Chapter 263: The City That Never Falls

Wu Tie saw through it, Jin Mancang had his difficulties.

But…… he didn't care at all!

Whatever difficulties you have.

Anyway, Jin Mancang's impression on Wu Tie was that of a superficially honest but inwardly wicked bastard.

So Jin Mancang's rather tragic shouting and yelling, Wu Tie had his hands tucked in his sleeves forming seals, and with a barrage of great power binding techniques like the Three Mountains Immobilizing Spell, Five Peaks Soul‑Suppressing Spell, and Four Rivers Sealing Gods Seal, he slapped dozens of them on him with a "crackle‑crackle".

One after another, phantom mountain peaks, phantom great rivers, and numerous phantom divine beasts and birds appeared above Jin Mancang's head.

Jin Mancang's body turned stiff, his gaze dull, all his bodily functions were completely sealed shut; even his flesh and bones became crystal‑clear transparent, and every internal movement of power could be clearly seen.

This is a sealing secret art called the Bright Jade Ninefold Tribulation; Wu Tie had previously broken through barriers in succession, repeatedly storming the Heavenly Lock Pagoda, and inexplicably obtained the essences of many divine abilities and secret arts.

The Bright Jade Ninefold Tribulation is one of those heterodox sealing methods.

Once sealed by it, the sealed person's whole body becomes transparent, any minute internal change laid bare. As long as someone specially watches over them, one who has fallen under the Bright Jade Ninefold Tribulation can hardly hope to break the seal on themselves and sneak away.

"Thud!"

Jin Mancang collapsed heavily to the ground.

Wu Tie walked over to Mo Zhang Wang, his forehead law eye opened, and threads of extremely fine electric light shot out, like a blade slicing across the seals on his body.

The seals exploded, Mo Zhang Wang leapt up and gave Wu Tie a bitter smile: "It's not that I'm incapable; he ambushed me from behind, his strike was too vicious and sneaky—I had no chance to guard against it before he schemed me."

After a pause, Mo Zhang Wang's face turned a little odd; he glanced at Jin Mancang lying on the ground, eyes wide and immobile, and said softly: "Besides, his knowledge of Triple Linked City far exceeds mine… he really is a descendant of that main line."

Wu Tie glanced at Mo Zhang Wang.

The things Jin Mancang had shouted earlier were quite interesting.

It seems that in the history of the Great Peacock King Clan, there once appeared a heroic lord who strove to revive the clan and strengthen it.

But those clan members who had sunk into decadent enjoyment would absolutely not support a lord who constantly stirred up trouble and stirred up right and wrong.

So Wu Tie could easily imagine with his toes what fate awaited that lord and his supporters.

It was nothing more than an internal rebellion of the Great Peacock King Clan; the vast majority of clan members, wielding the power of the Twelve Lineage Families, rose up in revolt, the heroic lord perhaps became a dead lord, while his supporters could only flee in disgrace.

But they were, after all, the true orthodox main line of the Great Peacock King Clan.

They took away the most secret core secrets of Triple Linked City, perhaps even that heroic lord's last will and such…… but these matters, Wu Tie likewise didn't care about.

"Grey Master is still in the secret cavern outside the city; hurry and activate the Ultimate Defensive Grand Formation to either drive away or exterminate the Frost and the Dark Obscurity— the rest we'll talk about later." Wu Tie urged Mo Zhang Wang urgently.

"Oh, oh!"

Mo Zhang Wang startled awake, he hurriedly ran to the center of the great hall, the skin of his palms split open on its own, fresh blood trickling down; he placed both hands on a huge seven‑colored crystal ball several zhang in diameter and began to loudly chant the incantation.

Streams of seven‑colored light extended from the crystal ball, continuously pouring into Mo Zhang Wang's body.

As the seven‑colored light surged forth, Mo Zhang Wang's aura gradually merged with the crystal ball; his body turned stiff, his eyes grew dull, his pupils seemed to burst with fireworks as countless seven‑colored glows kept spraying out.

Wu Tie raised an eyebrow; it seemed that just now Mo Zhang Wang, in that state, had been ambushed by Jin Mancang.

That Jin Mancang fellow, on the contrary, didn't care a whit about the life or death of the citizens of Triple Linked City outside.

But that's understandable.

In Jin Mancang's view, the whole city was rebellious; why should he bother about whether those people lived or died?

Wu Tie walked up to the white bone banner that had imprisoned the witch maiden.

The witch maiden looked pitifully at Wu Tie, her big eyes full of misty moisture, obviously aggrieved.

Wu Tie shook his head, carefully examining this white bone banner that exuded a mighty aura, proper yet not evil. He furrowed his brows, as if, when he had repeatedly broken through the Heavenly Lock Pagoda earlier, amidst those few shattered light threads, there had been similar information?

Closing his eyes, Wu Tie focused all his strength, beginning to sift through the vast sea of information within his ever‑expanding soul.

The Heavenly Lock Pagoda stores boundless heavenly secrets; countless divine abilities and secret arts are contained within, myriad mysteries lie hidden therein, and even some of those light‑thread‑shaped heavenly‑earthly shackles actually hold information about top‑grade rare treasures.

Two streams of flowing light, shaped like giant dragons, spewed out behind Wu Tie.

The Thirty‑Three Heavenly Lock Pagodas—now only the Ninefold Pagoda is spewing forth boundless flames, silently hovering behind Wu Tie.

Every pore of Wu Tie's body radiated a dazzling halo; his soul power was still rapidly increasing, though the magnitude was obviously not as wild and terrifying as before.

Bit by bit, as he perused the information recorded in the previously shattered heavenly‑earthly shackles, Wu Tie quickly found the data for an item named the Seven Kill White Bone Banner, a primeval rare treasure.

"Too bad, it's a counterfeit." Wu Tie opened his eyes; a frightful flash of pure killing intent crossed his pupils, he intoned the incantation in a low voice and waved his right hand at the white bone banner.

On the Seven Kill White Bone Banner, threads of crystal‑clear, substantive white light drew inward; the witch maiden imprisoned on the banner's face crashed heavily to the ground.

"Father!" the witch maiden sprang up, aggrieved, and perched on Wu Tie's shoulder.

"Be good…… that big fatty's at fault; later, you kick him a few more times." Wu Tie, completely lacking parenting experience, casually infused the witch maiden with a pinch of violent tendency, then continually chanted the incantation, his fingertips spraying out threads of blood light that fell upon the white bone banner.

It was not the actual body of that primeval rare treasure recorded.

It was merely a counterfeit.

But even as a counterfeit, the material of this white bone banner is astonishingly formidable—far stronger than the Taotie Raven bone Wu Tie had obtained from the Taotie Raven, by who knows how much.

Although it's a counterfeit, all the seals, runes, and the entire structural arrangement on this white bone banner are made exactly according to the genuine article.

Aside from its material being far inferior to that primeval rare treasure, this Seven Kill White Bone Banner is indeed a genuine heavyweight treasure.

"Not bad at all." Lao Tie walked up beside Wu Tie, sizing up this white bone banner that stood over ten zhang tall: "It's not the genuine article, but the materials were truly worth the expense—no worse than the White Tiger Rift."

Wu Tie consecutively fired three hundred and sixty strands of blood light at the white bone banner.

Each strand of blood light contained a bit of his heart‑blood essence; after firing three hundred and sixty strands, even with Wu Tie's current bodily strength, his face turned deathly pale for a while and he could barely catch his breath.

"Enough!" Wu Tie whispered sharply; the white bone banner swayed gently, terrible killing intent twined the void, ripples of pallid light spread across the surrounding space, and then the banner turned into a glimmer of dark light that drilled into Wu Tie's forehead.

At the center of Wu Tie's seven‑colored law eye, a tiny phantom of the white bone banner flickered faintly; amidst the mighty aura of the Divine Thunder of Exorcising Evil, a thread of stern, terrifying killing intent appeared and disappeared, making his forehead law eye look ever more fearsome.

"Good stuff, this is Jin Mancang's treasure…… probably an heirloom of the Great Peacock King Dynasty." Wu Tie turned around and looked at Jin Mancang: "The foundation of the Great Peacock King Clan is astonishing, after all."

Lao Tie nodded: "Such a treasure, falling into his hands, is also a pearl cast into darkness…… or would it be better kept in our own hands, so as to…"

Lao Tie blinked, gave a dry chuckle: "Benefiting the state and the people? Beneficial to all beings under heaven?"

Wu Tie pointed at Lao Tie and laughed: "Hypocrisy."

Lao Tie burst out laughing, he put away his scepter, his body shuddered, and he transformed back into his Hu Wolf form.

The witch maiden cheered, jumped down from Wu Tie's shoulder, grabbed Lao Tie's ear, sat on his neck, looking left and right with smug satisfaction, clearly treating Lao Tie as her exclusive mount.

Wu Tie walked over to Jin Mancang's side and took off the exquisite hand ring he was wearing.

With a swipe of his right hand, the exquisitely shaped but pitch‑black, lusterless hand ring burst forth with seven‑colored radiance, the ring itself turning seven‑colored, its surface inlaid with incredibly fine, exquisite gemstones, gorgeous and splendid to the utmost.

Wu Tie focused his inner sight, and a powerful soul surge welled up from the hand ring, blocking his inner sight's soul power.

Wu Tie glanced at Jin Mancang, who lay motionless on the ground, and muttered softly: "Fetus‑Storage Realm… indeed, you were wounded into multiple layers, which is why you ended up like this?"

A thin strand of seven‑colored lightning shot out from between his eyebrows; with a "hiss‑hiss" sound, the soul imprint of Jin Mancang within the hand ring was shattered in one blow, and an enormous storage space appeared before Wu Tie.

This exquisite hand ring is likely a treasure of the Great Peacock King Clan; its internal storage space exceeds the combined storage of all the hand rings Wu Tie currently possesses by over a hundredfold—such a secret treasure can be called a strategic heavy weapon.

Wu Tie weighed the hand ring in his hand and fell into contemplation.

He glanced at the Demon Chapter King, who was fully focused on communicating the Triple Linked City seal and activating the Ultimate Defensive Grand Formation, nodded, and slipped the hand ring onto his own wrist.

The hand ring contained hardly anything.

Even the coins were those Wu Tie had previously given to Jin Mancang.

This shows that when Jin Mancang encountered Wu Tie, his situation was already rather dire.

However, although resources and wealth were scarce, the hand ring still held a few items emitting a deep, mysterious glow—remarkable objects whose aura was not the slightest bit weaker than that of the Seven Kill White Bone Banner.

Wu Tie gave Jin Mancang another glance.

This guy is indeed a descendant of the Great Peacock King who was overthrown long ago.

"Entering the Lost Triple Linked City, what could possibly draw you in so strongly? Is it worth risking your life to rush back? You almost got ambushed in the alley by a few low‑level cultivators." Wu Tie stood up and looked at Jin Mancang.

Jin Mancang, whose flesh, soul, mana, and qi‑blood were all sealed, was like a vegetative state, showing no reaction to the outside world at all.

Wu Tie shook his head, turned, and looked at the Demon Chapter King.

The Triple Linked City suddenly trembled.

Inside this massive pyramid, Wu Tie and the others felt nothing particularly intense.

But outside the pyramid, Lin Dong and Cang You's attacks ceased abruptly; a set of massive armor and a dragon‑like spirit beast quickly drew close, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

In all directions, the chariots and golden figures atop the twelve great mountains' peaks, within the twelve pillars of light, vanished simultaneously.

The light pillars gradually brightened, and electric light began to appear at their edges—at first tiny sparks, then surging like dragons, crackling and leaping across the pillars' surfaces.

The diameters of the light pillars slowly expanded, shaking the stone cavern within a three‑thousand‑li radius, while the surrounding rock walls disappeared layer by layer.

Countless golden runes flashed across the rock walls in great swaths; each rune that flashed caused a large chunk of the stratum to vanish. After the earth shook and mountains swayed for a quarter hour, the stone cavern of a three‑thousand‑li radius had expanded to a ten‑thousand‑li radius.

A hazy mist rose from the ground, and the surface began to sink.

Layer after layer of enormous golden runes swept across the earth; each flash of a golden rune caused the ground to depress by hundreds of meters.

The twelve light pillars began to rotate.

They themselves spun, and the rushing electricity emitted terrifying thunderclaps.

At the same time, the twelve light pillars began to revolve around the colossal golden pyramid at the center; with each full turn they drew inward a little, steadily approaching the central pyramid.

Wave after wave of terrifying energy surged outward.

Ring after ring of golden light floated in the void, each ring containing a human silhouette.

Everyone inside the Triple Linked City… except Lin Dong and Cang You, was enveloped by the golden rings and hovered silently in the void.

The surfaces of these golden rings also flowed with electricity; countless thin bolts of lightning shot out from the rings, and the lightning from myriad rings wove in the air into a massive electric net that tightly sealed the void.

Cang You's claw itched; he swung a claw and slammed it hard onto one of those thin lightning strands.

With a "sizzle"…

The claw of Cang You, whose aura already surpassed the Fetus‑Storage Realm, was blasted to pieces by the lightning, and a beautifully proportioned long leg shattered instantly.

Cang You howled in pain with a "ah‑woo," his body rapidly shrinking to about seven or eight meters, lest maintaining a ten‑thousand‑meter stature cause him to accidentally strike those golden lightning bolts.

"Something's strange here… I suggest putting it on the highest monitoring list." Lin Dong rumbled lowly: "I suggest… mobilizing all surrounding forces, sparing no effort to overturn the Triple Linked City… at any cost, even if it means sacrificing all those 'Heaven's Chosen' to wipe this place out."

The electricity flowed, and the surrounding rock walls dissipated layer by layer.

A tremendous spatial disturbance swept in all directions; the surrounding space seemed to fold and overlap, as strange spatial variations began to gestate and be born.

In the vast mist, an inconceivable construct came into view.

Gold, silver, bronze.

From top to bottom, three colossal pyramids—each nearly a hundred li tall with bases over two hundred li wide—hovered in the void, twelve pillars of light surrounding them from all sides.

Billowing clumps of nearly substantive heaven‑earth primordial energy streamed down the surfaces of the three pyramids like a waterfall "rumble‑rumble," pouring from the peak of the highest golden pyramid, flowing over the silver and bronze pyramids, and finally cascading downward along the base of the bronze pyramid.

An intangible surge emanated from within the pyramids.

Everyone instantly understood the name of these three pyramids—"Never‑falling City? Eternal Triple Linked City"!