Chapter 2452

It has held the Panlong Wasteland for over 170 years, which is no small feat.

He Lingchuan has also made up his mind: he will surely retake Panlong Ancient City!

Dong Rui added: "The bad news is, Mingyao Zunzun and the others withdrew from the White House and failed to achieve the expected result; the good news is, they joined forces with the spirits of Ling Mountain to break through the barrier of Yujing City and stormed inside. I think their target is also Duzhi Mountain. Your place is about to get lively."

He Lingchuan let out a soft breath—this is good news.

But before he could catch his breath, Zhu Xiuer suddenly shouted: "Watch out below!"

The flying vessel was three zhang above the ground; Mingke Xianren liked flying at this height—fast and effortless. The Spider Queen's warning came just in time, for almost simultaneously, the ground trembled, and something shot up from below, straight at the flying vessel!

Fortunately, Mingke Xianren reacted quickly too; upon the Spider Queen's signal, he instinctively steered the flying vessel into a sharp diagonal turn.

Immediately after, a massive head thrust upward.

Had the flying vessel continued on its original course, it would surely have been overturned.

Only then did the three see clearly: it was a colossal rock python, its head alone four and a half zhang long, its entire body composed of sandstone, with two pairs of large wings on its back.

After surging into the sky, a long section of its body remained buried in the ground, and it could change color.

He Lingchuan glanced quickly: "This devilish thing must be over two hundred zhang long?"

Coiled up, this rock python could form a small mountain. Aside from the Earth Mother, this is the largest monster I have ever seen!

As expected, the ancient Secret Realm teems with giants.

Though the rock python's body is huge, its turning is remarkably agile; it struck at the flying vessel several times, but Mingke Xianren dodged each in time. Yet this interrupted the vessel's forward momentum.

Moreover, the python's body twisted and coiled in midair, attempting to form a cage to block the vessel's path.

Mingke Xianren piloted the flying vessel up and down, always slipping through gaps in the python's body.

But these gaps were visibly shrinking to the naked eye.

The sandstone cage was forming.

Zhu Xiuer exclaimed in surprise: "Li Yun actually managed to summon something like this?"

"Not Li Yun." He Lingchuan raised his hand, revealing the wave drum: "His tool was taken by me, so he can no longer wield the Earth Mother's power."

"Is this summoned by the Secret Realm's master?" Mingke Xianren frowned. "How did he suddenly gain strength? What happened out there?"

The Secret Realm's master clearly knew intruders had entered long ago, yet remained hidden, using the Realm's own power against them.

Now, why does he suddenly want to act himself?

Is he angry that Li Yun gave no support, or did something happen out there forcing him to intervene?

Dong Rui, far outside the city, also heard this and immediately replied to He Lingchuan: "I am here, and I have seen no abnormality in the Earth Mother's demon army. Inspector Shang Hai has already led the assault into Yujing City, and the demon army and heavenly demons have fallen back to defend."

Before He Lingchuan finished listening, Mingke Xianren piloted the vessel past another section of the sandstone python's body, when suddenly a large head protruded from the rock and snapped at the vessel with a slap!

This was truly sudden—no one expected a head to suddenly grow on that segment of the body.

But think about it: this is the Secret Realm master's creation—why should it obey common sense?

The flying vessel shattered, and all three were flung by inertia. Mingke Xianren had prepared: in midair, he produced a cyan paper crane, waved it against the wind, and it came alive, flapping its wings to carry him aloft.

At that moment, another large snake head emerged from the side and lunged at him.

Before Mingke Xianren could act, a bundle of spider silk shot from the side, yanking the snake head violently aside.

The Spider Queen also used this force to swing over; He Lingchuan leapt from her forehead onto the paper crane.

Mingke Xianren then cast a pair of linked devices—two large iron balls of refined gold, connected by a chain, forming a rotating great killer in flight, capable of severing mountain peaks.

When this treasure struck the sandstone python, it indeed made a booming sound, sand flying high, momentum immense—but in fact, it only left a large dent on the python's body, failing to pierce a skylight.

"Harder than diamond" describes the sandstone python's bodily strength.

"Damn, this is too hard." Mingke Xianren's face darkened. The Earth Mother's innate gift favors heaviness and hardness, unafraid of ice and fire, giving him a faint sense of restraint.

In fact, it's not just Mingke Xianren—most cultivators facing the Earth Mother feel helpless.

For animals, once size reaches a certain point, they are nearly invincible; the cultivation world is no different.

During this delay, the sandstone cage neared completion and pressed toward the ground. He Lingchuan looked in all directions: layer upon layer of gray-yellow python bodies, utterly obscuring sky and land.

Once landed, it would fully be the Earth Mother's domain, and the trio's chances would shrink further.

What to do? Mingke Xianren's thoughts raced; he took out the Doukou Garden and said to Zhu Xiuer: "We two will go in—trouble you with this."

He and He Lingchuan could hide in the Mustard Seed Space, then rely on Zhu Xiuer's portable breakthrough. The Spider Queen can freely change her size and form, but the sandstone python is too large to easily entrap such a small thing.

"Good idea!"

He Lingchuan shook his head: "No need."

This Secret Realm is too dangerous; if both major powers hid in the Mustard Seed Space, the Realm's master might still have a trump card, and the Spider Queen alone might not react in time. After all, we initially entered Duzhi Mountain via the Doukou Garden—Shangguan Biao may have already noticed.

He took out the small wave drum from his bosom and began shaking it rapidly.

Dong dong dong dong dong—

The drumming was very cheerful, echoing in the yellow-gray cage, as if with reverberation.

Both companions were puzzled, but could feel the sandstone python's movement suddenly stall, then slow down.

"Go!"

Actually, He Lingchuan's urging wasn't needed—Mingke Xianren piloted the paper crane upward.

The massive python body immediately pressed down, both great snake heads thrusting out, lunging straight at the paper crane.

"Keep flying, don't mind it."

To keep flying—isn't that just walking into a trap?

Mingke Xianren glanced at He Lingchuan from the corner of his eye, saw his calm expression, as if holding the pearl of wisdom, and so piloted the paper crane without dodging, straight toward the space between the two great snake heads!

Unconsciously, his trust in He Lingchuan was also growing.

As the snake heads were about to bite the paper crane, He Lingchuan shook the small drum again.

Dong dong dong qiang!

This time, even more violent than before.

The python head's movement froze.

As the paper crane passed by, it suddenly lunged forward, opening its mouth wide.

But the next second, it stopped again amid the dense drumbeats.

Thus the paper crane slipped lightly through its big mouth, whooshing away toward the higher distance.

The python body also stirred restlessly; Zhu Xiuer could see it trembling nonstop, as if two forces were wrestling inside.

Crack— a section of the python body even rotted into stone powder, rustling down.

(End of chapter)