Chapter Thirty-Five: Inviting the Spirit

High above, flight was strictly forbidden by forbidden arts, yet the exorcists, demon tamers, and beastmasters who came, shrouded in endless shadows, were not bound by these constraints. Their attire was as flamboyant as a troupe of performers, their weapons—arcane instruments, spiritual implements, and treasure artifacts—were all of novel design. If not for the complete absence of any cultivation aura, one could have been frightened out of their wits. For there were hundreds of treasure artifacts, thousands of spirit tools, tens of thousands of arcane implements; a massive force nearly twenty thousand strong encircled the town where Wuyun resided. Then, a man of divine bearing and awe-inspiring authority appeared, brandishing a pagoda like a heavenly king, and roared, “I am the Sect Master of the Demon-Subduing Order! What vile demons dare cause trouble in the Land of Paradise?”

A white-bearded elder, resembling an immortal sage, held a horsetail whisk treasure and stroked his beard as he declared, “Monsters, if you serve my Rat Immortal Sect—pulling carts, plowing fields, tending fires, or refining pills—I may spare your lives!”

A Taoist in a yellow robe waved his hand, and a ruler radiating a hundred yards of light suddenly enveloped Old Bear Three’s head. His words were wild and unrestrained, “Daoist of the Mountain of Implements is here! How can I allow demons to run rampant? I shall refine your sinews into tools, your flesh into elixirs, your souls into lanterns!”

“Damn it!” Old Bear Three, who had always restrained himself before Wuyun, could endure no longer this time. Before meeting Wuyun, he lived unrestrained, embracing his beloved she-bear, carefree and unafraid. When had he ever been so intimidated?

Most crucially, Old Bear Three held these tens of thousands in no regard! If Tiger-Faced Immortal were here, they wouldn’t even dare utter a word!

Even as he cursed, Old Bear Three’s weapon was already in action—just as Wuyun had observed before: the treasure appeared before the man himself. Dragon One tried to intervene, but seeing Wuyun smiling in silence, he let Old Bear Three have his go. Old Bear Three struck aside the Taoist’s ruler, flew up, and fell heavily; even his once unmatched silken treasure strands could not extend or change in the forbidden air.

Thus, what should have been an aerial battle became a ground defense. No matter how many treasures, arcane implements, or spiritual artifacts attacked, Old Bear Three could only defend passively!

If the anti-flight array or spells could not be broken, they would be beaten endlessly!

Bang! Bang! Countless arcane and spiritual tools crashed down, unleashing myriad incantations. Old Bear Three, forced to retreat, pulled Battle King to help withstand the assault.

Since entering the Immortal Cauldron, even though the cauldron was ruined, Battle King had gained endless benefits, his body infused with immortal power. If not for the Thousand-Luo Space’s limitations, he would have already broken through to the God-Slaying Realm.

Whenever these arcane and spiritual tools struck Battle King, he would cry out in comfort, as if not under attack but receiving a supreme Thai massage—utterly relaxed and delighted!

Wuyun smiled and sent a message to him. Battle King’s expression turned solemn, and he immediately sat cross-legged in a flower-holding pose, almost like a woman. In truth, this was an ancient divine cultivation posture, regardless of gender, gathering all body and soul strength into one point, allowing for focused, passionate cultivation.

In this state, Battle King grew ever stronger. From his mighty body, hundred-yard rays of light blazed forth, forming invisible astral energy that shielded him. Combined with his Indestructible Diamond Body, he could stand alone against ten thousand!

“Break!” Battle King roared. From the God-Slaying to the Spirit-Consolidating Stage—this was the lowest form of the Immortal Realm, the state one attained on ascension. Here, in the Thousand-Luo Space, it was considered a pseudo-Spirit-Consolidation, suppressed by the space; only in a medium-tier Immortal World would it be complete.

Faced with such power, Old Bear Three was filled with envy. Even Dragon One showed a look of surprise; in cultivation, Battle King now rivaled him, perhaps even surpassed him. If not for his own immortal heritage, he would have been outdone already.

“Wuyun, you’re playing favorites!” Old Bear Three panted, aching from the recent beating despite his thick skin. He grumbled, earning a mocking laugh from Liu Ruyan—how could a thunder bear, grumbling like a woman, not make her laugh aloud?

Before Wuyun could reply, Liu Ruyan’s charming voice followed, “The next chance for fortune, surely it should be mine, right, Elder Wuyun?”

“Shameless!” Had these words come from Wuyun, he’d have expected a beating. But from the innocent voice of the little hawk, it sounded more like praise.

Even the little bug chuckled.

“Don’t worry, my heart is as broad as the clouds. I wouldn’t want their trashy loot even if they gave it to me! But—oh, seize those prayer beads from that monk for me!”

As Wuyun instructed, Battle King obeyed. In a golden flash, even unable to fly, he forced his way through dozens of treasure attacks, undeterred by storm or blade, snatching the beads from the monk’s wrist before leaping back.

“This demon is terrifying! He actually snatched Grandmaster Yideng’s ancestral relic prayer beads!” The besiegers whispered among themselves. After so long, their assault had not succeeded, and they grew anxious.

At last, the Demon-Subduing Sect Master acted. He threw out his pagoda, which he had long been reluctant to use, and shouted, “Behold my Supreme Inverting Mystical Pagoda!”

This was a true supreme treasure artifact. As it soared, it expanded to a height of 333 meters, eleven stories tall, each level encircled by totemic beasts: at the summit, the Phoenix-Tailed Demon Chicken, the Three-Headed True Dog, the Treasure Mountain Dragon-Elephant, and at the base, the Eight-Clawed Flood Dragon, the Four-Clawed Divine Dragon, and the Kirin Divine Beast—each tier suppressed by its own totem.

Battle King’s body shone with a hundred-yard radiance, but even so, he was shrunk and drawn inside by the supreme treasure.

Old Bear Three, now fully exposed before the enemy, looked embarrassed. He quietly tugged the hawk with his silken threads. The little hawk understood, expanded to its true form, and crashed to the ground, covering the sky.

Its helpless gaze fell upon a bug crawling before it, and it shook its head as if to say, “Did you think I drilled a hole down here because I can’t fly? I fell from the sky—isn’t that proof enough?”

The hawk hurriedly nodded—after all, the bigger you were, the harder you fell. Comforted by Liu Ruyan, it lay unmoving for a long while.

With their fighting strength abruptly diminished, Dragon One watched as Battle King, suppressed within the pagoda, descended from the first tier downward. At the current rate, it would take at least three incense sticks’ time to break free.

With a wave of his hand, Dragon One’s scales transformed into countless small dragons that soared into the sky, arranging themselves into the pattern of the Eight Trigrams—just as he had faced the meteor bodies in the mysterious magnetic void. He alone battled countless treasures.

These small dragons, of various colors and endless numbers, each as potent as a spiritual tool, together wielded more power than a treasure artifact. In this instant, Dragon One fought alone against ten thousand, yet handled it with ease. Any spell or weapon that slipped through, he could swipe away with a single claw, resolving it instantly.

Moreover, when controllers of arcane and spiritual tools lost focus, Dragon One’s tail would lash out, or he would raise his head and swallow one whole. Each time he did, its wielder would suffer a violent backlash, forced to withdraw to the outermost ranks.

The Demon-Subduing Sect Master, focused on controlling the pagoda, had no time to intervene. The white-bearded elder of the Rat Immortal Sect, Elder Chasing Fruit, bellowed in rage, urging the yellow-robed Implement Mountain Daoist to hold the line.

He shouted with confidence, “Form the array! Encircle them! I shall invite the Immortal—our ascended sect master from the Immortal Realm will slay them all!”

Invite the Immortal? Wuyun watched as the elder leapt into a grand shamanic dance, chanting incantations and tracing patterns with his hands. The spiritual energy swirling around him formed unique symbols that connected with the heavens and earth.

With just a small sigil linked to a greater one, as seamless as a wireless transmission, a torrent of power surged down, growing ever stronger and more overwhelming.

At first, Dragon One took little notice—he too knew the art of summoning gods, and his dragon sons and grandsons had often invoked him for protection. But as time passed, the energy intensified, until thunder boomed and fiery lightning rained down.

Strangely, though treasures and spells swept the surrounding buildings and the fire-lightning burned wildly, not a single structure was damaged. Could these buildings be tougher than the treasure artifacts themselves?