Time pa.s.sed by slowly, and around an hour later, the pressure in the air had mounted to such an extent that the layer of ice that had just taken shape on the mountain was beginning to crack and groan.

A resounding boom rang out from the vortex in the sky, and a bolt of lightning that was as thick as a water tank came cras.h.i.+ng down out of its center. The bolt of lightning struck the other vortex within the giant crater in a flash, leaving a scorching trail in its wake.

The bolt of silver lightning vanished in a flash, and the mist around the vortex churned violently, following which a low roar of agony rang out from within. Immediately thereafter, a thunderous roar erupted from beneath the ground alongside a burst of astonis.h.i.+ng energy fluctuations.

The entire mountain began to tremor, and countless cracks appeared on the surface of the layer of ice as it began to shatter.

Right at this moment, silver light flickered within the black vortex up above, and another thick pillar of silver lightning took shape before cras.h.i.+ng down with devastating might.

Right as this bolt of lightning was about to strike the giant crater as well, an enraged roar rang out from down below, and a burst of yellow flames erupted from within the mist. The silver lightning and yellow flames intertwined, and the flames seemed to be burning ferociously, but they were giving off an astonis.h.i.+ng bone-chilling sensation. At the same time, projections of ghostly faces were appearing around it, creating a very harrowing sight to behold.

A dull thump rang out, and the silver lightning and yellow flames disappeared in unison.

"Are those Earthly h.e.l.lish Flames? No, such a small amount of Earthly h.e.l.lish Flames shouldn"t be this powerful," Han Li murmured to himself as his eyes narrowed slightly.

Meanwhile, Buddhist Master Tian Chan was clicking his tongue with wonder. "As expected of a spirit item that"s been cultivating in the Earthly h.e.l.lish Flames for tens of thousands of years; the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit has integrated the Earthly h.e.l.lish Flames with its demonic Qi to form an extremely powerful ability. You"ll have to watch out for these demonic flames, Benefactor Han."

Han Li"s heart stirred upon hearing this, and he replied, "Thank you for the words of caution, Fellow Daoist; I"ll be sure to be on my guard."

One bolt of lightning after another came cras.h.i.+ng down from above, and the lightning strikes were increasing in frequency. However, the yellow demonic flames rising up from the bottom of the crater were able to keep up, and all of the bolts of lightning were kept at bay.

However, the resistance posed by the yellow flames had clearly enraged a certain omnipotent being, and the lightning strikes suddenly ceased.

In the next instant, a burst of rumbling rang out from within the vortex, and a series of head-sized b.a.l.l.s of silver lightning emerged. The b.a.l.l.s of lightning were crackling incessantly within the dark clouds, and there were too many of them to count.

In the face of such a threatening phenomenon, the stone spirit down below was naturally unable to continue hiding in the yellow mist any longer. A strange cry rang out, and the yellow mist surged, following which an object that was around a foot in size shot forth from the bottom of the crater. After just a single flash, it had reached an alt.i.tude of over 1,000 feet, and it hovered in mid-air while staring up at the b.a.l.l.s of lightning with wariness in its eyes.

Han Li focused his gaze on the object to find that it had a remarkably large mouth, four thin and long limbs, and a short and stubby neck that was virtually indistinguishable from the rest of its body; it bore a strong resemblance to a toad.

However, there was a crimson eye at the center of its head, and its entire body was s.h.i.+mmering with golden light. On top of that, its four limbs were also tipped with sharp claws rather than flippers as one would expect of a toad.

"So that"s the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit? It sure has a peculiar appearance." Han Li was very intrigued.

In the instant that the stone spirit emerged, all of the b.a.l.l.s of lightning came cras.h.i.+ng down in unison as if they had been provoked. The entire mountain was instantly illuminated by scintillating silver light, and the b.a.l.l.s of lightning were raining down from above like hailstones.

In response, the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit immediately opened its mouth to expel a small yellow flower. The flower was s.h.i.+mmering with yellow light and was covered in five-colored runes, and it swelled drastically to around 10 feet in size to s.h.i.+eld the stone spirit"s body.

It was quite clear just from a single glance that this giant flower was no ordinary item.

In the instant that the giant flower was summoned, a dozen or so b.a.l.l.s of lightning crashed down onto it in rapid succession. The flower rotated slowly on the spot, and the five-colored runes on its surface lit up, upon which all of the b.a.l.l.s of lightning vanished silently into the flower like sandcastles in the rising tide.

What was even more astonis.h.i.+ng was that with each wave of lightning orbs that the flower devoured, its flower petals would noticeably expand, and after over 10 waves, the flower had swelled to around twice its original size.

As a result, the rate at which the giant flower was absorbing b.a.l.l.s of lightning also increased drastically, and not long after that, all of the b.a.l.l.s of lightning had disappeared into the flower.

The Pipe Dream Stone Spirit beneath the giant flower remained completely unscathed, and it let loose a clear cry of elation at the sight of the giant flower"s current state.

The stone spirit"s belly deflated before it abruptly inhaled with all its might, and the giant flower was drawn back into its stomach as a ball of light.

Lightning flashed from the stone spirit"s body, and a dozen or so thick bolts of silver lightning erupted forth, then formed a silver lightning net around it.

The stone spirit swelled drastically in size amid the lightning, and within the span of just a few breaths, it had expanded to the size of a cow-calf. At the same time, its aura had also become a lot more powerful, and its powers seemed to have been significantly enhanced!

A thunderclap rang out from within the black vortex up above again, and countless silver snakes were dancing erratically within it. There were also a dozen or so silver lightning wyrms that were visible from the outside, and seemed to be about to erupt out of the vortex at any moment.

"This is rather troublesome; this Pipe Dream Stone Spirit has the ability to convert heavenly lightning into power for itself. At this rate, it"s only going to become more and more powerful, rather than be weakened by this lightning tribulation. In that case, now would be the best time to strike. Fellow Daoist Han, Buddhist Master Tian Chan, let"s do it!" Master Black Rain suddenly transmitted his voice to his two companions, and his frustration was quite apparent.

Han Li naturally didn"t offer any objections and transmitted his voice in an affirmative reply. Buddhist Master Tian Chan also nodded with a grim look on his face.

Right at this moment, the dozen or so lightning wyrms in the black clouds above finally came cras.h.i.+ng down.

"Go!" Master Black Rain immediately sprang into action upon seeing this. He quickly made a hand seal and immediately disappeared on the spot as a plume of black smoke.

In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted in the air over 10,000 feet above the mountain summit, and Master Black Rain re-emerged, then abruptly raised a hand with a fierce look on his face.

A ball of silver light shot forth before transforming into a giant silver bell that was over 100 feet tall. The giant bell descended viciously toward the stone spirit, and at the same time, countless black threads erupted out of thin air around the small mountain before hurtling toward the stone spirit in unison.

A white lotus flower also appeared behind the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit, and white light flashed from the flower, upon which a faint humanoid figure emerged. It was none other than Buddhist Master Tian Chan.

Buddhist Master Tian Chan had his head lowered slightly, and his face was completely expressionless. A string of translucent Buddhist beads flew out of his sleeve, then transformed into several tens of five-colored b.a.l.l.s of light that shot forth through the air.

Even before these b.a.l.l.s of light had struck the stone spirit, the sound of howling wind and rumbling thunder could be heard erupting from them. At the same time, they swelled drastically and reached the size of human heads in the blink of an eye.

The Pipe Dream Stone Spirit was initially rather startled by this abrupt string of attacks, then let loose a sharp cry of fury. It opened its mouth to expel the giant yellow flower again, which positioned itself directly beneath the descending giant silver bell.

Immediately thereafter, its body blurred slightly as it began to revolve on the spot.

Golden light flashed, and countless streaks of golden light erupted from its body before hurtling through the surrounding air in all directions.

Golden light and black threads intertwined as a string of piercing explosions rang out, and countless b.a.l.l.s of light emerged around the stone spirit to illuminate the entire mountain.

The black threads were unable to inch any closer to the stone spirit, nor were the five-colored b.a.l.l.s of light and streaks of golden light.

Meanwhile, the silver bell clashed with the giant flower, and the former shuddered as a string of crisp bell chimes rang out.

Each chime was louder than the previous one, and the sound traveled deep into the listener"s soul.

A peculiar turn of events then unfolded!

Following the pa.s.sage of the third bell chime, the giant yellow flower suddenly shattered without any warning and vanished as countless specks of spiritual light.

The silver bell then blurred before expanding by severalfold in size again, then crashed down onto the Pipe Dream Stone Spirit like a small mountain, sealing the stone spirit securely within it.

Master Black Rain and Buddhist Master Tian Chan both faltered slightly upon seeing this before elated looks appeared on their faces, and they withdrew their hand seals.

At this moment, the dozen or so silver lightning wyrms had already crashed down from above, but as soon as they approached the mountain summit, a giant silver net that encompa.s.sed the entire mountain emerged.

All of the lightning wyrms that struck the net immediately exploded before being absorbed by the net as countless wisps of lightning.

As expected of a renowned spirit treasure on the Chaotic Myriad Spirit Roll, the Silver Celestial Lightning Net that Master Black Rain had set up in advance was able to keep even heavenly lightning at bay.

Master Black Rain began to chant something while flicking his fingers, and a dozen or so incantation seals vanished into the giant bell in a flash.

The silver bell tolled, and the spiritual light on its surface flashed erratically as Master Black Rain prepared to stow it away.

However, during this split-second delay, an earth-shattering boom suddenly erupted from within the silver bell, and it was blown up into the air by a burst of glacial fluctuations!

Immediately thereafter, violent yellow flames emerged, and a ball of golden light shot forth like a shooting star before immediately fleeing toward the giant crater down below.

The Pipe Dream Stone Spirit seemed to have realized how powerful its enemies were and was escaping from the battle!