The moment the two entered the relic barrier, dense spatial turbulence, like thousands of steel needles, pierced their skin. Ling Tian instinctively wrapped an arm around Su Meier's waist amidst the dizziness of teleportation. When their feet touched the ground, the putrid smell that assailed him instantly sobered him—what lay before them was not the anticipated Immortal Cave, but a desolate mountain covered in white bones.
The grayish-brown mountain ridge resembled a Dragon's spine cleaved by a giant axe. The surface of the jagged, strange rocks was covered in honeycomb-like holes, and whenever a chilling wind passed through the gaps, it emitted a mournful wail.
On the eastern cliff face, half of a bronze war chariot was impaled, its rusted spokes entangled with dark red vines—these eerie branches would expand and contract every ten breaths, grinding the swallowed gravel into crimson grit and spewing it from their tips. The western slope was strewn with vitrified skeletons, and the crystal clusters growing in the eye sockets of the skulls flickered with phosphorescence under the moonlight, making the Sword Qi marks remaining on the rock wall appear like dried blood tears. Behind the eagle-beak rock at the highest point, three cracks, over a hundred feet deep, tore through the mountain in the shape of claw marks, constantly seeping out turbid Qi with a sulfurous smell, dyeing the clouds within a ten-mile radius a sickly lead gray.
"Brother Ling Tian, be careful, it's the Spirit-Devouring Barren Mountain mentioned in the intelligence..." Su Meier's boyish face, formed by her transformation, turned a pale green, and the soles of her boots, embroidered with Qingqiu Secret Technique patterns, sizzled with white smoke. Fox Fire ignited on her fingertips, illuminating a ten-foot radius. Dark red vines, each leaf growing tiny fangs, crawled over the rock crevices.
"Go!"
As her voice fell, the jade dragon sword behind Ling Tian fiercely flew out, and its Blazing Dragon Sword Qi carved a three-foot Sword Domain around the two. A strand of hair accidentally floated out of the barrier and was immediately shredded into dust by the vines. "According to the intelligence, these are Spirit-Devouring Gloom Vines. It's said that even a Nascent Soul Stage Protective Aura can only last for half an incense stick." He used the tip of his sword to pick up a beast bone, which was covered in dense, eerie blue tooth marks. "Be careful of the black sand underfoot; this mountain soil is mixed with Star-Breaking Iron."
The two walked along the path carved by the Sword Qi when Su Meier suddenly tugged on Ling Tian's sleeve. The phantom of her fox tail flickered behind her, and her molten-gold eyes stared at the barely visible carvings on the rock wall: "Seven steps in the Dui position, wind hidden in the Xun position, this is... a Formation pattern for the Star Dou Array!"
Before she finished speaking, the entire ground suddenly trembled. Seventy-two bronze pillars burst from the earth, their bodies inscribed with dense, ancient runes. Su Meier grunted, her transformation almost collapsing under the pressure of the Formation, revealing half of her stunning face.
"Close your eyes!"
Ling Tian's Sword Art suddenly changed, and the jade dragon sword transformed into thousands of light points, merging into the star map. His Divine Sense searched through the Ten Thousand Talisman Records for chapters related to Formations and indeed found a method to break it. His fingers continuously tapped the twenty-eight constellations in the Void Realm: "Kui Wood Wolf shifts position, Jing and Gui constellations invert—Reverse Star Array!"
The star trajectories twisted in response, and the phantom of a giant sword, spanning heaven and earth, emerged from the Formation's eye. Ling Tian spat out a mouthful of vital blood, staining the sword's edge red. The giant sword actually let out a dragon-like clang, forcefully tearing open a gap in the entire grand Formation. Su Meier seized the opportunity to throw out her Qingqiu compass, its needle spinning wildly, pointing towards the western cliff.
Below the cliff, nine beast-head statues spewed out Chaos Qi. Each beast head held a bronze bell inscribed with Talismans, but the bell clappers were grim white bones. As Ling Tian's Sword Qi just touched the statue, the central Taotie head suddenly opened its vertical eye!
"Retreat!" Ling Tian threw out three Talismans, forming a barrier. The black mist spewed by the beast head corroded the Talisman paper with sizzling sounds, revealing the faintly visible stone gate of the underground palace behind it. The Yin and Yang fish pattern on the gate lacked eyes. Ling Tian reached into his qiankun bag and pulled out two High-Grade Spirit Stones, flicking them into the empty eye sockets of the fish.
The moment the Spirit Stones embedded into the fish eye sockets, the earth stopped trembling, and the nine beast-head statues also ceased their movements, as if time had stopped.
"Boom!"
The stone gate of the underground palace behind the beast heads slowly opened! Before the two could react, a surging torrent of Spiritual Qi had already swept them into the depths of the underground palace.
"Meier! Are you alright!" Ling Tian asked, holding his head.
"I'm fine! Brother Ling Tian, look!"
The bronze lamp trees in the front hall of the underground palace lit up one by one, revealing the Purple Micro Constellation map formed by luminous pearls inlaid in the ceiling. On both sides of the hall ceiling were bas-reliefs of the Twenty-Eight Constellations, and a faint blue starlight slowly flowed down from the connection between the bas-reliefs and the walls.
Nine three-zhang-tall bronze Puppets stood on star rails cast from meteoric iron. Each Puppet had a Spirit Bead of a different color embedded in its forehead: the one in the Kan Water position was entirely azure, with Profound Nether True Water swirling at its feet; the one in the Li Fire position had crimson armor ablaze, with a Vermilion Bird phantom perched on its shoulder; the central Earth Virtue Star Lord Puppet, guarding the center, wore mountain-like heavy armor, and the surface of its twin hammers showed a map of the Nine Provinces' Earth Veins. The Zhou Tian Star Dou Map engraved on the ground was not inanimate; the flowing silver sand constantly reconfigured the trigrams with their footsteps. The Greedy Wolf stone statue in the Tian Shu position burst forth with a chilling bloody light from its eyes, and the clattering sound of gears meshing came from all directions like a death knell.
"Kan Water, Li Fire, Zhen Thunder, Dui Marsh..."
Ling Tian lightly tapped the ground with the tip of his sword, and the Blazing Dragon Fire spread along the trigram positions. "This is a killing Formation arranged according to the Nine Luminaries Star Lords." Before he finished speaking, the Earth Virtue Star Lord Puppet, holding twin hammers, had already crashed to the ground, its shockwave carrying a strange effect that suppressed spiritual power.
Su Meier's Nine-Tailed Fox Fire transformed into a long whip, coiling around the Puppet's neck: "At the third quarter of the Yin hour, the Great Yin enters You!" Ling Tian understood instantly, and his Sword Qi went straight for the Xun position Formation eye in the Puppet's chest. The Puppet shattered in response, and Su Meier picked up the bursting Earth Spirit Bead, handing it to Ling Tian: "Brother Ling Tian, this is excellent Material for you Talismancers to craft Talismans."
As the two moved and dodged among the star positions, Ling Tian noticed that Su Meier could always predict the Puppet's movements in advance. When she accurately said "Tempting to offend Chen" for the third time, Ling Tian finally couldn't help but transmit a message: "Meier, how do you know the movement patterns of the Nine Luminaries?"
"There's a 'Qingqiu Star Palace Remnants' in the emperor seal Legacy..." Su Meier's expression suddenly changed halfway through her sentence. The Sun Star Lord Puppet in the Heavenly Dome position suddenly spat out Great Sun True Fire at her. Seven ice soul silver needles flew from her sleeve, but instantly vaporized in the intense flames.
At this critical moment, Ling Tian's Sword Formation suddenly changed!
"Dragon Spirit! Transform! Thunder Dragon Instant Prison Slash!"
black lightning coursed over the jade dragon sword, and the moment he swung his sword, thunder roared! The lightning blade that instantly struck directly pierced the core of the Sun Star Lord Puppet!
"It's all my fault for distracting Meier." Ling Tian said with deep apology.
"Silly brother, it's Meier herself who isn't skilled enough yet and miscalculated its movement trajectory." Su Meier said, not forgetting to stick out her tongue at Ling Tian.
When the last Puppet fell, a pillar of light suddenly projected from the ceiling's star map. A phantom appeared in the light screen, revealing an Alchemist observing the stars to refine Medicinal Pills. The moment Ling Tian touched the light screen, the phantom transformed into a stream of light and merged into his glabella.
"This is... True Elixir Path Deciphered!" Golden seal characters flowed in Ling Tian's pupils. "The owner of the underground palace actually hid his Alchemy insights in the star map!"
After carefully studying the star map for a while, Ling Tian closed his eyes and muttered: "Unchanging glory stops self-cultivation, subduing Dragons and tigers at leisure; for naught, years of cinnabar effort, slay and seal the Zi Fire Ape!" Then, he formed a blade with one hand and slashed towards the Zi Fire Ape on the ceiling. A vacuum Qi blade instantly cut it in half.
Suddenly, the dome's star map collapsed into a beam of silver light, shining directly onto the bronze tortoise pedestal on the west side of the hall. The twenty-eight constellations embossed on the tortoise shell slowly rotated within the light beam. Ling Tian formed a hand seal with his right hand, condensing his Natal Talisman brush. The tip of the brush, dipped in the golden liquid overflowing from the tortoise shell, drew a reverse star track on the tortoise's back: "This is the image of a reversed river chariot, the Pill Chamber is in..." Before he finished speaking, the entire tortoise pedestal suddenly sank, revealing a passage sloping towards the earth's core.
Su Meier's Profound Ice Qi condensed into an ice staircase, and as the two stepped down, the Profound Yin True Water seeping from the stone walls instantly froze into a mirror. What was reflected in the mirror, however, was not their figures, but countless Alchemist phantoms controlling earth fire—Ling Tian swept his gaze across the mirror, and those illusions also transformed into golden seal characters, merging into his Sea of Consciousness: "At the intersection of Kan and Li, the Three Flavors refine the true form..."
When the end of the passage suddenly opened up, nine Dragon-head bronze lamps simultaneously spewed Spirit Flames. The Bi'an head lamp spewed green wood fire, the Suanni head lamp ignited red sun fire, and the central Qiuniu head lamp was wrapped in a cluster of ethereal purple netherfire. The two watched for a while when Su Meier suddenly tugged on Ling Tian's sleeve: "The order of the Dragon heads is wrong!" With that, she and Ling Tian rearranged the nine Dragon-head lamps in the order of Qiuniu, Ya Zi, Chaofeng, Pulao, Suanni, Bixi, Bi'an, Fuxi, and Chiwen. The fiery killing Formation that should have incinerated intruders now revealed a path paved with cold flames, leading to a stone door inscribed with Pill Formulas.
Pushing open the stone door, the heat wave almost scorched their pupils. A ten-zhang-tall bronze Pill Furnace floated above a magma pool, its nine Dragon bas-reliefs spewing earth-core fire. Seven-colored auspicious light emanated from the cracks in the furnace lid, faintly revealing a Medicinal Pill the size of a Dragon's eye, bobbing in the light.
"This seems to be... Profound Spirit Breaking Origin Pill!" Ling Tian learned about this Pill from the Alchemy insights he had previously obtained. "The insights record that after Cultivators below the Nascent Soul Realm consume this Pill, when they Breakthrough to the Nascent Soul, it will greatly increase their chances of success!"
Although this Medicinal Pill was of no use to Ling Tian, for a Golden Core Cultivator like Su Meier, it was considered a Heavenly Treasure-level Medicinal Pill. After all, if he hadn't had the jade dragon sword and Long Daozi's life-saving forbidden art back then, whether he could Breakthrough to the Nascent Soul would have been debatable. He absolutely did not want Su Meier to experience such a risk again!
"This Pill! Must be obtained!"
Just as Ling Tian was about to fly over to retrieve it, the magma suddenly exploded! Three ferocious beast heads broke through the waves. The Dragon head spewed intense flames, the python head released poisonous mist, and the central Qilin head actually spoke human words: "Ants dare to covet Immortal Pills!"
"Roar—!"
A deafening roar caused ten-zhang-high fire waves to erupt in the magma pool. The Dragon head of the Three-Headed Fire Qilin Beast spewed sky-burning flames, the python head flung out highly poisonous saliva, and the golden light bursting from the Qilin head's eyes actually tore cracks in the Void Realm. Ling Tian held the jade dragon sword horizontally in front of him, but the flame shield condensed from Blazing Dragon Sword Qi was assimilated, and the flames igniting his sleeve brought bone-eating pain.
"This three-headed monster is actually at the Middle Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm! Meier, you must be extremely careful!" Ling Tian warned.
"Qingqiu Secret Technique, Profound Ice Flying Feathers!" Su Meier's voice pierced through the heat wave. Her nine fox tails unfurled behind her, and the Qingqiu hand seals fluttering at her fingertips transformed into a sky full of ice crystals, shooting towards the three giant beasts. In this gap, Ling Tian flickered with star-step movements, the profound iron floor tiles where he had stood already melted into crimson molten iron.
The Fire Qilin Beast's python head suddenly expanded twofold, and the poisonous mist transformed into thousands of vengeful spirits, rushing towards them. Su Meier bit her tongue and spat out vital blood, and the Qingqiu Fox Fire drew the Qingqiu Rebirth Incantation in the air: "Break!" The green incantations collided with the poisonous spirits, and the resulting shockwave made the Pill Furnace hum. Ling Tian seized the opportunity to leap onto the furnace top, and the jade dragon sword drew forth the earth vein's flame Qi: "Dragon Spirit! Transform! Golden Dragon's Roar to the Heavens!"
The crimson flame Sword Qi flowed along the nine Dragon bas-reliefs on the furnace body, pouring into the magma. "Meier, use your Profound Ice Qi to help me!" With that, Su Meier instantly understood, and her Profound Ice Qi rushed into the magma along her nine tails! The churning sea of fire actually condensed into a wondrous scene of ice and fire intertwined. The Fire Qilin Beast's Dragon head let out a painful shriek, and the flames it spewed weakened by a third. Su Meier seized the moment to fling out twelve fox-tail golden needles, accurately piercing the Dragon head's eyes!
"Roar—!"
"Damn ants!!" The Qilin head spoke human words, then slapped the Pill Furnace with its beast claw. Ling Tian felt his internal organs tremble, and his Early Stage Nascent Soul Realm spiritual power was suppressed, operating sluggishly. Its tail whipped towards Su Meier like lightning. Su Meier couldn't dodge in time and was slammed heavily against the rock wall! Her transformed boyish form began to collapse, revealing her celestial fox true body.
Seeing Su Meier in a vulnerable state, the Fire Qilin Beast's Qilin head instantly opened its bloody maw and charged towards the prostrate Su Meier!
Just as Su Meier was about to fall into its mouth! Ling Tian couldn't care less about anything else. He threw the jade dragon sword into mid-air and formed hand seals!
"Burning Body!"
"Burning Sea!"
"Blazing Dragon Three Revolutions—Burning Heaven!"
Ling Tian's low roar was like an ancient Dragon's cry, and the magma on the dome of the Pill Chamber suddenly rolled back into nine fire Dragons. His pupils transformed into molten-gold vertical pupils, and the flesh and blood of his right arm cracked inch by inch, transforming into a Dragon claw entwined with Burning Heaven Karmic Fire. The Natal True Fire spewed by the Fire Qilin Beast was actually swallowed and absorbed by the Dragon claw, and the Yao Beast discovered with horror that its fire spirit Origin was rapidly draining! Conversely, Ling Tian's temples were slowly turning white. Blazing Dragon Three Revolutions could only be activated by an Out-of-Body Realm Cultivator, and forcibly activating it would rapidly consume Lifespan!
At this moment, Ling Tian's Dragon claw plunged into the earth's veins, and the entire magma pool dramatically lifted. The flowing crimson flames condensed into a fire lotus Dharma Aspect beneath his feet, and hundreds of Dragon fire chains burst forth from the Void Realm—firmly binding the Fire Qilin Beast.
The Fire Qilin Beast struggled madly, trying to break free from the chains, but Ling Tian's Dragon claw had already clamped onto its crown. Burning Heaven Karmic Fire poured into the Yao Beast's seven orifices along the Dragon's veins, and its indestructible scales began to peel off, revealing the charred bones beneath. When the last wisp of fire spirit Origin was extracted, the Dragon scales on Ling Tian's right arm receded, and the majestic body of the Fire Qilin Beast had transformed into a pile of crimson crystals on the ground.