The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron
chapter-436

Chapter 436: Elder in the Painting

Su Yu’s expression changed. What kind of ability was that?

With the giant mouth before him, a long-distance weapon like the arrow had lost its effectiveness. A black light glowed in front of his chest.

Su Yu stored the silver bow and unleashed a lightning ring without hesitation. Compared to the arrow of lightning earlier, this ring of lightning was at least three times as powerful. It crashed into the giant mouth. Due to its counter properties, the giant mouth experienced intense pain, causing a large amount of ghost energy to rush out.

The giant ghost was in pain, and the giant mouth attacking Su Yu paused for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, Su Yu retreated quickly, moving back several hundred zhang in an instant, once again maintaining his distance.

With that failed attack, the merciless aura of the Ghost King grew wilder. “Good!” he bellowed. “Very good. To think that you were still hiding a portion of your lightning powers!”

It glanced at the Ghost Suppressing Golden Ring that was about to be activated. The Buddha qualities of that artifact were about to reach their peak!

A look of caution flashed past its eyes. With a fierce glare, it suddenly opened its mouth and took in a deep breath. Suddenly, the ghost energy in its mouth ballooned, taking on the form of a dark cloud that became a black vortex.

At that moment, Su Yu felt as though his soul was trembling. His body felt as if it were being devoured by that black vortex. His body was out of control, sucked in like a fallen leaf.

This feeling of helplessness was like was facing Sheng Ge head-on. Su Yu’s mind was racing. But at this moment, he realized that all the spirit energy in his body had withered. He was unable to utilize any of his spirit energy. Even the power of lightning that could counter ghosts was being forcefully suppressed, unable to make it out of his body!

Roar—

The Ghost King had sensed the danger and was doing all it could to kill Su Yu. With its mighty roar, the devouring power of the vortex doubled.

Su Yu only had time to think about how dire the situation was before he was sucked into the vortex.

A cold expression flashed across Qi Ming’s face. He was activating the Ghost Suppressing Golden Ring but had a mocking smile on his lips.

At that moment, the Ghost Suppressing Golden Ring released a layer of its restraints as if it had already completely been activated!

The Ghost King’s worry had not eased. Its expression turned rigid. “You… You had already activated the golden ring?”

The Ghost King appeared to be shocked. If that were the case, Qi Ming had intentionally allowed Su Yu to die by its hands!

“It’s good that you know,” said Qi Ming, letting out a cold laugh, his palms not stopping. He raised his hands and tossed the ring out. “Rise!”

At that moment, the Ghost Suppressing Golden Ring let out a golden glow, voices of prayers reverberating around the surroundings as the figure of Buddha appeared. It seemed as if a radiant sun had descended onto the decrepit hall, illuminating the surroundings.

The Ghost King let out a screech of fear, turning in an attempt to escape out of the hall. As powerful as he was, he could only feel fear when facing the Ghost Suppressing Golden Ring!

Qi Ming had a cold smile but remained silent. He pointed his finger in the air. The golden ring turned into a harsh flame, attacking the Ghost King. Upon contact, the 1,000-zhang body of the Ghost King was like a crumbling skyscraper, shattering as its flesh turned to black ash. The 1,000-zhang body shrank and crumbled at a rapid rate amidst the pathetic screams of the Ghost King.

Finally, the dust settled. The 1,000-zhang Ghost King had vanished. All that was left in its place was a three-zhang-tall ghost. Its figure was similar to the Ghost King, but it was far weaker. Its body was restrained by a three-zhang big golden ring. It lay on the ground, releasing ghost energy but unable to move. Of its three heads, the one in the center had its eyes closed and twitched uncontrollably. It was still suffering from intense pain despite having slipped into a coma. The powerful Ghost King had been easily suppressed!

Qi Ming flew over, his face pale and laced with sweat. His expression was still cautious.

“Lucky me!” he said. “It is a good thing that I had the master’s treasure, the Ghost Suppressing Golden Ring, as my trump card to suppress the Ghost King.”

Qi Ming wiped the cold sweat off his face and let out a long sigh of relief. He took out a painting from his robes. It was the painting of the elder looking down on the world with his arms behind him. In the image, the elder—who was clearly a painting—came to life.

The animated elder turned back to look at the captured Ghost King, his expression calm and without surprise. “My Ghost Suppressing Golden Ring is used specifically to suppress ghosts like this. To be able to suppress it is no surprise. Your ability to suppress it is partly due to the amulets you amassed over the years, which exhausted a good portion of the Ghost King’s ghost energy. Otherwise, you might not have succeeded even with the Ghost Suppressing Golden Ring! Plus, you had help from that lad with the lightning-based techniques. He truly exceeded my expectations. If he hadn’t, he might not have bought you enough time to activate the Ghost Suppressing Golden Ring!”

Qi Ming understood his point. The Ghost King had been cultivating here for the past 10,000 years. The difficulty of subduing its physical body was beyond his expectations! If the Black Snow Devil King had not fought against it and bought Qi Ming time, the situation might have been completely different. He might even have been reduced to a meal in the Ghost King’s stomach.

“Master,” said Qi Ming, “the Black Snow Devil King has been devoured by the Ghost King. Could he still be alive?”

Qi Ming had a sudden worry. The Black Snow Devil King’s abilities were more powerful than he imagined, making him feel a little uneasy.

The elder in the painting grunted. “If he, a mere Immortal Realm Level Four, can escape from the Ghost King’s stomach, then the Ghost King would truly not live up to its name! There is another realm in the Ghost King’s stomach that harbors dense ghost energy. Even a Half god would be killed by the ghost energy there, much less him.”

This eased Qi Ming’s worry. “Master, how are we going to obtain the Mysterious Heavenly Map from the Ghost King’s body?”

The elder in the painting had a glow in his eyes. “A spell is required to retrieve the Mysterious Heavenly Map. It is a complicated process. We cannot stay here for too long. Let’s speak after we leave.”

Qi Ming nodded, grabbing the unconscious body of the Ghost King with one hand and flying to the entrance of the cave.

At this moment, the entrance of the cave rumbled. The four layers of seals were broken all at once!

“Oh?” the elder in the painting exclaimed. “If they can break four layers of seals in just half a cup of tea’s time, then the helpers you found are quite powerful indeed.”

“This is a problem, master!” said Qi Ming. “If this lady were to spread what happened here today…” His expression darkened. “It is all right if my identity is exposed, but if your identity is made known, it will truly be dangerous.”

“Humph!” said the elder. “You think a mere Heaven Master could escape from my hands?”

The elder in the painting let out a strange grunt. His body flickered, turning into a transparent shadow before flying out of the scroll.

Even though Xin Wuhen was busy breaking the seals, she was also paying attention to the battle behind her. Sensing that Su Yu had been devoured, Xin Wuhen had a feeling of unease. She was lucky that she managed to break the seals at this moment, successfully escaping! But she had only made it 1,000-zhang from the cave when her pupils dilated. She stared at the spot above the underwater canyon. A transparent, elderly figure stood above her.

The figure was dressed in an incredibly ancient outfit, his complexion pale. Furthermore, he was transparent, making it a very unusual sight!

The figure looked down on her with his hands behind his back. The concealment of the Cicada Cloaked Wings did not have any effect on him.

“Senior! What is the meaning of this?” Xin Wuhen said in a serious tone.

The elder from the painting had a cold gaze, as if he were looking at an ant. “You have seen me,” he said. “Thus, I’ll have to send you on your way!”

Saying this, he tossed a seal forward.

A transparent, formless ripple shot toward Xin Wuhen. This ripple did not have the slightest aura, but it harbored horrifying energy!

Xin Wuhen’s expression changed. “Soul attack! You… You are a soul body!”