Chapter 1677: Removing the shackles

Tu Han, Shan Zezhong, and others were still attacking. King Yao gasped, knowing they were too far from him and couldn't come over for a while, so he transmitted the order through the sound-amplifying stone.

Hearing the voice, Tu Han stopped and led the team to retreat twenty zhang away from the Frost Immortal Hall.

The giant serpent had been glaring at Goddess Feng He, and the latter pointed at it again, "Immediately take it back, and then hand over the inner core!"

King Yao's face changed.

Before the rescue army arrived, this giant monster was his greatest reliance.

The Heavenly God's abandonment of him was no longer concealed.

What if he handed over the inner core, and the Heavenly God and Bai Tan wanted his life? What then? This "what if" seemed very likely, and he couldn't trust them.

At that time, he wouldn't even have a shred of self-protection!

Thinking back and forth, sweat poured down.

In a dilemma, he could only point to the sky and swear: "Please order Qing Yang and Bai Tan to withdraw from the palace, and I will immediately hand over the treasure bead inner core! If I violate this oath, may I be struck by nine thunders, and may my descendants be ground to dust!"

As long as Qing Yang and Bai Tan left, the urgent crisis would be resolved.

Sure enough, one sentence tested it out. Goddess Feng He lowered her eyelids: "Only those who are insincere and disrespectful will bargain. Forget it, I will collect this inner core myself."

The ministers on the hall were dazzled and stunned by the dialogue between the Heavenly God and the sovereign, not daring to breathe.

But at this juncture, You Rongzhi had to squeeze out a sentence with difficulty: "Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince has, has passed!"

He should have taken the Fourth Prince to the temple for medical treatment, but the Frost Immortal Hall was blocked tightly, and he couldn't get out.

King Yao was shocked and turned back to look, seeing Prince Rui lying on the soft cushion, his face gray, his chest no longer rising and falling, and his body below the ribs had turned into wood.

The strange disease caused by the divine art actually spread faster throughout the body. Even if Goddess Feng He stood here, she wouldn't take another look at Prince Rui.

The Fourth Prince waited in vain for the god's medical treatment and finally passed away.

You Rongzhi turned in a direction and knelt before King Yao's corpse, unable to rise.

King Yao closed his eyes and shed two lines of tears, with only one sentence in his heart:

Heaven wants to destroy me.

This "Heaven" was the Heavenly God.

But he was unwilling, resentful, and unconvinced! He looked at Bai Tan behind the Heavenly God, whose eyes were filled with strange eagerness, reminding him of a vulture circling a corpse.

This man clearly wanted to seize his country! Was he blind, that he had mistaken such a look for enthusiasm and loyalty for so many years? King Yao closed his eyes, sighed, and handed the inner core forward: "Take it!"

Hearing just this sentence, others would think he finally bowed his head and submitted to Goddess Feng He.

But in fact, he was reaching out toward the giant serpent!

"In exchange, kill them!"

Goddess Feng He moved, but the giant serpent was standing beside King Yao, faster than lightning.

It didn't even take the inner core from King Yao's hand, but grabbed this person and bit off his entire arm with a "ka-cha" sound!

Immediately after, with a "gu-du" sound, it swallowed both the arm and the inner core.

The white mist flowing on the ground stalled slightly, then suddenly swirled clockwise, as if a large vortex was about to form.

The giant serpent rolled its eyes, turning into dark red vertical pupils! That gaze was fierce and spirited, no longer like the unfocused one from before.

Amidst King Yao's miserable screams, it slowly raised the trident, the tip pointing at Goddess Feng He.

This action was extremely provocative.

Previously under King Yao's control, its behavior wouldn't have been so emotional.

In just a few breaths, it looked completely different. If it was just a combat model remotely controlled by King Yao before, now this model had come alive, truly like a killing machine.

Qing Yang's expression became increasingly serious. She knew this meant the giant serpent had regained self-awareness, or at least regained part of its autonomy.

She really didn't expect King Yao's trump card to be so hard. This battle was becoming increasingly difficult to fight.

King Yao's arm was bleeding, and he was in such pain he almost fainted, but he miraculously held on, roaring: "Kill them all, kill, kill, kill!"

His eyes were bloodshot and bulging.

So what if Goddess Feng He descended! He also had the External Dharma Image of an ancient immortal as his backing! As long as he killed Qing Yang, killed Bai Tan, and even killed the body of Goddess Feng He, he could still turn the tide, and he could still save his empire!

As long as he won, he only needed to win this battle, and the Yao Nation would still have a future and could still be strong! The giant serpent roared, its voice shaking ten miles.

There were two silver lights lingering on the tip of the trident, driving the cold wind to whistle. The giant serpent grabbed the big trident and stabbed it heavily into the ground in front!

"Tu-tu-tu," layers of ice thorns suddenly burst out from the ground in front of the trident tip, dense and numerous, like the surface of a cactus. These thorns were four feet high, the tops sharper than needle points, and they expanded outward like ripples, hitting a blood-red fan shape.

In just these few breaths, countless people were pierced by the ice thorns, and screams were endless.

And the ice thorns were indiscriminate attacks, not distinguishing between friend and foe!

Fortunately, Tu Han's army had already retreated. Seeing the temple soldiers in front being pierced to death by the ground thorns and the City Patrol troops fleeing wildly, he knew this battle was no longer something he could participate in, so he made a gesture: "Retreat, retreat again!"

In fact, this time he didn't need Tu Han to order it; the army turned and fled on its own, retreating at least a hundred zhang, and quite a few guards slipped away first.

They were here to rescue the sovereign, not to die directly.

The situation in the Frost Immortal Hall was even worse; with the courtyard wall blocking, it was difficult for Bai Tan's army to all run out.

The ground was stained red with blood. If it weren't for the protection of elemental power, the casualties here would have doubled.

The casual strike of the giant serpent after regaining its freedom was completely different from the wild fighting under King Yao's control before.

The momentum was also completely different, with ice frost and cold air steaming all over its body, like a sky-high fierce flame. It swept its fierce eyes, and even the temple soldiers were trembling, unable to muster the courage to move forward.

Qing Yang and Bai Tan and others shrank behind Goddess Feng He, not needing to make a move themselves, because Goddess Feng He stepped forward toward the ice-thorn array, and those two purple light rings appeared again, expanding into giant rings to surround everyone in the middle.

The ice-thorn array rushed to the front but was blocked and couldn't penetrate.

When the purple ring disappeared, a dense circle of ground thorns was pierced into the ground two zhang around them.

Afterward, the giant serpent shook its whole body, and countless ice crystals shot in all directions.

Dense, fierce, and with strong penetrating power.

The courtyard walls and trees of the Frost Immortal Hall were all beaten into sieves.

Those hit by this indiscriminate attack fell to the ground one after another.

Even the bird demons flying in mid-air, dozens of zhang away, could not escape!

He Lingchuan gave an "ah" sound and covered his eyes.

Mother Zhu also wiped her eyes and cursed "abominable."

The mirror and the crowd at the side: "What happened?"

"The eyeball spider was accidentally injured." He Lingchuan was also very unhappy. The fire-fighting in the Yao Palace had entered the next stage, which was tense and exciting, but suddenly the live broadcast was cut off.

Mother Zhu immediately corrected: "No, Goddess Feng He seems to have discovered me, and even looked up at the eyeball spider twice. These Heavenly Gods have unusually keen spiritual senses."

He Lingchuan made a decisive decision, stood up, and stretched: "Can't watch it anymore, let's go. Once the battle in the palace ends, we will have pursuers behind us. The next plan is about to start, and we still need to hurry up and arrange the final clues."

Mother Zhu gave an "um" sound: "By the way, that giant serpent might not be a real Yin Serpent."

He Lingchuan and everyone were curious: "Is there any fake?"

"It doesn't eat evil energy but needs frost and cold air; its fighting style is also not similar to a Yin Serpent, and after it got its inner core back, it turned into vertical pupils!" Mother Zhu analyzed seriously, "You have stayed in the Yang Shan Archipelago for so long, when have you ever seen a Yin Serpent with vertical pupils?"

Everyone thought about it, and indeed they hadn't. "Then what on earth is this thing, and how did it wear the shell of a Yin Serpent?"

Mother Zhu walked with everyone, saying as they walked: "That might be an External Dharma Image."

Everyone shook their heads, indicating they didn't understand.

"In ancient times, some great immortals could transform into External Dharma Images. Their size, appearance, and body shape might be completely different from the original, but they have special power." Mother Zhu gave an example casually, "For example, 'Spirit Horn Great Immortal' is a white deer demon, proficient in divine abilities, but its body is not strong enough—compared to ancient immortals of the same level. Then the 'External Dharma Image' that Spirit Horn Great Immortal refined is a hook-sickle monster, terrifying in appearance, completely different from a deer, and a single strike of the hook-sickle tears through space. Spirit Horn uses it to fight, which can make up for its own shortcomings."

Wang Fubao asked: "Since it is so useful, why don't you refine an External Dharma Image?"

Mother Zhu stood up and showed him her graceful figure, then gave a hum: "Do you think there are any shortcomings in this golden body of mine?"

Its legs were thicker than Wang Fubao's waist, and its leg hair was sharper than steel needles, so the latter could only accompany with a smile: "No, none."

The Earth-Hole Spider Queen is indeed a natural killing weapon, capable of long-range and close-range combat, group fighting and single fighting, lurking and charging. If one wants to pick faults, it might be that its swimming speed is not fast. But other demon species or even humans don't have this talent and can only make up for their shortcomings through later cultivation, so refining an External Dharma Image is also a good way.

He Lingchuan deduced in reverse: "In other words, the original body of this giant serpent is likely not good at powerful fighting?"

"Not bad. Many monsters have such shortcomings. For example, most bird demons are relatively lacking in strength, and Dong Rui's snail-toad original body is a snail, um, and a toad, which is naturally slower in movement speed." Mother Zhu corrected him, "Of course, the shortcomings and slowness I mentioned are all relative. In order to make up for the shortcomings, some ancient immortals might refine more than one External Dharma Image." Mother Zhu pointed out, "I have seen the most, and they can have five External Dharma Images!"

As soon as they fight, they can shake their bodies and release five Dharma Images? A single fight becomes a group fight.

Everyone imagined it and felt that the scene was too beautiful.

"But External Dharma Images have many restrictions, whether in refining or using, and I can't explain it clearly to you for a while." This group of people hadn't reached the realm, so even if Mother Zhu had a mouth all over her body, she couldn't explain it clearly, "But remember, there are benefits to having more, and there are subtleties to having fewer. Every External Dharma Image needs to be cultivated, and the original body will inevitably be distracted, which also dilutes resources." ===== CHAPTER 1678 =====