Chapter 381: Opportunity Comes Only Once

I was worried something would happen to the Copper Coin Person; he strode ahead, and I followed closely, holding the Soul-guiding Lamp.

Majestic Dragon Qi poured out from the golden copper coin's body, obviously purer and thicker than when it burst from the human-skin doll.

I know this is not only because that Dragon Qi had been purified in the Longling of the Linghai Dragon Clan, but also due to Liu Junyan's cultivation support.

Liu Junyan originally wanted to raise him better, then receive enlightenment from the Empty Silence Abbott.

Liu Junyan considered each step very carefully; he wanted to proceed steadily.

Yet he never expected to fail at this critical moment.

This adventure, if the Copper Coin Person is unharmed, will be a trial for him.

If something goes wrong…

I dare not think about it, nor dare to be lax.

Within the Copper Coin Person's mana protective circle, I suffered no attacks all along; everything went smoothly to an alarming degree.

As the gorge drew nearer, the eyes on the hill kept flickering, staring fixedly at us.

At that moment, the ghostly face on the Soul-guiding Lamp's chamber suddenly became agitated, grimacing and jumping wildly on the chamber surface.

This kind of agitation had never happened before, alerting me sharply that something was wrong.

I instinctively glanced at the Copper Coin Person again.

My gaze traveled from the top of his head down his back.

When my gaze fell on his ankle, my foot slipped and my breath stopped in that instant… the Copper Coin Person's ankle had at some point been covered with fine white scales.

Those white scales spread like vines climbing a tree, visibly proliferating nonstop upward, and in a breath they had wrapped around his lower leg.

The Copper Coin Person seemed unaware, still striding forward.

But his steps were obviously much slower than before, and the surrounding bird flocks kept retreating as we advanced, then gradually closing in from the outskirts.

If one were to look down on the entire Pearl Plate River from above at this moment, they would surely be shocked by the sight.

Thousands of birds formed a circle, which slowly shifted forward together with the two people at its center…

My palm holding the Soul-guiding Lamp was drenched in sweat; my other hand instinctively touched the Cangwu Dark Seal on my body.

If the Copper Coin Person shows any sign of discomfort, I will immediately activate the Cangwu Dark Seal.

The white scales crawled from ankle to calf, then to the waist, and just as they seemed about to reach his chest, the Copper Coin Person suddenly stopped.

At that moment we stood before the first gorge, only ten meters from the hill.

At that instant I had already gripped the Cangwu Dark Seal in my hand.

The Copper Coin Person, however, turned his head and glanced at me.

That glance was full of implication.

I don't know why, but just a silent exchange of looks made me instantly understand his meaning: Get ready, I'm about to unleash!

The next moment, a resonant roar burst from the Copper Coin Person's body—that was a dragon's roar!

I personally watched that Dragon Qi within him press down from above with great force.

The white scales on the Copper Coin Person's body, under the impact of the Dragon Qi, shot off in all directions like heavenly maidens scattering flowers!

The change came too fast; the opponent obviously hadn't anticipated it.

The powerful Dragon Qi not only blasted away large flocks of birds; I watched as his Dragon Qi spread from his feet across the ground like a spiderweb.

It spread not only outward but also downward into the earth beneath his feet.

Just now I felt that obscure force lurking underground, which had been converging on the Copper Coin Person, recede like a tide.

I was astonished in my heart—had the Copper Coin Person become this strong?

Yet when he unleashed such tremendous power, I clearly saw golden scales flashing inside his copper-coin body!

Two golden scales were firmly embedded in the Copper Coin Person's body… Liu Junyan had actually used her own two golden scales to bolster his mana.

It was supposed to be me leading the way, opening a path for them.

But I ended up doing nothing; Liu Junyan had already arranged everything!

However, this astonishment lasted only a blink; I didn't pause, and as the Copper Coin Person repelled the subterranean force while shedding the white scales, I had already rushed toward the hill!

I cannot let down all that Liu Junyan has done for me; the Copper Coin Person has fulfilled his role, the opportunity comes only once and flees instantly—I must seize it firmly.

After suffering a heavy blow, the bird flock went mad and surged back, part charging at me, part at the Copper Coin Person.

At the same time, above our heads a white flood-dragon tail swept past, raising a gust of yin wind; Liu Junyan suddenly appeared, swept away a large swath of birds with a tail flick, then turned and swung her long arm, causing the Copper Coin Person to vanish from everyone's sight.

Liu Junyan's hand now held an additional golden copper coin.

The formation-array power surging out from the center of Wufu Town just reached beneath my feet.

At the moment the formation-array power activated by Wang Pan and Officer Yun collided with the Luan Formation, the earth shook and mountains trembled.

Inside the gorge, blood mist roiled, and eerie green ghost flames kept jumping within it; that bizarre scene actually had a bloodthirsty beauty.

It was precisely this impact; amidst the turmoil of the Luan Formation, I keenly sensed a powerful attraction from the abyss rushing toward me.

That was a spirit bone!

Amid the spreading blood mist, aside from those pairs of eyes, I could no longer see the bird flock or Liu Junyan.

I could no longer distinguish whether the ground was the bottom of the Pearl Plate River or the gorge.

I could only rely on my perception, running toward the direction from which that attraction came.

Just as I successfully leapt over a gorge and my feet had just touched the ground, something rose up in the blood mist ahead.

It was that hill!

It… actually stood up!

As it moved, the eyes on the hill's surface rose with it; from my current viewpoint, it was clearly a giant beast covered in many pairs of eyes!

The beast stood over two meters tall, with thick limbs, lurking in the blood mist, formidable even without anger.

And now, having risen, it stared at me with a tiger's gaze.

It clearly hadn't moved, yet I felt the distance between it and me continually shrinking…… No, it moved!

The land beneath my feet was like the open mouth of a giant beast, and I now stood on the tongue inside that mouth.

The tongue stretched and contracted, and my body uncontrollably lunged toward the giant beast's throat!

In the flash of lightning and sparks, I summoned four ghost faces.

The four ghost faces had long been straining; upon receiving the command, they had already rushed into the giant beast's body.

My motion did not stop; I followed the ghost faces and charged inside as well.

Because I had just sensed it, the spirit bone lay ahead.

But after only a few steps, I halted.

The sight before me once again shocked me.

Here, this should be the 'stomach' of the Taotie ferocious beast.

To call it a stomach would be inaccurate; it is actually the center of the formation array of the Taotie ferocious formation.

Within this formation array, what I saw were beating, bloody hearts!

Those tiny, tender hearts, one next to another, hung on the inner side of that huge stomach sac, expanding and contracting with the sac's movement…… as if still breathing……