Chapter 2547: Meeting Houtu Once More

Zu An’s eyebrows twitched, but he didn’t move right away, as if he was awaiting something.

Yumen Beiqing looked as if she was stunned. Before she could react, the green snake wrapped itself around her and dragged her toward Kuafu.

Zu An couldn’t wait anymore. He dashed over and slashed his blade down on the green snake.

The green snake winced in pain as it anxiously released Yumen Beiqing. Zu An pulled her into his embrace as he punched the other yellow snake, which had darted in to attack. Then, he took advantage of the opening to bring Yumen Beiqing back to the Mermaid Queen’s side.

“Are you fine?” Zu An quickly inspected her body.

Yumen Beiqing shook her head. Her icy eyes looked conflicted.

“How dare you hurt my beloved snakes!” Kuafu roared.

He took out a staff to strike Zu An. A brilliant light and the sound of crashing waves emanated from the staff as it was swung with terrifying might that could crush a small mountain.

Zu An was about to fight back when he suddenly remembered the mysterious Seven-Colored Divine Halo. He released a seven-colored light ahead of him, and the charging Kuafu vanished into thin air.

Everyone present was stunned.

Kuafu should have had the upper hand there, so why did he suddenly disappear?

Some of Kuafu’s brethren brandished their weapons to attack Zu An, hoping to rescue Kuafu. However, they also vanished in a flash of seven-colored light.

“What sorcery did you use?!” Xingtian didn’t dare to let his guard down. He placed his shield in front of him while preparing his axe; he was ready to launch a fatal blow at any moment.

His shield was imbued with tremendous defensive prowess. It could withstand most spells, forcing his enemy to engage him in close-quarters combat, which happened to be the strength of the Shaman races.

It was a pity that such an ability was useless. With a flash of a seven-colored light, he also vanished.

Seeing the previously bustling surroundings suddenly become empty bewildered the Mermaid Queen and Yumen Beiqing.

“Hubb... Big brother Zu, where did they go?” The Mermaid Queen didn’t think it was appropriate to call Zu An 'hubby' in Yumen Beiqing’s presence.

Yumen Beiqing reacted faster. “Is that the ability of your Seven-Colored Divine Halo?”

Zu An nodded. He sensed that Kuafu and the others had been put inside a peculiar seven-colored space. The weaker shamans had fainted on the spot, and only the strongest Kuafu and Xingtian were still holding on.

Kuafu’s two snakes grew until they were over a thousand meters long, and as they attempted to break free from the peculiar seven-colored space, they rampaged like massive dragons. Even so, no matter where they went, the two snakes couldn’t find a way out.

Xingtian roared as his body became incomparably huge. He furiously chopped at the seven-colored space like the great Pangu who had severed heaven from earth. Terrifying force rippled through the space, causing it to shake.

Zu An thought,

The Seven-Colored Divine Halo is similar to Kong Xuan’s five-colored divine halo in Investiture of the Gods. I can stow anything I want inside it, but there’s a limit. If the enemy is too strong, it might be possible for them to break free.

Even though Xingtian was causing a huge commotion, most of the force he used was absorbed by the special laws of the seven-colored space to reinforce it. In other words, he couldn't break free.

But Zu An didn’t dare to assume the results would be the same against an enemy far stronger than Xingtian.

In Investiture of the Gods, Kong Xuan had dragged one of the strongest characters in the series, Zhunti of the Two Western Saints, into his five-colored divine halo; but Zhunti was able to break free from inside.

I wonder if my Seven-Colored Divine Halo is any stronger than his five-colored divine halo...

Zu An sensed that Xingtian and Kuafu were getting desperate inside the seven-colored world, and were preparing to use secret arts that demanded a hefty price to activate. He didn’t want to become the Shaman races’ mortal enemy in the first place, so this battle had no meaning.

The seven-colored light flashed once more, and the shamans appeared again. The weaker shamans collapsed onto the ground, while Kuafu landed on his butt. Only Xingtian maintained a firm footing, looking fierce like a war god.

“I could have taken your lives, but it’s not my wish to become your enemy. All I wish to say is that I’m not the culprit behind the Chang clan’s massacre. Someone else is behind it,” Zu An said, although he was bluffing to an extent. It was easy for him to control them, but it wouldn’t be as easy for him to kill them.

Even so, Xingtian and Kuafu were intimidated. They thought that Zu An truly had the power to kill them, but he'd chosen to patiently talk things out. There had to be a misunderstanding here.

Xingtian undid his transformation and apologized. “Forgive us for our earlier offense.”

Kuafu apologized as well.

Yumen Beiqing scoffed.

These shamans oppress the weak, but fear the strong.

“I don’t know what tricks the culprit used to massacre the Chang clan within such a short time, and I don’t know why they spared us either.” Zu An fell into deep thought. Xingtian and Kuafu’s doubts made perfect sense; he couldn’t make sense of the situation either.

Xingtian chimed in. “Someone capable of such a feat can’t be nameless.”

“Do you have any suspects?”

“Not at the moment, but we can consult the Ancestral Shamans,” Xingtian replied.

Zu An was overjoyed. “You’re able to contact the Ancestral Shamans? May I know which one?”

Some said there were ten Ancestral Shamans, whereas others said there were twelve. Regardless, there had to be quite a few of them around. But those were legendary figures. Zu An didn’t think that Xingtian could contact them directly.

“Lady Houtu!” Xingtian replied with a look of reverence.

Zu An’s heart skipped a beat.

Houtu again! What role does she play in this matter?

Xingtian made an incision on his finger, and fresh blood oozed out. He flicked the blood droplets toward the sky and quickly drew a series of mysterious runes. Each finger stroke he made contained a peculiar, arcane power.

The blood-colored runes slowly diffused to form a thin portrait. A woman's impassive voice echoed from it. “Who calls me...”

Everyone present suddenly felt insignificant, as if a lofty god was judging them.

Xingtian and Kuafu quickly kneeled and bowed. “Junior Xingtian (Kuafu) pays respect to Lady Houtu!”

Zu An tried to widen his eyes to take a better look at Houtu’s appearance, but the only thing he could see in the portrait was a blurry figure. He could vaguely tell that the other party was a woman, but he was unable to make out her facial features. Even though the latter was just an avatar, he felt tremendous pressure.

She seems stronger than the Houtu I met in the future.

“What’s wrong?” The woman’s voice remained placid.

Xingtian hurriedly explained the situation.

“Oh?” Houtu’s avatar turned her eyes toward Zu An. “The Chang clan’s chieftain told you to become Yi?”

Xingtian and Kuafu were perplexed. They were here to request information about the culprit, but why was Lady Houtu more interested in this matter?

Zu An instinctively nodded. He was about to probe further into it when an aura flew out from the portrait and fell on him, infusing a wild power into his bloodline. This aura wasn't foreign to him. It was that of the Shaman races.

“From now on, he’s Yi. You can testify on his behalf,” Houtu’s voice echoed.

Xingtian and Kuafu trembled. They could feel the purest shaman bloodline coming from Zu An. Other shamans wouldn’t be able to tell that anything was wrong with him. They had no idea why Lady Houtu was doing this, but they didn’t dare to defy her orders.

Zu An was dumbstruck. Yumen Beiqing’s hair fell over her lowered head, making it impossible to make out her expression.