HSSB783: Revival of the Taotie
The underwater palace was formed of the carcass of an extremely powerful demonic beast, the Taotie, following its death.
While the Taotie was dead, its flesh and blood were still powerful, its body not decaying or spoiling as it even formed a palace like an independent space of its own.
It seemed no different from any other world here as it separated space and kept one outside of the World beyond Worlds.
At the same time, the spatial boundaries were exceptionally sturdy, enabling a few Immortal Bridge Martial Saints to simultaneously clash, battling heatedly within.
Even in the normal heavens and earth of the World beyond Worlds outside, Kang Ping, Gu Hong and the others would be able to sufficiently cause some heaven-shocking, earth-shaking battle with their mighty cultivation bases.
Still, if one did not intentionally attack the palace, just the aftershocks of the battle alone would still be insufficient to wreck the place.
Yet, the great battle between experts of the Immortal Bridge stage did still affect things immensely.
As spiritual qi surged, the ritual mechanism at the core of the underwater palace which was being used to sacrificially forge the treasured sword instantly grew unstable as a result.
The Northern Ocean Clone watched as the Heaven Swallowing Sword Box that stood before him suddenly shook intensely now.
It was not the sword box itself that shook. Instead, it was something existing inside the box!
Led by the light which encircled the sword box, the treasured sword sought to shoot out from within before having been forged completely.
Piercing shrieks that resounded the wailing of infants resounded in the heart of the Northern Ocean Clone, shocking one’s soul.
Even with the Northern Ocean Clone’s current cultivation base, he still felt dizzy somewhat.
That was the roar of the Taotie!
Looking over, the Northern Ocean Clone saw the head of a ferocious beast gradually appear on the exterior of the Heaven Swallowing Sword Box, clearly precisely resembling that Taotie of legend.
That Taotie appeared somewhat illusory. However, as it opened its huge, basin-like mouth, an immense suction force truly, tangibly emanated from within.
As the majestic might of swallowing the heavens and devouring the earth with the entire world being swallowed expanded, the Northern Ocean Clone instantly grew unstable as he flew upwards.
Before he fell into the mouth of the Taotie, the Northern Ocean Clone rampantly exerted force, his figure performing a rotation in mid-air as he forcibly stabilised himself where he was.
The Earth Devouring Burner in his other hand was aimed towards the massive Taotie mouth which had suddenly appeared atop the Heaven Swallowing Sword Box.
After having refined them for so long, the Northern Ocean Clone already possessed considerable authority over the Heaven Swallowing Sword Box and the Earth Devouring Burner.
He could already actively wield this treasure now.
Sadly, even the Earth Devouring Burner that was able to devour and contain the attacks of Seeing Divinity Martial Saints seemed to have lost its efficacy before this Taotie.
The Northern Ocean Clone accelerated to the maximum with but a thought on his part, unceasingly fleeing into the distance.
Yet, the distance between him and the Heaven Swallowing Sword Box seemed never to grow as they were still mere feet away from each other.
The culmination of his efforts only ensured that he temporarily would not get closer to that Taotie.
The two sides descended into a stalemate for a time.
Yet, the roar of that Taotie which resembled infants wailing increased in volume, becoming more and more deafening.
Yan Zhaoge noticed the blood pool that the Northern Ocean Clone and the Heaven Swallowing Sword Box were in beginning to surge intensely as had never before.
Numerous bubbles of blood begin arising from the surface of the blood pool before exploding as the demonic blood within the blood pool seemed to be roiling.
The underwater palace was changing at a speed clearly visible to the naked eye, the palace that the blood pool was in beginning to shrink back as it seemed about to regain its true form, the Taotie’s heart.
Apart from that bloodthirsty air, stirrings of life actually also appeared in the underwater palace which had previously been deathly silent.
The flesh and blood was retracting, the meridians spasming, the bones extending!
The carcass of the demonic beast, the Taotie, actually showed signs of reviving at this moment!
The demonic soul of the Taotie that was sealed within the ancient copper sword was even gradually breaking out of its seal as it sought to break through the obstruction of the ancient copper sword and the Heaven Swallowing Sword Box, combining with its fleshly body in the outside world.
Yan Zhaoge’s Northern Ocean Clone was trapped right in the middle of this, with flesh and blood exerting pressure from the outside and the demonic soul ripping its way outwards.
Atop the sword box, a sinister glow was emitted from the eyes of that Taotie head, attempting to shake the Northern Ocean Clone’s mind and will.
The sinister glow appeared tangible as it extended along their exchanged gazes, seeking to encroach into the body of the Northern Ocean Clone.
“This bastard actually wants to devour my Northern Ocean Clone, using him as a part of its own body following its revival,” Yan Zhaoge immediately realised.
The Northern Ocean Clone snorted coldly, many acupoints of his entire body pulsing simultaneously as led by the Baihui acupoint at the top of his head.
His true essence gushed outwards, transforming into the silhouette of a Kunpeng that raised its head and emitted a furious roar, meeting the Taotie head-on.
While the Northern Ocean Clone was much weaker than the Taotie had been when it had been alive, the Kunpeng was a mighty primordial demonic beast that was not inferior to the Taotie in the least.
This Taotie had been powerful when alive. However, it had still not fully revived now.
Despite its attempts to corrode and overwhelm the Northern Ocean Clone’s mind, it was unable to do so.
Now, however, Yan Zhaoge detected numerous black holes beginning to appear in the surroundings of the palace.
From each of these black holes emanated a terrifying suction force, seeking to swallow and devour.
The black holes increased in number, hundreds upon thousands of them appearing as they gradually came to fill up the entire area, making for a shocking sight.
All these suction forces gradually combined, becoming increasingly powerful.
This signified the gradual revival of the Taotie.
With the body of a goat and the face of a human, its eyes below its armpits as it had the teeth of a tiger and the claws of a human.
This was the actual external appearance of the Taotie.
Still, because of its heaven-blessed ability to swallow the heavens and devour the earth, most of the time, people would only witness the appearance of a massive black hole of chaos when it appeared.
Where the black hole passed, the sun and the moon and the stars, the heavens and the earth and mountains and oceans, all these would seemingly be sucked within without exception.
Even light would be devoured, causing most people to be unable to see the actual face of the Taotie.
The underwater palace originally formed of the Taotie’s carcass was currently gradually being consumed and overshadowed by numerous black holes, foretelling the Taotie’s revival!
When this Taotie had revived completely, having regained its vitality and might, it would directly transform into a black hole, swallowing everything and everyone within and outside of its body.
Those within the underwater palace right now, be they Yan Zhaoge, Kang Ping, or Gu Hong or others, were destined to become the Taotie’s first meal after its revival if that truly happened.
Kang Ping, Luo Zhiyuan, Gu Hong and the others who were currently battling within the underwater palace had also noticed the changes in their surroundings.
As compared to other places, the suction force of the black hole was weaker at the Taotie’s heart where the blood pool was.
The black hole was expanding even more rapidly in other parts of the palace.
Luo Zhiyuan, Gongsun Wu, Gu Hong and the others of the anti-Xuan coalition were all cursing inwardly at their bad luck.
They had originally come here to escape the pursuit by the Grand Xuan Dynasty amidst the chaos. However, they had fallen into a bind in the end, with no place to advance to and pursuers behind.
This was a true bind of death. If they were not careful, all of them would end up dying right there.
Those of the Grand Xuan Dynasty consciously recognised this danger as well. They no longer continued attacking Luo Zhiyuan and the rest as they instead attempted to leave the palace.
Thinking about how his two sons were not beside him, Kang Ping was feeling extremely anxious.
Qi Wei was also shocked by the sudden change in the situation.
His brows were knit tightly as he reached out and grabbed Kang Maosheng and Kang Jinyuan, throwing them into a barely intact passageway, “Go!”
After sending away the Kang brothers, Qi Wei glared at Yan Zhaoge, forming a hand seal with both palms before abruptly pulling them apart to the sides.
The two great formations enveloping Yan Zhaoge all around instantly began circulating in reverse as they looked set to simultaneously fall apart!
Ever since Yan Zhaoge had appeared in the World beyond Worlds, he had surpassed everyone’s expectations every time as he had caused incomparably great disturbances everywhere he went.
In Qi Wei’s eyes, he was a more headache-inducing foe than the Radiant Light Sect.
For fear that these intense disruptions in the palace before him might be unable to kill Yan Zhaoge, he decided that he would give additional insurance for such.
He already no longer doubted Yan Zhaoge’s exceptional skill in the dao of formations. Still, as Yan Zhaoge deciphered his formations, his escape from the palace would surely be delayed as a result.
He wanted to make use of these intense disruptions currently happening before him to leave Yan Zhaoge eternally behind in the deep sea of the Clear Scenic Region!