Chapter 269: Scouting Stone

Phoenixflame Silver Spear.

That day, Lin Dong took a hit; even with his strength above the Fetal Storage Realm, a leg was left behind.

Now that leg still hangs beneath the bronze pyramid of Triplelink City, fluttering in the wind.

Taotie Tu looked at the three silver spears approaching, and he habitually gave a mocking smile: "Speed not bad, has some presence, but this power…"

Habitually, Taotie Tu waved his hands, nonchalantly reaching for the three silver spears.

Mozhang Wang's kilometer-tall illusory shadow hovering above the golden pyramid laughed "hehe".

Wu Tie smiled silently; Laotie Ren stood up, his tail whipping left and right: "Where the hell did this… ridiculous nonsense come from?"

Laotie Ren's words were harsh, yet they were perfectly fitting to describe Taotie Tu.

He spat black smoke from both hands and fiercely gripped two of the silver spears.

Seeing Taotie Tu's face turn ashen, he let out a strange shout, angrily flinging his hands. In the harsh screech, the black smoke spraying from his hands violently collided with the Phoenix True Fire, scattering sparks everywhere.

The two silver spears tore deep, bone-reaching wounds in his palms, and blood spurted out. Taotie Tu possessed great strength; he violently flung the two spears, which grazed his left and right shoulders askew.

The third silver spear thrust straight at Taotie Tu's heart.

Even more sinister, the third silver spear suddenly accelerated; the one that had been lagging behind burst out with a piercing sonic boom, its speed increasing more than tenfold, a flash of cold light shooting straight to Taotie Tu's chest.

Taotie Tu cursed loudly.

Suddenly, a heavy set of black scale armor, made of overlapping black scales, appeared on his body.

The silver spear struck Taotie Tu's chest with a dull thud, exploding; sheets of red flame engulfed him in blazing fire. The impact sent Taotie Tu flying backward three or five li, black smoke spraying from his feet as he barely stabilized himself.

"Is that all?" Taotie Tu laughed loudly, his hands behind his back, palms rubbing fiercely, strands of black smoke continually rising as he struggled to dispel the Phoenix True Fire clinging to his wounds, the palm injuries healing quickly.

The mocking laughter still echoed in the air as hundreds of silver spears from all directions spewed flames and howled toward Taotie Tu in a volley.

Taotie Tu's expression suddenly shifted; his body trembled as he was about to unleash a divine ability to flee.

Wu Tie pointed at Taotie Tu from afar.

Above, three mountain phantoms appeared; the three mountains glimmered with spiritual light, within them vast mountain ranges stretched and coiled, the mighty, surging earth-vein qi of the mountains like a dragon rushing forth, bringing a terrifying earth-shaped electromagnetic gravity field crashing down.

On the head, left shoulder, right shoulder.

The three mountains slammed hard onto Taotie Tu's body.

From within Taotie Tu's body came a frenzied beast's roar; his body shuddered and a bead of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

Wu Tie used the Three Mountains Pressing Down divine ability to suppress Taotie Tu; this amount of weight was nothing to Taotie Tu… after all, no matter how strong Wu Tie's mana cultivation, he was merely at the Chonglou Realm.

Even a Chonglou Realm cultivator who masters countless divine-ability secrets is far inferior in power and essence to a Life Pool Realm cultivator, let alone a Fetal Storage Realm cultivator.

Although Wu Tie's Three Mountains Pressing Down ability exerted pressure on Taotie Tu far greater than an ordinary Life Pool Realm expert, it was still considerably lacking compared to the Fetal Storage Realm.

This pressure really isn't much.

What matters is that Wu Tie's timing was perfect, striking exactly at the crucial point of Taotie Tu's divine-ability manifestation.

Three Mountains Pressing Down—an enormous force crashed down, and Taotie Tu's forming translocation divine ability was instantly disrupted into utter chaos.

It felt like a bird kicking hard off a branch, trying to use the rebound to flap its wings and fly away. At the moment of his kick, the force returning from the branch was not only upward but also left, right, forward, and backward.

Taotie Tu became disordered.

His body swayed in place, the surrounding void trembled, and obviously his two legs—one thrust forward, the other backward—snapped with a "crack" into a full split.

Wu Tie's Three Mountains Pressing Down placed little burden on Taotie Tu, but Taotie Tu's own divine-ability strength was immense; pulling his legs forward and backward nearly ripped his legs off.

Taotie Tu howled in pain with a loud "ah".

Hundreds of silver spears howled in from all directions, heavily striking Taotie Tu's thick scale armor.

Like a cotton ball in the wind, Taotie Tu's body violently swayed left and right, the Phoenix True Fire clinging to him crackling "whoosh".

This was not a divine ability released by Wu Tie or Mozhang Wang, but an attack triggered by Triplelink City's defensive prohibition.

Phoenix True Fire's flames are extremely pure, with extraordinarily high temperature, and possess a unique power to dispel evil.

Especially important, the phoenix is the king of flying beasts, while Taotie Tu's taotie is a kind of walking beast; moreover, the taotie leans toward evil and chaos, a notorious ancient ferocious creature, and their powers happen to counter each other.

Watching Taotie Tu scorched black and smoking, despite his body wrapped in black smoke, the crimson Phoenix True Fire burned the smoke away in wisps, blistering Taotie Tu's face.

"Youngster… dare…" Taotie Tu roared with fury rising to the heavens: "Today I will surely put you in a life-or-death dilemma."

Wu Tie smiled: "If that's the case."

His mana cultivation surged; Wu Tie's foundation now could be called formidable. He opened the heavenly eye at his brow, and volley after volley of Slay Evil Divine Thunder howled toward Taotie Tu. The thunderous roar shook the abyss below the cliffs, sending up hundred‑zhang waves, while the void filled with flashing seven‑colored lightning.

Above Wu Tie's head, the Seven Kill White Bone Banner rose slowly; Wu Tie gripped the banner and gave it a hard shake, causing the distant Taotie Tu standing in midair to shudder.

Invisible killing intent clung tightly to Taotie Tu's soul.

The Seven Kill White Bone Banner directly assailed the soul; countless blade and sword lights flashed before Taotie Tu's eyes, icy killing intent piercing deep into his soul, as if he stood on the battlefield of primordial gods and demons, with innumerable vicious fiends charging at him.

Taotie Tu's movements slowed; the hand seals he had formed abruptly stopped, and the divine ability he had been readying came to a sudden halt.

Thirty‑six Slay Evil Divine Thunderbolts struck Taotie Tu's body almost simultaneously.

The dragon‑like lightning spread outward, a thundercloud mushrooming upward several kilometers in an instant, then rapidly rolling and surging in all directions.

Taotie Tu's body sputtered with electricity, thick blue smoke continually rising from his surface; the edges of his scale armor showed signs of melting, and dozens of places were shattered by the piercing power of the silver spears, the Phoenix True Fire burning straight through the armor to injure his flesh.

Wu Tie lightly shook the Seven Kill White Bone Banner in his hand; a flash of white light appeared, and a faint silhouette of Taotie Tu emerged on the banner.

A strand of Taotie Tu's soul power was seized by the Seven Kill White Bone Banner and directly attached to it.

Wu Tie chanted the seven ancient true‑word incantations inscribed on the banner's pole; the banner's spiritual light flickered, a wail rang out, and the strand of Taotie Tu's soul bound to the banner was directly obliterated.

A strand of soul having been exterminated, Taotie Tu's true self let out a wail; rings of black gusts howled outward in all directions, his whole body trembled, blood poured from his seven orifices, and he howled madly, his high‑stage Fetal Storage Realm cultivation unleashing fully without reserve.

The taotie is a ferocious beast, and Taotie Tu's marrow hides a ferocity and viciousness second to none among taotie.

He unreservedly released all his mana; on the surface of the inner sea, a black vortex a hundred li in diameter was forming, wave after wave of immense suction emanating from it, kicking up huge swells on the sea.

"You all, become my food."

Bedraggled, Taotie Tu hovered above the black vortex, arms flung wide, roaring wildly at Wu Tie: "Hahaha, here there are flood dragons, phoenixes, dragon‑whales, divine elephants… these rare bloodlines will all become my strength."

Wu Tie looked at Taotie Tu helplessly.

Womb Storage Realm!

It truly is a terrifying existence that the present Wu Tie cannot deal with.

Wu Tie's just-used Divine Thunder of Punishing Evil, plus fully activating the Seven Kill White Bone Banner, instantly drained all his mana. Yet the damage inflicted on Taotie Tu cannot be said to be nonexistent, but it is truly minuscule.

"The Chonglou Realm is merely the stage for obtaining basic materials." Lao Tie saw Wu Tie's gloom, patted his arm with his forepaw, and said: "Upon reaching the Life Pool Realm, the power of the Primordial Scripture will truly manifest."

"Although I haven't seen it myself, I've heard those old monsters' estimates of the Primordial Scripture…… Upon reaching the Life Pool Realm, you will absolutely not be weaker than the Womb Storage Realm…… As long as you condense the Life Pool, this kind of minor role, the recent Three Mountains Pressing Down, you will absolutely be able to grind him into dust."

"The Chonglou Realm, breaking open the Heavenly Lock Chonglou, after all, is merely the stage for obtaining basic materials." Even if you master all the heavenly mysteries and divine secret techniques within the Heavenly Lock Chonglou, they are still just the basics. Lao Tie earnestly advised Wu Tie: "So, don't rush."

"I'm not in a hurry, I just think Taotie Tu is really bold to barge in alone." Wu Tie shook his head: "Demon Chapter King, show him some strength, don't let him look down on Triple Linked City."

Demon Chapter King burst out laughing 'hahaha'.

The three pyramids of Triple Linked City lit up in succession.

Gold, silver, bronze—the twelve slanted faces of the three pyramids simultaneously spewed intense, blinding divine light, and the twelve light pillars encircling Triple Linked City's heaven-reaching, earth-standing pillars also spewed vast draconic lightning.

The void of Triple Linked City suddenly solidified.

All worldly primordial energy suddenly solidified.

The black vortex controlled by Taotie Tu collapsed with a boom.

Without the aid of external worldly primordial energy, any divine secret technique becomes extremely difficult to employ.

And this place is Triple Linked City.

All worldly primordial energy within Triple Linked City is directly controlled by the defensive formation and by Demon Chapter King.

Taotie Tu felt an unstoppable force strike; the worldly primordial energy he had freely controlled was suddenly severed from him, and he could no longer draw even a trace of it.

"My divine abilities… my mana!" Taotie Tu roared hoarsely.

His mana cultivation remained, his divine secret techniques remained, but without the cooperation of external worldly primordial energy, the power of his divine secret techniques would shrink by at least a hundredfold.

"You…" Taotie Tu's eyes turned blood-red.

A golden light slowly flew from the direction of Triple Linked City—a three-headed, twelve-armed golden divine being stepping on a great peacock, with a solemn visage, let out a low roar; the great peacock's myriad tail feathers swayed in the air, each bearing an eye-like halo, locking firmly onto Taotie Tu.

The heavens and earth within tens of thousands of li around Triple Linked City all regarded Taotie Tu as an enemy.

Taotie Tu's body stiffened as the golden divine being approached; he tried to move, but the immense primordial forces from all sides crushed down, leaving him utterly immobile.

The hundred-meter-tall golden divine being rode the great peacock to Taotie Tu's face and slammed down the twelve blazing strange-shaped weapons in his hands.

With a tremendous crash, Taotie Tu's heavy black scale armor shattered like glass shards and scattered everywhere.

Taotie Tu himself let out a great roar, blood gushing from his seven orifices, he spat mouthfuls of blood and plummeted from the sky.

Suddenly, a vast sheet of ice rose on the surface of the Inner Sea below; on this ice field spanning several mu, countless thumb-thick, foot-long sharp ice spikes grew densely.

Taotie Tu let out a strange, angry howl, screaming shrilly as he sprawled flat on the ice.

At least a hundred ice spikes pierced deep into his body.

Taotie Tu, being of divine beast bloodline, had a sturdy physique; as the ice spikes pierced his flesh they emitted a sharp scraping sound, and when they struck his bones they gave a dull metallic clang, shattering many spikes against his bones.

Taotie Tu's vitality was extremely tenacious; he roared, trying to climb up from the ice……

Demon Chapter King waved his hand; the ice spikes embedded in his body suddenly bent, turning into ice hooks that firmly latched onto his flesh and bones.

Taotie Tu wept tears mixed with blood from the pain.

Before he could devise a means of self-rescue, Lao Tie had already transformed into a fox-wolf-headed humanoid, brandishing a heavy scepter, and charged forward with a 'gehehe' weird laugh.

Thud!

Lao Tie, over ten meters tall, wielded a scepter as thick as a water tank and smashed it onto Taotie Tu's waist.

The ice field spanning several mu shattered inch by inch, and with it went Taotie Tu's faint hope of escaping alive.

His vertebrae were shattered by Lao Tie's blow, and black wind sand invaded his body, completely sealing off his source of magic.

Several days' journey from Triple Linked City, in the newly prepared Shibao, Xuan Zhu reclined on a soft couch, gazing lovingly at Heiluo before her: "Heiluo sir, does this mean that Taotie Tu sir has truly been captured?"

"Ah, it seems Triple Linked City is truly difficult to deal with now…… we still need more strength."

Xuan Zhu squinted at Heiluo: "Hmm, I don't know if Heiluo sir can borrow the power of the Dark Guild to gather more hands…… to help me?"

Heiluo looked at Xuan Zhu with a pleasant smile and readily agreed.