While regret and fear filled Master Bell Mountain's heart, Lin Mu and Little Shrubby stabilized themselves.
Both of them had expended a lot of energy in killing Master Cull Mountain after all. Little Shrubby especially had to exhaust even more energy due to the fact that he was already in the Seven Beasts Burst form and was directly using the power of his Dao Embryo.
Normally, killing an Immortal Ascension realm expert, even with the pure power of a Dao Embryo like that, was not possible. It was actually Little Shrubby's unique Dao Embryo that allowed this to be possible.
The Dao Embryo erupted with flames that were like the flames of hell, directly burning away the old woman as well as her Nascent soul, not letting her have a chance at escaping. The flames even used her own energy and spirit Qi as the fuel.
This left Little Shrubby with no body nor soul to consume, but it was a cost that they had to accept.
~shua~
The large flaming body of little Shrubby started to shrink as the flames started to dissipate.
"I'm… exhausted master." Little Shrubby said through their link.
The flames soon disappeared entirely, and Little Shrubby's true body was revealed. Several injures such as cuts, tears and open wounds could be seen on it. It was evident that while it looked like the beast was fine, it was only being masked by the flames.
In reality, he had sustained a lot of injuries fighting against an Immortal Ascension realm expert on his own. After all, the beast had done something that should have been deemed impossible by most others.
But the change didn't just stop there. Little Shrubby's body kept on shrinking more and more until he turned into a small kitten. He was even smaller than his normal cat form and now looked like a newborn kitten.
Lin Mu's eyes narrowed as this change was a little too drastic and he was worried if the beast was fine or not.
"Little Shrubby, are you okay?" Lin Mu asked anxiously.
But he received no answer, Little shrubby had already fallen asleep.
~rustle~
But then suddenly, a mass of green energy emitted from Little Shrubby. The energy gave of a feeling of freshness and vibrancy.
'This smells like flowers…?' Lin Mu was confused.
The green energy coated Little Shrubby's body and started to condense. And before Lin Mu could react, the energy solidified, turning into vines that tightly covered Little Shrubby within.
~shua~
The ball of vines with little Shrubby inside it started to fall, but Lin Mu quickly caught it.
"What happened?" Lin Mu was afraid now.
If it were not for the fact that he could still feel the link with Little Shrubby in his mind, he would have assumed the worst.
"Using Seven Beasts Burst has exhausted a lot of his power and also taxed his bloodline. His ability from the Fume Wood Panther, the Vitality Reversal, is protecting him now." Xukong explained.
~Phew~
Lin Mu let out a breath of relief. He had almost forgotten about the Vitality Reversal, but this time around; the difference was also quite great, so it was obvious as to him not figuring it out quickly.
After all, Little Shrubby had never reverted to such an age before. And then the vines covering him were even more surprising.
"Little Shrubby looks like a seed now that I think of it." Lin Mu spoke, recalling the how the ability worked.
"Send him to the ring. I'll watch over him." Xukong suggested.
"Yes, that'll be better." Lin Mu agreed.
Since little Shrubby was now in a dormant state and was similar to a plant, storing him in the ring was no issue. Plus, if something did happen, Xukong would be able to act to fix the situation.
~shua~
The large 'seed' in Lin Mu's hand disappeared and when it reappeared inside the ring, it was resting on a soft cushion.
The seed wasn't alone either. There was a companion to it. A grey egg that was emitting rich vitality, looking as if it would be born soon. From time to time, faint flickers of light could even be seen on its surface as if fireflies in the night.
'Rest well, Little Shrubby. You've done enough.' Lin Mu said in his heart and looked towards the final enemy remaining.
Master Bell Mountain was still being pressured by Jing Wei while being supported by several others including the Sky Precepts Ancestor, the Rainbow Pill Ancestor and the Centennial Sword Ancestor.
Surrounded by four Immortal Ascension experts along with the Immortal Weapon, the Ever-reaching Sword, Master Bell Mountain knew it wouldn't be long before he lost.
'All the efforts of our ancestors… the cost of our descendants… and yet… it was for naught.'
Master Bell Mountain felt regret.
Though he didn't feel regret that they had chosen to attack the South, but rather that they had acted too quickly. He reckoned that they should have waited after hearing about the death of Gu Yao.
Gu Yao was a man that even Master Bell Mountain had to take seriously. While Gu Yao wasn't as strong as him, his ability to scheme and plan was terrifying. After all, Gu Yao was the one who had accelerated their plans by several years due to his efforts.
"Give up and be slaughtered. Perhaps then you might have the chance to pay for your sins." The Centennial Sword Ancestor spoke.
"Your people have already fallen and there is nothing left for you to do." Jing Wei said. "You really should have thought well."
The taunting words of everyone sparked a strange anger within Master Bell Mountain's heart.
"ENOUGH!" He shouted.
"Careful! He might detonate!" The Sky Precepts Ancestor warned.
"Humph! Even if he does, we can easily resist that. The juniors have already escaped anyway." The Rainbow Pill Ancestor said.
Jing Luo had used the Myriad Armament Canopy Abode to pick up the weaker members of the alliance and those that were injured as well. Of course, the bombardment had not stopped either and now barely three Dao Treading realm experts of the tribes were left.
Their morale had already collapsed, and they were barely hanging on. The patriarchs on the ground, as well as the other Dao Treading realm elders, were ganging up on the three, and it wouldn't be long before they died.
~HONG~
But much to their surprise, Master Bell Mountain did not detonate.
Instead, the Ancestral Bell started ringing in a deep tone. The vibrations from the bell made the very space tremble and an ominous feeling filled everyone's hearts.
"STOP HIM!" Jing Wei's instincts told him that the man was up to no good. 'This feeling is just like back then…'
Jing Wei recalled the war that had happened over a thousand years ago. He had fought on the front lines back then and the northern Tribes were on the losing side as well. But they had done something terrifying.
They had used one of the ancient relic shrines and tried summoning a beast from beyond the worlds.
Jing Wei and the others had barely managed to stop them back then, and the experience was still heavy in their hearts.
~RUMBLE~
"You all will pay for this! If the tribes can't have this world, then… NO ONE CAN!" Master Bell Mountain yelled as he directly jumped, not the Ancestral Bell.
The bell continued to ring as a strange fluctuation of energy spread from it. Master Bell Mountain started to bleed form his seven orifices and it became evident now that the man was sacrificing himself.
~SHUA~
Then much to everyone's shock, the Ancestral Bell inverted, with its mouth pointing to the sky. A black dot appeared inside it which soon expanded and filled the entire mouth of the bell.
Swirling black aura poured out of it and the surrounding space started to crack.
"He's summoning something!" Jing Wei warned, as he slashed out with the Ever-reaching Sword.
~CLACK~ CLACK~
The others attacked as well, but their attacks never reached the Ancestral Bell. They froze a few meters away from the bell as if there was nothing beyond it.
"Spatial Lock!?" The Sky Precepts Ancestor realized.
The Ancestral Bell had sealed up the space around itself, preventing anyone from disturbing it.
There was no way Master Bell Mountain could do something like this and only an Immortal Tool could achieve this.
~WUGUGUGU~
From the swirling black aura of the Bell's mouth, a strange sound was heard. It felt like something was flailing around in waters but at the same time it was different.
Lin Mu narrowed his eyes as his spatial perception activated. He soon saw what was happening and was stunned.
"A portal?" Lin Mu's eyes could see beyond the black aura and saw the spatial portal that had opened up there.
He was familial with them, having opened several himself after all. But this portal seemed different from the ones that he had opened. The spatial fluctuations coming from it were highly unstable and were eroding the space around the bell.
~SLICK~
Then a few moments later, something long and black rose from the portal. It looked like it was made out of black tar and was sticky. But that was merely the start as more and more such tentacles rose from it, before finally a large black blob was pulled out.
There were many bones and skulls stuck inside it, while an ominous aura spread from it that shook everyone's heart.
Lin Mu felt alarmed at this and the mark of ordained shone on his forehead.
"The invader!"
