Even without the Ghost Eye Bow, General Red's tracking arrows could pursue enemies on their own.
Having nearly been bitten twice more by the turned Xiliu snake, Master Sanshui was so infuriated that he laughed out loud. Sweeping his longsword through the air in a half-circle, he whipped the falling snow into several Que beasts. "Go!"
The Que beasts served as shields, intercepting two tracking arrows.
When they detonated from the impact, powder snow exploded across the sky.
Drifting flakes swirled across the battlefield as a blizzard commenced.
Every falling snowflake was an ice seed. Striking a person, it could not only hinder their movements but also sprout ice crystals. That had been how the Que Beast King sealed the tomb earlier, and back then, it had only cast two ice seeds.
A dense crimson glow suddenly flared around He Lingchuan. The ice seeds striking his battle armor were not vaporized by ferocious flames, but simply slid right off, like droplets of water rolling off a lotus leaf.
Origin power!
The origin power belonging solely to the supreme commander of the Gale Army had finally erupted.
Against the Gale Army's origin power, the potency of any divine ability would be drastically reduced—let alone when facing General Red, who was the supreme leader of the entire host, the heart of their morale, and the beacon of their hopes.
The solidity, density, and abundance of origin power she commanded was so exaggerated it left He Lingchuan dumbfounded. The origin power he had felt from any other general or army didn't amount to a hundredth of this!
Even the armies of Beijia fell far short.
This was the pinnacle of origin power, something only the Panlong God of War could possess, an apex that scarcely a handful of people in all history had ever experienced.
The power of General Red's battle armor was already rampant, and superimposed with the amplifying effect of this origin power, it gave He Lingchuan an illusion:
As if he held the True Solar Fire in his fist, capable of punching straight through the earth's core.
Empowered by this origin power, not even the swirling snow could obscure his vision.
Watching this unfold, Nailuotian's avatar was genuinely startled:
Mitian and this kid can unleash origin power even inside this realm?
Origin power was no ethereal, groundless thing; it had to possess a source, an origin. Which meant that behind Mitian and this boy, there had to be a stable faction and a mighty army!
Just what kind of world had been forged inside the Dafang Pot?
Just as He Lingchuan prepared to pursue Nailuotian's avatar, the bobtailed Xiliu red python beside him suddenly sprang backward!
The force was immense, knocking him two paces back.
This thing had already been turned by the venomous toad on General Red's armor, so logically it wouldn't harm him.
Startled, He Lingchuan saw the red python that had rebounded off him abruptly sever into two pieces, sliced cleanly in half as if by an invisible blade.
There was no blood inside the python, only black water spilling across the ground, evaporating away into vapor.
What had cut it? He Lingchuan raised his saber and flicked upward. Sure enough, there was a strange tactile resistance, like snapping one of Zhu Erniang's spider silks, yet tougher.
Had the Xiliu red python not stopped him, crashing into those invisible threads at his speed would have yielded dire consequences.
He didn't even know if the armor could have kept him entirely safe.
Yet He Lingchuan was genuinely astonished: even empowered by General Red's origin power, he hadn't noticed the trap? Worse still, he had no way of confirming just how many invisible threads had been laid across the area, or how far he could step before blundering into another.
What he didn't know was that this was Nailuotian's signature ability, known as the "Compass of Fate." Since it was "fate," how could mortal eyes ever see it?
On the surface, Master Sanshui was the one contending against He Lingchuan. Nailuotian was merely borrowing Master Sanshui's Cleaving Technique to secretly weave the so-called "threads of fate" amidst the combat. Only when the layout was complete would the compass truly activate, entrapping the victim without form or trace.
Nailuotian's divine abilities truly matched its reputation: treacherous, insidious, and utterly noiseless.
Yet since General Red had directed the Xiliu python to expose the trap, He Lingchuan couldn't just sit and wait for death. A "compass" of the God of Fate sounded intimidating enough on its own.
Right then, Master Sanshui casually hurled a precious seal. Soaring into midair, it transformed into the shape of a miniature mountain, violently crashing down toward He Lingchuan.
This was a type of suppression art commonly used by ancient immortals, with a vast variety of magical artifacts suited for it. This particular one was called the "Heavenly King Seal," refined from the heart and blood of mountain ranges combined with refined gold essence. Wherever an enemy was, it could track them down and ruthlessly stamp—no, suppress them!
It was both potent and effortless, something Master Sanshui was accustomed to using, so he had tossed it out purely by reflex. But he immediately caught himself:
Not good! The compass's layout isn't finished yet!
Yet before he could form a hand seal to recall it, He Lingchuan had already crouched down and grabbed at the earth.
While fighting earlier, he had felt the ground pulsing beneath his feet, as though something was desperate to break free and resonated with the Fusheng Saber.
Then he would oblige it.
The two pauldron beasts on the armor had already returned to their perches, while Nailuotian's avatar drove hordes of Que beasts to besiege him. To turn the tide in this fight against superior numbers, he needed even greater strength.
The ground was covered in dirt and ash. Plunging his hand into the soil, what he drew out was not a handful of mud, but a spear forged entirely of pitch black.
Only its spearhead glinted with cold light. When He Lingchuan gave the shaft a slight flick, he faintly heard the rumbling of wind and thunder.
Mhm, not an illusion—several serpents of lightning also streaked across the vault of the sky.
This seemed to be one of General Red's divine weapons. He Lingchuan had only seen her wield it twice on the battlefield, yet its awe-inspiring might was second to none, leaving an indelible impression on friend and foe alike.
This time, he followed suit. He weighed the black spear in his hand, channeled strength through both arms, and hurled it fiercely toward the Heavenly King Seal crashing down from above.
Yes, in the stance of casting a javelin.
General Red's dense origin power turned the entire spear a crimson so deep it verged on purple.
Another clap of thunder cracked across the sky, illuminating the night. He Lingchuan looked up and saw a phantom figure manifest over the spear's surface, highlighted by the flash of lightning:
Bulging eyes, a horse's mouth, a crocodile's snout, ox's ears, with two small horns gently arching from its brow.
A black flood dragon!
He Lingchuan recognized it instantly: this was the giant beast carved upon the South Gate's inner wall, closely resembling the Black Dragon Zhong Shengguang had transformed into before, though smaller in scale, merely a zhang long.
It clung to the black spear, yet the moment the light faded, it vanished as well.
What was this—a spear soul?
The spear shot forth and struck the Heavenly King Seal with a deafening clang.
The mountain-sized seal was knocked flying, tumbling twice in the air as it shrank smaller and smaller.
The black spear spun back through the air. He Lingchuan bounded two paces and leaped, snatching it out of midair. Pointing the spearhead toward the heavens, he bellowed, "Come!"
A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky's vault, landing square upon the spear.
Beyond the origin power, a blinding layer of crackling lightning immediately enveloped the shaft, delivering a spectacle of sound, light, and electricity pushed to the absolute extreme.
The sensation of holding thunder and lightning was extraordinary. How to put it?
It felt like pinning down a wildly thrashing giant crocodile, resisting constantly, ready at any second to turn its jaws and devour you.
Before it could turn the tables, he had to fling it at the enemy.
He Lingchuan had practiced the Thunderbolt Spear Technique for over a full year, but only this strike truly deserved to be called the "Thunderbolt Spear."
Man and spear merged into one, charging toward Master Sanshui with indomitable momentum, like a comet hurtling down to strike the earth.
Along the way, it pierced through who knew how many threads of fate from the compass. Those meticulously hidden lines snapped without a sound before the combined onslaught of heavenly thunder and origin power.
Facing it head-on, Nailuotian's avatar saw only blinding thunder and lightning filling its entire field of view, unable even to discern where its opponent was.
Even the vast majesty of genuine heavenly thunder was nothing more than this.
It couldn't be blocked; this definitely couldn't be blocked. Master Sanshui's expression changed dramatically, and he dissolved once more into flowing water, scattering in all directions.
As long as a single drop of water escaped, it could reconstitute itself and fight He Lingchuan anew.
And then, the spear plunged into the ground.
There were no billowing plumes of dust, no thunderous explosion. The impact was eerily silent—yet with the point of impact at its center, lightning surged and crackled across a hundred zhang around, conjuring a vast thunder-prison formation in an instant.
Heavenly Thunder Absolute Prison.
The myriad arcs of lightning were so dazzling that even He Lingchuan quickly closed his eyes, terrified he would go blind the very next second.
Every stream and every droplet of water Master Sanshui had transformed into was thoroughly electrolyzed.
The other Que beasts rushing over shared the same misfortune. Any that stepped within the perimeter of the Heavenly Thunder Absolute Prison were wiped out in a single sweep.
Dozens of wisps of nether light danced into the air, boring straight into General Red's tomb mound—
Only now did He Lingchuan realize that the true entrance to the Dafang Pot was indeed still open there. General Red had simply used a fake vessel earlier to mislead everyone.
Steam permeated the Heavenly Thunder Absolute Prison formation, followed by a succession of explosions.
Amidst the vast white vapor, a speck of green light was forced out, seizing the opportunity to fly toward the sky.
Nailuotian's avatar still wants to flee?
The bow slung across his back suddenly hummed incessantly. Understanding the cue, He Lingchuan unslung the bow, nocked an arrow, and loosed a shot directly at the glow.
Fast as the arrow was, the glow still managed to dodge it. Yet the arrow continued flying into the pitch-black night sky ahead.
That arcing trajectory sliced vertically through the black canvas like a blade.
As He Lingchuan watched in wonder, unsure if this counted as a Cleaving Technique, the space pierced by the arrow tore open, revealing an undertone of light crimson—
Outside lay a boundless ocean.
The green light braked sharply, attempting to skirt around the fractured space. Little did it expect two slender chains to suddenly reach through the void in the night sky and bind it tight.
The green light struggled frantically, but could not overcome the chains' strength. With He Lingchuan raising a hand in cheerful farewell and amidst the metallic clinking of chains, it was dragged out by force, plunging into the light-crimson ocean.
There, an immense silhouette waited quietly for it.
This fish that slipped the net was finally caught and hauled back.
He Lingchuan knew Nailuotian's avatar wouldn't die.
Afterward, the hole in the night sky closed on its own, leaving behind not a single seam.
Outside the Heavenly Thunder Absolute Prison, several dozen Que beasts remained. Seeing their leader vanquished, they let out unwilling roars, but couldn't take two steps before slumping limply to the ground, their life breath gradually fading away.
With the Que Beast King subjugated, the overarching situation was settled; the fate of the remaining Que beasts held no suspense.
The entire Panlong Realm suddenly fell silent.
The wind ceased, the snow melted, leaving the ground drenched in scarlet, bloody water.
Corpses lay scattered everywhere, humans and Que beasts piled upon one another in death, their broken forms pressed into the pocked and rutted ground in silhouettes of bitter resentment.
With a dull thud, He Lingchuan planted the spear into the earth and drew a deep, long breath of the coppery, blood-scented air.
They had won!
This great war had finally drawn to a close. Victory belonged to him and the Dafang Pot.
His plan could be considered smoothly executed. Though fraught with twists and turns, from this day forward, Nailuotian would no longer pose a threat to him.
All of this before his eyes—
The victor gained freedom, while the defeated paid the price.
In the end, one's fate had to be faced by oneself; one's destiny had to be rewritten by one's own hands.
Chapter 850