Roaming the Four Seas - Chapter 154: Flame Hound Capturing the Beast

Without explicit discussion, a tacit understanding formed among the group.

Lin Taixuan protected the Daoist priests.

With his mystical and uncanny arts, Su Ye shattered the various seals cast by the Scarlet Haze Demon within Bull-Fighting City.

Trapped in a perilous demon city where a single misstep meant certain death, the thread named "life and death together" dissolved the barriers in their hearts and bound them into a single rope.

Lin Taixuan hailed from the Skysong Sect and was actually the closing disciple of Daoist Songhe.

When Su Ye probed him with questions, even he had never heard his master mention the numerology of "One Hundred," nor did he understand its meaning.

"Where else have you encountered such evil and bizarre arts?" the female Daoist cultivator could not help but ask.

Su Ye replied vaguely:

"During my travels, I once entered a city. The evil entities within it also originated and developed because of 'One Hundred'."

"There is no such numerology in the studies of the Zhou Changes." Chen Mou had immersed himself in the metaphysical arts of divination for many years and once attempted to deduce the heavenly secrets.

He had deduced that a certain individual would punch a hole through the heavens in the future.

Finding it absurd, he had paid it no heed.

Later, enlightened by his master and having mastered the subtleties of divination, he realized the hexagrams were not false.

His initial calculation made him doubt himself, but his deeper calculations left him with unwavering conviction.

Yet the Zhou Changes only went up to eighty-one, containing no greater numerology.

Lin Taixuan mused:

"The number 'One Hundred' perhaps was artificially created by someone to drive the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, allowing it to sustain and harbor the demonic power of entrenched evil thoughts."

Su Ye had learned some tracking and investigative skills from the Demon-Suppressing Officer Huang Bao.

Ten thousand conjectures could not compare to a single truth.

Rather than engaging in wild speculation, he preferred to unravel the mystery firsthand.

Su Ye distributed Great Return Pills and Root-Consolidating and Qi-Nourishing Pills to the six Daoist priests to help them rapidly recover their spiritual energy within the city, where the evil array suppressed all spiritual qi.

Once everyone had recovered their vitality, they resumed their journey.

The space within the city had been expanded to boundless limits by the demonic array laid down by the Scarlet Haze Demon, and time and direction had also fallen into chaos.

"Senior Lin, has Immortal Master Songhe ever mentioned... whether time flows in the chaotic lands occupied by immortals?"

The Instantaneous Shanhua created by Su Ye could drive the long river to flow backward if he reached the Flying Cloud Realm; and if he cultivated to the Divine Mastery Realm, he could use heaven and earth as a guide to alter the speed at which time flowed.

Such were his arts.

The Immortal Realm was even more unfathomable.

Lin Taixuan replied:

"When I was seventy years old, I once had the fortune to catch a glimpse of the Sword Saint's true dharma body."

"Did he ever mention the Immortal Realm?" Hearing this, a brilliant light flashed in Su Ye's eyes.

"Ancestor Song said only that in the Immortal Realm, all things are imperishable and unyielding, and the sun, moon, stars, and constellations never shift or change. The four seasons are as one, and years cannot be distinguished."

Su Ye memorized Lin Taixuan's words.

With just these few words, he was confident that when the time was ripe, he could create arts of astonishing might.

"Look!" The female Daoist cultivator raised her remaining left hand and pointed toward the earthen mound.

---

The group looked in the direction she pointed and saw only a small, ink-green tail.

"It's just a little beast, pay it no mind." Chen Mou had suffered betrayal from a spirit pet and held no fondness for spirit beasts.

Su Ye was cautious by nature and unwilling to let slip any detail. He cupped his fists and said:

"Senior Lin, junior has just broken the Ice Mirror Labyrinth and my sea of qi is currently empty... I must trouble you to employ your divine powers and capture that little beast."

Lin Taixuan's figure turned illusory, suddenly vanishing from everyone's sight.

Su Ye attempted to communicate with the surrounding heaven and earth, using his spiritual awareness as eyes to observe Lin Taixuan's beast-capturing prowess.

---

Lin Taixuan hovered high in the firmament, spiritual energy forming a garment around his body to protect his skin.

Circulating spiritual energy in the palm of his right hand, a black spatial gate condensed and gradually expanded.

Out of it rushed a crimson dragon-hound, twelve feet in length with shoulders five feet high, its forehead branded with golden flame patterns.

Its entire body was covered in dense scales, and the mane around its neck fluttered with raging flames.

"Kuidou, go capture that demonic beast. Just capture it, and do not harm its life." Lin Taixuan's soft voice echoed.

The crimson dragon-hound named Kuidou let out a bark.

Treading on clouds, it descended diagonally, flying in pursuit of the prey that had sensed danger.

The small, emerald-green demonic beast sensed the upheaval of heaven and earth, set its four hooves in motion, and fled as swiftly as a shooting star.

Riding the clouds and driving the mists, Kuidou was ultimately faster than the small beast.

Within the space of a few breaths, it closed in on the rabbit-like creature.

It opened its sharp, elongated jaws, two streaks of golden light condensing on the surface of its fangs as it attempted to snap up the small beast in its mouth.

A trace of approval appeared on Lin Taixuan's face.

The next instant, a sudden change occurred!

The emerald-green small demonic beast transformed into a wisp of dust, blending into the yellow sand covering the ground.

Kuidou lunged into empty space, leaping on the spot and barking frantically in agitation.

Lin Taixuan said in astonishment:

"This little demonic beast can transform its body into dust; its intelligence must not be low... Yet the Great Gan *Classic of Spirit Beasts* contains no records of such a demonic beast.

Could it be... an illusion once more?"

By the time he recovered his thoughts, he saw that Kuidou had ridden the clouds further away, frantically lunging and biting at a gust of clear wind.

Affected by the force of the blows, the wind nimbly wove between Kuidou's teeth and lips without suffering the slightest damage.

Seeing his spirit pet Kuidou thwarted, Lin Taixuan swept two fingers across his eyes.

Golden brands surfaced on his eyelids as he opened his Dharma Eyes.

He observed that the gust of evil wind was precisely the emerald-green little demonic beast.

Its figure illusory, it suddenly appeared beside the spirit pet Kuidou.

With his five fingers outspread, a water cage trapped the man and the two beasts within it.

Su Ye and the five Daoist priests climbed over the earthen mound and witnessed the fantastical scene in the sky.

In their hearts arose not only admiration, but also a measure of yearning.

Yet feelings of envy lingered in Su Ye's sea of consciousness for only a moment.

---

Subsequently, it transformed into an analysis of the situation.

Lin Taixuan excelled at water escape techniques, which was why he had taken the Vermilion Flame Dragon-Hound as a spirit pet to make up for his elemental deficiency.

The water cage he cast seemed unbreakable, yet it had a single flaw.

In the blink of an eye, the small demonic beast indeed transformed into clear water, merging with the water cage.

It easily broke free from the confinement.

Furious, Kuidou sensed the small demonic beast's aura and immediately stretched out its sharp fangs to clamp down on the cunning and mercurial creature.

Just as Lin Taixuan was about to cry out a warning to prevent the enraged Kuidou from taking the small beast's life,

a burst of flames suddenly erupted within his spiritual awareness, escaping from between Kuidou's teeth and jaws.

Kuidou's upper and lower fangs clashed, emitting a muffled, frantic sound.

A hundred feet away, the flames converged into wind.

This brilliant escape not only angered the dragon-hound Kuidou, but also provoked the merciful Daoist Lin Taixuan.

Transforming into a golden light, he caught up to the small demonic beast in an instant.

"Since you are unwilling to submit, then turn to dust!" Wielding his Seven-Star Sword imbued with mighty spiritual energy, he slashed at the breeze into which the small beast had transformed.

The sword qi carried a restraining force, meant to shock and awe the small beast's soul and consciousness.

Just as it was about to be cleaved in two, a flash of flame suddenly arose once more.

With a crisp clang, it blocked the Seven-Star Sword, which was bent on killing.

Sensing the Buddhist power contained within the flash of flame, Lin Taixuan remembered why he had wanted to spare the small beast's life in the first place.

He immediately gave a whistle, recalling the dragon-hound to his side.

Su Ye withdrew the Great Luo Fire Canopy and looked toward the emerald-green little demonic beast that had landed lightly on the ground.

He saw that it was about the size of a palm, with two small, round, black and bright eyes.

Most peculiar was its tail, which had now shifted to a translucent azure representing the water element.

The little demonic beast spun around in place, looking one moment at the dragon-hound baring its teeth atop a cloud in the sky and the awe-inspiring Daoist beside it,

and the next moment at the six people standing atop the earthen mound.

The female Daoist cultivator said:

"Look closely at it, and it rather resembles a small squirrel.

Only its tail is not as fluffy."

As if it had heard the female Daoist's words, the little demonic beast suddenly swelled against the wind.

The beast, which had originally been only the size of a palm, grew to a height of two zhang in an instant, its emerald-green body resembling a small mountain.

Without slowing its momentum, wind rose beneath its hooves.

It charged straight toward the hilltop where the six of them stood.

Su Ye's interest was suddenly piqued, and he said in a clear voice:

"Senior travelers, please hold your hands; let me go and meet it."