The Mountain-Subduing King, Mu Xi, had obtained a jade pendant formed of the blood of a True Spirit here.
The Firedome King, Xia Houlin, found a Buddhist statue carved from the bone of a True Spirit.
From this, it was clear that this was indeed the ruin of an?ancient Buddhist temple, and furthermore, that the temple wasn’t the least bit simple!
“Let’s go.” Su Yi led the way ahead.
Before even crossing this stretch of ruin, the pond filled with black lotuses rumbled. Immediately afterward, it was as if the densely-packed black lotuses awakened. They bloomed, firing beams of blood-red light from their stamens, and their lights shot into the sky.
Rumble~!
The entire stretch of heaven and earth trembled.
Countless blood-colored vines, each as thick as a water barrel, surged from the east.
From the west came one rumbling golden dagger-axe after another.
Blood-colored flames blazed from the south, while a frigid, bone-piercing current of crimson waters flooded in from the north.
And in the center, a blood-colored mountain rose, covering heaven and earth, like a bridge into the sky.
In an instant, five different types of elemental power combined to power the unearthly, blood-colored grand formation. The elemental energies enveloped the entire area.
Ning Sihua and the others’ hearts clenched, and their expressions filled with unprecedented solemnity. This was unquestionably a terrifying killing formation, and all of them felt an intense, potentially fatal threat.
But Su Yi only shook his head and chuckled. “If this were some other type of formation, it might take a little effort, but a grand formation based on the five elements? It’s practically seeking out its own humiliation.”
The five elements were the most basic power of the Dao of Talismans and Formations. Elemental power gave rise to the limitless profundities of the Dao of Talismans.
Su Yi wasn’t a real talisman master, but in his past life, he’d perused countless tomes and mastered countless arts. He naturally had ample experience setting up formations—and ample experience breaking them.
His companions watched as he leisurely strolled ahead.
Rumble! Boom!
As soon as he entered the formation’s range, the entire five-element-powered formation rumbled and circulated.
First came countless tongues of searing flame. They blanketed the earth, emanating a baleful, eerie aura. They could incinerate gold and boil iron. Worse, the flames were poisonous and corrosive.
However, Su Yi paid them no heed. A barrier of true essence appeared before him, blocking the searing flames while they were still three hundred feet away. He then continued further into the formation.
Boom!
The formation rumbled and boomed, almost as if it were angry.
A moment later, a churning current of crimson waters swept toward Su Yi. The flood was formed entirely of water elemental essence, like a towering tsunami.
Immediately afterward, the golden dagger-axes streaked toward him, stirring up howling gales, like a rain of magic treasures.
Countless blood-colored vines twisted and distorted, like whips dancing in a mad frenzy, aiming straight toward him.
But the most terrifying of all was the vast central mountain. One crimson boulder after another came crashing down like a meteor shower. As they crashed to the ground, the impact rang out, loud, forceful, and terrifying.
Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The power of all five elements now burst forth.
Su Yi’s companions’ hair stood on end. They poured their energy into their weapons and readied themselves for battle, but in the face of such a terrifyingly grand formation, their hearts shook, and they felt stifled and helpless.
They couldn’t help but suspect that, even if an Earthly Immortal were to show up, they’d struggle to contend with this formation too.
But it was then that a burst of calm laughter escaped Su Yi’s lips.?“Devour the spirit and transform it into energy. The Edict is the guide. Activate!”
With that, he raised the Abstruse God Sword into the air.
His companions then watched as an inscrutable, elaborate pattern appeared on the surface of the sword’s ink-dark blade. Layer after layer of whirling vortex formed around it, then rose into the air.
The Spirit-Devouring Edict!
This was one of the Nine Great Edicts passed down by the Demons’ Elysium. It possessed the miraculous ability to devour all forms of energy and repurpose them to its own ends.
And now, Su Yi was using it to break the formation!
First, the surging crimson current was drawn into the vortex created by the Edict, like a river flowing into the sea. It couldn’t even get close to Su Yi and company.
The formation was formed of the five elements; they supported each other, so the loss of one affected the entire formation.
“Break!” Su Yi suddenly swung the Abstruse God Sword. The current, which was still pouring into the vortex, swung with it, sweeping into the sea of searing crimson flames.
Water and fire didn’t mix. As soon as the two collided, they burst apart. The resulting destructive power swept forth in all directions.
The shockwaves dealt a terrifying blow to the dagger-axes representing the metal element, the crimson vines formed of the wood element, and the towering blood-colored mountain.
Rumble! Rumble!
In an instant, the entire five-element disarray was in disarray. The towering flames, flood, edged weapons, falling stones, and vines clashed with each other. They continuously fell apart, and the entire formation started to crumble.
In just a few breaths of time, beneath Ning Sihua and the others’ stunned gazes, the grand killing formation that covered this entire stretch of land disintegrated completely!
“This….”
Lan Suo’s beautiful eyes widened. She stared at Su Yi as if she were looking at a monster.?He broke the killing formation just like that?
Ning Sihua and Mu Xi looked at each other, then sighed to themselves. Ever since they first met, Su Yi made it seem like nothing in this world could stop or puzzle him!
The mists dispersed, and the scattered flecks of light faded.
When the grand formation disappeared, the scenery around them changed completely. It was like they’d broken a densely-layered illusion, revealing the true appearance of the ?temple.
“That’s….” Ning Sihua was stunned.
They now saw a giant dragon coiling around the ruined ritual grounds. Its body was like a mountain ridge, its every scale the size of a house. It held its head high and faced the heavens, as if holding up the firmament.
The dragon’s massive body was shrouded in golden light. Its radiance illuminated the entire stretch of heaven and earth, and it seemed full of holiness. It had a solemn aura, like a lofty and unreachable god.
The group’s hearts shook, and they felt paltry and insignificant. In the face of the giant glowing golden dragon, they shook from head to toe, and uncontrollable awe rose from deep within their hearts. They even felt the urge to kneel and prostrate themselves before it.
Suddenly, Su Yi’s voice resounded through their ears. “It’s just an illusion. Don’t let it confuse your minds.”
.
Every word boomed like thunder, shaking Ning Sihua, Lan Suo, and Mu Xi out of that petrifying sense of insignificance and awe.
When they looked again, the massive dragon had become a ridge. It was dusty and gray, and while it was still shaped like a dragon, it had none of the vastness, holiness, or loftiness they’d sensed earlier.
“Cutting a ridge into a dragon and accumulating spiritual energy into a formation? How lavish! Alas, the ridge’s spirituality has long since disappeared. The glorious scenery of days gone by will never return…” Su Yi thought it a bit of a shame.
Then, he gazed further up the ridge, to the dragon’s head. There, a Buddhist tower stood.
“Let’s go there.” Su Yi then immediately set off. His companions hurried after him; after all this, Su Yi had become the center of the group.
Were they here on their own, they likely wouldn’t have dared venture in like this.
The path up the ridge was winding; it was like they were traveling up the back of a massive dragon. Nothing unexpected happened along the way.
However, Su Yi noticed that everywhere they went, someone had once placed a subtle and mysterious formation diagram there. It was all quite exacting.
Alas, the ridge had long since lost its spirituality, and the diagrams were broken and peeling. They were severely damaged.
Su Yi could roughly deduce that this dragon-shaped ridge was much like the hundred and eight altars he saw on Bloodthistle Yao Mountain: it, too, possessed the power to suppress, seal, and imprison! 𝒃𝒆𝒐𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝙘𝙤𝒎
What power was the ridge suppressing? There was no way to know.
A little less than ten minutes later.
Su Yi and company stopped atop the highest peak, which doubled as the dragon’s head.
It was only when they got close that they saw the tower clearly. It was a full thousand feet tall and shaped like star anise, with flying eaves and interlocking wooden brackets. Combined, it looked solemn and majestic.
The tower was clear black throughout, and it was divided into nine floors. Two stone steles stood by the gates to the first floor.
Both steles were long since ruined, but they could dimly discern that each had text engraved on it.
However, neither Ning Sihua nor Mu Xi nor Lan Suo could interpret it. The glyphs were too strange, like distorted, twisting worms.
They instinctively glanced at Su Yi.
Indeed, just as they suspected, Su Yi pointed at the stele on the left and said, “Up there, in big Mahayana Sanskrit letters, it says ‘Prajna Meditation Garden.’”
He then glanced at the stele on the right and said, “The characters up there are ‘True Spirit Glyphs.’ It’s an ancient script created by True Spirits. They say that the glyphs are based upon the innate Dao markings within True Spirits’ bodies, and that every stroke contains unique traces of the grand Dao. They’re extremely subtle and mysterious.”
Su Yi stared at the right stele, scrutinizing it closely before discerning its meaning. Only then did he say, “The True Spirit Glyphs read ‘the Evil Dragon’s Restricted Ground.’”
His companions fell silent. Waves of emotion coursed through their hearts.
Ning Sihua was comparatively well off; she’d at least heard of Mahajana Sanskrit, and she knew it was an ancient script used by Buddhists.
But Mu Xi and Lan Suo were completely bewildered.?What Mahajana?Sanskrit? What True Spirit Glyphs? Forget recognizing them; they’d never even heard of them!
This was precisely why they were so shocked when Su Yi, seemingly effortlessly, interpreted the steles’ markings.
They couldn’t help but wonder,?Is there anything this guy doesn’t understand?
“The Prajna Meditation Garden is most likely the name of the Buddhist faction that built this place. As for Evil Dragon’s Restricted Ground….” Su Yi pondered, “Don’t tell me that there was once a true dragon guilty of a heinous crime imprisoned beneath the mountain?”
When this thought occurred to him, Su Yi couldn’t help but recall that scene he’d once witnessed—
A white-robed monk riding a true dragon through the stars!
“This temple is actually rather interesting. Come on then, let’s go inside and have a look.” Su Yi didn’t delay any further. He just headed right into the first floor of the treasure tower.
He pushed open the door and entered, then saw a vast hall.
Thirty-six stone pillars stood inside, and bronze lamps hung from all four walls. Their light was clear and pure, and a tranquil, calming fragrance wafted into the air.
Su Yi sniffed the air. “The lamps are lit with the fat of a Buddha and can burn forever without extinguishing. It seems that in its glory days, this temple had no shortage of experts.”
He then turned to the walls, which were covered in images. However, the years had eaten away at them. They could dimly discern that the images told scriptural tales. Some depicted wandering dragons, while others luan and phoenixes in flight, flowers raining from the heavens, or groups of monks….
All of it felt austere and holy.
However, Su Yi furrowed his brow; he vaguely sensed that something was amiss.