Chapter 108: Bronze Skeleton Brands Heavenly Secrets
Raindrops of Chaos Qi slammed into the bronze floor tiles, creating star-map-like cracks.
As Lu Qingyang wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth, his fingertip touched the dark green viscous liquid oozing from a secret compartment in the wine cabinet.
The golden sand floating in this liquid was exactly the same color as the East Sea Merman's Tears from three days ago.
He suddenly remembered the prophecy of the Loose Cultivator Alliance Leader before he died: "The waters of Gui Xu reflect Karma."
"If Little Lord's hand reaches three more inches, it will feed the Candle Dragon Snake."
The proprietress's double pupils rippled with an amber hue, and the sound of scales scraping bronze came from under the counter.
The twelve bone bells hanging from her waist suddenly began to move without wind, and the tones produced by their clappers resonated with the Mysterious Grey Robed Man's bone flute.
The beams and pillars of the entire tavern began to show blood-colored meridians.
The Dragon Claw that Ao Lie unleashed with a roar was entangled by the blood threads bursting from Su Meiniang's ring, and the bronze wall behind them, engraved with a spring palace array, was melting.
The intertwined human figures turned into liquid metal, flowing towards the altar, and then re-solidified at the feet of the Ancestral Witch statue into a three-zhang-tall stele—the twisting seal characters on the stele were actually pieced together from the corpses of Food-Eating Ants.
"In the Northern Darkness, there is a stele called 'Covenant'."
Yin Jiuyou's bone staff suddenly flew out of his hand, and the Kui Niu eyeball embedded in the staff's head shot out a green light.
"This is the lost 'Great Wilderness Alliance Book' of the Witch Clan!"
The stele vibrated violently with his recitation, and when the name "Ao Guang, Seventh Generation Leader of the Chijiao Guard" appeared, the bronze fragment in Ao Qin's hand suddenly became hot.
The micro-engraved city plan on the fragment was overlapping with the current space.
Lu Qingyang was gazing at the illusion when suddenly, a pale hand reached out from the mist and grabbed his ankle.
His heart jolted, and he subconsciously drew the dagger from his waist, plunging it fiercely into the hand.
The hand released him, but the mist instantly thickened, completely enveloping him.
In this Chaos, he heard a faint voice: "To unravel the mystery, you must find the other half of the compass."
As soon as the voice faded, the mist gradually dispersed, and the illusion vanished.
Lu Qingyang composed himself and continued along the passage.
Before long, a bronze door appeared ahead, covered in strange runes.
As soon as he approached, the runes glowed faintly, and the door slowly opened.
Inside the door was a vast space, with a bronze skeleton standing in the center.
In the skeleton's chest cavity, there was a faintly glowing compass, which was indeed the other half of the compass he had seen in the illusion.
Just as he was about to step forward, the skeleton suddenly moved, letting out a low roar, and a fierce battle seemed inevitable.
"Ding—"
The Drunken Old Man of the South Sea's snake fangs struck from behind, grazing his ear and embedding themselves in a bronze blood vessel.
The punctured blood vessel sprayed purple poisonous mist, but what appeared in the mist was the scene of Su Meiniang wiping her ring in the secret room of Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion.
The character "Ao" engraved on the inside of the ring was clearly visible, creating a subtle resonance with the blood threads currently wrapped around Ao Lie's Dragon horns.
The Mysterious Grey Robed Man suddenly appeared at the end of the passage.
The incomplete compass and the fragment in Lu Qingyang's embrace combined to form a complete Magical Artifact.
In the armillary sphere projection that floated in the center of the compass, the twelve Ancestral Witch statues were decomposing and reassembling, eventually transforming into bronze statues identical in appearance to everyone present.
"Mortal World casts bones, Karma fuels the fire."
The Mysterious Grey Robed Man threw back his hood, revealing a face identical to the green-robed Cultivator in Lu Qingyang's illusion.
"It's time to pay your debts, Lu Tianji."
Lu Qingyang's heart tightened; although he didn't know who Lu Tianji was, the situation was critical.
The moment the Mysterious Grey Robed Man's words fell, the bronze skeleton lunged at him, kicking up a gust of wind.
Lu Qingyang dodged to the side, simultaneously drawing his longsword and striking at the skeleton's joints.
With a "clang," sparks flew, but the longsword only left a shallow mark on the skeleton.
At this moment, Ao Lie broke free from Su Meiniang's blood threads and roared as he charged at the Mysterious Grey Robed Man.
Yin Jiuyou also wielded his bone staff, releasing streams of black light to attack the bronze statues.
The Drunken Old Man of the South Sea, meanwhile, lurked to the side, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
A cold smile played on the Mysterious Grey Robed Man's lips as he formed hand seals.
The armillary sphere projection on the compass shone brightly, and the twelve bronze statues all began to move, surrounding everyone.
A fierce battle erupted, with shouts of killing and the clash of Spells intertwining, causing the entire space to tremble.
Lu Qingyang knew that to unravel all these mysteries, he first had to Breakthrough the current predicament.
He gritted his teeth and charged at the bronze skeleton again, ready to give it his all…
The entire bronze city echoed with deafening mechanical sounds, and from the four gates of east, west, south, and north, no longer emerged mere phantoms, but the solidified souls of past powerful individuals.
The Datura flowers in the flower girl's basket grew wildly, wrapping around Yin Jiuyou's bone staff.
From the flower stamens came the roar of the Stargazing Tower Master from sixty years ago when he calculated Gui Xu: "Four Symbols hold their positions, stars are in disarray!"
The souls of past powerful individuals surged like a tide, instantly plunging everyone into despair.
Lu Qingyang was attacked by the bronze skeleton and a group of souls, his pressure doubling; each swing of his sword felt like it drained all his strength.
Ao Lie was entangled by several bronze statues; his Dragon Claws were fierce, but the bronze statues were incredibly tough.
Yin Jiuyou's bone staff was wrapped in Datura flowers, severely limiting his ability to cast Spells.
Just as everyone was struggling to hold on, the flower girl suddenly spoke: "To break the situation, you must sacrifice blood to the compass!"
Everyone was stunned, but at this point, there was no better solution.
Lu Qingyang gritted his teeth, cut his palm, and dripped his fresh blood onto the compass.
The compass glowed intensely, and the twelve bronze statues began to tremble, while the souls of past powerful individuals also fell into disarray.
The Mysterious Grey Robed Man's expression changed, and he hastily increased his magical power to control them, but the compass's power gradually suppressed him.
After a violent flash of light, the bronze statues shattered one after another, and the souls of the powerful individuals gradually dissipated.
Everyone gasped for breath, looking at everything before them.
The Mysterious Grey Robed Man tried to escape in the Chaos but was blocked by Lu Qingyang's sword.
"Now, it's time for a proper reckoning," Lu Qingyang said coldly, and a new confrontation was about to begin.