Chapter 67: The Successful God-Summoning Art

He Chunhua was still shaken, feeling both lingering fear and annoyance. Gritting his teeth, he said, "That old thief Sun deserves to die!" No matter how dull he might have been, he understood now: Sun Fuping’s order for him to lead the Heishui City army into the Panlong Desert was a malicious trap—they were meant to be cannon fodder, and ultimately, sacrificial offerings to die.

If not for the half-broken comb in his hand, the Heishui City army would have surely exhausted themselves maintaining the Heavenly Thunder formation under the continuous onslaught of the Great Wind army, and they would have been wiped out in one fell swoop when the blood sacrifice formation activated.

The light of the formation had now vanished, but no one dared to walk inside. The sand bandit rescued by Situ Han soon stopped tossing and turning in agony; he only stared at his boss, his chest heaving incessantly.

He Chunhua glanced at him and said, "He can't be saved. Give him a quick end."

Situ Han’s face was ashen. He crouched down, patted his brother on the shoulder, and then slit his throat with a blade. It turned out that saving him earlier had only prolonged his suffering; in the end, he could not escape death.

This sand bandit leader, who had killed countless people, silently pressed his hand to his own forehead.

Looking at the remains of the dead, their bones were stark white, as if even the marrow had been drained dry. The blood sacrifice formation was too cruel; it had devoured the offerings completely, leaving not even a shred of flesh behind.

He Chunhua’s expression turned ugly, and suddenly he slashed out with his blade!

The young attendant left behind by Sun Fuping was quietly walking away, trying to hide in the ruins, but he was struck by the blade and decapitated.

At the same time, he roared an order: "Kill! Kill all these monsters!"

Sun Fuping and Nian Songyu originally had over a dozen subordinates in the formation as well. Three died during the blood sacrifice, and another was killed by He Chunhua. With seven remaining, they finally snapped out of their daze and scattered like birds and beasts, either fleeing outward or jumping into the well.

But before the furious Heishui City army, they didn't get far before being cut down. Two fell by the edge of the well and were hacked into a pulp, just one step away from the water.

Afterward, the Heishui City army began to count their casualties. A subordinate finally reported: "My lord, we lost eighty brothers."

He Chunhua closed his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a "clang" as the upright staff fell to the ground.

Before anyone could react, it suddenly flew up, shot into the well, and vanished.

A fierce look flashed across He Chunhua’s face: "Go, we are going into the well too!"

￥￥￥￥￥

Just then, a point of light emerged from the ruins.

Something flew out, shining with an abnormally piercing glare. To He Lingchuan, it was like a five-thousand-watt lightbulb; no one could look directly at it.

Yet, even as he covered his eyes with his hand, he subconsciously concluded that this thing was the ivory carving.

They had gone to such great lengths, even joining forces with the Black Flood Dragon, yet in the end, they still hadn't interrupted Sun Fuping’s God-Summoning Art?

Then, what about his father and the others?

The Black Flood Dragon raised its severed tail and slammed it down mercilessly, trying to crush it.

At the same time, the ivory carving’s tightly shut eyes suddenly opened!

With a crisp "clang," the ivory carving shattered, but a white light flew out from within. It circled slightly in mid-air, looking both like it was lingering and hesitating.

Mao Tao said with a trembling voice: "Is that the, the god that was summoned?"

The Black Flood Dragon spat several bursts of intense flame at the white light. The light seemed elusive, dodging dangerously several times.

There was movement in the crater below. Sun Fuping crawled out, clutching Nian Songyu, and roared hoarsely at the white light: "My god has arrived!" With that, he held up the unconscious, eyes-closed Nian Songyu.

Only then did He Lingchuan finally understand why Nian Songyu had followed the State Preceptor to Heishui City and the Panlong Desert—

As a vessel for the god’s descent, or rather, as the god’s weapon!

The Demon Ape on the side rushed up, only to be repelled by Sun Fuping.

He himself was covered in blood. Aside from his right ring finger and little finger being severed at the root, there was no telling how many other bones in his body were broken. His condition was dire.

But his spirit was highly agitated.

His God-Summoning Art had succeeded!

Aside from the ancient era, this was the fourth true divine descent in the history of this continent! Sun Fuping chanted a few low words, and something flew from who knows where, landing in his hand.

It was that staff! The staff Sun Fuping had left outside to summon heavenly thunder, ward off vengeful spirits, or rather, to activate the sacrificial formation!

He Lingchuan’s pupils shrank.

The staff no longer glowed, and the beast’s mouth at the top was empty, no longer holding the Prefect’s State Seal.

The Black Flood Dragon had said earlier that Sun Fuping had secretly embedded a sacrificial formation to summon a heavenly god using human lives and essence blood. Now that the heavenly god had arrived, it meant...

"Old Dog Sun, where is my father!" He suddenly roared at Sun Fuping, his voice hoarse and desperate, "If you dared to use him as a sacrifice, I will make sure you die without a whole corpse!"

Before he could even think, rage swept through his consciousness, and his eyes instantly became bloodshot and swollen.

"The kid is clever, running away fast," Sun Fuping chuckled, wearing that same eerie smile, "Since you escaped, the fatal disaster naturally falls on your old man to bear."

He Lingchuan let out a roar, vaulted over the battlement, and jumped down.

Mao Tao and Zeng Feixiong lunged forward, dragging him back with all their might: "Young Master, don't be impulsive, he's tricking you!"

Just at this moment, the white light in the air bypassed the Black Flood Dragon’s attack and suddenly charged toward them.

Everyone was terrified.

Wherever the white light went, the Black Flood Dragon’s dragon breath followed. They didn't want to die yet.

But the white light was extremely fast; before anyone could react, it shot into He Lingchuan’s mouth.

He had been in the middle of cursing, but he stopped abruptly, his eyes turning dull.

Caught off guard, everyone was stunned.

Sun Fuping, down below the city wall, was equally dumbfounded. Why would this ancestor bypass the perfectly fine Nian Songyu and go out of its way to find He Lingchuan? Seeing the Black Flood Dragon’s massive body turning to follow, Mao Tao shivered, turned tail, and fled to the side, not forgetting to shout: "Scatter! Run if you don't want to die!"

In fact, they didn't need his reminder; everyone scattered like birds and beasts. Zeng Feixiong subconsciously wanted to drag He Lingchuan with him, but was instead pulled away by two subordinates: "Brother Zeng, the white light is protecting him, not you!"

They didn't know what this white light could actually do, but any other living person staying here would definitely end up as a roasted chicken.

Immediately after, the Black Flood Dragon climbed onto the city gate, puffed up its cheeks, and looked ready to spray another mouthful of intense flame.

Just then, a demon bird flew down and shrieked twice in its ear, its voice harsh and grating.

It was unclear how they communicated, but the Black Flood Dragon changed its mind, and its cheeks deflated. It circled He Lingchuan twice, as if sizing him up, and then opened its massive maw to swallow him whole! ...

The white light arrived too quickly, and He Lingchuan couldn't dodge it.

His mind went blank for a few seconds, and snowy white spots seemed to appear before his eyes.

Then, his vision suddenly cleared, and He Lingchuan found himself in a state of freefall, plummeting downward.

Most bizarrely, there was a black shadow directly above him, falling even faster than he was. In the blink of an eye, it slammed into him!

(End of chapter)