Mo Chen seized the moment and unleashed two spells at once.
Nine firebirds flew from his hands, cutting off the Thorn Rat's escape from both front and rear.
At the same time, flames flared beneath Mo Chen's feet, and a flame serpent darted into the fiery net woven by the firebirds.
Startled by the sudden sea of flames, the Thorn Rat stopped chasing Gu Dongfeng ahead of it. Yet the instant it tried to turn and flee, the Restrictive Wards of the Wind Binding Art Mo Chen had laid immobilized it.
The wind restraints were exceedingly simple. A Savage Beast like this, reacting on instinct, could break free with a few struggles.
But a moment's obstruction was all these supporting Restrictive Wards needed to accomplish their purpose.
Those two prearranged Wind Binding Arts held the Thorn Rat up for just an instant.
By the time the Thorn Rat broke free of the Restrictive Wards, the fiery net descending from above had sealed off its upward escape as well.
Then Gu Dongfeng abruptly stopped in midair and turned back, shrinking the space enclosed by the Array Formation.
Formation light flared, and a curtain of light three zhang across firmly enclosed the Thorn Rat.
The demon beast was hideous. Besides the spines covering its body, its foreclaws bore nails some two or three inches long, gleaming with a cold light. Just as the illustrated bestiary described, it was an adult Thorn Rat.
Though this beast was only at the seventh level of qi refining, its body was thick and sturdy, its claws and fangs sharp. Even trapped inside the formation, it screeched incessantly.
Its foreclaws frantically raked the Array Formation's light curtain and the cavern floor, sending piercing noises echoing endlessly through the cave.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, is your Array Formation going