Upheaval at the Altar: Four Heads Awaken and the Might of Chaos
The Nine-Headed Ice Serpent's hiss was like a wail from the Nine Netherworlds, shaking the entire ice cave. Three heads turned toward Tang San and the others at once. Drool streamed from the head of greed, the eyes of the head of anger seemed ready to split, and a venomous light flickered in the head of jealousy. Three utterly different negative emotions surged toward them like a tide, nearly suffocating them.
"End this quickly!" Tang San shouted in a low voice. His Blue Silver Grass erupted, his strength no longer concealed. He infused the vines with the power of the Chaos Azure Lotus, coating the once-emerald grass in a seven-colored halo. As though alive, it coiled toward the black-cloaked figures.
"Petty tricks!" the cloaked figure in the lead sneered. He waved his bone staff, sending black rays shooting out like a torrential downpour to sever the Blue Silver Grass. But the seven-colored vines were exceptionally tough. The rays left only faint scorch marks, and the vines instead seized the chance to coil around the staff.
"How is that possible?" The cloaked man's expression changed drastically. His dark rays could easily corrode a Soul Douluo's defenses, yet they could do nothing to these vines.
"Because your darkness cannot withstand a single blow from the power of chaos." Tang San's voice rang out like thunder. The Blue Silver Grass tightened sharply, snapping the bone staff in an instant. The immense force flung the cloaked man into an ice wall, and he spat out a mouthful of black blood.
Lin Ye seized the opportunity. His Lotus Flame transformed into several spears that stabbed precisely at the black crystal in the center of the formation. Dai Mubai and Tai Long kept the cloaked figures who tried to intervene occupied, leaving them no way to approach.
"Crack!"
The Lotus Flame spears pierced the crystal, and the black crystal let out a piercing scream before exploding. As it shattered, the light of the formation on the altar dimmed. The fourth chain, which had been coming undone, stopped loosening and settled back into place with a soft hum.
"No!" the remaining cloaked figures roared in despair.
Just then, the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent's three heads roared together, and an invisible force swept toward the cloaked figures. Before they could even scream, their bodies rapidly shriveled. Their souls were forcibly torn out and transformed into three streams of black Qi, which the three heads devoured.
"It's devouring souls to grow stronger!" Oscar cried.
The presence of the three heads that had devoured the souls grew more terrifying. The chains binding them creaked under the strain, and the outline of a fourth head slowly emerged from the serpent's body, radiating an intense air of "sloth."
"This is bad! It's going to force its way through the fourth lock!" Tang San's expression changed drastically. "Lin Ye, help me!"
"Got it!" Lin Ye's Lotus Flame and Tang San's Blue Silver Grass intertwined, forming a massive net of light that descended over the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent. The net contained the purifying power of the Chaos Azure Lotus and the burning power of the Golden Crow Fire, and sought to suppress the ice serpent's awakening.
"Hiss-!"
The Nine-Headed Ice Serpent hissed in pain, and all three heads spewed black mist into the net. The net shuddered violently as seven-colored light and black mist clashed and canceled each other out, sizzling all the while.
"Tai Long, use your strength to reinforce the sealing chains!" Tang San shouted.
Tai Long immediately transformed into a Great Strength Gorilla and charged to the edge of the altar. His fists shone with golden light as he hammered the chains' junctions again and again. With every strike, the chains burst into blue light, temporarily strengthening the seal.
Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu took care of the remaining cloaked figures, preventing them from interfering again. Oscar kept tossing out various sausages to bolster everyone's condition, ensuring that neither the net of light nor Tai Long's strength would falter.
The battle reached a stalemate. The Nine-Headed Ice Serpent grew stronger and stronger, and its fourth head had fully formed and was slowly opening its eyes. Meanwhile, Tang San and Lin Ye's Soul Power was draining rapidly, and the net's light gradually dimmed.
"We can't hold out much longer like this!" Sweat beaded on Lin Ye's forehead, and the Golden Crow Fire's light had noticeably weakened. "We have to find a way to suppress it completely!"
Tang San gritted his teeth. The Chaos Azure Lotus spun wildly inside him, pouring the last of its power into the Blue Silver Grass. "I have a way, but I need you to cover me!"
"Tell us!" everyone shouted in unison.
"The core power of the Chaos Azure Lotus can purify all evil, but it needs close contact." Tang San fixed his gaze on the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent's vital point, seven inches below its head-where all the chains converged, and the core of the seal. "I need to get close and infuse the seal with the Azure Lotus's power!"
"That's too dangerous!" Xiao Wu immediately objected. "Those three heads could attack you at any moment!"
"There's no time!" Tang San looked at the fourth head, whose eyes were about to open completely, his gaze unwavering. "Trust me!"
Lin Ye took a deep breath. "I'll cover you! Tai Long, Dai Mubai, use everything you have to keep its heads occupied! Xiao Wu, get ready to use Teleportation to help him!"
"Right!"
They put the plan into action at once. Lin Ye gathered all his Soul Power into a massive pillar of Lotus Flame and slammed it into the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent's three heads, temporarily forcing back their attacks. Tai Long and Dai Mubai unleashed their strongest attacks at the same time, holding the heads of greed and anger at bay, respectively. Xiao Wu held her breath, ready to use Teleportation at any moment.
Tang San seized the opening and shot toward the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent's vital point like lightning. Blue Silver Grass formed a bridge of vines beneath his feet, allowing him to move swiftly across the slippery altar.
"Courting death!" The head of jealousy broke free, opened its enormous jaws, and fired a black ray at Tang San.
"Xiao Wu!"
Xiao Wu instantly used Teleportation, appearing beside Tang San and shoving him aside. The black ray grazed his shoulder and struck the distant ice wall, leaving a huge black hole.
"Go!" Xiao Wu shouted to Tang San. At the same time, she unleashed Charm, briefly disrupting the head of jealousy's movements.
Tang San did not hesitate. Using the force of Xiao Wu's shove, he accelerated again and finally reached the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent's vital point. He summoned the Chaos Azure Lotus in its entirety, and a lotus seed radiating seven-colored light floated above his palm. Bearing a vast force of life, he pressed it hard against the point where the chains converged!
"In my name, Tang San, I borrow the power of the Chaos Azure Lotus to reforge the seal and purify this evil!"
The lotus seed instantly fused into the chains. Seven-colored light spread swiftly along them, and wherever it passed, the black mist churned violently and let out anguished screams. All four of the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent's heads hissed shrilly at once. Its body thrashed violently, but the suddenly surging power of the seal bound it fast.
The eyes of the four heads-greed, anger, jealousy, and sloth-closed at once. The black presence surrounding them receded at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the serpent's body gradually fell still.
The seal... was stable for now!
Tang San breathed a sigh of relief. His body went limp, and he nearly fell. Lin Ye hurried over to support him and saw that his Soul Power was completely exhausted and his face was as pale as a paper effigy.
"We did it..." Tang San smiled weakly. His vision went black, and he fainted.
"Tang San!"
"Little San!"
Everyone hurried over, and Oscar immediately pulled out his best Recovery Sausage and stuffed it into Tang San's mouth.
Just then, the altar began to shake violently, and a deep roar came from the depths of the ice cave. Although the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent had fallen still, the ice throughout the cave began to crack, and a presence even more ancient and terrifying than the serpent's seeped out through the fissures.
"What's going on?" Dai Mubai was bewildered and alarmed.
Lin Ye unleashed his Golden Crow Perception to its fullest, and his face instantly turned deathly pale. "It's not the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent... It's the ice cave itself... Something is coming out!"
As soon as he spoke, the ground at the center of the altar exploded. A gigantic claw covered in white scales thrust up from underground. A chilling light glinted on it, and it radiated a pressure that robbed heaven and earth of their color.
Immediately afterward, an enormous head emerged from the ground. It belonged to a gigantic dragon, snow-white from head to tail, with two crystalline horns and eyes like sapphires. Yet those eyes held no emotion, only icy indifference.
"It's... it's the Ice Plains Ancient Dragon!" Oscar looked at the illustration in the Record of Continental Wonders, his voice trembling. "Legend says it's the Dragon of Creation of the Far North Ice Plains. It sleeps in the deepest part of the ice cave, and once it awakens, the entire ice plains will freeze!"
The Ice Plains Ancient Dragon opened its eyes, swept its gaze over Tang San and the others, then looked at the sealed Nine-Headed Ice Serpent and let out a deafening dragon roar.
After the roar, it gave a gentle wave of its enormous claw. The cracked ice instantly healed, and the terrifying presence that had seeped out vanished with it. It looked at Tang San again, a barely perceptible glint flashing in its eyes. Then its body transformed into a streak of white light and sank back underground, disappearing from sight.
The entire ice cave returned to calm, as though none of it had happened.
"It... why didn't it attack?" Xiao Wu was still shaken.
Lin Ye looked at the place where the Ice Plains Ancient Dragon had disappeared, lost in thought. "It seemed... it didn't come to attack us. That dragon roar just now was more like it was reinforcing the seal."
Dai Mubai walked to the edge of the altar and saw that all four of the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent's heads had fallen completely still. The seven-colored light on the chains was steady and gentle. "The seal seems... to have been completely reinforced."
Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief and turn to the unconscious Tang San. It was the power of his Chaos Azure Lotus that had not only suppressed the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent but also seemed to have earned the Ice Plains Ancient Dragon's approval, completely resolving the crisis in the ice cave.
Oscar fed Tang San the last Recovery Sausage and said softly, "Let's take him out first. It's too dangerous here."
Lin Ye nodded and carefully picked Tang San up. "The Ice Soul Giants should still be waiting outside. They might know how to handle what comes next."
Supporting one another and carrying the unconscious Tang San, the group slowly walked out of the Forgotten Ice Cave. Outside, the two Ice Soul Giants were still guarding the entrance. When they saw the group emerge, gratitude shone in their eyes.
By the time they walked out of the ice valley, the bear leader and his clan had long been waiting there. Seeing Tang San and the others safe and sound, the bear leader let out a joyful roar. All the Ice Plains White Bears roared along with him, their voices ringing across the ice plains as though celebrating the victory.
Holding Tang San, Lin Ye watched the snowflakes whirl through the sky, his heart full of emotion. They had not only resolved the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent crisis but also unexpectedly encountered the legendary Ice Plains Ancient Dragon. Though the journey had been perilous, they had ultimately safeguarded the peace of these ice plains.
Yet the identities of the black-cloaked figures remained a mystery. Who were they? Why had they wanted to release the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent? How many unknown secrets still lay hidden at the edge of the continent?
Lin Ye looked down at the unconscious Tang San in his arms, then at his companions beside him, his gaze gradually growing resolute. No matter how many dangers lay ahead, as long as they stayed together, they would surely overcome every hardship hand in hand, just as they had this time.
The cold wind of the Far North Ice Plains remained biting, but sunlight broke through the clouds, casting down a warm ray that illuminated the road ahead. A new journey was slowly unfolding beneath their feet.