Chapter 72 — Desperate Straits
劍問蒼天 · Page 1 of 11
The red light screen abruptly shuddered, and in midair the Nether King, along with the other black-clad figures of the demon cult—and even the trapped marvel-beast Kui Niu—almost all turned their heads to look at once.
A flash of red light, and Tian Lingsu gave a start; she saw the crimson glow quivering wildly around the dark red iron spike, yet the spike itself, shielded by that light, did not stir in the slightest.
In an instant everyone around had grasped what was happening, and the black-clad demon cult followers came charging in from all sides. Tian Lingsu's face went deathly pale, her breath coming in shallow gasps; just as panic seized her, her eyes suddenly lit up, and with a sweep of both hands the amber-red silk plunged straight into the earth.
In midair, the Nether King's expression changed drastically; he stamped his foot and roared in fury: "You reckless little wretch, you've ruined my great design!"
His figure flickered again and again, and he hurtled down with unmatched ferocity—but at that very moment, sharp whistles rose and fell in the distance, and in an instant countless lights blazed forth: the orthodox cultivators and the demon cult's main forces had both arrived. The killing surged and paused and surged again; fiercest of all were Cangyan Daoren against Baiduzi, and Tian Buhui against Duanmu Laozu, while Su Wan alone held off two—the wounded Bloodsucking Old Fiend and that young master Lin Feng from beneath the Abyss of the Dead.
As for the rest—the monks of the Brahma Sound Temple and the disciples of the Burning Cloud Valley, including Venerable Dali and his disciple—they too had come to this place.
So many arrivals suddenly beheld that vast wall of light upon the beach, with a monstrous, grotesquely shaped beast imprisoned within it, and for a moment their hands slowed. Baiduzi and Duanmu Laozu sprang apart at the same instant, abandoning Cangyan Daoren and Tian Buhui.
Cangyan Daoren and Tian Buhui had no heart for battle now either, and let them go; Tian Buhui especially—gazing into the distance, he seemed to see his own daughter surrounded and hemmed in by the demon cult, and his face changed; he made as if to charge toward her.
Baiduzi and Duanmu Laozu stood together, and first looked toward the battle where Qinglong was fighting; seeing that Qinglong still had strength to spare against three foes at once, their expressions shifted, and Baiduzi snorted. Then they looked up at the sky, where the Nether King was swooping down, but that ancient cauldron still revolved slowly aloft, casting red light in every direction.
Baiduzi's brow suddenly knitted, and he said in a low, heavy voice: "The Subduing Dragon Cauldron!"
Duanmu Laozu, standing beside him, was startled and hastily looked up at the sky—and at once froze as well.
Both were cultivators of the deepest seniority in the demon cult, their insight and vision far beyond the ordinary rank and file; that ancient cauldron, seen from afar, had a plain, archaic shape, with dragon-head reliefs carved upon the twin rings at its sides—and together with the mysterious formation before them, it greatly resembled the "Dragon-Imprisoning Enclosure" of demon cult legend.
And this mysterious Dragon-Imprisoning Enclosure formation had always required the Subduing Dragon Cauldron to be worked at all: with the cauldron's spiritual power as the medium, one could rouse the killing qi of heaven and earth, and no matter how profound your cultivation, you would be trapped within, unable to escape.
Indeed, were it not for such a peerless treasure, the Nether King and his allies could hardly have hoped to imprison a primal marvel-beast like Kui Niu.
Back on the field, nearly all the combatants had by now paused, their attention drawn to this place.