Chapter 859: Two-Way Rush

He had been here when he first entered the Panlong Illusion; he would occasionally linger in this ocean during his dreams at night; but it was not until he returned to the Panlong Desert last time that he truly felt its vastness. Yet, this expanse of water brought him no fear at all; even without holding a Turtle Pearl, he could still breathe freely underwater.

Then, he discovered a red light rushing straight toward him from not far away.

Logically speaking, it should have been the avatar of Naluotian that was being chased by the giant red shadow in this ocean.

However, it was not.

The feeling this red light gave him was both familiar and intimate.

This was not Naluotian.

To be able to appear in the ocean of the Great Great Great Fanghu and give him this feeling...

Uh, General Hong? In the dark distance, more than a dozen chains suddenly extended, reaching out like spirit snakes to capture the red light.

The red light darted left and right, maneuvering within a hair's breadth, dodging narrowly.

This showed that it was far more capable than the Hundred-Faced Nightmare, which would have been captured in an instant, with almost no room to resist.

These dozen or so chains seemed specifically designed to break divine abilities.

He He Lingchuan knew very well where they came from—

The giant red shadow.

The scene before him truly left him bewildered.

If the giant red shadow represented the will of the Great Great Great Fanghu, and the red light was General Hong or something released by General Hong, why would the giant red shadow chase and capture it?

Wasn't this infighting?

Were the goals of the Great Great Great Fanghu not aligned with his and General Hong's? The Great Great Great Fanghu certainly wanted to digest the lid, and He He Lingchuan wanted to resolve the divine seal mark Naluotian had left in his mind, so what was General Hong's purpose? Why did it appear in this ocean? He He Lingchuan tried hard to recall the scenes where he had met General Hong. It seemed to only appear in the Panlong world, not the secret realm he was currently experiencing.

Connecting this to the fact that there were only Que beasts and outside human teams in this dilapidated and desolate secret realm, but no General Hong or Great Wind Army, and none of the comrades or fellow villagers he was familiar with, a guess formed in his mind.

While his thoughts raced, he did not remain idle, struggling to swim toward the red light.

Now he was certain: the one summoning him through the Floating Life Blade and the armor was General Hong! This red light had broken through layers of obstacles to find him; it must have a vital purpose.

He had not forgotten that Naluotian was still at large, and the danger he faced had not been eradicated.

Reaching General Hong quickly should be very beneficial for him.

The chains grew more numerous and flexible, weaving a great net around the red light, then rapidly contracting.

Every time General Hong rushed through a gap in the net, another layer waited for it; the net tightened faster and faster, leaving it with less and less room to maneuver.

The giant red shadow was not in a hurry, proceeding step by step.

Each chain was covered in dense clusters of Three-Corpse Insects, and dangerous whirlpools surrounded them; the red light dared not even touch their edges.

Once touched, it would be like a fish caught in Zhu Zhu Xiuer's spider silk, unable to escape.

This sea area was the home turf of the giant red shadow; once inside, no one could escape being ensnared by it—

Not even General Hong.

As the saying goes, the sea of law is boundless.

He He Lingchuan swam desperately forward, diving headlong into the chain formation.

Before and behind him, massive chains constantly erupted from the deep sea like pillars supporting the sky. In just this short while, there must have been several hundred.

The Great Great Great Fanghu seemed to be getting serious, too.

Muffled clanging sounds traveled through the seawater into his ears as he buried his head and swam toward the giant cage.

Directly below, a massive shadow was constantly drawing closer.

The giant red shadow was coming.

This scene in the sea was eerie and absurd.

The meshes of the chain formation grew denser, while the space inside grew smaller.

Fortunately, He He Lingchuan's distance from the red light was closing; twenty zhang left...

Eighteen zhang...

Fifteen zhang...

Another chain suddenly rose, blocking the path between him and the red light.

It was too late.

He He Lingchuan drew the Floating Life Blade and slashed out without hesitation.

The sharp, unstoppable blade struck the chain with a resonant "clang," leaving only a shallow mark, though it did slice off the dozen or so Three-Corpse Insects attached to it; the rest roared at He He Lingchuan.

This strike was nothing more than a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

Taking advantage of this moment, several more chains rose to forcibly separate him from the red light.

This damn pot really didn't act like a human! He He Lingchuan was nearly angered to the point of internal injury.

Over these past years, who had he been working and struggling for?

Seeing the chain cage about to close, a bright idea struck him; he simply tore off the divine bone necklace from his neck, wrapped it around his fist, and shouted angrily: "Move!"

Then, he punched the chain.

The strength of the divine bone necklace certainly could not be compared to the chains, and his punch was full of force, as if he were determined to shatter it.

But He He Lingchuan knew that the divine bone necklace also represented the Great Great Great Fanghu; it was an important channel for this damn pot to communicate with the outside world and with him.

Didn't the pot want to stop General Hong? Let it fight itself first.

At this juncture, even if the divine bone shattered, He He Lingchuan would not feel the slightest regret.

Just as he was about to hit the chain, the divine bone suddenly flashed with red light.

The previously immovable giant chain shifted outward with his punch, like a spider web disturbed by the wind.

A small corner shifted, just enough for a living person like him to squeeze through.

The red light immediately lunged forward.

This two-way rush was finally a success.

He He Lingchuan opened his fist, and the red light dove into his palm without hesitation.

At the same time, the Three-Corpse Insects attached to the chains burrowed into He He Lingchuan's body; sadness, pain, helplessness, fear, and other negative emotions erupted all at once, along with countless voices mocking him.

Mocking him for overestimating his capabilities, mocking him for bringing trouble upon himself, mocking him for trying to stop a chariot with his arms, mocking him for being a mere ant trying to defy heaven and change his fate.

With a hum, He He Lingchuan's head nearly exploded.

Anyone else subjected to such an assault would likely lose their mind instantly.

Fortunately, his palm burned, as if he were grabbing a red-hot iron block through water.

Hiss, it hurt!

That sharp pain dragged him back to reality in an instant.

He He Lingchuan opened his palm, and it was completely unharmed.

The pain came swiftly and left decisively.

He looked down and found a blood-red glowing mark on his right wrist at the Taiyuan acupoint, as if it had just been branded there.

The swirling pattern looked like both a whirlwind and a lotus; He He Lingchuan knew it all too well: this was the mark of the Great Wind Army!

In his mind, the clamor of the Three-Corpse Insects had vanished, leaving only a cold voice that left him with two sentences:

The Naluotian avatar still exists and will come to find you.

Activate my armor at the most appropriate moment.

Under his gaze, the last trace of red light buried itself into the mark.

The light and the voice disappeared together, leaving only the mark on his wrist.

At the same moment, the giant chains around him retreated one after another, and the steel cage disintegrated instantly.

Sure enough, they were not targeting He He Lingchuan.

Since the red light had been collected by him, this ocean seemed to stop its busy work, becoming vast and tranquil once again.

But the shadow directly below was growing larger and larger.

The giant red shadow had arrived, and it was not slowing down.

He didn't know when it had happened, but it had become even larger. Compared to it, He He Lingchuan was like an ant before a giant whale.

The giant red shadow swam straight upward, opening its abyssal mouth toward him.

There were no teeth in that huge mouth, only a deep, nightmarish black hole!

This black hole could easily fit one or two hundred He Lingchuans.

Inside the huge mouth were also dense clusters of Three-Corpse Insects.

He He Lingchuan felt a chill down his spine. No matter how many times he saw this scene, it was equally terrifying.

But he did not resist, because he had an inexplicable conviction that the Great Great Great Fanghu would not harm him.

At least not yet.

Then, he was enveloped by endless darkness.

Only the Great Wind Army mark on his wrist emitted a faint red light. He He Lingchuan pressed his hand over it: it felt as if a pool of molten lava were sealed inside the mark, or perhaps a ferocious beast, restless and ready to strike at any moment.

He could feel that power, unwilling to remain dormant.

Recalling General Hong's instructions just now, a thought sprouted in He He Lingchuan's mind: was it because General Hong had ventured out of the Panlong world to find him without permission, defying the rules of the Great Great Great Fanghu, that the giant red shadow had chased that speck of red light so relentlessly? Everything in the secret realm was proceeding step by step; why did General Hong suddenly seek him out? The only reason He He Lingchuan could think of was: Naluotian.

The avatar of the God of Fate was still lurking somewhere, waiting to launch a fatal strike against him.

What General Hong wanted to do was more than just warn him.

He He Lingchuan's heart stirred. Then, when he entered the Panlong ruins the previous time, was the one who promised him "you will not be harmed here" the Great Great Great Fanghu, or Zhong Zhong Shengguang?

Judging by General Hong's actions, it was clearly the latter.

It had inherited the will of Zhong Zhong Shengguang and had also taken up Zhong Zhong Shengguang's promise to He He Lingchuan.

He He Chunhua looked up at the sky.

The sky dimmed, and the green light, red light, and the giant red shadow were all gone; the clouds returned to normal.

The scenes of pursuit in the sky just now seemed like nothing more than a collective hallucination.

He He Chunhua looked back at the statue in his hand: the green light on its surface had also vanished.

This time, the divine descent summoning had actually failed! He He Chunhua stared at it, utterly devastated, his eyes not blinking for a long time; he did not respond even when Zhao Qinghe called to him, as if he himself had solidified into a statue.

His voice was hollow and distraught: "The avatar, the Divine Venerable's avatar... could it have been devoured?"

Judging by what they had just witnessed, it seemed so.

Naluo Heaven was known as the "God of Fate," yet could even the avatar of "Fate" be eaten by the Great Great Great Fanghu? It was inconceivable!

Was this trap arranged in advance by the vengeful ghost occupying the body of his son, Chuan'er? He had only shouted "Zhong Zhong Shengguang" on a whim just now; after all, there were countless evil ghosts inside the Great Great Great Fanghu, and who knew which one was occupying his eldest son's body? But would the Great Great Great Fanghu help an ordinary evil ghost? At this moment, he truly suspected his eldest son was possessed by Zhong Zhong Shengguang! Zhao Qinghe grabbed him and leaped twice, moving far away from the Red General's Tomb.

They had realized the situation was dire the moment they arrived; experts from the Tiangong had descended, and there was an even more terrifying leader among the monster horde!

With monsters hunting humans and the King of the Que Beasts battling the Tiangong, they had no desire to be caught in the crossfire.

The windfall from the Great Great Great Fanghu was too heavy; they were afraid they would not be able to pick it up.

(End of chapter)