Chapter 67: Being Trapped by Oneself

Seeing the giant dragon-like creature attack, he did not dodge or hesitate. He gripped his saber with both hands, leapt high towards its head, and brought it down in a cleaving blow.

It was a strike powerful enough to cleave mountains, able to kill gods in its path.

Even He Lingchuan, who usually detested him, had to admit that the move was incredibly cool.

Faced with such an overwhelmingly powerful strike, the mighty black dragon-like creature didn't want to take it head-on. So, it resorted to its old trick, lashing out with another tail whip.

Even the tip of its tail was as thick as two people embracing; being hit by it would surely result in broken bones and torn muscles.

But Nian Songyu showed no fear, changing the angle of his blade and chopping directly at the creature's tail.

He was flung straight backward, but the creature's tail tip, over three meters long, snapped off with a sound.

Sun Fuping seemed oblivious to the battle unfolding before him, but his chanting grew increasingly rapid.

Correspondingly, the white light on the ivory carving grew increasingly bright; clearly, at its peak, it would bring about a change unfavorable to the black dragon-like creature.

So, after shaking off Nian Songyu, the colossal creature lowered its head and charged straight at Sun Fuping.

Its massive head was like a battering ram with sharp, angular projections. It could punch several large holes even through iron-clad city gates, let alone Sun Fuping's flesh and blood body.

But the dozen or so golden armored soldiers protected him, forming a wall of armor with their bodies. The creature's head knocked several of them away, but the rest pushed together and managed to hold it back.

Several demonic birds in the air swooped down, pecking at Sun Fuping.

But before their sharp beaks could pierce his skull, they hit an invisible, hard barrier and snapped with a crack.

A barrier.

To buy these thirty precious seconds, Sun Fuping had even deployed the energy-consuming golden armored soldiers; how could he overlook the importance of a barrier?

But for one person to maintain two barriers simultaneously, even for Grand Master Sun with his profound cultivation, it felt beyond his power.

This level of consumption was unsustainable.

He just needed to last thirty seconds.

He Chunhua took a deep breath and shouted to the Great Wind Army outside the Thunder Array, "Look what this is!"

He pulled an item from his storage ring and held it high.

Storage spaces generally had very small capacities, only about one cubic meter, and they were rare. Even high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital might not possess one. He Chunhua benefited from his years of guarding the border; the one he held was originally seized loot.

The item he took out truly didn't take up much space.

It was just a broken comb, with traces of smoke and scorching. The blue floral pattern on its top was a bit faded, but still largely intact.

The moment this unremarkable comb appeared, the opposing army stirred. Including the squad commander who had previously fought the Blackwater City army, several generals suddenly stepped forward, standing just outside the array, staring intently at the wooden comb.

He Chunhua clearly remembered that Grand Master Sun had identified from the Sand Leopard's relics that this item still held the powerful resentment of Zhong Shengguang, the Commander of Panlong City.

Although Grand Master Sun was cunning and his motives unclear, his knowledge and experience were consistently excellent.

Therefore, this resentment must not be unfamiliar to the Great Wind Army.

Indeed, the moment the comb was brought out, the Great Wind Army's malevolence instantly subsided, and they even stopped urging the vengeful spirits to charge the array.

Anyone could feel that their hostility had greatly diminished.

"Step back!" He Chunhua said to the army spirits outside the array, holding the comb. "You are not needed here!"

The Great Wind Army remained motionless; not even the horses beneath them snorted or pawed the ground.

Situ Han whispered, "My Lord, they probably don't understand human speech. Besides, they were Xi Luo people in life."

He Chunhua suddenly realized, "That's right, I heard many vengeful spirits only live in their own world and cannot converse with the living." Otherwise, why would the Great Wind Army withdraw its hostility just by seeing the wooden comb? Sane humans usually aren't so credulous.

But this did not mean that he and the Great Wind Army were completely unable to communicate.

He Chunhua thought for a moment and made a retreat gesture. It was said that Panlong City's military discipline methods spread throughout the Panlong Wasteland and were continuously used by later generations, including many training and combat hand signals.

He Chunhua was a man who had led troops in battle and was familiar with this system.

Indeed, after seeing this gesture, several commanders bowed to him, then turned and waved their hands.

It was unknown how the spirits communicated among themselves, but the entire army turned collectively and slowly retreated.

The living people finally let out a long sigh of relief; they were saved.

Situ Han touched his back, which was damp and cold. "My Lord," he exclaimed, "you should have told us you had this treasure earlier!"

He Chunhua rubbed his face, too tired to bother with the bandit's complaints. Though it seemed like he had done nothing, confronting the Great Wind Army for so long and using the Imperial Talisman with the celestial thunder had rapidly drained everyone's energy. He now felt utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally, wishing he could just sit down and rest.

"Exit the array, but don't go too far," he gestured for everyone to leave, while reaching for the Imperial Talisman on his staff.

The Great Wind Army no longer posed a threat, so they didn't need the array anymore. Furthermore, having been tricked by Sun Fuping earlier, He Chunhua remained cautious.

A few soldiers stepped on the rune array and walked out. Then—

There was a loud cry, and they were bounced back by the celestial thunder barrier.

Their bodies stiffened, shaking like they had malaria, and the hairs on their skin stood on end.

Everyone was startled. Situ Han threw a flying knife, but it too was bounced back. Clearly, the array was still lenient internally, not as merciless as it had been against the vengeful spirits outside.

"My Lord, we're trapped."

Meanwhile, He Chunhua couldn't retrieve his Imperial Talisman—the beast head on the staff bit too tightly, refusing to let go no matter how hard he pulled.

By this point, even the dullest person realized something was wrong. He Chunhua directly drew his saber and slashed at the staff's top, hoping to sever the beast head.

With a crisp clang, it failed.

The precious saber was sharp, but the staff remained undamaged.

There were also two spellcasters in the team who came forward to help upon seeing this.

As a result, their spells were also ineffective.

"Someone, pull it out!" He Chunhua ordered men to get ropes and tie them to the staff. Six strong men shouted a chant and pulled together.

To be honest, even a pillar that two people could embrace would fall, yet this staff stood firmly in place, not budging an inch.

"What do you think we should do?" He Chunhua asked the two spellcasters.

"The staff and the array have become one. If the array isn't broken, the staff won't move," the two thought for a moment and said. "To break the array, you must first retrieve the Imperial Talisman."

The array was powered by the Imperial Talisman; to break it, it was best to first remove its source of power.

The paradox lay here: Sun Fuping had used the Imperial Talisman's power to trap He Chunhua himself. If He Chunhua and his men wanted to escape, they would first have to break their own power!

If all one hundred of them were united in spirit, their morale would soar, and the power of the Imperial Talisman would also be strengthened. The stronger the array became, the harder it would be for them to escape.

This was outrageous!

At this moment, a spellcaster suddenly pointed to the ground and said, "My Lord, there's another array here!"