However, a sorcerer mingled among the crowd began muttering an incantation, and the ground beneath Xuguang's feet suddenly turned soft and collapsed. The beast's sheer bulk was too immense; after only two steps it sank into the morass, unable to pull its feet free.
He Lingchuan gave Wu Jinsong a pointed look and jutted his chin toward the target. At once, Wu Jinsong and his two companions scrambled down the tree trunk.
Shielded in the center of the soldiers, the sorcerer appeared well protected from flying arrows.
Seeing his companions in position, Xu Dongdong flicked his wrist and hurled an object straight toward the sorcerer.
Spotting an incoming projectile, a soldier mistook it for a stray arrow and swept it aside with his weapon. To his shock, the thing detonated on contact, instantly unleashing an extraordinarily foul, fishy stench.
Taken completely off guard, the nearby soldiers bent double, retching uncontrollably.
Unable to maintain his spell, the sorcerer braced himself against a doorpost and began violently heaving.
A prime opportunity!
Wu Jinsong and the others had already lined up their shots and seized the moment to fire.
His luck was truly exceptional—just as the sorcerer turned his head, an arrow struck him squarely in the mouth, sealing it shut for the time being.
Yet Wu Jinsong and his companion also noticed that their sharp arrows seemed incapable of truly slaying these ghostly entities; at most, they could only damage the white paper figurines they possessed.
No one could endure the soul-invading stench. As the soldiers scattered in revulsion, the mired giant ox took advantage of the chaos to kick its hooves and scramble back onto solid ground.
Infuriated now, it dispensed with building up momentum along the avenue. Whirling around, it charged straight into the defenders.
Over a dozen soldiers were crushed to death in the impact. With a crisp pop, the defensive tactical formation shattered, and at the exact same moment, the wooden gates of the drill ground blew apart!
Now was the time.
With the formation broken, He Lingchuan leaped down from the tree and landed beside the scarlet bird.
Outside the mirror, Third Master Gan—who had been intently watching the battlefield—paled. "Not good."
He formed a hand seal and was about to unleash a divine power when he suddenly stopped. "It costs three years of my lifespan? No, absolutely not!"
"Once he gets out, you won't survive either!"
Third Master Gan sneered. "What does that have to do with me? You're the one afraid of him settling scores!"
He muttered to himself as though playing two roles at once. Any outsider present would have thought the man suffered from a split personality.
In that brief moment of hesitation, He Lingchuan had already vaulted onto the drill ground.
First, he tossed an object at Qingxu's feet, then spun around and drew Fusheng, slashing with all his might at another sorcerer!
This strike condensed his essence, qi, and spirit into a single blade. Devoid of even a hint of killing intent, it moved as silently as a soft rain moistening the earth.
Thanks to the effects of the Soul-Shielding Powder, he remained invisible until he actually wounded an enemy.
Clutching his mirror with both arms, the sorcerer was channeling his power when an invisible blast of force surged toward him without warning. Before any sense of alarm could register, the red light around his body flared and instantly shattered—his defensive magic artifact had blown apart.
Immediately after, a fine head went flying into the air.
Deprived of its wielder, the mirror in his grasp lost its radiance at once and clattered to the ground.
Meanwhile, the object He Lingchuan had tossed expanded the moment it struck the dirt, revealing the gold-armored bronze automaton!
Having enlarged to over fifteen feet in height, it was unimaginably brawny. The very first thing it did upon appearing was send Qingxu flying with a single punch!
With its tremendous strength, had that blow landed on an ordinary human, it would have sent their head clean off their shoulders.
Qingxu also possessed a protective magic artifact. Though it did not shatter, it could not prevent him from being hurled thirty feet away.
The positions of the mirror-bearers were crucial; as soon as he was knocked back, his mirror lost its radiance and power as well.
With two of the six ritual mirrors disabled, the scarlet bird seized the opportunity to tear itself free. Reverting to its full size, it wheeled around and spat several blasts of true flame at the remaining sorcerers in vengeance.
Though the flames could not burn them to death, they threw the sorcerers into utter disarray.
Taking advantage of the diversion, He Lingchuan leaped onto the automaton's shoulder and barked at Wu Jinsong and the others, "Get down here!"
The three also jumped down and clung to the automaton's back and shoulders.
While the scarlet bird lowered its head to pluck out an arrow, the automaton, under He Lingchuan's control, leaped onto its back.
Outside the mirror, Third Master Gan finally reached an agreement with himself. Chanting an incantation under his breath, he jabbed a finger toward the mirror!
A beam of crimson light plummeted from above, enveloping He Lingchuan in its glow.
Marked so boldly and conspicuously, he naturally drew the attention of the entire field.
At that moment, General You arrived from down the avenue. Seeing the crimson beam descend, he drew his bow without hesitation and let fly.
There was no telling what illusion He Lingchuan appeared as in the general's eyes.
"Damn it!" He Lingchuan had not seen him draw the bow, but an alarm blared in his instincts. Ducking low, he slipped beneath the automaton's torso.
The automaton was currently hugging the scarlet bird's neck with its body arched like a bow, making He Lingchuan's shelter secure.
A heartbeat later, General You's arrow arrived. With a sharp thunk, it punched straight through the automaton's arm and buzzed past He Lingchuan's ear.
Its power was undeniable. Although the automaton had been forged with yujin metal to render it impervious to ordinary blades, that single shot pierced its forearm.
With the general leading the assault, the defenders surged into the drill ground, thrusting spears and lances at the scarlet bird.
Weighed down by the heavy burden on its back, the scarlet bird had initially intended to shake the automaton off. However, unable to endure the relentless stabs from the swarming soldiers below, it had no choice but to flap its wings and take to the air, putting distance between itself and the ground.
A volley of arrows shot up from below. Wary of General You's marksmanship, the bird focused entirely on climbing higher.
Wu Jinsong and Xu Dongdong also wedged themselves beneath the automaton's chest to evade the hail of arrows. The third man was a fraction too slow; riddled like a hornet's nest, he plunged straight down.
Fortunately, having lost parts of their souls, the two survivors felt no grief. They simply shouted to He Lingchuan, "What do we do now?"
He pointed toward the bright moon above. "Fly toward the exit!"
With that, the automaton clamped down hard on the scarlet bird's long neck and pulled upward to steer, forcing the spiritual bird to climb higher.
"How dare you ants!" the scarlet bird suddenly spoke in human speech. "Get off me!"
It was pouring all its strength into dodging the arrows below, barely evading two more shots from General You. Once it reached altitude, it would deal with the fleas on its back.
Wu Jinsong and Xu Dongdong wore bewildered expressions, unable to comprehend a word.
He Lingchuan's diligent practice of the immortal language finally proved useful. "Carry us up there, and I won't hurt you. How about it?"
"Hurt me?" The scarlet bird laughed derisively. "With what?"
The bird's laughter sounded grating, devoid of any transcendent grace. He Lingchuan drew Fusheng and made a light slice across its back.
Flesh split open.
A sharp pang of pain flared through its back, and the scarlet bird cried out in shock, "How can you hurt me?"
It possessed an indestructible body of adamantine strength. Even those fools flying on artifacts could only restrain it, not kill it. How could a mere mortal breach its defense with a single slash?
He Lingchuan thought to himself, *Before Fusheng's Void Breaker property, what are you but a paper figurine putting on airs?* These things could soar through the sky, burrow into the earth, fight, and spit fire, looking overwhelmingly formidable, and he had no idea what rules governed this illusion. But at their core, they were still paper figurines driven by resentful souls, which meant Fusheng countered them.
That was a rule in itself.
He had no idea how powerful a real hongluan would be, but he knew this paper bird could certainly be punctured by Fusheng.
He Lingchuan delivered two more shallow cuts, forcing the bird to concede. "Where do you want to fly?"
"Toward the full moon."
*Are these people insane?* the bird thought. Yet with a treasured blade pressed to its neck, it could only comply.
He Lingchuan seized the chance to gather intelligence. "Are you a hongluan?" The great bird's features were easy to recognize.
"Nonsense, of course I am!"
"What is General You's full name?"
"You Shanming."
"Why didn't he finish you off?" General You possessed the skill to shoot down the bird, which meant he likely had the power to kill it. Yet he had only ordered his fellow disciples to restrain it. Why?
"He wanted to tame me as a guardian spiritual beast for his kingdom," the hongluan scoffed. "Wishful thinking!"
He Lingchuan asked again, "Which kingdom does this Baixiang City belong to?" Earlier, he had spotted the city's name on the stele at the base of the pagoda.
"Puguo, of course!" The hongluan wondered if this man was out of his mind.
"Which sect do General You and Qingxu belong to?"
"The Tianyan Sect." The hongluan remarked curiously, "How can you know nothing at all?"
He Lingchuan rubbed his nose. "We're just innocent bystanders."
Xu Dongdong suddenly warned, "Someone's chasing us from behind!"
He Lingchuan looked down and saw that they were indeed pursuers. Qingxu and the others were flying on their magic artifacts in hot pursuit. Unable to match the natural speed of a spiritual bird, they trailed behind, but they kept their hands busy, hurling divine powers one after another.
The hongluan was truly impressive, managing to dodge every attack despite the arrow holes in its wings.
The moon grew larger and brighter before the trio's eyes.
Through the "full moon," they could make out Third Master Gan's livid face, even counting the veins bulging on his temples. The hongluan, however, seemed blind to the sight and said to them, "I can't fly any higher."
An invisible barrier loomed overhead; no matter how hard it beat its wings, it could not break through.
This was the boundary of the world inside the mirror; it could not escape.
At that moment, Qingxu unleashed a ray of sword light. Failing to dodge in time, the hongluan had two primary feathers sheared away with a crisp swoosh.
Spiritual birds of its kind naturally commanded the wind, but with damaged wings, dodging divine powers became far more difficult.
In the blink of an eye, it took two more hits.
Outside the mirror, Third Master Gan formed a hand seal, and two bolts of lightning abruptly crashed down from the sky in unison toward the hongluan.
A nosebleed trickled down Third Master Gan's face. Forcibly summoning heavenly thunder into this battlefield was clearly no easy feat for him either.
One of the lightning bolts struck the hongluan directly, knocking it senseless and sending it into a steep nosedive.
The other bolt struck the gold-armored bronze automaton. Although electricity crackled across its surface, it absorbed the bulk of the damage, transferring very little to the three humans.
By design, the automaton was crafted to protect its master.
With the full moon just within reach yet defeat looming, He Lingchuan decisively barked at Wu Jinsong and Xu Dongdong, "Let go!"
"What?" The hongluan was tumbling downward; if they let go, wouldn't they fall to their deaths?
"Trust me, let go!"
Their missing soul fragments proved advantageous here. Free of worry, fear, or doubt, both men released their grip without hesitation.
The gold-armored bronze automaton snatched up all three of them and hurled them with all its might toward the full moon!
In the next instant, the automaton and the hongluan plunged into the depths below, while He Lingchuan and his companions sailed through the air. The full moon expanded rapidly before them—
And they passed right through.
With several dull thuds, the three crashed into the bamboo pavilion. Xu Dongdong unfortunately slammed face-first into a wall, serving as He Lingchuan's cushion once more. Murmuring an apology, the youth pushed off his back, reversed his momentum, and charged at Third Master Gan.
Ignoring his unsteady balance, the man scooped up the mirror from the table and bolted. At the same time, two ferocious tigers leaped out from the room, baring menacing fangs and claws as they lunged straight for He Lingchuan.
Chapter 358