Of course, he did not know that the original formation core itself was an ancient magic artifact known as the "Changjin Sphere." Under the guidance of the gods, the Heavenly Palace had modified it to serve as a formation core that housed the spider immortal's moulted husk and reflected the star chart.
It was one of a kind.
The backup formation core, meanwhile, was merely the Heavenly Palace's imitation of the Changjin Sphere. Though its appearance and function were quite similar, in the end it lacked the Changjin Sphere's most essential characteristic.
Relying on his Returning Swallow technique, his movement through the fissure was no slower than an ape's. By now, the little fire man on his shoulder had also come to its senses and understood what he was doing, constantly cheering him on: "Hurry, hurry! I can already see the Xuandou stone!"
Lying through its teeth. He Lingchuan shot it a contemptuous glare.
Yet the fissure blasted open by Juju's dozens of massive fireballs was indeed very deep. After crawling forward another three zhang, he saw an immense boulder of grayish-white rock.
"This is the Xuandou stone!" Juju said in pleasant surprise. "Dig it out... Hey, wait!"
It hopped down onto the Xuandou stone ahead of him and felt it a couple of times as though sensing carefully, then said to He Lingchuan, "Higher, go higher! There's more space above this!"
Higher?
He Lingchuan continued to climb up, and sure enough, he caught sight of what seemed to be something embedded within the glaze.
Drawing Fusheng, he hacked and dug with force. Glaze shards pattered down in heaps, and what was hidden inside grew clearer and clearer.
"Floatstone?" He Lingchuan was overjoyed; he had not expected to find the floatstone compartment.
The crystals gleamed with a lovely light—purple, blue, red, green—looking extraordinarily dreamy in the night.
Yet He Lingchuan knew that once this stuff was dug out, there was nothing romantic about it at all—
Whether it was the formation core of the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation or a Floating Isle, both relied on floatstone to replenish energy for the Xuandou stone so they could hang suspended in the sky. For that reason, atop the Xuandou stone of every levitation device, a storage compartment for floatstone was installed.
Scooping these out was far easier than digging out the Xuandou stone.
He Lingchuan first scooped out several of the largest chunks and threw them into his storage ring before raking the rest outward.
Floatstones pattered down like rain.
These things could not float on their own; they only took effect when injected into a Xuandou stone.
The floatstones that Lingxu City's elite had fought tooth and nail to bring back from the Fu Realm after bitter struggle were now being squandered by him with reckless abandon.
Right then, the little fire man suddenly shrieked, "Watch out behind you!"
Behind? He Lingchuan dodged aside, catching a glimpse of a dark silhouette from the corner of his eye.
Immediately twisting sideways again, he felt a light stir of air whistle past his ear, shaving past his cheek.
Wait, why was it that monster!
No, its build was two full sizes smaller, roughly the same height as He Lingchuan.
That large ji beast stood over a zhang tall when upright; it could never squeeze into such a cramped space. Besides, right now it was probably locked in furious combat with the spider immortal—how could it come down looking for him?
Hm, it seemed there were actually two monsters, one large and one small, nearly identical in appearance.
No wonder the monster earlier appeared to have twin tails; the little one had been clinging to the big one's back.
The creature shifted directions with astonishing speed. Missing its lunge, it snapped back around, just as He Lingchuan raised his left hand, aiming a sleeve arrow straight at its left eye!
As it turned out, the thing recognized danger and dodged aside in a flash.
He Lingchuan inwardly lamented the missed chance. Although it was an essence-gold sleeve arrow masterfully crafted by Songyang Mansion, the distance was barely two feet, not enough space to build up sufficient striking force.
Even so, he seized the opening and drove a kick into its shoulder, sending it staggering. Opponents endowed with exceptional agility were often lacking in raw strength and easily thrown off balance by him.
At a moment like this, He Lingchuan held nothing back; even a massive boulder would have split on the spot under his kick. Yet when his foot struck this monster, he felt a dull ache in his toes instead.
Damn it, so hard! Was this guy's body forged from refined steel?
At that moment, the monster's tail lashed up with the momentum, thrusting straight toward He Lingchuan's heart.
Compared to a human, it had five limbs to fight with. Furthermore, the tip of its tail actually split open like a blooming flower, shooting out a dark needle with a whoosh that struck squarely against the mirror.
Clang!
He Lingchuan's anticipation was unerring. Rather than dodging, he brought his saber down in a reverse slash, lopping off its tail!
Thanks to Fusheng's irresistible sharpness—any ordinary blade would likely have failed to leave even a pale scratch on the monster's body.
It hissed in agony.
He Lingchuan also let out a loud howl of pain.
It turned out the pustules on the monster's body would burst open abruptly during combat, spraying out pale green pus. A few droplets pierced his protective astral qi and splashed onto him, while the rest dispersed into the air, injuring anything they touched.
Several holes were instantly corroded into his clothes; fortunately, the spider-silk inner armor underneath stopped the spread.
The skin exposed to the open air was not so fortunate. A bloody hole had corroded into the back of his hand, blackened around the edges and deep enough to expose bone.
If the rot went any deeper, he wouldn't even be able to grip his saber.
Dealing with such an agile opponent inside such a cramped space was truly an uphill battle.
He Lingchuan gritted his teeth, flicked his wrist, and flung a scent bun toward the monster.
Unaware of what it was, the creature warily slipped aside rather than catching it, but the scent bun detonated against a jut of glazed rock beside it, instantly filling the entire space with an indescribable, foul stench!
Generally, creatures with a keen sense of smell had no immunity against such foul-smelling assaults. Even though He Lingchuan had held his breath in advance, he felt a stinging ache in his eyes.
Yet the monster didn't care in the slightest. Instead, it paused to take two deep sniffs, and even pulled its mouth open in a grin...
Its face was incapable of real expression, yet He Lingchuan could distinctly tell it was rather intoxicated by it.
Seizing the opportunity, he swiftly swallowed a Flying Head Gu.
He had obtained this kind of Gu worm from Sun Fuping, who had once used it against He Lingchuan in the Panlong Ruins. A Flying Head Gu drained the essence of human heart and brain, but after two months of being engorged and digesting that essence, it turned into an ingestible tonic of immense potency, capable of restoring vital qi and blood at astonishing speed.
He Lingchuan rarely used it, but right now his saber-wielding right hand was injured, severely impairing his fighting capability.
Having indulged in its reverie for less than two breaths, the monster recalled its mission and lunged at He Lingchuan once more, its speed nothing short of phenomenal.
Ever since mastering the Returning Swallow footwork and gaining the enhancement of true power, He Lingchuan had seldom encountered an adversary faster or more nimble than himself.
Yet this creature was so fast it scarcely seemed a creature of the mortal realm.
Evidently, it and the brute above were likely a mother and child pair of demons captured by celestial gods and refined together into ji beasts.
The little fire man on He Lingchuan's shoulder scratched its head and ears in frantic agitation: "Clear out the floatstones already! Hurry, hurry!"
Success was right before its eyes, yet just out of reach!
Hard-pressed in battle, He Lingchuan could barely muster the breath to speak: "Why don't you do it yourself?" The terrain inside this narrow fissure was atrocious, and whenever the opponent launched a rapid assault, its strikes pelted down with the cadence of a woodpecker—God knew what innate gift it possessed. It was already a marvel of wits that he hadn't been gouged with multiple bloody holes.
"If I could dig them out, what would I need you for?!" the little fire man fumed in exasperation.
Once the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation reactivated, it could no longer damage the structures of Mount Xu. Otherwise, this formation core would have been blasted down by it long ago; would it have needed He Lingchuan to come inside and scrape away like this?
The monster lunged forward once more.
Meeting speed with speed, He Lingchuan was also beginning to adapt to its rhythm. The instant its shoulder joint twitched, he raised his shield in advance. The edge smashed right into its jaw, knocking its head aside.
Infuriated, the monster bounded back and forth between the rock crevices, searching for a suitable angle to strike.
When it pounced again, He Lingchuan adjusted the shield's angle, its mirror-smooth surface reflecting the creature's entire body.
Staring at its reflection in the mirror, the monster froze.
Within the mirror, there seemed to be many of its kin—three, four, five, six... standing packed in a dense row, all squawking and barking at it incessantly.
The soul-snatching mirror's "Soul-Snatching" talent had finally found an opportunity to trigger. It cried out to He Lingchuan, "Hurry, I can't hold it for long!" Simple-minded or muddle-headed creatures were the mirror's favorite targets.
Fusheng swept in right behind, gleaming with glacial light.
The monster actually leapt back two paces on pure instinct.
Fusheng sliced away half its skull above the ear, sending black blood flying.
Just then, several long howls drifted down from above.
That was the trapped mother beast screeching in distress; it was no match for the demon immortal.
Having lost half its head, the little monster battling He Lingchuan surprisingly did not drop dead on the spot. Instead, it let out a shriek and dashed upward.
Mother and child (or father and child?) shared a bond of heart; this emotional tie proved stronger than the mandatory orders issued to it by the Heavenly Palace.
This thing's vitality is unbelievable. He Lingchuan did not pursue it, turning around to clear out the floatstones with all his might. That was his primary objective.
Ten pieces left...
Five pieces...
Gone.
The moment the last piece of floatstone left the compartment, He Lingchuan felt his body go light.
With its power source stripped clean, the formation core plummeted on the spot without the slightest hesitation.
As it fell, it spun violently, tumbling through at least two full 360-degree rotations.
It worked! The little fire man let out a yelp and crowed in wild delight, "I knew you could do it! You really did it! I knew I wasn't wrong about you!"
It refused to believe the Heavenly Palace could have a third or fourth backup formation core.
Stacking matryoshka dolls like that simply wasn't done.
He Lingchuan panted, "I'm going to fall to my death!"
He was spinning along with the formation core in a dizzying whirl, moments away from plunging into the deep chasm.
Zhu Erniang would certainly be fine; as for him, that was another story.
The little fire man laughed loudly. "With me around, you couldn't die even if you wanted to!"
Below, a blazing red radiance abruptly surged. A giant palm reached up, catching the formation core firmly in its grip!
Juju had arrived, and had manifested its true form.
Zhu Erniang's demon immortal body already stood four zhang tall, yet compared to this colossal monster below, she looked as petite as a toy.
Taking advantage of the moment, He Lingchuan scrambled out of the fissure to find Zhu Erniang.
He saw that the ji beast had already been wrapped in layer upon layer of spiderwebs, virtually immobilized.
The little ji beast was frantically attacking Zhu Erniang in desperation, but against the demon immortal's body, its efforts were useless.
It couldn't breach her defense at all.
In the end, Zhu Erniang rapidly rolled the large ji beast a few times, wrapping it into a massive, squirming cocoon. This was a spider demon's signature specialty, executed with consummate skill.
The little ji beast was hissing wildly in panic when it turned and spotted He Lingchuan, immediately lunging at him once again.
Its modified brain had already been dull, and now, completely panicked, it charged madly at any living creature it saw, intent on tearing it to shreds.
This time, He Lingchuan was unhurried. He hurled a stone sphere at it.
It was an egg-sized, pitch-black stone ball covered in dark red fractures.
The creature caught it offhand and was about to fling it away, when the stone ball abruptly burst open, transforming into a fire serpent that coiled around its arm.
It was truly a serpent of fire, formed entirely of lava, with molten magma flowing along its serpentine body. Where drops spilled to the ground, they melted holes with a loud hiss.
The monster tried to shake it off, but how could it?
Chapter 692