Chapter 400: Volume 1, Chapter 400: Evil Dragon x Slave x Witch (20)

The Second Elder still had use value, so Jiang Zhi tied him up and threw him onto the cloak.

Suddenly, the sky above underwent a drastic change, lightning like a thunder dragon striking every corner of Zhucheng, and the ground suddenly revealed lines of formation patterns covering the entire urban area.

Jiang Zhi clearly saw the formation patterns beneath her feet, and her pupils involuntarily dilated.

The Second Elder was not surprised by what was happening before his eyes, saying, "This is the formation set up by the Grand Elder."

Jiang Zhi frowned tightly: "This formation has long been lost; it uses the caster's soul as a sacrifice, and once activated, it will devour the lives of everyone within the formation to summon the world's most powerful demon beast."

And the world's most powerful demon beast is the Evil Dragon.

The moment her words fell, Xiaohei suddenly curled up and collapsed to the ground, struggling incessantly as if enduring excruciating torment, with golden demonic patterns faintly appearing on his body.

The Second Elder let out a long sigh, "Yes, the Grand Elder has been laying out formations since long ago; he has the ability to foresee the future, but each prophecy reduces his lifespan. The Grand Elder's last prophecy said that soon, someone would bring disaster to Zhucheng."

Jiang Zhi crouched down, placing her palm on Xiaohei's body, using magic to alleviate his pain.

She lifted her gaze to the Second Elder lying on the cloak, half-smiling, and retorted, "Disaster? When he activated this formation, he never thought of letting the citizens of Zhucheng live; you say, does the disaster in his prophecy refer to me or him?"

The Second Elder slowly closed his eyes, his whole person seeming to have aged over a decade, his face full of vicissitudes and ashen despair.

When the golden patterns on Xiaohei's face faded, the Evil Dragon gradually detached from within him.

The Evil Dragon floated in midair, its silver-moon-like long hair swaying in the wind, its downcast face shrouded in thick shadows, its features indiscernible; the skin exposed bore scales utterly unlike those of a half-beast, shimmering with a faint gold, and its dragon wings, larger than before, flapped in the air.

Although the Second Elder was mentally prepared, seeing this scene still shocked him to the core, a bone-chilling cold rising in his heart, fear coiling around him like vines.

Evil Dragon! It truly is an Evil Dragon!

Jiang Zhi, seeing this, opened her mouth to call the Evil Dragon's name.

"Xiao Bai!!"

The black dragon flying above paid no heed to her words; its humanoid body was slowly transforming into dragon form, limbs elongating and its bulk growing ever larger.

The people of Zhucheng collapsed one after another onto the ground, and Gu He, riding the Vermilion Bird above Zhucheng, heard countless cries for help from below.

Many residents, nobles, and slaves, upon touching the black mist emanating from the formation, lost their lives instantly, becoming soulless corpses.

The terrifying formation blanketed the ground of Zhucheng, exuding an aura of death.

The Vermilion Bird said, "Stay away from the black mist."

Gu He clenched his fingers, gazing down with eyes as cold as ice: "They never intended for the people of Zhucheng to live."

He simply could not comprehend how anyone could be so cold-blooded.

For personal desire, they could be this heartless.

The Twelve Elders, revered as heavenly deities by the residents, were in fact a gang of demons wearing human skins.

Gu He disregarded the Vermilion Bird's opposition and jumped down.

He placed the residents one by one into the talismans Jiang Zhi gave him, adhering to the belief that saving one is saving one, his figure swiftly weaving through the streets.

The Vermilion Bird is his bound summon beast, flying above his head, dodging the approaching black mist.

…

Jiang Zhi used a protective barrier to temporarily block the incoming black mist.

The protective barrier wouldn't last long; the black mist emanating from the formation seeped through every gap, and the talismans would be completely eroded by it.

"Xiaohei!" She grabbed Xiaohei, who wanted to rush over to fight the Evil Dragon, and said sternly, "You are no match for it now, Xiaohei, listen to me: I will seal you into the talisman, and release you again when we return to the shelter."

Xiaohei turned his head, his dark eyes revealing undisguised worry and panic, "Master, don't, abandon me."

Xiaohei is no fool; he understood her meaning at once.

To sacrifice himself, so that the people of Zhucheng might live.

Jiang Zhi soothingly smiled and said, "I will not abandon you; when you wake, I will appear before you."

Xiaohei shook his head, gripping her wrist tightly, resolute: "I, I want to stay, stay by your side, Master."

Jiang Zhi gazed at his red-rimmed eyes and the trembling lashes from unease, then suddenly rose on tiptoe, cupped his face, and kissed his lips.

Xiaohei, at a loss, accepted her kiss.

Before he could react, his vision went black and he fainted.

As Jiang Zhi sealed Xiaohei into the talisman, the back of her hand grew hot, and a transparent tear fell, left by the half-beast.

The Second Elder stared blankly at the scene in the air, eyes wide, "It is the Evil Dragon, the legendary demon beast, the Evil Dragon!"

The entire sky was shrouded, leaving endless thick darkness; a colossal figure appeared above Zhucheng, its massive wings stirring up gusts, bringing an awe-inspiring pressure.

The residents forgot to flee, standing in place, panicked as they watched the Evil Dragon soaring into the sky.

"Roar——!"

A deafening dragon's roar echoed from above.

The ground trembled and shook along with it.

Jiang Zhi barely maintained her form, mounting the cloak and taking flight.

She wanted to approach the Evil Dragon, but was deterred each time by its terrifying pressure.

At this moment, the Evil Dragon brimmed with slaughter and danger.

"Xiao Bai!!"

She kept calling the Evil Dragon's name, but to no avail.

The Second Elder said, "It is now the Grand Elder's summoned beast; aside from the Grand Elder's command, your voice has no effect on the Evil Dragon."

Jiang Zhi, cheeks puffed with anger, crossed her arms and stared at the huge dragon in the sky, her breath caught in her throat.

How could she not have foreseen that the Grand Elder would pull this stunt! Using all the people of Zhucheng as tools to activate the formation, then sacrificing souls, it was only natural that the Evil Dragon became his summoned beast.

And this Grand Elder became the master of the Evil Dragon; the sacrificed souls naturally returned to his own body.

"This guy is really wicked!!"

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

Suddenly.

A figure rode on a demonic beast and flew over.

That person was exactly the Grand Elder she had mentioned.

The Grand Elder had been severely wounded by Gu He's confidants; he used his essence blood to complete the final step of the formation, his face shrouded in deathly aura, like a terminally ill patient, lying on an eagle-like demonic beast.

"Evil Dragon, go kill them."

The Grand Elder commanded.

The Evil Dragon descended from the sky, its hawk-like talons crushing the buildings below; compared to its massive body, those buildings were as insignificant as gravel, the ground collapsed in a cloud of dust.

The shockwave jostled Jiang Zhi's flying carpet a few times, nearly throwing her off, but she steadied it in time.

The Evil Dragon utterly ignored the Grand Elder's orders, rampaging madly and destroying the town; before long, half of Zhucheng lay in ruins.

Seeing this, the Grand Elder clutched his chest and burst into violent coughing.

Just as Jiang Zhi thought he would cough himself to death, she saw him drawing life from the formation, which continually flowed into his body, quickly healing his wounds.

Jiang Zhi sought to finish him off then, accelerating her flying carpet and slapping a talisman onto his mount; the eagle demonic beast suffered heavy damage, wobbling before crashing down.

The Grand Elder soared into the air, his sinister gaze fixed on her.

Jiang Zhi cast her spell again; over a dozen talismans scattered from all sides, sweeping swiftly through the midair, leaving a faint afterimage.

The Grand Elder far surpassed the Second Elder; he easily dodged those talismans and summoned a demonic beast to block their damage.

"Little girl, you're no match for me."

Now that his wounds were all healed, dealing with her posed no problem.

Jiang Zhi snorted coldly: "How would you know unless you try?"

The Grand Elder recalled his most powerful summoned demonic beast, disregarded her attitude, narrowed his eyes, and pierced her intention: "You want to kill me so the Evil Dragon can break free of control."

Jiang Zhi couldn't kill him right away, but she also wanted to extract information from his words: "It's an Evil Dragon; no matter how strong your summoning formation is, it won't work on it."

The Evil Dragon now refused to obey his command to kill them, instead wantonly destroying the urban area.

The Grand Elder showed no panic, speaking with confidence: "The formation currently has little effect on it, but as time passes, the shackles it brings will dominate its thoughts. You still underestimate the formation's strength—this is a formation I personally refined, consuming a century of effort."

The reason the Grand Elder holds this position is not only his ability to command powerful demonic beasts, but also that he is unrivaled in the field of formations over the past century.

This formation, capable of absorbing everyone in Zhucheng, will gradually erode the Evil Dragon's independent will, ultimately taking full control of it.

Jiang Zhi's gaze locked onto the Evil Dragon, her expression tense: "What if I destroy this formation?"

The Grand Elder's words crushed her hope: "Once the formation is activated, it cannot be destroyed."

Jiang Zhi lowered her hood, revealing eyes brimming with killing intent: "Then there's only one option—kill you."

As she spoke, she hurled six spider puppets, silver threads linking to her fingertips; in the misty rain, they refracted a faint gleam.

The spider puppets were larger than a person, extremely fast, and instantly surrounded the Grand Elder.

A flicker of surprise crossed the Grand Elder's eyes; he had indeed underestimated this young mage.

He dodged the spider puppets' attacks, seeking to capture the leader first, and gradually closed in on her.

Just as he neared her, several talismans appeared before his eyes.

"Boom!"

An explosion erupted on the spot, powerful enough to blast a person into minced flesh.

The black smoke dissipated.

The Grand Elder, retreating to a distance, wore a grim expression, wiping blood from his forehead with a handkerchief, and stared at her darkly.

She had deliberately lured him over.

The Grand Elder grew serious, chanting spells one after another, as his summoned demonic beast became entangled with her spider puppets.

Half an hour later.

Jiang Zhi's breath grew unsteady, becoming ragged.

Meanwhile, the Grand Elder's expression remained unchanged.

Because the formation continually granted him life, Jiang Zhi would only be drained of all her magical power by him.

Five spider puppets and his demonic beast perished together, utterly ruined; the silver threads wound around her fingertips snapped, and Jiang Zhi flung talisman after talisman to evade his assault.

"Useless, useless!" the Grand Elder exclaimed excitedly: "The formation not only heals my wounds but also fills my depleted magical power; you are destined to die by my hand."