Originally, the divine descent of Celestial God Baizhan was intended specifically to deal with Juju, but switching targets on short notice posed no problem.
Both the Burrow Spider Mother and Juju were ancient arch-demons, but Mount Xu was Juju's home turf. That wretch could draw power from subterranean fire, making it the most difficult to handle. Now that Juju was prostrate once more, the pressure on the Heavenly Palace had been reduced by at least seventy percent. The spider demon could only run rampant for a short while; lacking spiritual energy to replenish itself, it would only grow weaker the longer it fought.
Under these current circumstances, the more spiritual energy it expended and the more formidable the divine abilities it displayed, the more severely it would deplete itself!
Their side only needed to rely on origin power and stall it with a battle of attrition.
Allowing it to escape would be the truly catastrophic problem for Mount Xu.
The lamp wardens chanted in unison, "Chief Emissary is brilliant! Our Lord is sagacious!"
Chief Duyun Emissary's expression relaxed slightly, and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
This enemy raid had been extraordinarily concealed—so much so that even the celestial gods sensed danger. Fortunately, he had handled it properly and neutralized the threats one by one. Otherwise, how could he have saved face before the celestial gods and his colleagues?
Someone immediately answered, "The divine disciple for Heavenly Venerable Baizhan will be ready at once!"
What the Heavenly Palace referred to as "divine disciples" were mortal vessels used by celestial gods when descending to the mortal realm. They were ordinarily maintained on Mount Xu for the deities' sudden needs.
Divine descent was by no means simple or easy. The more meticulous and thorough the preparations, the greater the power the celestial god could wield through the vessel.
Take Nian Songyu's invocation of a deity in the Panlong Ruins back then: he had planned it for a very long time, but his body was not a qualified vessel, so the descended celestial god avatar could not even unleash five percent of its true strength.
Naturally, the Heavenly Palace suffered no such trouble. Even so, the divine disciple had to calm their heart, clear away stray thoughts, and embrace the deity's descent wholeheartedly in order to maximize the vessel's power.
No matter how pressing the crisis, the preparatory work could not be skipped.
"Why hasn't Chenyuan moved yet?" Chief Duyun Emissary's expression remained tense. "Fortunately, Juju has yielded to the law."
The ji beast Xiaori had already slipped into the backup formation core and was clashing violently with the spider immortal, yet Chenyuan had still not appeared.
Tonight's sudden raid on Mount Xu, though ultimately contained within acceptable risk, had caused a massive uproar. Not only was the Emperor alarmed, sending several divine inquiries, but the entire Lingxu City had also been shaken so violently that it was ablaze with lights.
Tomorrow, the "eruption of Tianshu Peak" would once again become the hottest topic in Lingxu City, giving rise to a fresh batch of suspicions and conspiracy theories.
Worst of all, some of those suspicions were obviously correct.
Chief Duyun Emissary hated sudden accidents of this kind, for they put the Heavenly Palace at a severe disadvantage.
Several subordinates beside him broke out in cold sweat and dropped to their knees. "Your subordinates are incompetent! Chenyuan remains fast asleep and refuses to obey orders!"
Over a decade ago, Juju had gone on a wild rampage, triggering earthquakes in Lingxu City to the point that Holy Venerable Lingxu himself had to intervene to subdue it. Lingxu City learned its lesson and specially prepared several contingency measures, one of which was the ji beast Chenyuan.
Yet this brute ate whenever it pleased and slept whenever it fancied, behaving with utter willful abandon. When it was needed on the field, it could not even be awakened.
Chief Duyun Emissary knew that the more formidable a ji beast was, the wilder its nature and the harder it was to rein in. Now was not the time to assign blame. He thrust his staff into the Picture of Mountains and Rivers once again, barking, "Juju, show yourself at once!"
A few breaths later, the rock-fire behemoth poked its head out of the magma pool, its entire form radiating sheer reluctance.
Freedom had once been within reach, but that brat surnamed He had botched everything!
How it burned with hatred!
Frost covered Chief Duyun Emissary's face as he snapped in a low voice, "Capture the intruders and you can still redeem your fault with merit! Otherwise, you will crouch in this magma pool for the next hundred years!"
Juju stirred, but did not obey his order.
Chief Duyun Emissary stirred the Picture of Mountains and Rivers with his staff, asking, "Do you wish to lose a few more years of cultivation?"
Juju roared again and again in agony, but still refused to hunt down the intruders.
Chief Duyun Emissary exchanged glances with Bai Ziqi and the others, all finding this bizarre. Those in the know understood that this Mount Xu mountain spirit was selfish to the core and had never been a dependable ally. It had betrayed the Dahuan Sect in the past and betrayed the Heavenly Palace tonight. So why would it now endure suffering rather than hunt down the intruders?
"I cannot go!" Juju finally spoke up. "I made a pact with him—we cannot harm one another!"
Bai Ziqi asked in astonishment, "What pact?"
"C-cannot say!" Juju was overflowing with grievances. When it deliberated over the contract's terms with He Lingchuan, it had tried its best to cover all bases, yet forgot one single clause:
If the plan failed, should the contract become void?
Since there was no detailed stipulation, the answer was no. Thus, the moment it opened its mouth to explain, it felt the unmistakable binding force of the oath.
Alas, shrewd as it had been all its life, how could it have slipped up at such a crucial moment?
Just then, the belly of Tianshu Peak abruptly split open, and a monster burst forth, slamming directly into Juju.
Powerful as Juju was, caught completely off guard, it was knocked flat on its back and tumbled into the magma.
Ten thousand streams of magma surged upward, no different from another volcanic eruption.
Everyone: "..."
Chief Duyun Emissary could barely resist rubbing his temples. Why did Chenyuan have to burst out now of all times? Its reaction time was impossibly sluggish.
Juju plunged headfirst into the magma pool, having no interest in fighting, and simply fled. That left the other giant beast prowling restlessly along the cliff walls, glaring malevolently toward Zhaixing Tower.
It even attempted two slamming charges. Both failed, yet the defensive barrier trembled violently.
Every attack repelled consumed tremendous energy. Chief Duyun Emissary said with displeasure, "Recall it."
His subordinate wore a bitter face. "We tried, but... but..."
But the big fellow refused to heed commands once again.
During the Middle Antiquity, whether immortal sects or demon tribes, many had attempted to tame ji beasts, yet few ever succeeded. These wretched things were maddened to the extreme; disobedience was the norm.
Chief Duyun Emissary sighed, personally taking down an Everlasting Lamp from the main hall, and murmured:
"May Holy Venerable Lingxu lend us a hand—go!"
Aiming the Everlasting Lamp at Chenyuan outside the tower, he blew gently. The lamp spirit transformed into a streak of white light and plunged straight into Chenyuan's mind.
Then, Chief Duyun Emissary began chanting silently.
The monster visibly froze, violently shook its head, and then grew somewhat manic, as though restrained by something.
Chief Duyun Emissary swayed slightly, his face flushing crimson as a bead of cold sweat broke out on his brow.
Evidently, the two were locked in a contest of wills.
Fortunately, after a dozen breaths, Chenyuan gradually calmed down. It looked up at Zhaixing Tower, then shuffled step by step toward the mountain's belly, burrowing back inside.
Chief Duyun Emissary opened his eyes, let out a breath, and personally set the Everlasting Lamp back in place.
Attendants naturally came forward with a damp cloth to wipe his brow.
A ji beast's soul was chaotic—to use a human analogy, suspended somewhere between madness and idiocy. When the Everlasting Lamp spirit penetrated its mind, it could illuminate a sliver of lucidity.
Fortunately, the big brute had been successfully pacified by Chief Duyun Emissary. Otherwise, if it went berserk and threw the Heavenly Palace into chaos, then...
On the other side, Bai Ziqi had walked back to the shrine at some point, carefully inspecting the Splendid Picture of Mountains and Rivers.
"Where did that intruder go?"
Earlier, that intruder had been atop the spider demon's head. But just now, everyone in Zhaixing Tower had been distracted by Juju and Chenyuan. By the time Bai Ziqi collected his thoughts, the figure had vanished from the picture!
The leaders walked over to look, also finding it peculiar.
The spider demon was still pinned down by the ji beast Xiaori in the formation core; where could the intruder slip off to? The lightning restriction around the perimeter of the formation core was clearly still intact.
A living person wouldn't vanish into thin air, which meant he had to still be inside the formation core!
Bai Ziqi stared at the absurdly large fissure on the glazed star ring, and his heart suddenly thumped with dread.
If the intruder slipped inside through there, what would happen?
Pointing at the picture, he said in a grave voice, "Lord Chief Emissary, please dispatch men to the formation core immediately! The intruder might be about to—"
Before his words finished, the formation core shown in the painting dropped vertically.
Just like that, it plummeted from above Kaiyang Peak down to the bottom of the valley, without the slightest warning!
Immediately afterward, the Splendid Picture of Mountains and Rivers dimmed, shedding no more light.
The scenery within slowly faded away, turning into an inert painting.
Dead silence fell over Zhaixing Tower.
No... could it be?
"No!" Shocked and furious, Chief Duyun Emissary slammed his hand onto the table, completely discarding his transcendent demeanor. "How could the formation core be ruined?!"
"The intruder probably crawled down through the fissure..." Bai Ziqi swallowed hard. "...and damaged the Xuandou stone?"
The tortoise shell was shielded by concealment formations, making it difficult for enemies to locate. But the formation core's ability to remain suspended in midair year-round—just like the Floating Isle—was entirely credited to the Xuandou stone.
Beijia had many enemies, but none had ever entertained the idea of making the Floating Isle crash down, because the isle was far too immense, and the Xuandou stone matched to it was simply beyond human power to destroy.
The formation core of the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation, however, was a different story. Its diameter was barely a few tens of zhang, and the Xuandou stone installed within was only about two zhang square.
If the intruder resorted to specific methods, it was not impossible to accomplish.
The two key requirements for the formation core to function were: first, the star chart had to align; second, its own position had to match.
It had to correspond in exact alignment with the Tianluo Star in the night sky.
Because the nine peaks on the ground remained motionless, the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation relied entirely on the shifting positions of the formation core to take effect. Now that the intruder had caused a plunge from midair and the formation core was knocked out of position, the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation naturally shattered.
Yet that fellow's opportunistic adaptability was far too formidable. Bai Ziqi did not believe he had intended to dig out the Xuandou stone from the start.
If he couldn't dig up the tortoise shell, he dug out the Xuandou stone instead; such quick-witted pragmatism to settle for the next best thing was exceptionally rare.
With several thunderous detonations, Juju returned, its colossal form filling the entire magma pool once more, the firelight illuminating every corner of Zhaixing Tower with blinding clarity.
The moment its shackles broke, it felt it instantly.
Only upon seeing with its own eyes that the Splendid Picture of Mountains and Rivers was dark and lifeless did Juju truly set its heart at ease.
"I'm back!" The rock-fire monster's wild, arrogant laughter echoed between heaven and earth once again.
Everyone stood frozen in dismay.
Chief Duyun Emissary issued a chilling order: "Release Chenyuan again. At once!"
Rewinding time to half a cup of tea ago.
With those two titans—the spider immortal and the ji beast Xiaori—brawling against one another, there was indeed nothing for He Lingchuan to do. Taking advantage of Xiaori being slowed down by the spider silk, He Lingchuan seized the opportunity, leaped down from the spider demon's forehead, and dove straight into the fissure in the star ring.
Juju's high-frequency bombardments had lived up to their reputation, blasting away two chunks from the base of the formation core. The fissure had extended from the bottom all the way up to the platform, giving He Lingchuan an opening to act.
Fortunately, the glazed surface of this formation core could not liquefy, or his plan would have fallen through as well.
A backup was just a backup, still falling far short of the genuine article.
He Lingchuan surmised that it wasn't that the Heavenly Palace didn't want to build a better backup formation core; there were likely objective constraints that made it difficult to realize. For instance... a lack of materials?
Chapter 691