"It can run but cannot walk, has a mouth but cannot talk."
Jade pondered the riddle, catching a glimpse of the flowing water outside the window before it suddenly clicked. "It's a river! A river runs without stopping, and it leads straight to its mouth at the sea."
Jackie's heart skipped a beat at her words. He quickly pulled out a map to cross-reference. Sure enough, there was an ancient shrine located near the river's mouth.
No further discussion was needed; they set off immediately. But a split second before they stepped out the door, a sudden anomaly occurred. With a flash of light, one Jade turned into two.
"A physical, existing body. Interesting."
Zenith studied her carefully for a moment. He had originally thought the cloning spell was a skill similar to [Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu], but it seemed that wasn't the case.
The clone wasn't just a tangible, living being; it also possessed its own independent consciousness.
Whether living or non-living, anything could be directly duplicated. This was absolutely incredible. It was high-end tech! As long as the spell wasn't lifted and the item's self-replication timer was properly controlled, wouldn't that mean infinite material generation?
Excellent, another new research topic. Zenith remotely synced the data to Serie using the Nail World, then took Jade and Jackie in a car, rushing toward the shrine.
Jade was still self-replicating.
Judging by the current rate, Jade—including her clones—would duplicate once every hour.
These liberal arts students, completely insensitive to mathematics, were oblivious. But upon hearing Zenith's description, Serie immediately grasped the critical issue. "Dispel Jade's cloning spell first. Otherwise, at this rate, by this time tomorrow, we'll have over ten million Jades."
This was a textbook exponential increase. Given enough time, if the cloning magic kept running, it could probably destroy the entire universe.
Chi magic was a fascinating thing; an incantation transmitted over the phone could actually take effect. Hearing Serie chant "Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao" for the first time, Zenith didn't hesitate for a second and immediately hit the record button.
From an occult perspective, a recording lacked a definitive source of origin, so it held no magical efficacy.
*This could absolutely serve as my special fetish collection. I've successfully acquired Serie's limited-edition voice line!*
Jackie breathed a sigh of relief. He truly couldn't imagine a scenario tomorrow where he'd look out and see mountains and plains completely covered in Jades. Magic was far too dangerous; as expected, professional matters were best left to the professionals.
Ratso, driving Optimus Prime, had also followed them. In this era, being able to track someone globally required more than just hackers; you needed your own satellite.
The Dark Hand syndicate, built by generations of Valmont's family, still had some substance to it. Although it was gradually withering away in this generation, even a starved camel was bigger than a horse.
"Thanks for leading the way, Jackie."
Valmont's eyes were bloodshot. Shendu's soul was entrenched within his body, unable to escape after being jointly sealed by the other seven Demon Sorcerers.
The Pan'ku Box was in Chow's hands. Without him making a single move, the box levitated out of thin air amidst a glow of green light and slotted itself right into a phantom keyhole.
Back when he watched the cartoon, Zenith always felt that the design of the Pan'ku Box was absolute dogshit.
As the core seal for the demons, it was bad enough that it came with a built-in map to every prisoner's cell exit. But it actually had an auto-unlock feature when brought near the cell!
Come on, your design standard is supposed to be a shackle, not a smart home device!
Complaining was useless now. Zenith could only assume this thing was designed specifically so the doors could be opened one more time.
Every demon corresponded to a door, and a door could only be opened once, allowing for a single entry and exit. The Pan'ku Box being designed this way might actually be to burn the demons' one and only chance at a prison break.
The Mountain Demon, Po Kong!
This massive green brute not only corresponded to the Ken trigram representing the mountain in the Bagua, but her very physique resembled a small green mountain.
She was a glutton; eating was her sole desire, and everything she devoured became a part of her strength.
The Netherworld eroded a demon's power. To replenish it, the best method for Po Kong was to eat.
"Shendu, where is my gift?"
Without his physical body, Shendu was automatically demoted to the bottom of the pecking order among the Eight Demon Sorcerers. He pointed at Jackie without hesitation. "Look, this is your gift. A delicious human."
Po Kong gulped ravenously, a monstrous stench billowing from her rotting, yellow-and-black mouth. "So hungry. I'll eat a human as a pre-dinner snack."
The difference in size and tonnage was far too great. Without the Talismans, Jackie had no choice but to run for his life. Seeing Jackie about to fall into enemy hands while Zenith showed no intention of making a move, Optimus Prime couldn't hold back anymore.
"Autobots, transform!"
Ratso stared at the flat-nose truck he had been driving the entire way, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Boss, I like this one!"
Optimus Prime didn't waste any words. The moment his transformation finished, he blasted Po Kong directly with his ion blaster.
Unfortunately, it didn't have much effect. Po Kong's defense was one of the best among all the demons; only the Earth Demon, Dai Gui, could rival her in that regard.
This was skin that not even the Dragon Talisman's explosive blasts could pierce!
Optimus Prime seemed to ignore his ineffective attacks, firing high-heat plasma at Po Kong as if it cost him nothing. He needed to draw the big girl's attention to buy Jackie and the others time to evacuate.
To Po Kong, this behavior was just incredibly annoying. It was like having a few flies buzzing around while trying to eat.
The lack of attack power to break her defense was one thing, but on the other hand, Optimus Prime simply didn't look appetizing.
Clearly, a demon's digestive system preferred meat over a hunk of metal.
"Autobots, assemble! Aerialbots, combine to form Superion!"
Optimus Prime hadn't been doing nothing while wandering outside these past few days. Using the Rat Talisman in his fuel tank, Optimus had successfully built himself a crew of Autobots, which included the combinable Aerialbots.
No man could ever reject a super-massive combining robot, and Zenith was no exception.
"Holy crap, this is too cool. Optimus Prime really knows how to pull off big things in secret."
As everyone knows, all combinations result in an effect greater than the sum of their parts. Superion, formed by the combination of five Transformers, could kick Optimus Prime around like a ball, and its combat power was more than enough to go toe-to-toe with a weakened Po Kong.
The rest could be left to Uncle. He had already figured out the method to reseal Po Kong: using the token of the immortal who originally sealed the demon.
Po Kong's corresponding item was a drum.
These immortals were truly ruthless. On one hand, they claimed the demons could escape using the Pan'ku Box, but on the other, they left a backdoor wide open to reseal them.
It didn't require any overwhelming strength, nor did it use priceless artifacts. The tokens of the Eight Immortals were all the most common everyday items.
Armed with these daily necessities and a simple magic potion, literally anyone could beat these ferocious demons back to the Netherworld, damning them for all eternity.
With three beats of the drum, Po Kong was sucked back into the Netherworld through the door, while Shendu and his crew scurried away with the Pan'ku Box in disgrace.
Zenith gave Optimus Prime a thumbs-up. The ultimate frontline tank, plus a top-tier support, creating opportunities and buying time for their main attacker. A teammate like this was truly hard to come by!