Gonggong was thrown into turmoil by the Cave Spirit Zither, his blood and qi surging wildly, rushing to his heart and lungs, twisting his entrails and kneading his spleen, making him feel extremely miserable.

He burst out of the Stone Prison and looked at the Yu Ding floating above. This thing had suppressed him for more than four thousand years. Over the years, he had gradually discerned its mysteries and could barely utilize part of its functions. He hastily sprayed a breath of Dan Qi onto it and then put all his effort into activating this treasure to contend with the sound of the zither.

The Yu Ding shone underwater and began to produce music.

Humans, since the beginning of Primordial times, have been in constant struggle against all kinds of demon beasts. Generations of Human Kings made it their primary duty to suppress demons, often forging Demon-slaying Swords and slaughtering large numbers of demons to carve out a living space for humans.

From the era of Nüwa and Fu Xi, down to the Three Emperors and the Five Emperors, and finally, in the time of Yu the Great, humans ultimately gained the upper hand, and demons became utterly weakened. Those Great Demons that could easily destroy heaven and earth and had lived for tens of thousands of years were all cleanly killed, leaving behind only scattered Little Demons that could no longer cause significant harm to humans. Even facing persecution from humans, they had to hide and desperately struggle to survive.

Yu the Great created the Yu Ding specifically to slay demon beasts. The interior of this ding could emit chaos enchanting sounds that could both attract the surrounding demon beasts and damage their Divine Souls. Gonggong had deciphered this part; those three Green Flood Dragons were lured, forcibly turned into his subordinates and ordered to work for him. Now he activated the Treasure Tripod to emit sound, contending with the zither music.

The sound produced by the Yu Ding was similar to a set of bells, its tone clear and resonating, a proper music of the five notes from Ancient Times.

Shi Feiyang, upon hearing the sound of the ding, felt a jolt in his spirit as his zither music was unexpectedly led astray, the melody twisted and deformed and the Water Snakes leaping about in the lake disintegrated and scattered.

He had assumed that Gonggong would release the Ancient demon souls within the treasure ding, all set to subdue demons with the Cave Spirit Zither, but unexpectedly, before even seeing the demon souls, it was this piece of music that caused his zither music to go off-key.

Shi Feiyang quickly concentrated his will and plucked the zither strings to counterattack, intending to bring the opponent's melody into his own rhythm.

He played the zither from above, with a continuous "ding-ding" sound while the Yu Ding underwater resonated, producing the same zither sound. However, his face showed no joy, for he found he could not lead the Yu Ding as he did the Earth Cold Bell on Wuding Island. Although there was response here, and an echo there, the Yu Ding still emitted sound, yet at the same time, its own melody did not falter and continued releasing without interruption.

Originally, according to Huaxia tradition, the most commonly used objects to suppress were tripods. Not to mention suppressing demons, they were also used to anchor the fate of nations. Yu the Great cast the Nine Tripods to suppress the fate of the Nine States. Its unshakable nature was unparalleled, and it was not until later generations abandoned the tripod for towers that they ceased to apply this.

The Yu King's Treasure Tripod could not be moved by ordinary means. This was still where Gonggong could not completely penetrate its mysteries, otherwise, if he cast a spell to counterattack, it would have a Divine Effect.

Shi Feiyang found that the zither music could not suppress the Yu Ding, so instead of plucking the strings with his hands, he expelled a breath of True Yuan onto the zither, causing it to flash with five-colored lights and fly up, suspending in mid-air. The body of the zither disappeared, leaving only twelve zither strings, one end connected to the Heavenly Stars and the other to the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, wrapped in a cluster of five-colored brilliance.

Shi Feiyang formed hand seals with both hands, closed his eyes, and immersed his mind, using his heartstrings to touch the zither strings, uniting man, zither, and heaven into one.

Now, transitioning from the "human sound" realm into the "Earth Sound" domain, when he played again, it was no longer the sound of zither strings but the sounds of nature - thunder rolling, fierce wind howling, great rivers rushing, and forests rustling... Many natural sounds came together to form the piece "Forbidden Garden," majestic and atmospheric, creating layer upon layer of invisible mountains that smashed down with the changes of the melody.

The sound from the Yu Ding also added these natural sounds into its music. Gonggong was hit again, feeling invisible mountains repeatedly hammering against his body and heart, crushing his body into mincemeat and his Primordial Spirit into pieces.

He had insufficient comprehension of the Yu Ding, and as the conveyed sound of the zither continued its attack, he barely held on for a short while longer until he could no longer persevere, and blood began to flow from his eyes, ears, mouth, nose—all seven orifices.

The control that Shen Gu over the Yu Ding weakened, while Shi Feiyang's zither music grew ever more powerful, resonating more and more fiercely with the Yu Ding.

Shi Feiyang's method of understanding and refining the Cave Spirit Zither was derived from Emperor Huang's Golden Talisman and the array of heavenly stars. The Three Emperors and Five Sovereigns were inherently connected through lineage, and the Yu Ding swiftly became a part of the natural sound.

The Yu Ding was specially refined by Yu the Great to counter various Demon Beasts; its inner walls were cast with the patterns of heavenly stars, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, as well as mountains, forests, and marshes, while the outer surface was adorned with various demons and spirits, dragons, snakes, leopards, and creatures of both mountain and water.

At this moment, the stars within the Ding resonated with the zither music, each beginning to shine brightly and flicker, revolving in accordance with the Circulation. This even birthed torrential downpours and furious flashes of thunder.

The dragons and water monsters on the outside also radiated light, as if they were coming to life. These were the Primordial Demon Beasts that Yu the Great had once slain. Their Primordial Spirits were imprisoned within the Treasure Tripod, slumbering for thousands of years, now awakened once again. Their eyes shone bright, mouths opening and closing, scales and claws flashing, all releasing the imposing aura of vicious beasts from times long past.

As a being from the Primordial Species, Shen Gu was especially sensitive to this kind of fierce might. The earlier zither music made it difficult for him to endure, and now the Yu Ding unfolded layers of oppressive might, making him even more apprehensive.

Shi Feiyang had not anticipated beforehand the connection between the Cave Spirit Zither and the Yu Ding. Immersed in concentration, he felt, through the fluctuations of the music, the core essence of the Yu Ding. In his mind appeared the image of the Yu Ding, with scenes of pouring rain within and thunder and lightning roaring, surrounded by mountains, rivers, great marshes, and a panorama of sun, moon, and stars from the times of Ancient Primordial Chaos.

In this moment, the control of the Ding had been wrested away, although he couldn't yet manipulate it through empty space. He hesitated briefly, then struck the zither strings, and instantly a channel of water split open on the lake's surface. He leapt into it.

He went straight to the bottom of the lake, to the Yu Ding, which was only about two feet tall with four legs and two handles, made of a material that was neither gold nor jade, currently emitting a faint light. The light it cast was not particularly strong or dazzling; rather, it enveloped the Ding like a misty glow, ethereal and undulating.

Shi Feiyang saw a Golden Talisman on top of the Ding, left by Yu the Great to suppress it, which belonged to the same line as Emperor Huang's three hundred and sixty Golden Seal.

He reached out his hand, attempting to suction the Ding from afar. However, it didn't budge, so he examined the Yu Golden Talisman, and after a short while, grasped its meaning. He then extended his hand, channeled his Mysterious Skill, and with his finger, drew five of Emperor Huang's Heavenly Talismans, then exhaled True Yuan to slap the five Heavenly Talismans into the Yu Golden Talisman.

The Yu Golden Talisman, originally carved on a golden plate and hovering above the Ding cover, now absorbed the Heavenly Talismans, immediately retracting its radiance and plummeting downward.

Shi Feiyang once again cast a spell, taking both the Golden Talisman and Yu Ding into his hands.

Shen Gu had already turned red-eyed with anger, but since he was suppressed by the Yu Ding, he could not fly out and fight to the death. When Shi Feiyang came down, Shen Gu was lying in wait in the depths of the Stone Prison. Seeing that the Yu Ding had been removed, he immediately let out a furious roar. Underwater, he generated twenty-eight concealed whirlpools, trapping Shi Feiyang in the center, and began to whirl and grind toward the center with crushing pressure.

Shi Feiyang had anticipated this and casually strummed the Cave Spirit Zither; the sound waves burst forth, and the twenty-eight water columns immediately collapsed and disintegrated.

Not wanting to harm the innocent, when he had played the zither before, he had already driven all the creatures of the Water Clan—fish, turtles, shrimps, crabs, and the like—from the lake to the rivers upstream and downstream. Now, the lake held only him and Shen Gu. Shen Gu, seeing the collapse of the water columns, still refused to accept defeat and, from his mouth, spat out his Lifebound Primordial Pill. It was a green gem, brilliant and clear as a bright star, accompanied by a cloud of rainbow colors as it flew out.

He expelled his inner core not to attack Shi Feiyang but to control the waters of the lake.

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