Chapter 230 - Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Chapter 230: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
There was an increasing number of red-eye ravens gathering. They were densely packed as they circled above the clouds. They did not charge downward immediately. Instead, they squeaked continuously, seemingly gathering more of their companions here.
The scene was frightening. Just one Grade 3 red-eye raven alone was difficult to deal with. Now, Chen Jingzhai’s group was faced with more than 30 of them.
“Little Master-Uncle!” Sage Lu Tao couldn’t help but call for Chen Jingzhai’s help over transmitted thoughts.
“Fret not!” Chen Jingzhai comforted the crowd by saying, “Even if all the red-eye ravens gather over here, there’s nothing to be afraid of. Focus on protecting me. I will not take long.”
Indeed, it would not take long before he could attack. It was because the metamorphosis of the Great Heaven Mirror had reached its final stage. Chen Jingzhai had been observing the process with his divine mind. As a result, he now had a more thorough understanding of how a magic treasure is upgraded to a spiritual treasure.
After a magic treasure reached its limit, it needed to develop its sentience further so that its sentience and the Restriction could merge and form an embryo. Then, the treasure would need to frenziedly absorb the power of the same attribute in order to nurture the embryo.
After the embryo had matured, it would naturally give birth to a child of the spiritual treasure. This was the entire process of a magic treasure upgrading to become a spiritual treasure. Chen Jingzhai compared what he had learned from the item alchemy inheritance with what he witnessed now and gained a deeper insight into the process.
In the past, Chen Jingzhai would certainly channel Innate Qi into the magic treasure. However, it would be a waste to use Innate Qi now since the Great Heaven Mirror has absorbed the magnetic power. Therefore, nothing was more suitable than pure magnetic power to aid the upgrade process of the mirror.
Time trickled past as the metamorphosis continued. Finally, ten minutes later, the transformation process of the Great Heaven Mirror ended. An embryo had successfully been coalesced in the mirror.
There were some changes to the exterior of the Great Heaven Mirror. Lightning shone on its surface, causing the roots of the innate money tree to be startled. They loosened their grip on the mirror as they wiggled curiously.
Magnetic power surged into the Great Heaven Mirror constantly. After the sentient embryo had been formed, the absorption power of the mirror increased, allowing more magnetic power to enter it. Bizarre phenomena also occurred among the clouds.
Chen Jingzhai’s group could clearly see rainbow-colored light appearing among the clouds. This light was mysterious and otherworldly. It was akin to dazzling river water as it flowed rapidly into the swirl.
At the same time, an irritated shriek could be heard from the gigantic flock of red-eye ravens. A Grade 3 red-eye raven came forward and spat magnetic fire from its mouth.
The magnetic fire was different from ordinary flames that appeared in puffs. Instead, it accumulated and formed a pillar of fire. Then, it shot toward the swirl like a jet. Before Chen Jingzhai could retaliate, the Great Heaven Mirror had launched its counterattack.
Mirror light shone and engulfed the fire pillar. Next, an even more intense fire pillar shot out and hit the Grade 3 red-eye raven. The blazing fire caused the ravens to scatter in terror.
A beam of magnetic light followed the fire pillar. Then, with a gentle sweep, it pushed the red-eye raven, which had gone berserk, into the Great Heaven Mirror. Chen Jingzhai frowned when he saw this.
After the Grade 3 red-eye raven entered the Great Heaven Mirror, it was instantly consumed by the magnetic power and the thunder. The sentient embryo digested the flesh of the Grade 3 red-eye raven and doubled in size. This was beyond Chen Jingzhai’s expectations. He felt that something was off.
The Great Heaven Mirror was a restricted formation tool. Its sentient embryo should absorb magnetic power to develop. The power of flesh should, by right, be useless to the embryo.
Could it be because of the bloodline coin?
When Chen Jingzhai thought of this, he came up with a possibility.
His speculation was most likely correct. Every type of coin has a unique function. Before this, he plucked the bloodline coin without giving it much thought. At that time, he felt that the coin was useless, so he might as well use it as a nutrient to coalesce the sentient embryo.
From the looks of it, not only did the coin serve as a nutrient, but it also had a significant impact on the embryo. Since the red-eye ravens were useful to the Great Heaven Mirror, Chen Jingzhai spared no effort to capture them.
He communicated with the innate money tree. At the same time, he activated the Great Heaven Mirror. Dazzling mirror light, entwined with magnetic light, swept out from the mirror and imprisoned the red-eye ravens where they were.
The roots of the innate money tree extended out at the same time. The roots frenziedly expanded and constantly pierced the bodies of the red-eye ravens. The ravens were then sent into the Great Heaven Mirror.
Grade 2 and Grade 3 red-eye ravens were sent into the Great Heaven Mirror. They were consumed by the magnetic power and the thunder. The sentient embryo grew larger at speed visible to the naked eye.
The Small Heavens Cloud Forbidden Restriction was absorbed by the sentient embryo as well. Next, the exterior of the Great Heaven Mirror went through another change. Aside from more lightning appearing, the picture of black crows appeared on the back of the mirror.
[Caw! Caw! Caw!]
A large number of red-eye ravens perished. This caused the tribe to panic. They called out frenziedly, alerting even more red-eye ravens. A conspiracy of red-eye ravens flew out from Fascination’s End.
When he saw this scene, the Golden Core Sage of the Will Celestial Clan was extremely pleased as he said, “We have succeeded!”
“Incredible!” said the Golden Core Sage of the Mystic Evil Clan. “They have completely caught the attention of the red-eye ravens of Fascination’s End. Even the raven king might be awakened. Let us make a move first!”
“Agreed!” said the Sage of the Serenity Hollow Clan as he nodded his head.
The cultivators of the Will Celestial Clan naturally agreed to the suggestion. This opportunity was hard to come by. If Chen Jingzhai’s group were dealt with by the red-eye ravens, they would waste this great opportunity.
After some discussion, the group of Golden Core Sages decided not to use any techniques to not draw attention to themselves. Instead, they leaped down the cliff with their own magic power and flew toward the other side of Fascination’s End.
In groups of three, they maintained formation and advanced at a uniform speed. They also kept their figures beneath the clouds. Just as they expected, there were no red-eye ravens around them. All of them had clearly been drawn away.
The cultivators of the Mystic Evil Clan were extremely excited. As long as they reached Fascination’s End, they could cultivate any secret technique they wanted. They did not need to achieve mastery; it was fine as long as they began grasping the technique.
Just as they felt everything was smooth sailing and about to reach the other side, an endless wave of might swept over them. The entire Fascination’s End seemed to be drenched in an air of despair.
“Look out! It is the Grade 4 raven king! Quickly, retract your auras.”
The Golden Core Sages all slowed down together and retracted their auras as much as possible.
However, right then, beneath the clouds above the cliff walls of Fascination’s End, a dense flock of red-eye ravens suddenly appeared. Most of them glanced toward the direction of the spiral, while a small portion looked toward them.
There was a buzzing sound, and the cultivators felt their heads go dizzy. Foundational Cultivators immediately succumbed to the illusion technique. One of them attacked a Golden Core Sage beside them, sending a punch flying out.
As the danger of death descended upon the Golden Core Sage, his natural senses felt something was off. After breaking through the illusion technique by force, he avoided the punch and then knocked the cultivator out with a slap.
“Wake up!” This Golden Core Sage transmitted his thoughts through his divine mind.
They were all still Golden Core Sages. When they heard his transmitted thoughts, they all realized something was off. They awakened one by one and knocked out the Foundational Cultivators beside them. They were fearful.
Most of the red-eye ravens that came over were Grade 2. They unleashed too many illusion techniques that clashed with each other. The Golden Core Sages also managed to sense the threat of death. The end result would have been devastating if it weren’t for these facts.
“That was close!”
“Now, what do we do?”
“It is annoying that we cannot use our magic treasures.”
“Should we retreat?”
“We can’t. It will be even worse if we do so!”
“Then, let’s charge forward!”
“Let’s go!”
After having a shock and being drenched in a cold sweat, they immediately came to a conclusion and decisively prepared to charge over.
Unfortunately, it was slightly too late. When they managed to break out of the illusion technique, red-eye ravens were flying over toward them. They cawed and began to circle them.
Three Grade 3 red-eye ravens charged at them from three directions. Their speed was extremely fast, and they also unleashed magnetic power. Flames burned on their talons. White smoke could be seen emanating from them.
The group scattered in all directions. They initially did not want to use techniques. Now, they could not afford to hold back. They immediately attacked. Streams of water, flames, and thorns were unleashed all at once.
Beneath the clouds, the group was divided into three as they began to fight the red-eye ravens. Unfortunately, even more red-eye ravens noticed the situation and came flying over.
They could not afford to be surrounded. The skies were the domain of the red-eye ravens. If they were surrounded, they would be stuck between a rock and a hard place. The Golden Core Sages were experienced. Since they were on the attack, they would show no mercy.
A mass of flame turned into a flaming long spear with a twirl. The Golden Core Sage of the Serenity Hollow Clan had a stern expression. Then, with a gentle push of his palm, the flaming spear spun like a drill as it shot out.