The star map on the dome of the underground palace twisted and deformed under the pressure of the Dao Seed, and the starlight of the Twenty-Eight Mansions solidified and wrapped around Lu Qingyang. The cracks on the surface of his Nascent Soul had spread to his chest, and wherever the grey mist passed, the bronze floor tiles actually shed their rust and revealed ancient runes again—this was the "Nine Netherworld Underworld Array" sealed here by a powerful being a hundred years ago, now accidentally activated.
“Dao Seed Return to the Ruins!” With a furious roar from the Mysterious Grey Robed Man, his Lifebound Purple Mansion of the Undergoing Tribulation Stage suddenly exploded, and three-inch long cracks spread like a spiderweb. The endless lightning plasma contained within the Purple Mansion gushed out like a bursting flood, quickly solidifying into thick chains in the Void Realm.
These chains shimmered with purple lightning, carrying the might to destroy heaven and earth, and should have been able to easily shackle the entire Yellow Springs River. However, just as the chains were about to close, the woman in the crystal coffin suddenly opened her eyes.
Her eyes were like the deep starry sky, cold and ruthless. The moment her gaze met the chains, the seemingly unbreakable chains instantly disintegrated and vanished without a trace, like smoke blown away by a hurricane.
At the same time, the jade hairpin in the woman's hair suddenly burst forth with a dazzling green light. This green light, like the first ray of dawn, pierced through the darkness and illuminated the entire Void Realm. Within the green light, a blurry figure could be vaguely seen, which seemed to be the phantom of the torrential rain from the Insect Master Valley.
Su Meiniang suddenly tore open her sleeve, and her Lifebound Essence Blood from the Nascent Soul Middle Stage drew the "Crimson Flood Dragon Spirit-Anointing Map" in the Void Realm. This was a forbidden art she created after stealing the Dragon Clan's secret scripture. Nine hundred and ninety-nine strands of blood entangled Ao Lie's Crimson Flood Dragon Dharma Idol, actually tearing out three inches of his Soul Transformation Stage Dragon Soul. As the Dragon's roar shattered three bronze corpses, Yin Jiuyou's bone staff had pierced three inches into the crystal coffin, and the black magic spewed from the skull on the staff's head transformed into nine blood pythons.
“Profound Nether Mirror, collect!” With a soft shout from Lu Qingyang, the sword incantation he was performing flowed like water. The Lifebound Treasure, which had been quietly suspended before him, suddenly seemed to be propelled by a powerful force and began to spin rapidly.
This Lifebound Treasure was an antique bronze mirror, its surface smooth as glass, emitting a faint cold light. However, at this moment, the bronze mirror suddenly seemed to come alive, slowly turning over.
When the bronze mirror was completely reversed, the mirror surface, which should have reflected malevolent spirits, now presented a completely different scene. In the mirror, there were no longer terrifying malevolent spirits, but rather the "Northern 冥 Return to the Ruins Map" imprinted during the tempering of the sword in the cold pool.
This scroll had flowing lines and a suitable depth of ink, as if painted by a peerless master. The Northern 冥 Return to the Ruins in the painting had surging waves and swirling clouds, giving a mysterious and magnificent feeling.
Even more astonishing was that the taotie patterns in the painting seemed to have come alive, frantically devouring the blood pythons in the mirror. The blood pythons struggled continuously under the taotie's devouring, but they could never escape the taotie's gaping maw.
At the same time, the nine 冥 beads embedded in the mirror's edge suddenly lit up simultaneously, emitting nine streams of deep blue light. These nine lights, like nine agile small snakes, wound and swam across the mirror surface, finally converging into a huge blue light cluster.
Within this light cluster, nine blurry figures could be vaguely seen. They were either ferocious and terrifying, insidious and cunning, or cruel and violent—precisely the nine great Heart Demons that Cultivators needed to eradicate when forming a Nascent Soul.
At this thrilling moment, the woman in the crystal coffin suddenly reached out without warning and gently touched her glabella. In an instant, a mysterious light bloomed from her fingertip, dazzling and brilliant like the brightest star in the night sky.
As the light spread, a strange pattern gradually emerged—the totem of the Insect Master Valley! This totem seemed to possess life, slowly rotating on the woman's forehead, exuding an ancient and mysterious Aura.
Even more surprisingly, the golden thread drawn by the woman's fingertip actually pierced through the Void Realm, like a golden lightning bolt tearing through the darkness, flying directly towards Lu Qingyang's Nascent Soul. And the moment the golden thread touched the Dao Seed within Lu Qingyang's Nascent Soul, a strong resonance suddenly erupted!
This resonance, like a great bell, echoed throughout the entire underground palace, making people's eardrums ache. At the same time, the entire underground palace began to tremble violently, as if it was about to fall apart.
However, just as the underground palace was on the verge of collapse, the Aura emitted by the Dao Seed acted like a stabilizing needle, instantly freezing the surging lava pouring out of the spatial 裂縫. Under the influence of the Dao Seed's Aura, the lava quickly solidified into three hundred bronze pillars inscribed with ancient script. These bronze pillars, reaching from earth to sky, firmly supported the underground palace.
“So that’s how it is…” The Drunken Old Man of the South Sea looked at the scene before him, suddenly enlightened, and murmured to himself.
No sooner said than done, he suddenly crushed the wine gourd in his hand. The wine gourd instantly exploded, turning into a blazing ball of fire. This fire was no ordinary flame, but the shockwave produced by the explosion of a Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator's Lifebound Magical Artifact!
This shockwave, like a raging tide, swept in with overwhelming force, leveling everything in its path. The three bronze corpses that rushed towards the Drunken Old Man of the South Sea were like paper in the face of this terrifying shockwave, instantly crushed into a pile of dust.
However, the Drunken Old Man of the South Sea's methods were far from over. A scroll flew out from his sleeve, rapidly unfolding in the air, like a celestial river hanging upside down, majestic and imposing.
This scroll was named the "Celestial River Inverted Scroll," and it was the Drunken Old Man of the South Sea's ultimate Magic Treasure. When the scroll was fully unfolded, the phantom of the cold pool where swords were tempered actually overlapped with the Yellow Springs River. Amidst the roaring waves, the lingering images of ancient Sword Cultivators battling giant Dragons vaguely emerged.
Lu Qingyang's Xuanming Dharma Idol suddenly surged nine zhang, and the Void Realm Sword in the Dharma Idol's hand pierced into his own Nascent Soul. This was the "Dao Severing Technique" recorded in the Xuan Ming Sword Canon. Where the sword's edge passed, the outer shell of the Dao Seed peeled away, revealing its core—a bronze key inscribed with the secret patterns of the Insect Master Valley. As the key turned, the phantom of the bronze gate that appeared when he obtained the Sword Canon descended once more.
Ao Lie seized the opportunity to spit out his Lifebound Dragon Pearl. The Soul Transformation Stage Crimson Flood Dragon's essence, enveloped in scorching flames, lunged towards the Dao Seed. The scene of stealing the scale appeared in the flames; that crimson flood dragon's inverse scale had actually been peeled from the woman in the crystal coffin. The Dao Seed suddenly burst forth with grey light, and the flames were compressed into a tiny, rice-sized crimson-gold bead, which felt incredibly heavy when it landed in Lu Qingyang's hand.
“Again!” The woman spoke for the first time, her voice shattering seven bronze pillars. The jade hairpin in her hair transformed into a blue phoenix and shot towards the star map. The starlight of the Twenty-Eight Mansions solidified into chains, binding Lu Qingyang's four limbs. His Nascent Soul Stage Protective Aura automatically activated the "Xuanming Dharma Robe," but the Return to the Ruins vortex on the robe began to spin in reverse—a sign that the Dao Seed was about to lose control.
Yin Jiuyou suddenly bit his tongue, and his Body Integration Stage Lifebound Essence Blood drew the "Nine Netherworld Heaven Sacrifice Map" in the Void Realm. In the painting, a malevolent spirit tore open its chest, and the heart it pulled out transformed into a rain of blood that fell upon the Dao Seed. The bronze key, stained by the blood rain, suddenly trembled, and the star map on the title page of the Sword Canon began to shift, revealing a hidden Underworld passage.
“Stop them!” The lightning plasma flying from the Mysterious Grey Robed Man's Purple Mansion locked down the entire space, and the Undergoing Tribulation Stage Heavenly Dao pressure made Su Meiniang spit out essence blood. The inverse scale on her neck suddenly detached and flew out, transforming into a crimson shield that blocked the lightning lock. The surface of the scale showed the claw marks left when it was stolen.
Lu Qingyang seized the opportunity to press the Dao Seed into his Nascent Soul, and the grey light bursting from the Profound Nether Mirror engulfed the entire underground palace. When the light dissipated, everyone was standing on the altar of the Insect Master Valley ruins, and the phantom of the torrential rain from three hundred years ago was replaying. The woman in the crystal coffin suddenly reached out and grabbed at the Void Realm, pulling out fragments of memory, which clearly showed the scene of Lu Qingyang obtaining the Dao Seed that had been erased.
Rain poured down, the world was a grey blur, and the altar of the Insect Master Valley appeared and disappeared in the wind and rain. Lu Tianji of the previous life stood upon the altar, his figure somewhat indistinct in the rain. He clutched half a Dao Seed tightly in his hand and, without hesitation, embedded it into the Saintess's glabella.
The moment the Dao Seed touched the Saintess, a dazzling light flashed, and the Saintess's face completely overlapped with that of the woman in the crystal coffin! This astonishing scene left Lu Tianji stunned; he stared with wide eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
However, something even more unexpected happened. The half Dao Seed suddenly trembled violently, as if struck by some immense force. Immediately after, cracks also appeared on the surface of Lu Qingyang's Nascent Soul. Grey mist seeped out from the cracks, rapidly solidifying into three hundred ancient bronze coins on the altar.
On the faces of these ancient bronze coins were clearly engraved the patterns of the 冥 coins circulated in the Ghost Market of Fengdu City! Lu Tianji's heart sank; he realized that a huge secret must be hidden within.
"So you should have died three hundred years ago…" A sinister voice echoed in the wind and rain. Yin Jiuyou, holding his bone staff, slowly emerged from the darkness. His voice was cold and ruthless, as if from a demon in Hell.
Yin Jiuyou gently tapped the ground with his bone staff, and in an instant, countless bronze arms burst forth from beneath the earth. These arms, like ghosts, waved in the air, sending shivers down one's spine. Even stranger, the palms of these bronze arms each opened a blood-red eye, identical to the evil entity suppressed at the bottom of the cold pool!
Facing this sudden terrifying sight, the Drunken Old Man of the South Sea unhesitatingly threw out his God of Wine Rope. This Soul Transformation Stage Lifebound Magical Artifact flew rapidly through the air, carrying immense power, and struck directly at those bronze arms.
However, something shocking happened. The moment the God of Wine Rope touched the bronze arms, it instantly broke into countless pieces, as if corroded by some strong acid! This scene left everyone dumbfounded; no one had expected that the Drunken Old Man of the South Sea's Lifebound Magical Artifact would be so vulnerable.
The moment the Dao Seed fully awakened, nine bell tolls echoed from deep within the Insect Master Valley's ley lines. Lu Qingyang's Xuanming Dharma Idol automatically formed the "Grand Yin Soul Suppressing Seal." Where the Seal pressed down, three hundred bronze coffins burst forth from the earth. Each coffin lid was engraved with mysterious totems that had appeared at the Fengdu Ghost Market auction a hundred chapters ago, and the black mist overflowing from the coffins solidified into eight large characters in the air: Xuanming Shall Stand, Nine Netherworld Return to the Ruins.
The woman in the crystal coffin suddenly let out a mournful howl, her voice shattering seven bronze coffins. What flew out of the coffins, however, were not corpses, but three hundred bronze command arrows inscribed with ancient script. These command arrows automatically flew towards Lu Qingyang, forming the array diagram of the "Nine Netherworld Underworld Array" around him. The moment the array was formed, the entire Insect Master Valley began to sink. The lava surging from the earth cracks was frozen by the Dao Seed's Aura into bronze steps, leading directly to the boiling Yellow Springs River deep underground.
“This is just the beginning.” The woman reached out and pulled off the jade hairpin from her hair, and the Insect Master Valley totem appeared on her forehead. In the Void Realm crack opened by the jade hairpin, the reflection of the Yellow Springs Well from the Fengdu Ghost Market a hundred chapters ago could be vaguely seen. As the well water overflowed from the crack, the Dao Seed in Lu Qingyang's hand suddenly burst forth with grey light, reflecting six distorted ancient Seal characters on the well's surface: Xuanming Crosses Tribulation, Nine Deaths One Life.