Chapter 1775

No, he couldn't hold on; he had to return to the Banqiu Lighthouse as soon as possible. But just as he picked up speed, a shadow streaked past his front-left, faster than a diving falcon. It brushed against the Xuan Turtle Shell with a *swish*, instantly knocking the latter off its path and sending it toward the large trees on the cliff wall.

The stone platform outside the mine cave had collapsed, but two large trees remained rooted in the cliff wall and had not fallen into the abyss.

The Zhaoyou God immediately knew something was wrong and adjusted his angle to fly outward, but in that moment of delay, several large nets shot out from the trees, snagging him and pulling him back with force.

The edges of the turtle shell were truly sharp; the spiderwebs, which he had been unable to cut through using other methods before, were actually sliced through by several layers at once.

However, Mother Zhu's ability to frantically cast nets was no weaker than her sister's. In the blink of an eye, another seven or eight spiderwebs were hung on, truly covering the Spirit Urn Immortal in white nets.

Come on, keep cutting.

The slower the Xuan Turtle Shell rotated, the less damage it dealt; once it was wrapped in layers of spiderwebs and could no longer turn, that would be the moment the Zhaoyou God would have to surrender.

No, I can't cut through it anymore.

Mother Zhu sprayed nets while dragging him back into the mine cave.

Elder Liu raised the Demon-Subduing Pestle again. The Zhaoyou God pulled his neck in, retracted his head back into the Fu Turtle Shell, and decisively opened his mouth: "Wait, wait a moment, I can help you!"

Help? What help could a demon sent down from the Heavenly Realm possibly provide?

Dong Rui felt both surprised and intrigued. Even a Heavenly Demon would bow its head and beg for mercy? But seeing Elder Liu's unperturbed expression, it seemed this wasn't the first time he had encountered such a thing.

Xiao Wencheng on Stone Dragon Peak also said through the Haoyuan Gold Mirror: "Wait, ask for some intelligence first! The Heavenly Demons we killed before died too quickly."

The opponent's most confidential intelligence would certainly be unknown to ordinary Tiangong soldiers or even elites, so this was a valuable prisoner.

Thus, Elder Liu lifted his chin: "What qualifications do you have to bargain with us?"

"Intelligence!" the Zhaoyou God said immediately. "You surely want to know how many people Miaozhantian brought and what trump cards he has, right? As long as you let me leave the Inverted Sea, I will tell you everything."

Elder Liu nodded: "Fine, speak. But if you dare to lie, you will be cutting off your own last chance at survival with your own hands."

During their conversation, He Lingchuan gestured to Mother Zhu, who immediately released her small spiders.

Here, the Zhaoyou God confessed: "Miaozhantian personally led the expedition to the Inverted Sea. Five of us subordinate gods followed, along with eight vassal gods, and three demon immortals from the Flash Gold Plains also followed..."

He Lingchuan interrupted: "Where did you get so many immortal skins?"

No matter how many Heavenly Demons were willing to descend to the lower realm, they needed suitable skins to land.

"Over the past two thousand years, we have raided hundreds of immortal caves in the Flash Gold Plains, but there weren't many usable immortal bodies among them. There are only about a dozen that could be converted into skins and preserved until now, and Miaozhantian brought almost all of them out for this trip to the Inverted Sea," the Zhaoyou God continued. "Miaozhantian is also fighting a desperate battle; he must win and cannot afford to lose."

Hundreds! He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow, secretly thinking, *No wonder. *

No wonder the Heavenly Gods and the Tiangong were so experienced at raiding caves; it turned out they had the backing of hundreds of successful precedents.

The Zhaoyou God spoke lightly, but Elder Liu and He Lingchuan both knew that, regardless of the danger of raiding the caves themselves, preserving immortal skins was extremely laborious.

From the medieval era to the present, the original owners of these skins could not save themselves and grew weaker day by day; how much of a price did the Tiangong have to pay to ensure these skins didn't lose their vitality or capabilities?

Just two words:

Sustenance.

The terrifying financial power of the Tiangong could be glimpsed from this. Some demon immortals defected to Beijia precisely to obtain resources.

He Lingchuan's eyes flickered, and he suddenly asked: "What is the grand plan of the Heavenly Realm and the Lingxu crowd? Why are the gods fighting madly for the Punishment Dragon Pillar, and why is Miaozhantian willing to risk a massive reduction in his own strength to hunt down the Thousand Illusions True Person?"

Miaozhantian already held a high position in the Heavenly Realm, even more glorious than most orthodox gods. Why would such a precious deity not just lie on his throne and enjoy the peaceful years, instead of having to suppress other Heavenly Demons to compete for the right to open the box of Thousand Illusions?

The risks and rewards didn't seem proportional.

This certainly showed he was full of confidence, believing he could definitely defeat Thousand Illusions, but on the other hand, it also showed that Miaozhantian seemed to be under immense pressure, forcing him to take such risks.

Previously, when He Lingchuan took this question to the temples, the various wild gods would not answer.

The Zhaoyou God did not expect him to suddenly switch questions; he opened his mouth, and his words came out a second late.

Finally, he said: "Miaozhantian wants the skin of a True Immortal."

Answering this way was avoiding the heavy and focusing on the light; even he did not want to answer He Lingchuan's first question directly.

Elder Liu did not know what the "Punishment Dragon Pillar" was, and he didn't care at the moment. Just as he was about to speak, He Lingchuan snatched the question:

"What is Bai Ziqi doing at Kidney Lake?"

As soon as the place name "Kidney Lake" came out, Elder Liu's expression shifted.

"He deduced that it is the entrance to the real world," the Zhaoyou God looked at Elder Liu. "So the entrance isn't the Inverted Lake, but Kidney Lake, right?"

Elder Liu was expressionless and asked instead of answering: "What is the trump card Miaozhantian brought?"

He was the one interrogating the prisoner, but he had ended up having two questions snatched by He Lingchuan.

The Zhaoyou God took a deep breath: "It is an incomparably powerful..."

He spoke very slowly, and everyone was listening intently when his head suddenly shrank again! Then, he vanished, leaving only a set of outer armor amidst the layers of binding spider silk.

His figure reappeared five zhang away, about to ride a flowing rainbow and fly away.

He didn't believe a single word of Elder Liu's guarantee; what he had said just now was merely to buy time to prepare for his escape. If He Lingchuan had a method of escape like "replacing a peach with a plum," how could he, a dignified Heavenly Demon/Immortal, not have a backup plan for running away? This move was called "Spirit Turtle Shedding its Shell"; the longer he stored his energy, the further he could flash.

If this place didn't forbid escape arts, it would have been even more convenient for the Zhaoyou God to just tunnel away.

There were two immortals here beating him, and the Spider Scorpion in particular seemed to have a subtle restraint over him. Even if he had energy to spare, he didn't want to keep fighting. It was better to go rendezvous with his companions at the Banqiu Lighthouse and come back later to deal with these two! However, just as he was about to jump from the cliff, his limbs suddenly felt sluggish, as if his body were hanging with tens of thousands of jin of heavy weights.

Oh no!

The Zhaoyou God subconsciously stumbled, immediately knew something was wrong, and began to form hand seals.

However, a wind rose behind his neck; the enemy had already attacked.

He Lingchuan's long saber arrived first. The Zhaoyou God barely dodged twice before being snagged by a handful of Mother Zhu's spider silk. He couldn't endure the final blow and was struck on the crown of his head by Elder Liu's Demon-Subduing Pestle, his brains splattering and blood splashing five steps away. He had discarded the Fu Turtle Shell during his last "shell shedding," greatly reducing his defensive capabilities, and Elder Liu had struck in anger, producing a crisp sound.

He Lingchuan understood; so that was how the Demon-Subduing Pestle was used.

Immediately after, a point of green light emerged from the severely damaged seven orifices of the Spirit Urn Immortal.

This was the primordial spirit of the Zhaoyou God.

In truth, he had nowhere to go; the Inverted Sea was sealed by Thousand Illusions' divine ability, and he wasn't sure he could get out. There were no suitable skins for him in the cave dwelling either, unless Miaozhantian had spares.

At the same time, He Lingchuan's neck suddenly became burning hot—

The Divine Bone Necklace was reacting, and very urgently, as if someone who had been hungry for three days and three nights had suddenly seen a fragrant, braised pig trotter.

As soon as the Zhaoyou God's primordial spirit came out, Elder Liu took out a jade purification bottle, preparing to catch him inside, but the green light flew straight toward He Lingchuan's face as soon as it emerged.

In Elder Liu's view, the Zhaoyou God might have intended to escape by passing He Lingchuan, because behind He was the cliff and the night sky.

Only He Lingchuan knew that his constitution was special and particularly attractive to primordial spirits that were like headless flies.

Of course, the Zhaoyou God realized this halfway through his flight, circled around, and intended to bypass him to continue toward the sky. After losing his physical shell, there wasn't much he could do, but running away was definitely one of them.

Elder Liu raised his hand and struck with the Demon-Subduing Pestle, forcing the Heavenly Demon's primordial spirit to change direction, while his other hand reached forward with the jade purification bottle.

A huge suction force came from the mouth of the bottle.

Who would have thought that this ball of green light would suddenly split into two? One part was sucked away by the jade purification bottle, while the other continued to fly toward the sky, even faster.

This guy actually knew how to sacrifice the pawn to save the chariot.

However, before he had flown very far, a cold light suddenly arrived.

The Floating Life Saber light rose again.

He dodged left and right, but after only a few flashes, he was struck by the blade.

Everyone seemed to hear a scream of "Ah."

Elder Liu narrowed his eyes and praised: "Good saber."

Then He Lingchuan reached out to grab the primordial spirit, in the exact same manner as catching a fly with bare hands.

How could it be so easy to grab a Heavenly Demon's primordial spirit? Even if his hands were fast, before he could touch the Zhaoyou God, the latter flickered like a firefly, preparing to flash behind him in the next second.

However, for some reason, the green light did not successfully escape. Just as the Zhaoyou God's first escape was delayed by the formation, now He Lingchuan's palm seemed to have an inexplicable force firmly sucking him in, not letting him leave.

He Lingchuan clenched his fist and caught him.

Never mind Elder Liu, even Mother Zhu was shocked and immediately leaned over: "Did you catch him?"

"Caught him." He Lingchuan opened his hand; in his palm was a black box, with a tree painted on the lid.

Elder Liu didn't see any mystery in this box: "Can it trap him?"

"Yes," He Lingchuan said solemnly, "but it starts refining the Heavenly Demon's primordial spirit as soon as it's sucked in, so it can't be taken out."

This box was, of course, just a smokescreen; after being weakened by several layers, the Zhaoyou God was directly swallowed by the Divine Bone Necklace hidden in his palm.

The Zhaoyou God became He Lingchuan's trophy, which only showed that the man had remarkable means. Whoever had the ability took it; this was the rule of the immortals, and Elder Liu didn't say much, casually collecting the Spirit Urn Immortal's corpse: "Let's go, it's time to go deal with that lizard."

He had also caught a bit of the Zhaoyou God's primordial spirit; now, either disperse it or seal it, there didn't seem to be a third choice.

Just as he was about to summon the Haoyuan Gold Mirror, Mother Zhu also recalled her small spiders to her side.

After the first time she sprayed silk to catch the Zhaoyou God, she had released several small spiders, quietly ordering them to rearrange the collected Deep Abyss formation artifacts in the cave.

The formation eye had fallen into He Lingchuan's hands, so this formation naturally changed to serve their side.