forward, placing himself between the two of them and glaring darkly at Liu Zhiyi. "Young Miss is only Level 4. Even if she transformed, she couldn't withstand those arrows. Insult her again, and don't blame me for turning on you."
"What a joke! Turn on me? Kill me if you've got the guts! None of us are making it out alive anyway!" Liu Zhiyi spat violently onto the floor. "A Saint, yet completely useless. All you know how to do is throw your weight around in front of me!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he let out a sharp cry of agony, clutching his head and dropping to his knees.
The sudden shriek startled the jumpy crowd. Like frightened birds, they snapped their heads toward the illusory table, only to see the arrows were still gathering.
One of the Saints glanced toward Yuanshi Tianzun, standing not far away.
Only then did the guests realize what had happened, staring in shock at Yuanshi Tianzun. Liu Zhiyi was a direct descendant of an elder, born of prestigious lineage—and Yuanshi Tianzun had dared to strike him directly?
Still wearing the golden opera mask, Zhang Yuanqing walked over. He glanced first at Yin Ji, then at Miao Teng'er, and said:
"You are both Saints. Why didn't you hit him? You fought through life-and-death scenarios to clear instances and gain power beyond ordinary mortals—what was it for?"
He stepped forward and planted a vicious kick right into Liu Zhiyi's gut.
*Thud!*
Liu Zhiyi curled into a tight ball like a boiled shrimp, clutching his stomach as he vomited a mixture of food and bile.
"It was so that when a dog barks, you have the power to butcher it," Zhang Yuanqing said. He ground his boot down on Liu Zhiyi's face, grinding it into the filth on the floor. Looking at Miao Teng'er, he asked, "Are you afraid of the elder behind him? Or did his mention of the Demon Lord make you feel guilty and insecure? The Demon Lord was the Demon Lord. What does that have to do with you?"
Miao Teng'er stared at him in a daze.
Slumped casually on the floor, Ling Jun let out a soft laugh. "Teng'er, if the man you met back then had been him, wouldn't that have been wonderful?"
*Wait, Mentor, didn't you forbid me from hitting on your cousin?* Zhang Yuanqing turned his gaze toward Yin Ji. "Kind people get bullied. Be too gentle, and people will walk all over you."
Yin Ji offered a helpless, bitter smile.
"Yuanshi Tianzun, you dare touch me? My grandfather won't let—" Liu Zhiyi hissed through gritted teeth.
Before he could finish, Zhang Yuanqing's boot crashed into his face, bloodying his mouth and knocking out two front teeth.
A dead silence fell over the dining hall. Everyone knew Yuanshi Tianzun was arrogant and wild, bold enough to slay official walkers, but seeing him in action with their own eyes was entirely different from mere rumors.
This was not a man anyone could afford to cross.
Yet to several of the female guests, that untamed streak was undeniably charming.
Gaoshan Liushui glanced at the round table and broke the silence in a low voice:
"The arrows are coming. Everyone, get ready..."
Terror seized the crowd once more.
Zhang Yuanqing wasted no more words. Tossing out a single sentence—"Everyone behind me"—he marched straight toward the illusory table.
*What is he doing?*
The guests gathered together instinctively, their eyes tracking Yuanshi Tianzun's back.
Right on cue, the third wave of arrows finished condensing and swept down upon them in a sky-blotting torrent.
Xie Lingyun and the other women screamed, instinctively turning to flee. But then they saw Yuanshi Tianzun raise his buckler.
A deep purple radiance flared, solidifying into a colossal circular shield that soared all the way to the ceiling, walling off every incoming arrow.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The thunderous detonations resembled firecrackers, deafeningly loud as they reverberated through the spacious dining hall.
An astonishing scene unfolded: the arrows that had previously punched through every defense, shattering even Saint-grade items, could not leave a single mark on the energy shield.
The blinding glare from the exploding arrows distorted Yuanshi Tianzun's silhouette. Yet in the eyes of the onlookers, that figure stood as immovable and towering as Mount Tai.
A moment later, the dazzling halo of light dispersed, and the roar of explosions subsided.
The third volley was over.
Yuanshi Tianzun stood unscathed with his shield in hand. The deep purple barrier, which had radiated an immense sense of security, slowly dissolved into nothingness.
"We made it! We survived the arrows!"
A few seconds later, cheers erupted from the crowd, and several women burst into tears of joy.
Even composed Saints like Gaoshan Liushui could not hide their relief.
"If you had such a divine artifact, why didn't you pull it out earlier? You made me die for nothing," Ling Jun grumbled, leaning weakly against his cousin.
Miao Teng'er's delicate face shone with the joy of surviving disaster.
She stole a glance at Yuanshi Tianzun.
Then she noticed Yin Ji stepping forward, asking softly, "Are you alright?"
Yuanshi Tianzun shook his head. "Pity it can only be used once."
Miao Teng'er quietly averted her gaze, looking no further.
Broken Bridge Residual Blood stared at the shield with open envy. Quashing the jealousy in his chest, he called out a warning:
"From what I've observed, this game gets more dangerous the longer it goes on. If we still can't ferret out the Pure Yang Sect Master, the next round will very likely wipe us all out."
His words splashed like a bucket of icy water over everyone's spirits.
Zhang Yuanqing put away the shield. "He won't be able to hide much longer."
"What plan do you have?" Broken Bridge Residual Blood pressed.
Ignoring him, Zhang Yuanqing opened his mouth and exhaled a wisp of yin energy, which coalesced upon touching the ground into a chubby, adorable infant spirit with sparse baby hair.
Next, he retrieved the Treasure Hunting Cloak and draped it over Little Doubi.
"Treasure Seeking!" Zhang Yuanqing patted his son's head and gave the command.
This was an idea that had come to him during the second volley. Since this ancient cultivator possessed such boundless methods and could not be detected, it was time to change approaches.
Stop searching for him. Search for treasure instead.
Find the true form of 'Grimm's Great Adventure.'
As long as an item was not stored inside an inventory, it had to have a physical vessel. The illusory round table was merely a projection of its abilities, not the artifact itself.
Once he located the item and tossed it into his inventory, what threat would the Pure Yang Sect Master pose?
Little Doubi began crawling around the dining hall, pausing occasionally to glance left and right before scurrying along on all fours.
He first crawled up to a shattered item, looking back at his master as if begging for praise.
Zhang Yuanqing shook his head. "Not that one. Keep looking!"
Little Doubi scuttled over to a second fragment.
"Not that one either. Keep going!"
Zhang Yuanqing appeared patient on the surface, but inwardly he was growing anxious.
Time was limited, but Little Doubi's treasure-seeking ability prioritized whatever valuable item was closest to him. Getting impatient wouldn't help; they had to sift through them one by one.
Two minutes, four minutes, six minutes, eight minutes... Time ticked away. At last, Little Doubi had located every single item fragment in the dining hall.
Zhang Yuanqing rejected every one of them.
The infant spirit raised his head with its sparse patches of hair, looking all around.
As his gaze wandered, it locked onto the comatose golden retriever. Dropping his head, he swiftly paddled his limbs toward it.
*A dog?!* Zhang Yuanqing's pupils contracted slightly.
*The item is hidden on the dog?*
*Then the Pure Yang Sect Master... I already pulled the dog's soul out, so he couldn't have possessed the golden retriever. But if he's hiding on the dog, there's only one possibility...* Having grasped the Pure Yang Sect Master's concealment method, Zhang Yuanqing immediately ordered Little Doubi to stop and recalled him.
This was to prevent Little Doubi from getting close to the golden retriever and being destroyed by the Pure Yang Sect Master.
Just then, Yin Ji called out urgently:
"Yuanshi, the dice are rolling!"
The ten-minute safety window had expired. Above the illusory round table, the dice spun at blinding speed.
Without a shred of hesitation, Zhang Yuanqing summoned the Purple Thunder Shield from his inventory and shifted it into Thunderstorm Cannon mode.
The purple-gold liquid rapidly reconfigured into a thirty-centimeter hand cannon, its thick, elongated barrel radiating raw destructive power.
Aiming squarely at the golden retriever, Zhang Yuanqing pulled the trigger.
A purple glow flared instantly at the muzzle. A fist-sized sphere of brilliant purple ball lightning erupted, crackling with jumping arcs of purple electricity as it traversed the air.
*Boom!*
The ball lightning screamed forward, striking the golden retriever while simultaneously obliterating the surrounding wall and floor, blasting a gaping hole straight down into the first floor.
The golden retriever was blown into charred chunks of meat. Amid the flying flesh and shattered stone, Zhang Yuanqing spotted two objects tumbling out from the dog's belly.
One was a palm-sized disc smeared with blood, decorated with motifs of forests, rivers, swamps, and witches—identical to the board game shown on the illusory table.
The other was an egg-sized bead shimmering with a dreamlike radiance, seemingly harboring countless shifting images within its glow.
At that very moment, Yin Ji's voice called from behind him: "A six."
The little figurine took cheerful strides forward, landing on the twenty-first space: a wooden cabin with a sharp-nosed witch standing at the door.
The notification suspended above the dining hall instantly updated:
*"You have entered the Witch's cabin and inadvertently drunk her potion. All participants enter a Weakened state."*
The very next second, the guests in the dining hall collapsed to the floor, their complexions instantly turning haggard and feeble.
Zhang Yuanqing felt all the vitality drained from his body in an instant, his spirit and physical form withering together. His knees buckled, and like the guests behind him, he slumped onto the floor.
Not only him—the Ghost Bride and Little Doubi inside him were plunged into a Weakened state as well.
At the same time, he watched wisps of black smoke separate from the golden retriever's severed remains, rising in curling ribbons before coalescing in midair to form a handsome young man with a full head of white hair.
Madness burned in his eyes as he fixed a dead glare onto Zhang Yuanqing.
Chapter 394