“Playing spooky tricks!”
Li Xun let out a cold snort. With a flick of his sleeve, his Domain Power pressed down like a mountain range.
“This Seat has long wished to test your skill, but the opportunity never arose.”
“Now is the perfect time to experience it!”
In response, the mysterious Imperial Sovereign, shrouded in a voluminous black robe, let out a hoarse retort. His own Domain unfurled directly.
In an instant, the void twisted. A storm of True Essence raged, and the surface of West Rime Lake exploded, sending torrents of water spraying everywhere.
Feeling the shockwaves, the faces of many cultivators changed drastically. No longer caring about any opportunity, they fled West Rime Lake at top speed, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.
“Aunt Rong, we must pull back as well.”
Sensing the incredibly violent clash within the battlefield, Deng Tianyu’s expression also turned solemn. He formed a Dharma Seal, steering the Flying Boat towards the periphery.
As a fierce gale rose, the Flying Boat shot backwards at speed, stopping only when they found a secluded mountain gulley far enough to be safe from the chaos.
Qu Qirong furrowed her brows, murmuring softly, “I wonder if those two little ones will manage to cross into the Stone Gate after all.”
The spirit cods leaping for the Stone Gate already faced tremendous difficulty. And now, with this unexpected disruption at a critical moment, success seemed harder than ever.
“With West Rime City’s Lord Li Xun present, even an incident like this should be manageable. And besides…” Deng Tianyu paused thoughtfully, a trace of doubt flickering in his voice. He didn’t continue.
Ever since entering West Rime Lake, he had faintly sensed a palpitation-inducing aura emanating from the lakebed.
But whenever he focused intently to investigate, the aura vanished without a trace.
“Buzz!”
As he spoke, Deng Tianyu extended a finger. A screen shimmering like rippling water manifested.
The image on the screen shifted from blurry to clear, quickly displaying the scene at West Rime Lake.
This was unmistakably one of the Divine Abilities within the Yin-Yang Grand Void Dao, First Volume—Mirror Flower, Water Moon!
Within the display, Li Xun was in the midst of a fierce battle against the mysterious Imperial Sovereign, suppressing his opponent with an overwhelming, domineering force. Victory seemed only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, at West Rime Lake, streaked of multicolored light continued relentlessly charging against the Spiritual Qi Tide barriers, desperate to cross into the Stone Gate and complete their transformation.
“Those two little ones are almost there. Barring any further incidents, they should be able to enter the Stone Gate.”
Deng Tianyu’s gaze landed on the ripple barrier closest to the Stone Gate. He smiled slightly.
There, within that barrier, two intertwined streams of red and black light were struggling against the pressure of the Spiritual Qi Tide, desperately swimming towards the Stone Gate.
Although their speed was agonizingly slow, they were inching forward bit by bit.
The scene perfectly mirrored their earlier desperate attempts to escape the fish basket, crashing against its barriers at any cost to return to West Rime Lake.
A smile graced Qu Qirong’s lips: “I hope they succeed!”
In these two spirit cods, she saw a reflection of her former self.
Fighting to break her shackles, unwilling to retreat a single step, even if it meant being battered and bloodied.
Although she was ultimately brought back to her family, that very act had led her to befriend the Zhenbei Princess Consort.
Without that, how could she have ever formed this indissoluble bond with her Tianyu?
“Squeak!”
Even the little fox Yingying in her arms waved a paw, as if cheering on the two spirit cods.
Though, admittedly, her encouragement would have seemed much more sincere if she wasn’t clutching that bottle of Purple Jade Marrow and licking it!
Sssss!
Just as the red-black spirit cod pair were about to touch the Stone Gate, another figure in a gray robe materialized above West Rime Lake. With a sweep of his hand, a pitch-black palm, a hundred zhang wide, materialized from thin air, reaching for the Stone Gate.
Faced with this sudden twist, Li Xun’s brow creased.
The mysterious Black-Robed Person he was battling let out a mocking laugh:
“Li Xun, did you truly believe This Seat came here merely to test your strength?”
“This Seat merely needed to keep you occupied. Naturally, someone else would go for the Stone Gate. The result remains the same.”
Li Xun’s expression remained indifferent. He sent his opponent reeling with a palm strike and coldly stated, “You thought of this detail. Did you truly believe this City Lord would not?”
A sense of foreboding welled up in the Black-Robed Person’s heart: “What do you mean by that?”
Li Xun retorted, “The Stone Gate’s reappearance was bound to draw the covetous gazes of many greedy men. Why would this City Lord come alone?”
As his words fell, before the Black-Robed Person could delve deeper into thought, a muffled “Boom” thundered.
Immediately following, West Rime Lake erupted once more.
A gigantic figure, radiating a six-colored glow, burst forth from the lake, slamming viciously into the enormous black hand reaching for the Stone Gate.
“Bang!”
The giant hand shattered instantly. The massive six-colored form was revealed under the moonlight.
It was a creature of elegant, powerful lines, spanning several hundred zhang—a Spirit Cod. Six distinct colors adorned its body, each shimmering with dazzling light. From its sides extended two spiritual energy wings, vibrant as rainbows, allowing it to swim through the very void.
Its cold, unblinking eyes locked onto the gray-robed figure. A tangible killing intent, thick as substance, filled the air. With a powerful flap of its radiant wings, its colossal yet graceful form vanished in a blink.
“Bang!”
When it reappeared, it was already behind its target. Its colossal tail whipped down with terrifying force. The space it tore through warped and fractured, the cloud layers utterly shredded in its wake. It was a sight of absolute terror.
The gray-robed expert’s face contorted in shock. He frantically activated his magical artifact to block the strike, but it only held for a moment before shattering. It felt like a giant sledgehammer had slammed into his spirit; he vomited blood and plummeted from the sky.
The black-robed Imperial Sovereign’s pupils constricted sharply. His voice lost its calm: “A Spirit Cod King rivaling Imperial Sovereign Realm Perfection?!”
He wasn’t shocked that the Spirit Cod King truly existed, but that its aura was overwhelmingly powerful, having reached the Perfection stage of the Imperial Sovereign Realm.
Deng Tianyu showed a look of sudden understanding: “So that heart-palpitating aura was the Spirit Cod King!”
He now understood the meaning behind Li Xun’s earlier words.
Though this Spirit Cod King’s form appeared colossal, its speed was blindingly fast, and its attacks were brutally fierce.
Clearly, Li Xun had known all along that the Spirit Cod King of West Rime Lake was real.
With this domineering and ferocious Spirit Cod King joining the fray, and Li Xun himself present, those two mysterious Imperial Sovereigns had no chance of seizing the Stone Gate.
Understanding this, Deng Tianyu and Qu Qirong shifted their gazes back to the two little ones.
As they looked, both furrowed their brows again.
Whether due to the two sudden upheavals, the Spiritual Qi Tide condensed by the Stone Gate grew increasingly violent, as if intent on annihilating everything.
The two little ones, mere inches from the Stone Gate, were once again bleeding profusely. Their condition was utterly wretched, their tiny bodies trembling uncontrollably.
Staring at the now even more ferocious Spiritual Qi Tide, utterly drained and exhausted, despair and unwillingness flickered in their eyes.
They were so close—just a little more, and they could have entered the Stone Gate to begin their metamorphosis.
Sadly, those two moments of chaos had caused the Stone Gate to become riotous!
Just as the two little creatures were about to be consumed by this violent Spiritual Qi Tide, a wisp of jade-green light bloomed within their bodies, enveloping them completely.
This strand of emerald light mended their wounds and even shielded them against the fearsomely turbulent Spiritual Qi Tide.
Seeing this, a strange look flashed through Qu Qirong’s beautiful eyes. She turned to the person beside her: “Tianyu?”
“I let those two little ones go. It would truly be a pity if they died now in this tide,” Deng Tianyu chuckled. The Spring Vitality Sword Intent in his palm only grew richer…
