Chapter 72: Words of Power

He Lingchuan’s keen eyes observed, “It’s not bleeding, so it shouldn’t be dead!”

Besides, all creatures here possess automatic regeneration. Why wouldn’t the black dragon, as a spirit of the artifact, have it too?

As if in response to his doubt, smoke burst from the black dragon’s head, and a complete lower jaw quickly regenerated. The severed parts that had fallen to the ground also dissolved into black water, flowing back to its tail to reform its body.

In any case, this was the black dragon’s home ground, where the laws of nature were most favorable to it.

Needless to say, another round of life-and-death struggle ensued. The black dragon desperately tried to swallow Nian Songyu, while the latter, unbridled and fierce, fought with even greater savagery than before.

Most surprisingly, the blue light emanating from his body was extraordinarily bright, indicating that his utilization of the Qiankun Coins had reached its peak.

Evidently, the illusionary world’s suppression of Nian Songyu had vanished.

After the white light enveloped him, Nian Songyu seemed to have gained an incredible advantage, shattering the black dragon twice in succession. Fortunately, the dragon could rapidly recover, fighting with extreme tenacity. The surrounding demon apes and sand leopards that attacked were also swept away and utterly pulverized.

This was very strange. Logically, the cost of using primordial power was high; after enduring for a few tens of seconds, Nian Songyu should have been weakened, short of breath, with dark circles under his eyes, and unstable footing. While not so bad as to need to lean on a wall to walk, fighting He Lingchuan for thirty rounds would certainly be impossible.

Now, Nian Songyu had suddenly experienced a second surge of power, even more vigorous than the first, which could only be attributed to the possessing white light. He Lingchuan felt no envy; there was no free boost in this world. Nian Songyu’s forced surge of strength mid-battle likely came at the cost of strained muscles and bones, and the depletion of his vital essence to push his body to its limits. He feared severe after-effects later.

Evidently, neither allies nor enemies present cared about this.

Another round of combat ensued.

“Too weak! Is this all you’ve got?” Nian Songyu tapped his blade on the ground. “It’s not worth my effort to come all this way.”

He Lingchuan could tell the entity’s tone was genuinely disappointed, and his heart stirred.

He didn’t know how complex the divine invocation process was, but historically, there had only been three successful divine descents; with this one, it was just four. It must be incredibly difficult.

Disappointment meant the effort didn’t match the reward. So why was this entity disappointed? Wasn’t a weaker artifact spirit better? That would make it easier for them to retrieve the Grand Flask.

The black dragon didn’t get angry; it simply laughed. “I can keep fighting for three or five years. Can you?”

This time, though severed into three sections, its body was rapidly recovering; in twenty breaths at most, it would be whole again. The other demon apes, previously annihilated, also reassembled, poised to attack soon.

Enduring stability was the true path to victory. No matter how powerful the opponent, their borrowed body was battered and its foundation too weak. Time and victory would ultimately be on the black dragon’s side.

Nian Songyu said nothing more, bit his fingertip, and drew three runes in the air.

The blood that flowed out solidified mid-air, transforming the runes into characters made of blood.

His initial movements were swift, but they became progressively slower and more sluggish, as if each stroke weighed a thousand pounds. He barely finished the last strokes just as the black dragon reassembled and charged again.

Then, he roared three times.

Each roar used a unique, very strange syllable, but each immediately propelled a blood character to transform into a red light and shoot towards the black dragon.

After the three shouts, three blood-red chains appeared on the black dragon!

These chains were spectral, appearing to lack substance, yet the black dragon was instantly crushed to the ground, as if bearing the weight of three mountains.

Every step it took forward was incredibly difficult, requiring three to five times the usual effort.

The expressions of the people on the city wall changed. How could the black dragon be suppressed to such an extent on its own home ground?

Was this the “celestial deity” that Sun Fuping had gone to great lengths to summon? It was indeed formidable.

“This is a Spirit Word technique I’ve emulated, corresponding to the effects of ‘heaviness,’ ‘stagnation,’ and ‘fatigue.’ Even your regeneration will slow down.” Thus, creatures affected by the Spirit Word technique would be slow-moving, heavy-bodied, and weak in combat. Nian Songyu smiled. “Strange, can’t you break free?”

The black dragon silently watched him, crawling towards him with determined slowness.

“If you can’t break free—” Nian Songyu’s eyes gleamed, and his voice was full of excitement, “—then you are not the true master of this realm!”

He Lingchuan frowned. Even the master of this illusionary realm couldn’t do whatever they pleased, could they? Otherwise, the enemy could simply crush them with a single finger, so why bother fighting them until now?

But this summoned celestial deity clearly had an ulterior meaning in his words, and his expression was so excited, as if he had hit the jackpot.

Thinking of the cost of the divine invocation, and of He Chunhua, He Lingchuan’s chest suddenly ached.

This pain seemed deeply rooted in the original body’s memories.

Since the divine descent had occurred, He Chunhua was likely dead, wasn’t he?

He Lingchuan quickly diverted his thoughts. The dead could not be revived; the most important thing was what he should do next.

After the white light enveloped his face, he felt a splitting headache and mental fog, wishing he could lie down and sleep for three days. Recalling the bizarre experience he just had, he knew he must have sustained damage; for one, the sand leopard formed from shadows had nearly disemboweled him.

Upon waking, he had touched his chest and abdomen; apart from internal injuries from rolling stones, his skin was perfectly intact.

So, was the injury in his head?

He Lingchuan tried to ignore the discomfort in his heart and head, calming himself.

Those two rounds of ballista fire had completely shattered his relationship with Sun and Nian. He could only help the black dragon deal with his own National Preceptor.

But would the black dragon necessarily keep its word?

After eliminating Sun and Nian, would the black dragon simply swallow them too? After all, the black dragon guarded the Grand Flask, and they were also invaders, fundamentally no different from Sun and Nian.

At that moment, everyone on the city wall was gripping the parapets and looking down, too preoccupied to notice anything else. He Lingchuan’s eyes darted around, and suddenly a peculiar idea sprang to mind.

It seemed somewhat feasible. Why not give it a try?

Under the Spirit Word spell, the black dragon’s attacks were severely hampered. If before it moved like a nimble dragon, now it was as slow as a snail.

Forget Nian Songyu; even Zeng Feixiong could roll up his sleeves and engage it in a skirmish.

Nian Songyu plunged his long blade into the black dragon’s head and once again inscribed a blood character in the air.

This time, too, it was a single character, but Nian Songyu found it even harder to write. His fingertips trembled, barely able to continue.

Had the black dragon’s movements not been restricted, he would have been utterly unable to complete this task.

Nian Songyu’s face flushed then paled. After finally completing the inscription, he roared it out, immediately thereafter spitting out a mouthful of black blood.

There were also chunks of flesh in the blood, fragments of internal organs he had vomited.

However, the effect of this Spirit Word spell on the black dragon was better than the previous ones:

The area where the blade struck began to frost over, spreading downwards from the head.

Wherever the white frost spread, that part of the black dragon’s body would completely cease movement.

Clearly, Nian Songyu had finally conceived a way to deal with the black dragon: completely freezing it, which would eliminate the trouble of its repeated regeneration after being shattered.

The only drawback was that he had to continuously chant a supplementary spell to maintain the process.

Evidently, the Spirit Word spell was not so easy to use after all.