Chapter 8: Si Debing (Part 2)

A popping sound like beans exploding filled the air. Halachi suffered a heavy loss this time—blood gushed out in several bursts as he mumbled, “H-He’s too strong… I can’t hold on…” The Thunder Axe flew back. Si Debing’s attack followed immediately, and he said coldly, “Let’s see how you block this!”

With the Ice River Upside Down move, Halachi managed to block half of its force, but the other half hit Guo Shier’s head.

Boom!

A massive soul pressure surged out from the Soul Calming Cauldron. The cauldron emitted countless colored lights, which, along with the soul pressure, rushed forth with tremendous force.

Si Debing’s expression changed drastically—the soul pressure was incredibly strong. In that instant, he even felt the threat of death. Guo Shier was also surprised; he hadn’t expected the Soul Calming Cauldron to be capable of soul attacks. An idea flashed through his mind, and he immediately understood what was happening. After all, the Soul Calming Cauldron was his life-bound sacrificial artifact, and any change was tied to his soul.

It was the Soul Calming Cauldron drawing a trace of soul from the Spirit Beasts. Nearly a million Spirit Beasts, each contributing a trace of their soul, caused no harm to them. But when the Cauldron condensed these traces together, the resulting attack was no less powerful than that of a professional above the ninth-tier altar.

In an instant, the Ice River Upside Down move dissipated, failing to deliver any effective attack. Si Debing was forced to retreat continuously.

Redbeard Lei Zhenhuo was puzzled and asked, “W-What’s this?”

Si Debing’s face was grim. He never expected to be forced back. Filled with anger and humiliation, he shouted, “Take another attack from me!”

But Guo Shier wasn’t willing to play along. “Let’s go!” The three of them didn’t dare continue fighting and rushed outside using their altars. The three altars were connected by virtual rune chains and instantly flew into the raging flames. As soon as they flew out, a deafening explosion rang out. Guo Shier turned around and saw the rune array shattered by Si Debing’s blade.

Guo Shier shouted, “Si Debing! We’ll be back!”

Halachi spat angrily, “Gu Bing Clan, Gu Lei Clan! Wait for it!” He vowed revenge. Though Guo Shier dismissed his words, he didn’t stop him. In his opinion, if one wanted to take revenge, there was no need to warn the other party—it was better to wait until one had the upper hand and defeat them outright.

An Eighth-Level Altar professional has almost no chance of winning against a Ninth-Level Altar professional. Yet, even if the Eighth-Level Altar professional tries to escape, it’s difficult for the Ninth-Level expert to catch them. Si De Bing roared, “Don’t run! Lei Zhen Huo, block them!”
The Soul Calming Cauldron shrank to one meter in height and spun above Guo Shier’s head as the three of them flew outward. Guo Shier shouted, “Go!” Several fire-type Spirit Beasts flew out of the Cauldron and charged at Si De Bing and Lei Zhen Huo.
Si De Bing sneered, “Using Spirit Beasts to block us? Haha, that’s quite useful. Lei Zhen Huo, don’t snatch them!” He reached out with an imaginary hand, and a giant spectral palm shot out, fiercely grabbing one of the Spirit Beasts. Once captured, he could turn it into a bead as an offering.
Guo Shier casually cast several spells and threw them behind him, shouting, “This is a gift for you!”
Boom! Boom! Boom…
He forced the Spirit Beasts to explode. Unprepared, Si De Bing suffered heavy losses. By taking advantage of the explosions, Guo Shier and the others managed to break free from Si De Bing’s pursuit. The area was filled with flames from sky to ground; neither sight nor soul detection could reach beyond a thousand meters. As long as they escaped into the flames, it would be hard for Si De Bing and his companion to chase them.
Si De Bing and Lei Zhen Huo exchanged a glance. Lei Zhen Huo said, “We can’t let them go. If we can’t recruit them, just kill them to avoid bringing disaster to our family.” They also didn’t want to get involved with two Eighth-Level Altar professionals, but at this point, they dared not let them go either, as Halechi had already threatened to target their families directly.
Si De Bing said, “Good! Chase after them!” The two of them pursued at lightning speed.
…
Halechi kept swallowing talisman pills, looking heartbroken at his Thunder Axe, covered in cracks as if from melting ice. He knew the sacrificial artifact could collapse at any moment. After searching for a while, he took out a Spirit Pearl and gritted his teeth, “You two bastards! I remember you! Damn it! Even if I can’t defeat you, I’ll take my anger out on your families!”
It was the spirit of a Level 12 Abnormal Talisman Beast. If used on the Thunder Axe, it could slightly repair the sacrificial artifact, but it was far from enough to restore it completely. Unlike Guo Shier, who had countless Spirit Beasts at his disposal, he crushed the Spirit Pearl in his hand and poured its spirit into the Thunder Axe.

The cracks on the Thunder Axe gradually disappeared. Halechi knew there was still a long way to go before it could be restored, but he didn’t have any extra sacrifices available. After all, transferring power to the altar required a certain amount of sacrifices. He looked up and asked, “Wang Keer, do you have any extra sacrifices?”
Wang Keer had already taken refuge on Guo Shier’s altar. She was also severely injured and sat listlessly beside Guo Shier, saying, “I don’t have enough sacrifices either. Most of them were used during my promotion just now. Sigh, I’ve lost a lot this time—not only did I fail to advance, but I was also injured… Those two bastards!”
Guo Shier was always generous toward his companions. He threw a pouch of talismans at Wang Keer and another at Halechi, saying, “Recover first. I still have some extra Soul Beads here; use them for now.”
Wang Keer opened the pouch in confusion and exclaimed, “Huh? So many Soul Beads?”
Halechi opened his pouch and found thousands of Soul Beads, enough for him to use for a long time. Upon checking, he saw that these Soul Beads were of high quality and high rank. He quickly thanked them, realizing just how precious these items were. Without wasting time, he picked out a few high-rank Soul Beads, crushed them, and inserted them into the Thunder Axe.
Guo Shier said, “Recover as fast as possible. I think those two won’t let us go easily!”
Wang Keer crushed the Soul Beads one after another. The large amount of sacrifices used helped her recover quickly. Halechi soon repaired the Thunder Axe. He said, “Hmm, we can just keep circling around the continent. Hmph, as long as we avoid direct confrontation, those two can’t stop us.”
Guo Shier replied, “Okay, let’s try to stay hidden.”
…
It was unclear what methods Si Debing and Lei Zhenhuo used, but they managed to track the trio’s escape route and nearly caught up to them several times. Fortunately, Guo Shier was alert, and the three of them weren’t ordinary professionals. If they could avoid being caught, they would; if not, they would use the Soul Calming Cauldron to fend off their attacks.
For seven consecutive days, the two sides clashed several times. Si Debing and Lei Zhenhuo were shocked to find that even in direct battles, they didn’t gain much advantage. Although Guo Shier and his companions couldn’t win, they always managed to break free from their encirclement at critical moments, leaving the two unable to hold them back.
This time, Si Debing managed to block Guo Shier again. Halechi snapped, “That guy is really a bastard, persistently haunting us. How… how the hell did he find us!”

Guo Shier said angrily, “This guy must have used some trick… left some mark on us or on the altar. I’ll smash you to death!” He struck the Soul Suppressing Cauldron, and in an instant, it crashed down like a mountain.

Si Debing was extremely frustrated. He didn’t know how Guo Shier’s Soul Suppressing Cauldron had been forged—it was as heavy as a mountain, and its defense was insanely strong. His sacrificial artifact couldn’t even shake it, and on several occasions, the Cauldron even damaged his artifact, making him shout in fury, “Damn it… using this trick again…!”

He had no choice but to dodge. If hit by that thing, he wasn’t sure if his altar would collapse. He didn’t dare test it. Last time, when he tried to resist with his defensive sacrificial artifact, it almost affected the altar, scaring him into avoiding it desperately.

Guo Shier was also helpless. His greatest weapon was the Spirit Beast as vast as the ocean, but he didn’t dare use it lightly—he couldn’t afford such a huge loss. More importantly, the Beast Sea combat technique was almost useless against professionals using ninth-tier altars; it only served to offer sacrifices to others. Apart from not being able to use the Spirit Beast, he also didn’t use the Moon Blade. Given its current quality, it might not even be as good as the Thunder Axe, so he didn’t even consider trying it.

The only thing effective against Si Debing and Lei Zhenhuo was using the Soul Suppressing Cauldron to attack, taking advantage of their reluctance to engage head-on. After several refinements, the Cauldron’s durability had become beyond imagination. Even with Si Debing’s blue long sword attacking at full force, it was hard to leave any mark on its surface.

Si Debing dodged swiftly. Guo Shier laughed loudly and charged forward with Halechi. After seven days of recovery, Wang Keer had mostly regained her strength. She had been hiding on Guo Shier’s altar, resting the whole time while Guo Shier and Halechi fought desperately.

After flying for not far, Guo Shier saw the mountain peak and the damaged talisman array. He circled back to his original position. Just as he flew over the mountain peak, Lei Zhenhuo appeared not far ahead. Roaring, he said, “Keep running… keep running…” He was also furious—the opponent was simply too slippery.

Guo Shier laughed and ordered the Soul Suppressing Cauldron to attack. Shouting, he said, “Go to hell…!”

Boom!

Lei Zhenhuo barely withstood the strike, being forced to retreat hundreds of meters. He cast a spell, causing Guo Shier’s soul to tremble, and both he and Halechi cried out in alarm.

Countless talisman pillars suddenly appeared, forming a massive talisman array that instantly suppressed Guo Shier and Halechi, preventing them from teleporting or flying away. The flames around them were pushed back by the power of the talisman array, creating a huge space. Guo Shier and Halechi were like flies trapped in a bottle, flailing around helplessly. Finally, they stopped.

Halechi said with a bitter smile, “We’ve fallen into a trap.”

Guo Shier replied, “I wondered why only Sidibing was chasing after us. It turns out they had a plan all along. Sigh, I was too careless.”

Sidibing flew over and said mockingly, “Run, keep running, run as fast as you can… Hehe, where do you think you can run now?” He was furious with Guo Shier. The pursuit had been extremely difficult for him; as a professional of the Ice element, his strength was severely suppressed in this world of flames, preventing him from showing his true abilities, which made him feel extremely frustrated.

Guo Shier calmed down and said, “You’ll regret this!” His words sounded a bit feigned, but both Halechi and Wang Keer knew he was telling the truth.