A direct channel of communication naturally existed between the Heavenly Palace and the Emperor. Juju was running amok on Mount Xu, and though the Demon Emperor had not yet arrived in person, an imperial decree could be drawn up in advance.
Every sentence Bai Ziqi uttered was packed with information. As National Preceptor Qingyang digested his words, she felt not dread, but a surge of delight.
Even if this was the Heavenly Palace's domain, there were methods only a national preceptor could employ.
This was a golden opportunity for her to redeem her misdeeds and earn a reduced sentence.
As they passed the exit of the Yang Palace, Bai Ziqi handed her a short pestle. "I could only find your staff. Your other artifacts are locked away in the treasury."
National Preceptor Qingyang took the pestle and gave it a gentle shake. It instantly elongated into a six-foot staff, its surface swirled with faint green radiance.
She had once commanded countless formidable artifacts, but all had been surrendered upon her imprisonment and cataloged into the Heavenly Palace's treasuries. Bai Ziqi had come in haste and had only managed to retrieve her staff.
"How could the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation have failed?" she asked him. "The formation core was personally designed by the celestial gods. Before it was put into service, it underwent countless trials. Even we could not breach it."
"Remember the star chart within the core?" Bai Ziqi said as they sprinted. "Somehow the intruders coaxed the spider immortal's moulted husk to break free on its own."
"..." The moulted husk fled on its own? National Preceptor Qingyang was among the rare few privy to the formation core's secrets. After a moment's reflection, she said, "The intruders awakened it into an avatar of the spider immortal?"
"That is my suspicion as well."
"Then it cannot remain active for long." National Preceptor Qingyang instantly grasped its fatal weakness. "Unless the spider demon's true body is present, the soul fragment driving that immortal husk cannot possess sufficient strength."
The harmony of body and soul was a foundational law of cultivation. For Zhu Erniang to drive her own immortal husk through a split soul would never last.
"They are running out of time." Rounding a jagged ridge, National Preceptor Qingyang finally caught sight of the rampaging Juju.
"Over to you." Bai Ziqi tossed her a bow and a quiver of arrows.
National Preceptor Qingyang halted. Taking a deep breath, she drew the longbow taut—aiming not at the distant Juju, but toward the heavens dense with storm clouds.
She muttered a brief incantation, and the arrowhead flared with a soft green luminescence.
Faint at first, it soon grew dazzling.
A wisp of pale green mist coiled around the shaft, hazily resolving into the shape of a bird wheeling around the arrow—a bird with only one leg.
Watching from the side, Bai Ziqi recognized the form of the Shangyang, the mythical bird that summoned the rain.
Only when the green light blazed as bright as the morning star did she loose the string. The arrow streaked upward like a shooting star into the cloud deck, instantly bursting into a canopy of green light.
National Preceptor Qingyang lowered her bow and exhaled a long breath, her ruddy complexion turning somewhat pale.
She had not employed this technique in a very long time. It had to have been... yes, sixty years.
A series of lightning bolts suddenly illuminated the night sky, and deep within the heavy clouds, a gigantic bird seemed to dance in graceful flight.
Merely three to five breaths later, a torrential downpour broke over Mount Xu!
This was Beijia's National Preceptor mobilizing origin power to command the heavenly rains.
Ordinary rain would never have required such exertion from her. Every droplet falling here carried a bone-chilling frost that instantly froze into solid ice upon touching rock.
Yet this rain caused no harm whatsoever to the trees, grasses, insects, or beasts.
National Preceptor Qingyang had clearly taken into account that this was the dwelling of the celestial gods and a sacred site frequented year-round by pilgrims. If the flora withered and living creatures perished wholesale, the aftermath would look far too shameful.
Put simply, the heavenly rain had only one target: Juju, currently laying waste to Mount Xu.
At the same time, National Preceptor Qingyang chanted in a clear, ringing voice, "Bless the Heavenly Palace; let the rain favor the divine host!"
As the spiritual rain cascaded from the heavens, the disciples and guards of the Heavenly Palace found that the moment it touched them, their minds cleared, their vision sharpened, and their strength surged, washing away all exhaustion and pain.
Through this downpour, National Preceptor Qingyang temporarily routed abundant origin power to the Heavenly Palace's forces, bolstering their combat strength and lifting their morale so they could better sustain a prolonged engagement.
Though this battle was grueling, continuing it would wear down the foe while strengthening their own side. Once the subsequent reinforcements arrived, ultimate victory would inevitably belong to the Heavenly Palace!
***
Rain lashed down upon Juju, making its rocky hide sizzle furiously as dense plumes of white steam billowed into the air. It could not suppress a prolonged roar.
It burned!
The steam swiftly dispersed into a thick fog that enveloped the entire valley.
Rainwater that was harmless to man and beast acted like sulfuric acid upon Juju, every drop bringing sharp agony.
No one could endure being repeatedly splashed with acid, yet that was precisely what Juju was experiencing now.
Infused by National Preceptor Qingyang, this freezing downpour was saturated with copious origin power. For a rock-fire monstrosity stripped of its station as a mountain spirit, the harm was immense and insidious.
So long as it remained within the bounds of Mount Xu, it could not evade the frost-rain's corrosion unless it burrowed deep underground.
Enduring the agonizing torture, Juju hauled the shrine out from the bedrock, just as He Lingchuan's voice came through the fire avatar: "Throw it into the magma pool, quick!"
They had finally pried the thing loose, and He Lingchuan was beside himself with excitement.
No matter how formidable the barrier upon the shrine might be, how long could it hold out under the ceaseless grinding of subterranean fire?
Yet just as Juju moved to comply, the flank of nearby Zhimi Peak suddenly cracked open, and the gargantuan Chenyuan beast charged out, slamming headfirst into its chest!
A dull boom echoed across all seven peaks.
The force of the impact was immense. Juju staggered backward, and the shrine slipped from its grasp, bouncing and ricocheting between the crags before lodging firmly in a three-pronged rock formation.
In the next instant, the Chenyuan beast opened its jaws wide and snapped at Juju's throat.
Amid the billowing steam and fog, hardly anyone noticed a "boulder" on Juju's back suddenly stir and spring away.
It was Zhu Erniang.
She possessed the ability to mimic her surroundings; by curling her limbs and shrinking her frame, she could blend seamlessly with her environment, resembling nothing more than a scorched rock clinging to Juju's back.
The Heavenly Palace host around Zhaixing Tower stood on the opposite side of the rock-fire monster, so few could see Juju's back to begin with. As massive as Zhu Erniang was, she had completely eluded their notice.
Yet the moment the Chenyuan beast broke cover, she sensed immediate danger and leaped away without hesitation.
"Another ji beast?" Zhu Erniang muttered gravely. "This is truly no place to linger!"
As an ancient primordial demon, she had clashed with ji beasts long ago.
Though she had temporarily regained an immortal demon's form, she could not sustain high-intensity combat for long. Moreover, spiritual energy was sparse in the present world; every measure of strength expended was one lost for good, impossible to replenish quickly. Consequently, Zhu Erniang acted far more cautiously than she had in the past, resolving never to fight unless absolutely necessary.
"When Juju rebelled over a decade ago, it never encountered these monsters. It seems the Heavenly Palace learned from that failure and prepared countermeasures." This only heightened the difficulty of He Lingchuan's mission tonight, forcing him to adapt to every turn of events. "Hurry and knock that shrine into the magma pool!"
Juju was locked in a life-and-death grapple with the Chenyuan beast, unable to free a hand. The task fell entirely to Zhu Erniang.
She sprang across the crags on eight long legs, moving more nimbly than an ape, while keeping her eyes peeled in all directions to avoid being crushed by the two warring behemoths.
The monsters clashed with earthshaking roars. Several jagged peaks were toppled outright in the fury of their collision, sending boulders and debris raining in every direction.
The wild creatures dwelling in the nearby forests had long since fled; only the unfortunate Heavenly Palace guards suffered, several dozen of them crushed or buried beneath falling rubble.
Seen up close, the Chenyuan beast possessed an immensely thickset build, its forelimbs longer than its hind legs. With a broad chest and a sloped back, it resembled a fusion of an enraged ape and a qilin. Its style of combat was brutal and straightforward—swiping, swatting, clawing, and biting, even wrestling head-on with Juju.
Among all the ji beasts and demon puppets He Lingchuan had seen, this one boasted the most harmonious build and balanced proportions, and was unmistakably the most formidable. Otherwise, the Heavenly Palace would not have kept it hidden away as their trump card against Juju.
Compared to its massive bulk, its teeth were unusually fine and dense, arranged in multiple overlapping rows. A single bite into Juju ripped away a mouthful of fiery rock.
Magma bled from Juju's wounds, undoubtedly causing excruciating pain.
In the face of pure, overwhelming physical might, magical arts became far less decisive.
In terms of sheer size, the Chenyuan beast fell far short of Juju, but the green glow enveloping its body was striking, radiating thick, potent origin power.
Bolstered by this origin power, it fought Juju to a standstill.
He Lingchuan suddenly recalled Fang Canran's words—Mount Xu's provisions showed an extra expenditure of tens of thousands of jin of raw meat every month, suggesting either cooked books or ravenous beasts. Now it was clear: the bottomless pits were these ji beasts.
With her sharp discernment, Zhu Erniang watched for merely two breaths before remarking, "This ji beast fights too rigidly. The fire monster will win."
A duel to the death between creatures of this scale was a test of strength, intellect, and technique. Though powerful, the Chenyuan beast had a muddled mind and poor tactical judgment; He Lingchuan saw it squander several openings to counterattack Juju.
Fury alone could not bring down the subterranean fire monster.
Moreover, a living creature possessed finite stamina, and the more frenzied it became, the faster it depleted its reserves. Juju, on the other hand, was built for endurance.
Having weathered countless battles, Juju gradually deciphered its opponent's rhythm. With a vicious hip throw, it pinned the beast against a sheer cliff, seized its arm with both hands, gave a brutal twist, and ripped the entire limb clean off!
The ji beast let out a shrill hiss of agony.
Within Zhaixing Tower, Chief Duyun Emissary watched the battle intently. Seeing the two behemoths grow increasingly reckless, and noting that the Chenyuan beast's four eyes had turned blood-red while purple-red vapor puffed from its nostrils and maw—bright enough to pierce the thick mist—his brow furrowed.
If this continued, the ji beast that the Heavenly Palace had painstakingly reared would be destroyed.
They had never bred the Chenyuan beast expecting it to defeat Juju single-handedly; its purpose was to buy time or coordinate attacks alongside celestial gods and great demons.
Forcing it to face Juju alone was simply asking too much.
Chief Duyun Emissary sat cross-legged, inhaled deeply, picked up the Everlasting Lamp, and blew forcefully toward the two beasts.
With a whoosh, the lamp flame transformed into a streak of golden light. Piercing through the hail of falling stones, it deftly bypassed the raging flames around Juju and drilled straight into the Chenyuan beast's ears and nostrils.
At the same moment, Chief Duyun Emissary closed his eyes and entered deep meditation.
The Chenyuan beast, which had just been pinned by the neck and pummeled, suddenly flashed with sharp intelligence in its eyes. It drove its elbow backward with vicious force.
A five-zhang-long spike sprouted from its elbow at that exact instant, plunging straight into Juju's chest. Roaring in pain, the mountain spirit recoiled, and the Chenyuan beast whirled around in a tiger pounce to launch a ferocious counterattack.
Its movements, speed, and reflexes were visibly transformed, as though the beast had suddenly awakened with a conscious soul instead of lashing out on pure animal instinct.
By this time, Zhu Erniang had reached the shrine. Just as she extended a leg to push it, a flash of green light flickered on the opposing cliff, and two arrows came streaking toward her.
The arrows were short, insignificant compared to the spider demon's immense bulk. Yet sensing acute danger, Zhu Erniang pulled back behind the rock in the nick of time. One arrow struck the cliff face, but the other lodged squarely in the tip of her claw.
With a sharp whoosh, green flames erupted where the arrow struck, spreading across the entire cliff face in an instant.
Chapter 694