AWB Chapter 316 The Oriole Snatches the Lotus!
Chapter 316 The Oriole Snatches the Lotus!
"Sand Scorpion, you are critically injured and about to die, what are you still fighting with me for?" The old Black Demon's withered palm was wreathed in bloody light, and the pressure of the Soul-Devouring Claw made the air in the entire cave stagnate.
"Hand over that Time Lotus, and I may spare your life."
Sand Scorpion coughed, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
His golden core was already cracked, and now that he was forcibly activating his magic power, his face looked even more ashen.
"Black Demon, do you think I, Sand Scorpion, am a three-year-old child?" He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his voice weak but ruthless.
"I'm determined to have this Time Lotus."
Chen Jinshu stood beside the sand scorpion, his fingers resting on the strings of the Star Moon Guqin.
Her gaze swept across the cave, and beside the Time Spring, the Time Lotus emitted a faint power of time, its petals trembling slightly, as if it possessed a spirit.
The guardian of the Time Lotus is a late-stage Tier 3 Stone-Armored Turtle, which is currently lying by the spring with its eyes half-open and half-closed, its aura as steady as a rock.
“Fellow Daoist Heisha,” Chen Jinshu said, his voice cold and clear.
"There is only one Lotus of Time. If we, the three parties, fight for it, it will inevitably result in mutual destruction. Why don't we deal with the guardian beast first, and then discuss who it belongs to?"
The old black demon narrowed his blood-red eyes and stared at Chen Jinshu for a few moments.
He recognized the woman in green; she was the one who suppressed the Iron-Spine Rhinoceros Dragon with her zither music during the beast tide. Although her cultivation was only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, her sonic attacks were strange and difficult to deal with.
"Little girl, you know how to talk." Hei Sha sneered.
"Fine, let's kill this stone turtle first, then we'll settle the score."
He raised his hand and waved it, and the two Blood Fiend Sect disciples immediately dispersed, one holding a bone banner and the other wielding a Blood Fiend Blade, flanking the Stone Armor Turtle from the left and right.
Sensing the threat, the stone turtle let out a low growl, and pale golden runes appeared on its shell.
It braced itself on all fours, opened its mouth, and spewed out a beam of yellowish-brown light, which struck the monk holding the bone banner on the left.
"Get out of the way!" The Black Demon Old Ghost's figure blurred, and the Soul-Devouring Claw transformed into a blood-red blade, slashing towards the Stone-Armored Turtle's head and neck.
Seeing this, Chen Jinshu whispered to Sand Scorpion:
"Alliance Leader Sha, your injuries have not yet healed, so please remain on the sidelines. I will keep you occupied."
Sand Scorpion nodded, took a half step back, and secretly held an earth-yellow talisman in his hand, wary of Black Fiend's movements.
Chen Jinshu sat down cross-legged and placed the Star Moon Guqin across his lap.
She took a deep breath, placed her ten fingers on the strings, and began to pluck them.
"Zheng—!"
A clear and melodious zither tune echoed through the cave.
This is a variation of "Ode to the Rejuvenation of the Earth Veins," using the sound of the zither to communicate with the power of the earth veins and weaken the earth-type defense of the Stone-Armored Turtle.
The golden light of the stone turtle's runes dimmed slightly.
Seeing this, Hei Sha seized the opportunity to use his Soul-Devouring Claw to cut a shallow white mark on the tortoise shell.
"Good!" Black Fiend praised, and shouted to the two disciples.
"Use the Blood Fiend Chains!"
The two Blood Fiend Sect disciples immediately changed formation, one of them throwing out a blood-red chain that wrapped around the stone turtle's forelimbs.
The other person planted the bone banner in the ground, summoning several skeletons that rushed towards the mouth and nose of the stone turtle.
Chen Jinshu's zither playing changed again, and the soul-soothing melody of "Zhou Tian Yin" flowed slowly.
The music wasn't harmful to humans, but it could disturb the souls of demonic beasts. The stone-armored tortoise's eyes gradually became unfocused, and its movements slowed down.
Black Fiend seized the opportunity and launched a full-force attack with his Soul-Devouring Claw at the joint of the Stone-Armored Turtle's right forelimb, where the shell was most vulnerable.
"Snap—!"
With a crisp sound, the stone turtle's right forelimb was severed by a flash of blood, and yellowish-brown blood gushed out.
The stone turtle let out a painful roar, lost its balance, and collapsed to the ground.
"Take the pill!" Black Fiend shouted.
The disciple wielding the Blood Fiend Blade flashed and leaped onto the top of the stone-armored tortoise's head, stabbing the blade into its eye socket.
The stone turtle's final struggle caused rocks to fall from the cave walls, after which it remained completely still.
Black Demon Old Ghost walked to the stone turtle's corpse, reached out and dug out a fist-sized, earth-yellow demon core, then casually put it into his storage bag.
“Now, it’s time to talk about who owns the Time Lotus.” He turned around, his blood-red eyes fixed on Chen Jinshu and Sand Scorpion.
Sand Scorpion snorted coldly, about to speak, when suddenly several stalactites fell from the cave ceiling, crashing into the Time Spring and splashing water. "Not good!" Chen Jinshu's expression changed.
"This cave is about to collapse!"
Sure enough, the stone turtle's struggle before its death damaged the cave's structure, and the entire cave was now trembling slightly.
Spiderweb-like cracks began to appear on the stone wall above, and small stones kept falling.
"Take the lotus first!" Sand Scorpion made a decisive move, his figure flashing towards the Spring of Time.
The Black Demon was faster than him, his Soul-Devouring Claws, glowing with blood, reaching for the Time Lotus by the spring.
Chen Jinshu plucked the strings of the zither, and a moon-white sound blade slashed towards Hei Sha's arm.
Black Fiend was forced to stop, and Sand Scorpion took the opportunity to pounce on the spring, only to see a pale golden shield suddenly appear around the Time Lotus.
"Break!" Sand Scorpion slammed his palm against the protective barrier, but the barrier didn't budge. Instead, his palm was shaken numb.
"Trash!" Black Fiend sneered, his blood-red protective shield enveloping his entire body as he withstood the falling rocks and walked to the Time Lotus.
He reached out and touched the pale gold shield, which then vanished on its own.
With the stone turtle dead, the restriction has lost its foundation and is now unstable.
Hei Sha was overjoyed and was about to reach out to pluck the lotus when he heard Chen Jinshu shout: "Shang Xian - Break!"
The sound of the zither transformed into a solid, moon-white long blade, slashing straight at the face of the Black Demon.
Black Fiend had no choice but to dodge to the side, while Sand Scorpion took the opportunity to use earth magic to condense a hand and grab at Time Lotus.
Just then, the Time Lotus suddenly took flight on its own, transforming into a streak of light and falling into the shadows of a corner of the cave.
All three were taken aback and turned to look, only to see a thin old man in a gray robe standing there, holding a withered wooden cane, with a sly smile on his lips.
"Thank you all for clearing away the guardian beast for me." The old man's voice was hoarse. With a flick of his finger, the Time Lotus fell into his arms.
"I will accept this Lotus of Time."
"Who are you?" The old black ghost's face was gloomy, and blood light gathered in his palm.
"My name is nothing to boast about; I just happened to be passing by," the old man said with a smile.
"However, if you all want to seize this Lotus of Time, I don't mind playing along with you."
Before he finished speaking, he slammed his withered wooden cane on the ground, and all the rubble in the cave suddenly floated up and rained down on the three of them like a storm.
Chen Jinshu retreated swiftly, the sound of his zither transforming into a shield to deflect the falling rocks.
The Sand Scorpion withstood the attack with its earth-based protective shield, while the Black Fiend's blood-red aura surged, shattering the rubble into powder.
When the smoke and dust cleared, the gray-robed old man had vanished without a trace, along with the Time Lotus.
"Damn it!" Black Demon roared, slamming his fist into the stone wall, causing the cave to shake again.
"This person must have been lying in ambush here all along, using us to get rid of the stone turtle so he could reap the benefits!"
Chen Jinshu's eyes flickered. She recalled that before entering the cave, she had indeed sensed a faint aura. At the time, she thought it was the demonic aura of the stone turtle, but now she realized that the old man had deliberately concealed his aura.
"This is no place to stay any longer." Sand Scorpion clutched his chest, his face pale.
"The cave may collapse at any time, let's retreat first."
The three of them used their own abilities to break free from the collapsing cave.
Back on the ground of the Bone Tower, the sunlight was blinding.
The old demon's face was ashen. He turned and left with his two disciples, leaving behind a parting remark:
"I will remember this humiliation. Sand Scorpion, and that girl who played the zither, we shall meet again."
Chen Jinshu ignored him and looked at Sha Xie. Seeing that his face was ashen and his breathing was unsteady, he quickly took out a blue pill from his pocket and handed it to him.
"Alliance Leader Sha, take this Rejuvenation Pill first to stabilize your injuries."
Sand Scorpion accepted the pill and swallowed it without hesitation. As the pill entered his stomach, a gentle medicinal effect spread, and his complexion improved slightly.
"Thank you," Sand Scorpion sighed.
"I never expected to have worked so hard for nothing, and almost lose my life in the process."
"That old man was able to lie in wait so silently for so long, his cultivation level must be quite high," Chen Jinshu said, frowning.
"However, his target is only the Time Lotus, so there should be no further interaction between them."
Sand Scorpion gave a bitter smile: "This Bone Tower is inherently a dangerous place; it's a miracle we came out alive. But that Time Lotus..." (End of Chapter)