Chapter 146 The Hairpin (Part 12) Breaking the Formation
The taste of blood filled my mouth.
Song Qiling's vision blurred and she staggered.
The smoke stung my eyes, and the heat distorted the air.
In the center of the courtyard, a huge shadow rolled endlessly among the pillars of fire, its tentacles crashing down, causing the earth to tremble.
Pebbles flew like raindrops, and a few occasionally grazed my cheeks, their sharp edges cutting my skin and causing a burning pain.
However, compared to the pain of losing an arm, it's nothing.
She was panting heavily, her gaze sweeping over the terrifying form of the Tai Sui before finally settling on an inconspicuous bluestone slab in the corner of the courtyard.
The stone surface was absorbing the earth's fire, turning a crimson color that stood out starkly from its surroundings.
In mid-air, Chu Yue's wide sleeves billowed in the hot wind, his gaze fixed on Song Qiling for a moment.
Their eyes met for a fleeting moment.
"Song Qiling." This person still wore that mask of grief, but his tone was now filled with urgency. "Turn back before it's too late, don't let demons bewitch your mind!"
The crowd began to stir, and whispers rose like a tide.
"What does that girl want to do?"
"She's actually going to help that monster?"
"Judging from the conversation between the Heavenly Master and her, it seems that the two are still in a master-disciple relationship."
"Good heavens, a master and disciple falling out? What a ridiculous and outrageous plot!"
Song Qiling turned a deaf ear to this.
She suddenly crouched down, enduring the tearing pain from her severed arm, and rushed towards the blue stone. With her single hand, she pointed her fingers, gathering runes at the tip, and hurled them forward, shouting, "Break!"
A faint buzzing sound, like a snapped string.
Not far away, a pillar of fire entwined with the Tai Sui swayed visibly before dimming.
The wildly waving tentacles all paused.
The raging crimson color in his crimson eyes briefly faded, revealing the pain and bewilderment beneath.
efficient!
A hint of joy flashed in Song Qiling's eyes, but before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, a whooshing sound suddenly came.
A dark tentacle, like a giant python whipping its tail, lashed straight at her face!
Song Qiling fell forward, her wrist barely grazing her back as she crashed down.
The bluestone slab shattered with a crash, and the shockwave sent her flying. Her severed arm slammed into the scorched earth, and everything went black.
"Hiss..." The crowd gasped.
"She's got a death wish!"
"This...this monster must be insane, why is it even attacking those who help it?"
Chu Yue frowned almost imperceptibly.
He raised his hand and swiftly drew Dao runes in the air. As golden light flowed, an invisible gust of wind silently swept towards Song Qiling.
Song Qiling struggled to sit up, coughing up blood, her gaze fixed on the talisman at the top of the stone lantern.
I had just taken a step when my foot suddenly slipped.
A subtle, powerful force tripped her precisely.
In a flash, she suddenly lost her balance and fell to the ground, her cheek scraping against the scorching ground.
"My disciple, stop being so stubborn!"
Song Qiling looked up, and her already bloodied cheek had a hideous gash, the skin torn open, blood flowing uncontrollably, mixed with sweat and dust, making her look extremely disheveled.
She stared intently at the stone lantern.
My heart pounded wildly from the intense impact, and the sweat from the pain quickly soaked through my clothes.
She didn't try to stand up. Instead, she used her one arm to push herself up while she was lying on the ground, and slid forward with the help of her body. At the same time, she hooked a piece of gravel on the ground with her toe and kicked it hard at the stone lantern!
"Smack!"
The stone struck the talisman with little force, yet it caused the spiritual light to flicker violently for a moment.
The formation fluctuated again.
The Tai Sui let out a painful roar, and its several tentacles lashed wildly in all directions, no longer confined to one place.
A tentacle swept towards the crowd of onlookers!
"ah!"
Screams erupted immediately.
The formation formed by the officers and soldiers was instantly broken, and the crowd surged forward like ants in a boiling pot, crying and pushing backward.
In the chaotic streets, people fled in terror.
Song Qiling, panting heavily, knelt on the ground.
Before them lay the last and most crucial point of the formation—a fissure beneath the Tai Sui, constantly spewing forth earth fire.
She glanced back at the obstructive figure in the air, silently muttered "old thing," then pulled out the half-empty treasure pouch from her waist and poured all the remaining pills, of any kind, into her mouth, chewing them haphazardly.
A spicy and bitter taste exploded, and a faint spiritual energy flowed through the meridians.
Without even tasting it, she pulled out a yellow talisman from her waist and quickly scribbled it across the blood, leaving a crooked rune. Then she stood up and rushed toward the fiery rift and the waving tentacles.
The enormous tentacles swept overhead with a "whoosh".
Song Qiling weaved through the overwhelming shadows, narrowly avoiding one blow after another.
The hot wind whipped her scorched hair, and the blood from her severed arm spun in tiny arcs through the air.
"Is she crazy?!"
Some people couldn't bear to watch any longer and turned their heads away.
In the air, Chu Yue's eyes turned completely cold.
Song Qiling rushed to the side of the crack.
A searing sensation instantly enveloped her entire body as a massive main tentacle swept across the crack, the heatwave almost crushing her.
Now's the time!
With all her might, she hurled the yellow talisman in her hand toward the entrance of the Earth Fire Cave.
"Junior brother, wake up!" The hoarse voice was drowned out by Tai Sui's roar and the crackling of flames.
"Boom!"
The ground trembled violently, centered on the fissure.
The crimson pillar of fire, like an enraged giant python, suddenly rose and twisted, and then... part of it even turned around and retaliated against Chu Yue in the air!
The formation was broken, and the earth fire flowed backward.
The massive body of the Tai Sui suddenly stiffened.
The raging fire that had been relentlessly stimulating it suddenly weakened, and the crimson color in its eyes receded like a tide. Although the pain remained, it managed to regain some clarity.
Exhausted, Song Qiling knelt on one knee, using his single arm to support himself and prevent himself from falling.
She raised her head and looked at Chu Yue, who was busy dealing with the rebellious earth fire and looked disheveled in the air. A very faint smile appeared on her blood-stained lips.
"Master, how are your formation modifications going?"
-
The roaring sound of the subterranean fire rushing back had not yet subsided.
Around the crack, crimson flames writhed wildly.
The backlash from the forced reversal of the formation caused the ground of the entire courtyard to crack, and waves of scorching air spread outwards one after another.
Song Qiling knelt on one knee near Tai Sui, blood from her severed arm meandering down the charred ground. She was breathing heavily, and her vision began to blur.
With limited vision, she struggled to look up and saw those huge red eyes staring intently at her.
"Junior brother..."
As soon as it opened its mouth, a tentacle cautiously reached out to her side, its tip slightly raised to avoid the menacing suckers, and gently wrapped around her waist with its soft body.
I felt a sudden lightness in my body, and then I was lifted up by the tentacles and quickly pulled into the shadows beneath that enormous body.
She was placed in the crevice between the Tai Sui's body and the ground, far away from the rampaging subterranean fire, with its rough and hard shell forming a barrier above her head.
One of the tentacles even carefully cushioned her fall from behind, preventing her weakened body from hitting the ground directly.
After doing all this, the last trace of hesitation in those crimson pupils completely disappeared, replaced by a chilling killing intent that suddenly turned towards the sky!
Chu Yue had just swept away a backlash of earth fire with a flick of his sleeve, looking slightly disheveled. Just as he was about to regroup, he met Tai Sui's eyes.
"You wicked creature!" Chu Yue's heart trembled violently. He forced himself to remain calm and shouted fiercely. The golden light in his hand surged. "A hundred years ago, I was lucky enough to let you escape this calamity. Today, I will make sure you are annihilated, body and soul!"
Battle is imminent.
The massive body of Tai Sui suddenly leaned forward, and several of its thickest main tentacles burst forth, sealing off all of Chu Yue's escape routes.
Chu Yue's expression changed drastically. He wielded his long whip with impenetrable force, and golden light transformed into layers of barriers.
A series of rapid, drum-like impacts resounded.
The barrier flickered violently under the tentacle's ferocious impact, each collision unleashing blinding light and surging shockwaves.
Chu Yue felt his arm was sore and numb, and the area between his thumb and forefinger was cracked.
"Fellow cultivators, why aren't you making a move? When will you?!" He tried to call for help from the other cultivators below, but his voice carried a barely perceptible hint of panic.
His response was met with an even more deadly attack.
A tentacle pierced through a gap in the golden light barrier and suddenly wrapped around his right arm, which was holding the whip!
"Snap!"
The sickening cracking sound of bones breaking was clearly audible. Chu Yue groaned, and the long whip slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
Without the magical artifact, the protective aura is extremely fragile in the face of absolute power.
Another tentacle followed closely, slamming into his chest like a giant hammer, followed by the sound of bones breaking and shifting.
Chu Yue's body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into a courtyard wall in the distance.
The wall collapsed with a loud crash.
Smoke and dust filled the air.
The massive figure of Tai Sui approached again, and a tentacle followed closely, darting into the dust with lightning speed, precisely wrapping around his neck, and pulling him out of the ruins.
At this moment, Chu Yue's Taoist robe was tattered, his body was covered in blood, his right arm was strangely bent, and his face was as pale as paper. He struggled in vain, his eyes filled with the most primal fear.
Tai Sui raised him to the same height as himself.
A cold gaze, seemingly spanning a century, slowly and deliberately slicing through his body.
Then, the tentacle that was wrapped around his neck began to tighten, while at the same time, another slender tentacle with an unusually sharp tip, like the sharpest dagger, slowly stabbed towards Chu Yue's lower abdomen.
"...How could you!" Chu Yue's eyes widened in horror, his voice hoarse. "You dare to lay a hand on a sorcerer! Do you know what kind of vile being you are? You shouldn't have..."
The sharp tentacles did not pause for a moment.
"laugh--"
After a soft sound, Chu Yue's body convulsed violently, his eyes bulged out and were bloodshot.
He could clearly feel the spiritual power he had painstakingly cultivated throughout his life leaking out of his shattered dantian like a flood bursting its banks.
Power is fading, and the dream of immortality is shattered.
A century of planning has come to naught.
Hope was utterly extinguished.
He opened his mouth, but could no longer make a decent sound, only a weak, hissing "hoarse" sound.
His once full face withered and shriveled at a visible speed, his wrinkles deepened, and he aged decades in an instant. His eyes became cloudy and dim, leaving only boundless desolation and despair.
Tai Sui coldly watched him, his breath waning, as if he were a pile of worthless filth, and casually tossed the limp Chu Yue to the ground some distance away.
With a muffled thud, all was silent.
Those crimson eyes slowly turned, sweeping over the silent crowd below. Anyone touched by that gaze trembled with fear, lowering their heads to avoid it, and no one dared to meet its eyes.
Finally, his gaze returned to the huddled figure beneath him.
A tentacle slowly approached and gently touched Song Qiling's uninjured cheek, brushing away the dust and bloodstains.
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