He Lingchuan immediately pointed the way for Zhu Erniang. The giant spider drifted and swung among the mountains, its massive frame seeming entirely weightless, barely slower than birds in flight.
It gave He Lingchuan a vivid lesson in how spider silk was truly meant to be used.
Yet in truth, Zhu Erniang's speed was far slower than in her prime.
For one thing, she was merely drawing upon the residual power left in her shed husk, nowhere near the level of her peak condition.
For another, the spiritual rain summoned by National Preceptor Qingyang provided a tremendous boost to the Heavenly Palace defenders, but it hampered and slowed other demons—even a demon immortal like Zhu Erniang could not escape its effects.
The spiritual rain dripping onto the ground was like birdlime, clinging stickily to her feet and greatly slowing her pace.
Such was the marvelous utility of origin power: strengthening oneself while restraining the enemy.
National Preceptor Qingyang had judged that they would flee sooner or later, so she had prepared a delaying tactic in advance to buy her side time.
He Lingchuan could hear the giant spider muttering curses under her breath—damned humans this, cursed origin power that.
Juju was also fond of cursing those exact two things.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the magma pool, the foundational stone at the base of the shrine had already melted away; only the protective ward still shielded the shrine itself.
Yet surrounded by boundless subterranean flames, its energy was being consumed at a rapid pace.
After all, it had been designed merely to prevent outsiders from breaching the shrine, not to withstand the ravages of subterranean true fire!
At the bottom of the magma pool, Chenyuan had to divide its attention between fighting and searching for the shrine.
If this thing were lost, how would the Heavenly Palace track down the Dafang Pot in the future?
Yet this was Juju's home turf. Glowing red, dazzling magma was everywhere, reducing visibility to a minimum. Further down, it was pitch-black.
The moment Chenyuan lost focus, Juju pinned it down and gave it a brutal thrashing.
With great difficulty, Chenyuan finally caught sight of the shrine's silhouette. Just as it was about to pounce, Juju kicked the shrine far away.
While the clash raged violently beneath the magma, inside Zhaixing Tower, Chief Duyun Emissary's body trembled and his eyelids fluttered ceaselessly, filling onlookers with dread.
Chenyuan's mind was frantic and deranged; controlling it was an arduous task for Chief Duyun Emissary. The more intense the battle grew, the stronger Chenyuan's instinct to resist became.
Had it been anyone else, their soul might have been ripped to shreds on the spot inside Chenyuan's sea of consciousness.
Blood began to trickle from beneath Chief Duyun Emissary's nose, which a lamp warden gingerly wiped away.
Just then, Bai Ziqi rushed over and demanded urgently, "Where are the intruders and the spider immortal?"
A subordinate answered, "A search is underway."
Heavenly Palace guards spread out in all directions, and avian demons wheeled through the sky, scouring everywhere.
National Preceptor Qingyang summoned a gale, sweeping away the thick fog in the valley in an instant. Juju had already submerged underground and was no longer generating fresh mist, so the area around Tianshu Peak quickly regained clarity.
Rubble and broken tiles lay strewn all around; forests were shattered, and peaks were fractured.
A complete and utter shambles.
Of the once-majestic Zhaixing Tower, only a side hall remained intact, while the rest had been reduced to charred rubble.
Yet the surrounding forests were quiet; there was no trace of the intruders.
One of the lamp wardens said softly, "The Picture of Mountains and Rivers is inside the shrine as well. Without it, we... we can't track the intruders."
The Picture of Mountains and Rivers could display a complete panorama of Mount Xu, allowing Zhaixing Tower to monitor the intruders' locations.
Now that it had sunk to the bottom of the magma pool, who could locate where the intruders had gone?
Suddenly, two screech owls descended from the sky and perched on broken branches, reporting, "Traces of the spider immortal have been spotted seven li to the east, heading toward Tianji Peak or Tianquan Peak!"
This might be their last chance to capture the spider immortal.
Bai Ziqi was just about to speak when a voice came from behind:
"I will go."
A figure stepped forward from behind them, speaking coldly to National Preceptor Qingyang: "Channel origin power to me. I will go face Juju and the spider demon."
Everyone present, Bai Ziqi included, dropped to their knees in profound reverence. "We welcome Celestial God Baizhan!"
One of the gods had finally descended to the mortal realm.
...
At the bottom of the magma pool, the ward enclosing the shrine finally shattered.
Inside Zhaixing Tower, it might have withstood the full-force strike of formidable experts, but against the endless barrage of subterranean flames, it could only fade away in defeat.
No matter how fine the wood crafted into the shrine was, it could not endure being baked by subterranean fire; in less than two or three breaths, it was reduced to nothing.
The two objects inside the shrine were now exposed to the magma:
The Splendid Picture of Mountains and Rivers, and the divine relic He Lingchuan yearned for day and night—
The Dafang Pot lid.
A rock-fire lizard crawled out from who knew where and snatched the divine relic in its jaws.
Chenyuan reached out to grab it, but the creature was simply too small; with a flick of its tail, it slipped beneath a fissure in the rock and vanished in an instant.
How could a lizard exist deep within subterranean flames? It was merely an avatar of Juju.
Even if Chenyuan possessed the ability to ward off fire, and no matter how ferocious it was, it could never create countless avatars like Juju.
Watching the divine relic disappear before its very eyes, Chenyuan smashed the rocky bottom in fury. Dammit!
Shortly after, the sharp glint in its eyes faded.
In the side hall of Zhaixing Tower, Chief Duyun Emissary suddenly opened his eyes.
This meant he had relinquished control over Chenyuan. From now on, the monster would have to fight on its own once again.
Chief Duyun Emissary took a deep breath, concealing the exhaustion etched across his face.
He was the foremost figure of the Heavenly Palace; he could never show incompetence before the eyes of the crowd.
Bai Ziqi stepped forward and asked with concern, "Lord Emissary, the shrine...?"
Chief Duyun Emissary shook his head. "The bottom of the magma pool remains Juju's domain; the divine relic has already been seized by it. The pressing priority is to locate the intruders. The divine relic is useless to Juju, so it will most likely hand it over to its accomplices."
Therefore, finding the intruders meant a high probability of reclaiming the divine relic. That was the primary objective.
Juju was detestable, and the spider immortal's shed husk was vital, but capturing the intruders was the ultimate solution to ending this chaos.
National Preceptor Qingyang spoke up from the side: "Celestial God Baizhan has already set off in pursuit of the intruders."
Baizhan had finally descended successfully? Chief Duyun Emissary was overjoyed, breathing a long sigh of relief in his heart.
Controlling Chenyuan's mind from afar to battle Juju had already left his spirit and body depleted. The celestial gods had always hoped to control ji beasts, but unable to do so personally, they could only leave the attempts to Beijia.
The so-called 'perfect control' method for ji beasts had only been devised in recent decades. Naturally, the more powerful a ji beast was, the harder it was to control.
This Chenyuan was a creation of the celestial gods from over two thousand years ago, altered from a fire-wielding demon immortal. Later, it was defeated by several immortals and sealed away in the far north.
Guided by the celestial gods, Lingxu City had gone to great lengths to transport it back from the far north and keep it in Zhimi Peak.
The beast was not difficult to maintain, as it spent most of its time in slumber, waking only once or twice a month to feed. Chief Duyun Emissary had to interact with it regularly to establish a connection, and only after dozens of failed attempts did he finally succeed in synchronizing his consciousness with it.
Controlling the Chenyuan beast in battle was an excruciating burden, even for someone with a soul as powerful as Chief Duyun Emissary.
Hearing the news of a celestial god's descent while mentally and physically drained was the best possible relief.
Bai Ziqi looked at him, his gaze flickering slightly.
Logically, Chief Duyun Emissary's strength went far beyond this, yet his performance today was weaker than anticipated. Was it because the injuries he suffered last time had not yet healed, or had old age left his strength failing him?
Just then, another piece of good news arrived:
"Lord Emissary, an edict from the Emperor has conferred upon Chenyuan the title of mountain spirit of Mount Xu!"
Chief Duyun Emissary perked up. "Good, excellent!"
Juju could traverse Mount Xu without hindrance because it was born from the subterranean fires of Mount Xu; in a sense, it embodied Mount Xu itself. A foreign beast like Chenyuan, however, required the status of a mountain spirit to cover hundreds of li in a single step just like Juju.
This investiture came just in time. Otherwise, Juju would carry the intruders out of Mount Xu in just a couple of steps, leaving the Heavenly Palace utterly helpless.
Chief Duyun Emissary said immediately, "I will pilot Chenyuan to intercept them, and find one or two powerhouses to travel with it."
After all, Chenyuan was not a true native beast; its capacity to carry passengers underground was very limited, two being the absolute maximum.
Bai Ziqi was about to speak, but National Preceptor Qingyang beat him to it: "I will go."
Chief Duyun Emissary frowned slightly. "You?"
Qingyang was still awaiting punishment, after all.
"If I wanted to flee, I would not have come up to Mount Xu of my own accord days ago," National Preceptor Qingyang said indifferently. "The stakes are momentous. Can you find anyone more suitable than me?"
While Lingxu City had no shortage of great demons, none were on Mount Xu right now.
In terms of cultivation and capability, no one present surpassed her.
Not to mention she was Lingxu's most senior national preceptor, unmatched in manipulating origin power—something even the celestial gods fell far short of compared to her.
At this critical juncture, Chief Duyun Emissary didn't need to overthink it and nodded. "Very well, you go."
He then turned to instruct Bai Ziqi: "Emissary Bai, I leave this place in your hands."
Bai Ziqi sighed inwardly. Chief Duyun Emissary would rather employ National Preceptor Qingyang than him; that truly was something... Yet on the surface, he replied respectfully, "Understood! I will not fail your trust, Lord Emissary."
Chief Duyun Emissary then took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and entered meditation, attempting to take control of Chenyuan once more.
Earlier, after he withdrew his divine sense, the beast had fought Juju for barely a dozen breaths before surfacing from the magma pool. Juju had clearly fled, while this creature, covered in wounds, sprawled beneath Zhaixing Tower, panting heavily.
The fierce battle just now had taken a heavy toll on it.
Its opponent was Juju, a rock-fire titan that had survived since antiquity. Even with Chief Duyun Emissary personally taking the reins, and even with the backing of Beijia's dense origin power, the combat strength Chenyuan displayed was still noticeably inferior to Juju's.
Yet the purpose of its existence had never been to defeat Juju, but to pin it down and buy time.
Although Chief Duyun Emissary was familiar with Chenyuan, he had never controlled it twice in succession. Moreover, the monster was now furious, exhausted, and covered in wounds, its defiance running high, making it extremely difficult for him to regain command over it.
Not long after entering meditation, blood began to trickle from beneath Chief Duyun Emissary's nose once again, a symptom of severe soul depletion.
He was striving to suppress Chenyuan's soul and seize control of the ji beast's body.
After a dozen breaths, the gargantuan Chenyuan beast shifted its heavy body and clambered up. It drew near the side hall of Zhaixing Tower, opened its gaping maw, and remained motionless.
This was clearly an action performed under Chief Duyun Emissary's control.
To a human, that maw was an abyssal abyss. Yet National Preceptor Qingyang showed no fear whatsoever, leaping straight into it.
Immediately after, the beast snapped its mouth shut and plunged headlong into the magma pool.
...
In the night, the silhouette of Tianji Peak was faintly visible in the distance.
It was close, only several dozen zhang away.
Right then, Zhu Erniang said to He Lingchuan, "Pursuers are coming—a formidable enemy! I'll cover the rear; you go first."
Chapter 696