Upon hearing this, among the three Jin Shi, Yugui's eyes flashed with panic: "Big Brother, what should we do?"
Jin Shi glared at him fiercely, continuing to attack the stone wall, and said, "What else can we do? Keep going."
The others all paused for a moment, then quickened their actions.
"This won't do," only Jian Xin said. "We must hold it back, otherwise..."
"But, what can we use to hold it back?" Yong Ruyu said urgently. "Whether it's spells or sharp weapons, they're useless against that monster..."
Jian Xin's gaze fell upon Mo Tiange, a thoughtful look in his eyes: "Fellow Daoist Qin, your magical treasure..."
Mo Tiange understood his meaning and continued: "My magical treasure isn't particularly powerful in attack, but it excels at containment and defense. Perhaps we can give it a try."
Jian Xin was satisfied with her initiative, nodded, and said nothing more.
Mo Tiange hesitated slightly, reached to her waist, and released all three of her spirit beasts, even Feifei who wasn't adept at attack: "You three, attack the restriction with all your might."
Feifei was one thing, but Xiaofan and Xiaohuo, having finally been let out and about to nuzzle up to her, heard this command and blinked in confusion.
Mo Tiange added, "Don't take this lightly. It's a matter of life and death, understand?"
"...Yes, Master," Xiaofan obediently replied, turning around to attack the restriction. Seeing that Mo Tiange paid her no mind, Xiaohuo whimpered twice in grievance and followed Xiaofan.
As for Feifei, without asking a single question, it had already begun helping to attack the restriction.
Seeing her three spirit beasts, the others widened their eyes, staring at her in astonishment. Three spirit beasts, all Fifth-Rank, and one of them could even speak—this was truly astonishing.
Mo Tiange sighed inwardly. She knew this was somewhat ostentatious, which was why she had only ever released one at most before. Now, with matters reaching a critical point and forced by necessity, she could only do this. If they could escape, City Lord Mei would certainly not let them go. She reckoned that even if they developed greedy thoughts, they wouldn't have the opportunity.
Only Jian Xin and Nie Wushang showed slight surprise.
The monster's aura was getting closer and closer. Mo Tiange pulled out several magical treasures.
"Fellow Daoist Qin!" Jian Xin called out loudly behind her. "Go and intercept it now. It would be best if you can lure the monster away. If you can't, I'll help you."
"...Understood." Luring it away was indeed a good idea, but this involved two issues. First was trust. If she lured it away and the others broke the restriction but didn't tell her, she would be left behind. When City Lord Mei discovered this, she would be the unlucky one. However, with Nie Wushang there, she was willing to trust them once. Second was whether the monster could be lured away. After all, there were so many people here. If it had even a shred of intelligence, it should abandon the few for the many. But this was hard to say. Who knew what this thing was? Perhaps it had no intelligence at all, only instinct.
Shaking these thoughts from her mind, Mo Tiange walked out of the passage where the restriction node was and headed toward the direction from which the monster was coming.
When she saw the monster, Mo Tiange was startled.
The monster's entire body seethed with aura, actually much stronger than when they had seen it before. Strange, those demonic cultivators who had turned into puppets had all been killed by them. Why could this monster still grow stronger? Could there be something else strange in this cave?
Before she could think further, the monster had already noticed her, stopping before her, the strange aura around its body churning incessantly.
Without hesitation, Mo Tiange waved her Heaven-Earth Fan. Countless branches, flowers, and leaves flew out from it, coiling into a mass. However, she did not send them toward the monster. Instead, they scattered around the monster, enveloping it.
Direct attack was not an option—this was something they had verified, and Nie Wushang had also indirectly proven it. Since that was the case, she could only try to avoid direct contact with it as much as possible to prevent her Spiritual Qi from being absorbed by it.
Seeing these Spiritual Qi-transformed branches, flowers, and leaves scattered around itself, the monster indeed became confused. It stood still for a moment, somewhat at a loss, before tentatively advancing again. In its view, although there were countless scattered traces of Spiritual Qi around, none were as enticing as the cultivator right in front.
But Mo Tiange didn't give it that chance. As soon as it moved, she immediately waved the Heaven-Earth Fan again. The plants and flowers surrounding it coiled up once more, still scattering around it, neither too close nor too far, subtly aligning with the Eight Trigrams positions, forming a simple array.
The monster paused again, seemingly unsure which way to go. Mo Tiange was not a specialized array master. She couldn't instantly set up an invisible array like Tian Zhiqian could. Her array could only confuse the monster, making it temporarily unable to discern the Spiritual Qi situation around it.
Originally, she had worried that since the monster was formless and intangible, the array might not work on it. Seeing its reaction now, she felt slightly relieved. At least this monster sensed the direction of Spiritual Qi in a manner similar to cultivators. This array could also confuse it.
However, after several such attempts, the monster simply stopped moving. After lingering in place for a while, it began floating directly forward along the passage.
Mo Tiange was startled and wanted to continue setting up the array when Feifei's voice suddenly transmitted into her mind: "It's useless, Master. Although this thing is very stupid, its intuition is quite accurate. We can't keep confusing it forever."
As soon as the words finished, Feifei had already scampered over from behind.
Seeing it approach, Mo Tiange didn't ask anything more. She knew Feifei was very intelligent, intelligent enough to judge the situation on its own. She said, "Do you recognize this thing?"
Feifei shook its head: "Master, my memory isn't omnipotent. I just sense that this thing has an Ancient Aura."
"Ancient Aura..." Mo Tiange couldn't help but think of those sacrificial temples. The cultivation methods came from the Stone Stele, the Stone Stele was obtained from the sacrificial temples, and the sacrificial temples originated from the Ancient Era... If that was the case, it wasn't strange for Feifei to sense an Ancient Aura.
Before she could think further, the monster was already very close to her. Unable to attack directly and with simple arrays unable to trap it, Mo Tiange found herself in a dilemma.
*Boom!* Nie Wushang landed a heavy punch on the restriction on the stone wall. The restriction shook, flashing with light, but it still held.
She anxiously glanced back. Actually, from this angle, she couldn't see the monster. However, she possessed a treasure that made her much more sensitive to the monster's aura than others. She could clearly sense that Mo Tiange was having a very difficult time holding it off.
"Fellow Daoist Jian Xin," she turned and called to Jian Xin, "Fellow Daoist Qin over there..."
Jin Xin was still intently manipulating his flying sword to attack the restriction. Although he was only at the mid-stage of Core Formation, his cultivation was much higher than Mo Tiange and Nie Wushang, who had recently advanced. Moreover, he was a Sword Cultivator, and the flying sword in his hand shimmered with flowing light, extremely powerful.
Retrieving his flying sword, Jian Xin swallowed a pill before glancing at Nie Wushang and saying indifferently, "This restriction is about to give way. We need to hurry. When Fellow Daoist Qin retreats here, I'll go help her."
Nie Wushang wanted to say more but ultimately swallowed her words. She didn't trust this Jian Xin much, but what he said wasn't without reason. The restriction was already on the verge of collapse; perhaps the next attack could break it. And Jian Xin was the one with the strongest offensive power among them. It was best if he could stay here.
However, thinking of Mo Tiange holding out alone over there, she gritted her teeth and quickened her movements.
Mo Tiange retreated step by step. Even with Feifei helping beside her, she still felt powerless. For some reason, the monster's aura had grown much stronger. When they encountered it before, it would just recover to its original state no matter how they attacked. But this time, it even counterattacked.
Having experienced Ren Yu-Feng's situation, she didn't dare directly touch these auras. Who knew what strange properties they had? Because of this, she could only be slowly forced back by the monster.
"Fellow Daoist Jian Xin!" Seeing that she was about to be forced back into the passage where the restriction was, Mo Tiange gritted her teeth and shouted loudly, "I can't hold it off any longer. Please come help quickly!"
Jian Xin certainly heard her plea for help, but his hands didn't stop moving. He only replied, "Fellow Daoist, hold on a little longer. We're almost done here."
Hearing this reply, Mo Tiange couldn't help but feel angry. She said, "How can I hold on alone?"
Nie Wushang also turned and said, "Fellow Daoist Jian Xin, this..."
Jian Xin remained unmoved, giving her a cold glance: "This is a critical moment. I won't leave. If you go to help her, it's the same."
Hearing this, Nie Wushang also grew angry: "You said earlier you would help, and now you're going back on your word!"
"Hmph!" Jian Xin's tone was indifferent. "Say what you will. If her death alone allows the rest of us to escape, then it's worth it."
"You—!" Nie Wushang was furious. She raised her fist, almost wanting to kill this Jian Xin first, but reason reminded her that even if she killed this person now, it would be of no help.
Her gaze swept around. The other five were all silently attacking, not a single one willing to speak up.
Nie Wushang couldn't help but sneer. Over the past day or so, the two of them had given these five quite a few pointers. But when life was at stake, they wouldn't step forward.
Gritting her teeth, she gave up on continuing to attack the restriction, turned, and left.
"Fellow Daoist Tian Can," at this moment, Jian Xin's voice came from behind, "By my estimate, about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea should be enough. Just hold on!"
Nie Wushang paused, glared at him fiercely, and immediately rushed toward Mo Tiange.
Mo Tiange had already heard their conversation earlier, and she was equally furious inside. Over the years, she had encountered many things, but people like Jian Xin were few indeed. Truly, one cannot judge a person by their appearance. This person seemed very decisive and didn't appear to be someone who went back on his word, yet when it came down to it, he acted like this.
However, she shared Nie Wushang's sentiment. Although Jian Xin seemed intent on using her as a sacrificial pawn, now was not the time to turn hostile. If they could really hold on for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea and break the restriction, then it might be worth a try.
But the current situation was not optimistic. She didn't know if their efforts would be worthwhile.
As soon as Nie Wushang ran over and saw the monster's current state, she was greatly shocked: "How did it become so powerful?"
Mo Tiange shook her head. How would she know? Seeing Nie Wushang's extremely frustrated expression, she asked, "What's wrong?"
Nie Wushang took a long time to let out a breath and said helplessly, "This thing has already grown strong to this extent. I can't hold it back either."
Mo Tiange was stunned. Among them, Nie Wushang was the most familiar with this thing. If even she had no way, did that mean they could only let this monster devour them all?
After a moment of hesitation, a resolute look appeared in Nie Wushang's eyes: "Since that's the case, then there's only one thing to do..."