Chapter 2043: Raise the Stakes

It turned out that the vines on the ground had suddenly moved, coiling toward him like snakes. Had he not dodged quickly, his feet would already have been tangled and fixed to the ground.

After Nan Ronghe and the others entered the mirror world, Shatuo no longer had any reservations and his movements became light and quick, similarly dodging several times the vines that tried to entangle his feet.

But the vines in this cauldron were countless, all coming alive at once. He Lingchuan and Shatuo were like stepping into a kingdom of giant snakes, with not a single second being safe.

Nan Ronghe and the others, watching from inside the mirror, felt their hair stand on end. Such a battle was no longer something they could participate in.

At this moment, the wall suddenly shed dust in a rustling shower, and immediately afterward a flock of shadows flew out.

These things at first glance looked like flying insects, blotting out the sky and sun, but everyone knew that inside a high-temperature furnace it was highly unlikely for any insect to appear.

Indeed, as this group of things flew past the mirror, Nan Ronghe and the others finally realized that these were not living creatures at all, but tiny flying wheels made of sand and stone, each only the size of a thumb, spinning at high speed while flying.

They first rushed toward He Lingchuan, just brushing past the Golden Armor Divine General, who then threw a heavy punch. The swarm of flying wheels immediately scattered, circling around the fist and continuing to pursue He Lingchuan.

As they swept past the Golden Armor Divine General, there was a sharp, piercing grinding sound—zii, zii, zii—and Nan Ronghe and the others all clapped their hands over their ears.

The Golden Armor Divine General's arm instantly bore a large patch of grinding marks.

He Lingchuan burst out a curse, then said: "Grinding wheels!"

Aren't these things just grinding wheels used for polishing? The Golden Armor Divine General himself is a product refined countless times through fine polishing and calcination, yet he can still be worn down. If these wheels were to grind against a person...

To describe it as death by a thousand cuts would be too polite.

He Lingchuan quickly recalled the Golden Armor Divine General. Repairing this thing would also cost a fortune.

The swarm of flying wheels split in midair into two groups: one flock lunged at He Lingchuan, while the other turned to attend to Shatuo.

Shatuo remained calm and unhurried, waiting until they flew close before opening his mouth and spraying out a large amount of yellow liquid.

This is, after all, a furnace—ordinary water would vaporize before hitting the ground—but what Shatuo sprayed out was no ordinary substance: it not only insulated against heat but was also unusually viscous.

Dragons have dragon saliva; he refuses to be outdone and has also concocted a bovine saliva.

When the flying wheel swarm encountered the yellow liquid, it was like meeting a flypaper trap—within two seconds they fell to the ground. Not only could they not fly again, but their rotation speed instantly came to a halt.

The remaining over a hundred flying wheels immediately scattered, launching an attack toward his head and face.

Shatuo rolled on the spot, mixing his saliva with the dirt on the ground and rolling in it.

By the time he climbed to his feet, his body surface was wrapped in a thick layer of mud shell—unsightly but very practical. The flying wheels grinding against it sent sparks flying, but for a while they could not break through the defense.

Seeing the flying wheel swarm coming straight at him, He Lingchuan immediately cast out a spiderweb.

In the Panlong World, he had fished more than seventeen or eighteen times on the Dahu of the Chi Po Highlands, and this posture of casting and retrieving the net was extremely standard—over ninety percent of the flying wheel swarm were caught in one sweep of the net.

But these things, concentrating their force, actually tried to yank He Lingchuan into the air.

He was startled, and sank his power into the Upper Dantian before pulling back hard.

Shatuo also rushed over to help, biting the spiderweb with his mouth and dragging it backward two or three zhang.

Who could withstand its bovine strength?

But He Lingchuan also heard the zii-zii strange sound: the spider silk could not hold, being ground through by the flying wheels!

The spiderweb of the Cave Spider Queen had always been renowned for its strength, yet breaking so cleanly was a first. The Muwang Ding truly deserves its reputation as an immortal treasure—inside it, even a single divine ability is this sharp.

In fact, these two divine abilities are what the treasure cauldron uses to grind medicinal materials; using them against people is merely incidental.

Fortunately, this spiderweb consists of four layers, inner and outer, nested together, and for now it has not been worn through. He Lingchuan, with an empty-handed move, simultaneously said to Shatuo: "Loosen."

Shatuo suddenly relaxed his grip, and the flying wheel swarm naturally pressed forward against the spiderweb, charging fiercely, unable to stop in an instant.

Just then, directly ahead of them, a round mirror unexpectedly unfolded.

The flying wheel swarm could not shed its speed and rushed straight into the mirror's interior.

This is not the Soul-Capturing Mirror, but the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror. Both mirrors have the ability to temporarily hold objects, but the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror cannot permanently place living beings within its inner space.

The flying wheel swarm are not living things; once they enter the mirror's inner space, the Muwang Ding loses control over them.

They instantly scattered in all directions, flying about like headless flies, and thus could not form a coordinated force.

Moreover, they could no longer cut through the spiderweb.

Those outside the cauldron who witnessed this scene all had grim expressions. Though the Ox Immortal could handle the two great divine abilities, it was already enough that He Xiong showed no embarrassment—this... really made the Mu Su True Lord lose face.

Qingyang coughed once: "With an immortal demon assisting, He Xiong is not easy to deal with."

She gave Mu Su True Lord a hollow show of respect, then immediately continued speaking without letting him get a word in:

"Pan Qing Immortal Lord, Xiao Yang True Person, please you two take action!"

Immediately behind her, several figures stepped forward, clearly already impatient.

To enter the cauldron furnace, one naturally needs the consent of Mu Su True Lord. The latter had a wooden, expressionless face, but his aura was especially rigid—everyone could sense he was in a bad mood.

Yet Mu Su True Lord still reached out, passing his hand through the air over several people.

A cauldron-shaped talisman then appeared on their bodies, like a tattoo.

This is the immunity mark bestowed by Mu Su True Lord upon them, allowing them to come and go freely in the cauldron furnace and also to be unaffected by its divine abilities.

After these few entered, Qingyang looked at the man and woman behind her, wanting to speak but hesitating.

These two bodies are the divine incarnations sent by Bei Jia; she had originally intended to send them into the cauldron, but the commotion caused by divine incarnations is too great, possibly drawing unwanted attention. After all, He Xiong's great army is just dozens of li away, and there should still be many powerful beings there.

Moreover, the power of a god's incarnation is obviously inferior to that of a celestial being acting in person.

So she hesitated a moment, then decided to temporarily refrain from dispatching them.

……

Inside the cauldron, He Lingchuan had just leapt to one side when the divine bone necklace suddenly emitted a throbbing pulse.

Having held this treasure for so long, it turns out it can do more than just generate heat?

This feeling is quite strange, as if there were a consciousness inside wanting to communicate with him, yet not in the way of conversation.

He Lingchuan's first impression was: Could the Great Vessel have gained consciousness?

But he immediately rejected this idea as unreasonable.

Soon after, the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror suddenly appeared out of thin air beside him, round and bright.

Uninvited arrival—what is going on?

Xutuo turned his head and at once caught sight of his own reflection in the mirror; he tilted his head to the side, baffled.

What is this supposed to do?

But in He Lingchuan's view, the mirror reflected no person at all — instead, an entirely different scene:

Majestic and imposing city walls, a broad and prosperous plaza, crowds coming and going, clean flagstone roads, a clear bright sky...

And standing at the edge of the plaza, a great tree that blotted out the sky!

This was a scene he knew better than any other:

Panlong City.

With the battle this fierce, suddenly seeing the Panlong World, He Lingchuan was also stunned. Yet the city's residents walked about at ease, no one sparing so much as a glance in this direction — clearly none of them could see him.

The Divine Bone Necklace — or rather, the Great Square Gourd — what does it want to do?