Chapter 111: Escape (Part II)

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“Come in quickly! Let us join forces and use the power of this royal cauldron to break out!”

The instant Jiang Feng slipped into the cauldron, his thoughts and message reached Duan Xingyun’s mind.

Once martial cultivation reached the Spirit Transformation realm, one could communicate through thought, let alone cultivators of the Void Nether realm. With but a single thought from Jiang Feng, Duan Xingyun understood his intention. The two circulated their Netherforce and abruptly plunged into the cauldron.

“Gather the Star Sand—condense the sword and transform it into thunder!”

At the instant Duan Xingyun entered the cauldron, he also gave the Star Sand Sword a swift shake. Dozens of bolts of Star-Sand Lightning immediately burst from the blade and exploded toward the crimson tiger in the distance.

Earlier, Jiang Feng had condensed his Netherforce into a Wood Emperor Divine Needle and launched it in an assassination strike, only for Lei Peng to transform his Netherforce into a crimson tiger that swallowed it whole. If Jiang Feng could not reclaim the needle, the loss to his Netherforce would take at least several years to restore.

Duan Xingyun knew this well, and therefore sought to blast apart the crimson tiger so that Jiang Feng could recover his Netherforce.

“You want to reclaim your Netherforce?” Seeing what was happening, Lei Peng opened the mouth of the crimson tiger beside him once more. A violent surge shot forth, swallowing the Star-Sand Lightning into its belly. Duan Xingyun’s expression changed. He urged his Netherforce again and again, yet the Star-Sand Lightning vanished into the sea like a lump of mud, losing all connection with him and failing to explode.

When Nether Arts were cultivated to the ninth stage of the Void Nether realm, Netherforce could condense into objects possessing spiritual awareness. The Sea God that had appeared during the Nine Rocks Grand Tournament was one such example. Now, the true form of Lei Peng’s Netherforce was a crimson tiger, ferocious beyond compare, as though it could swallow all things. It was a Nether Art of the Langya Merchant Association of Lingbo Town, known as the Crimson Tiger’s Heavenly Might.

Once, an elder of the Langya Merchant Association of Lingbo Town had used the Crimson Tiger’s Heavenly Might to swallow a hundred thousand soldiers from an entire city in a single bite.

“Woo! Gu! Ba! Ma! Heng! Ya! Tu! Po!”

At that moment, a powerful sonic wave tore through the air. It transformed into eight azure dragons, following close behind the Star-Sand Lightning as they charged toward the crimson tiger.

The Eight-Dragon Sonic Slaughter!

The azure dragon forms created by the Eight-Dragon Sonic Slaughter differed from the crimson tiger. They were merely transformations of shape, without spiritual awareness; they were the sound Jiang Feng released after condensing all his Netherforce into it. Within those azure dragon forms was also a trace of yellow so fine that it was almost impossible to detect.

It was water vapor refined from Nether Soul Force.

“The Eight-Dragon Sonic Slaughter? You think you can break my Crimson Tiger’s Heavenly Might? Delusional! None of you are to interfere. I will capture these three myself!” Lei Peng paid it no heed. He was just about to use a Nether Art to trap the White Emperor Glazed Glass Cauldron when he ordered the other disciples not to act, intending to handle the matter alone.

Upon hearing Lei Peng’s command, the disciples did not interfere. They withdrew into the distance, and even the other two core disciples rose into the sky to watch with folded arms, displaying the bearing of the foremost sect in the world.

This revealed the difference between the disciples of the Langya Merchant Association of Lingbo Town: every one of them was extraordinarily proud.

“Crimson Tiger, open wide! Swallow mountains and rivers!”

Strands of white Netherforce once again seethed around Lei Peng’s body and poured into the crimson tiger. The beast immediately swelled, growing until it was as large as a small hill. It opened its jaws and inhaled, sucking all the dragon forms of the Eight-Dragon Sonic Slaughter into its belly. Without pausing, it opened its enormous maw and lunged toward the White Emperor Glazed Glass Cauldron.

The White Emperor Glazed Glass Cauldron was as large as a house. Even a giant serpent on the level of the Blackwater Scarlet-Eyed Serpent could not swallow it. Yet once this crimson tiger opened its mouth, its maw completely enveloped the cauldron, truly possessing the power to swallow mountains and rivers.

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“Seeking death!”

Jue, hidden within the Bottle of Mountains and Rivers, let out a shout. The Nether Soul Force concealed within the Eight-Dragon Sonic Slaughter suddenly erupted.

After Jue wrapped it in a layer of his own spiritual power, the Nether Soul Force took on the appearance of water. Unless one possessed Netherforce above the True Nether realm, it was impossible to see through it. A cultivator like Lei Peng could only assume it was some mysterious water-element Nether Art.

“What is happening?”

The Nether Soul Force entered the crimson tiger’s belly and intertwined with its Netherforce. In an instant, it corroded the beast’s flesh like acid eating through skin. Green smoke billowed out with a sizzling sound, and terrible pain surged into Lei Peng’s mind. The crimson tiger’s true form was condensed from his own Netherforce; once it was injured, he felt the damage with exceptional clarity.

Wave after wave of Netherforce was corroded and collapsed from within. The mighty crimson tiger writhed in unbearable agony and threw back its head, roaring toward the heavens.

“White Emperor Glazed Glass Cauldron—break!”

Seeing the opportunity, Jiang Feng immediately activated the great cauldron and drove it fiercely into the crimson tiger’s mouth, straight into its vital interior. He then activated one of the cauldron’s formations. Instantly, blazing flames shot from the royal cauldron. The flames took the form of spiked spheres, resembling chestnuts.

Whenever they encountered the crimson tiger’s Netherforce, they exploded at once.

This was one of the formations within the White Emperor Glazed Glass Cauldron. It condensed flames and produced Five-Flame Divine Thunder. Not only could it refine the hardest ores and diamonds, melting them into vapor, it could also be launched outward to bombard enemies.

The White Emperor Glazed Glass Cauldron contained nine hundred and ninety-nine grand formations, each possessing formidable power. Although Jiang Feng had refined them one by one, he was completely incapable of activating all of them at once, for his Netherforce was not sufficiently profound.

To activate all nine hundred grand formations of the White Emperor Glazed Glass Cauldron in a single instant required Netherforce at least at the sixth stage of the True Nether realm. For now, Jiang Feng could only choose the Five-Flame Divine Thunder Formation, whose destructive power was already considerable.

Balls of explosive flame formed a sphere three or four acres in circumference. Bursting outward from inside the crimson tiger, they tore the beast apart, and milky-white Netherforce sprayed in every direction.

When the crimson tiger split apart, Lei Peng sensed it and violently spat out a mouthful of blood. First Jue had ambushed him, and then Jiang Feng had caught him off guard. He had suffered a disastrous reversal through his own carelessness.

“Ram it!”

Seeing the opening, Jiang Feng did not hesitate. He activated another grand formation within the royal cauldron. The cauldron began spinning at high speed, accompanied by thunderous sonic booms, and smashed toward Lei Peng.

The house-sized royal cauldron hurtled toward this outstanding disciple of the Langya Merchant Association of Lingbo Town.

“You actually resorted to trickery! You destroyed my Crimson Tiger! In that case, there is no one beneath heaven or above earth who can save you! I will capture you alive, cripple your Nether Arts, and hang you up to suffer eighty-one days of having blades and swords pierce your body! I will let every orthodox sect know the consequences before sending you back to the Langya Merchant Association of Nine Rocks Town!”

Lei Peng’s roar shook heaven and earth.

If the White Emperor Glazed Glass Cauldron struck him directly, even a mountain would be pulverized. Yet Lei Peng’s Netherforce was tremendously powerful. Although the Crimson Tiger’s true form had been blasted apart, he still displayed his formidable strength at this critical moment. Roaring furiously, he seized the air with both hands, and vast quantities of milky-white Netherforce surged anew from within his body, blocking the cauldron’s impact.

This was the Crimson Tiger True Force he had cultivated. Its nature was fierce and mighty, its Netherforce rolling like an enraged lion, displaying the majesty of the king of beasts to the fullest.

“Unity’s Light-Splitting Art!”

As he frantically condensed his Netherforce, the flying sword under his control returned once more. It split into countless sword lights that intertwined like silk spun by a spider, forming a dense sword net.

The sword net descended and ensnared the royal cauldron. Countless sounds of metal being sliced apart rang through the air. Lei Peng intended to cut the great cauldron into pieces.

“Jue, use your spiritual guidance to direct my Nether Soul Force and activate the Five-Flame Divine Thunder Formation within the cauldron. Duan Xingyun and I will activate the Spatial Shift Formation. We must leave this place. One Lei Peng is already this difficult to deal with; if the other two core disciples join the battle, we will surely be doomed.”

Inside the cauldron, Jiang Feng conveyed his intentions to Jue and Duan Xingyun.

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Jue also knew that the situation was dire. If they were captured by the people of the Langya Merchant Association of Lingbo Town, they would certainly be executed in the name of exterminating demons. Thus, he poured his Netherforce into the Five-Flame Divine Thunder Formation.

Once again, fireballs erupted from the royal cauldron.

Meanwhile, Jiang Feng and Duan Xingyun poured all their Netherforce into a Spatial Shift Formation.

This formation was used to propel and relocate a pill furnace. Once activated, the entire furnace could fly through the air at speeds beyond sound. The greater the user’s Netherforce, the faster it would travel.

Woo—woo—woo, woo—woo—woo…

Jiang Feng and Duan Xingyun poured all their Netherforce into the Spatial Shift Formation at once. The pill furnace immediately shook violently again and released a howling roar. Carrying the Five-Flame Divine Thunder with it, it shattered the sword net of the Unity’s Light-Splitting Sword in an instant and flew into the distance, breaking free from the battlefield.

Because Lei Peng’s arrogance had caused everyone else to withdraw, Jiang Feng’s sudden departure caught them completely off guard. More importantly, the pill furnace was simply too fast, reaching three or four times the speed of sound. A white trail of vapor left the sonic boom far behind, while friction against the atmosphere gave rise to a long tail of flame, resembling a phoenix wreathed in fire.

Such speed normally belonged only to experts who had cultivated to the third stage of the True Nether realm.

Now, Jiang Feng had achieved it through the void-shifting formation of the White Emperor Glazed Glass Cauldron.

Lei Peng came to his senses and roared again. Yet he knew that his own speed made it impossible to catch Jiang Feng. Moreover, his Netherforce had just been corroded and he had suffered a minor injury. He therefore slowly withdrew his power and began regulating his vital energy.

“Senior Brother! That little thief certainly ran fast! What do we do now? Should we pursue him?” The other two core disciples, Su Bing and Huo Liu, hurried over through the air. Seeing Lei Peng in such a state, they realized he had suffered a light injury and asked in astonishment.

“I am fine. Do not pursue them! If we continue the chase, it will become a matter of our Langya Merchant Association of Lingbo Town hunting down disciples of the Langya Merchant Association of Nine Rocks Town for the sake of a magical treasure. That would create an extremely bad impression and could easily provoke a dispute between our sects. I never expected them to refine that royal cauldron so quickly. We shall deliberate over this matter carefully. We will not let them keep the cauldron. Let us go!”

Lei Peng gave a cold, sinister smile.

“Where are we going?”

“The Central Sea Market! They killed the Island Lord of Lifeless Island, so they will certainly go to the Central Islands to claim their reward. We shall wait for them there. We will capture them in public, strip them of all face, and leave them with neither the treasure nor their lives.” Lei Peng was utterly confident. “You must be careful. Jiang Feng possesses something that seems specifically designed to corrode the Netherforce of orthodox cultivators. It is exceedingly dangerous. Once you encounter him, strike to kill. Do not give him any opportunity to use that demonic treasure.”

“Understood!”

A group of disciples from the Langya Merchant Association of Lingbo Town flew toward the Central Sea Market.

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