Chapter 347 : Descending from Above
The battle below the well quickly resumed. Jiang Mo could even see the faint lamplight lit above the well, but this distance—so close yet so far—seemed like an impossible gulf. Several times she tried to break free from the encirclement and rush out, but without success.
Above the dried well, however, everything remained peaceful and calm. The three people guarding the well had no idea that a White Tiger was struggling below.
The night gradually deepened. The cool night breeze dispersed the surrounding summer heat. No one knew where the Nameless Temple had appeared today, but tonight's temperature was notably higher than usual. The bright moon overhead seemed never to have changed, its light spilling onto the well's edge. Everything would have been beautiful if not for the churning black shadows in the well destroying the atmosphere.
Suddenly, Tan Xin, who had been chanting sutras with his eyes closed, opened them. His gaze fixed directly on the well opening, where he could see the white jade prayer beads he had placed there with his own hands. But his gaze penetrated beyond the beads and through the black mist filling the well mouth, looking straight down.
Zhu Baiyi was the first to notice his movement and straightened up to ask: "What's wrong? Did you discover something?"
Tan Xin's brows furrowed slightly as if carefully observing something, but ultimately he couldn't see through the demonic energy. He shook his head gently and said: "Nothing, but the demonic energy in the well seems somewhat unusual."
By now the night was deep, yet the demonic energy below showed little change. It had even become more subdued than during daylight, showing no signs of growing stronger and assaulting the seal as expected—this was clearly abnormal. Either the demonic energy had developed intelligence and was planning something sinister, or something was happening below that was occupying their attention.
Hearing this, both Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu had the same thought. Their eyes flashed with sharp light as they suddenly stood up.
Qingyu held her sword in one hand while taking out the soul lamp again with the other to check—any harm to Yun Qingyue would be reflected in the soul lamp. However, the light in her lamp remained steady, that small flame burning stably, showing no signs of danger.
Undoubtedly, demonic energy was formidable. Even a Grand Achievement cultivator like Zhu Baiyi wouldn't dare claim any advantage against the demonic energy at the well mouth. Yun Qingyue's cultivation was only at the Spirit Division realm; if she tried to break through the well's demonic energy, it would be nearly impossible to proceed smoothly... If she were fighting for her life, such calmness would be all but impossible.
Qingyu immediately suspected her guess was wrong, but thinking of Jianbing who had fallen into the well with Yun Qingyue, hope rose in her heart again. She frowned, put away the "useless" soul lamp, and walked with Zhu Baiyi to the well's edge to observe.
Both were very cautious, layering several defensive measures on themselves before approaching the well to look down.
The bottom of the well was naturally pitch-dark. The small lamplight at the well's edge was insufficient to penetrate any further, though there was considerable demonic energy at the edge. Seeing someone come to inspect, the demonic energy immediately became excited, transforming into grimacing, distorted ghost faces, densely blocking the well opening.
Qingyu frowned at the sight, and Zhu Baiyi immediately said: "Don't worry, watch me."
As she spoke, a spark flashed in her hand, which she then tossed into the well—the well's seal only targeted entities from the demonic realm; demonic energy and demonic qi would be blocked, but it posed no obstacle to other things. Otherwise, Yun Qingyue and Jiang Mo, two living humans, wouldn't have easily passed through the barrier and fallen into the well that day, much less be expected to come out now.
The spark successfully passed through the barrier and fell into the well. At first, Qingyu didn't understand, as the spark was too small to provide any illumination once it entered the well. Only after the spark truly entered did she comprehend the meaning of "a single spark can start a prairie fire."
As the spark penetrated the barrier, it seemed to hit gasoline, instantly igniting a vast expanse of flames.
Qingyu instinctively stepped back, but strangely, the flames were blocked by the barrier. The crimson fire was contained beneath the barrier, burning violently but without releasing any heat, as if everything before her eyes was an illusion.
Qingyu wasn't foolish enough to reach out and test it. She frowned as she realized the key point and turned to ask Zhu Baiyi: "What kind of fire is that? Has it ignited the demonic energy in the well?"
Zhu Baiyi's face appeared slightly pale in the moonlight. She didn't conceal anything: "That's my demonic fire. It burns whatever I want it to burn."
Demonic fire was the innate spirit fire of great demons, not particularly rare in ancient times. However, with the decline of the demon race, the name of demonic fire gradually faded into obscurity. For Zhu Baiyi, releasing demonic fire wasn't easy, as she only possessed half demon bloodline. That tiny spark of demonic fire was difficult to concentrate, and how much demonic energy it could burn away was uncertain.
Clearly, though, even just a spark of demonic fire was enough to clear out the demonic energy blocking the well mouth. In just a few breaths, those dense ghost faces disappeared completely, and the condition inside the well could be glimpsed by the remaining glow of the demonic fire.
"Look quickly," Zhu Baiyi reminded.
Qingyu said nothing more, hurrying to the well's edge to look down—the visible range was still limited; the deeper parts of the well remained in darkness that light couldn't penetrate. However, faintly, something like a golden flash could be seen appearing at the bottom of the well!
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Jiang Mo was thoroughly annoyed by these persistent demonic entities. The three-headed dog's relentless pursuit was bad enough, but the "kelp monster," which had shrunk during the transmission, had also quickly recovered by absorbing surrounding demonic energy. Not only had they recovered, but with the night's enhancement, they had grown even stronger—the three-headed dog had grown taller, and the "kelp monster" had even split into two.
The White Tiger's wounds multiplied, and her internal spiritual energy gradually couldn't keep up with the consumption. If the exit hadn't been in sight, if these demonic entities hadn't grown stronger by absorbing demonic energy, she would have retreated to her Innate Space to heal long ago.
But now she couldn't retreat, nor did she have the opportunity to retreat. She could only grit her teeth and persevere.
No one knew how long they had been fighting. Jiang Mo only knew that she had smashed the three-headed dog's heads at least twice, and had torn off countless tentacles from the "kelp monsters." Suddenly, a point of light flashed overhead, followed by an eruption of flames.
The fire was unlike normal orange-red flames, but rather a vibrant red akin to fresh blood.
The three-headed dog and the "kelp monsters" seemed somewhat afraid. When the fire burned down along the demonic energy, they instinctively moved aside. At that moment, Jiang Mo had just torn off one of the "kelp monster's" tentacles and, without thinking, threw it directly into the crimson sea of fire.
Both the "kelp monsters" and the three-headed dog were formed from demonic energy, so the tentacle was naturally made of concentrated demonic energy, inherently tough and resilient—if not tough enough, when the well mouth moved earlier, the White Tiger and the three-headed dog wouldn't have been able to cling to the tentacles and be carried along. However, the tentacle, which even the White Tiger found difficult to completely destroy, burned like ordinary flammable material when thrown into the sea of fire, igniting instantly.
The tentacle seemed to possess intelligence, struggling like a live fish in the sea of fire, apparently trying to escape. But the crimson flames were merciless, rapidly extinguishing the tentacle's "life." Before it could escape, it was burned to nothing, not even ashes remaining.
Not just the three-headed dog and the "kelp monsters," but even Jiang Mo, who didn't know the nature of the flames, was startled and repeatedly retreated far away.
She was being too cautious. If she had retreated just a bit slower, she would have discovered that the flames actually had no temperature and wouldn't burn her. And with the power of the flames at this moment, she could have rushed out of the well to safety.
Unfortunately, she didn't know this and missed the best opportunity to escape.
The crimson sea of fire was powerful but not long-lasting. It burned for only a few breaths before extinguishing after consuming all the demonic energy in the surrounding air. The three-headed dog and the "kelp monsters" that had fled far away, including Jiang Mo who didn't need to hide, were all unaffected. Soon, the fire was extinguished. Afterward, endless demonic energy from the well bottom surged up again, quickly filling the space that had just been cleared.
Seeing this, Jiang Mo frowned, finally realizing she might have missed an excellent opportunity. She decided to seize the tail end of the chance, quickly flying toward the well mouth. If she could rush out before the three-headed dog and the "kelp monsters" returned, everything would be over.
Unfortunately, the three-headed dog and the "kelp monsters" had long since fixed their attention on her. As soon as she moved, dozens of tentacles from the two "kelp monsters" attacked her simultaneously. Those rapidly approaching tentacles were like arrows shot at high speed; if hit, Jiang Mo had no doubt her body would be riddled with holes. Fortunately, feline animals are agile enough, and with leaps and bounds during flight, she barely avoided them.
But having dodged the tentacle attack, she still faced the three-headed dog's interception. Unsurprisingly, the White Tiger was blocked again.
Just then, a sword light like a ribbon, carrying the moonlight from above, slashed down...
In that instant, Jiang Mo almost thought her Senior Sister had come to rescue her. Then she remembered that she had moved her Senior Sister back to her Innate Space; there was no way she could appear at this moment.
She looked up to see two figures descending from above. One sword cut off the three-headed dog's three heads, and one blade severed dozens of the "kelp monster's" tentacles. Then the White Tiger felt a tightness at the back of her neck, as if someone had grabbed her by the scruff, lifting her straight upward.
In a flash, the bright moon and the temple once again came into view.