The black sludge churned wildly.
With Sha Wujing at its center, an enormous ring of waves erupted across the mire.
The suction beneath the mud surged upward like something gone mad.
It was as though thousands upon thousands of invisible ghostly hands had reached up from the deepest depths of the earth, clamping onto Sha Wujing's ankles, wrapping around his waist, and desperately dragging him down.
Enormous whirlpools spun rapidly across the mud's surface, giving off strange hissing sounds that set the teeth on edge.
Sha Wujing swayed, but he did not give up.
He gritted his teeth, the muscles in his face twisting violently until his features were nearly crushed together.
His knees buckled inward, his bones cracking sharply as they pressed against one another.
Then he abruptly straightened them.
The yellow light along the staff grew brighter.
Its halo expanded outward, enveloping the entire mire.
Boom!
The enormous elephant seized the momentum and heaved its massive body upward.
All four legs broke free of the mire at once.
The entire Black Iron Mountain Peak shook violently.
Sha Wujing suddenly felt his whole body grow light.
He had done it.
The enormous elephant was free.
It stood motionless in midair.
The thick black mud clinging to its body rapidly lost its moisture and dried.
The crust curled at the edges, split into fine cracks, then peeled away piece by piece.
What emerged beneath the black mud was no longer the rough flesh that had been as gray and lifeless as stone.
A milky-white radiance shone from deep within its skin, gentle and tranquil.
The light was not dazzling, yet it made people afraid to gaze at it for long.
More and more of the gray crust peeled away.
The white light grew ever stronger.
The enormous elephant, once gray,