The Old Grandpa in the Ring

Bai Ling then took a porcelain cup from her Storage Bag, poured out several vermilion pills, and handed them to all the helpers present.

Even Wentesi and Crow Lord received one each.

Bai Ling explained,

"These are Fire-Quelling Spirit-Calming Pills. It's best to take them beforehand.

That enemy cultivates Turtle Beak Fire. His Cultivation Method is extremely sinister and can unsettle the mind and stir up anger. Taking this pill will lessen its harm somewhat."

The helpers accepted the pills and each swallowed one.

At Bai Ling's direction, the three formation holders quickly spread out to three positions in the woods, and the formation slowly unfolded.

Bai Ling turned to Wentesi and Crow Lord, who were still where they had been, and instructed them,

"You two demons keep an eye on his movements from high above. Whichever position he heads toward, warn the formation holder there immediately."

"Understood."

Crow Lord answered.

Wentesi and Crow Lord then beat their wings and took flight once more, hovering among the clouds above the formation.

But at that moment, Shu San, who was on Crow Lord's back, began to grow restless.

He kept sniffing, as if trying to catch the scent of something.

Crow Lord asked him a couple of questions, but Shu San only shook his head repeatedly, unwilling to say more.

Before long, a commotion arose below.

Bai Ling approached Lin Hen's cave abode, moved the ten slender, jade-like fingers of her small hands, and chanted an incantation.

At once, the trees around her began to shake violently.

All the surrounding trees and vegetation turned into countless little green snakes, packed densely together in their thousands upon thousands.

The little snakes hissed as they surged toward the quiet mountainside.

Wentesi watched the scene thoughtfully.

Wood Virtue techniques? It seems Bai Ling probably cultivates Wood Virtue. I just don't know which wood her Dao lineage belongs to.

Their power is extremely strong, though-at least equivalent to High Extraordinary in the Western fantasy world.

"Puff-!"

After a muffled sound, something seemed to break.

The next instant, a figure wreathed in crimson flames burst violently out from beneath the mountainside.

His hair hung loose, his clothes were in tatters, his eyes were crimson, and his breath was erratic. He looked utterly bedraggled.

As soon as he appeared, he threw back his head and let out a shrill, anguished roar.

"The seven-year agreement isn't up yet, and you already want to kill me off?!"

Lin Hen's words were jumbled and deranged; there was no telling what he was talking about.

Bai Ling looked at him in that state, her eyes full of coldness, and continued casting her Law Technique.

Little green snakes filled the sky, hissing as they surged toward him like a tide.

Lin Hen reacted instinctively, unleashing a powerful Fire Virtue Law Technique.

A savage, illusory fire snake surged out of his body, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.

Flames rolled forth, burning most of the little green snakes rushing at him to ashes.

When Bai Ling saw the form the Law Technique took, her face abruptly darkened, and the anger in her eyes surged.

But she did not lose her reason in the end. She took a deep breath, changed her hand gesture, and formed a Method Formula.

The scattered little snakes swiftly gathered into three enormous green pythons, which lunged at Lin Hen with their gaping, bloody maws open.

Using the attack as cover, Bai Ling slowly retreated.

Lin Hen was still raving mad, fending off the giant pythons' attacks at random.

After fighting for a while, he seemed to notice something and abruptly stopped.

The next moment, ignoring the green pythons charging at him, he erupted in flames and turned into a red afterimage, racing toward the outside of the formation at astonishing speed.

"He's charging north!"

Seeing this, Crow Lord immediately called out a warning.

The human sword cultivator was stationed to the north.

"Got it."

The sword cultivator's cold reply came from below. He held his treasured sword across his body, golden light flickering from it.

The sword cultivator raised his sword high and aimed it at the approaching Lin Hen.

The Mystic Phenomenon over the world was Floating Light Leaping Gold, which enhanced Metal Virtue cultivators. On top of that, the human sword cultivator was no weakling himself.

He was confident that this one strike would finish Lin Hen off!

But just as Lin Hen was about to collide with the sword light, he suddenly swerved, changing direction and heading west instead.

It had been a feint!

He charged west.

That was where the green-scaled old woman stood.

Seeing him approach, the old woman snorted coldly and drove her cane into the ground. Countless vines and thorns burst from the earth and rose before her, forming an impenetrable net.

Lin Hen's fiery figure collided with the vine net.

Flames exploded, but failed to break through the defense.

Lin Hen did not linger to fight, however. He turned and charged toward the ape demon.

The black-furred ape demon laughed eerily. Neither dodging nor evading, he swung his twin axes and met him head-on.

Lin Hen unleashed all manner of Fire Virtue Law Techniques, bombarding the ape demon from head to toe, yet they only managed to singe some of his fur.

The ape demon was a naturally born variant and had an exceptionally strong resistance to fire.

The ape demon's twin axes, meanwhile, swung with tremendous force, every blow lethal.

Lin Hen retreated again and again, utterly bedraggled.

His attack had failed, and his figure flashed away again.

But by then the formation had closed completely. The blue light from the three formation banners joined together, forming a barrier that trapped him firmly inside.

Next came the task of wearing him down by turns, a thoroughly tedious process.

Lin Hen was like a hakimi trapped in a cage, charging from side to side and hissing every now and then.

But every position was tightly defended, and Wentesi and Crow Lord were calling out his position from above. He could not find the slightest opening.

The cultivators on the field continuously unleashed Law Techniques to wear Lin Hen down.

At last, Lin Hen's breath grew utterly feeble, until one of Bai Ling's green pythons bit his head off.

Crack!

His head rolled to the ground, the flames went out, and his body fell heavily to the earth.

The moment his head hit the ground, he opened his mouth and left half a sentence as his final words:

"I hate... Master, your heart is too cruel..."

When Lin Hen died, the field abruptly fell silent.

The Law Techniques in everyone's hands, however, did not stop.

They began taking turns desecrating the corpse: one sent a Sword-Ray, another a green snake, and another a flying axe.

Landing a finishing blow was already standard practice in battles in the world of immortal cultivation.

Such a practice had become instinct for every immortal cultivator.

And immortal cultivators without that instinct had long since become dead men.

Only after they had desecrated the corpse for the time it took three incense sticks to burn, leaving it smashed to bits on the ground, did the formation slowly disperse.

But just as the formation dispersed, Wentesi, hovering high in the sky, suddenly heard something.

The Many Ears Penetration he had mastered through Brahma Sound Six Consciousnesses Many Ears Penetration had come into play!

At that moment, Wentesi heard the faint sound of a flame.

The sound drifted out from Lin Hen's corpse and sped away into the distance.

He actually had another move in reserve? Interesting, but this flame's presence is far too faint.

Wentesi said nothing. His red dragon true body began casting a divination again.

He divined whether he should tell Bai Ling.

The answer was no.

It was even an omen of great fortune!

Wentesi's gaze darkened slightly as he looked in the direction that presence had vanished, falling into thought.

A tiny flame darted swiftly through the woods, its presence extremely faint.

It fled into the distance, turning this way and that, looking to be in a great hurry.

It fled like that for a while.

A massive demon suddenly appeared to its right.

The demon blocked the tiny flame's path.

The demon was enormous, with a twelve-meter wingspan and a seven-meter-long body. It was covered in crimson scales, with two wings, four legs, five claws, and an immensely ferocious face. One look was enough to tell it was no good demon.

It was Wentesi's red dragon true body!

The faint fiery figure trembled violently, as if startled.

The next moment, the fiery figure frantically changed direction, trying to escape.

But he was already like a lamp whose oil had run dry. He had little strength left, and he flew extremely slowly.

Against Wentesi, who was in good condition, he had no chance of escaping.

Wentesi flew along leisurely, using Many Ears Penetration to keep track of the flame's location by its sound.

He was in no hurry to strike, following unhurriedly behind it.

A short while later, the faint fiery figure could no longer hold on.

Its light flickered, visibly growing dimmer and dimmer as it teetered in the air.

Wentesi listened as the sound of the flame grew fainter and fainter, nearing extinction.

He used the Hairy Head Sun Law Power within him to conjure a golden light that wrapped around the wavering fiery figure like a giant net.

The golden light tightened, sealing off every avenue of escape.

Only then did Wentesi see the fiery figure's true appearance.

It was an ancient-looking black ring.

Just then, an old, hoarse voice reached Wentesi's ears.

The voice sounded much like a devil's whisper from the Western fantasy world, but raspier and more unpleasant:

"Young little demon, congratulations. You have encountered this venerable one, High Person Huncang. Alas, this venerable one has now lost all his Law Power and is trapped here.

Would you be willing to lend this venerable one a hand? When the time comes, this venerable one will surely reward you handsomely!"

After hearing this, Wentesi fell silent for a moment.

"So after all that, it's an old grandpa? I thought it was something good."

But as the Hairy Head Sun Law Power tightened around him, High Person Huncang seemed to sense something.

The next second, High Person Huncang was instantly seized by terror. His previously composed tone vanished completely as he said in a trembling voice,

"...What? You... you're a Buddhist mount?!!"

High Person Huncang was like a man who had seen a ghost in broad daylight.