(Heh! I watched the Olympics yesterday, so I released one fewer chapter, but it's all noted down and I'll make it up to everyone. This chapter is six thousand words long — I'm not sure how it turned out, so give it a try!)
The girl's words clearly caught the Hidden Moon Sect disciples off guard. Based on their experience over the past two days, once their grandmaster had trapped a top-tier demon beast, it would need at least half a shichen to break free from the ring treasure's restrictions. How had this beast broken loose so quickly?
Though their minds were filled with doubt, none of them dared ignore the girl's warning. They immediately raised their vigilance to the utmost, and the red and blue light-beams they unleashed grew even more ferocious. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen bloody holes appeared on the ink jiao's body, its crimson blood staining a large swath of the swamp below.
This only enraged the beast further. It opened its mouth, and a series of shrill, piercing shrieks echoed ceaselessly, shaking the entire underground world and making every person present feel dizzy and disoriented.
*Tear!* A strange ripping sound rang out through the air. By the time everyone recovered their senses and looked carefully, their faces had turned ashen.
The ring treasure still hung motionless in midair, but the ink jiao that had been trapped inside was gone without a trace — only a tattered, shredded black-scaled skin remained, draped over the ring and swaying back and forth. The beast had shed its skin and escaped!
Not only were the Hidden Moon Sect disciples astonished, but even the young girl was shocked when she saw this!
Her earlier shout warning her disciples to be careful had not been because she had anticipated the ink jiao's shedding.
Rather, the ink jiao's struggles had grown too powerful, and her magical power was simply insufficient to keep it restrained any longer. The beast must have sensed the weakening of the Vermilion Bird Ring's restrictions as well — so why would it resort to such a draining move? Unless…!
A terrible thought flashed through the girl's mind, and her face went chalk-white. She frantically searched for the ink jiao, desperate to confirm her worst suspicion!
"There!"
A sharp-eyed Hidden Moon Sect disciple was the first to spot the beast gliding along the ceiling of the underground chamber. It looked completely transformed — utterly different from before.
Its jet-black body had turned snow-white and scaleless. Its length had grown from three or four zhang to five or six, and it was more than a ring thicker. The wounds it had sustained had faded to faint scars, so light they were almost invisible. Most astonishing of all, a black horn roughly an inch long had sprouted from its triangular snake-head, gleaming with a faint luster, and a pair of razor-sharp white claws had appeared on its belly. The creature had evolved from a snake into a true jiao — identical in form to the legendary flood dragons!
When the Hidden Moon Sect disciples saw the ink jiao's new form, they were naturally terrified. But before they could act, the girl standing at the front, her face a grim shade of steel, issued an order that left them all dumbfounded.
"Everyone, pull back immediately! The ink jiao has evolved to the second stage — its strength now rivals that of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator! We don't stand a chance even combined. Flee this place at once — I can still hold it off for a short while."
After delivering these solemn words, she waved her hand, summoning the Vermilion Bird Ring back in front of her and assuming a purely defensive stance.
The male and female disciples behind her hesitated. True, the so-called ink jiao had shed a layer of skin and changed dramatically in appearance, but they had just dealt it serious wounds. It was hard to believe that in the blink of an eye its strength could have made such an astronomical leap.
But that brief moment of hesitation was enough to doom some of them to lifelong regret! The white ink jiao suddenly surged forward with lightning speed, arriving above the Hidden Moon Sect group. It opened its massive jaws, and a ceaseless torrent of purple liquid poured forth.
"Dodge it! Don't let it touch you!"
The girl shouted urgently, anxiety flashing across her face. The Vermilion Bird Ring instantly expanded several times its original size, flying forward to block most of the purple deluge.
Some of the quicker-witted disciples immediately wheeled around and dove back into the bluestone tunnel they had come through, while others rushed forward a few steps to take shelter within the ring's protective area. But the remaining five or six disciples, trusting in the powerful magical implements they carried, not only failed to dodge but instead released one or two gleaming objects to shield their heads — apparently planning to take the hit head-on!
"Fools!"
Seeing that some of her disciples had ignored her warning, a flash of green light crossed the girl's face, revealing her anger. But she was limited by her magical power and could not extend the treasure's protective range any further. She could only leave them to their fate!
Sure enough, what happened next proved her words true. The purple liquid that had slipped past the ring crashed down upon those disciples with terrifying force. Their magical implements — which were clearly no ordinary items — flickered a few times, trailed wisps of green smoke, and then dissolved completely in the onslaught.
The five or six Hidden Moon Sect disciples had time for nothing more than a single cry of alarm before they vanished without a trace beneath the flood of purple liquid. All that remained where they had stood was a pit several zhang deep, carved out by the dissolving fluid, leaving the surviving disciples with faces as white as sheets.
Seeing its targets destroyed, the ink jiao's violent fury subsided somewhat. It finally closed its mouth and stopped spitting, turning its cold, predatory gaze upon the girl. It seemed to understand clearly that this grandmaster of the Hidden Moon Sect was its true adversary.
"What are you all standing there for? Get out now! This beast just shed its skin to evolve — its venom should be nearly spent, and it won't be spitting so freely again!" The girl ignored the ink jiao's menacing stare and instead addressed her disciples with an icy expression and a cold voice.
Then she muttered bitterly to herself: "It's nothing but a little snake that just entered the second stage, and it dares to act so brazenly in front of me? If I had recovered my full power, I'd have captured it long ago and put it to guarding my cave abode!"
Setting aside the girl's frustrated expression, the other Hidden Moon Sect disciples — having witnessed the horrific fate of their companions — dared not linger a moment longer. With a great commotion, they all obediently retreated into the tunnel and began running outward at full speed.
Before long, the sounds of the beast's roars, the girl's sharp commands, and the thunderous crashes of battle echoed from behind them. The disciples scrambled up the stone steps in a terrified huddle, hearts pounding.
Their grandmaster had made it clear — she could only hold off the beast for a short while. If they delayed and the ink jiao caught up to them, one splash each of that terrifying purple liquid in this narrow tunnel, with nowhere to dodge — they would die for nothing!
At that moment, the girl was drenched in perspiration, flying back and forth through the air as she engaged the ink jiao in a running battle. She wielded the Vermilion Bird Ring with consummate skill, taunting the beast into furious roars, yet it could not lay a finger on her nimble form.
The girl was clearly not fighting at full strength. With one hand she controlled the Vermilion Bird Ring, while the other clutched a red fire spirit stone, constantly absorbing its spiritual energy in an attempt to restore her magical power.
After a while, she judged the time was about right. She tucked away the fire spirit stone and produced a brilliant golden talisman.
Without a word, while the ink jiao's attention was fully occupied by the Vermilion Bird Ring, she raised her hand and sent the talisman flying. It transformed into a streak of golden light shooting toward the beast. Just before reaching its body, the golden light split into countless fine golden threads that instantly wrapped around the creature in a tight binding, leaving it completely immobilized. The beast let out another series of enraged roars.
A mocking glint flashed through the girl's eyes. Then she cast a lingering, reluctant glance at the golden chest floating within the white jade pavilion before gritting her teeth and diving toward the tunnel entrance. She knew full well that this mid-grade Golden Thread Talisman would not hold the beast for long, and she needed to leave as soon as possible. As for the treasure in the golden chest — she would have to find another way to obtain it later!
The girl landed and raised her foot to step into the bluestone tunnel, but from within came a deafening peal of thunder. The sound rolled toward her from the distance, growing louder and louder, filling her with uncertainty. Her elegant foot hovered, unable to set down upon the tunnel's surface.
A blinding burst of azure divine light suddenly appeared inside the tunnel, surging down its length like a violent tide. Wherever it passed, the bluestone walls seemed to come alive, desperately compressing inward. In the blink of an eye, the tunnel — once several zhang high — sealed completely without leaving a single crack. The girl stumbled back several steps in shock, crying out:
"Minor Five Elements Xumi Restriction!"
Her face turned deathly pale as she stared at the vanished tunnel entrance. The composed confidence she had maintained all along evaporated in an instant.
Behind the girl, the golden threads binding the ink jiao began snapping one by one. The beast was about to break free at any moment. When the girl recovered her wits and turned to see this, her heart sank as though plummeting into an endless abyss.
In the stone hall outside the tunnel, roughly ten Hidden Moon Sect disciples were all staring fixedly at a woman in white. She was none other than the haughty young woman who had claimed to be one of the "Hidden Moon Twin Beauties" — but now her face was drained of color, her expression one of complete bewilderment.
"Junior Sister Zhao, what exactly did you just do? How is it that after you threw that strange talisman in, the tunnel entrance vanished? Were you trying to murder Grandmaster Nangong?" The male and female Hidden Moon Sect disciples pressed her with panicked, sharp-edged questions.
This was no laughing matter! If their grandmaster truly could not get out because of this, they were finished! Upon returning, the lightest punishment would be the complete severance of their cultivation and expulsion from the sect; the worst, the loss of their lives and a death by body dissolution. They all understood perfectly well what the loss of a Core Formation cultivator meant for a sect — which was exactly why their panic was so intense.