Chapter 10: Joining forces to break the formation
A melodious, mournful flute sound suddenly echoed through the crumbling Earth God Temple. The sound wasn't a mortal instrument; it carried a chilling, underworld air, yet also held a strange, soul-soothing compassion. Atop the altar, the frantically expanding evil spirit froze, seemingly affected by the flute's influence. The surging black energy within it slowed considerably. "Roar!" But the evil spirit quickly reacted. It roared even more fiercely, as if sensing a challenge to its authority. Its massive body trembled violently, and dozens of black tentacles, thicker and more condensed than before, lashed out from all directions, like giant pythons emerging from their dens, lashing out at the two men fiercely. "Here they come!" Chu Yun growled, his eyes instantly focused. He stood before Li Ge, unwavering. The three thunder and fire talismans in his left hand instantly activated, transforming into three intersecting electric nets that temporarily blocked the tentacles in front of him. At the same time, he swung his right sword finger through the air, and golden rays of light shot out from his fingertips. These rays of light were no longer simply attacks; they rapidly condensed and combined in mid-air, forming small golden shields that precisely met the other tentacles striking from the side and overhead. "Bang! Bang! Bang!" A series of dull crashes echoed. The golden shields shattered one after another under the impact of the black tentacles. Chu Yun's face grew increasingly pale, his strength draining at an alarming rate. But he gritted his teeth and persevered, knowing that Li Ge behind him needed time. Li Ge's flute playing remained uninterrupted by the evil spirit's attacks. She closed her eyes, her mind completely absorbed in the bone flute and the requiem. As the flute's sound continued, Chu Yun saw that the curled-up points of light within the evil spirit, representing the children's souls, began to tremble slightly. They seemed to be awakened by the flute's sound, attempting to break free from the black energy that imprisoned them. "Roar!" The evil spirit, sensing the changes within its body, grew even more violent. It abandoned its garish tentacle attacks, its massive body, composed of black energy, suddenly leaning forward, like a black mountain, bearing down on the two men. The immense pressure, pure and unadulterated, of resentment and death, froze the entire space. Chu Yun felt as if he were being struck head-on by a mountain, and breathing became incredibly difficult. The small shields he had set up were as fragile as paper before this overwhelming force...
A melodious, mournful flute sound instantly echoed through the crumbling Earth God Temple. The sound didn't resemble any mortal music; it carried a chilling, underworld quality, yet also held a strange, soul-soothing compassion. Above the altar, the frantically expanding evil spirit suddenly froze, seemingly affected by the flute's influence. The surging black energy within it slowed considerably.
"roar!"
But the evil spirit quickly reacted. It roared even more violently, as if sensing a challenge to its authority. Its massive body shook violently, and dozens of black tentacles, thicker and more condensed than before, lashed out at the two from all directions like giant pythons emerging from their caves.
"Here it comes!" Chu Yun shouted softly, his eyes becoming extremely focused in an instant.
He stood before Li Ge, refusing to retreat. The three lightning and fire talismans in his left hand instantly activated, transforming into three intersecting electric nets that temporarily blocked the tentacles in front of him. Simultaneously, he swung his right sword finger through the air, sending streams of golden light emanating from his fingertips. These rays were no longer simply attacks; they rapidly condensed and combined in mid-air, forming small golden shields that precisely blocked the other tentacles attacking from the sides and overhead.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A series of dull crashes echoed. The golden shield shattered, one by one, under the impact of the black tentacles. Chu Yun's face grew increasingly pale, his strength draining away at an alarming rate. But he gritted his teeth and held on, knowing that Li Ge behind him would need time.
Li Ge's flute playing didn't pause even for the evil spirit's attack. She closed her eyes, her mind completely absorbed in the bone flute and the requiem. As the flute continued, Chu Yun saw that the curled-up points of light within the evil spirit, representing the children's souls, began to tremble slightly. They seemed to be awakened by the flute's sound, attempting to break free from the black energy that imprisoned them.
"Roar!" The evil spirit sensed the changes within its body and became even more violent. It abandoned its garish tentacle attacks. Its massive body, composed of black energy, suddenly leaned forward, like a black mountain, pressing down on the two men. The immense pressure, pure and unadulterated, of resentment and death, froze the entire space.
Chu Yun felt as if he were being hit by a mountain, and breathing instantly became extremely difficult. The small shields he had set up were as fragile as paper in the face of this absolute force and were crushed to pieces in an instant.
"Hold on!" Chu Yun's eyes flashed blood red, he knew he couldn't hold on any longer. He bit the tip of his tongue hard, the intense stinging feeling instantly sobering him up.
He didn't try to defend himself anymore, and concentrated all the remaining strength in his body into the sword finger of his right hand. He turned around, grabbed Li Ge's arm, and threw her backwards fiercely.
"Go!" He roared out the word with all his strength.
Then, he faced the pressing "black mountain" alone. He wanted to use his final and strongest attack to fight for a glimmer of hope for Li Ge and himself.
Just as he was about to perish alongside the evil spirit, Li Ge, who had been flung out by him, did something he hadn't anticipated. She twisted her body in mid-air, pressing her left hand against the wall. Using the force, she rebounded and charged towards the evil spirit once again! Her speed was faster than ever before. Her mouth still held the bone flute, but her other hand pulled out a silver dagger that gleamed with a cold light.
Without hesitation, she used the dagger to cut a deep gash on her left arm, causing blood to gush out. She ignored the wound and pressed her blood-stained hand hard onto the bone flute.
"Buzz—"
The moment the blood soaked the bone flute, the melodious sound of the flute suddenly changed. It was no longer sad and comforting, but a call from the underworld that was full of tyranny and plunder!
The sound of the flute turned into invisible chains, piercing through the evil spirit's huge body and precisely wrapping around the trembling souls of the children.
"Come out!" A cold and fierce look flashed in Li Ge's eyes. She took a deep breath, and those souls entangled in chains were pulled out of the evil spirit's body by her!
"roar--!"
Its core forcibly stripped away, the evil spirit let out the most painful and unwilling roar ever recorded. Its massive body instantly lost control and began to violently collapse and disintegrate. But its downward momentum did not cease.
"Now!" Li Ge's voice exploded in Chu Yun's ears.
Chu Yun's mind was still a bit dazed, completely shocked by Li Ge's frantic yet decisive actions. But his body's instincts didn't waver. He stared at the evil spirit before him, on the verge of collapse, ready to crush him. The will to survive in his eyes overwhelmed everything. He no longer hesitated, unleashing the concentrated golden power at the tip of his right hand into a beam of pure, destructive energy, which he hurled fiercely.
This is an indestructible sword of faith, formed with one's own will as its blade!
The golden beam silently sank into the evil spirit's crumbling core. There was no explosion, no loud noise. Time seemed to stand still at that moment. Like snow in the sunlight, the massive evil spirit, composed of black energy, melted away swiftly and silently from the inside out. The expression of resentment and pain on its face was also frozen forever as the black energy dissipated.
But in the blink of an eye, the once powerful evil spirit completely disappeared from this world.
Chu Yun's legs softened, unable to support himself any longer. He knelt on one knee, gasping for breath. All the strength in his body had been completely exhausted.
Li Ge was also in pain. She staggered to the ground, her face as pale as a sheet, and the wound on her left arm was still bleeding. In her right hand, she carefully held a swirling ball of light composed of gray air currents. The souls of the children she had rescued lay dormant within the ball of light.
The two exchanged a complex gaze. There was relief at having survived, shock at each other's strength, and a hint of... inexplicable, newly established trust.
"You..." Chu Yun was about to say something when suddenly, something flashed at the place where the evil spirit dissipated, that is, on the bone altar.
Their eyes were immediately drawn to it. They saw something had appeared on the skull at the center of the altar.
It was a tattered piece of talisman paper made of some unknown animal skin. In one corner of the talisman paper was inlaid with half a broken black jade pendant engraved with an ancient Chinese character "Chu".
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
