Facing the onslaught of the seven blades, the three Dragon Kings were shaken to the core.
There was something unnatural about these weapons!
Despite moving with blinding speed, they carried an oppressive intent that felt specifically designed to suppress them. These were artifacts specialized for slaying dragon-kind!
Wrath sliced through the clouds, grazing the body of the Dragon King of the North. A spray of blood followed. He let out a sharp cry of pain, but as he prepared to dodge the remaining six blades, he froze.
The other swords were like sharks catching the scent of blood. They swarmed toward the crimson droplets scattered in the air, seemingly drinking them in. After touching the blood, the murderous aura radiating from the blades surged even higher.
They flew in a synchronized, lethal dance. It was impossible to tell that such agile, spirited trajectories were being controlled by a being as massive and cumbersome as a mountain.
Space was being carved into jagged segments. Relying on the support of the "Void-Rending Claws," the three Dragon Kings fled in a panic. This wasn't a three-on-one fight; it was seven against three!
The artifacts were lethal to the touch, any contact was unbearable. Even with the empowerment of the claws, the kings could barely manage to stay one step ahead.
Wuliang Xianweng was livid. He roared, "Deero, Crana! Lead the Demon-Hunting Squad and bring her down!"
This creature was no fool; her performance proved she was a being of extraordinary power.
At his command, the disciples of the Demon-Hunting Squad swarmed like a plague of locusts, diving from the heavens in a spectacular charge toward the mountainous demon.
But in that moment, a question struck Wuliang Xianweng: If the sister was this formidable, what was Tso Lan doing?
A sudden pang of panic seized his heart. He jolted, immediately cranking up the refining fires of the Tianyuan Cauldron.
"I don't care how extraordinary you are! Now that you're in this cauldron, you'll stay put and turn into an elixir!" he snarled.
…
Meanwhile, inside the Tianyuan Cauldron.
The interior had initially been a scene of pure chaos. The East Sea dragons and the suppressed demons were ancestral enemies; they had spent the first few moments brawling until they realized none of them could escape.
Under the direction of Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East, they called a truce. They sat in meditation, circulating their protective energy to delay their fate of being refined.
On the ground, two figures lay motionless, looking like pincushions. Bound by the Heart-Piercing Curse, even beings of Nezha and Ao Bing's caliber were expected to remain paralyzed for the full three hours Wuliang Xianweng had calculated.
Just as the captives were focusing on their internal defenses, a vermillion figure drifted down from above, landing softly before them.
Ao Guang squinted at the newcomer. Seeing the jade pendant pinned to the man's Taoist robe, he snorted coldly. "It seems you are another pawn discarded by Wuliang Xianweng."
"Poor soul... have you been bound by the Heart-Piercing Curse as well?" Lady Yin looked at Nezha, then at the newcomer, her eyes full of sympathy.
With everyone under the same curse, it seemed no one could break free.
"Oh? Not exactly," the man suddenly spoke.
With a slight shiver of his frame, the needles covering his body dissolved into starlight, vanishing into nothingness.
The scene plunged the crowd into stunned silence. Wuliang Xianweng had placed this curse himself, and he just broke it? Just like that?
Zoran hovered an inch above the ground. He looked around, his gaze finally settling on Nezha and Ao Bing.
"Hey! Senior! Teach me! How did you do that?" Nezha's words tumbled out like popping corn.
Ao Guang immediately dropped his protective barrier and strode toward Zoran, bowing deeply and sincerely.
"Sir, my son Ao Bing is suffering under the Heart-Piercing Curse. Since we share the same plight, I, Ao Guang, Dragon King of the East, beseech you to help us!"
"Father, your protective energy!" Ao Bing cried out, worried for his father.
Before he could finish, Li Jing and Lady Yin also dropped to one knee, their faces etched with desperation.
"If you can save my son Nezha, just name your price. Li Jing will not go back on his word!"
The group surrounded Zoran. Hovering ethereally, he didn't look like a prisoner at all; instead, he looked like a master seated upon a high dais, about to enlighten the masses.
He reached out a finger, pointing at the two boys in turn. He sighed, "Spirit Pearl."
Ao Bing couldn't move; he could only knit his brows.
"Demon Orb."
"That's me!" Nezha declared boisterously, a hint of his signature bratty charm shining through.
"A bit lacking," Zoran shook his head helplessly.
"Senior... what do you mean by 'lacking'?" Lady Yin asked anxiously.
Zoran didn't answer. He began to ascend, moving rapidly along the inner walls of the Tianyuan Cauldron. The walls were covered in immortal incantations designed for one purpose: refining.
He had entered the cauldron voluntarily because he had an objective. Obtaining the Tianyuan Cauldron was one of the goals of this trip, but he didn't necessarily have to seize it by brute force.
As Zoran drifted, he murmured, "System, was what you said before true?"
A voice echoed in his mind: [Of course. The rewards available to the Host in each world are not fixed, but they follow a pattern.]
[They must be things the Host has seen with his own eyes. Furthermore, the more contact you have with an object, the higher the probability it will appear as an option.]
"Very well."
Down on the floor of the cauldron, the others watched in confusion.
"What is the Senior doing?" Li Jing asked.
Ao Guang watched him coldly; he was the only one who could guess Zoran's intent.
"He is inspecting the Tianyuan Cauldron," Ao Guang pointed upward. "This cauldron is a legendary treasure of Yuanshi Tianzun. It seems the Senior is interested in it."
A moment later, Zoran returned.
Wuliang Xianweng hadn't lied about one thing, the power of the Tianyuan Cauldron was indeed impressive. However, its refining capacity was limited. It was already reaching its threshold just processing the East Sea dragons and the demons.
With Zoran's strength, had he not wanted to come inside to understand the treasure, Wuliang Xianweng wouldn't have had the capability to shove him in. As for the so-called Heart-Piercing Curse? It was trivial. If it could only hold Nezha and Ao Bing for three hours, it was even less of a threat to him.
With a wave of his hand, Zoran instantly refined the needles. Returning to the group, he flicked his wrist. Purple-black Demon Chi swept over the two trapped boys. Upon contact, the needles simply dissolved.
"Hey! I can move!" Nezha hopped around.
"Ao Bing, let me see!" Ao Guang rushed forward to check on his son, then fell to his knees again. "Thank you, sir! We are eternally grateful!"
Zoran waved him off. "My help comes with a price."
"A price?"
"I need celestial elixirs. But Wuliang Xianweng is determined to be difficult, so..."
"I understand," Ao Guang bowed. As an adult, he was quick to grasp the subtext. Elixirs required ingredients, and "ingredients" could be anything, human or demon, as long as they possessed spiritual energy. More importantly, this stranger clearly had a bigger bone to pick with Wuliang Xianweng than they did.
As they spoke, a terrified scream erupted from the distance.
"He... he turned into a pill!" a minor demon shrieked in horror.
"It's over! We're all going to die!" The crowd became frantic.
Lady Yin looked weak, leaning into Li Jing's arms. She looked as though she was about to reach her limit as well.
Ao Guang spoke urgently, "Unless we break through this Tianyuan Cauldron, we will all be refined into elixirs. Sir..."
He suddenly met Zoran's calm, still eyes and fell silent.
"Close your eyes," Zoran commanded.
Nezha blinked. "Why?"
Li Jing reached out and covered his son's eyes. Ao Bing closed his as well. Ao Guang raised his voice, shouting to the crowd: "Everyone, close your eyes!"
The world plunged into darkness for the captives.
Just as they were wondering what was happening, a truly terrifying aura descended upon the interior of the Tianyuan Cauldron.
One minor demon couldn't resist peeking. He opened his eyes to look at the center of the cauldron, where the aura originated.
In the next second, he felt a crushing weight on his chest, as if he had encountered an existence of ultimate horror. Having gazed upon a true form, the mental pressure spiked beyond his limits.
He collapsed, out cold.
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