Sun Lingtong giggled, "I greatly admire your skills, Elder. But..."
Zeng Jide: "But what?"
Sun Lingtong scratched his head, "But somehow, I feel this theft wasn’t thrilling enough."
Sun Lingtong spoke genuinely, but his unintentional words left Zeng Jide stunned.
Sun Lingtong wondered, "Elder? Elder?"
Zeng Jide’s face turned solemn, his brows furrowed as he stared in the direction of the City Lord’s Mansion, displaying a mix of shame and annoyance, "Ah, a clever Lord Wangchuan."
He patted Sun Lingtong’s shoulder, "Kid, it’s great to have you along. Thanks to your reminder, I nearly fell into Lord Wangchuan’s trap!"
Sun Lingtong was even more puzzled, "Huh?"
Zeng Jide gritted his teeth, snorted coldly in the direction of the City Lord’s Mansion, and said, "Kid, dare to accompany me again to the City Lord’s Mansion and rob the place completely?"
Sun Lingtong did not expect such a drastic change in Zeng Jide’s attitude.
He quickly nodded, "Well, that’s great!"
Zeng Jide laughed heartily, "Kid, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator, your courage surpasses even mine."
Sun Lingtong quickly complimented, "That’s because you are here, Elder. If it were just me, I would certainly be far away by now."
Being trusted by a junior whom he appreciates made Zeng Jide even happier.
He laughed and grasped Sun Lingtong’s arm, shadow escaped again, diving into the City Lord’s Mansion.
Altar Battlefield.
Luo Si was endlessly tangled in battle with the Earth Evil God, facing dire circumstances.
Ning Zhuo, on the other hand, was suspended before the Wangchuan Tributary, not daring to step beyond the Thunder Pool.
He expended all his strength to push the Ice Coffin into the tributary, initially freezing the river surface.
But with the awakening of Lord Wangchuan’s true body, Ning Zhuo’s plan fell apart.
Lord Wangchuan held a string of beads, constantly manipulating them with his fingers, controlling the movement of the Wangchuan Tributary.
If Sun Lingtong were here, he would immediately recognize the beads as containing many Wangchuan vortex eyes. Each vortex eye was full and at Magic Artifact Level!
Such natural Magic Artifacts often had single functions but were specific.
Man-made Magic Treasures couldn’t possibly influence the River of Oblivion to this extent, but Magic Artifacts like Wangchuan vortex eye could easily achieve it.
Essentially, they were conceived by the River of Oblivion, forming a whole.
Lord Wangchuan emanated a surging aura, maintained his spell, and manipulated the tributary to swallow the Ice Coffin into its innermost center.
A vortex formed here, trapping the Ice Coffin.
The chill from the Ice Coffin constantly overflowed, freezing the tributary. But the vortex kept rotating, expelling ice blocks and drawing in water.
Yet, the ice blocks thrown out of the tributary were swiftly transformed into water by Lord Wangchuan’s spell.
Using this method, Lord Wangchuan encased the Ice Coffin, isolating it far from Ning Zhuo.
Facing two Divinity Transformation level opponents simultaneously made Ning Zhuo feel like he was plunging into an ice cellar.
How can he possibly fight?
The gap between the two sides was simply too vast!
However, the initial confusion quickly faded, with a spark of brilliance flashing in Ning Zhuo’s eyes, "Lord Wangchuan’s true body... seems quite weak."
If not, Lord Wangchuan would have long flown out of the Wangchuan Tributary to kill Ning Zhuo.
Yet he remained anchored within the tributary, even handling the Ice Coffin by wearing it down, leaving Ning Zhuo unable to intervene from outside the tributary.
"Lord Wangchuan is so weak, can I forcibly cross the Wangchuan Tributary?"
Ning Zhuo shook his head, dismissing this bold thought.
The Wangchuan Tributary was constantly freezing inside, tumultuous outside, with crashing waves. If Ning Zhuo attempted to cross, he would surely be swept inside, and then Lord Wangchuan might seize the chance to act, drowning Ning Zhuo in the river!
"But with the Ice Coffin lost, how do I solve the crossing problem?"
Ning Zhuo furrowed his brows, feeling quite troubled.
He nearly solved the problem, but the critical answer Ice Coffin was already lost, and Lord Wangchuan’s timely awakening led to Ning Zhuo’s failure!
Ning Zhuo gritted his teeth, rapidly brainstorming, but couldn’t think of any countermeasures.
He instinctively touched the Mechanical Ring, which remained quiet.
His heart sank further, and his previous speculations resurfaced.
He immediately changed his mind, silently contemplating crossing the Wangchuan Tributary forcefully, then returning to assist Luo Si in close-quarters combat against the Earth Evil God...
The Mechanical Ring was utterly silent.
"As expected, the ring’s innate ability was suppressed."
"Did this situation start when I set foot on the Black Cloud Battlefield?"
The answer, the Ice Coffin, had fallen into enemy hands, and the Mechanical Ring was no longer able to provide Ning Zhuo with hints.
The Mechanical Ring had helped Ning Zhuo greatly, causing the big-headed youth to feel anxious, unable to help but think, "Should I retreat since the task is impossible?"
He wavered.
But merely for a moment, such hesitation was quickly suppressed!
"My mother and the boss are still elsewhere, relying on me; how can I falter here?"
"The Lifespan of the Mortal World brought me to this stage, surely not to lead me to my death."
"Since Lord Wangchuan can momentarily detain the Ice Coffin, suppressing the Mortal World’s Lifespan’s crusade against him, then I must be able to effect change and create more opportunities."
"This is a daunting challenge!"
Ning Zhuo thought to this point, his lips curled slightly, and his fighting spirit rebounded from rock-bottom, soaring upward.
This predicament was not unfamiliar to him.
Back in Fire Persimmon Immortal City, in Lava Fairy Palace, wasn’t it just like this?
Firm resolve allowed Ning Zhuo to regain his composure, pondering how to break through.
"The ghost tides rise, White Paper endangered, a lone bird with candle pierces the sky veil. Guest star should illuminate north of the central pillar, myriad lights extinguished by disaster." He silently recited the Omen Poem again.
"Guest star should illuminate north of the central pillar..."
He mulled over this phrase.
According to the sequence of the poem, the previous phrase "Lone bird with candle pierces the sky veil" had already been fulfilled. Thus, the next phrase "Guest star should illuminate north of the central pillar" should be the key to solving the riddle.
Ning Zhuo had long had a clue regarding this verse.
While in White Paper Immortal City, he even handed the Heavenly Ghost Transformation Sacrifice Ceremony scriptures to Wen Ruanyu, the Confucian Cultivator, for interpretation.
Ning Zhuo didn’t just obtain the answer but also received much support from Wen Ruanyu!
"The matter reflected by this poem is breaking the array."
"This means breaking through the great array here is the correct path?"
"What is this array? Where is its foot, its array eye, and its heart?"
Ning Zhuo was utterly clueless about these, knowing nothing.
He gazed toward the altar, guessing, "The altar is clearly the core, perhaps it’s the array heart?"
But even if the guess is correct, it’s pointless.
To breach the altar, he first needed to cross the Wangchuan Tributary, forming a deadlock.
He scanned his surroundings.
The pitch-black battlefield was engulfed in pervasive Earth Evil aura, forming thick barriers.
A flash of spirit light emerged in Ning Zhuo’s Divine Sea, "Could it be that we should retreat, and instead face the great array on the Black Cloud Battlefield?"
He felt this answer was likely correct, but again hesitated as he gazed in Luo Si’s direction.
All around Lord Wangchuan were the roaring sounds of water.
"Yin Jiu Candle is my greatest foe!" Lord Wangchuan sighed inwardly.
The Cold Abyss Ice Coffin Candle has sealed the Netherworld Flood Dragon Scissors, and even if Lord Wangchuan’s true body intervened, continuous erosion is the only option, with a long way to go before breaking the seal.
This is because the Cold Abyss Ice Coffin Candle is not merely ice attribute, but a reversal of Fire-attribute against Water Element, further combined with Yin Attribute, achieving Ice Attribute.
This is one of Yin Jiu’s unique skills; if it were easy to crack, he would be unworthy of being a Prefect.
"Once I reclaim the Netherworld Flood Dragon Scissors, everything will be easier!" Lord Wangchuan constantly fiddled with the beads.
Crack... crack...
In the subtle sound, cracks appeared on the surface of a few Wangchuan vortex eyes.
Lord Wangchuan showed a strong demeanor but was actually in a very poor state. Even manipulating the tributary depended heavily on the beads in hand, almost providing no mana support, which led to the beads constantly consuming their foundation.
Ning Zhuo insightfully wasn’t wrong; in this condition, Lord Wangchuan’s combat strength was quite worrisome, staying within the Wangchuan Tributary was certainly the safest option.