<h4>Chapter 923: A Small Film</h4>


    Inside the cave, Xu Qing became a streak of light that shot toward the golden rat. 40,000,000 soul threads swept out to form a major world, giving him stupefying momentum.


    Feng Lintao took a deep breath as five major worlds appeared around him, three illusory and two corporeal. All of them shone with different colored light as he closed in aggressively on the golden rat.


    Lan Yao acted in kind. A storm of flower petals spun around her, turning into an eight-colored peacock that threw its head back, sucked in the surrounding energy of heaven and earth, expanded to a size of 300 meters, and then shot toward the golden rat.


    The corpse puppet, not concerned with dying, charged toward the enemy.


    Attacks came from four different directions, all them directed at the golden rat. There was an impressive amount of killing force on disy. Rumbling sounds echoed out, and the walls of the cave shook so violently it seemed they might copse. The ruins below crumbled and fell, and countless withered roots copsed into ashes.


    Yet the golden rat showed no sign of fear. Whether in terms of its fleshly body or its godliness, it was at the peak of what a godly entity could be, and was just a sliver away from being able to form godfire. Destructive power converged on the golden rat, but golden light surged out explosively to protect it.


    In the blink of an eye, the entire cave was stained with the color gold. Devastating mightiness existed within that golden light.


    When it hit Xu Qing’s major world of 40,000,000 soul threads, it copsed. Then the light’s mountain-toppling, sea-draining force mmed into Xu Qing himself, causing blood to spray out of his mouth as he staggered backward. The golden light also ripped Feng Lintao’s major worlds to shreds, then hit him and threw him backward.


    It was the same with Lan Yao. Her eight-colored peacock was wiped out, and her face drained of color as she fell back and did her best to defend herself.


    As for the corpse puppet.... It shivered when the golden light struck. Then the golden rat appeared in front of it, opened its mouth, and bit down with its pitch ck teeth. A loud crunching sound rang out. The rat gobbled down half of the entire corpse puppet, then head-butted the remaining half, sending it smashing into the nearby wall. It was destroyed.


    Xu Qing and the other two cultivators were shocked by the sight of it.


    After wiping out the puppet, the golden rat didn’t continue fighting with Xu Qing and the others. Instead, it looked back at the passageway, its eyes shining fiercely.


    “If that’s all the two of you can do,” Xu Qing said grimly, all while backing up, “then I might as well bow out now!”


    This golden rat was just too terrifying for him to deal with. If he kept fighting, he could easily end up dead. Just that sh of light moments ago had crushed his major world. Then the rat destroyed that puppet. While Xu Qing could probably hold his own for a while, the price to pay would be enormous.


    “Hold on a moment, Fellow Daoist Firedark,” Feng Lintao said, looking at the rat. “There’s something off about this golden rat. It seems like it’s only concerned with blocking our path. Perhaps there’s something inside the Fardark Cistern that it values. Or maybe it also wants to get into the cistern.”


    Xu Qing stopped in ce.


    Lan Yao was still breathing heavily, and her eyes shone with eight-colored light as she also looked at the golden rat. “There’s something else that seems strange. This creature is at the peak of godliness, just on the verge of igniting godfire. It’s essentially equivalent to a cultivator at the great circle of Smoldering God. However, though it has fearsome battle prowess, it’s actually not quite as terrifying as an actual peak Smoldering God....


    “Wait, now I get it! It used to be a god, but its godfire was extinguished, severely injuring it and destabilizing its foundation. And it’s probably still suffering from the very same internal injuries it received in that battle! It hasn’t recovered yet. What’s more, it recently gave birth, which means... it’s iparably weak right now!”


    The eight-colored light in Lan Yao’s eyes gave her incredible vision, which allowed her to see many important things. As it turned out, her words conformed to what Xu Qing already knew. By means of Little Shadow, he knew that there were two eggs in the passageway....


    “That said,” Lan Yao continued, “the creature is beyond our ability to deal with. Thankfully, I have a secret treasure that should be able to trap it temporarily. It will take time to activate the treasure. Fellow Daoist Feng. Fellow Daoist Firedark. I’m going to need you to cover me during that time.”


    Feng Lintao nodded and then looked coldly at Xu Qing, all while tightening his grip on the Captain’s neck. Cracking sounds echoed out. There was no need to give voice to any sort of threat.


    Xu Qing scowled for a few breaths of time. Then he took a deep breath and said, “I’ll stand guard for an incense stick’s worth of time. After that, if you haven’t trapped the creature, then I’ll leave and be done with this entire matter. And if I do leave, Fellow Daoist Feng, you need to release my Eldest Brother.”


    Feng Lintao nodded decisively. As long as Xu Qing didn’t demand that the Captain be freed immediately, he could ept the terms.


    Seeing that both Xu Qing and Feng Lintao had agreed, Lan Yao didn’t hesitate for a moment. Dropping down into a cross-legged position, she took out a mirror and ced it in front of her. After performing a double-handed incantation gesture, she touched the mirror, causing bright light to shine as nine eyes appeared on its surface. The eyes were gruish to the extreme and pulsed with strange auras.


    “Nine-Eyes Darkfiend Mirror!” Feng Lintao eximed, clearly somewhat taken aback. All of a sudden he felt a lot more confident in Lan Yao.


    Xu Qing’s eyes also glittered with strange light. <i>That mirror reminds me a lot of the Seven Blood Eyes taboo treasure....</i>


    The moment the aura of the mirror spread out, the golden rat shifted its attention to Lan Yao. Its eyes gleamed fiercely, the golden light around it flickered brightly, and its body blurred. Then, a whistling sound filled the air as the rat sped toward Lan Yao.


    Feng Lintao didn’t hesitate to rush forward and block the rat’s path.


    Xu Qing gritted his teeth and joined in the effort. Explosive booms rang out. Xu Qing was shaken from head to toe, and couldn’t see anything but golden light rushing toward him in terrifying fashion. Then he was tumbling back, blood spraying out of his mouth. Cracks had already appeared on his Grand Darkheaven Armor, as well as the Ninedawns mage armor. His god body was trembling, and his five yin organs and six yang organs were shaking.


    Feng Lintao was also having a tough time, and blood sprayed out of his mouth constantly. However, as a critical moment developed, he begrudgingly took out a violet disc that he activated to create a defensive barrier. The barrier was astounding. Though it immediately started to fill with cracks, in the end, it did block the golden rat’s attack.


    Face ashen, Feng Lintao urgently said, “Sir Firedark, pour your cultivation base power into the disc!”


    Even as he spoke, he poured his own cultivation base power into the violet disc, causing the defenses to hold strong. The violet disc was a trump card he had prepared for this mission. He had hoped to save it forter on, but was out of options at the moment, and had no choice but to use it.


    Xu Qing said nothing. Just from looking at the violet disc, he could tell it was an extraordinary item. Therefore, he didn’t hesitate to tap into his cultivation base and pour power into the disc. Instantly, the disc expanded. Outside of the defenses, the rat sent golden light smashing into the barrier with terrifying force.


    Rumbling booms echoed out as the barrier flickered. More cracks appeared. Both Xu Qing and Feng Lintao coughed up blood, but they were still able to keep the rat at bay.


    The golden rat was starting to devolve into madness. Suddenly lurching to a halt midair, its golden hair stood on end, then began to shoot off its body like golden needles that headed directly toward Xu Qing and Feng Lintao. They moved with incredible speed, bing like a golden tempest of destruction. More booms rang out as the violet barrier held strong for a few breaths of time. But then the cracks spread out so extensively that it copsed.


    The faces of Xu Qing and Feng Lintao fell. Neither one knowing whether the other had much strength left, they both fell back. As of now, it was going to be difficult for them to stand as dharma protectors.


    Meanwhile, the golden needles bore down on Lan Yao. Just when it seemed like they might hit her, she opened her eyes. Looking furious, she waved her hand, causing the nine eyes on the mirror to also open. Considering that she was taking action right when necessary, it obviously called into question the truthfulness of her previous statement about needing a certain amount of time.


    When the nine eyes on the mirror opened, nine streams of ck light shot out, gazes that turned from illusory into corporeal in an instant. At the same time, a majestic force filled the area, causing the golden needles to stop moving.


    The gazes locked onto the golden rat, and it shivered as it was locked into ce in midair. Its aura surged as it struggled to break free.


    “I can only keep it trapped for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. And if anything touches it during that time, it will break free!” Lan Yao spat out a mouthful of blood onto the mirror, and the nine eyes became even more demonic in appearance. Then she backed up, ignoring the mirror as she rushed toward the passageway.


    Feng Lintao did the same, moving as fast as he could. Xu Qing blinked a few times, then followed.


    In an instant, they disappeared, bing streaks of light piercing through the passageway.


    The golden rat wasn’t there to block their path, but time was limited. Neither Lan Yao nor Feng Lintao had any duplicitous ns, and thus, everyone went through the passageway without any trouble. It didn’t take long to reach the end of the passageway.


    There, they found a cave. It wasn’t veryrge, only about 300 meters from end to end. The walls were covered with crude marks that were evidence of the hasty manner in which the cave had been dug out years ago.


    In the middle of it was a small cistern of liquid that was hardly more than a meter wide, above which hung a green root. As the three of them entered, a drop of liquid fell from the root into the pool. A pinging sound echoed out.


    Xu Qing, Lan Yao, and Feng Lintao looked at the ripples that then spread across the surface. There was an egg in the cistern. What was more, the liquid of the cistern emanated a fragrant aroma that filled the area.


    Xu Qing inhaled deeply, and suddenly felt his mind be very clear. In fact, the godly authority in the void soil within him stirred as a result. Countlessws of godly authority swirled within his mind and heart. Even Xu Qing was amazed by the effects.


    “Holy fardark nectar!” Feng Lintao murmured. He and Lan Yao were both struggling to control their breathing.


    However, as all three of them looked at the cistern, various expressions shed across their faces. After all, it looked like there wasn’t very much holy fardark nectar inside.... In fact, there was only a small film at the bottom.