“Go back!”
The phantom’s voice was clear and powerful, with a slightly rising pitch. It inexplicably carried the majesty of a superior and was so loud that everyone present could hear it clearly.
When the fiery red light mixed with golden light gradually weakened until it was extinguished, the bottom of the deep pool returned to its previous bottomless appearance. Except for the illusory shadow that remained, even Qian Wanyu, who had adapted to the darkness, couldn’t help but wonder. She couldn’t identify it.
Toothless, covered in scars, wailed and shook his limbs twice before collapsing in front of the shadow. He gasped for air, his eyes shining brightly. He had also lost his fighting spirit and looked exhausted.
Qian Wanyu slowly opened his eyes after hearing the sound. “How many times has it been?”
“The third time. This time he lasted two sticks of incense longer than the last time,” Qing Mo said, keeping watch. He found that the shadow seemed to be consciously exercising control over Toothless. “If Toothless doesn’t leave, your Ninth Sister, will also not want to leave. What are your plans?”
“Plans?”
“Twenty years ago, your mother took the Qian Family to Sleeping Dragon Valley. Wasn’t it for the Spiritual Saint ruins and the holy medicine? Don’t you want it?” Qing Mo paused. “Wenren Liangzhi keeps entering Sleeping Dragon Valley. I’m afraid he has already researched it. If he wasn’t sure that the holy medicine was in the valley, why would he take risks repeatedly?”
Qian Wanyu naturally understood. What she heard most in the Qian Family was the rumor her mother and Qian Ziyan had heard which was a mix of truth and falsehood. She suspected that someone had blurred this information deliberately. “I believe there’s treasure in the valley, but it’s hard to say whether it’s the holy medicine.”
Moreover, a mountain was blocking their way.
Qian Wanyu’s eyes lingered on the unconscious Mo Ce. She suddenly stood up and said, “This senior has chosen Toothless.”
No one else could see him, let alone defeat him.
“Toothless!” Dongfang Minghui said, distressed at seeing Toothless in such a state. She had never seen him so persistent. The time she remembered most was when Toothless’s forelimbs were accidentally stained with black mist. He had whined and cried day and night, probably in severe pain.
Toothless groaned and panted for a while. Apparently rested, he got up again and circled around Senior Phantom like a beast king patrolling his territory. After circling three or four times, he went behind Senior Phantom and suddenly raised his sharp claws.
Senior Phantom seemed to have eyes on his back. Toothless’s sharp claws were gently blocked, forcing him to retreat. Toothless extended another claw, feigning an attack. Perhaps he was too confident, or maybe Senior Phantom didn’t expect it, but he blocked it gently with his hand behind his back. When he realized Toothless was feigning, it was too late. Toothless soared over Senior Xuying’s head, leaving behind a trail of golden and red flames.
“Beautiful!” Qing Mo said, shocked to stand up from his cross-legged position in the sea of souls.
Toothless had tried to surround the senior with fire before but had failed three times. This time, he thought of leaving flames in mid-air to trap Senior Phantom again.
“Seventh sister!” Dongfang Minghui said, nervously grabbing Qian Wanyu’s wrist and looking straight at Toothless. As soon as he jumped down from behind the senior, he quickly spat out a series of fireballs. The sky was full of flames surrounding Senior Phantom, illuminating the area around the deep pool. “Look, there’s an iron gate there, and it seems to have writing on it,” Little Color said excitedly in the sea of souls.
Qian Wanyu glanced at the scene and almost expected the result. She patted the back of Ninth Sister’s hand gently. “We have time.”
Then she looked along the light and saw a black shadow hovering next to the iron door. It blended in with the deep surrounding environment and was completely unrecognizable; only an outline could be seen.
Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, the fire around Toothless solidified and was then extinguished completely without warning. Toothless whined unhappily.
“Come again!” The cheerful voice was as cheerful as ever, slightly different from the previous ‘go back.’ There was a hint of joy and a rare hint of seriousness that they could hardly detect.
Toothless whined, exerting all his energy, attacking from left to right, jumping up and down. Whether he was playing with some toy or not, the flame disappeared, and the area was covered by the deep water of the pool. Qian Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui stood aside patiently and watched. Although Toothless was making rapid progress, dealing with Senior Phantom was still impossible.
Qing Mo was also a little puzzled in the sea of souls. “Why haven’t I seen him be so persistent before?”
Qian Wanyu had watched Toothless and the senior fight several times and noticed something strange. There was obviously a better way, but Toothless kept using fireballs to block the path of Senior Phantom, as if forcing the opponent.
This time, Toothless still followed the previous combat method. After the feint was seen through, the idea of laying down fireballs from above the opponent’s head was difficult to implement. He circled patiently, again and again.
Dongfang Minghui’s eyes were tired, and Toothless hadn’t attacked yet.
“Seventh sister, what is Toothless doing?” she asked.
Qian Wanyu frowned and discussed with Qing Mo in the sea of souls. Toothless wouldn’t be foolish enough to think he could burn Senior Phantom to death with his weak fire spiritual power. Not to mention that the other party was just a spirit body; even if his true body were here, the idea of hurting him would be a dream.
“It doesn’t look like that.” Qing Mo said. He had some understanding of the Dragon Clan, which usually uses sharp claws and mouths to deal with enemies. However, in so many challenges, Toothless had only sprayed fireballs at the opponent.
“It’s like he’s driving him away?” Qian Wanyu said.
“Um?” After Qing Mo mentioned this, Toothless’s actions made sense. Especially when he saw Toothless spinning around in circles as if deep in thought, Qian Wanyu’s eyes moved down from Senior Phantom to his legs. “I’ve never seen him move since we came down to the deep pool.”
No one present had seen him move.
“Is there something under his feet?” Dongfang Minghui asked innocently.
“No,” Qian Wanyu quickly rejected the guess. “Let’s give it a try.”
“How do we try?”
Qian Wanyu drew out her thunder whip and whispered, “You try the left; I’ll try the right. Let’s see what changes happen to Senior Phantom.”
The two of them watched the competition with inquisitive eyes, paying more attention than usual to things they had never noticed before. Dongfang Minghui tilted her head and looked at the shadow in front of her. The shadow she had seen before seemed blurred. It wasn’t an illusion.
“Senior!” Dongfang Minghui suddenly leaned toward the other party with a grateful look on her face. “Thank you for being merciful before.”
Facing Dongfang Minghui, the shadow didn’t say a word. When she stood up straight again, his palms, wet with water droplets, had already hit her face. Little Color grabbed her from behind, and Dongfang Minghui found that the distance between her fingers and her eyes was less than one centimeter.
“Wow, you scared me to death,” Dongfang Minghui said. She just wanted to test whether this senior was like the one in the middle. Whether kind or stern toward Toothless, he would at least say a word or two. Before she could complain, the opponent’s palm was withdrawn again, and this time the water droplets turned into a stream. The opponent’s speed increased, and she shouted, “Senior, please be merciful.”
On the other hand, Qian Wanyu drew out her water-thunder whip and took the initiative to attack the phantom without saying a word as soon as she stood in front of him. At first, the phantom blocked her with one hand. Qian Wanyu followed the same trajectory that Toothless had taken earlier. Initially, the opponent used only one hand, but soon Qian Wanyu was forced to use her other hand.
“Did Toothless attack him from all directions just to force him to use all his strength?” Qing Mo wondered in the sea of souls.
Qian Wanyu didn’t think so. Based on her understanding of Toothless, he is not a spiritual beast obsessed with practicing. His character has inherited some of Ninth Sister’s laziness. He is lazy about cultivating and prefers to sit rather than stand, and lie down rather than sit. Such a spiritual beast wouldn’t perform such unnecessary actions unless something was wrong with him.
“No.”
“What is it then?”
Qian Wanyu’s eyes followed Toothless closely. She put herself in Toothless’s role, thinking carefully about his seemingly meaningless actions. Knowing that fire was useless against the senior, she still went to great lengths to experiment with the fireball.
“To force him to retreat.”
“Oh, why?” Dongfang Minghui, her mouth still bloodied and a bruise on her cheek, asked puzzledly. “Why did Toothless force Senior Xuying to retreat?”
Who knows?
Qian Wanyu attacked Senior Phantom from the start and gradually began to target his lower body. No matter from which tricky angle she attacked his legs, she was blocked by Senior Phantom’s hands.
Dongfang Minghui stood aside, looking at Seventh Sister and Toothless. She touched her chin and accidentally touched the bruise, wincing in pain. “Toothless.”
If they were on land, Seventh Sister could release earth spiritual power, condense earth thorns, and make them emerge from the ground, forcing the opponent to dodge.
But now, in the deep pool, she murmured, “Little Color, try it with your vines.”
Little Color rolled his eyes. “Do you think I’m as stupid as you? I might be shattered by his pressure before even getting in front of him.”
“What should we do?”
“I’ll give it a try.”
Qian Wanyu released five elements of spiritual power, stirring up the water in the deep pool. The entire water surface began to vibrate violently. Wind from nowhere blew up the water, forming small channels. There were waves, but they dispersed like the ebbing tide when they reached a meter away from the senior.
Toothless was defeated again. This time he tilted his head and watched as Qian Wanyu swung her thunder whip toward the opponent’s legs repeatedly. Although she failed to force him back, Senior Phantom seemed to not be able to dodge. After being hit multiple times by Qian Wanyu’s whip, the illusory shadow shook and eventually dispersed.
Qian Wanyu was slightly startled, obviously not expecting such an outcome.
“A phantom is still a phantom in the end. He must be lingering here for some purpose, leaving behind these remnants.” Qing Mo said regretfully. “Even these remnants are so powerful. If he were still alive, he’d be a genius of his generation.”
“I see now.”
Qian Wanyu understood that Senior Phantom was not invincible. After achieving a certain goal, he would disappear completely. Could Toothless, who was shaking his head, be the last obsession of Senior Phantom?
“Seventh Sister, the senior… he…” The shadow seemed to have lightened. It could disappear at any moment, just like Seventh Sister’s shadow did earlier. Was it because of Seventh Sister’s whip? She looked again at the shadow in the middle, who was quietly staring at Toothless, showing no regret at all.
“It’s up to Toothless,” Qian Wanyu said, deciding not to take any more action. She sat cross-legged and suddenly asked, “Where is Mo Ce?”
Mo Ce—
When Dongfang Minghui turned around, she found that the person who had been lying down was now gone. “I don’t know; he was here just a moment ago.”
Everyone present had been focused on Senior Phantom and Toothless, and they hadn’t noticed when Mo Ce woke up or when he left.
Qian Wanyu’s brows furrowed. Her eyes scanned the area before finally settling on Senior Phantom. With the Senior here, it was impossible for Mo Ce to go deeper. The only possibility was that he had ascended.
“Damn it.”
“It’s the Sleepy Dragon Seal.”
The Sleepy Dragon Seal was still in the stone door. If Mo Ce took it, they would be trapped in the deep pool. Both of them moved quickly to ascend. Dongfang Minghui was slower and was pulled up by Little Color’s vines.
As soon as they reached the shore, they heard the wailing sounds of the Sleepy Dragon Seal.
“I won’t leave! I won’t leave! You’re the bad guy; let me go!”
“Sleepy Dragon Seal!”
When Dongfang Minghui reached for her silk umbrella, she panicked, remembering that its strongest resistance had been broken by the black mist. Her weapon had turned into scrap metal. Just as she hesitated, something flew out of the space.
The Sleepy Dragon Seal was resisting. Wenren Liangzhi grabbed it by the neck with one hand, attempting to forcefully pull it out of the stone gate pattern. Unexpectedly, something struck him hard on the back of the head.
In that moment, he became groggy. As soon as he loosened his grip, the Sleepy Dragon Seal retreated into its shell, and the stone door pattern disappeared along with it.
The thunder whip in Qian Wanyu’s hand also struck the other person’s back at the same time, leaving a bloody mark. The wound was quickly covered by emitted black mist, with strands of black threads on it.
the Tianyin’s helmet wobbled on the ground like a roly-poly, even jumping to the stone door by itself. It stared at the disappearing lines for a long time before jumping back into Dongfang Minghui’s arms, seemingly regretful.
“Holy shit,” Dongfang Minghui exclaimed. The Tianyin’s helmet was super heavy. She had to use both hands to keep from dropping it. “It’s very dangerous for you to run out like that.”
Little Douya shook its head, clearly not paying attention. It even tried to nuzzle her with its large bud.
Dongfang Minghui couldn’t stay mad at it.
Qian Wanyu glanced at the disappeared Trapped Dragon Seal and lines, then said, “Come out.”
The stone door remained motionless.
Qian Wanyu’s thunder whip struck the ground hard, causing it to crack. She rolled up the whip and walked toward the stone gate, her face stern.
Dongfang Minghui noticed a red mark flowing on it, which then quickly disappeared.
“If you don’t come out, I’ll destroy this stone gate,” Qian Wanyu declared, always a woman of her word.
The red marks on the stone door began to reappear, bit by bit. The marks that had disappeared earlier returned. The Sleepy Dragon Seal trembled and detached itself from the mark on the stone door, clinging to it in fear. “What do you want me to do?”
Haha pretty interesting when Wanyu bullies someone into submission! Kweeen