Butterfly Fairy's nascent soul flashed out from the Heavenly Void Ring in an instant. With a gentle shake, she removed her armor and touched it. The small armor immediately emitted ten thousand rays of azure light. All the azure light seemed to have form yet not form, and instantly disappeared into the ground.
As the endless blue light faded, the armor in Butterfly Fairy's hand gradually shrank and finally disappeared completely.
Just as Butterfly Fairy finished making this move, Xiao Wenbing and the other two simultaneously felt a powerful and strange fluctuation emanating from within the mountain.
Volume 4, The Divine Artifacts, Chapter 136: The Capture (Part 2)
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"The spirit of the earth, there really is such a thing, everyone be careful!" Xiao Wenbing exclaimed in surprise.
To be honest, before coming here, he was somewhat skeptical about whether stones could become spirits. However, after he actually sensed the presence of the earth spirit, he became certain that whether it was stone or mud, it could become a spirit...
This wave traveled swiftly through the mountains. At first, its speed was incredibly fast, as if the hard, rocky mountains were nothing to it, and did not affect its speed at all.
However, their good fortune didn't last long. According to Xiao Wenbing and the others, the Earth Spirit's speed was getting slower and slower, as if something was gradually binding it.
The Butterfly Fairy's nascent soul sat cross-legged in mid-air, her brows furrowed and her eyes slightly closed. Strands of her thoughts flowed down along the earth's veins. The power that bound the earth's spirit was the work of the Feathered Robe incarnation that had penetrated deep into the earth.
"The spirit of the earth is truly the spirit of the earth veins. It's a pity it has encountered its nemesis. Otherwise, capturing it would be extremely difficult." Xiao Wenbing said dejectedly while sensing the changes beneath the earth veins.
At this moment, he was filled with gratitude towards the Mirror God. If they had still used the wooden silkworm net, the final result of this trip would have been a resounding failure, having come full of enthusiasm only to leave disappointed.
The spirit of the earth, truly worthy of being called the spirit of the earth's veins...
Traveling through the earth's veins is like a fish in water, free and at ease.
However, the Butterfly Fairy's pupa armor was a treasure specially crafted by the Mirror God to bind the Earth Spirit. Due to the incompatible attributes and the fact that the Mirror God had prepared in advance, the Mirror God caught the Butterfly Fairy off guard.
Otherwise, if they wanted to delve deep into the earth veins and capture the earth spirit, let alone the fact that the three disciples of the Golden Core Sect couldn't do it, even if the three sect leaders of the Heavenly One Sect came in person, their speed in the narrow earth veins might not be able to match that of the earth spirit.
After entering the cave, Feng Baiyi remained silent until suddenly looking up and gazing intently at Xiao Wenbing, who was clearly pleased with her. She then turned her head away again.
What place does Xiao Wenbing hold in her heart...?
"Not good." At that moment, the expressions of the three of them changed simultaneously. In their spiritual senses, the Earth Spirit suddenly increased its strength, breaking free from the earth and wood elemental power that was binding it, and rushed down into the earth veins.
Butterfly Fairy's body trembled, and a large amount of spiritual energy gathered again. Fortunately, she was a Butterfly Fairy who had reached the Nascent Soul stage. If it had been the Golden Core stage Butterfly Fairy from a few days ago, she would have been unable to continue.
The Earth Spirit's speed in traversing the earth's veins was undoubtedly the fastest in the world, and the distance between the two was growing ever wider. Suddenly, the Earth Spirit's high-speed advance came to a stop. Before it, streaks of white light flashed, which were the super restrictions set up by the Heavenly One Sect Master and others with all their might.
Seemingly sensing the danger of this power, the Earth Spirit paused for a few breaths.
However, in just a few breaths, the Butterfly Fairy Armor, which was right behind it, had already arrived and stepped forward again to tightly wrap it around.
Xiao Wenbing flicked his wrist, and an attack rune appeared in his hand. He had hastily drawn a few runes while waiting for Feng Baiyi, just in time for the occasion. After all, he was currently unarmed and penniless, and he wouldn't feel at ease without having something on hand.
Behind him, a five-colored light flashed on Zhang Yakai's wrist, and the light emanating from the Qiankun Ring gradually intensified, transforming into a large circle several meters long, held in her fair and delicate hand. It had a unique charm.
With a flash of cold light, Feng Baiyi stood there, sword in hand.
Glancing at the lightning-summoning sword in her hand, Xiao Wenbing felt slightly relieved. Given Feng Baiyi's aloofness, the fact that she was still willing to use the sword he had forged suggested that she didn't harbor resentment towards him or Zhang Yaqi, or perhaps her resentment wasn't deep…
Just as the three of them were on high alert, ready to deal with any unexpected events, they were all stunned at the same time.
Because, at that very moment, they sensed that after the Earth Spirit was captured by the Butterfly Fairy's wood-elemental power, it immediately became much more docile and showed no signs of struggling anymore.
The feeling was as if I were being gripped by armor, not by the spirit of the earth, but by a lifeless, inanimate object.
Xiao Wenbing turned his head and glanced at Zhang Yaqi, noticing the same bewilderment in her eyes. As for Feng Baiyi, he didn't dare to look over yet.
"What's going on?" Xiao Wenbing asked softly, "Could it be that the Earth Spirit has been captured?"
It's no wonder they were so suspicious; before coming here, they had considered all sorts of possibilities and prepared for it for a long time. But no one could have imagined that the entire capture process would be so easy, so easy that they couldn't believe it.
"It's not that easy, is it?" Zhang Yaqi said uncertainly.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth! This is the genuine representative of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth! Would it really be so easy to give in?
"Just bring them up for a look, that'll do." A cold voice came from behind them.
Xiao Wenbing felt a chill run down his spine, thinking to himself, "He's angry, still angry, definitely angry..."
He immediately turned to the Butterfly Fairy's nascent soul and said, "Catch it."
The Butterfly Fairy responded and immediately began casting her spell.
Xiao Wenbing suddenly felt two burning gazes. He was startled and immediately realized something was wrong. He quickly turned around and nodded and smiled at the two women.
Zhang Ya's eyes held a hint of shyness as she opened her eyes in spring, while Feng Baiyi gripped her lightning-summoning sword tightly, her expression anything but happy. It seemed that if Xiao Wenbing continued to stare at Die Xian, her sword would soon be brought down on him.
Since Butterfly Fairy was using her armor as a magical artifact, she was naturally naked at the moment. After Xiao Wenbing entered, he had been deliberately keeping his back to Butterfly Fairy until he accidentally turned around just now.
Behind him, Zhang Yaqi was seeing the Butterfly Fairy's Nascent Soul for the first time. Because Feng Baiyi was present, she was too embarrassed to speak up. As for Feng Baiyi, of course, he would not take the initiative to say it either.
"Hiss..."
A strange sound broke the awkward atmosphere. A flash of blue light appeared, and countless blue ribbons tightly wrapped a thick yellow stone slab several meters wide, which appeared before everyone's eyes.
A bluish light flickered, while the yellow light dimmed. The thick stone slab was surrounded by a bluish light and suspended in mid-air, motionless as if it had lost all power.
Xiao Wenbing quickly stepped forward, examined it carefully, pointed to the side of the thick stone slab, and gestured. The slab was more than twice his height. Looking at it, he murmured, "What a huge thing! It truly deserves to be called a spirit of heaven and earth. It's much bigger than the Butterfly Fairy. Hmm... I'm sure that when it transforms into a nascent soul, it will be twice as powerful as the Butterfly Fairy."
"Really?" Zhang Yaqi asked with a smile.
Xiao Wenbing nodded, a sudden sense of alarm rising in his mind. He immediately shouted, "Butterfly Fairy, be careful! This thing is playing dead..."
The fairy butterfly was startled. Before she could grasp the meaning of the words, she felt an overwhelming and irresistible force surge towards her. The thick stone slab burst forth with a rich golden light without anyone noticing, and the wisps of blue light enveloping it instantly shattered. The stone slab sank down, about to fall to the ground.
Xiao Wenbing roared and struck out with all his might. Just as his palm collided with the yellow light on the thick stone slab, a fierce and dazzling blue light surged from his palm. The wood-type talisman he had hidden in his palm had unleashed its maximum effect.
The thick stone slab seemed to weigh a ton, and Xiao Wenbing's body trembled as if it were about to be crushed down. Suddenly, a cold light pierced out from beside Xiao Wenbing's neck, and a purple wave of lightning quickly spread across the entire thick stone slab along with the yellow light.
Heavenly lightning—this was clearly the same heavenly tribulation lightning that had nearly killed Xiao Wenbing a few days ago. Of course, the quantity was incomparable to that of that day. But heavenly tribulation is heavenly lightning, the greatest nemesis of all spiritual beings in the cultivation world.
The yellow light quickly dimmed, and even one of the Five Elements could not easily withstand the impact of the heavenly lightning.
What a close call! That was Xiao Wenbing's only thought at that moment. He felt a chilling sensation on his neck. He didn't know if Feng Baiyi's sword was intentional or unintentional. It swiftly grazed the skin on Xiao Wenbing's neck, almost scaring him out of his wits.
Several sparks of electricity flashed across his hair, and his bangs suddenly turned black, as if affected by static electricity, and curled up.
The acrid smell made Xiao Wenbing's face turn uncontrollably dark.
Although his hands were heavy as a mountain, he still managed to glance at the pretty face of the woman next to him.
Feng Baiyi's face was as cold as ice, and she completely ignored his gaze.
Xiao Wenbing's lips twitched. Was it unintentional? Or was it deliberate...?
Under the butterfly fairy's command, the broken blue ribbons floating in the air reconnected and flew downwards, once again tightly binding the thick stone slab.
It seems that the Earth Spirit's petty theft had angered the Butterfly Fairy, as the binding force this time was much stronger than before.
Volume 4, The Divine Artifacts, Chapter 137: The Capture (Part 2)
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These changes just now happened so quickly, like lightning, in the blink of an eye.
Fortunately, Xiao Wenbing had sensed it in advance and blocked the thick stone slab's path at the last moment. If the attack hadn't stopped the thick stone slab and it had actually touched the ground, then this enormous earth spirit would probably have already vanished without a trace.
Zhang Yaqi's reaction was undoubtedly the slowest, which was also because she had never fought anyone before. No matter how high her skill level was now, in essence, she was still the same frail little girl who had run away from home, and she was not yet used to this kind of fighting and killing.
However, she wasn't stupid. Although she was a beat slower than the others, she only took that one beat to throw out the Qiankun Ring in her hand. The ring, which emitted five-colored light, went straight towards the thick stone slab.
The speed of the Qiankun Ring is extremely fast, but the situation on the field is even more unpredictable.
Just when everyone thought the thick stone slab had nowhere to escape, there was a loud "crack" and the thick stone slab suddenly exploded, from which a small yellow ball jumped out.
"Golden Core?" Xiao Wenbing exclaimed in surprise, but at this moment everyone was enchanted by the thick stone slab, and neither he, Feng Baiyi, nor Die Xian could free their hands.
Zhang Yaqi, the only one still free, was clearly caught off guard. The Qiankun Ring remained firmly attached to the thick stone slab. The small yellow ball, as if possessing its own consciousness, jumped to the ground and slid across the uneven stone surface of the cave as if skating, traveling a long distance.
"It's over, we've failed." Xiao Wenbing wailed, drawing his final conclusion.
Although they had firmly grasped the thick stone slab, and the yellow light on the slab had not dissipated, the entire slab became lifeless after the small yellow ball jumped out of it, as if a body had been robbed of its soul and no longer possessed any vitality.
No need to ask anymore, everyone knows at this moment that the small yellow ball is the true essence of the Earth Spirit.
I didn't expect that this young guy would understand the principle of sacrificing a pawn to save the king...
“No, look.” Zhang Yaqi stared intently at the foreword and said softly.
Xiao Wenbing turned his head and saw that the little yellow ball had not sunk directly into the ground, but was still half-hidden on the stone wall in the distance.
Although it had no facial features, Xiao Wenbing had the feeling that it was watching them.
Faced with this situation, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment, unsure of what to do.
Xiao Wenbing's heart stirred, and a divine thought slipped into the Heavenly Void Ring, arriving at the small bronze mirror. It continuously transmitted the same message: Mirror God, please help.
Suddenly, the voice of the Mirror God rang in his mind: "What are you doing? There are so many people here, I'm not coming out."
Xiao Wenbing was overjoyed. That was exactly what he had just thought of. The first time he met the Mirror God, it spoke directly into his mind. Since that was the case, calling out to it in the opposite direction might work, and it actually succeeded.
He immediately calmed down and used his mind to transmit the changes that had just occurred.
Direct communication through thought is the fastest method of communication in the world; it's almost as if you're talking to someone in the middle of the screen. Xiao Wenbing has already completed communication with the Mirror God.
A white light flashed from Xiao Wenbing's hand. It circled the cave, gentle and without any danger. The two women, Feng Baiyi and Feng Ziyi, were puzzled as to what he was up to. Weren't they afraid of scaring away the Earth Spirit Golden Core? But as expected, the Earth Spirit Golden Core, which had gathered the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, seemed completely oblivious to the light.
"What is that?" In Xiao Wenbing's mind, the Mirror God's voice, filled with extreme surprise, kept ringing out.
"Spirit of the earth."
"No, that's strange. How could such a treasure exist in this realm?"
Xiao Wenbing was taken aback. Could it be that the Mirror God wasn't referring to the Earth Spirit after all? Judging from its tone, it seemed as if that treasure was far superior to the Earth Spirit.
"What exactly is that?"
"Did you see that five-colored halo?"