"Courting death!" A chill rose around Master Jingchen, and a shuddering dread sprang from the bottom of her heart, as though that gaze had pierced straight through her monk's robes.
Almost without thinking, Master Jingchen struck the Buddhist seal she had just formed onto the Sky Rending Cauldron. A wisp of flame, several times purer than before yet likewise several times smaller, shot forth like a red serpent.
With a soft "puff," an equally cold splash of water flew from the starfish's belly and met the flame. A muffled boom sounded, and the fire went out at once!
"Ah..." Master Jingchen's face changed drastically. Buddhist light blazed around her as she tried to cast another Buddhist sect supernatural ability.
But the starfish was simply too fast. The instant the Buddhist light emerged, its five tentacles had already covered Master Jingchen. Though she sat atop the colorful luan, the tentacles clenched around her like a giant hand, and the Buddhist light rapidly dissolved amid the starfish's blue-green glow.
Having seized Master Jingchen, the starfish immediately flew back. It seemed that Master Jingchen had been its target all along!
Xu Zhuoliang was greatly alarmed. While urging his flying sword, he hurriedly looked toward Xiao Hua, who had remained motionless atop the cloud crane. Yet when his gaze reached the crane, its back was empty—Xiao Hua was nowhere to be seen.
"You wicked beast!" Somewhere ahead of Xu Zhuoliang, Xiao Hua had appeared before the starfish without anyone knowing when. His voice rang out coldly. "This Xiao had not intended to make things difficult for you! Yet you actually learned from those bandits who occupy mountains and proclaim themselves kings, robbing homes and plundering travelers! Worse still, you did not even learn properly and tried to abduct a woman! This Xiao truly cannot