The Worried Old Man sighed. Knowing he could not make Xu Ying drink tea today, he rolled up his sleeve, gathered away the table, chairs, teapot, and teacups, and slowly departed.
He looked slow, but was actually very fast. Before long, he had vanished from Mount Wu Wang.
Then Mount Wu Wang suddenly let out an earth-shaking boom. The mountainside paused for a moment, countless rocks exploding as the mountain slowly tilted to one side.
The mountain was simply too enormous. Even a landslide would need some time before crashing to the ground.
Xu Ying was still sprinting beneath that ever-expanding handkerchief. Yet he had now shrunk to the size of a bean, and no matter how fast he ran, he could not escape the handkerchief's range of coverage anytime soon.
"A Ying, is that you?" Suddenly, a great serpent appeared ahead and called out.
The great serpent had one black and one white dragon horn growing from its head, and scales that gleamed like Bright Mirrors across its body. It was Yuan Qi. Although it seemed as large as before, that was only relative to Xu Ying.
Xu Ying had shrunk to the size of a bean, while Yuan Qi had also been reduced in size. He was only a foot or so long, but was still more than a hundred times larger than Xu Ying.
The man and serpent were both in the same miserable predicament, having been shrunk by that Rain Granny of the Zhou Family with a handkerchief.
Xu Ying jumped onto Yuan Qi's back and said, "Little Qi, speed up! Let's get out of here!"
Yuan Qi carried him outward and swam away, saying, "What kind of technique does that old hag possess? How can she be so powerful?"
Master Zhong's voice came from behind them. "It should be the Nu Art of scattering beans and raising soldiers, but she's using it in reverse. Scattering beans and raising soldiers can make beans turn into golden-armored divine men when they land, growing larger in the wind until they're much bigger than ordinary people. Used in reverse, it can make people extremely small, shrinking them to the size of beans. The Qi Refiners also had similar spells."
Xu Ying's eyes flickered. "I've already opened the Ni Wan Secret Treasury and mastered life, death, yin, and yang. I can control the body's vitality. Although her Nu Art is exquisite, it can't trap me for long. I'll be able to return to my normal size soon. Yuan Qi, the techniques of changing size recorded in True Cultivation of the Flood Dragon and Dragon Snake Awakening Technique—if you comprehend them, you can also break her Nu Art."
Yuan Qi sped forward, recalling the technique of transformation from True Cultivation of the Flood Dragon that Xu Ying had taught him. Sure enough, it contained methods for transforming the physical body. Delighted, he thought, A Ying really is reliable. With just a little guidance from him, I already know how to break this technique.
Suddenly, through the handkerchief, they saw Mount Wu Wang tilting over, and despair rose in their hearts. The mountain was crashing toward them. Before long, it would smash them to pieces!
Under ordinary circumstances, they might still have escaped, but now their arms and legs were tiny and short. There was no way they could flee the mountain's shadow!
Just then, a large hand suddenly pinched up the handkerchief. Beneath it, Xu Ying and Yuan Qi were wrapped up and involuntarily carried into the sky.
The Zhou Family's old woman, Rain Granny, grinned and gave a cackle. She placed the handkerchief on the basket hanging from her arm and shook it. Xu Ying and Yuan Qi felt the world spinning as they fell from beneath the handkerchief and tumbled into the basket.
"I've already brought Young Master Xu here. I'll be taking my leave first!" Rain Granny laughed, though it was unclear whom she was speaking to.
There was half a basket of beans inside. Xu Ying and Yuan Qi landed among them, sending the beans bouncing and crying out, "Ow! Ow!"
Xu Ying and Yuan Qi were startled, only to see the beans standing up one after another like people. They wore golden armor and helmets, held green swords, and had vigorous heroic spirit hidden between their brows. Every one of them was handsome and extraordinary.
Yuan Qi jumped in alarm and asked warily, "Who are you? Were you also captured by that demon hag?"
The golden-armored man nearest to him put his hands on his hips and shouted disdainfully, "What demon hag? She's clearly the Lord of Dangtian Prefecture! You ignorant, good-for-nothing snake! Haven't you heard of scattering beans to make soldiers? We're the soldiers of Dangtian Prefecture..."
Thousands of golden-armored men turned their heads toward them in perfect unison and shouted with one voice, "Bean Soldiers!"
The corner of Yuan Qi's eye twitched. He whispered to Xu Ying, "They aren't people?"
Before Xu Ying could answer, Master Zhong's voice rang out. "They're the beans created by scattering beans to raise soldiers. That Rain Granny is impressive too. She actually managed to grant these Bean Soldiers intelligence. This sort of spell isn't something that can be accomplished merely by using Secret Treasury vitality. The Zhou Family's Nu techniques have probably advanced beyond their original foundation, making them far more exquisite than similar Qi Refiner spells."
Master Zhong had always believed that Nu techniques were inferior to the spells of the Qi Refiner era. For it to admit now that the Nu Art of scattering beans and raising soldiers surpassed similar spells was truly rare.
The leading golden-armored man asked, "Which of you is Young Master Xu? The Lord of Dangtian Prefecture instructed us to look after you and not let you suffer any harm."
Xu Ying did not answer. He immediately stepped on a Bean Soldier's head and climbed outward, trying to escape the basket.
"Don't go out!"
That golden-armored Bean Soldier grabbed his legs and cried, "There's a terrifying Two-legged Divine Spirit outside! Its claws are dozens of times larger than you, with an iron beak and a golden throat. Flames blaze redly from its head, and it has steel wings sharp as blades. It swallows clouds and spits mist, and its cry is like thunder! Many of our brothers have died in the mouth of the Two-legged Divine Spirit!"
Yuan Qi thought for a moment and asked, "Are you talking about a chicken?"
Xu Ying was focused on escaping. He climbed upward while a crowd of Bean Soldiers tugged at him, hanging from his feet and trying to pull him down. With great difficulty, Xu Ying reached the rim of the basket and lifted the handkerchief to look outside.
They were in the sky. The old woman carried the basket on her arm, and behind her was a great peng bird, beating its wings and soaring high as it carried them swiftly through the air.
That Golden Winged Great Peng should have been formed from the old woman's hidden landscape. It carried the old woman and the others through the sky.
Suddenly, Xu Ying saw the distant mountains tremble. Then a terrifying shock wave swept toward them, flattening all the clouds in the sky wherever it passed.
"Oh no!"
Xu Ying's expression changed drastically. He hurriedly shouted, "Master Zhong, come out and save us!"
Master Zhong flew out from the back of his head, instantly bursting the basket apart. Xu Ying, Yuan Qi, and the strings of golden-armored Bean Soldiers clinging to Xu Ying's ankles all fell into Master Zhong.
Master Zhong was a magic treasure refined by an Ancient Qi Refiner, and it was hidden inside Xu Ying's mind. Rain Granny's Nu Art could not shrink it, so it retained its original form.
The moment the basket exploded, Rain Granny noticed. The old woman was startled and hurriedly reached out toward Master Zhong, saying, "Young Master Xu, don't resist me. I have no ill—"
Before she could finish, that incomparably terrifying shock wave struck. The Golden Winged Great Peng Nu technique behind Rain Granny immediately shattered. The terrible impact slammed into her, and she vomited blood before being thrown away on the spot!
"Clang!"
The destructive shock wave collided with Master Zhong. The bell boomed, and all kinds of runes on its walls lit up and spun with a buzzing sound, transforming into an incomparably thick wall of light that blocked the outside.
However, there was a huge palm print on that wall of light—the wound left on Master Zhong by the Maiden in the Coffin. It had become a breach in the bell wall!
In the next instant, the thick wall of light was torn apart. Master Zhong rang loudly as it was blasted away in a spinning motion.
"It's over!"
Master Zhong's heart was filled with despair. "I finally stole enough qi and blood these past days to heal some of my injuries. This time, I'm afraid all that effort will be wasted again!"
Inside Master Zhong, Xu Ying, Yuan Qi, and hundreds of golden-armored Bean Soldiers were violently tossed up and down, crashing into one another. One Bean Soldier shouted, "You're crushing me! I'm going to die!"
With that, he was crushed into a bean cake and died on the spot.
After a while, the violent impact outside finally subsided. Master Zhong fell from the sky and slammed into the mountain forest, rolling three or four miles with a series of clangs before finally coming to a stop.
Xu Ying laboriously climbed out of the bell mouth and sat on the rim, his legs trembling and his body still shivering. Only after a while did he recover enough to set the dislocated bones of Yuan Qi.
The impact had been too violent. Every bone in Yuan Qi's body had been jolted out of place. Fortunately, Xu Ying was a Snake Catcher, so setting the bones was no trouble for him.
Yuan Qi came to Xu Ying's side and looked at Mount Wu Wang, which had broken in half in the distance. He wanted to cry but had no tears, muttering, "My home is gone..."
Behind them, the surviving golden-armored Bean Soldiers knelt on both legs and wailed bitterly before the corpses of their companions. That earlier divine ability's shock wave had crushed many Bean Soldiers into bean cakes, killing them on the spot. Still, more than half had survived—some three or four hundred of them.
Suddenly, a Bean Soldier stood up and kicked one of his sobbing companions. He shouted, "A true man lives in this world and should be buried wrapped in his horse's hide after making a name for himself! Why cry like little girls? All of you, get up! Have you forgotten how painstakingly the Lord of Dangtian Prefecture cultivated you?"
The Bean Soldiers immediately became as spirited as if they had been injected with chicken blood, each one vigorous and fierce.
Xu Ying looked at them in surprise. These Bean Soldiers had actually survived that terrifying impact, proving that they were not as weak as he had imagined.
On the contrary, every one of these Bean Soldiers was powerful, possessing considerable strength!
"After Rain Granny refined them into Bean Soldiers, she must have tempered them again and again, raising their combat power," Xu Ying thought.
"Master Zhong, are you all right?"
Xu Ying called twice. Master Zhong's weak voice came from inside him. "A Ying, my injuries have worsened. I need to hide inside your Ni Wan Cave Heaven to recuperate."
It staggered into the air, shrinking smaller and smaller before suddenly burrowing into the back of Xu Ying's head and vanishing.
In the next moment, Master Zhong swayed its way into Xu Ying's Ni Wan Secret Treasury and floated inside the Ni Wan Cave Heaven.
"Master Zhong is injured. For now, we can only rely on ourselves. Strange... who exactly was fighting? Their divine abilities were so powerful that merely the aftershock made Master Zhong's injuries worse!"
Xu Ying steadied himself. Such divine abilities were far more powerful than those of the White-robed Nuo Immortal, truly formidable.
Of the experts he knew who could stand against the underground monstrosity, there were not many. Judging from the White-robed Nuo Immortal's performance, he was probably no match for the underground monstrosity. The copper bell at its full strength could certainly do it, and the Maiden in the Coffin naturally could as well.
The Worried Old Man probably could too.
As for the others, none possessed such ability.
"The Zhou Family brought quite a few people this time. The leader is the governor, Zhou Heng, and this old woman called Rain Granny is also an expert of the Zhou Family. Could it be the Zhou Family Ancestor who made a move and fought the underground monstrosity?"
Xu Ying was greatly intrigued. The underground monstrosity might be the Master of Ni Wan Palace, while the Zhou Family Ancestor might be the Snake Catcher who entered the stone chamber more than three hundred years ago—in other words, the successor of the Master of Ni Wan Palace. How spectacular would their battle be?
He wished he could immediately return to Mount Wu Wang to watch the battle. Yet even a single divine ability's aftershock had nearly killed them. How could they approach the battlefield to watch?
"This place isn't safe to remain. The Zhou Family's people will probably find us soon!"
Xu Ying looked around. The trees everywhere were so tall that they were unbelievable, while the mountains were enormous beyond description and impossible to climb over!
"You can't leave!"
The golden-armored Bean Soldiers blocked Xu Ying and Yuan Qi. The leading Bean Soldier said, "The Lord of Dangtian Prefecture ordered you to stay here and wait for him!"
Suddenly, a Bean Soldier pointed toward the sky and shrieked, "The Two-legged Giants are coming!"
Xu Ying looked up and saw a flock of unknown blue birds that had spotted them and were flying over. These blue birds were exotic avian species from the netherworld. As a Snake Catcher, Xu Ying had seen countless birds and beasts, but he had never seen this kind of blue Exotic Bird.
The flock descended with a whoosh and charged toward them. These Exotic Birds were like the gods of the primordial wilderness in legend, clad in multicolored wings and possessing bodies of bronze sinew and iron bones. Their physiques were tens of thousands of times larger than those of Xu Ying and the others!
Their feet struck the ground, shaking the earth and mountains, while their wings stirred up raging winds!
They pecked down, and the Bean Soldiers were utterly powerless to resist. Their bones broke and tendons snapped before they were swallowed in a single bite, dying on the spot!
All around Xu Ying, Bean Soldiers fled in panic, their cries filling the heavens as though an apocalyptic catastrophe were about to descend.
One Exotic Bird pecked down and split the Bean Soldier beside Xu Ying in two. He died horribly, half his body swallowed directly by the bird while the other half continued screaming.
Some Bean Soldiers rallied their spirits and raised their green swords to fight the Exotic Birds. Yet these birds were no ordinary creatures. They were exotic species from the great mountains of the netherworld, unafraid of blades or swords. They simply swallowed the resisting Bean Soldiers one by one, pecking them to death!
Xu Ying finally regained his senses and shouted, "Little Qi, run!"
Yuan Qi had lived this long yet had never encountered such a terrifying scene. He cried out in alarm and hurriedly followed Xu Ying!
Behind them, an Exotic Bird lowered its head and charged over with a shriek. It pecked Yuan Qi's tail and lifted him into the air. Xu Ying let out a great shout, leaped up, landed beside the bird's head, and swept out with one foot.
Two Elephant King Divine Bodies, each no taller than a bean, appeared behind him and swept out with the same kick.
"Smack!"
The Exotic Bird's beak was kicked crooked. It flung Yuan Qi away, but the tremendous recoil shattered the Elephant King Divine Bodies behind Xu Ying, turning them into blood mist that drifted away.
Xu Ying was shocked and furious. After landing, he saw the Exotic Bird's sharp claws reaching toward him. He immediately performed a giant serpent rolling maneuver. A Python as thick as a finger formed from his blood and qi coiled around his body and spun outward. Swish, swish, swish—it wrapped around the Exotic Bird's two feet!
"Fall for me!" Xu Ying roared.
The Exotic Bird exerted force with both feet, but shattered the Python formed from his blood and qi!
Xu Ying froze.
The Python was the Great Dao Manifestation he had comprehended by referring to the Python Dao Manifestation Diagram from True Cultivation of the Flood Dragon. Yet it had actually been broken by an unknown bird!
Just as the Exotic Bird was about to peck him to death, Yuan Qi charged in from the side, wrapped his tail around Xu Ying, and raced away with a howl, avoiding the peck of the bird's beak!
"Protect Young Master Xu's escape!" a Bean Soldier shouted.
Dozens, then hundreds, of golden-armored Bean Soldiers surged forward fearlessly, charging the blue Exotic Birds pursuing Xu Ying and fighting with all their might.
The blue Exotic Birds slaughtered wildly. The Bean Soldiers' limbs flew through the air, turning the scene into a battlefield from hell!
"Escort Young Master Xu!"
The golden-armored Bean Soldiers rushed over one after another, swinging their green swords and fighting the giant birds to the death. One after another, they fell.
Xu Ying stared blankly. This scene actually moved him.
"Little Qi, put me down," he said softly.
Hearing this, Yuan Qi relaxed his tail and lowered him to the ground.
Xu Ying stopped and did not continue fleeing. Yuan Qi urged him, "A Ying, what are you standing there for? Let's go!"
Xu Ying shook his head and said solemnly, "I've opened the Ni Wan Secret Treasury and become a Nu Master. I want to reverse-engineer the Nu Art of scattering beans and raising soldiers. I can't let these Bean Soldiers sacrifice themselves for us for nothing!"
Suddenly, he activated the Ni Wan Cave Heaven. A chaotic space immediately appeared behind his head. He parted the chaotic clouds and mist, revealing the Ni Wan Cave Heaven.
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