Chapter 699: A Leap of Life and Death

"Why would they have the leisure?" Zu Ju laughed. "The two main culprits of the anti-aging medicine case are both at the Tianxuan Peak."

He Lingchuan sneered slightly: "Qingyang State Preceptor and Nian Zanli?"

"Exactly." Zu Ju said. "Since being escorted in, the Qingyang State Preceptor hasn't said a word, but that one surnamed Nian has been roaring until his voice was hoarse."

He Lingchuan asked curiously: "Didn't you say you couldn't hear the interrogation process?"

"That's inside the Yang Palace and the Star-Plucking Tower. During the several times he was escorted out, he was roaring about being wronged, saying he was framed by someone. Once, tourists outside the Star-Plucking Tower even heard it. Therefore, every time he came out later, his mouth was gagged."

He Lingchuan laughed: "Framed by someone? The Tiangong doesn't love hearing that."

Nian Zanli still didn't know who had framed him, which was why he was so full of life, dreaming of clearing his name. In contrast, the Qingyang State Preceptor understood the cause and effect clearly and now didn't make any pointless defenses.

Soon, they climbed to their destination.

This wild peak was about a hundred feet away from the Kaiyang Peak, and the forest on the top of the mountain was denser than Dong Rui's hair. Tonight the moon was dark and the wind was high; as long as Zu Ju didn't light a fire, the human scouts on the Kaiyang Peak basically couldn't see the movement here.

"A nest of bat monsters flew past half a quarter of an hour ago; before they fly back, you'd better have finished the task." Zu Ju handed him two stone eggs. "This is the fire seed you want."

These were two pitch-black hard rocks, as round as eggs, as large as eggs, but the surface was cracked like tree bark, and red light flowed in the cracks.

Zu Ju couldn't follow him to the sky, so it gave him a pair of trump cards, claiming that offering them in a critical moment could save his life.

The mountain forest after the rain was exceptionally fresh; He Lingchuan took a deep breath to refresh his mind, then placed the bat puppet on the ground and ordered in a low voice: "Become big!"

This monster bat puppet was very obedient; with a shake of its body, it became a big guy.

He Lingchuan didn't dare to delay time, jumped onto the monster puppet's back, touched its ribs lightly with his toes, and the giant bat spread its wings, leaping from the mountain peak and gliding into flight.

These past few days, he had dragged Dong Rui to the suburbs, repeatedly practicing flight riding and jumping skills; until now, not to mention being as handy as an arm, at least the monster puppet could understand his instructions and make the prescribed movements in time.

Of course, he had carefully calculated before acting; now the position of the array eye of the Spirit Gathering Array should be in the night sky directly above Zu Ju's head, with an error of no more than three feet.

He Lingchuan drove the monster puppet to fly a circle first, verifying the real position of the array eye through the turbulence.

After being rolled away twice, he could basically confirm that his estimation was correct.

To say why Zu Ju couldn't discover such a large array eye floating above Mount Xushan every autumn and winter, firstly, it was wrapped in turbulence, and there were many turbulences above the Xukong; secondly, its position constantly changed, today it was above the Kaiyang Peak, tomorrow it might go to the Tianxuan Peak. If you didn't know its operating pattern, you couldn't touch its specific position.

At this time, the Zu Ju avatar perched on his shoulder also reminded: "If you keep flying around blindly, you will attract attention."

Dong Rui's monster puppet could carry people and was quite large; besides, the sky above Mount Xushan was actually not as empty as it looked, and bird monsters often passed by.

"Got it." He Lingchuan signaled the monster puppet to lift, flying to five feet directly above the array eye.

Two feet further down was the turbulence array.

He took something out of his storage ring, used his wrist strength, and threw it directly below.

The moment this thing appeared, the monster puppet's body suddenly sank, falling uncontrollably.

Fortunately, that object descended very quickly, and the next second the monster puppet left its range of influence, flapping its wings and flying up again. Of course, this set of movements had been practiced many times, and it could respond calmly without panicking and screaming.

What He Lingchuan threw down was a Ghost Shadow Cicada Slough.

To be precise, it was a Ghost Shadow Cicada Slough wrapped in Wind-Fixing Bead powder, with two volcanic rock gravels stuffed inside—this set of manual work, he had done long before setting off.

This Ghost Shadow Cicada Slough was light and airy, almost weightless, and would run away with a gust of wind. But after being wrapped in Wind-Fixing Bead powder, it wouldn't be affected by wind power for at least an hour, so the direction it fell was straight.

Even the turbulent wind and rapid currents wrapping the array eye couldn't affect it.

After throwing it, He Lingchuan pulled the monster puppet high and flew up, asking Zu Ju: "How is it, did it fall in?"

"Wait, wait. Your thing is too light, it's still floating..." Zu Ju was also very nervous. "Good, it landed!"

Its slightly excited voice was transmitted into He Lingchuan's ears through the avatar: "It stopped in mid-air and didn't move; I think it should have fallen into the array eye!"

Zu Ju could sense the state of the volcanic rock gravel; it stopped in mid-air without moving, clearly having successfully passed through the defensive array and entered the interior of the array eye.

The defensive array really wouldn't stop such a small and light thing.

Of course, cicada sloughs and other floating objects were usually blown away by turbulence, making it difficult to enter the array eye.

Invasion plan step one, passed.

"Hurry up." The mountain swamp monster couldn't help but say. "I seem to see a bird of prey flying over from the southeast."

That was an eagle owl, not as large as the monster puppet, but its wingspan was also two feet.

Clearly it sensed the abnormality and wanted to come over to see the situation.

"Zu Ju, light up the airflow!" He Lingchuan took a deep breath, shook the silver bracelet on his hand, "Whether I live or die depends on you!"

The Mount Xushan plan officially started from this moment; he had no way back.

"Coming!" The rock-fire monster disappeared from the top of the mountain in one step, and when it appeared again, it was already on a small hill fifteen feet away.

At this time, it should be standing on the side below the array eye.

Immediately after, Zu Ju grabbed one fireball after another, throwing them toward the array eye one after another!

It was still suppressed by the Spirit Gathering Array and couldn't attack the buildings, arrays, and guards on the mountain. But Zu Ju's move wasn't an attack, because after the fireballs flew near the array eye, they suddenly exploded into fire sparks all over the sky! To put it bluntly, those were countless fire chips, not even capable of scorching a person, so what kind of attack power could they have on the array? At most, they finally turned into a little black gravel.

But they flew with the rapid wind, and the fire even borrowed the wind's momentum to be redder and more prosperous, just like a large group of fireworks exploding in mid-air.

It didn't put fire bombs up, but it set off fireworks! So bright, it definitely couldn't be hidden from the guards on the mountain, or even the sentries of the Star-Plucking Tower in the distance!

The long preparation of the past few days, the dark night stealth in the first half, were all for this one hit.

Even Dong Rui, who was on the outskirts of Mount Xushan, couldn't help but hold his breath as he looked up at the night sky at this moment.

Everything was bright, and no one could be hidden. At this step, He Lingchuan had no way back.

He drove the monster puppet into a nosedive, flying vertically toward the array eye!

Although the turbulence was usually invisible, its width and shape were now marked by Zu Ju's bursting fire sparks. He Lingchuan only needed to look at the situation of the fire chips dancing to know the outline and thickness of the turbulence.

Such a spectacular scene hadn't appeared in the night sky of Mount Xushan for a long, long time, no less than announcing to the Tiangong:

There is an abnormality here! He Lingchuan took a deep breath, and just as the fire sparks were right in front of him, as if they were about to burn his eyeballs, he jumped up from the flying mount! Beneath him was a brilliant, almost blinding radiance.

His leap had a perfect arc, as if he were about to throw himself into an ocean of red starlight, wild and dangerous.

But the reality was far from so romantic. The distance and speed of his leap had been carefully calculated and rehearsed countless times.

The monster puppet turned and flew away.

The next second, He Lingchuan grabbed the Wind-Fixing Bead.

With this bead out, the wind array couldn't affect him.

He Lingchuan fell toward the array eye like a cannonball.

The bursting firelight illuminated the night sky, also revealing the eyes under his mask, which were as steady as a rock.

At this moment, he returned to the state of no sorrow and no joy, with a clear mind.

All worries and hesitations were stumbling blocks; what he needed was the precision of an atomic clock.

Such an act, of course, couldn't be hidden from the bystanders.

Zu Ju hadn't been this nervous for many years, and the light emerging from its joints had turned into incandescent white. Dong Rui, who was watching from afar, widened his eyes even more, not daring to breathe.

Beneath the turbulence array was the defensive array; according to Zu Ju's prior measurement, this array was extremely remarkable. If a living person like He Lingchuan hit it head-on, he would probably be exploded into a ball of charcoal in an instant! The power of an array laid by the Heavenly God himself was unquestionable.

He Lingchuan used the Wind-Fixing Bead to jump down, and he had to calculate the speed per hour. One second late, he would be blown to pieces by the array; one second fast, he wouldn't enter the effective distance of the "Li Dai Tao Jiang" (Substitution) technique, he wouldn't be able to transform, and he would also be exploded into a ball of charred paste by the array! Fast or slow were both death; he had to be accurate to the slightest degree!

For this jump, He Lingchuan had practiced dozens of times. But Dong Rui asked himself, if he were to do this job at this moment, he would probably still be so scared that his hands and feet would go soft and cold sweat would flow.

Between a hair's breadth was the distance between life and death.

Under the eyes of everyone, He Lingchuan's figure suddenly disappeared.

Such a big living person, gone.

Dong Rui didn't even blink, fearing he would explode into a mist of blood.

But the red fire sparks were flying around in the sky, and no one could say for sure whether such a tragic scene had occurred.

He Lingchuan had simply disappeared, and Zu Ju also put away the fireworks; the night sky returned to tranquility.

Of course, all witnesses understood that this tranquility was only on the surface.

Immediately after, urgent bell sounds came from afar, dang dang dang dang—

Resounding over Mount Xushan.

That was the Star-Plucking Tower striking the great bell, on one hand warning all guards to defend against the invaders, and on the other hand, suppressing Zu Ju and summoning it over for questioning.

After all, those dozen or so large fireballs in succession were too conspicuous, and Zu Ju's actions clearly indicated: it had completely seen through the location of the array eye of the Spirit Gathering Array! This was what worried the Tiangong the most.

Upon hearing the bell, Zu Ju clutched its neck and screamed in pain, its whole body's rock blocks falling off one after another, setting the surrounding grass and trees on fire.

At this time, it couldn't care about protecting the forest.

The Spirit Gathering Array was still there, and once this bell rang, the collar on its neck had a huge suppressive effect on Zu Ju. The Tiangong's summons, it had no choice but to go.

The mountain swamp monster dived into the ground, crossed a large distance, and appeared in front of the Star-Plucking Tower in the blink of an eye! The climax of the entire volume of "The Ideal Nation of Monsters (Part 2)" starts today, everyone fasten your seatbelts.

The wind is high and the waves are urgent.

Um, by the way, asking for monthly tickets, it's almost the end of the month, love you all, mwah!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 700 =====