A Summons from...

Certain families of Que beasts had originally inhabited the Great Snow Mountain. Naturally gifted with camouflage, they usually mimicked mountain boulders, lying in wait for prey to walk into their traps. After arriving in Panlong City and familiarizing themselves with the terrain, they had disguised themselves as buildings—and once again, the trick worked like a charm. The reason He Lingchuan had not dared to advance any further once he crept near General Red's Cenotaph was that he had visited this very place during his previous entry into the Panlong Realm, and he remembered it with absolute clarity. The ground around the cenotaph had been entirely bare, every building razed flat. How could there possibly have been such a tall tower? Within this Panlong Realm, anything that defied reason warranted the utmost caution. This was the invaluable insight he had earned as someone who had cleared the trial once before. Heaven only knew why such a colossal brute insisted on standing here, playing at being a tower. What was it guarding? The Dafang Pot? The small ghost-faced monkey, previously mauled by Zhang Lianhai's lamp spirit, scampered up onto the giant Que beast's shoulder. It chattered excitedly and made a remarkably human gesture, pointing at the half-burnt candle clutched by the Heavenly Palace intruders. Needless to say, it was lodging a complaint: *These ten or so are the same bunch who hurt me and dug up the grave!* The giant Que beast's pale ginkgo-nut eyes glinted coldly, and it snorted a plume of frosty white vapor from its nostrils. The surrounding temperature plummeted several degrees at once. The onlookers finally realized where the raging blizzard had come from. As it turned out, the mere arrival of this creature had altered the weather across the entire Panlong Ruins! It was said that clouds follow dragons and winds follow tigers. This entity could command wind and snow; its might was vastly beyond that of an ordinary monster. Fixed beneath the beast's stare, everyone felt a chill seep into their bones, their bodies shivering and spines stiffening until they could scarcely take a step. Reverently beholding the gods descended from the Heavenly Palace had felt no different than this! It was a primal reaction of living beings when confronted by overwhelming power and immense scale. The Heavenly Palace men rasped frantically, "Seize the pot and run!" While silently marveling at their fierce loyalty—still putting the Heavenly Palace's mission above all else at a moment like this—He Lingchuan retreated slowly alongside Qiu Hu. They could not afford to block the crowd's escape route, lest they be caught in the crossfire. Nor could they be dragged into the monster's battlefield, lest they suffer collateral damage. The Heavenly Palace party pulled back at once. The Que Beast King suddenly roared, like a clap of thunder from clear ground, and a gale of hurricane force tore across the open terrain ahead. Ordinary men could hardly stand, let alone run; several were swept straight into the air. The wind carried hail both large and small, pelting down as swift as bullets. By the time those men hit the ground, they were riddled with holes from head to toe. The other Heavenly Palace acolytes fared little better, stumbling and tumbling as someone shouted desperately, "Form up! Form the tactical formation!" Yet the Que Beast King was blindingly fast. Tall with elongated limbs, it bounded left and right, claiming a life or two with every pounce. Before the formation could even be assembled, three more of the Heavenly Palace's men fell. From the looks of it, the beast took great delight in the slaughter. Regardless, the Que beasts' attention was drawn away by the Heavenly Palace acolytes, and the whole pack began shifting outward. Lightning flashed across the night sky in rapid succession, yet red light continued to flicker against the vault of heaven. Fusheng suddenly materialized from the void, trembling violently in He Lingchuan's grip. His mind was deeply attuned to the precious blade, and he sensed its state immediately: Urgent! Urgent, urgent, urgent! What kind of circumstance could make it this agitated? The last time the blade had issued an unprompted warning was before Zhaixing Tower, intending to caution him against drawing near. What about this time? Instinctively, He Lingchuan looked around, then fixed his gaze toward the cenotaph, furrowing his brow. Noticing this, Qiu Hu also poked his head out to look and gestured: *What is it?* He Lingchuan said in a low voice, "Light is coming from the tomb. Do you see it?" After the Que Beast King appeared, the violent winds and flying debris had turned the scene into total chaos. From ten zhang away, anyone else would struggle to even pinpoint where the burial ground lay. Yet He Lingchuan could see a crimson light shining from within the grave, as conspicuous as a lantern on a snowy night. Somewhat surprised, Qiu Hu poked his head out again to scrutinize the spot, then pulled back and shook his head. "I don't see anything." "The red light in the tomb—you don't see it?" Qiu Hu's answer was firm. "No. Not even a glimmer." *Only I can see it?* He Lingchuan felt a jolt of realization. Was this what Fusheng had been urging him to notice? A red light... He glanced up at the night sky. The canopy above also flickered with crimson luminescence, almost in perfect sync with the glow from the grave. Synchronized above and below. He Lingchuan felt as though something were calling to him. Was it Panlong City, or something else? Should he risk going over to answer the summons? After surviving so many trials and tribulations, Fusheng had never steered him wrong. He made up his mind and instructed Qiu Hu, "I'm going over there. We'll keep in touch via eyeball spider." *Over there?* Qiu Hu was taken aback, but quickly nodded and turned to pull back. He hadn't seen the red light He Lingchuan spoke of, which meant something truly abnormal lay ahead. Yet with the Que Beast King lured away by the Heavenly Palace party and temporarily away from the tomb, now was perhaps the prime opportunity to claim the treasure. He Lingchuan draped Lord Boshan's skin over himself. Watching for the moment the Que Beast King bounded far off, he burst forward into a full sprint! The whirlwind followed the Que Beast King, leaving the burial ground surprisingly still—a golden opening. His movement was exceptionally swift. His toes brushed the earth just three times, traversing dozens of zhang in the blink of an eye. It was the very embodiment of a swallow skimming water. Yet as He Lingchuan's feet touched down for the second time, an arrow from afar aimed straight at him and whistled through the air. He had already expanded his divine sense and kept his ears tuned to all directions. Twisting his waist and shifting his stance, the arrow brushed past the outer fabric of his trousers. Sure enough, a third faction was lurking nearby! Under the cover of Lord Boshan's skin, others might not see him clearly. But the treasure was ill-suited for high-speed motion, which tended to distort the surrounding scene. Someone had sensed an oddity here and loosed an exploratory shot. He Lingchuan dodged in time, and with one more leap he arrived before General Red's Cenotaph, looking upon the excavated burial mound. The damage was jarring, yet that suit of crimson armor looked overwhelmingly familiar. Even the seated posture matched the one General Red had often assumed. It had slumbered here in silence for more than a hundred and fifty years! And then there was the unassuming small pot cradled in its embrace. Was this truly the genuine Dafang Pot? If it were the real thing, He Lingchuan would be immensely surprised. Would the Dafang Pot truly risk exposing its true form for his sake? That contradicted everything he knew about it. Furthermore, what radiated the faint crimson glow was not the small pot, but General Red's suit of armor! This caught He Lingchuan entirely off guard. Was General Red the one summoning him? Before he had time to ponder further, the Que Beast King in the distance seemed to sense something and whipped its head around. Though He Lingchuan wore the invisible serpent skin, the beast's gaze locked onto him without wavering an inch. It saw right through his disguise. With a low snarl, it bounded straight back toward him! A thunderous crash shook the ground. Aside from General Red's armor, which remained utterly still, nearly everyone nearby was thrown off balance. The Que Beast King reached directly to seize He Lingchuan. Once caught, a single squeeze would pop him like a blister—a thoroughly satisfying feel. Yet He Lingchuan was one step faster, his fingertips brushing General Red's armor first! In the Que Beast King's eyes, the man vanished into thin air. Its sweeping claw grabbed nothing but empty space. *Where did he go?* Its palm unavoidably struck General Red's armor. While the armor stood immovable, the Que Beast King jerked its hand back instantly, shaking it twice. The reaction was just like someone slamming a bare palm onto a hedgehog—excruciating pain for one of them was guaranteed. It froze, visibly stunned, as if trying to figure out where He Lingchuan had gone. The very next second, the Que Beast King flew into a furious rage, charging toward a grand temple thirty zhang away and thrashing wildly at it. To have a thief slip away right under its nose was utterly intolerable! Watching its rampage, Qiu Hu frowned. The Que Beast King was extraordinarily savage, as though consumed by hatred for all living creatures, yet it occasionally displayed signs of deliberate thought. Did it possess true sentience, or not? The temple, which had stood firm through more than a century of wind and frost, had outer walls constructed of stone blocks weighing several tons each. Yet this solid structure collapsed under the intruder's single shoulder slam! Nor was it smashing the place merely for fun or out of petty spite. It scooped up giant boulders and hurled them at the Heavenly Palace acolytes and the nearby humans— Indeed, an entire squad of nearly twenty people had been hiding there all along. They looked unfamiliar to Qiu Hu, who could not tell which ragtag band or group of adventurers they belonged to. At present, the Panlong Realm was an absolute mix of dragons and snakes; no one could say how many factions had slipped inside. This squad had concealed themselves well, determined not to stick their necks out, only for calamity to come bounding to their doorstep uninvited. Boulders that a dozen men could barely lift were tossed like beanbags in the beast's hands, hurled in any manner it pleased. Faced with such monstrous might, the humans fled in panic. The beast picked up a few squashed unfortunates, popped them into its mouth, and crunched down, spraying gore before charging after the Heavenly Palace party. Qiu Hu watched in silence, utterly without sympathy. Those who feared death should have stayed far away. Lingering on the edge of the battlefield was nothing more than an attempt to scavenge some major prize. As the saying went, birds die for food. The Heavenly Palace attendants had managed to form two tactical formations, but against an alpha-grade behemoth of this scale, their efforts proved sorely inadequate. The formations were shattered in short order, forcing them to fight as they retreated. From this alone, one could see that the combat prowess and discipline of the Heavenly Palace squad far outstripped those of the others. Even against a monster like this, they maintained cohesion between vanguard and rearguard during their retreat, minimizing casualties. Just then, the Que Beast King abruptly halted its advance. With a leap into the air, it bounded back toward General Red's Cenotaph. Watching from afar, Qiu Hu realized He Lingchuan had been right: it constantly guarded this burial ground, refusing to stray far. What was it—a tomb-guarding beast? It swung heavily at the empty air to its left. With a dull, resonant thrum, five figures were forced into visibility. As it turned out, others had crept in under invisibility, hoping to steal the Dafang Pot while the Que Beast King was drawn away, only to be caught red-handed. Though exposed, these individuals were not easily batted aside. The faint gleam hovering above their heads shifted back into a lamp spirit. The golden light of the lamp spirit illuminated the grim, livid face of Heavenly Palace Duyun Emissary He Jing. The colossal Que Beast King stood directly face-to-face with him, a mere four or five zhang away. It opened its jaws and roared, spewing forth a foul, stinking blast of cold wind laden with frozen gore and ice shards. Fortunately, the lamp spirit's barrier held firm; otherwise, anything it touched would have frozen solid. The creature could actually pierce through illusion arts. The plan to bypass combat and snatch the objective had fallen through. To obtain the Dafang Pot, it seemed there was no choice but a direct confrontation. *** The instant he touched General Red's armor, brilliant crimson light erupted before He Lingchuan's eyes, dazzlingly bright. He closed his eyes instinctively. When he opened them again, he was shocked to find himself in the midst of a vast ocean, surrounded on all sides by pale red seawater, wonderfully warm.