It's trying to escape!
The thought barely flashed through Xie Zhaolin's mind when the black orb suddenly collapsed into a thin line, shooting at incredible speed toward a crack in the rock wall.
"Stop it!" she shouted, just as Mo Yan's demonic qi erupted from the ground into a thorny cage.
The black line twisted oddly in midair, suddenly changing direction, narrowly avoiding the barrier, almost turning into a streak of light to escape! At that critical moment, Mo Yan suddenly pulled a silver-glimmering talisman from his storage pouch, formed hand seals, and slammed it to the ground!
The instant it hit, countless silver threads exploded from the talisman, weaving into a massive net in the blink of an eye!
"A Spatial Confinement Talisman?!" Xie Zhaolin's heart skipped a beat.
Even Nascent Soul cultivators would covet a talisman like this, and yet this projection of Mo Yan had it in reserve?
The black orb rammed at the silver net like a mad beast, but it was trapped, unable to escape. Mo Yan's hand trembled under his gray robe—this talisman was his last card for survival, never expecting he'd have to use it here.
"Well done!" Xie Zhaolin's praise sent a shiver through him.
Her hands moved rapidly, forming seals as baleful qi and spiritual energy entwined in her palms. A drop of her crimson blood forced out from her fingertips, instantly merging with the coiling energy.
In an instant, a blood-red longsword formed in her hand, radiating a terrifying aura.
"Slash!"
The crimson sword tore through the air, cleaving straight toward the black orb's core with unstoppable force. But just as the blade was about to strike, the orb's surface shimmered with an eerie metallic sheen!
Clang!
The sword didn't pierce the orb at all. Instead, an invisible force gripped it, swallowing half the blade, leaving it stuck, unable to move forward an inch.
Xie Zhaolin let go immediately, severing her connection with the baleful qi.
One second longer and she would've been swallowed along with the orb!
When she looked again, the metallic sheen had spread across the entire orb, the flickering black light vanished, and the sphere became a lifeless chunk of black metal. At the same time, the frenzied vines around them froze, their surface gloss fading as they wilted in large swathes. Strangely, their structure remained intact, forming natural barriers in the caves but leaving plenty of gaps for passage.
"This… this is…" Mo Yan slumped to the ground, sweat soaking his gray robe, blood still at the corners of his mouth.
The priceless Spatial Confinement Talisman had turned to ash, but his hands still trembled—not from fear, but pure, post-disaster joy.
After all, if Xie Zhaolin had died, he, a contract slave, wouldn't have survived either. Though the talisman was spent, they'd gambled right—his life was safe for now.
Xie Zhaolin ignored him for the moment, calmly assessing the situation. She tapped her fingers, sending a new command through the contract to Feng Wang. "Scout the route, locate the teleportation array."
Feng Wang immediately flew out with worker bees, probing the wilted vines for a way forward, while the other five beast souls circled the strange black metallic orb. Shuang Ling couldn't hold back first. Her silver-white fox tail shot high as she spewed a jet of ice-blue fox fire at the orb.
The flames didn't even leave a scorch mark—they bounced off completely, sparks nearly singeing her own tail tip.
Xue Xiao let out a mocking call, making Shuang Ling's fur bristle with irritation. The fox shook gracefully, shooting dozens of silver feathers at the orb, but instead of shattering, they made only crisp ding sounds, leaving no marks.
Shuang Ling seized the moment, her tail curling high as she snorted in clear ridicule. She circled Xue Xiao once, her ice-blue eyes full of glee.
Xue Xiao flapped madly, firing another volley of feathers, all to no avail.
This time Shuang Ling sat elegantly, tail swaying, pointing at her fox fire and then at Xue Xiao's feathers—the message was obvious: your attacks aren't even half as good as mine!
Xue Xiao fumed, gold eyes burning with anger, but powerless.
Shuang Ling gleefully spat another jet of fox fire. It still couldn't harm the orb, but that was the point—to annoy Xue Xiao.
As expected, Xue Xiao turned away, refusing even a glance.
Xie Zhaolin watched their antics with a helpless smile, clapping lightly. The beast souls immediately quieted, returning to their positions.
Only then did she turn to the slumped Mo Yan. The demon slave looked terrible—tattered gray robe, pale face, blood at his mouth. He'd clearly exhausted his blood essence. Yet when she scanned him with divine sense, she was surprised to find the suppression sealing his cultivation gone, vanished without warning!
"Your cultivation…" she said in a low voice.
Mo Yan froze, then quickly sensed his own body.
The next second, his eyes blazed with joy. "It's back! My Golden Core stage cultivation is fully restored!"
His voice trembled with excitement. He understood perfectly—at the bottom of this perilous Blackwater Abyss, Golden Core stage was enough to protect himself, no longer a human bomb ready for sacrifice. More importantly, with his cultivation restored, he was free from the area's backlash, no longer suffering that torturous pain.
Xie Zhaolin studied the black metallic orb thoughtfully. It seemed this orb wasn't just controlling the vines and rock walls—it was likely the key to maintaining the area's restriction. Now that it was in this strange inert state, the barrier naturally dissolved.
Her tense nerves relaxed slightly. Now, all that remained was to wait for Feng Wang to report back. But Xie Zhaolin knew well that after such violent rock wall reconstruction, the teleportation array might be destroyed or displaced.
The only hope was the original path leading to the cliff top.
===
Wow… we've finally hit Chapter 100! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ
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