A group beating?
People around burst into laughter upon hearing this—after all, they had witnessed Pan Hexun and Sima Languan’s earlier scheme against Jian Chou. Everyone was just more cunning than the last, so what was wrong with a group beating?
“A group beating is exactly what makes it thrilling!”
“Hahahaha, this is Pan Hexun we’re talking about—the number one of Fengdu City!”
“In my lifetime, I never expected to see him this unlucky, this wretched! Hahahaha, it’s worth it!”
“This Cauldron Competition is worth it!”
“The face-slapping came so fast! This female cultivator called Jian Chou—I’m betting on her to win!”
“Pan Hexun probably still won’t die, considering his years of accumulated foundation, but he might get seriously injured…”
“Fight, fight faster!”
“Beat this bastard to death in a group!”
…
What kind of place was the Extreme Domain?
A place where they loved watching the excitement and didn’t mind stirring up trouble—the more chaotic things got, the more excited they became.
The entire Cauldron Competition had been full of variables from the very beginning.
But after entering the first layer, there hadn’t been many decent battles, which truly disappointed the spectators. Seeing that Jian Chou and the others were about to directly take Pan Hexun’s life, how could they not be excited?
The moment Pan Hexun fell into a disadvantage in the first exchange, countless cultivators from the Extreme Domain excitedly notified their friends and family, telling them not to miss this battle that would likely be recorded in the annals of Cauldron Competition history!
Swish, swish, swish, swish—
In the blink of an eye, countless mysterious rings connected to the battlefield where Jian Chou and the others were located!
This battle at the volcanic crater of the Second Layer’s Burning Hell immediately became the focal point of attention for the entire Extreme Domain!
All eyes were upon them!
However…
On this volcanic lake where magma converged, not a single person cared about the attention!
What they faced was a battle between life and death!
At this moment, Pan Hexun finally understood the meaning behind Jian Chou’s earlier gaze.
But it was already too late…
From beginning to end, Jian Chou hadn’t moved even half a step.
She only held the Void Demon Umbrella, her complexion gradually growing pale, yet her eyes slowly becoming more resolute.
Every battle in the Extreme Domain was dangerous for her, this “weakling” who only possessed Soul Pearl realm cultivation.
However, for Jian Chou at this moment, she was also fortunate.
After all, she wasn’t fighting alone!
Every remaining companion here should be someone she could trust!
Pan Hexun was the acknowledged number one of Fengdu City on the surface. Although Jian Chou judged that his strength was probably inferior to Sima Languan’s, he was still an extremely difficult opponent to deal with.
The massive Kunwu Battle Chariot had never revealed its true power until now.
Even though he was already seriously injured, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse.
Who knew what variables might occur later!
Since he was injured, this was truly a golden opportunity bestowed by heaven!
Strike while he’s down—take his life!
Absolutely don’t give the opponent any more chances to counterattack!
Jian Chou’s gaze was cold and murderous, her face filled with killing intent as she recalled how they had nearly perished before the Cold Ice Palm Hell Division, thinking of Sima Languan and the others still below.
This battle must not be prolonged!
“Hum!”
She floated in mid-air, raising her arm high as endless soul power within her body frantically poured into the umbrella handle. The Void Demon Umbrella was already opened to five-tenths!
Golden runes lit up one after another, and the patterns on the umbrella’s surface came alive one by one—there were Buddhas who saved all beings, immortals who soared through the nine heavens, demons who fought endlessly against adversity, and ghosts both fierce and bloody!
Although Zhang Tang and the others also had valuable treasures, none could compare to the Void Demon Umbrella when brought out, unable to decisively end this battle.
Therefore, they understood very clearly.
In this battle, the key to victory lay with Jian Chou!
They absolutely could not let anything happen to Jian Chou!
As long as the Void Demon Umbrella opened, even if Pan Hexun possessed heavenly abilities, he would no longer have the power to turn the tide.
After all, they had superior numbers. Whether even a Pan Hexun at full strength could win was questionable, let alone him under the Void Demon Umbrella.
So, the moment they saw Jian Chou accelerate the soul power injection into the Void Demon Umbrella, everyone showed no hesitation whatsoever, beginning an astonishingly coordinated cooperation on this peak!
Countless silver thin blades scattered and exploded in all directions, but as if responding to some call, they converged again from all sides like stars, returning to Zhang Tang’s feet.
He seemed to stand on a silver disc formed by thin blades, eight-cornered and sharp, appearing to pulsate with life.
The moment Pan Hexun crashed onto the compass, Zhang Tang dove down directly from above!
Clearly a killing god dressed in black official robes, yet stepping on a silver disc, he seemed to fly down from the moon, giving people an inviolable, piercing impression.
Scorching winds rushed against his face, seeming to want to burn the tips of his dark hair at his temples.
His robes billowed in the wind, along with his black hair flying!
The only thing that remained still was his gaze filled with cold, murderous intent!
“Zhang Tang!”
Pan Hexun, beside the compass platform, raised his eyes to see Zhang Tang pursuing relentlessly. For a moment, his heart filled with countless malicious thoughts, even becoming furious with shame!
Just a mere cultivator from the City of Wrongful Deaths, whose cultivation was inferior to his own, yet had managed to injure him in that split second of lightning-fast combat!
The people outside might not know whose attack arrived first, but Pan Hexun, as the victim, knew crystal clear!
The opponent’s silver thin blade attack was truly too bizarre.
Especially the faint green light it carried, which directly broke through his external defenses, allowing Zhang Tang’s attack to smoothly penetrate his divine soul without obstruction. Only then did it cause him to be seriously injured and vomit blood!
The remaining attacks from the others could then take advantage to trap him.
With attacks from all four sides, how could he possibly escape?
Pan Hexun’s eyes had already turned red, his face ferocious.
He stared at Zhang Tang, unable to control his cold laughter: “You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! All along the way I tried to win you over, yet you choose to help that Soul Pearl realm female cultivator! Then don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
Everyone who heard this was absolutely furious!
From the old woman to Zhang Tang, who among them wasn’t someone Pan Hexun had looked down upon with his nose in the air?
So it turned out he had been trying to win over Zhang Tang all along!
Don’t slap someone’s face when hitting them—this level of contempt was too much!
The first to explode was Chen Tingyan!
He snorted coldly, the wise light flashing in his eyes suddenly condensing.
The golden iron fan flew back into his hand with a “whoosh.” He extended his index finger and pressed hard, immediately injecting soul power into it!
“Swish, swish, swish, swish!”
The twelve golden fan ribs actually extended three feet outward from the fan’s edge in that instant!
“Twelve Sword Screen Fan!”
Pan Hexun immediately recognized this item, his pupils contracting sharply!
Chen Tingyan held the folding fan, laughing with sinister cunning and a hint of schadenfreude. His words sent chills down people’s spines: “Looks like you know your stuff!”
As his words fell, his entire body transformed into a ray of light, striking out with the fan!
“Crack, crack, crack, crack!”
The twelve swords instantly detached from the fan, scattering into twelve flying swords like rain, shuttling frantically through the air. Together with Zhang Tang, they attacked from front and back!
One had twelve swords like sword rain, resembling flying needles; the other had countless blades like silver, similar to crescent hooks.
Golden and silver light intersected in the field, simultaneously brilliant and dangerous!
The injured Pan Hexun was caught in the pincer attack of the two.
He reached out to slap the compass beside him. With a terrifying bronze clang, an ancient bronze light shot out from the compass as the center, radiating toward the entire battle chariot!
“Boom, boom, boom, boom…”
In that instant, the thirty flying wheels still embedded in the bottom of the Kunwu Battle Chariot all detached and flew out, just like when the battle chariot had first appeared, growing with the wind!
The originally several-foot-sized wheels suddenly became larger than the battle chariot itself in the blink of an eye!
Countless deep black runes appeared on the wheel surfaces, densely packed and carrying a heart-trembling aura.
“Bang!”
Each giant wheel was like a wall, like a mountain!
Under Pan Hexun and the compass’s control, they carried frenzied power as they crashed toward Zhang Tang and Chen Tingyan, and even toward the distant old woman and Gu Ling, and even Jian Chou!
Above the entire massive lava lake, the scene became thrilling to the extreme.
The sky was filled with flying magical artifacts—one careless move and it would be impossible to distinguish friend from foe.
Zhang Tang and Chen Tingyan attacked with killing moves, while Pan Hexun was no pushover either. Using the restrictions on the battle chariot, he simultaneously fought two opponents of the same realm and still didn’t fall behind!
Gu Ling had long been watching in stunned amazement.
Zhang Tang’s shocking strength was one thing, but Chen Tingyan had always been rumored to be a wastrel young master. Yet once that Twelve Sword Screen Fan appeared, his entire aura rose steadily, showing signs of matching Zhang Tang’s power!
It could be said that since the Cauldron Competition began, no battle had ever been as strange and unpredictable as this one!
When the flying wheels came crashing toward them, Gu Ling, standing not far from Jian Chou, was extremely nervous.
She could only use all her strength to raise both arms high, like a bird about to spread its wings and soar. In an instant, she opened her mouth and released a clear, high-pitched cry tinged with fierce hostility!
“Screech—”
Her five-colored feathered robes immediately danced in the wind.
Suddenly, a massive fire crow phantom expanded from within her body outward, finally forming a huge “Dharma Body Manifestation”!
A three-legged bird resembling a crow, with wings raised high, its entire body burning with roaring flames of red tinged with heart-stopping black!
The moment it appeared, the entire boiling volcanic crater seemed to tremble and fell silent for a moment!
Gu Ling raised her head high as fierce winds lifted her five-colored feathered robes!
“Ah—”
A high-pitched cry that was indistinguishable between human and bird voice!
“Boom!”
Countless flames leaped forth!
Even the boiling magma beneath everyone’s feet seemed compelled to obey her command, transforming into dozens of flame dragons that roared in unison, lunging toward those massive flying wheels!
“Rumble…”
The tremendous crash immediately covered the entire volcanic crater with overwhelming force.
The left side of the entire volcanic crater featured the docked massive battle chariot and the endless struggle between Zhang Tang, Chen Tingyan, and Pan Hexun, with golden and silver light interweaving and white bone whips crisscrossing;
The right side of the volcanic crater had soaring flame dragons, burning flying wheels, and that majestic three-legged fire bird, accompanied by Gu Ling’s five-colored rainbow feathered robes flowing in the wind!
What a shocking and dazzling scene this was!
Since the beginning of this Cauldron Competition, nothing like this had ever appeared!
Outside the Eighteen Layers of Hell, countless people had already become mesmerized by this scene!
Gu Ling herself had never imagined that in her desperation, attacking with full force would produce such a terrifying effect…
Her fire crow didn’t seem to be as inferior as everyone said.
Blinking her eyes, she flashed forward to help the old woman over there.
However…
A wind—a cold wind—a strange cold wind completely inconsistent with this time and place—suddenly swept up from beside her, stopping her movement.
“Hum…”
An extremely subtle sound seemed to flow through the gaps in the wind.
However, Gu Ling heard it.
She instinctively stopped her actions, and with a tremor originating from her very soul, she looked toward the direction of the wind.
In that instant, she could no longer look away!
The terrifying sounds of combat from the battle between Zhang Tang, Chen Tingyan, and Pan Hexun suddenly quieted, even disappeared. In Gu Ling’s eyes, even in the old woman’s eyes, and even in the eyes of countless cultivators throughout the Extreme Domain watching this battle—
There was only that figure holding the black-gold umbrella!
The sky of the Second Layer Hell had originally been covered with patches of red, like blood painted on a blue canvas.
Now, only three-tenths remained, while the other seven-tenths had been devoured by darkness, transformed into complete void.
Jian Chou stood suspended in the center of the entire lava lake, holding the Void Demon Umbrella in her right hand—it was already opened to seven-tenths!
A line connected the heaven and earth to her umbrella tip!
It was a thin line formed by the convergence of the sky’s colors—brilliant, blue, red—continuously flowing downward…
The firmament seemed to have become a giant funnel.
Those brilliant and intoxicating colors flowed down through this spider silk-thin line from the heavens, streaming to the umbrella tip, then covering the entire umbrella surface through the tip.
It even passed through the umbrella handle, transmitting to Jian Chou’s body!
Her originally moon-white robes had only been lightly tinged with blue.
But as that brilliant line descended, seven-tenths were gradually dyed into pure, clear blue!
Cloud after cloud burned red, flowing down the umbrella handle to her body, outlining one crimson cloud pattern after another…
The feeling was as if…
She had worn the entire sky upon her body!
The Heaven-Devouring Earth-Consuming Void Demon Umbrella—with endless myriad firmaments, weave my robes!