Chapter 171: The Grand-Disciple Is Amazing

Yun Jiao glanced over at Yuan Jiang, who had almost completely trapped the Sky-Swallowing Beast. One thick chain after another had already wrapped the creature up like a dumpling; it didn’t look like they were losing at all.

Yet Ye Yuan spoke in a low voice: “The Sky-Swallowing Beast isn’t terrifying just because of its size.”

“Huh?”

Yun Jiao froze for a moment. The next instant, the struggling giant beast suddenly shuddered; its mountain-like body instantly shrank by a whole size. Yuan Jiang thought it was trying to break free, and he reflexively tightened the binding spell—but then the beast’s entire body flared with a blinding red light, and a surge of energy burst outward in all directions.

In mid-air, Yuan Jiang’s body went rigid. His face turned deathly pale as several of the enormous chains snapped apart. The demon king on the other side fared even worse: with a heavy thud he fell straight from the air. Before he could get up, red light flashed across his body, and a faint shadow seemed to be tearing its way out of him.

That was—

“Soul-devouring!” Yun Jiao cried out. She finally remembered—the Sky-Swallowing Beast not only devoured heaven and earth, it fed on souls.

ROAR—

The beast let out another earth-shaking bellow. Yuan Jiang swayed, hastily forming seals to stabilize his spirit and keep his soul from being dragged out by the red glow. But the pause caused the spell he had just cast to lose its spiritual support, and the Sky-Swallowing Beast shattered all the remaining chains in an instant.

It roared again, the crimson light expanding even fiercer. This time not only Yuan Jiang and the demon king were affected—every nearby demon was caught in the glow. The stronger ones could barely resist; the weaker ones had their souls ripped straight from their bodies, about to be swallowed whole.

Yun Jiao panicked. If this went on, not only would her senior uncle lose, the souls of every demon in the city would be eaten. She turned instinctively to the man beside her. “Ancestor—!”

She had just begun to plead when Ye Yuan turned to her and said slowly, “It’s only soul-devouring. He can’t handle it—you can.”

“Ah?” Yun Jiao blinked, then realized what he meant and said in shock, “Ancestor, you mean—the Soul-Suppressing Incantation?”

He nodded.

Her eyes sharpened. Without hesitation she turned to the old man beside her. “Old man, give me a Soul-Guiding Talisman!”

“Ah? Ah?” The old man was still stunned by the sudden appearance of the soul-devouring red light, momentarily dazed.

“Hurry!” Yun Jiao urged.

“Oh! Oh!” He fumbled out a talisman and handed it over.

He was about to ask what she planned when he saw Yun Jiao already forming a complicated series of hand-seals. Spiritual energy surged violently around her. In the next instant she threw the talisman out and chanted loudly:

“Heaven and earth’s mystic gate, all things return to spirit—move the soul, recall the essence, expel evil, suppress spirits!”

The moment her voice fell, the talisman burst into dazzling golden light. It rose higher and higher until it transformed in mid-air into a massive golden seal that came crashing down. Instantly, the once-expanding red glow shrank back as if encountering its natural nemesis. All the demon souls that had been forced out were drawn back into their bodies.

The Sky-Swallowing Beast let out a shrill scream. Its huge body shrank again before their eyes, writhing in agony.

The old man beside her was dumbfounded. He looked from the casting Yun Jiao to the enormous sigil glowing in the sky.

That was—the Soul-Suppressing Incantation!

It was actually the Soul-Suppressing Incantation!!!

This wasn’t at all what he had learned!

w(Д)w

Hadn’t the Soul-Suppressing Incantation always been a mere spell for stabilizing one’s spirit, for calming the mind and nurturing the soul? Since when could it be used like this?!

Yun Jiao didn’t notice his existential crisis. She focused entirely on maintaining the incantation. The moment the talisman activated, the spiritual energy she had cultivated these past days was drawn out wildly through her spirit veins, nearly draining her dry in one burst.

But the Sky-Swallowing Beast was enormous. Though she suppressed it for the moment, fully subduing it was still extremely difficult—especially since her troublesome meridians always ran out of power halfway through. She could clearly feel her energy fading, her dantian growing emptier by the second. Sweat poured down her forehead. Just as she was about to be completely drained, her back suddenly grew warm—something pressed gently against it. Yun Jiao froze and instinctively turned her head toward her ancestor.

“Focus,” Ye Yuan reminded quietly.

At his words, she felt a vast surge of spiritual power flow into her. In an instant, the cool, pure energy filled her entire dantian. The nearly exhausted meridians within her body revived again. She had no time for surprise—her hands shifted rapidly through another sequence of seals.

The enormous golden sigil in the sky expanded like it had been injected with chicken blood, doubling in size until it covered the entire heavens. Blinding gold light erupted, crushing the struggling Sky-Swallowing Beast beneath it.

A howling roar tore through the air. The red glow on the beast’s body shattered, as if some seal had been broken. Countless faint shadows streamed out of it like a torrential rain, scattering in all directions.

“Those are… wandering souls!” the old man exclaimed, immediately recognizing them. They were the souls the beast had devoured in the Spirit-Cultivation King City—apparently ones it hadn’t yet fully digested. Because of the beast’s corruption, the souls were thin and nearly transparent, without consciousness, drifting aimlessly. If they weren’t sent to the underworld soon, they would eventually dissipate even if freed.

Fortunately Yuan Jiang reacted quickly. He formed seals and cast a reincarnation array, sending all the spirits into the underworld. As the souls vanished, the Sky-Swallowing Beast shrank further under the pressure of the Soul-Suppressing Incantation. In less than a quarter of an hour, the mountain-sized monster had dwindled to the size of an ordinary demon, rolling on the ground in agony.

Only then did Yun Jiao withdraw her spell. She exhaled deeply and looked at the man beside her—the walking spiritual-energy supply. “Thank you, Ancestor.” If not for his aid, she wouldn’t have lasted to the end.

“Mm.” Ye Yuan nodded. Though he had stopped transmitting energy, his palm still rested against her back—and for some reason, he didn’t feel like removing it.

“Girl, that demon king seems to have fallen just ahead!” Bai Yu suddenly pointed forward.

“Let’s go take a look!” Yun Jiao immediately strode in that direction.

Ye Yuan’s hand suddenly met empty air. His brows furrowed, and his icy gaze turned sharply toward the old man beside him.

The old man shuddered under the look. Huh? What did he say wrong again? Why was the ancestor’s stare so terrifying?

Σ(°△°|||)︴

(End of chapter)