Shi Feiyang flew back to Dinghu Peak, with the two immortals from Immortal City chasing him the entire way, both young ladies vowing to kill the Demon Dragon and rid the world of evil!
Upon reaching the top of Dinghu Peak, Shi Feiyang's Dragon Body coiled, and a dense fog rose from the lake, concealing his body as he spat out two inner cores to block the pursuit of the Xin Metal Sword Qi and the Green Centipede Hook.
He said coldly, "You are pushing me too far."
Xie Lin sneered, "What are you even? Covered in scales and horns, a menace to the Human World, and you dare to call yourself human? We sisters have always been committed to eradicating evil. Today we shall act on heaven's behalf, slay demons and remove you, lest you harm others again!"
As she spoke, she released the Five-Colored Radiant Light; it transformed into a dazzling radiance of five colors and chopped down fiercely.
Shi Feiyang, unwilling to block her Magical Treasure with his inner cores, turned and dove into the lake below.
The two immortals stood on the rocks by the shore, and Xie Lin remarked, "This Demon Dragon hiding underwater is tricky to deal with."
Although Shi Feiyang's figure had disappeared beneath the water, his voice still resounded and vibrated through the water, "You two are merely relying on the power of your senior sect members to bully others, a pair of cheap servants. Without Xie Shan to back you up, you would have died hundreds of times already. You open your mouth with 'Demon Dragon' and close it with 'evil beast,' without even knowing my true origins, yet you dare claim to carry out heavenly mandates..."
Hearing Shi Feiyang insult her as a "cheap servant," Xie Lin was instantly infuriated and bellowed, "Evil beast seeking death!" She pointed her finger and first released the Five-Colored Radiant Light, splitting the waters, then merged her Sword Qi with herself, transforming into a red rainbow that shot straight into the waters. With her going into the water, Xie Lin, fearing the potential dangers, quickly followed suit.
Shi Feiyang deliberately provoked them to follow, and seeing that the two ladies had fallen for it, he immediately started casting, shifting the Five Elements and reversing the space.
The two immortals charged downward with their swords, moving extremely fast. The 300-yard distance should have been covered swiftly, but suddenly the waters ahead seemed endless, with no bottom in sight. After hurriedly flying for the duration of one tea break, they still hadn't reached the lakebed. Looking up, the circular lake opening reflected and rippled with the light above.
Xie Ying became even more cautious, halting her sister, "Don't be reckless! This Demon Dragon is unlike any demons we've encountered before. It can control swords and knows many Immortal techniques. He lured us here; there must be an ambush."
Xie Lin was unconvinced, "No matter what tricks it has, it's still an evil Demon of a different kind. What's there to fear? Besides, don't we have the Cave Spirit Zither? That artifact specifically counters all sorts of deviant species. All the monsters we encountered before were defeated with a single strike. That treasure hasn't even been tested in real combat. Now is the perfect time to see if this Demon Dragon can withstand it!"
The Cave Spirit Zither, a gift from their sworn godmother Cui Wu, was itself an Ancient Treasure originally possessed by a Han Dynasty Immortal woodsman and was later re-crafted with Immortal Law, nurtured day and night for Demon Suppression, completely subduing all manner of fiends from mountains and seas. Played correctly, even the fiercest of creatures would fall into a stupor, their souls scattering and bodies softening, thus only capable of being slaughtered. Moreover, it could split mountains and stones, and open impassable paths.
From Cui Wu's two most potent treasures, one was the Five-Star Heavenly Talisman, and the other was the Cave Spirit Zither, both given to them before her transcendence.
Hearing this, Xie Ying took out the zither. The body of the zither was made of jade, only a few inches long, with the sun, moon, and stars carved at the head, and wind, rain, thunder, and lightning at the tail. In between, there were twelve strings—six Yin and six Yang—tuned in the twelve-tone equal temperament to match the twelve months.
This treasure was not meant to be played with hands. Once conjured by Xie Ying, it hovered in the air, the jade body emitting a soft green radiance, and the metallic strings radiating dazzling white light.
Xie Ying concentrated, her hands forming magic seals, and upon activating the spell, the zither emitted a sequence of soft sounds.
The note resonated, and the surrounding lake was instantly stirred, raising terrifying waves!
The sound reached Shi Feiyang's ears, and suddenly his head buzzed, giving him a feeling as if his primordial spirit was about to leave his body.
During the time Xie Ying and Xie Lin had entered the water, Shi Feiyang had not been idle; he had dived to the bottom of the lake to find Mo Xiang and asked him for three drops of blood. Mo Xiang, innocently not asking why, slashed open his arm and ended up giving five drops.
Shi Feiyang used his Dan Qi to disperse the five drops of poison, releasing them into the lake water.
Mo Xiang's poison was extremely potent. The Dinghu Peak lake contained more than a billion tons of water, and with three drops of liquid, all water instantly became poisonous. Shi Feiyang then used his Dan Qi to direct the poisoned water as much as possible towards the two women.
Just then, he heard a sound from the zither, was impacted, and nearly had his soul fly out of his body, knowing it must be an opponent using the Cave Spirit Zither. He had read in books that the ladies from Immortal City carried this magical treasure, the nemesis of all demon beasts and aberrations. He hadn't expected it would subdue them to such an extent. At the sound of the zither, not only was his divine soul attacked but even his Dan Qi reacted uncontrollably, nearly dispersing, and his inner core felt as if it was about to split open.
He dared not delay, quickly turned around, and flew back to the lake bottom, coiling on the Dragon Stone. With a sweep of his claws, he sprayed Dan Qi, and a ring of Golden Seal Talismans on the surrounding walls simultaneously emitted light, flashing golden beams that illuminated each other like a giant golden mirror. The sounds of the zither continued to descend, but after passing through the layer of golden light, they lost much of their potency. Shi Feiyang only found the sounds quite comfortable and even felt a bit sleepy.
Mo Zhui had already helped Mo Xiang lick his wounds, which healed rapidly. The two little creatures ran over holding hands, chattering worriedly, "What is that sound? It nearly split our souls; it's truly terrifying!"
Shi Feiyang said, "It is specially designed to subdue creatures like us. Hurry back inside your own bodies, concentrate on protecting yourselves, and don't come out unless I call!"
The two little fellows, seeing the urgency of the situation, quickly ran back to their roots and burrowed underground, disappearing from sight.
Meanwhile, Xie Ying had also felt the effect of the Immortal Mushrooms poison. Her primordial spirit wavered, making her feel drowsy. Xie Lin, having a weaker disposition, hadn't realized it yet, as both sisters had been cultivating together but with varying degrees of advancement. Oblivious, Xie Lin was randomly slashing and chopping at the surrounding water with the Five Heavenly Talisman, and suddenly stumbled, nearly falling over.
Xie Ying quickly stabilized her sister and released a Protective Dharma Treasure, "Be careful, the water is poisoned!"
The treasure she released was called the Demon Extinguishing Divine Light Shield, a gift from Ye Bin, the master of Golden Bell Island in Little Antarctic. It transformed into a ten-feet wide dome of Five-Colored Light, enveloping both sisters completely and repelling the surging water, keeping it three feet away from them.
With this barrier in place between them and the outside, Xie Ying breathed a sigh of relief, took out an Elixir from the Qiankun Bag, and was just about to administer it to her sister when she suddenly felt a strong force tugging the Green Centipede Hook downwards with a force so powerful it seemed unstoppable.
The two sisters were not willing to lose the Double Hooks, hurriedly began to cast, pulling it back with spells. Both sides tugged back and forth. Xie Ying, with her right hand, made a gesture upward, urging the Sound of the Cave Spirit Zither to resonantly echo non-stop. The sound waves caused the lake water to burst apart, with torrents surging violently and creating countless void bubbles as if all the billion tons of water were boiling.
However, Shi Feiyang, down at the lake's bottom, was protected by the Golden Seal Talisman, rendering the intimidating zither sound quite feeble by the time it reached him.
Xie Ying kept activating the Spirit Zither, creating a cacophony with no effect, which started instilling fear within her. She used her left hand for controlling the Hook and her right hand for manipulating the Xin Metal Sword Qi. As agreed with her sister Xie Lin, both unleashed sword qi and the Five-Star Celestial Scepter downwards!
Shi Feiyang had been waiting precisely for this moment. He instantly casted a spell, Inverting the Five Elements, twisting the Qiankun, turned the bottom into top, and vice versa, simultaneously releasing his hold on the Double Hooks.
The sisters' sword qi and the Five-Star Celestial Scepter, which were supposed to attack the lake's bottom, now struck towards the sky, yet from their perspective, they were still attacking downwards. Sensing the Green Centipede Hook being pulled back, the sisters relaxed slightly, but then Xie Ying immediately screamed, "No good!"
Her Cave Spirit Zither, which was ostensibly above, was now actually below, seized by a golden Dragon Claw and forcibly taken away!