Chapter 725: Echo 2: Overwhelmed

"An egg of some kind of Danube beast," He He Lingchuan said. "I picked it up from the Fu Realm; I had intended to entrust someone to auction it off."

Dong Rui was overjoyed: "This is good, this is good!"

With a new toy in hand, his sleepiness vanished. He immediately cradled the Danube beast egg, fished out a full set of tools, and squatted to the side to study it.

Zhu Zhu Xiuer very considerately crawled to the doorway and curled up in the shadows: "You two rest; I will keep watch."

After experiencing tonight's battle, He He Lingchuan had already discovered that the personalities of the two spider demons were actually quite different. If it had been Zhu Yao Erniang, she would likely have run and never looked back, and it would be impossible for her to go looking for trouble with the God Baizhantian again after escaping danger.

Now that Zhu Zhu Xiuer had volunteered, He He Lingchuan had no objections. He extinguished the campfire, sat down on the other side, and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.

As soon as he sat down, exhaustion washed over him like a tidal wave.

The adventure last night had been short, but the entire process was heart-stopping, making every second feel like a year.

Fortunately, they had escaped alive, coming out completely unscathed.

But they hadn't fled far enough yet; He He Lingchuan always felt that the crisis hadn't completely passed, and he dared not sleep soundly.

Outside the cave, autumn insects murmured, and occasionally birds fluttered. The tranquility of this place formed a sharp contrast with the clamor of Spirit Void City, over a hundred miles away.

In the past day and night, how many people had been unable to sleep?

Xushan, Tiangong.

Divine attendants and guards moved in and out, busy as worker ants.

Everyone had a heavy expression, coming and going in a rush.

The post-disaster cleanup was truly a tangled mess. After the baptism of the volcanic eruption and splashing magma, the originally lush and verdant Heavenly Pivot Peak, where immortal forests were once hidden, was now bald.

Everywhere there were broken walls and fallen wood, everywhere there was charred rubble, with black smoke curling upward.

Some mountain peaks had even been shaved down by several yards.

Upon seeing the current state of Heavenly Pivot Peak, the devout believers felt as if the sky had collapsed; some wept bitterly on the spot, while others fainted dead away.

More believers knelt on the remaining white jade stairs, heartbroken, kowtowing and begging the Heavenly God to calm his anger, while weeping and cursing the invaders to die a horrible death.

How peaceful the world was.

How sublime the Heavenly God was.

How powerful Between Beijia was.

All living beings in the mortal world should praise it, extol it, and defend it!

How could anyone, how could anyone possibly dare to shake it, to destroy it?

Such traitors were enemies of Between Beijia, enemies of the world, enemies of all living things!

They all deserved to have their bones ground to dust and scattered.

They all deserved to die without a burial place! A massive amount of mental energy surged toward the sky, so much so that at sunrise, two spectacular rainbow bridges actually hung beside Heavenly Pivot Peak.

The Star-Plucking Tower had been destroyed, and the Tiangong personnel had temporarily moved to the Knowledge-Gathering Peak in the rear to hold meetings, even bringing the Heavenly Book along with them.

As a gift to ease relations, the Mountain and River Splendor Map was also salvaged by Qu Ju from the depths of the earth fire and returned in its original state.

The immortal treasure was truly sturdy; it had only been slightly damaged after soaking in the depths of the magma for half a cup of tea's time, and its use remained unaffected.

Knowledge-Gathering Peak was very quiet, with only the Tiangong and a few high-ranking officials of the Royal Court present. The wailing and crying from Heavenly Pivot Peak could not reach here.

Bai Bai Ziqi had just rushed back from Heavenly Pivot Peak. After seeing the collapsed magnificent buildings and the smoking, charred wood and ruins, no one's expression could be good.

The atmosphere on Knowledge-Gathering Peak was heavy; the generals and guards responsible for guarding Xushan last night had already been ordered to be executed by the Heavenly God. Everyone kept their heads down, fearing that the anger of the Heavenly God and the Emperor would spread to them.

Last night's incident was truly a great humiliation for the Tiangong.

Bai Bai Ziqi dared not imagine the reaction of the Between Beijia citizens or the thirteen vassal demon kingdoms when the news of the Star-Plucking Tower's destruction spread.

Of course, these were things for the Chief Envoy Du Yun and the Emperor to worry about; the top priority right now was to capture the invaders as quickly as possible.

The Demon Emperor had already arrived, and consultations regarding the capture of the invaders had already been held round after round.

Bai Bai Ziqi could see that it was also forcibly suppressing its anger.

The turmoil in Spirit Void City had not yet subsided, and the elements creating the chaos were still running rampant throughout the city. The Demon Emperor should have been sitting in the Lingxiao Palace, issuing orders to suppress the terror and violence.

But because such a major incident had occurred at the Tiangong, it had to come to Xushan first to consult with the Heavenly God.

Everything had its order of priority.

The Demon Emperor was stretched thin; it would be strange if it weren't annoyed.

According to current analysis, the strength of the invaders at Xushan was not actually top-tier, and their numbers were even fewer. It was just that the angle of their sneak attack was extremely tricky, actually managing to awaken the long-dormant immortal remains, thereby freeing Qu Ju for their own use.

Their goals were actually only three: first, to destroy the foundation of the Tiangong's stability, which was the Spirit-Gathering Array;

Second, to take advantage of the chaos to seize the divine object and block the Heavenly God's tracking of the Great Square Pot.

Third, to trigger chaos in Spirit Void City, leaving the city's residents in a state of constant panic.

Every single one was an unforgivable crime.

Therefore, the handwriting appearing on the Heavenly Book was as shocking as blood.

Clearly, the Heavenly God was also in a towering rage and would surely capture all these rats for a blood sacrifice to vent the anger in its heart.

The Demon Emperor was saying: "I remember this spider demon once went on a killing spree in Spirit Void City and fled after eating the Earth Ranking wanted order?"

The Grand Minister of Agriculture, Yao Mao, immediately replied: "The Emperor has a good memory. This demon has lived in seclusion for many years in the Demon Nest Swamp in the southern part of the Treasure Tree Kingdom; that is a no-man's-land in the deep mountains and great marshes. But the spider demon has always had business dealings with humans, and even the fluorescent spores used as streetlights in Spirit Void City are a specialty of the subterranean spider nests."

The Demon Emperor pondered: "Send people to the Demon Nest Swamp to investigate."

"Yes."

"Furthermore, since it has been quiet in the Demon Nest Swamp for decades, why did it suddenly come to Spirit Void City to seize the immortal remains? How the invaders persuaded it must also be investigated clearly."

The Grand Minister of Agriculture acknowledged the order.

"As for Qu Ju..." The Demon Emperor sighed deeply and looked up toward the opposite peak.

From Knowledge-Gathering Peak, one could see the missing corner of the opposite Heavenly Pivot Peak, where the magma pool was still churning. The triumphant aura of the rock-fire monster was almost overflowing to this side.

The negotiations between the Tiangong and Qu Ju had already been held three times, and they could not reach an agreement.

The rock-fire monster had been holding back anger for over a decade, and after regaining its freedom, it opened its mouth like a lion; the asking price was enough to make even the wealthy Tiangong feel breathless.

However, even if the Tiangong could beat Qu Ju down again, it would be a case of killing a thousand enemies while suffering eight hundred losses. The Release Chenyuan Behemoth, specifically used to deal with Qu Ju, had already returned to the bottom of Knowledge-Gathering Peak to heal and could not be used again in the short term.

Moreover, a life-and-death battle would first affect the entire Spirit Void City.

The source of the ley lines for this plain was at Xushan; if they took forceful action against the lord of Xushan, the resulting turmoil would certainly make the great earthquake in Spirit Void City from over a decade ago pale in comparison.

Not to mention the mutual destruction, after Qu Ju broke free from the shackles of the Spirit-Gathering Array, even if it couldn't beat the Tiangong and Spirit Void City, it could dive into the ground at any time. Heh, you just couldn't catch it! This in itself put it in an invincible position.

Not to mention that Qu Ju had also threatened to move the positions of the main peaks, such as Heavenly Pivot Peak and Heavenly Authority Peak.

In the past, it could cooperate with the array to move these main peaks; this time, it could do it again according to its own will, just with more effort and time—it would only take two or three months.

As long as the mountains on the ground did not correspond to the stars of the Big Dipper, even if the Tiangong had the ability to find another star map, it would not be able to create the Spirit-Gathering Array.

Having such a nasty neighbor could disgust you to death! Moreover, after experiencing the unprecedented turmoil of last night, the current Tiangong and the Demon Emperor were even more eager to settle the matter as soon as possible.

The attack on the Tiangong, the eruption of earth fire, the destruction of the Star-Plucking Tower, and the trampling of Spirit Void City—the negative impact caused by this series of unprecedentedly vicious events was something Between Beijia did not know how much effort it would take to dissipate.

The magnificent buildings of the Tiangong could be rebuilt, but the wavering of people's hearts was not easy to correct.

Chief Envoy Du Yun replied: "I will talk to Qu Ju again."

To be in this position is to seek its governance; this tough nut would ultimately have to be cracked by him.

Chief Envoy Du Yun's face was pale, not only because of the damage to the Tiangong, but mainly because of the excessive consumption of his primordial spirit from controlling the Ghoul Beast Release Chenyuan last night. At this time, he should have been in seclusion for half a month to recover, but unfortunately, the Tiangong was in turmoil and Spirit Void City was in chaos, so he had to come to preside over the overall situation.

No matter how arrogant and difficult the rock-fire monster was, it was ultimately an internal affair of Spirit Void; as long as one was willing to pay the price, it could eventually be resolved.

Capturing the invaders to set the record straight was the top priority right now.

The Demon Emperor shook its head: "What exactly attracted the Thunder-Engine Behemoth to attack Spirit Void City? Has this reason been investigated?"

Everyone looked at each other, and it was Bai Bai Ziqi who replied: "No physical evidence was found. But the Thunder-Engine Behemoth has always lived in seclusion in the Fu Realm; the bait that could make it enraged and mad, disregarding life and death, I infer, must have to do with its offspring."

Although the Thunder-Engine Behemoth had been subdued, they only left behind ruin and mud in their wake, and no useful clues could be found.

The Demon Emperor gave an 'en' sound: "I also suspect the same. The Thunder-Engine Behemoth only lays eggs once every few hundred years and treats them like its own life."

Coincidentally, the maintenance of the Between Beijia Demon Emperor's bloodline was just as difficult, with only one or two offspring born every few hundred years, so it could understand the Thunder-Engine Behemoth's deep, cherished love for its offspring.

A Tiangong general then reported: "According to feedback from the Fu Realm hunting teams, the Thunder-Engine Behemoth laid three eggs, all of which were destroyed by the leader of the Beastless a few days ago."

The Demon Emperor's gaze was deep: "Then it should just go find the Beastless for revenge; why run to the human world to trample Spirit Void City?"

No one could answer this question.

At this moment, an attendant on the side said timidly: "Emperor, the Mountain and River Map, the people in the Mountain and River Map have stopped moving! They seem to have halted!"

Everyone was slightly surprised and moved to the side of the Mountain and River Splendor Map.

There was indeed a point of golden light in the map, motionless.

"Before the God Baizhantian returned to the Divine Realm, he secretly planted a causal line on the Spider Immortal; this map shows the location of the Spider Immortal," Chief Envoy Du Yun said sternly. "Originally, it was moving constantly at a very high speed, and only now has it stopped."

The Demon Emperor asked: "Where is this?"

"It is an uninhabited and unremarkable mountain range, Pei Mountain."

The Star-Plucking Tower was destroyed and Spirit Void City was attacked; so many things happened last night, yet the Tiangong remained calm and composed, not afraid of the invaders fleeing a thousand miles away, which had a lot to do with the causal line quietly laid by the God Baizhantian.

Three hours later, which was just past the Hour of the Rat, the causal line took shape.

The Spider Immortal bound by it showed its location on the Mountain and River Map.

(End of chapter)