The Black Rain Sovereign and the monk naturally had no intention of letting this spirit escape so easily!
The old man immediately channeled his magic treasure with a sudden burst of power. The massive bell swayed, and a wave of silver sound swept downward with overwhelming force.
The monk flipped his palm, and a flash of spiritual light revealed a pristine, jade-white formation disc in his hand. After he tapped it rapidly with his fingers, a thunderous rumble echoed around the pit. Countless glowing formations emerged, while wave after wave of restrictive barriers surged forth like a raging tide, instantly interweaving into a great net that blocked the spirit's path of retreat.
But that was not all. From above the restrictions came the cry of phoenixes. Three clusters of crimson flame flickered, and three scarlet firebirds materialized without hesitation. They opened their beaks toward the sky, and three pillars of crimson fire rolled forth, instantly transforming into a sea of flames that descended upon the stone spirit.
As for the spirit's flank, that crystalline scorpion of deep azure hue materialized through the void in eerie silence. Its blue hooked tail flicked, and a beam of azure poisonous light shot forth without a sound.
The Yellow Grain Stone Spirit was plunged into crisis once more in the blink of an eye!
Yet this seemed to have thoroughly enraged the spirit. A surge of golden light rippled across its body surface, and it let out a strange shriek. Its third blood-red eye on its forehead snapped wide open, and a sphere of blinding white light emerged — like a blazing sun, so dazzling and radiant that one could not look upon it directly!
The Black Rain Sovereign and the monk, both in the midst of casting their attacks upon the stone spirit, instinctively shut their eyes at the sight. But when they opened them again moments later, their faces had changed drastically.
The Black Rain Sovereign found himself standing in a vast sea of murky yellow fire. Above, below, left and right — sky and earth alike were engulfed in rolling flames. And though these flames appeared to blaze fiercely, they gave the old man a bizarre sensation of bone-piercing cold.
"Yellow Springs Earthfire! No — this is an illusion!"
The Black Rain Sovereign's expression shifted, and the words slipped from his mouth before he could stop himself. But he was no ordinary cultivator, and he realized what had happened almost at once. Still, his face looked no better for it.
Though he had heard before departing that the Yellow Grain Stone Spirit possessed extraordinary natural talent in illusion arts — capable of trapping even Deity Transformation cultivators — he had never imagined they could be this domineering. It had plunged him into the illusion without the slightest warning.
And what it had conjured was none other than the most troublesome illusion of all: the Yellow Springs Earthfire!
This spirit had lived amid the earthfire for untold tens of thousands of years, and its mastery of such illusions had long since reached perfection. Finding a gap in the illusion to break free would be no easy task. To escape this illusion quickly, brute force would be the only option.
The old man conjured several small black shields to guard his body while his thoughts raced grimly on the other side.
The monk, upon opening his eyes, found himself in a grey, misty void. The Black Rain Sovereign and all the spirit beasts had vanished without a trace. Only a colossal figure, over a thousand zhang tall, hovered several hundred zhang before him.
The enormous creature was likewise suffused with golden light and bore the shape of a toad. But running from its skull down its back was a row of seven golden eyes, all fixed upon the monk with a gaze devoid of any emotion. The aura radiating from its massive body was utterly terrifying, so oppressive it felt as though one might suffocate.
"The Seven-Eyed Golden Toad," the monk murmured, his face draining of color.
After chanting a Buddhist invocation, however, an expression of resolve returned to his face. He reached out with both hands into the void, and with a flash of spiritual light, a golden dragon-headed khakkhara and a silver alms bowl materialized before him.
Not only did the old man and the monk fall motionless in the void, but the three firebirds also let out a startled cry, ceased spewing flames, and began flapping their wings in panicked frenzy — their eyes filled with terror. They, too, had been pulled into the illusion.
Only that crystal scorpion of azure hue — some manner of spirit insect whose nature remained unknown — showed no effect whatsoever from the white light of the stone spirit's third eye. It continued firing beams of blue radiance from its tail hook relentlessly.
But without the others to support it, the Yellow Grain Stone Spirit, having fended off the initial onslaught with its own demonic flames, easily dodged the incoming blue beams one by one. It shot a vicious glare at the scorpion, then suddenly transformed into a ball of golden light and dove straight toward the restrictions below.
The spirit was no fool — it knew this was no time to tangle with these opponents. Fleeing back underground as quickly as possible was by far the safest course.
But before it could crash through the restrictions, it opened its mouth and spat out a continuous stream of head-sized yellow light spheres.
These spheres vanished in a flash, slamming into one section of the restrictions with tremendous force.
A series of explosive booms rang out as dazzling bursts of yellow light detonated. That section of the restrictions trembled violently and began to collapse.
The stone spirit was overjoyed. It opened its mouth again and spat out another volley of over a dozen spheres, intending to shatter the restrictions entirely.
But at that very moment, a figure flickered into being above the restrictions. A mass of azure-green radiance materialized silently, swayed once, and instantly took the form of a young man in green robes.
The young man looked up at the Yellow Grain Stone Spirit and flashed a grin, revealing a row of white teeth. Then he gave a flick of his sleeve, and a silver ruler shot forth from within. In a blur, it multiplied into a dense forest of ruler-shaped shadows. With a single upward strike, it cleaved every last light sphere to pieces.
This was none other than Han Li, who had been concealing himself up until now.
The illusion the Yellow Grain Stone Spirit had released had focused its primary target on the Black Rain Sovereign and the monk. Though Han Li, at a greater distance, had been affected to a minor degree, his formidable spiritual sense had allowed him to break free from the illusion with ease. A single teleport had brought him to the airspace above the restrictions in an instant.
The stone spirit, on the verge of shattering the restrictions and returning underground, only to be blocked by a new enemy — one could well imagine the fury it felt.
A wet hiss erupted from its body!
Yellow demonic flames surged from its surface in rolling waves, rising higher and higher before sweeping toward Han Li with overwhelming menace.