He sighed and said, "Everyone, I really don't know what happened. I can swear an oath again."
He Erniang said, "We naturally trust what the Taoist says. Now that you and I are in an unknown place, we should work together." Lei Kui snorted coldly and said nothing more.
Taoist Jizhen said, "The most urgent thing is to figure out where this place is and how to get out." Qin Bing said, "You and I were sucked from the island in the middle of the lake and arrived here in about ten breaths. This place should be about four or five hundred feet underground."
Wei Yunfei suddenly said, "My fellow Daoists, I have two strange things. First, you and I fell straight down from the cave entrance without changing direction. Four or five hundred feet isn't too far, but right now, my spiritual sense can't sense the cave entrance at all. Second, the body of the Frost Dragon should have fallen down with us, so why is there no trace of it?"
When he said this, everyone was stunned.
Lin Tai had been silent the entire time, but suddenly he said, "Brother Wei is truly thoughtful. I have some knowledge of these two matters, but I'm not sure if they're correct." Wei Yunfei hurriedly said, "Fellow Daoist Lin, please tell me." Lin Tai thought for a moment and said, "Although this place is dark and everyone might think it's a palace, it's not. We're actually in a very spacious square with no brick walls overhead."
Everyone looked up, but it was pitch black, and even their spiritual senses couldn't penetrate. Lin Tai said, "Of course, there's something above us. It's not a brick wall, but a talisman array. I think our fierce battle with the Frost Dragon on the island activated this array, sucking us in. Then it returned to its original state, covering the entire square. That's why we can't see or sense the hole above us."
Wei Yunfei said, "Indeed, Brother Lin is worthy of being a master of formations. If this were a palace, we should have been able to penetrate the roof when we landed just now to land on the ground. But in fact, you and I landed directly on the ground without any obstacles." Lei Kui said, "In that case, you and I just need to work together to break this formation and we can go back."
Taoist Jizhen said, "Wait a minute, Brother Lin, tell me why the Frost Dragon's corpse disappeared." He had been misunderstood by Lei Tu and the others as having swallowed the Frost Dragon for himself, and he urgently needed to clarify the matter. Lin Tai said, "I can only speculate. This square should be connected to the palaces. Perhaps the Frost Dragon landed somewhere else when it fell. Another possibility is that some demonic beast or ghost in this underground palace has absconded with the Frost Dragon's corpse."
When everyone heard about monsters and ghosts, they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.
He Erniang said, "Right now we have two choices. Either you and I work together to open the talisman array and escape, or we all go find the body of the cold dragon first and then find a way out."
Everyone was silent, thinking in their hearts.
Taoist Jizhen said, "Why don't you and I try to see if we can open this talisman array together, otherwise we won't have any way out." Lin Tai nodded and said, "That's what I mean."
The others listened, but had no objections. They each summoned their magical instruments and launched them at the forbidden barrier in the sky. However, they were all stunned. No matter how much power they exerted or what magical powers they employed, the talisman array remained motionless. Furthermore, the magical instruments made no sound at all. If the instruments hadn't bounced back one after another, everyone would have suspected they had simply struck the air.
After a full cup of tea, Lin Tai said, "Don't try. This restriction is not something you and I can force open." Old Madam Tu said angrily, "Aren't we going to be trapped here and die?"
Lin Tai said, "That may not be the case. For any talisman array, if you can find the center of the array, it is not difficult to get out. It's just that I am completely unfamiliar with this place. I wonder if you have ever heard the elders of the sect mention that there is such an underground palace in Qianhu Cave Heaven?" Everyone shook their heads in confusion.
Lin Tai said, "Then we can only take it one step at a time. Let's first see what these stone statues are." Everyone now followed his lead. After all, he was the one with the highest attainments in formation here.
Shi Feng also followed the crowd to watch. There were four stone statues in total, with a dark blue appearance. They were all carved into strong and tall warriors, holding an axe, sword, halberd and hammer in their hands, with ferocious expressions.
Lin Tai looked very slowly, constantly touching it up and down with his hands, trying to find out if there was any mechanism.
Shi Feng touched the material of the stone statue with his hand and found that it was an extremely rare kind of sky-burned stone. This kind of stone is mostly produced in lava areas and is a good material for refining weapons.
He couldn't help but ask the white fox in his spiritual consciousness, "Master Hu, do you know where this place is?" The white fox said, "I've never been here, so how would I know? But, hey, this place is definitely not a good place. I actually feel a chill down my spine." Shi Feng asked, "Master Hu, do you recognize the talisman formation above your head?" The white fox said, "We demons know almost nothing about talisman formations, so don't ask me. But I do recognize these stone statues."
Shi Feng uttered an "oh" and quickly asked for advice. The white fox said, "Don't scare you, but none of those Foundation Establishment juniors recognized these four stone statues and thought they were just ordinary warriors. Hehe, these aren't warriors from your human race at all, but four guardians from the demon race."
Shi Feng asked in surprise, "Demons?" The white fox said, "Yes, the demons and you humans may not look much different from each other on the outside, but they are actually very different." Shi Feng asked, "Could this be a demon palace?"
The white fox said, "That's probably the case. It seems that the Thousand Lakes Cave Heaven must have been the place where your human race's great masters suppressed this demon in the past. I don't know how it was discovered by your descendants."
Shi Feng asked, "To suppress the demons?" The white fox replied, "It's the talisman array above our heads. I can't sense a trace of demonic or demonic energy in that talisman array. It must have been set up by you humans. Hehe, how can you Foundation Establishment disciples forcefully open this talisman array? Even a Golden Core cultivator wouldn't be able to do that."
Shi Feng asked, "Then won't we all be able to get out?" The white fox replied, "That junior surnamed Lin is right about that. As long as you find the center of the formation, you should be able to get out. And since this formation is used to suppress demons, and you're not demons, as long as you find the center, the formation will naturally teleport you out without any effort on your part."
Shi Feng asked, "Master Hu, do you think there are any remaining demons here?" The white fox replied, "This place has been suppressed for a thousand years. Even if there are demons, they would have been destroyed long ago by the formation. But there are always exceptions, and I can't say for sure. You better take care of yourself, kid."
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
At the same time, in a secret room deep in the palace, there was a stone platform in the middle, shrouded in black air. In the black air sat a purple-haired man over ten feet tall. His upper body was naked, and his dark muscles were like pieces of stone. What was horrifying was that there were seven shining swords stuck in his body, three inches deep into his skin, but not a drop of blood seeped out.
The purple-haired man seemed lifeless, but black air swirled around him, and wisps of black air penetrated into his body at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
On the floor of the secret room not far from the big man, the cold dragon was lying there. However, at this moment, the cold dragon was completely shriveled, with its flesh and blood gone. Only a dragon skin and a pair of short dragon horns remained on the ground.
Every half an hour, the purple-haired man would suddenly open his eyes with an expression of extreme pain. At this time, the seven sharp swords would suddenly become brighter, and a buzzing sound would continue. Within three to five breaths, the divine light in the purple-haired man's eyes would dissipate, and he would close his eyes again. But if someone looked closely, they would find that the seven sharp swords were forced out of his body a little bit.
.....
At this moment, everyone in the square had decided that Lin Tai would lead the way to the center of the palace's formation. Lin Tai said, "I've only briefly explored the entire array, but its mysteries are truly beyond my ability to decipher. Not only me, but even the founder of High Heaven Pavilion couldn't create such a massive formation. I can only do my best."
Everyone naturally agreed. Lin Tai said, "Then let's search each palace one by one. Don't get separated. This place is very strange."
At that moment, Lin Tai took the lead, the Qi-refining disciples were in the middle, and He Erniang and Qin Bing were the rear guard. They slowly walked out of the square and stepped into the dark hall in front.
The entire underground palace was like a maze. Lin Tai made marks on the ground as he walked, and also had to explore the magic circle above his head to see if there were any loopholes. Therefore, the entire team moved very slowly.
Lin Tai kept shaking his head the whole way. Lei Kui couldn't help but ask, "Fellow Daoist Lin, what have you discovered?" Lin Tai said, "Nothing yet. I'm just sighing. This talisman formation is too magnificent. I've been walking for so long and there's not a single flaw in it. It's said to have existed for thousands of years, and its power should have dissipated long ago. I really don't know what kind of supernatural power could have set up such a grand formation."
The road was winding and it was inevitable that we took some wrong turns and had to go back, but Lin Tai marked the way and kept improving the map. After about a day's walk, he had outlined a rough map of the entire underground palace.
At this time, everyone came to a courtyard. The courtyard was still empty, but there was an altar in the middle of the courtyard. Next to it was a stone tablet with words engraved on it, which no one could recognize.
Madam Tu stared at the writing carefully, and soon her face changed drastically. Lei Kui said, "Do you recognize this writing?" Madam Tu nodded and said, "I know a little bit. This is ancient magic writing."
"Magic words? Could it be that this is the place where the demons live?" Lei Kui said in surprise.
Taoist Jizhen pondered, "I'm afraid it's very likely. Since this talisman formation was set up by our human race during the great renovation, it is most likely used to suppress the demons."
Lei Kui asked anxiously, "Fellow Daoist Tu, what is written on the stone tablet?"
Madam Tu said, "This is an ode praising the Fire God of the Demon Clan. The Fire God is one of the twelve Demon Clan members." As she spoke, she translated the inscription sentence by sentence, but there was no mention of this palace, let alone the talisman formation above her head.
Lin Tai carefully examined the stone tablet and said, "This should have nothing to do with the talisman formation. It's just something inherent to the palace."
Shi Feng couldn't help but ask the white fox, "What's the origin of the Flame Demon God?" The white fox said, "What's there to say? The Taoists among you humans worship the Three Pure Ones, the Buddhists worship the Buddhas of the heavens, and we demons worship the Four Divine Beasts and the Four Ferocious Beasts. The demons naturally worship the Demon God. This is the demon palace, there's no doubt about it, but why isn't there a trace of demonic energy?"
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