Chapter 705 690: Escape with Ease

Shen Lang pressed his entire body against the Candle Dragon Black Flame Barrier. He sensed the speed and frequency of the flame burning inside it, continuously adjusting his own protective shield of Candle Dragon Black Flame to match.

As for Naluo King's question, he simply ignored it.

In truth, the War God Hall was far from a monolith. The Eight Celestial Kings were divided into several factions, with none willing to submit to another.

The Five Elements Banner and the Eight Celestial Kings had once fought to the death, and only the War Emperor's personal intervention had managed to suppress the conflict.

While they might present a united front against an external enemy like the Demon God Hall, they were constantly fighting amongst themselves in private.

Wherever there are people, there is conflict. This is an immutable truth as old as time itself.

When the War Emperor was still around, the entire War God Hall had been unprecedentedly united. This was partly due to his personal charisma, but mainly because of his overwhelming cultivation, which was powerful enough to shake the heavens and the earth.

The War Emperor was like a mighty pillar, holding everything together...

One man, one sword, standing tall between heaven and earth. When he gave a command, no hero dared to disobey!

But Shen Lang's current cultivation was still worlds apart from powerhouses like the Eight Celestial Kings.

'If I reveal my identity now, the slightest issue among the Eight Celestial Kings would cause me to lose control of the entire situation.'

'Take, for example, Asura King Zi You, who has always wanted to kill me.'

'If he found out that I am the War Emperor, God only knows what he would do.'

'With my current cultivation, how could I possibly restrain that man?'

'Furthermore, the sudden appearance of the War God Hall traitor, Donghuang, during my escape with Lan Mengling has made me even more cautious.'

'Whether the War Emperor deliberately hid something, or the War God Hall genuinely possesses secrets that even he was unaware of…'

'...all of it represents a potential crisis for me.'

'I must bring the two great powers of the Eight Celestial Kings and the Five-Colored Banner, scattered across the world, under my control.'

'But absolutely not now.'

Shen Lang wouldn't dare to touch matters he couldn't control or wasn't completely confident about.

Even though Shen Lang wanted to build up his own faction, a power that belonged to him and him alone, as quickly as possible...

...making contact with the Eight Celestial Kings or the Five-Colored Banner right now would be an extremely foolish move.

Therefore, upon hearing Naluo King's question, Shen Lang didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow. He remained completely focused on sensing the frequency fluctuations on the Candle Dragon Black Flame Barrier, feeling for the subtle changes in the Candle Dragon Black Flame's energy.

The Candle Dragon Avatar was incredibly formidable, and its Talent Ability, the Black Flame, was an Innate Divine Fire second only to the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire.

A barrier created with such power was nearly impossible to break unless one could overwhelm it with even greater power—a brute force approach.

However, nothing was absolute...

To Shen Lang, who was an expert in Array Restrictions, the Innate Divine Fire of a supreme Demon Beast like the Candle Dragon was one thing, but how could he possibly be troubled by the restriction it laid, no matter how strong?

And what Shen Lang was doing now was using a power of the same origin to bypass the threat of the Candle Dragon Black Flame!

As long as the Candle Dragon Black Flame had no effect on him, breaking the barrier itself would be child's play!

At that moment, the energy within his Tai Chi Diagram was continuously condensing into Candle Dragon Black Flame, offsetting the energy being consumed by the shield.

Beads of sweat began to roll down Shen Lang's forehead; he was clearly under immense strain.

But at this critical moment, no matter how difficult it was, he had to grit his teeth and endure. Otherwise, all his efforts would be for naught!

Time ticked by, second by second.

Shen Lang remained motionless, pressed against the Black Flame Barrier, while Yan Bing paced back and forth, dripping with sweat.

More than half of the thirty minutes Shen Lang had mentioned passed, leaving only about ten minutes...

Shen Lang's eyes suddenly snapped open. "So that's how it works!"

The next second, the Black Flame Barrier began to ripple like the surface of water.

Before Yan Bing's disbelieving eyes, Shen Lang seemed to pass through a layer of clear water, walking right into the Black Flame Barrier with incredible ease!

"Holy shit, am I seeing things?!" Yan Bing rubbed his eyes fiercely, thinking they were playing tricks on him.

He just walked so nonchalantly into a barrier created by the Candle Dragon using its Talent Flame, the Candle Dragon Black Flame?

If the Candle Dragon saw this, it would probably cough up blood from pure rage!

Inside the barrier, Naluo King broke into a smile. "I, Reincarnation Marquis, have met countless people in my life, but aside from the Emperor himself, I have never seen anyone as breathtakingly brilliant as you, young friend. When we get the chance, I must drink with you until we drop!"

Shen Lang smiled faintly and nodded. "There's no rush to drink. First, let me deal with the Death God Nails in your body. We can talk after we've escaped this place."

The moment he finished speaking, Shen Lang's body suddenly expanded, instantly transforming him into a giant over three meters tall. Wielding an incomparably ferocious Thunder Power, he instantly unleashed a dozen punches onto Naluo King's back!

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

A continuous series of loud bangs echoed out. The large, pitch-black nails embedded in Naluo King's body began to emerge, revealing a staggering thirty-six of them in total!

These thirty-six Death God Nails were embedded in thirty-six deadly acupoints all over Naluo King's body, completely sealing the immensely powerful Luo King!

"What percentage of your power can you use right now?" Shen Lang asked, his gaze cold.

Naluo King spat out a mouthful of blood and said with some difficulty, "Of my full power, I can use less than five percent."

Considering his clavicles had been locked and a restriction placed inside his body, on top of being impaled by the Death God Nails, being able to muster even five percent of his power was already astounding.

Shen Lang nodded. "Five percent... That's enough."

The moment he finished speaking, the towering figure of Zombie Emperor Duanmu Xie appeared beside Shen Lang.

Shen Lang said in a cold voice, "Follow my commands. When I name an acupoint, immediately gather all your strength there. Then, merge your power with the power Duanmu Xie will drive into your body and force the Death God Nail out!"

Just then, Yan Bing shouted from outside the barrier, "It won't work! That's useless! The Death God Nails carry a wisp of the Candle Dragon's Divine Thought, and it's locked onto my lord's Divine Soul. Even if you force them out, they'll automatically return! With your current power and my lord's, you won't be able to resist them at all!"

"Silence!" With time running out, Shen Lang snapped coldly, "Duanmu Xie, on my command! Whatever acupoint I name, strike it with fifty percent of your power!"

Duanmu Xie let out a strange cackle and said something that almost made Naluo King spit blood. "Don't worry, my lord. This is the first time I've gotten to beat up a Quasi-Emperor Martial Realm powerhouse with such gusto. I'll be sure to make it a good one!"

"Qugu, Guan Chong, Zu Qiao Yin! Gather your power at the Ermen Acupoint! Strike!"

Duanmu Xie's massive fist, surging with roiling Corpse Qi, slammed right onto Naluo King's Ermen Acupoint!

With a PUFF, a Death God Nail that had just begun to poke through was expelled from Naluo King's body. Like a bolt of black lightning, it ricocheted off the barrier and shot back toward the Ermen Acupoint with a sharp whistle!

Already prepared, Shen Lang unleashed a torrent of Candle Dragon Black Flame from his right hand. It swirled around the Death God Nail, instantly trapping it within the black fire.

Strangely, the moment the Death God Nail, which had seemed to be roaring like the god of death itself, fell into the Candle Dragon Black Flame, it became completely docile, losing all of its former terrifying momentum!

"Hmph!"

Shen Lang sneered. The power of the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron instantly enveloped both the Death God Nail and the Candle Dragon Black Flame, yanking them inside!

In this race against time, Shen Lang had no spare moment to deal with the Death God Nail.

It was much easier and more practical to store it in the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron and let Zuo Wentian handle it than to deal with it himself.

"Divine Que, Middle Cavity, Feishu! Gather your power at the Chest Acupoint! Strike!"

"Changqiang, Life Gate, Xuanshu! Gather your power at the Qi Sea Acupoint! Strike!"

Under the incredulous gaze of Yan Bing outside the barrier, all thirty-six Death God Nails were extracted from Naluo King's body.

Without wasting any words, Shen Lang recalled Duanmu Xie into the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron, enveloped himself and Naluo King in Candle Dragon Black Flame, and swiftly strode out of the Candle Dragon Black Flame Barrier.

Not two minutes after they exited the Candle Dragon Black Flame Barrier, the ground began to shake violently!

"Get back!" Shen Lang shouted, pulling Naluo King to the edge of the Spirit Pattern Pillars for cover.

At that very moment, the array that had been suppressed erupted completely, like a Fierce Beast held down for far too long!

The array, which had originally been a mere ten feet square, now expanded relentlessly, nearly covering the entire space enclosed by the nine Spirit Pattern Pillars!

The massive Locking Chains thrashing wildly within it more than doubled in thickness, their numbers multiplying like kelp in the sea as they churned madly, seemingly trying to ensnare and crush every living thing inside the array!

Two rays of light shot through the air and were caught by Shen Lang and Yan Bing.

They were the Star Moon Bodhi Prayer Beads and the Light of a Thousand Years that had been suppressing the array.

"Words cannot express my gratitude, but I, Reincarnation Marquis, will remember the kindness you've shown me, young friend!" Reincarnation Marquis said as he steadied himself. "It may be presumptuous of me to ask, but which Sect or Noble Family do you belong to?"

Shen Lang watched the array's chains thrashing wildly a short distance away and said calmly, "As for who I am, you will find out in due time."

Naluo King gave a wry smile.

In this day and age, there weren't many who would dare to speak to him in such a manner.

But in front of Shen Lang, aside from gratitude, he found he couldn't summon even a shred of his usual authority, which felt incredibly strange.

Shen Lang had only been here for a short time, yet with a mere King Martial Realm cultivation, he had displayed one uncanny ability after another—first breaking the array, then the barrier, and finally rescuing him...

If he hadn't witnessed it himself, Reincarnation Marquis would never have believed such a thing was possible.

And because he had seen it all with his own eyes, Naluo King had subconsciously begun to regard Shen Lang as his equal.

In doing so, he subconsciously overlooked one crucial fact... the young man before him was only at the First Heaven of the King Martial Realm!

Before Naluo King could speak, Shen Lang asked another question. "Can you tell me why you came to the Yumu Cave Blessed Land? For people of your strength to try and fish in troubled waters... don't you think that was a bit too audacious?"

At these words, Naluo King merely frowned slightly, but the expression on Yan Bing's face changed dramatically.

"Kid, don't think that just because you saved my lord, you have the right to criticize us! The man standing next to you is the illustrious Naluo King, one of the Eight Celestial Kings of the War God Hall!"

"You may have a few tricks up your sleeve, but with your pitiful level of strength, you are not qualified to speak to my lord that way!"