Chapter 139: The Green Hill Fox

As the solitary chime resonated and its vibrations rippled outward, the array spirit, which had already raised its arms to deliver a crushing blow, shuddered slightly and instantly dissipated. This caused the sustained ancient Wu clan grand formation to collapse and fail utterly, leaving the expressions of the Ancestral Witches present to shift subtly.

Not only that, but the multitude of mighty figures who had been sitting in the chaos watching the tigers fight from a safe distance were jolted right out of concealment by this single chime. The surging elements of earth, water, fire, and wind suddenly stagnated, only to spin out of control and sweep toward them in all directions.

Although the ordinary earth, water, fire, and wind of the chaos posed no great threat to the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, this spectacle nonetheless made the expressions of these powerful beings rather unsightly.

Originally, they were meant to be mere spectators, yet in the blink of an eye, they found themselves dragged onto the stage. Who could possibly stomach such a thing?

Hongyun and Zhenyuanzi, along with a third, naturally had their own veils of concealment shattered unceremoniously by this bell chime. Exchanging glances, they could read the shared wariness within each other's hearts.

Could this be the priceless treasure used by the Demon Clan to suppress their karmic luck, the Chaos Clock?

Hongyun murmured inwardly, his expression entirely unchanged as he stared fixedly at the archaic, unadorned bell. The dense patterns and verdigris covering its surface gave him a sensation akin to facing the Universe Cauldron directly.

As for those all around... Ancestor River Styx, Daoist Jieyin, Daoist Zhunti, the Eastern Lord, Daoist Burning Lamp, and the Three Pure Ones...

...

"Eastern Emperor Taiyi, weren't you lured away by my brothers and sisters? Why are you still lingering here!"

The Ancestral Witch Gonggong glared at the overbearing and contemptuous aura emanating from Eastern Emperor Taiyi, feeling as though he had been deceived in some way, and roared with fury:

"You members of the Demon Clan are truly despicable!"

Hearing this, Eastern Emperor Taiyi's expression remained completely unaltered. He merely glanced at Ancestral Witch Gonggong before lifting his gaze once more to look into the distance.

Seeing this, Bai Ze, who stood among the Demon Clan, stepped out from the ranks of demons and sneered:

"What would a blockhead like you, who speaks and acts without using his brain, possibly understand? Among my Demon Clan, there are thousands of spirits and myriad races, and their innate divine talents are naturally ever-changing. A mere Zenith Heaven immortal adept at illusion was enough to fool you all. It is truly laughable to the extreme."

Having said this, and noticing the five Ancestral Witches present glaring at him with blazing fury, Bai Ze instinctively took two steps back until he was standing safely behind Eastern Emperor Taiyi.

Bai Ze preferred dealing with intelligent beings; from the bottom of his heart, he held the utmost contempt for those who disliked using their minds.

After all, as the chief strategist of the Demon Clan, he rarely took action himself, preferring to quietly lay down a grand chess game.

Once he lured his opponents into the trap, he would engage them in a battle of wits until they were forced to toss away their pieces and concede defeat.

However, these brutes of the Wu clan were completely different from what he had imagined.

More often than not, he would carefully set up a trap, only for the opponent to simply flip over the entire table!

Now, following his strategy, he had successfully divided and scattered them—it was time to let them taste the true power of the Demon Clan!

...

Within the chaos, the stars shifted and the constellations moved, time flowing like a shuttle.

Seven Ancestral Witches were in hot pursuit of a single demonic figure.

This figure merely fled blindly, at most tossing out a few cold remarks to provoke their hatred before continuing to escape, refusing outright to engage in combat with the Ancestral Witches.

Not far behind, the Ancestral Witches emanated various terrifying auras from their bodies, yet they found it difficult to close the distance on their target, prompting them to roar in anger:

"Eastern Emperor Taiyi, you have no wings to fly today! You might as well fight us to the death—at least then you would have a sliver of a chance of survival!"

"Indeed! Fleeing without a fight like this is a disgrace to your status!"

Just at that moment, the Ancestral Witch Houtu, who was leading the chase, seemed to have noticed something amiss. She came to a sudden halt, her pair of beautiful eyes flickering with a hint of doubt:

"Something is wrong... Qiangliang, Xiizi, Tianwu, the three of you coordinate to lock him in place. Let's see what other tricks he has up his sleeve!"

"Very well!"

Hearing this, the three Ancestral Witches did not harbor the slightest doubt. Thunder flashed, lightning surged, and howling winds swept across the void, forming a composite domain in the blink of an eye.

At that very moment, Houtu extended her arms, drew them inward in a gentle clasp, and stamped her foot lightly. The distance between them rapidly shrank, and she directly bound the target within this composite domain.

When all movement ceased within the domain, a massive brown domain manifested, its aura closely intertwined with the boundless chaos.

At the same time, infinite vines emerged and intertwined, wrapping tightly around the domain. The emerald-green figure of the Ancestral Witch Jumang materialized, his tone slightly grave:

"Since he is already trapped, prepare to strike!"

Heavy, turbid energies surged from all seven Ancestral Witches as they let out enraged shouts and stepped directly into the layers of the domain.

At the very center of the domain, a single figure was bound tightly. Dense layers of curses transformed from Wu clan glyphs had already surged up and covered the body from head to toe.

Such techniques were executed by the Wu clan as easily as drawing breath.

However, this kind of attack was generally less effective for them than a straightforward punch, which was why they used it infrequently.

Yet right at that moment, before they could offer greetings or express the joy of trapping this supreme sovereign of the Demon Clan, Eastern Emperor Taiyi spoke up from the very depths of the enclosure:

"This concubine truly never imagined that the Ancestral Witches possessed such brilliant methods."

"That goes without saying..."

Huh!?

As the eldest among them in this excursion, Jumang was naturally the first to respond.

Before he could finish his sentence, his eyes widened abruptly, as if he found it utterly unbelievable: *This concubine?*

The rest of the Ancestral Witches had only half-heard the words. Seeing their second brother fall silent mid-sentence, they assumed he had fallen victim to some covert attack and instinctively prepared to strike.

Houtu was the first to snap back to her senses. With her keen intellect, a sudden realization struck her, and a trace of burning fury ignited in the depths of her eyes:

"You are not Eastern Emperor Taiyi! What manner of demon are you?!"

"Giggle, naturally this concubine is not Eastern Emperor Taiyi. The divine might of the Demon Emperor is not something this concubine dares to speak of lightly."

A crisp, coquettish laugh rang out from the lips of the "Eastern Emperor Taiyi" trapped at the center. The figure turned her head to glance at Houtu, her form shifting bit by bit until she dissolved into a wisp of pale smoke and vanished completely.

"This concubine had only heard that the Ancestral Witches possessed formidable strength, with every single one of you having attained at least the peak realm of Zenith Heaven. I never expected that even within an illusion, you could still deploy such binding techniques. I am truly enlightened.

As for this concubine's identity... The memories of you Ancestral Witches are truly poor. Shebishu, surely you haven't forgotten the homeland where you once resided, have you?"

An illusion!?

Hearing this, Houtu felt a surge of incandescent rage within her heart. Intending to use her own domain to sniff out the culprit, she discovered not a single trace left behind.

Jumang knew his own limitations; his mastery over illusionary arts was indeed lacking, so he turned his gaze toward Zhujiuyin, who possessed the profound insight to pierce through the heavens:

"Ninth Brother, break this place open so we can get out first!"

"Understood!"

Zhujiuyin was a man of few words. He gave a slight nod, and ripples began to emanate from his body, spreading outward in all directions.

In the span of a single breath, the flow of time here shifted erratically, dragging them away from the illusions that had ensnared them.

He let out a low, thunderous shout that served to pull their minds back to reality.

"Twelfth Brother, do you know who that was?"

Who was that?

Shebishu's eyes were clouded with murky mist. As he pondered, a figure seemed to emerge from the deepest recesses of his memory, causing his voice to tremble slightly:

"The Qingqiu Fox..."