"So this is the control device?" Jun Laoye landed beside it with Nantian Yijian on his back, unconscious. He reached out to shut it down, then gently laid Nantian Yijian on a table. He shouted as he charged into the arena, "Brothers, rush in and rescue Little Lu!" "Let's go and save Boss Lu!" Over two hundred cultivators surged forward, forming a living shield before Lu Chen. Seeing them, Song Ping's lips curled into a sinister smile. "Didn't I tell you? Against absolute power, numbers are meaningless." Song Ping's aura as a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator was overwhelming. In that moment, it erupted, blasting all the cultivators before him into the air. They fell like dumplings, tumbling off the arena. Almost immediately, they rushed back in. "Charge! Don't let them look down on us!" Song Ping sneered. "Heh... Seems like you really have a death wish. Fine, I'll grant you your wish." Jun Xiaoma looked back at Jun Laoye. "Second Young Master, take him and go. We can hold him off a little longer." Lu Chen's heart stirred. "You... what are you fighting for?" Sun Xiaohu raised his broadsword across his chest, grinning. "We fight for our hearts!" Wang Xiaolong stood at the front, roaring, "We may not be geniuses, but we decide our own fate on the battlefield!" These cultivators were already one realm below Song Ping. Now, with him in a demonic frenzy and heedless of their lives, none of them stood a chance against him. Many were gravely injured and kicked out of the arena before they could even reach Song Ping. Yet, they stood firm, charging forward fearlessly to buy Lu Chen more time. Jun Wudi and the others were still carving the formation and couldn't intervene. For now, Lu Chen was the only one with the power needed to confront Song Ping directly. The others could only try to drain as much of Song Ping's spirit qi as possible to give Lu Chen a slightly better chance once he recovered. This was a battle for survival and for dignity. At the sight, Lu Chen muttered, "You..." Wave after wave of cultivators kept surging forward. Each time they were knocked down, they rose faster, even as their injuries grew more severe. Under the death-defying assault, even Song Ping began to give ground. Lu Chen trembled. This was far more tragic but at the same time more stirring than any grand spectacle he had ever witnessed. Watching the arena, he recalled Nantian Xiu's words and murmured, "Can ordinary people really decide their own fate?" Nantian Wan'er rushed forward. "Lu-gege, how are you feeling?" She gave him a Heaven Restoration Pill and withdrew the Twin-Fish Medallion back into the Heavenly Pool. As the black and white fish returned, the spirit qi within the Heavenly Pool surged tenfold. His spirit qi was gradually restored, and his color began to recover. "Much better. I can recover on my own now." Lu Chen pointed to the cultivators who had been flung off the arena. "Wan'er, Little Jun. Help them first. I'll be fine on my own." Lu Chen sat down cross-legged and quickly worked on recovering his spirit qi. "Brothers, hold on a little longer. I'll be ready soon." Under his control, the various elemental energies from the small world poured through the rift into the Heavenly Pool's sea of qi. The medallion and the Green Sovereign Divine Tree further worked to convert all that energy into Lu Chen's spirit qi. As the vast elemental energy continued to flow, the rift between the two worlds gradually widened. The merging accelerated. It was like two bubbles coming into contact. Once a gap formed, the denser substance would flow into the lighter one. The small world was already a fully independent space, while Lu Chen's Heavenly Pool had only just begun to develop. Naturally, the elemental matter moved from the small world into the Heavenly Pool. As the rift widened, more elemental matter poured in, and the stronger region reshaped the weaker, until the two spaces merged into one. Amid the constant influx, Lu Chen sensed that the seal the green-robed Daoist had left in his Heavenly Pool had loosened. His control over his spirit qi felt much more fluid and natural than before, and his attunement to the five elements had improved. "What a surprise! Who would have thought that this failure would yield such a reward! It must be the Spirit Light Chain sealing my Heavenly Pool that is starting to weaken. But how long until the chain fully breaks?" He tentatively touched the chains on the Pillar of Sealed Powers that had loosened slightly. "The stronger the space becomes, the looser this chain gets." The beasts in the miniature world sensed the changes and rushed toward the rift. Bai Ze used his techniques to learn about everything that had occurred, then sent a voice transmission to Lu Chen. "King, do you require assistance?" "No need. I can handle it myself. It's not yet the right time to release you." Bai Ze returned to the herb fields and continued tending to the spirit plants. Lu Chen focused on the arena. Eyes fixed on the rampaging Song Ping, he gradually released his own aura. "Brothers, step aside. It's my turn once again." Hearing his words, the cultivators quickly cleared the arena. "Brothers, let's go." Song Ping glared at Lu Chen, sneering. "So you finally dare to face me head-on?" Lu Chen switched back to his Hunyuan Greatsword and glanced at Wind Dragon. "When reforging a weapon, all that's needed is to sever the connection between the cultivator and the resonant artifact, right?" "That's right." Wind Dragon replied, circling Lu Chen, his eyes fixed on Song Ping. "What are you trying to do? You aren't strong enough to sever it directly." "Demonic possession is like yang trapped within yin. I just learned a new technique, and it happens to solve this problem." Wind Dragon watched as Lu Chen formed hand seals. He recognized them as the initial gestures of the Dao Art of the Kan symbol and asked, "Is that the Spirit Light Chains?" Lu Chen continued forming the seals. Spirit qi surged from the Yin Ocean Pearl, and a pool of blue liquid appeared in his hands. "This is Dao Art, Yang Purifying Water." Song Ping's eyes widened in fear as he stared at the blue liquid. Without hesitation, he leapt onto the Frost Dragon's head and charged at Lu Chen. "A little late for that." Lu Chen watched him barreling forward and shaped the blue liquid into a long spear. "Yang Purifying Water, Demon Breaker." "Lu Chen, what are you trying to do to me?" Panic surged through Song Ping as he watched Lu Chen's movements. The demonic qi on his body recoiled, shrinking back as if afraid of the blue spear. "Heh, I'm helping you." Lu Chen raised the blue spear, pointing it directly at Song Ping. The spear seemed to be inherently attracted to demonic qi. Wherever Song Ping moved, the spear tip followed. With a sharp shout, Lu Chen released the spear. It seemed to act on its own, darting straight toward Song Ping's heart. Song Ping dodged frantically atop the Frost Dragon, trying to evade the blue spear. "I don't need your help. I only want your life!" Wind Dragon observed the spear relentlessly pursuing Song Ping, sharing his thoughts aloud, "It looks spear carries some sort of karma." The blue ice spear pierced through Song Ping's chest, and its shaft slowly melted into him. The demonic qi inside Song Ping surged like boiling water; then, like a flood finding an outlet, it began to dissipate through the wound in his heart. Song Ping clutched his chest, screaming in rage. "Lu Chen, what did you do to me? Why is my cultivation level dropping?" "This is just the effect of the Demon-Breaker. It is a purifying technique. It's not over yet!" Lu Chen formed a series of hand seals again. The blue liquid in Song Ping's chest started to emit steam, spreading over his body. Song Ping tried his best to get rid of the blue liquid, slapping his chest in a futile attempt to push it out. "It's so hot... so hot..." However, the liquid burned like fire wherever it touched. It slowly covered all of him. The intense pain overwhelmed Song Ping, and he stumbled onto the Frost Dragon, trembling. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel·fire·net The Frost Dragon dove to rescue him. "Roar!" "Now's the chance. Stone Wall Formation, Converge." Seizing the moment, Lu Chen shot the Hunyuan Greatsword toward Song Ping. The sword reached him before the Frost Dragon, sending Song Ping into the Stone Wall Formation. Lu Chen clenched his hands, and the eight stone walls slowly converged. The Frost Dragon hovered midair, helplessly watching Song Ping being imprisoned. It lunged at Lu Chen in rage, as if its very heart had been violated. Seeing the incoming dragon, Lu Chen swiftly formed the hand seals for the Spirit Light Chains and shouted, "Perfect timing. Dao Art, Spirit Light Chains.'" Ever since the crack between the Heavenly Pool and the minor world had widened, the seal within him had loosened, boosting his overall abilities. His casting speed had increased severalfold, and both his spirit qi's recovery rate and its reserves had grown dramatically. With the current amount of spirit qi in his Heavenly Pool, he could sustain seven to eight more Dao Techniques. Lu Chen admired the chain forming in his hand. "These Spirit Light Chains... really are something." He pointed the chain at the Frost Dragon. In an instant, the tip split into five, binding the beast. Without Song Ping's spirit qi, the Frost Dragon was like a toothless tiger, incapable of causing trouble. Lu Chen watched the Frost Dragon collapse onto the arena floor and chuckled. Tossing the end of the Spirit Light Chain to Wind Dragon, he leaped into the Stone Wall Formation himself.