The Ink Wyrm Emerges

After issuing her commands to the disciples, the young girl turned her head back to survey the swamp before her. Her voice was faint as she murmured to herself, “It seems that thing should be inside this box. The previous few places were a waste of effort. All I found was trash.”

Her voice was so low it was nearly inaudible. None of the other disciples heard a thing; they were all still buzzing with excitement for the coming battle.

As soon as the young girl’s orders were passed down, the male and female disciples of the Moon-Masking Sect immediately stood side by side with their cultivation partners, extending one hand to grip the other with practiced familiarity.

In an instant, the overlapping palms emitted a strange light—blue and red respectively. The light spread along their arms, flowing through the bodies of these disciples. In a flash, the six dual-cultivation pairs of the Moon-Masking Sect were transformed: the men were cloaked in crimson light, the women in azure radiance, creating a strange, interwoven tapestry of blue and red. The remaining three disciples—two women and one man, who had lost their partners—could only retrieve a few magical tools from their storage pouches to make ordinary preparations.

Han Li lay prone on the mound of earth. Although he hadn’t caught the young girl’s muttered words, he had clearly heard the female disciple address her as “Grandmaster.” The shock nearly made him bite his own tongue.

“Grandmaster of the Moon-Masking Sect?” Han Li was no longer a fresh-faced newcomer to the world of immortals; he knew exactly what that meant. That was a Core Formation expert, on the same level as his own sect’s Ancestral Master Li! For such a high-level figure to appear in this forbidden land, where cultivators above Foundation Establishment were forbidden to enter, sent Han Li’s mind reeling.

At this moment, the young girl, satisfied that her disciples were all prepared, began to act.

She parted her delicate lips and spat out her magical treasure, the Vermilion Bird Ring. The moment it left her mouth, it flew to the air above the swamp, spinning rapidly with a faint hum. It swelled until it was as massive as a house. Then, the girl formed a hand seal below and pointed a finger. A beam of red light shot from her hand onto the ring. In an instant, the ring’s color shifted wildly, from pink to a blazing, fiery red. Within the ring’s inner circle, specks of starlike sparks began to appear, gathering and growing brighter. Before long, several hundred fist-sized, high-temperature fireballs had formed within the great ring, raising the temperature of the underground world by several degrees.

Han Li watched from the mound, utterly dumbfounded. Such a display of power and might—if this wasn’t a magical treasure, he’d eat his own fist.

Since the young girl could wield a magical treasure, there was no doubt she was a Core Formation cultivator. But how she had infiltrated the forbidden land, and why her magical power only appeared to be at the peak of Qi Condensation—these questions rolled through Han Li’s mind several times without yielding an answer.

Before the girl could take her next action, the swamp below began to stir. Centered on a particular spot, the muddy flow started to churn. The disturbance spread, swelling higher and higher, gradually forming a tall bulge. The spectacle was truly shocking.

The young girl’s brow furrowed in confusion. As far as she remembered, the Black-Scaled Python hadn’t seemed this imposing.

But with the demon beast about to emerge, she dared not hesitate. She clasped her hands together, forming a dharma seal. The enormous Vermilion Bird Ring, linked to her mind, began to spin in mid-air. In moments, it was rotating so fast it became a blur. The hundreds of fireballs within it transformed into a sea of blazing flame, merging into a single entity.

“Go!”

The girl’s hand seal suddenly locked into place as she spat out the word.

In an instant, the ring’s rotation came to an abrupt halt. The sea of fire within it abruptly transformed into a thick pillar of swirling flame. With tremendous force, it shot downward from above, aimed directly at the towering bulge on the swamp.

But before the fire pillar could reach the swamp, a jet-black water spout, thick as a bowl, erupted from the bulge with a “puff,” meeting the descending flame head-on.

A loud “crackling” sound erupted where the two forces met. Great patches of steam billowed out, instantly shrouding the area in thick mist, blurring everything.

“That’s not the Black-Scaled Python!”

The young girl’s previously uncertain expression shifted drastically at the sight of the pitch-black water spout. She cried out in alarm.

As if in answer to her words, a strange, piercing screech rose from within the white mist. Then, with a “whoosh,” a hot, violent wind swept through, scouring the mist away and revealing the demon beast’s true form.

A pitch-black, serpentine creature covered in massive scales appeared before everyone’s eyes.

This strange creature was not very large—only about three to four zhang long. But its entire body was shrouded in a faint black mist, giving it an extremely eerie appearance. From head to tail, it looked like an ordinary black python. Except, of course, for its jet-black, gleaming, enormous scales.

“An Ink Wyrm!”

The moment she recognized the demon beast, the young girl cried out in surprise. Her expression was a mix of concern and delight.

The dozen or so disciples behind her were utterly confused. Wasn’t this the Black-Scaled Python? Why had it suddenly become an “Ink Wyrm”?

Before the girl could explain to her disciples, the demon beast, which was floating several zhang above the ground, had already found the culprits who had disturbed its rest. Its small green eyes on either side of its head flashed with a fierce light. It opened its mouth, and another jet-black water spout shot straight toward the Moon-Masking Sect’s group.

“Beast! You’re asking for death!”

The young girl knew full well the Ink Wyrm’s power. Even though this one seemed quite young, she dared not be careless. She quickly pointed at the Vermilion Bird Ring in the air. Instantly, the ring blazed with crimson light, flashing forward to block the girl’s path. A stream of fireballs flew from within the ring, intercepting the black water mid-flight.

“Bind! Speed! Restrict! Imprison! Lock!”

The girl’s hands formed a half-moon shape as she chanted a five-character incantation with a solemn expression.

The moment the five words left her lips, the massive Vermilion Bird Ring began to tremble violently in mid-air. With a low hum, it vanished from sight, leaving the Ink Wyrm, which had just begun to develop its intelligence, blinking its small eyes in confusion.

But in the next instant, the ring reappeared with a buzzing sound directly above the demon beast’s head. Before the beast could react, it plunged downward, rapidly shrinking. In the blink of an eye, the Vermilion Bird Ring had clamped itself tightly around the Ink Wyrm’s mid-section. Flames erupted from the ring, engulfing half the beast’s body in a raging inferno.

“Attack now! I can’t hold the Ink Wyrm for long.”

Though the ring had firmly bound the beast, the young girl showed no sign of relief. Instead, she issued orders with a hint of urgency.

The Moon-Masking Sect disciples behind her, though still puzzled as to how the Black-Scaled Python had suddenly become an Ink Wyrm, did not let that hinder their long-prepared assault.

“Strike!”

Led by a slightly older woman in white, over a dozen beams of interlaced red and blue light shot forth with a terrifying “hissing” sound. They erupted from the male and female disciples’ bodies and struck the immobilized beast without fail.

A series of “BOOMs” rang out. As soon as the light beams reached the Ink Wyrm, they were blocked by the faint black mist shrouding its body, producing fierce explosions.

“Sustained fire! The Ink Wyrm’s protective mist won’t last long!” the young girl commanded sharply. At the same time, she continued to channel the crimson flame technique through the Vermilion Bird Ring, intensifying the blaze enveloping the beast.

Under the young girl’s continuous commands, the Moon-Masking Sect disciples unrelentingly launched beams of red and blue light into the air, striking the demon beast. Though they had yet to break through the black mist, the assault drove the beast into a maddened frenzy. It gnashed its fangs and thrashed its partially free head and tail, desperately trying to break free from the ring. But it was futile. Under the girl’s full power, the ring remained motionless in mid-air, locking its body in place.

Han Li watched from the side, his heart pounding with tension. He had never witnessed a scene like this—a large group of cultivators joining forces against an enemy, especially with a magical treasure in play, facing a formidable demon beast. It was an eye-opening experience.

But Han Li had already made up his mind. Whether the demon beast defeated its enemies, or the Moon-Masking Sect killed the beast, he would slip away quietly only after the battle was over. This was absolutely not the time to recklessly reveal his position.

“Ugh…”

Just as Han Li’s mind was wandering, the Ink Wyrm let out a long, piercing cry, several times louder than before. The screech was filled with pain.

Startled, Han Li quickly focused his gaze.

He saw that the black mist around the beast had completely dissipated. A hole the size of a bowl had appeared on its black-scaled body, clearly inflicted by the red and blue light beams. This only drove the beast into a more frantic struggle.

“It seems the Moon-Masking Sect still has the upper hand,” Han Li thought to himself.

“Watch out! I can’t hold the Ink Wyrm much longer!”

But just then, the young girl’s voice rang out, catching Han Li off guard. It seemed the outcome was still far from certain.