Though initially panicked, Xiang Zhili immediately remembered something and regained his calm, “Impossible! With the suppression of the two Divine Spirit Treasures, n.o.body could break free from the Nine-truths Devil Suppression Formation. If Senior had escaped, you would’ve already left the mountain through the opening in the seal. You must’ve had forcibly freed a thread of your spiritual sense to scare me away.”
“You know of the Nine-truths Devil Suppression Formation and the Divine Spirit Treasures? Could it be you are a descendant of the Three Masters of Kunwu Mountain?” Although the woman’s voice was still pleasant to the ear, it now held a cold tone.
“In truth I am not, but there are a few people in this world that also know of this matter. I just happen to be one of them.” As Xiang Zhili spoke, he scrutinized his surroundings with great care.
The woman’s voice snorted, “You won’t find anything. My true body has still yet to be freed, and I won’t let you ruin my chances. How about you obediently stay here for a few months?” With that said, the air above the stone pavilion began to warp and a white vortex appeared, covering the small old man in rainbow light.
“Phantasmic Air!” Xiang Zhili’s expression greatly changed, and silver light s.h.i.+ned from his body as he flew out in a streak.
However, the rainbow vortex revolved around him and a huge attractive force firmly held him in place.
Soon, it swept him away and he had completely disappeared as if he was never there to begin with.
“It seems I’ll have to sleep for a moment more. I hope those cultivators will hurry so I can be truly free when I awaken. Those Three Masters of Kunwu will know the cost of sealing me! When the day comes... hehe...” The woman muttered with a weak voice before letting out a wild fit of sweet laughter.
Seven days later, the Ye Clan cultivators managed to break through the Myriad Cultivator Gate, but they fell into a profound illusion formation. As for Han Li’s party, they were blocked by some strange restriction and were forced to deliberate on a method to destroy it. The outside of the seal, however, was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with activity.
Around a thousand cultivators had gathered, covering an area of tens of kilometers. There were even a dozen Nascent Soul eccentrics present.
The most eye-catching of them all were the four Sacred Poison Sect Elders. All of the other Nascent Soul cultivators were lone actors, having been drawn here by rumors.
A blue-robed disciple with a red head scarf was making a report to the elders of the Sacred Poison Sect.
The disciple respectfully said, “Grand Elder, we’ve already examined most of the seal and have a general understanding of it. In an area a dozen kilometers underground, we have detected something hidden beneath an illusion formation. Our disciples skilled in these matters are attempting to dispel it with due haste. Although it was a rapidly placed formation, the creator was extremely skilled so it will take some time.”
The middle-aged man with green marks on his face let out a long sigh, “At least it is good that we have an outline of the situation. Since we’ve already been here for a few days, it would’ve been troublesome if we couldn"t find the opening. However, you have best be on guard. Don’t let others discover your actions. Head back and return to us when the formation is dissolved.”
“Yes, Grand Elder!” The disciple shouted with a bow. Then, he took out an earth movement talisman and sank into the ground.
One of the other Sacred Poison Sect Elders said, “Senior Martial Brother Hua, there are no late-Nascent Soul cultivators in Nanjiang. Even if the other sects were to rush here, we have nothing to fear from them.”
Grand Elder Hua gloomily replied, “That may be currently true, but every day we wait, the more high-grade cultivators arrive. There are many sects here that rival our power and if they all hurry to arrive, there will certainly be trouble. Besides, the ten great sects of the Righteous and Devilish Dao will involve themselves in time.”
When the other elders heard this, they either appeared worried or believed the problem to be overstated.
However, Elder Hua let out a yelp as he turned his attention to the sky.
The others soon mimicked him.
A grey cloud loomed over the horizon and was heading in their direction with frightening speed.
When the four elders of the Sacred Poison Sect sensed that fearsome spiritual pressure, their faces all dropped.
In the blink of an eye, it arrived over the small lake before disappearing in a violent rupture. From the ashes, five white silhouettes appeared, each of them unmoving and indistinct.
“The Unbreakable Cinque Devils!” Elder Hua’s expression froze.
“The incarnations of the Yin Sifting Sect’s Old Devil Qian?” One of the other sect elders shouted out with a pale complexion.
Elder Hua let out a snort and softly said, “Apart from that old devil, who else cultivates such a devilish art. His true body can possess any of the five incarnations. Apart from killing all five, he is practically immortal.”
“I was wondering who had such understanding of my techniques. So it was the Sacred Poison Sect’s Fellow Daoist Hua. I didn’t expect that your sect would act with such vigor in coming here. Could it be that you know something about what is sealed?” A mysterious voice slowly sounded out from the sky. It was erratic as if each word came from different locations.
Cultivator Hua deeply sighed and forced a laugh. “Brother Qian must be joking. How could we know of such a thing? It is only that our sect was closer so I went ahead to take a look. Nevertheless, may I ask why the esteemed grand elder of the Yin Sifting Sect is here?”
Grand Elder Qian let out a mysterious laugh and said, “Oh, I recall that the closest sect to the location was the Immortal Form Sect! Did yours move? As for me, I was in Nanjiang on business and only happened to come across all of this.”
Elder Hua dryly laughed and asked, “It can’t be easy for someone as famous as Brother Qian to leave his sect. May I ask what stirred you into personally taking action?”
“Just dealing with a few traitors that had fled here, nothing important. I was simply handling the matter quietly.”
“Is that so? It seems I was being too suspicious.”
After that, the two spoke no further. For a time, the air became stagnant.
“I found it! There is an opening to the north. We can enter through there. The Sacred Poison Sect is breaking the entrance as we speak!”
A figure emerged from the side of the lake and shouted as it flew into the distance.
The voice startled all of the nearby cultivators.
Almost immediately, several blue-robed disciples were chasing after the cultivator with alarmed fury. However, he used an exceptional movement technique and was able to escape at great speed.
The Sacred Poison Sect Elder’s expressions all became wretched.
Old Devil Qian bellowed with laughter, “So it was like that! I do hold some understanding of spell formations, and can provide you with some a.s.sistance. I’ll be heading down first.” Soon after, his cinque devils flew downward below the lake and disappeared without a trace.
“Let’s go, Old Devil Qian is ruthless. We can’t allow him to harm our disciples.”
With an ashen complexion, Cultivator Hua flipped his hand and summoned a small yellow flag.
With a tremble of his wrist, a yellow cloud covered the nearby Sacred Poison Sect members and brought them all underground in an instant.
Others in the area also began to move and burrow underground as well. In the blink of an eye, nearly half of the them all followed. As for those who remained, they were low-grade disciples that neither possessed earth movement techniques or earth movement treasures.
Over ten kilometers north and three kilometers deep, there was a huge pitch-black area with b.a.l.l.s of brilliant light flas.h.i.+ng about. Below them was a barrier of unfathomably thick white light. Not only that, but layers of astonis.h.i.+ng lightning surrounded it. If anybody were to approach, they would be immediately struck down without the slightest warning.
Those that were lucky could dodge it, but otherwise, they would have their protections flicker out of control, forcing them to stay away for a time.
But what these cultivators were paying attention to was an area in the barrier where lightning wasn’t present, guarded by eight Sacred Poison disciples. They all wore solemn expressions and were standing in confrontation against the others, preventing them from approaching.
Those that were blocked were shouting a torrent of insults, but none dared to take action.
After all, the Sacred Poison Sect possessed a grand reputation in Nanjiang. As most of these cultivators were native to the region, they didn’t dare to rashly stir up trouble.
Of course, there were also those that had no fear of their reputation, and such an example had appeared in a streak of crimson.
“Get lost! I am going to enter.” The person who said this was an old man who spoke with an arrogant tone.
When they saw that a Nascent Soul cultivator had appeared, one of the disciples helplessly said, “Senior, our sect found this first. Our Martial Uncles are nearby, Senior should-”
The old man coldly laughed and said, “Even if Hua Tianqi was here, I would still enter.” He then raised his hand and a blinding red light lit up from his palm.