Chapter 140

This way of speaking is troublesome, but it's actually just an instant; Lu Fan only just managed to fly out over a thousand zhang. The movements of the two behind him, he felt them clearly, especially Zhang Heng's seemingly decisive action, which made the corner of his mouth twitch up slightly, and he couldn't help but reveal a hint of pride.

"You brat, you're really slow. Only now coming over, don't you think it's a bit late?"

The gloomy, echoing sound rang out again from inside the cauldron furnace, but this time it was different from the previous two; accompanying it was also a wisp of illusory murderous mist.

The murderous mist coiled and swirled above the crystal furnace, shifting and changing, turning into a ferocious palm shadow. At the center of the palm shadow, there suddenly appeared a strange giant mouth, going 'ba ji ba ji', invisibly swallowing who-knows-what.

Lu Fan saw this situation, but instead of being startled he was delighted, saying, "You delayed for so long, yet you only refined a single breath of that severed hand—how weak!"

"Oh? Is that so! Then let you see what I've been doing by delaying you for this moment!"

The strange giant mouth laughed 'haha' and said, and just as its voice fell, the palm shadow flipped over and suddenly grasped the True Dragon Seal.

"Boom!"

Tremendous heavenly force surged outward, and the True Dragon Seal that had been hovering in the void actually began to sway; for some reason, the entire underground space swayed along with it.

The earth shook and mountains trembled; huge rocks shattered. The entire city walls in the ravine collapsed with a roar, and this strange 'tomb mound' at this moment actually began to crumble on its own.

Lu Fan's pupils contracted, and his speed instantly increased by a third. Having already reached a hundred zhang beyond the seal, he was about to gather strength and shoot upward when suddenly a stream of starlight poured down from above his head.

The earth covered the heavens, and it collapsed!

The starlight poured down like a waterfall, illuminating this dark space brightly. No one knows how long it had been buried in dust, yet now that it saw the light of day again, it inexplicably collapsed. Whether it could withstand the passage of ages or not, it could not escape the inscrutable workings of fate.

"Is this your achievement? Crumbling this city tomb?" Lu Fan gave a dark smile, full of contempt. Without another word, he formed a seal, about to fly upward, when the starlight and moonlight surrounding him suddenly went berserk, rushing toward his major acupoints and pores.

"Not good!" his expression changed, but it was already too late. The Star Wish Curse Power sealed within his body broke through its restraint, shot out directly, and in the endless starlight absorbed a tremendous amount of power.

Almost in an instant, every pore and acupoint on Lu Fan's body flashed with silver light, condensing into one silver seal sigil after another. Though each sigil was only the size of a grain of rice, they were wondrously extraordinary, spontaneously flowing and intertwining to form sealing arrays that pressed down on Lu Fan's entire body.

"He he he! Brat, you really thought I've been suppressed by you all along? That girl's seal technique isn't bad, huh? See if I'm using it properly!"

The Palm Shadow Giant Mouth of the Wild Beast Possession gave a strange laugh; before its voice even faded, it was seen seizing the True Dragon Seal. In a flash, the heavens and earth overturned all around, and the True Dragon Seal swept down toward Lu Fan.

With a 'boom-long' explosion, an ultimate force came crashing down. Strangely, although the seal clearly came from straight ahead of Lu Fan, this force came from all directions, like vast rivers and seas, with boundless waves engulfing his whole body.

Lu Fan immediately turned pale with fright; his Heart Vow Curse Seal erupted, and his overwhelming true qi would have to expend half of it just to suppress it—how could he possibly cope with the situation before him?

The Ghost-Faced Person halted several hundred zhang away, his face shocked; he never expected that Lu Fan, whom he had been wary of repeatedly, would be so easily entrapped by that strange palm shadow, and for a moment he didn't know whether to feel joy or worry.

"Brother Wan, Lu Fan's situation looks bad. If he were so easily subdued, then with our combined strength we might still be unable to handle this scene, and the Dragon Seal could never possibly fall into our hands!"

Zhang Heng arrived beside the Ghost-Faced Person, his expression solemn, and spoke these words.

"The Gentleman Hall is just the Gentleman Hall; no wonder my Dragon-Elephant sects—only you have been favored by the imperial family and made the state religion. To assess the situation and form alliances is indeed a fine tactic!"

The Ghost-Faced Person glanced at Zhang Heng with a solemn expression. Earlier he had thought the other's strength was too ordinary, but now his performance made him dare not think so. With such methods, if he gave the opponent even a slight opportunity, he could immediately stir up wind and rain.

In the future, we must be on guard!

His gaze was deep, but after just a moment he recovered, focusing his attention on Lu Fan and shouting furiously at the Palm Shadow Giant Mouth:

"What demon dares to act so wildly? This brat Lu Fan is mine to deal with—you had better scram!"

As soon as his words fell, he flicked his sleeve, and with the rising storm, in an instant it turned into a hundred-zhang black sash, which he whipped out violently, lashing toward Lu Fan's waist to entangle him.

Zhang Heng also acted in time; his bamboo fan treasure rolled up, turning into a hazy mist-wind vortex that stretched several hundred zhang, sweeping toward Lu Fan to envelop him.

If either of them succeeded, they could immediately shift Lu Fan's position aside, avoiding the suppression of the True Dragon Seal.

Yet Lu Fan had no idea of this. Just a moment ago, Zhang Heng and the other had been shouting threats at him, but now they seemed intent on helping him—something nobody would believe.

This isn't his fault; at this moment his mind tightened suddenly, all his thoughts focused on the silver light seals around his body, and he also didn't realize how important the True Dragon Seal was to Zhang Heng and the other. He faintly felt two mysterious forces sweeping in from behind, and simply took them as the pair trying to trip him up.

"Hmph! Good timing!"

Seeing him let out a fierce shout, he swung a single palm, striking his chest; the silver light seals pressing on his body eased for a moment, and he cried, "Return to Origin, One Qi!"

Suddenly, his surging true qi instantly weakened; the silver light seals, unobstructed, completely sealed his pores and acupoints in an instant. Yet his aura did not weaken—on the contrary, it surged violently.

The cultivation of a fourth-stage grand martial master was entirely converted into spiritual power, and in an instant it elevated his Muscle-Tempering realm talisman master's cultivation to its peak.

"Formless Dharma Seal, Shifting Stars, Moving Dipper!"

He flicked a single finger with a soft, powerless motion, but upon contact, mystic light flashed, forming a vortex that spun like the heavenly river of stars, turning and drifting, drawing all things.

"This is...' Wan Li, taking the brunt, felt only that the end of his black sash had suddenly gained a devouring force, and he could not muster the slightest resistance. In an instant, the world spun; when he came to, he found himself several hundred zhang away—exactly where Lu Fan had originally stood."

"Damn it! This is a spatial ability, Lu Fan, you've plotted against me!"

He exploded with thunderous rage, heedless of anything else, waving his sleeve and blowing himself apart into countless wisps of drifting mist that scattered in flight.

"Bang!"

The True Dragon Seal came crashing down, but since Lu Fan wasn't there, all its force was blocked by the Ghost-Faced Person. He was indeed quick-witted, turning into an intangible, formless body and avoiding most of the power.

"I'm furious—where did this clueless thing come from!"

Light and shadow swayed, fierce winds swirled. Only then did the Light-Shadow Giant Mouth realize something was wrong, fuming repeatedly, as the best opportunity had been dodged by Lu Fan.

Over a hundred zhang away, Lu Fan's figure appeared, without a trace of smugness, his face grim to the extreme, while his body was weakened to the utmost.

"Desolate Seal Condensing Form!"

In that moment he flicked a single finger, and a red light flared on his forehead; his surging spiritual power burst forth like a flood released from a gate, forming a giant seal sigil about a zhang square, carved as if by knife and axe, brimming with supreme might.

"Courting death! You dare to use the Desolate Seal before me—truly you don't know how to write the word 'death'!"

The Palm Shadow Giant Mouth released the True Dragon Seal, its five fingers trembling in unison, mimicking Lu Fan's seal-making gesture exactly. Tremendous force surged, and in an instant it shot a piercing thrust at the giant seal sigil.

Lu Fan was not startled but pleased; he glanced contemptuously at the Wild Beast Possession's Palm Shadow Giant Mouth, then quickly turned and gave Zhang Heng a dark, gloomy smile.

"Your turn!"

Several hundred zhang away, Zhang Heng could only make out the mouth shape, but his mind was greatly shaken. The Ghost-Faced Person's ordeal was still before his eyes—it was practically divine skill. Now it seemed Lu Fan would also use this move on him.

Without a second thought, as he was about to flee, a whirlwind suddenly kicked up at his side, completely enveloping him. This was clearly the very means he had just unleashed, intending to 'assist' Lu Fan. He had thought the Dragon Seal would smash and crush him, but instead it trapped him.

"Shifting Stars, Moving Dipper!"

Lu Fan's weak voice rang out; logically he shouldn't be able to hear it given the distance, yet it sounded as if it were whispered right by his ear.

In an instant, the world spun; when he came to, he discovered his body had shifted, as if by teleportation, ending up several hundred zhang away.

With a crisp 'dong', he stumbled and ended up stepping atop that cauldron.

"What does this mean?"

He had just this thought when he saw Lu Fan unleash that giant seal technique, already hurtling toward him. More precisely, it was hurtling toward the Technique Refining Crystal Furnace hovering beneath his feet.

"Damn it! You wish!"

Palm Shadow Big Mouth let out a furious roar, flipped his five fingers, and the tremendous force he had unleashed suddenly bent, accelerating toward the Technique Refining Crystal Furnace.

"You're nothing but a lingering thought, yet you dare to be arrogant before me. If you calmly refined that severed hand, borrowing a body to condense form, I might still be wary of you three parts. A mere phantom, scheming against me—you truly don't know how to write the word 'death'!"

Lu Fan suddenly inhaled, his eyes full of contempt, and spoke coldly.

Palm Shadow Big Mouth had no time to argue with Lu Fan, fully controlling that force, trying to seize the Crystal Furnace first. Most of his lingering thoughts reside within it, suppressing that severed hand; if Lu Fan were to stir it with the Wild Seal, it would likely break free and fly into his hands.

By then, he would likely have no strength left to resist, being refined into nothing by him.

Lu Fan snorted coldly, seemingly sensing Palm Shadow Big Mouth's thoughts, not caring in the least, and slowly said toward a point in the void:

"The monster's source power is entirely trapped within the Technique Refining Crystal Furnace; if you could now join forces with Zhang Heng and seize that furnace, the Dragon Seal would basically be divided between the two of you!"

Lu Fan's words carried unusual force; Zhang Heng heard them clearly. He had originally been preparing to flee, but upon hearing this, he changed his mind and looked toward that point in the void.

A flash of light, a black aura suddenly appeared, and the Ghost Face Person's form gradually condensed, letting out a 'wa' as he gulped a large mouthful of black blood. Yet he had no time to mind these, gathering his strength and rushing straight for the Crystal Furnace.

"Brother Zhang, I'll help you!"

He hesitated not at all, his body erupting upward, his sleeves flaring and turning into a black silk band that entwined the force Palm Shadow Big Mouth had unleashed.

Crackle—

Strands of black aura dissipated, yet they firmly restrained that mysterious fluctuation.

Zhang Heng also employed all his means, using the Bamboo Fan Mystic Treasure as a short sword, waving it casually: "A gentleman is not a vessel; the sword's momentum follows form!"

Strands of sword light surged forth, striking the Giant Seal Imprint and blocking Lu Fan's methods.

"Hn!" Lu Fan lightly nodded, actually praising: "I thought you were just all show, but this sword technique is also somewhat mysterious—I truly can't crack it!"

Hearing this, Zhang Heng felt no hint of praise, only deep mockery. Unintentionally, Lu Fan shifted his stance; if the situation were a bit more perilous, he might well have become a scapegoat like the Ghost Face Person.