The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron

The shorter Human King clenched his teeth. This woman was very troublesome, and the number of techniques she had mastered was terrifying. She had never used the same technique twice, making his advantage in cultivation level much weaker.

Since his secret had been exposed, the short man tore away the seals on his body. After the demonic energy flickered, he turned into a snakelike figure, his body covered in scales. His movements became multiple stages nimbler. Xia Jingyu became more pressured. Coupled with the fact that her spiritual energy had not recovered, she was immediately placed at a disadvantage. The situation was becoming extremely dangerous.

Su Yu's expression hardened. He said gravely, "I am afraid they are also stalling for time!"

These two Human Kings must have known that they would endanger their own lives by using this technique. It was hard to explain why villains living in the deep abyss would commit such a massive blunder.

Su Yu's heart sank. The only explanation was that they were not alone. There was someone backing them!

Xia Jingyu came to the same conclusion, her gaze sharpening.

"We need to end this quickly," said Su Yu.

Secretly glancing at Xia Jingyu, Su Yu realized this was no time to hold back. Putting his palms together, multiple snakes formed of ice charged toward the tall man.

The tall man barked a derisive laugh. "You have guessed correctly that we are stalling for time. So what? Either way, our abilities are enough to exterminate you!"

Crack—

Grasping the ice snakes with both his hands, he tightened his grip, and they crumbled into pieces. But to his surprise, bolts of purple lightning as wide as a man's wrist shot out from the destroyed ice snakes!

Ah—

The tall man let out a pathetic cry as his palm was charred by the lightning. His body became covered by a large area of demonic energy. His cow-horned physical body shook uncontrollably, as if he were about to be forcefully brought out of his strengthened state!

"This little lad is adept at lightning based techniques!" the tall man warned his companion. "He can neutralize the demonic energy in our bodies! We should finish this quickly!"

The short man glanced over, his expression suddenly turning serious. He unleashed a violent attack on Xia Jingyu, wishing to hurry over and help the tall man.

The tall man's heart shook, but the caution soon left his eyes. "Unfortunately for the little lad," he said, "his lightning-based technique is still too weak!"

With a furious howl, the tall man advanced again, uninjured despite his weakened demonic energy. A formidable pressure assaulted Su Yu and Xia Jingyu.

Creak—

A human figure suddenly appeared behind Su Yu. Its body radiated an azure blue glow, and it shot forward to attack Su Yu's enemies like a streak of light.

The tall man froze momentarily, then let out a fearsome laugh. "Is that a fire-based clone? No matter. We are prepared!"

Rumble—

The tall man shot out a bolt of demonic energy, sending the clone flying. They were not about to allow Su Yu's clone to get close. Fire-based techniques could heavily neutralize their demonic energy.

Whoosh—

But as the clone was sent flying back, it took out a silver bow from under its body, firing an arrow with blinding speed. The arrow was made up of azure flames and was loosed so suddenly that it rendered the two Human Kings unable to defend themselves.

Creak—

The arrow hit the cow-horned Human King in the back but penetrated only an inch into his body. That strengthened body was too strong for it to enter any further. But the azure flames in the arrow transformed into a ball of raging fire, entering his body through the injury.

The shot was deadly accurate; the fire surged directly to his heart.

"Ah! No!" the cow-horned Human King shouted. He shrieked a pathetic cry of fear an instant before his heart was turned to ash by the flames.

Seizing the opportunity, Su Yu struck with his fist, smashing his head to a pulp with a single strike! It was the only way to guarantee that the man was dead, thus preventing him from launching a counterattack as he perished.

With a thought, Su Yu quickly retracted his clone and silver arrow, then shot a look behind him. He and Xia Jingyu moved forward, combining their attacks against the short, plump man.

Even in his snakelike form, the short Human King could not hide his horror. He and his companion had both thought that Su Yu was dangerous but merely on par with them, at most. They had assumed that all he could do was injure them. Instead, one of them was dead! The short man certainly had not expected this.

Without thinking, the short, plump man let out a low growl, and the demonic energy in his body expanded like a balloon.

Su Yu and Xia Jingyu felt the imminent danger, and they immediately retreated.

Boom—

The demonic energy exploded, bringing with it wild, raging winds. Looking back, Su Yu saw that the short, plump man was using the resulting recoil to hasten his escape.

With Su Yu's movement techniques, he was confident he could catch up, but Xia Jingyu might not be able to. It would be difficult to kill this enemy if he had to do it alone. And furthermore, the backer of the two Human Kings had yet to show himself.

"Let's get out of here," Su Yu said with a low grunt.

As Su Yu walked past the corpse of the cow-horned man, he spotted a small pouch hanging from the body's waist. He kneeled down and pulled the pouch from the dead man's belt before escaping with Xia Jingyu.

******

A badly scarred man stood at the exit of the Dragon Abyss. He had an old wound on his head where a significant portion of flesh had been lost, and there was a green glow in his eyes. Ten Rakshasas stood respectfully before him.

At that moment, the short, plump Human King rushed toward him, his face pale. "City Master Tun Gui!" he said.

The short man faltered in surprise at the sight of the ten Rakshasas. The scarred man before him was the second city master of the Abyss City, City Master Tun Gui. His name was highly known within the Abyss, and his skill at controlling ghosts was renowned. His cultivation level was that of a Half God, making him an unparalleled presence. Other than the first city master, no one could stand up to him!

City Master Tun Gui slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the green glow had dissipated, and his eyes reverted to their original color.

"Where is he?" City Master Tun Gui demanded.

The short, plump man broke out in a cold sweat. "They escaped."

The City Master Tun Gui let out a cold grunt. "Hong Mo didn't come back, I see. I take it he is dead. Judging by his death and your utter failure, it seems I was mistaken to think that trash like you could defeat them."

Sweat rolled down the short man's face. His knees buckled, and he kneeled to plead for mercy. "Please spare me, City Master Tun Gui!"

"Stand up, Lü Mo," City Master Tun Gui said casually. Hong Mo's death hardly warranted his attention. "I knew there was a possibility you would not be able to capture them."

Lü Mo was surprised. "City master, you knew? Then why…?"

When the intruders had first arrived, City Master Tun Gui had not paid them much heed. Instead, he had opted to stay behind to gather the ghosts from the exit of the Dragon Abyss. After locating two of the intruders, he'd sent two of his people to capture them—a mission that had clearly ended in failure.

City Master Tun Gui let out a menacing grunt. "Even after all these years spent following me, you still do not understand the position I am in, do you?"

Lü Mo's eyes shifted uncomfortably. There was a longstanding conflict between the two city masters, and they were never in an area at once. It had been that way all throughout history.

Although Lei Mo, the first city master, deeply loathed Tun Gui, destroying him would have been imprudent. There were many ghosts in the Dragon Abyss of Nine Underworlds, and the Abyss City was constantly being ravaged by the attacks of these ghosts. Tun Gui's ghost-controlling abilities were needed to protect the city. As a result, even though the first city master wanted him gone, he dared not strike. Instead, he secretly suppressed the second city master Tun Gui, intentionally making it difficult for him to gather allies.

After a moment's thought, Lü Mo said, "City Master, do you mean to say that you want to use the current situation as grounds to chase after the two outsiders and tame a few high-level ghosts to serve you?"

City Master Tun Gui let out a dark laugh. "You're more intelligent than you look! Lei Mo thinks that I do not know that he is secretly cultivating the Cosmos Thunder Sword—a weapon that could kill even the Heavenly Ghost. Once that sword is formed, I fear that dissenters like us will be wiped from the face of the abyss. Seeing as how he sent me personally out of the city to pursue the outsiders, I surmise that the Cosmos Thunder Sword is nearly complete and that he was worried I would attack at the most critical moment!"

Lü Mo looked around. "Then what countermeasures do you have?" He couldn't help but wonder how City Master Tun Gui could allow this to happen.

Tun Gui replied with a loud chuckle. "Countermeasures? What do you call leaving the Abyss City? That was my countermeasure. Lei Mo thinks his plan is seamless and undetected, but he cannot hide from the Heavenly Ghost! If my theory is correct, the Heavenly Ghost not only knows exactly what Lei Mo is doing, but she will attack the city before the sword is completed. When that happens, a massacre is going to occur. Coming out here is just a way to avoid the disaster."

"The defense of the Abyss City is enough to guard against a White Asura," Tun Gui continued, "but that Heavenly Ghost… Hehe! She did not bother attacking us in the past. Otherwise, the spell at the city lake would have been instantly eradicated! That laughable Lei Mo hopes to lord over the Dragon Abyss of Nine Underworlds by forging a lightning sword of a high caliber, but how could the Heavenly Ghost ignore such a threat? If I am correct, the Heavenly Ghost had already taken action. It should be somewhere in the Dragon Abyss at this moment."

Lü Mo was dumbfounded. "It is no wonder City Master Tun Gui would be so willing to leave the city. This way, you can use the hands of the Heavenly Ghost to righteously rid the abyss of Lei Mo. Then there shall only be one city master left!" Excitement filled Lü Mo's eyes, but it was replaced with worry. "But what if the Heavenly Ghost cannot strike? We are now in the midst of the blood sacrifice for the demonic dragon. The Heavenly Ghost will not be entirely free. If It cannot strike, it may be too late to stop the Cosmos Thunder Sword from being completed."

Hearing this, City Master Tun Gui frowned. "That is precisely what I am worried about! Thus, I intend to release the two outsiders, giving me more time in the outside world. I am seizing this opportunity to bring more powerful ghosts to my side as a precaution!"

If the Cosmos Thunder Sword was forged, he could only toughen himself and face that destructive sword of thunder. The ghosts that he tamed would be his trump card.

"Then what do we do with the two outsiders?" asked Lü Mo. "Are we going to let them run free like that? After what they did?"

Lü Mo felt pity for Hong Mo's death. But this explained why Tun Gui had sent them, knowing they would likely fail. Hong Mo's death proved that the two outsiders were extremely powerful. This would make their escape look even more natural, making it more reasonable for City Master Tun Gui to be out here for so long.

"We must pursue them, of course!" City Master Tun Gui grunted. "The Dragon Abyss is not a shelter. They must understand this if they entered this place. Chasing after them will be a show put on for the higher-ups. That 10,000 Miles Cloud Passing Border can observe the actions of anyone at cultivation levels of Half God and below. If you do not chase after them, Lei Mo will surely be suspicious."

Lü Mo hesitated before he said, "But I was incompetent and already lost them. The replicated 10,000 Miles Cloud Passing Border was on Hong Mo. It is highly possible that the other party took it."

City Master Tun Gui let out a faint laugh. "I have already considered this. I naturally have considered the situation, having sent you even though I knew you could not get the job done! Before you went, I put an aura of evil ghosts on you. It does not have color nor smell and cannot be cleansed by water or fire. It lasts for half a month. Some of the aura must have been picked up by them while you did battle. Now you only need this compass to be able to track down their positions. Half a month should be enough time."

Lü Mo accepted the compass, saying joyfully, "I know what to do."

"Take these ten Rakshasas. Do I need to teach you how to use them?" City Master Tun Gui waved his hand, handing the Rakshasas over to Lü Mo.

Lü Mo's eyes sparkled, saying excitedly, "No, I know! Of course I know! How could I forget the teachings of the City Master?"

"I only taught you the basics of controlling ghosts, but it should be enough for you to get the job done!" said Tun Gui. "Now, go!"

Lü Mo took the ten Rakshasas and left. But after he was clear of Tun Gui, Lü Mo's eyes filled with a cold glow.

"Hong Mo served you faithfully for many years," he muttered under his breath. "Yet, in the end, he was merely a tool used to die. Do you really think I will be so foolish as to serve you until I die as well?"