Chapter 243: 236 Lion Spring

The Demon Cave has descended!

On time, at the location, no broken promises!

What a fine amateur Heavenly Derivation Technique, what a fine "slight understanding," its precision is such!

Mai Shiyu could not spare a moment to catch her breath; her long sword left its sheath, and a fruit tree grew behind her. Compared to the time when it was covered in blooming flowers, today it seemed as if spring had ended and autumn had arrived; the splendor had fallen away, leaving heavy clusters of fruit, the branches still half peaches and half plums.

Spring flowers and autumn fruits, the Sword Image descends.

She only summoned the Sword Image and suppressed its power, not yet moving. Tang Zhao stretched out his arm and poured the spring water in his hand into the fluctuations in the air.

The space changed in an instant, twisting in bursts, then condensing from void into reality. A roar came from the wind—

"Roar!"

As the lion's roar rose, the ripples in space, invisible to the naked eye, transformed into a majestic lion that seemed to be folded from the wind!

This was no vague, imagined lion, but a male lion whose fur, flesh, and blood were all real, save for its color. It was as if a Sword Image had been newly summoned by a Lion Sword.

Lion Spring!

Jiang Shenyi realized with a start; so it was Lion Spring. He remembered when Che Sha introduced it, this spring water could turn anything into a lion, and it would persist for quite some time. No wonder Tang Zhao chose this spring water when he was selecting; he had planned to turn the space fluctuations into a lion all along...

Wait...

Isn't this going too far?

You could say it's reasonable for this spring water to turn stone into a lion, and it's already quite miraculous to turn a water flow into a lion, but to turn space fluctuations into a lion...

Is this reasonable?

Jiang Shenyi was an expert, which made it all the more incredible.

A bottle of spring water, crossing the four material textures of earth, water, fire, and wind, directly turning "void" into a living creature that can be seen and can move—what level of ability is this?

Can Sword Law do this?

Can Sword Casting Art do this?

This must be a legendary material, right?

If the One Hundred and Eight Springs monopolized materials of this level, they wouldn't need many; if just three or five out of a hundred trash springs had this kind of effect, wouldn't they have become the eighth great power sooner or later?

What if only one was this miraculous?

That would be even more impossible.

If there were truly only one so miraculous, it would certainly be extremely rare; how could it be allowed for two minor Disciples to bring it to the Central Plains and give it away to another sect for free? Wouldn't that make them fools?

Jiang Shenyi naturally did not know that this was new spring water Tang Zhao had fished out of the lotus pond.

The fairy liked the new home Tang Zhao found very much and helped him quite a bit; the spring water, upgraded once, had a powerful effect that nearly surpassed those upgraded twice, perfectly meeting Tang Zhao's requirements. Otherwise, if Tang Zhao had to upgrade the spring water twice, it would have been enough to bankrupt him.

The effect was obvious; the space-turned-lion before them shocked everyone severely.

And then?

What use is turning into a lion for containing the Demon Cave?

The lion was formed from space fluctuations; its eyes were chaotic, lacking any spirit, possessing only a body full of ferocity and malice. With a wild roar, it suddenly expanded, turning into a manic giant beast.

"Could it be... that killing it will destroy the Demon Cave?"

Mai Shiyu thought this, feeling somewhat encouraged—if it were just a matter of killing an enemy, it would be simple; she feared no enemy, no matter how strong, she only feared encountering mysterious and strange existences where she didn't know what to fight.

She still did not act rashly, waiting only for Tang Zhao to make a move.

Tang Zhao reached out and tossed, and a golden rein instantly looped over the lion's head. It was an Art Tool made of wish-fulfilling gold thread, engraved with a Beast Taming Symbol. The space-fluctuation lion was bound, losing its freedom for the moment, and could only struggle in place.

Immediately following, Tang Zhao held a bead in his hand and rolled it forward.

Compulsion.

Once space turned into a lion, it possessed some of a lion's nature, such as instinctive reactions.

Even Immortal Swords are attracted by compulsion, and the space lion was the same. It followed the trajectory Tang Zhao designed and sprinted forward.

Tang Zhao's line of thought was very clear: first lead this scourge away from the residential area, preferably all the way out of the city, and contain it directly outside the city walls, so that even if it accidentally exploded, there would be no fear of implicating the innocent.

Of course, Lion Spring had a time limit; it was impossible to truly rely on it to move the Demon Cave too far, but it was the easiest to manipulate and required no preparation. Tang Zhao had other methods in reserve; he would use it for an emergency first, as tangible things are easier to deal with than intangible ones.

Mai Shiyu was excited and said, "Quick, out of the city."

The members of the Land Inspection Division on both sides formed a formation to protect the lion that was charging with single-minded focus. At this moment, they were not far from the city gate, and a few quick steps would bring them there. Seeing that although the lion's belly was trembling and undulating, appearing somewhat unstable, it had not yet disintegrated, everyone felt a measure of joy.

The plan was going smoothly...

Xun City was neither large nor small, and the lion's speed was faster than a fine horse; in the blink of an eye, the city gate was right before them.

Mai Shiyu was secretly delighted; as long as they were out of the city gate, half the task was done. She hurriedly blew the Bamboo Whistle to call for the gatekeeper to open the gate.

To prevent accidents, the city gates were closed at night, and the Garrison Commander did not answer to the Land Inspection Division. But now the Demon Cave was paramount, and the Land Inspection Division's position was critical, so they inevitably interfered everywhere. Mai Shiyu had her own people at the city gate, with an agreement that as soon as they saw the signal, they would open the gate and let the Demon Cave out of the city.

The signal was received at the gate, and sure enough, the drawbridge was lowered, and the city gate swung open.

The male lion continued to run toward the city gate.

Very good, no signs of explosion, just a hundred paces away, it would definitely get out of the city safely!

Mai Shiyu revealed a smile.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "The Moon God descends!"

On the main road, a figure emerged from the ground, in a position similar to a sliding tackle, just in time to embrace the lion's belly.

But that lion was formed from space; it looked solid, but in reality, it was not. The black shadow's hands clasped together, but did not hold onto a solid body. It just overlapped with the lion's position.

It was a person!

Mai Shiyu's heart jumped; before she could call out, she slashed over with her own sword.

Yet that person shouted without hesitation, "The Moon God blesses!"

It was unknown what method they used, but a patch of radiance suddenly bloomed on the spot, resembling a small vortex.

Tang Zhao felt a shock in his heart, suddenly feeling that this vortex was familiar.

Just a few days ago, in Jianzhou, he had also seen this vortex.

That seems to be—teleportation?

The vortex is a space gate, inverting space; that person and the lion vanished on the spot.

Tang Zhao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly shouted: "Gui Kou?!"

He remembered clearly that this vortex was the signature of Gui Kou teleporting above Jianzhou; at that time, Gui Kou attempted to blast Jianzhou to pieces by firing cannons through this vortex, and he had also used this vortex to reverse the flow of land, causing the Gui Kou on the other side to be completely wiped out.

However, how could it be Gui Kou?

Wasn't the enemy the Demon Sect? Why is it Gui Kou again?

That person just now had traces of a werewolf on them, clearly also a Fierce Beast modified by the Demon Sect; why could they use the methods of Gui Kou?

Have Gui Kou and the Demon Sect joined forces?

Tang Zhao only felt his hair stand on end—although the Demon Sect was bizarre and cruel, he had never taken them to heart, but Gui Kou alone possessed immense strength and unfathomable methods, which he could not withstand alone.

Moreover, what Gui Kou plots is no small matter; for them to take action, there must be a great conspiracy.

Is it to capture this rare Empty-Type Demon Cave? Just like they wanted to take away the Kun Sword?

Just as he thought this, Tang Zhao received the answer.

Boom—

The sound of an explosion rang out!

A massive explosion bloomed not far away, and the sky-high blast wave nearly knocked Tang Zhao over.

Tang Zhao looked up and saw that the explosion was actually diagonally above, with the blast wave striking down from above.

Did that demon disciple get into mid-air?

No, it was on the city wall.

This place was not far from the city wall and was within the range affected by the explosion; the monstrous blast wave rolled wildly in all directions, causing the street in front of the city wall to collapse instantly.

Tang Zhao was right beside it, and although he only had a moment of preparation, he finally waved his hand to activate his Protective Artifact, and a wall expanded, firmly blocking in front of him.

Oh no—

A thought flashed through his mind.

The explosion was one thing; there were no civilians present, and everyone had means of self-protection, so it wouldn't hurt anyone, but it would trigger—

Just listening to the explosion, there was a faint, strange roar of a lion, which then came to an abrupt end—

A Space Storm!

There were no other sounds, no other strange phenomena; what Tang Zhao saw was just the transparent protective wall in front of him suddenly trembling, as if it had been cut into pieces by an invisible blade, disintegrating in the air.

The crisis was imminent!

Tang Zhao reached out, tossed the Time Jar, and threw out two Strange Stone slabs, each a person's height.

A Space Storm is colorless and formless, impossible to guard against; even for a Talisman Sword Master, there are few ways to resist shattered space. The most common method is using Strange Stone, which can contain Space Fragments; those that collide with the Strange Stone are inevitably stored, making it a veritable quagmire of space.

Although not practical when engaging an enemy, it is most suitable for building defensive works when encountering such a disaster. Before this Demon Cave, to prevent any uncontrollable Space Storm, Tang Zhao had taken out all his stock to ensure everyone in the Inspection Division could have a stone slab to hide behind.

Holding the stone slab, Tang Zhao felt bubbles constantly appearing within it; each bubble was a trace of fluctuating space—not space itself, just the trajectory of spatial fluctuations; in the end, there was not much usable material collected.

The Space Storm lasted for quite a while; Tang Zhao hid behind the stone slab, trembling with fear every second, terrified that this Strange Stone slab would also be breached and the storm would tear him apart directly.

The first wave of the Space Storm finally subsided, and the space finally tended toward calm.

But this area of space was already riddled with holes, and there was no telling how many fragmented killing intents were hidden within, capable of instantly annihilating any existence that collided with them.

After a while, Tang Zhao put down the Strange Stone slab; before him was a scene of devastation.

Before he could look at the devastation everywhere, Tang Zhao's eyes were fixed on the sky above.

In the dawn sky, that patch of space was empty and had nothing, but as the faint morning light shone over, there was a subtle distortion.

If the area of this anomaly were not large, ordinary people would ignore it, but this area was too large, a full three feet in diameter, hanging in the air like a funhouse mirror embedded in a smooth mirror; it was ultimately too conspicuous.

Spatial displacement.

The exit of the Empty-Type Demon Cave had appeared after all!

Tang Zhao gritted his teeth; his first plan had been ruined, and the Space Storm had occurred anyway. The only stroke of luck was that this disturbance happened in mid-air and in a remote spot in front of the city wall, harming no one and not involving any innocent civilians; could this be considered achieving his goal? The space entrance was now stable, and he could well continue his previous plan, taking the Demon Cave away step by step.

However, was this the end?

Was Gui Kou's purpose limited to this, just to release the space entrance? To kill a few people with the storm?

Suddenly, Mai Shiyu exclaimed: "Oh no!"

Tang Zhao lowered his gaze and exclaimed: "The city gate?!"

The explosion occurred on the city tower, and the city gate was also caught in the Space Storm, cut by who knows how many blades. It was just that Xun City was a large city, and the city wall was extremely thick and heavy; having been repaired several times, countless Rune Formulas had long been buried to add various defensive functions, making it impervious to blades and spears, water and fire, and it would not fall even if mountains crumbled and the earth split.

Now, the city gate tower was already better than a fortress or a strategic pass; even though it was riddled with holes both inside and out, it still stood firm, but many Rune Formulas had been cut to pieces.

Such a city gate had already lost many of its defensive functions and could be breached from the front!

Tang Zhao felt a shock in his heart, and then his heart sank.

Could it be that Gui Kou's purpose was actually... to breach the city gate?

If so, then there is still a follow-up...

Whoosh—whoosh—

Outside the city, several flares lit up; those were the Reporting Fireworks commonly used in Yunzhou!

A great enemy is attacking from outside the city!