Volume Five: Emerging Brilliance - Chapter Seventeen: Protracted Battle

Although retreating rapidly, he was actively plotting a countermeasure in his mind. The previous encounter had also relied on array formation techniques. Judging from Yuan Mu's current disheveled appearance, it was evident that even Yuan Mu was no match for this nine-headed demonic flood dragon. It seemed that setting up the array once again was the only hope to eliminate the beast.

Turning his head, he roared at Yuan Mu, "Lure it around while I set up the array!"

Immortal Yuan Mu felt a sudden warmth in his heart. He had not misjudged his man; this kid was certainly not one to cower in fear for his own life. He hurriedly nodded and drew the nine-headed demonic flood dragon away in another direction.

Seeing the nine-headed demonic flood dragon give chase to Yuan Mu, Li Chengzhu heaved a sigh of relief. He quickly retrieved high-grade Heavenly Mystery Stones from his spatial ring, then tucked the little creature safely into the Blood-Jade Ring. The upcoming battle promised to be intense, and even cradled in his arms, absolute safety for the small creature could not be guaranteed. Tucking it into the Blood-Jade Ring was the more prudent choice.

This time, Li Chengzhu decided to repeat his past strategy and deploy the Immortal-Binding and Demon-Subduing Array.

Li Chengzhu's current cultivation level was no longer what it used to be. Although the array he could set up now might not exert overwhelming power, it would at least serve well for harassment.

To guard against insufficient array potency, the magnate Li doubled the quantity of Heavenly Mystery Stones at every designated point of the formation. He had no idea whether doubling the stones would double the power, but for now, he could only pray for a miracle.

The nine-headed demonic flood dragon possessed a massive physique, far surpassing the Qilin immortal beast he had faced before. Consequently, the battlefield would inevitably encompass a vast area once the clash erupted. Li Chengzhu was forced to expand the spatial intervals between the Heavenly Mystery Stones to the maximum distance permitted by the geomantic layout. Though this would inherently diminish the array's absolute power, he had no other choice under the circumstances, especially with Immortal Yuan Mu still being chased wildly across the landscape by the beast.

While laying down the array, Li Chengzhu maintained spiritual communication with Yuan Mu to monitor the situation on his end at all times. To their mutual relief, although the nine-headed demonic flood dragon boasted top-tier attack speed and mobility, Yuan Mu was, after all, at the late stage of the Immortal realm. By focusing solely on evasion, the beast could not do much to him, save for grazing him occasionally with the shockwaves of its immensely powerful spiritual energy projectiles, which caused no serious harm.

As soon as the Immortal-Binding and Demon-Subduing Array was completely laid out, Li Chengzhu notified Yuan Mu via divine sense. Immediately afterward, he felt the ground slowly tremble, and a series of heavy thuds approached rapidly from the distance.

Within moments, a flash crossed his vision. Immortal Yuan Mu steered his flying sword and darted desperately in front of Li Chengzhu, bellowing, "Activate the array!"

Being exceptionally cunning, Li Chengzhu quickly stepped aside to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, simultaneously using his Amethyst Bracelet to conceal his spiritual pressure fluctuations. The instant the nine-headed demonic flood dragon entered the array, he swiftly maneuvered hand seals to trigger the Immortal-Binding and Demon-Subduing Array.

The moment this reinforced version of the Immortal-Binding and Demon-Subduing Array activated, the nine-headed demonic flood dragon, right in the midst of its aggressive pursuit, abruptly felt a crushing weight press down upon its entire body. It was as if its physical mass had multiplied out of thin air, dragging down its mobility significantly.

Having been chased relentlessly up to this point, Immortal Yuan Mu had bottled up a bellyful of frustration with nowhere to vent. Seeing the beast's momentum suddenly stall, he instantly realized that Li Chengzhu had activated the array. Joy surged within him, sweeping away his hesitation and replacing it with soaring bravado. Wheeling around to dodge a flying ice pellet, he unleashed his hula hoop and the Rainbow-Splitting Cable simultaneously.

An array formation required a focal point known as the eye of the array; if the eye were destroyed, the entire formation would collapse utterly. Arrays were categorized into various types. While offensive arrays often launched indiscriminate attacks—meaning anyone entering would become a target—others were selective. For instance, the Immortal-Binding and Demon-Subduing Array that Li Chengzhu had set up concentrated the full might of the formation exclusively onto the nine-headed demonic flood dragon.

The destructive power of the nine-headed demonic flood dragon was immense, and its area of effect was far too wide. To prevent any mishaps, Li Chengzhu deliberately positioned himself as the eye of the array right inside the formation. Doing so served two purposes: first, it prevented the beast from destroying the array's core; second, Li Chengzhu's personal spiritual energy reserves vastly exceeded those of the high-grade Heavenly Mystery Stones, allowing him to amplify the array's power considerably. At the same time, he could leverage the array's might to counter the flood dragon and maintain tighter control over the formation. This clever strategy of killing three birds with one stone provided tremendous assistance to Immortal Yuan Mu, who was locked in a fierce battle.

Suppressed by the Immortal-Binding and Demon-Subduing Array, the nine-headed demonic flood dragon lost nearly three-tenths of its overall power, and its movement speed dropped below that of Yuan Mu.

While remotely steering the hula hoop to fiercely batter the beast's nine massive heads, Yuan Mu controlled the Rainbow-Splitting Cable to bind its arrogantly thrashing giant claws.

Though small in size, the hula hoop packed a formidable punch, pounding against the flood dragon's heads with a resonant din akin to a bronze hammer striking a gong. Yuan Mu was secretly astonished; he had long heard of the legendary reputation of the nine-headed demonic flood dragon, yet he never expected its defensive capability inside the array to remain so terrifyingly high. Even after taking dozens of direct strikes from the hula hoop, not a single scratch appeared on its hide.

While the Rainbow-Splitting Cable looked imposing as it tightly bound the beast's two massive claws and immobilized them, Yuan Mu harbored bitter knowledge of his own plight. The resistance exerted by the flood dragon was so immense that he had to divert half of his focus and rely on the full might of a Tier 4 immortal artifact just to keep those two claws restrained.

Consequently, Yuan Mu could spare only a fraction of his attention to assault the beast with his own spells. Yet every spell he hurled against the creature vanished like a stone sinking into the sea, failing to stir even the slightest ripple.

This adversary was simply too powerful. After fighting for a long time, aside from exhausting himself to the brink of collapse without leaving a single scar, Yuan Mu was consumed by gloom. Dodging the flood dragon's onslaught, he roared at the top of his lungs, "Use that white rod! Fuck its ancestors, this bastard's defense is too freakishly tough!"

Yuan Mu's voice drifted back and forth as he dashed around, yet Li Chengzhu, standing firmly at the eye of the array and struggling to suppress the flood dragon, heard every word with crystal clarity.

Yuan Mu had previously witnessed the terrifying might of the white rod. Although he did not understand what manner of item it truly was, an artifact that had enabled Li Chengzhu—a cultivator merely in the late stage of Spirit Severing—to slay an immortal could hardly be ordinary junk. In his mind, Yuan Mu had already mentally categorized it as an existence surpassing a Tier 9 immortal artifact. Yet was such a treasure something that could be casually exposed? Setting aside the fact that he harbored no greedy motives and merely wished to repair Yuan Sen's primordial spirit, the sheer temptation of an artifact surpassing Tier 9 immortal artifacts was enough to draw greedy interlopers from all directions.

Therefore, during this period, although Li Chengzhu had not explicitly sworn him to secrecy, Yuan Mu had kept his mouth tightly shut and even secretly warned his own brother never to breathe a word of it. Not for any other reason, but simply because, following that previous battle, Li Chengzhu had generously gifted him the hula hoop and a set of immortal armor.

Yet at this moment, Yuan Mu was compelled to make the request. With his own strength incapable of even breaching the beast's defense, continuing to fight blindly was entirely futile.

Hearing Yuan Mu's plea, Li Chengzhu offered a bitter inward smile. He wasn't even sure if the God-Slaying Bow could still be utilized, let alone possessing any white rod. Just at that moment, the God-Slaying Bow totem imprinted near his arm throbbed violently. A surge of elation washed over him, and with a casual wave of his hand, he summoned the God-Slaying Bow out.

Minus one piece of Wood Essence, the God-Slaying Bow bore no significant physical alterations. Li Chengzhu suddenly recalled that back when he lacked the Wood Essence, he had used the bow to fire ordinary flying swords as projectile weapons against the Qilin immortal beast.

Since he still possessed two pieces of Wood Essence right now, why wouldn't it work?

At this realization, the magnate Li mentally cursed himself for a fool. Dammit, he had grown too accustomed to utilizing spiritual energy arrows and had fallen back into a rut of rigid thinking.

Weighing the God-Slaying Bow in his palm, he realized he hadn't tested it since employing it to save Gu Linglong. He had harboring a lingering subconscious notion that it might be unreliable, only to discover that it was merely his own psychological illusion.

Silently circulating his spiritual energy, he channeled it into the bow frame, attempting to rouse the dormant energy within the Wood Essence. To Li Chengzhu's disappointment, however, despite exerting himself for a long time, the Wood Essence refused to release the slightest trace of spiritual radiance.

Li Chengzhu sighed softly; as expected, it was best not to pin overly high hopes on anything. Whether it was due to the missing piece of Wood Essence or because the remaining two pieces had depleted their stored energy, the glowing energy arrows that used to manifest effortlessly failed to materialize this time.

In that momentary lapse of concentration, Yuan Mu nearly suffered a catastrophic setback as the Immortal-Binding and Demon-Subduing Array slackened slightly, allowing the nine-headed demonic flood dragon to break free. It was akin to a dragon plunging back into the deep sea or a tiger returning to the mountain forests; the creature unleashed a barrage of indiscriminate spiritual energy projectiles from its nine heads, while its bound claws jerked violently, snapping the Rainbow-Splitting Cable apart.

Horrified, Yuan Mu executed a spatial teleportation to dodge out of the path of an incoming energy projectile, bellowing at the top of his lungs, "The array!"

Startled, Li Chengzhu snapped back to reality, belatedly remembering that he was serving as the eye of the array and had momentarily allowed his focus to slip. He hurriedly re-engaged the formation, bringing a visible sense of relief back to Yuan Mu, though the latter's standing hair starkly highlighted how disheveled he looked.

Reaching up, Li Chengzhu snatched the Meteor Sword hovering above his crown and nocked it onto the string of the God-Slaying Bow, shouting back, "Use the Rainbow-Splitting Cable to bind one of its heads!"

Since spiritual arrows were unavailable, an immortal sword would have to serve in their stead. Though its efficacy remained untested, the Meteor Sword was nonetheless an immortal artifact, meaning its destructive output shouldn't fall too short.

Yuan Mu's Rainbow-Splitting Cable shot out once more. Its original target had been the flailing claws, but upon hearing Li Chengzhu's shout, Yuan Mu flicked his wrist, redirecting the cable to lash directly around one of the serpentine heads.

That particular head had its jaws wide open, gathering spiritual energy for another blast. Entangled by the Rainbow-Splitting Cable and clamped shut by its own teeth, the burgeoning energy pellet vanished instantly without a trace. Simultaneously, a tremendous pulling force arrested the head, locking it rigidly in place so it could no longer budge.

Yuan Mu had staked everything on this gamble, pinning all his hopes squarely on Li Chengzhu. Abandoning the hula hoop for the moment, he poured his absolute concentration into the Rainbow-Splitting Cable, pushing his cultivation at the late stage of the Immortal realm to its absolute limit to secure an opportunity for Li Chengzhu to slay the beast.

This was less an act of blind faith in Li Chengzhu and more an abiding trust in the terrifying white rod whose power he had previously witnessed—an artifact that undoubtedly stood as the most formidable immortal implement Yuan Mu had ever laid eyes upon.