After looking around, Marquis Nanlong spotted his small golden sword embedded halfway into the stone gate. Sending a command with his spiritual sense, the small sword flew out from the stone gate and covered itself in a meter long streak of golden light before wildly slashing at the gate.
With violent rumbles, golden light brightly shined and chunks of the stone gate were crushed while the smell of blood filled the air.
But when Marquis Nanlong and Lu Wieying clearly saw the fragments from the stone gate, their expressions had changed.
The crushed fragments of stone seemed to resemble men and they seemed to be bleeding with black-tainted blood, the source of the bloody smell. The scene was truly awful to behold.
Although the stone gate had been shattered, the two cultivators hadn’t discovered anything extraordinary. Rather, there was a dark flight of stairs that led deep into the earth.
“Let’s go! I can clearly see that the Blood Curse Gate is a mysterious treasure in of itself.” Marquis Nanlong looked at the path below and called out to Lu Weiying. He then began to walk down in large strides.
Lu Weiying stood in place for a long while. He glanced at the black-blooded remains of the Blood Curse Gate and the passage that led underground. With a tense brow, he let out a long sigh and followed after Marquis Nanlong.
To Lu Weiying’s surprise, the passageway was rather short. It went down only about sixty meters before they arrived at an underground hall. The hall was only about thirty meters in length and was completely bare apart from an offerings table at its center.
When Lu Weiying entered the hall, Marquis Nanlong was already standing at the center of the hall and was staring at the items on the table, his mind completely blank.
Lu Weiying bewilderedly walked to his side and also felt his heart become completely shaken.
“Heaven Essence Fruit! If I am correct, once one of these is eaten, it can extend one’s lifespan for a hundred years. That purple mushroom is the legendary Heavenmend Mushroom. It should be over ten thousand years old. It should have the power to progress one’s cultivation by several tens of years worth of time. That sparkling golden bamboo should be Golden Lightning Bamboo, one of the three divine woods. And this...” Lu Weiying woke up from his amazement and began to mutter without sense. He didn’t seem to believe all the items that were laid before him and he unconsciously took a few steps forward to look at them closer.
In Lu Weiying’s excitement, Marquis Nanlong coldly said, “Fellow Daoist Lu, if I were you, I wouldn’t act so rashly. Do you truly believe that the spirit medicines would just sit here ready for the taking? How about examining our surroundings?”
“Brother Nanlong, that does make sense.” Lu Weiying woke up from his excitement and glanced around him in alarm.
Lu Weiying eventually discovered a few talisman characters written on the walls and felt a wave of shock. “Yi! This seems to be the legendary Sanctuary Guardian Formation, a Buddhist spell formation. Why has it appeared here?”
Chapter 827: Minor Sanctuary Guardian Formation
Although Marquis Nanlong sounded calm, he stared at the medicine herbs with intense desire, wishing with all his heart to grab them. They were exactly what they both needed. Now that they were so close at hand, Marquis Nanlong and Lu Weiying found their excitement and greed to be nearly irrepressible.
Just as Marquis Nanlong entered the room, he immediately caught sight of the medicine herbs and immediately reached for the herbs, but he hadn’t expected for such a strange spell formation to exist there. As a result, he was repelled by a strong force and was forced to wait for Lu Weiying to catch up to him.
When he heard Lu Weiying mention the name Sanctuary Guardian Formation, Marquis Nanlong felt his spirit shake with joy. When he encountered the restriction, he sensed that it was far different from any formation he had researched in the past, much to his worry. It was quite relieving that Lu Weiying knew it was.
Marquis Nanlong forcefully stifled his excitement and asked, “Brother Lu, you know of this restriction?”
“In the past, I had acquired some cultivation records from a few Buddhist sects. Although I wasn’t able to cultivate their techniques, I did research a few of their spell formations. The Minor Sanctuary Guardian Formation was amongst the most amazing of them. Brother Nanlong, if it is truly that formation, it will be extremely troublesome.” Lu Weiying glanced at the table and began to frown.
Marquis Nanlong spoke with a tone of disbelief, “What do you mean? Could it be that the spell formation cannot be broken?”
Lu Weiying wore a solemn expression and explained, “This Minor Sanctuary Guardian Formation is an Immortal isolating formation. It is one of the few restrictions in this world that can only be broken with brute force; there are no other ways of shattering it. We will need to continuously unleash a variety of attacks against the spell formation without end. Although its defensive abilities aren’t above that of others, the spell formation is incredibly durable and will quickly restore itself unless it is completely destroyed. It is well deserving of being a Buddhist spell formation given its tenacious nature.”
As if verifying what he had just said, Lu Weiying waved his hand and shot a fireball at the table ten meters in front of him. With a bang, the fireball exploded and disappeared before it even touched it.
A layer of spiritual light condensed above the table and golden light brightly shined. Small strings of ancient talisman characters appeared on the barrier, resembling little silver flowers.
Marquis Nanlong’s expression grew sullen. Having seen this before, he didn’t appear particularly alarmed.
“Yi! What’s this?” Lu Weiying cried out in alarm. Marquis Nanlong unconsciously looked at him, seeing that he was currently staring at a portion of the golden barrier with an expression of amazement.
In his astonishment, spiritual light flickered from Marquis Nanlong’s eyes as he attempted to see as far into the barrier as he could. Through the golden light, he could see a silver alms bowl the size of a head floating in the air.
The surface of the alms bowl had various profound talisman characters drifting on top of it. Floating around the bowl were eight faint white jade talismans pointed towards it, and there were three exquisite items that were motionlessly floating above it.
Marquis Nanlong attentively focused at the sight and saw that they were a small silver sword, a jet-black Buddhist staff, and a blood-red pearl. Although the three items were only about an inch long, they emitted strands of light that intertwined together to cover the alms bowl that was floating above the table.
Marquis Nanlong was dumbstruck. The alms bowl, jade talismans, and the three magic tools had all strangely disappeared from sight above the table. Then the golden barrier surrounded by talisman characters silently disappeared.
‘What is happening? When the light barrier first appeared, those items weren’t there, but when Lu Weiying struck it, those items appeared above it?’ Marquis Nanlong’s mouth was shut tight as he saw the light barrier disappear before him, his eyes flickering with bewilderment.
Lu Weiying didn’t have this doubt. He simply looked at the items that had newly appeared and pondered for a moment. ‘It is clear to see that the spirit medicines only served as a backdrop to the other items in the formation. What treasures could prove even more valuable than these heaven-defying medicine herbs?’
Although this was only conjecture, Lu Weiying felt his heart pound. His original misgivings and worries about the Blood Curse Gate were now tossed to the back of his mind.
“Brother Lu, it seems we’ve come to the right place. If we are able to break the Buddhist spell formation, our journey will not be in vain.” Marquis Nanlong came to the same conclusion as Lu Weiying and smiled at him.
Lu Weiying wore a faint smile and said, “That’s right. I didn’t think that there would be so many secret treasures hidden behind the Blood Curse Gate. However, dissolving the restriction isn’t an easy matter. It won’t be possible unless we s
pend a large chunk of time and sacrifice our strength.”
“Hehe! Not to mention sacrificing my strength, but I’d be willing to sacrifice ten years of my lifespan in order to acquire those treasures. You said that only brute strength can dissolve the formation? It seems we’re going to be quite busy. There is no time to lose. Let’s start immediately.” Marquis Nanlong then looked at Lu Weiying and openly said, “And when we break the formation, shall we split the treasures evenly?”
“Of course. Let’s do as you say.” Lu Weiying also wished to acquire the treasure and replied promptly, much to Marquis Nanlong’s satisfaction.
At that moment, the two increased the distance between them and developed a sense of vigilance against each other.
Afterwards, Lu Weiying took out a white flag and flung it into the air before taking a seat with his hands held in an incantation gesture. Marquis Nanlong waved his sleeve and flung a golden sword into the air.
Suddenly, both a gale and sword Qi were summoned. As they approached the table, the golden light barrier made another appearance and explosions began to continuously sound out deep underground.
...
Near the top of a mountain, a streak of azure light was flying through the sky. It was Han Li who was hurrying on his way.
He had already passed through the mountain with the Purple-lined Scorpions and was about to enter the cave to head back to the outer valley. Because Han Li had traveled along this path before, the journey went smoothly and quickly. What took a day’s travel before would now only take him a third of the time.
Just as he was two hours from the cave, he suddenly heard a chain of explosions in the distance.
His expression stirred and he paused to take a look at the source in the distance. He quickly spread out his spiritual sense and sensed strange spiritual Qi fluctuations.
Han Li unconsciously narrowed his eyes and saw that there were faint flashes of white light coming from a mountain in the distance. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was an area that he suspected to have restrictions. It was possibly an area that contained treasures from ancient cultivators. It appeared other cultivators also entered the valley depths in search for treasure.
Just as Han Li pondered this, he shook his head. He was momentarily tempted to take advantage of the chaos for his own gain, but he soon stifled the idea. Since he was afraid of catching the attention of others, he only quickly swept his spiritual sense past them and didn’t take a closer look at the treasure hunters.
As of current, Han Li felt that it was better to avoid any troubles that could come his way. That in mind, he tore through the skies and soon disappeared.
Tens of kilometers away in the direction that Han Li had looked, there were a group of a dozen cultivators that were furiously striking at a white barrier covering a small mountain. Those leading them was the Moulan Divine Sage Zhong and the woman surnamed Le. The group of cultivators were all Moulan spell warriors.
Just as Han Li flew off, Divine Sage Zhong’s brow stirred and he unconsciously glanced in Han Li’s direction.
Spell Warrior Le noticed the scholarly man’s glance and asked, “What? Has Brother Zhong discovered something amiss?”
The scholarly man indifferently replied, “It’s nothing. I just felt a Heavenly South cultivator sweep their spiritual sense past this direction. However, it seems they don't wish to interfere and they flew away after finding us. Since we’re so close to breaking the restriction, let’s not delve too deeply into the matter.”
Spell Warrior Le sighed and helplessly said, “Brother Zhong makes sense. We have reached the crucial moment for breaking the restriction. I hope it isn’t like the other restriction we broke where there were no treasures to be found, not to mention the two men that we lost to spatial tears”
When Divine Sage Zhong heard this, his face grew sullen. “There is nothing that we can do about that. There is no way we can guard against those invisible spatial tears. The low-grade spirit birds we prepared had all gone made once we entered the valley and they were completely uncontrollable. If we were able to have them scout ahead for us, we wouldn’t have lost two men.”
Spell Warrior Le pensively said, “Those spirit birds didn’t seem to go mad, but were overwhelmed by their fear of the inner valley. Could there be something here that is specialized in restraining demon beasts? The Blackwing Hawk I borrowed is a grade five spirit beast but even it wasn’t able to hear my orders once we entered the valley. It is even unwilling to leave the spirit beast pouch. There is something truly odd about this Devilfall Valley.”
A cold glint appeared in the scholarly man’s eyes and he gloomily said, “Perhaps. It is known as the most dangerous place in the Heavenly South. Naturally, there will be something strange about this place. However, we didn’t come here to unravel the valley’s secrets but to search for ancient treasures and medicines on behalf of the Moulan. As such, we must continue even if we can’t use spirit birds. We had to make a trade with the four superpowers of the Heavenly South in order to come by this golden opportunity. We can’t waste it now.”
Chapter 828: Joining Together
As Divine Sage Zhong and Cultivator Lu were having their discussion, Han Li had already flown over fifty kilometers away. Nothing else occurred on his way and he arrived at the cave after another hour of flight.
When he arrived, he took out the Yin Yang Ring once more and entered the passageway with the treasure’s protection. He quickly passed through the passage and quickened his steps when he saw the light of the cave’s exit.
Soon, his surroundings brightened and he found himself back in front of a cliff leading to the outer valley.
Han Li raised his head to look at the dusky sky. Although it still gave him a feeling of unease, it was far better than the crimson light that covered the sky in the valley depths.
After sweeping his spiritual sense over the nearby area and discovering there were no cultivators or any other oddities, Han Li sighed with relief and turned his gaze to the wall around the cave entrance.
With a wave of his hand, an azure spell seal flew out and entered the stone wall without a trace. Soon after, Han Li silently formed another hand gesture as he began to slowly mutter an incantation while a strange scene followed.
The unremarkable stone wall suddenly began to glow with a layer of blue light before a swarm of Gold Devouring Beetles flocked out from the wall, each of them carrying various-sized pieces of silver crystal. A few pieces were as large as a fist while others were as small as a grain of sand. In the blink of an eye, the pieces of silver crystal delivered by the beetles had formed a pile in front of Han Li. They were the crystalized Tailstar Silver ore.
When the first pieces appeared, Han Li’s expression was calm, but excitement began to show when tens of these crystals dropped down.
“Youngster Han! The Tailstar Silver ore vein is far bigger than I imagined. It seems I will be able to research using this material in creating puppets.” Suddenly, the Monarch of Soul Divergence’s voice appeared in Han Li’s mind. He couldn’t help but betray his delight from his voice.
After the Gold Devouring Beetles had deposited the last of the Tailstar Silver crystal, Han Li looked at the small pile of shimmering silver and smiled. “That’s right. I also didn’t think the Tailstar Silver ore vein would contain this much. We’ve gathered quite the harvest!”
Han Li swung his sleeve over the ground and swept up the silver crystals into his storage pouch in an instant. Afterwards, he sharply whistled and the Gold Devouring Beetles revolved around him before rushing back into their storage pouch.
Once this was done, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and a translucent ball appeared in his palm. He then blew a mist of azure light onto the pearl and a bean-sized speck of light appeared within the ball.
Han Li stared at the pearl in his hand for a long while and slightly frowned before looking around him. After getting his bearings, his body glowed with azure light and he streaked through the sky.
Han Li wasn’t flying in a hurry and as he flew with the transparent ball in his hand, he would occasionally stop to look at it before adjusting his course and continuing on his way.
After flying for tens of kilometers, he arrived above a wilderness and yelped with surprise before coming to a sudden stop. His body blurred and he quickly descended. By the time he was a hundred meters above the wilderness, Han Li stopped and light flashed from his eyes.
He saw a male cultivator’s corpse split in half lying in the wilderness and the surroundings had already been stained dark red with the hardened blood. As for the cultivator’s magic treasure and storage pouch, they were nowhere to be seen.
Han Li glanced at the corpse for a moment and sighed, “It seems someone had attacked him.” After verifying that there were no spatial tears nearby, he knew there was only one possible conclusion.
Han Li didn’t linger there for long and quickly continued on his way. Although he believed that there were few things in the valley that posed a threat to him apart from the two late Nascent Soul cultivators, it would still prove dangerous if a group of cultivators were to surround and ambush him.
While this wasn’t likely, Han Li traveled with heightened wariness regardless. After half a day had passed, Han Li still hadn’t found any signs of an ambush. Rather, he came across two cultivators who had perished as a result of spatial tears. Han Li shook his head at the sight of their broken bodies.
Following the guidance of the transparent ball in his hand, he eventually arrived above a dense and verdant forest.
Han Li muttered to himself for a moment before gripping the transparent ball in his hand and exerting strength into it. In a flash of azure light, it shattered with a clear ring.
When the ball shattered into fragments, the speck of azure light that floated inside of it was freed. The speck of light floated in front of Han Li while waiting for further instruction. The bean-sized speck of light flickered before shooting off as soon as he pointed at it while he closely followed after it.
A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality c1-2248 Page 446