Chapter 1781

The vast and boundless wilderness of the Fengyuan Continent teems with countless unknown ferocious beasts and monsters, and there are even some heavenly perilous peaks; even high-level cultivators who rashly enter them have no chance of survival.

Countless people of various races perish in the wilderness each year,

yet still, for the rare materials and that sliver of opportunity and fortune in the wilderness, cultivators continue to rush in without cease.

The human race, dwelling in a remote corner of the Fengyuan Continent, is naturally much weaker than the several major races on the continent, and even compared to the neighboring races, they are not particularly strong.

Fortunately, the demon race, whose strength is roughly comparable, has joined forces with them, and the Three Realms and Seven Lands of both races have been sealed by super restrictions laid down by the ancient great divine powers of both races.

Except for the one entrance at Tianyan City, there is no other place where the two races can enter, which allows them to cultivate and thrive in peace, standing firm in the Spirit Realm to this day.

Naturally, Tianyan City has become a vital stronghold regarded as fundamental by both races; not only are large numbers of elite troops from both races stationed here, but there is also a uniquely established Tianyan Council of Elders, solely responsible for the city's defense.

Although this council has few members—only ten—none are below the Body Integration stage; if one of the ten elders falls, a new Body Integration-stage human or demon entity is immediately selected from the two races to join.

Thus, Tianyan City is made impregnable.

Therefore, cultivators of the human and demon races who wish to enter the wilderness region can only do so through this sole exit of Tianyan City.

Ordinary cultivators dare not venture too deep into the wilderness; most operate within a month's journey from Tianyan City, so that if they truly encounter some ferocious ancient beast or other danger, they still have a chance to flee back to Tianyan City for refuge.

Of course, there are also many who rely on their divine powers, bold and skilled, who directly penetrate deep into the wilderness.

But in doing so, their mortality rate naturally increases manifold.

Currently, above a lake in the wilderness, several human cultivators find themselves in this imminent peril of falling.

Four humans—two men and two women—are being tightly trapped in one place by a peculiar, enormous ancient beast from the lake.

The beast's body resembles that of a giant sea turtle, but oddly, a dozen or so tentacles like those of an octopus grow on its back; when swung, they create gusts of wind, heavy shadows, forming a giant net that ruthlessly presses the four people in the air together.

Even though these four possess considerable magic power, being at the Soul Transformation level, and the several treasures they wield emit myriad rays of rosy light, extraordinary and uncommon, whether it be flying knives, flying swords, or the ***giant staff, striking the tentacles results in a merciless rebound, utterly unable to tear even a thread of the giant net.

Had it not been for a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar, wielding a silver 'colored' Ruyi-shaped magic treasure that was miraculously effective, blocking most of the pressure from the net formed by the tentacles, the four would have long since been shattered in defense and fallen to their deaths.

Yet even so, the four are panting, drenched in sweat, appearing unable to endure much longer.

"Fire Brother, quickly unleash the Ultimate Lightning Pearl; we will give our all in one final strike." The scholar, seeing the dire situation, shouted loudly at the person beside him.

"No. Though the Ultimate Lightning Pearl is powerful, releasing it in such a confined space would also affect us." Another, a hideous man clad in crimson armor, replied with a changed 'expression'.

"I naturally understand this. But now we can no longer afford to hesitate. This Stone Elemental Turtle possesses divine powers of the early Void Refinement stage; my Hundred Spirit Ruyi can no longer hold out much longer. If we do not unleash a final strike now, even if we wish to fight to the death, we will have no chance." The scholar spoke sternly, appearing unusually resolute.

Upon hearing this, the crimson-armored man's 'expression' shifted again, though he still hesitated somewhat.

The ancient beast's tentacles waved with increasing speed, faintly transmitting the sound of wind and thunder; the immense force emanating from the net suddenly increased significantly.

The heavenly white light transformed from the Jade Ruyi, after several consecutive contacts, instantly dimmed considerably, forcing the circle to contract again by nearly half, leaving the four able only to stand back-to-back to resist the tentacles' assault.

This caused the last sliver of hope in the crimson-armored man's heart to vanish entirely!

He immediately gritted his teeth, flipped his palm over, and a round bead the size of a chicken egg appeared in his palm.

The bead glowed with brilliant blue light, its surface covered densely with mysterious blue 'colored' patterns, appearing extraordinarily enigmatic.

As soon as the burly man produced the blue 'colored' bead, the two female cultivators with somewhat attractive features lost all 'color' in their jade-like faces.

In panic, one woman chanted incantations under her breath, waved both sleeves, and released more than ten high-grade talismans that shot out, forming layer upon layer of light curtains that shielded all four within.

The other woman raised her hand, and a small black 'colored' bell flew out.

The bell suddenly expanded greatly; after a soft "Dang" sound, a layer of faint black 'colored' light and radiance flew downward, similarly enveloping several people beneath it.

The scholar then hardened his heart, consecutively spitting out several mouthfuls of essence blood.

With each mouthful spat, his 'color' suddenly turned paler by a degree, then he rapidly tapped with his fingers several times.

The essence blood flashed, sinking into the Ruyi in midair.

The Ruyi's originally somewhat dim spiritual light suddenly blazed forth; the white 'colored' light and radiance it transformed into condensed extraordinarily thick in an instant.

Seeing his companion ready their defense, the crimson-armored man hesitated not at all, shook his wrist, and cast forth the blue 'colored' bead.

The bead, upon leaving his hand, transformed into a mass of blue light, blinding and dazzling.

The crimson-armored man, with one hand forming a seal and urging it on, caused the blue light to swirl like a vortex, then it became the size of a cartwheel, and shooting toward a wildly dancing tentacle below, it rebounded and darted away.

With a "Boom" came a heaven-shaking, earth-moving tremendous roar.

The moment the blue 'colored' light mass contacted the tentacle, it instantly exploded, sending waves of blue 'colored' air surging wildly outward from the point of explosion.

The giant net formed by over ten tentacles was instantly submerged by the blue light; the shockwave affected an area of several li in radius, within the blue light, winds howled and thunder rumbled continuously.

A few soft "Swish" sounds were emitted.

Several streaks of startled rainbows actually broke through the air waves, after a few flashes, they linked together and shot toward the horizon.

The four men and women in the escape light were all in a sorry state!

Among them, the scholar had bloodstains streaked across his body, one arm missing.

The other three also wore tattered and ragged clothes, their 'complexion' deathly pale, appearing to have suffered serious injuries.

Fortunately, none of the four lost their flight ability; as the escape light flickered, they still fled at astonishing escape speed.

After a moment, the airborne shockwave dispersed, the flashing blue light vanished from sight.

All that could be seen was that the giant turtle-like ancient beast had over half of its dozen or so tentacles utterly annihilated, the remaining half scorched and blackened, appearing mutilated and incomplete.

A furious roar erupted from the beast's mouth; the damaged tentacles flashed with green light, then rapidly regrew; following this, a surge of waves churned on the nearby lake surface, a vast volume of water rolled up, actually enveloping the giant turtle, transforming it into a vast expanse of water clouds covering several mu, which rushed toward the four as they broke through space in pursuit.

Seeing this, the four ahead were greatly alarmed, naturally exerting their utmost to drive their escape light, hoping to shake off the water clouds behind them.

However, although the water clouds were immensely vast, their escape speed was not in the slightest slower than the combined escape light of the four ahead, lagging only slightly.

Before long, after a short while, they had flown over a million li apart.

But as time passed, the escape light and water clouds gradually drew closer together.

This was not because the water clouds' escape speed had increased, but because the four human cultivators ahead originally had injuries; after this desperate, frantic flight, they finally began to run low on magic power.

The four naturally also detected the unfavorable situation, but since they absolutely could not match the strength of the pursuing ancient beast, they were naturally utterly helpless.

Finally, after flying forward over ten hundred thousand li, when the distance between them had closed to less than a hundred zhang, the beast behind suddenly let out a great roar; the water clouds blurred momentarily, then with a "Bang," they spontaneously exploded apart.

After the vast white spiritual air rolled and dissipated, the giant turtle had vanished without a trace.

The few people flying ahead naturally kept constant watch on everything behind them. Upon seeing this scene, the severed-arm scholar's 'expression' changed drastically, and he suddenly cried out in alarm, "Not good!"

But before they could come up with any other countermeasures, the escape light above suddenly rippled, and several black tendrils flashed into view, then slammed down fiercely toward them with lightning speed.

Even before they were struck, the immense wind pressure shook the escape light violently, causing it to flicker erratically between dark and bright.

The four let out a low cry and, almost instinctively, scattered their escape light, shooting off in different directions to evade.

Although they managed to dodge the vicious blow from above in a flash, they were forcibly torn apart, each ending up in a different place; exchanging glances, their faces all turned grim.

Just moments ago, even with their magic power combined, they couldn't shake off the ancient beast's pursuit; now, having been forcibly scattered, any hope of escape seems like a foolish fantasy.

A huge black shadow flashed in the air, and the giant turtle's entire body flickered into view from the void, its two jade-green eyes sweeping over the four with icy coldness.

The scholars' hearts sank; most felt they were unlikely to escape this disaster.

But since the four had cultivated to their current realm and dared to venture deep into the wild lands, they were men of extraordinary resolve and would not simply wait for death.

Their expressions hardened as they each spat out treasures, preparing for another desperate fight.

Seeing this, the ancient turtle beast let out a low growl, a hint of human-like disdain flickering in its eyes, then swung over a dozen tendrils on its back, instantly transforming into a mass of black shadows.

As the two sides seemed about to clash again, the expressions of the four and the beast suddenly shifted, and nearly simultaneously, they all gazed sharply upward.

High above, at a height of over a hundred zhang, a massive thunderball the size of a head had appeared out of nowhere.

Silver light flickered within the thunderball, with countless fine electric arcs dancing continuously, yet not a single sound was emitted—this stark contrast between motion and silence naturally evoked a deeply eerie feeling.

But before the four and the ancient beast could react in shock to this sight, the thunderball exploded with a deafening roar, its volume suddenly swelling to several times its size.

Following the continuous thunderclaps, countless electric arcs shot out from the thunderball, and after the light flashed, they instantly formed a circular magic formation several zhang in diameter.

Within this magic formation composed entirely of silver-colored electric arcs, the light flashed wildly as countless silver-colored runes simultaneously appeared.

A thunderous clap that shook heaven and earth.

A thick electric arc, as wide as a water tank, flashed; the light retracted, and a disheveled figure appeared at the center of the lightning formation.

As soon as this figure steadied himself, he immediately lost all composure and began cursing loudly.

"Lei Yunzi, you old brat! Next time don't let me run into you, or else this matter won't be settled so easily."

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Wang