Chapter 328

"Go"

Wang Yu swept his wide sleeves forward and slammed them against the massive wall of fire, casting several incantations into it.

A sharp hissing sound.

The wall of fire surged upward, transforming into a thick cloud of flame that dyed half the sky red, rolling forward like a tidal wave.

From the opposite black mist came a piercing screech; the black mist also surged upward and collided with the advancing fire cloud.

Boom!

The black and red fire clouds exploded apart, like boiling oil meeting water—black and red intertwined, then shattered and vanished.

From the remaining black mist burst forth a colossal creature: a monstrous rat, four zhang in length.

Its entire body was covered in emerald-green hard bristles, its mouth filled with jet-black fangs, its eyes blood-red as fresh blood, its belly bearing six limbs, and its back sprouting a pair of meat-red bat wings.

More striking still, atop the monstrous rat stood a tall, shadowy figure clad in a black robe, wearing a gray conical hat, carrying a massive blade on his back, and beside his feet, resting on the beast's back, lay a white coffin.

Wang Yu saw this and without hesitation pressed his incantation.

The three small mirrors circling him, amid thunderous roars, reshaped into floating cannon forms, their three long barrels simultaneously aimed at the tall figure atop the beast.

This attack form, once too draining of his Qi for him, now allowed full power after his Foundation Establishment.

At nearly the same moment, the tall demonic cultivator atop the giant rat raised one hand, and a jet-black iron shield transformed mid-air into a massive shield, stretching over a zhang wide, blocking his front.

A loud hissing erupted.

The three "floating cannons," amid thunderous roars, trembled slightly, their muzzles simultaneously spewing three beams of golden light—each precisely converging into a single golden thread that vanished in an instant through the void.

A muffled "puff!"—a streak of golden light flashed across the iron shield's surface, then pierced straight through.

The tall demonic cultivator clearly hadn't anticipated this—he roared in fury, his body erupting in a layer of green mist, then staggered backward two steps before regaining his stance.

Wang Yu's eyes glinted sharply—he clearly saw a small, thumb-thick charred hole on the tall cultivator's chest, yet not a single drop of blood emerged.

"Your artifact's interesting. If not for my supreme protective secret technique, others might've been crippled by a single strike. What else do you have? Bring it on!"

The tall demonic cultivator glanced at the hole in his chest, then burst into wild laughter, and with a swift motion, snatched the massive blade from his back.

Wang Yu frowned slightly.

The opponent's defense seemed astonishingly strong—likely difficult to handle—but he still needed to test him.

Thinking this, he shook his sleeve and flung out a silver small seal. After channeling his incantation, it expanded to the size of a pavilion, its surface swirling with thirty-six shimmering silver spirit-inscription shadows, descending with terrifying force directly onto the beast and its rider.

"Second-rank mid-grade artifact"

The tall demonic cultivator, once composed, gasped at the silver giant seal's might and without hesitation swung his massive blade upward in rapid slashes.

A vast expanse of grayish sword shadows surged forth, colliding with the underside of the silver seal, producing a series of muffled thuds.

The silver seal merely flickered faintly; the gray sword shadows shattered inch by inch and collapsed into nothing.

The tall demonic cultivator pointed one finger, and twenty silver spirit-inscription shadows surfaced on the black iron shield, forming a black curtain that surged upward to meet the descending seal.

Amid thunderous roars, black and silver light interwove and flashed—the seal's descent slowed, temporarily halted by the black curtain mid-air.

Wang Yu narrowed his eyes.

The iron shield was also a second-rank artifact, but clearly far inferior in quality to the Míshān Seal.

For ordinary cultivators in the Immortal Realm, the quality of a second-rank artifact was generally judged by the number of inscriptions.

The more inscriptions engraved on an artifact, the rarer its materials, and typically, the more inscriptions, the greater its power.

Thus, most cultivators commonly referred to artifacts with fewer than twenty-four inscriptions as second-rank low-grade.

Artifacts with twenty-four to forty-eight inscriptions were called second-rank mid-grade.

Artifacts with forty-eight to seventy-two inscriptions were called second-rank high-grade.

Artifacts with over seventy-two inscriptions were exceedingly difficult to forge, their power approaching third-rank levels, and thus termed second-rank supreme.

Of course, this classification wasn't absolute—but for ordinary cultivators, it was sufficient to easily distinguish the quality of a second-rank artifact.

The opposing iron shield was merely a second-rank low-grade artifact; facing the mid-grade Míshān Seal, it was naturally at a severe disadvantage.

Wang Yu briefly scanned his dantian with his spiritual sense and discovered that seven drops of liquid Qi stored there had already consumed one.

This sent a chill through him!

Since advancing to Foundation Establishment, though his cultivation method and artifacts had grown vastly stronger, his Qi consumption had also increased dramatically.

His Qi foundation was still somewhat weak—he immediately resolved to end this swiftly, raised one hand, and pointed remotely at the distant giant seal.

One drop of liquid Qi in his dantian spun rapidly, instantly transforming into a torrent of spiritual power, surging remotely into the distant seal.

The silver giant seal hummed loudly; its silver inscription shadows churned violently, and the seal's volume swelled another full circle, unleashing a crushing force that slammed downward with renewed might.

A cracking sound—the black light curtain shattered instantly, collapsing back into the iron shield, which plummeted downward.

The giant silver seal seized the moment, vanished in a flash, and smashed directly onto the tall demonic cultivator's skull.

A muffled thud!

The upper half of the tall demonic cultivator's body exploded like buried explosives, spraying blood and flesh everywhere.

The remaining lower half swayed, then tumbled backward off the giant rat's back.

Wang Yu stared, stunned.

But at nearly the same instant, the giant rat hissed sharply—its meat-red bat wings ignited with crimson flames, then beat violently.

Two torrents of searing flame surged forth, engulfing the entire rat.

Boom!

The flames exploded outward from within—the monstrous rat's colossal body vanished without a trace in the firelight.

No!

Wang Yu's pupils contracted—he flipped his hand without hesitation, and a jet-black flying dagger appeared between his fingers.

Puff!

The next instant, his body's fire shield collapsed without warning, dissolving into a vast wave of flame that rolled forward of its own accord.

Amid the churning flames, the giant rat shot out with a "whoosh!", spreading its wings and appearing directly within the firelight, its mouth wide open, a large cluster of white light flashing—about to blast something at Wang Yu at point-blank range.

At nearly the same moment, the coffin atop the giant rat exploded open with a bang, its lid shooting skyward.

A short figure leapt silently from the coffin, one hand flinging out a vast emerald-green silk net aimed straight at Wang Yu's head, while the other sleeve flicked—a jet-black iron spike shot forth like lightning, piercing straight for Wang Yu's face.