Chapter 317: Chapter 34 Tuning the Bells, Blood Array
White Bone Divine Palace, passing through the main hall, leads to the rear hall.
Inside the rear hall, neatly arrayed against one wall, stood eight chime bells, likewise crafted from countless white bones. Their surfaces were adorned with various skulls, ribs, hand bones, and vertebrae that irregularly protruded, looking extremely sinister.
Even more eerie was that, although there was clearly no wind inside the rear hall, these white bone chimes moved on their own, producing strange sounds akin to weeping and low laughter.
Xu Yinglian suddenly started, only then realizing that since she had entered the underground, these odd sounds had been echoing around her—their presence was so faint that she had subconsciously overlooked them.
Could it be the sound of the bells?
Sudden pain flashed through her Sea of Consciousness, and Xu Yinglian hurriedly circulated her True Yuan, cleansing her mind and spirit, before she realized the sound of the bells seemed to affect one’s mental state.
Fortunately, her Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart had a great resistance to Illusion Techniques, which allowed her to maintain a stable mind.
She glanced at Qiu Changtian again and saw that his expression remained unchanged, as though he had directly ignored the mental influence of the bells’ sound.
“These are the White Bone Hollow Bells,” the Flying Asura sneered. “These bells move without wind, and their sound can sway the soul and bewilder the mind. Those with a lower Mana realm can’t last three breaths within the bell’s sound before they become dizzy, their limbs weaken, and they are paralyzed.”
Seeing that neither of them showed any change in complexion, the Flying Asura thought they were merely pretending to be strong, and it walked over to the chime bells and continued,
“Of course, when not actively manipulated, this Illusion Technique is merely tormenting and still bearable.”
“But if an enemy attacks, one only needs to activate them for the Illusion Technique’s effects to immediately amplify a hundredfold. No matter how high your Cultivation Realm may be, it’s almost impossible to resist.”
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As it spoke, it stretched out its black-as-ink long fingernails and struck the bell cover forcefully.
A lengthy tolling sound resonated, causing Xu Yinglian’s face to instantly pale.
The moment the bell tolled, she felt as though something had struck her soul, almost causing her to lose her balance.
Such a powerful Illusion Technique attack! And it targeted the soul directly, leaving her with no effective means to defend herself, only the innate resistance of her Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart to rely on.
Seeing Xu Yinglian finally showing a different expression, the Flying Asura was somewhat puzzled.
I struck the bell, so why didn’t you fall?
Looking at Qiu Changtian again, its face immediately took on a strange expression.
Because he looked as if nothing had happened, merely glancing left and right, examining the chime bells as if appreciating some artworks.
The Flying Asura’s face could barely conceal its embarrassment; it had just claimed it was “almost impossible to resist,” yet both people in front of it had held steady. How was it supposed to save face?
After a long silence, it was forced to boldly claim,
“However, these White Bone Chime Bells have been abandoned here for a myriad of years, so their spiritual essence has considerably dimmed, and they no longer possess the ability to attack the soul.”
“But the predecessor who buried his bones here did so over ten thousand years ago, did he not?” Qiu Changtian curiously asked.
“If the child does not understand, then shut up! ‘A myriad of years’ is merely a rhetorical expression,” the Flying Asura suppressed the murderous intent in its heart, turned its head away, and irritably said, “How can a cultivator nitpick on such trivial details!”
Grinding its teeth, it led the two of them forward, soon entering a certain side hall.
At the center of the side hall stood a stone platform stained with bloodstains.
Around the edge of the stone platform, countless skulls and white bones were arranged, forming the shape of a mysterious and profound magic Formation.
Qiu Changtian took one glance and understood it was some kind of dark Array, its function seemed to drain flesh and blood from the target in the center, but it was mixed with a Soul Calming Magic Formation—was this… to make the target die more comfortably?
“This is the Blood Sacrifice Altar of the Ghost Sect,” the Flying Asura explained. “Any cultivator who wishes to switch to the Ghost Path must first ingest Yinhui Yuanshen Water and operate the Ghost Path Technique for forty-nine days.”
“But that Yinhui Yuanshen Water is not water. It is a condensation of pure Yin energy mixed with spiritual essence. When combined with the Technique and ingested, it can wither the flesh and dry the bones.”
“Wait until the physical body has almost completely decayed, then sit on this blood sacrifice altar, operate the secret technique, and you can separate the soul from the flesh and convert to a ghost cultivator,”
“I see,” Qiu Changtian said calmly, “but what makes a ghost cultivator so peculiar?”
“First, they are proficient in various soul arts, and their methods are unpredictable,” Flying Asura slowly said, “Second, they can travel freely to the Nine Serenities Underworld, avoiding the chaos of the world.”
“The third point, which is also the most important one: since ghost cultivators have abandoned their physical bodies, they are no longer bound by the limits of a mortal lifespan.”
Having said this, it stopped talking just at the right moment.
Qiu Changtian and Xu Yinglian exchanged glances, aware there must be some significant drawback to the way of the ghost cultivator that Flying Asura deliberately chose not to mention.
Otherwise, why are there not many ghost cultivators in the Nether Ghost Path now?
After all, without the restrictions of a mortal lifespan, how many who were originally incapable of Core Formation could slowly accumulate their cultivation level and proceed to form a core with ease!
“The drawback is that they face Heavenly Tribulations exceptionally frequently,” Kunlun Mirror added from inside the Sea of Consciousness, “Ghost cultivators and zombie corpses are aberrations that the Heavenly Dao does not tolerate in the world. They have exploited a loophole to escape the restraint of lifespan—just look at its current state, and you will understand.”
Flying Asura walked forward and seemed to accidentally kick a skull near the Array.
The Array lit up with a blood-red light in an instant, enveloping everyone present.
“Oh dear, I accidentally touched the restrictions,” Flying Asura said with a sinister laugh, though there was no hint of apology on its face; clearly, it was on purpose.
Xu Yinglian’s face changed dramatically. She hurriedly tried to activate her Flying Sword, but found that her True Yuan was blocked and she was utterly unable to use any techniques.
Flying Asura watched the two coldly, thinking that even if they were not afraid of illusion techniques, they surely had no way to deal with this Array?
Beg me! If you just kneel down and swear by your Daoist Heart not to reveal my existence, I will intervene and save you both from the Array.
Otherwise, as time goes by, you will have to watch helplessly as your own flesh and blood gradually waste away. The taste of such agony is truly exceptional…
Just as it was considering how to suggest indirectly that the two should submit, Qiu Changtian stepped forward, set the skull back to its original position.
He then extended his right hand and drew several strokes on the ground with two fingers.
The Array flickered like a light switched off and went dark.
Flying Asura: ???
“How could senior be so careless?” Qiu Changtian said indifferently, “Fortunately, I have a little knowledge of arrays, otherwise we really would’ve been in trouble.”
“Ahem,” Flying Asura came back to its senses and said awkwardly, “This Array has been abandoned for tens of millions of years; it’s quite normal for it to suddenly malfunction and activate.”
“Is that so,” Qiu Changtian replied, “then I would ask senior to be more careful in the future, and not to accidentally touch any more restrictions that have been abandoned for tens of millions of years.”
“Of course, of course,” Flying Asura repeatedly said, secretly seething inside.
Now, both Qiu Changtian and Xu Yinglian feared Flying Asura would kill them, and it feared the Cultivators it might lure if they died, meaning they mutually held the key to each other’s destruction.
In such a situation, whoever went for a direct confrontation would be dooming themselves; therefore, they had to resort to softer means to make the other submit.
For example, trapping the other party in an array and torturing them.
What does it matter if they know I dare not kill them? Under the cruel torment of the restrictions, most people would ultimately choose to submit.
Who would have thought this freakish Human Race cultivator wouldn’t react to illusions and couldn’t be trapped by arrays either!
What should I do now?