"Then I'll make the first move." Tu Xingyun gave a low shout. He raised his right palm, and an ancient bell appeared, its surface patterned with all manner of weapons. Thunder rumbled faintly within it, like a storm about to burst forth in every direction.
"Go!" At Tu Xingyun's command, the bluish-purple bell swelled in midair until it stood several feet tall. Its enormous mouth rang out with a hum, and thunder shook the air. But instead of sending out circles of sound waves as before, it shot forward a long spear condensed from thunderous sound.
"To gather thunderous sound into a weapon!" Lu Xiaotian watched the scene with keen interest. Sound was formless, yet in Tu Xingyun's hands it had taken on a thousand different shapes.
The spear of thunderous sound was no weak thing. Hu Xiaofeng, the old man with the black staff, and the two women in black all looked at it with unmistakable wariness.
In an instant, the spear plunged into the thunder pool. The pool's thunderous power gathered around it, yet despite the churning surface, the water remained perfectly still—as though two utterly opposing forces had been forced together.
Sss! Wherever the spear passed, it pushed aside the thunder beneath the surface, carving out a passage several feet wide, large enough for a person to pass through.
"Move!" Tu Xingyun flashed onto the bluish-purple thunder bell. Man and bell plunged down together, disappearing into the passage.
Since they had agreed to take turns opening the way, Lu Xiaotian had no intention of holding them back. His body became a streak of light as he hurried after them.
After they had descended for a while, Tu Xingyun's strength began to wane. The Demon-Suppressing Tower Lu Xiaotian had kept resting on his left palm split into seven