Ancient Divine Platform

Qin Sang trailed far behind, noticing that Venerable Ye seemed to be looking for something. The man had led Su Nü and the others in a wide circuit around Baibao Pavilion before finally coming to a halt. They stood before an unremarkable hill. Venerable Ye stopped and examined the hill. Lush grass and leafy trees shaded the slopes, and several vicious beasts roamed about. The scenery was fresh and untouched, bearing no traces of human presence. Looking down at the talisman in his hand and carefully sensing it for a moment, Venerable Ye nodded slightly. "This should be the place!" The long-bearded old man and the others were completely bewildered, having no idea what their master was seeking. "Take these!" Venerable Ye took out spirit talismans. The group received them and looked, finding peculiar spirit talismans depicted with black dragons. At that moment, Venerable Ye turned his head and glanced over. "Su Nü, come here." Su Nü's heart tightened. Forcing down her unease, she stepped forward, gave a formal salute, and asked in a puzzled voice, "Your disciple is here. May I ask what Master Ye commands?" "In a moment, we must break a restriction. The technique you cultivate is unique, so listen to my commands..." Venerable Ye gave a few instructions. Full of suspicion, Su Nü silently nodded. Having finished his directions, Venerable Ye strode forward. He casually slew the vicious beasts on the hill, flew in a circle around it, and finally took up a position hovering in midair on its western flank. He lowered his head slightly and stared at the hill, then suddenly formed hand seals, releasing a succession of incantation gestures. Spiritual energy trembled. In an instant, dense clusters of runes hovered above the hill, revealing an extraordinarily intricate restriction. After working for quite a while, Venerable Ye finally paused, took out more than a dozen formation flags, and drove them one by one into the restriction. His breath came hurried and shallow; the effort had drained a tremendous amount of his mental energy. By now, the outline of the restriction was clearly visible. A complex flag formation hovered in the void, magnificent and imposing, though since it had not yet been activated, its function remained unknown for the time being. "Go over there," Venerable Ye said, pointing to the perimeter of the restriction. The long-bearded old man and his two companions stationed themselves in three different directions around the boundary, while Su Nü, following Venerable Ye's order, stepped forward and flew to the edge as well. Next, Venerable Ye produced a jade pendant and abruptly unsealed his cultivation! An astonishing pressure instantly erupted in the void, bearing down upon Venerable Ye so heavily that space itself seemed to warp. Venerable Ye stood in midair without any support. His aura surged wildly as his cultivation was restored, but the agony he endured intensified. Bones cracked within his body and fissures split across his skin, exacerbating his injuries even further. Crack! Gritting his teeth, Venerable Ye crushed the jade pendant with force. A burst of multi-colored glow erupted. Bathed in the radiant light, Venerable Ye's expression eased considerably; the glow could actually help him fend off the secret realm's pressure. However, there was only one jade pendant, and its power was limited. Venerable Ye dared not delay. With a flicker of his silhouette, he flew to the center of the flag formation, sat down cross-legged, and rapidly formed incantation seals with his fingers. Hum... The restriction was activated, and the spirit formation began to turn. "Strike!" Venerable Ye barked. The long-bearded old man and the others were already prepared. At his word, they immediately activated the spirit talismans in their hands. In an instant, dragon roars echoed across the mountains and woods. Four black dragons surged forth with roars, each stretching over a dozen zhang long. Their divine eyes brimmed with majesty, awe-inspiring and commanding, as their powerful aura whipped up a violent gale that ravaged the mountains. At this moment, Qin Sang, hidden on a distant mountain, took in the entire scene. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes; this spectacle felt remarkably familiar. Soon, he remembered. When he had first entered the Hall of Seven Kills, he had been tasked with a mission for the Eastern Pole Alliance, following Xiang Yi into the Purple Mist Deathland. Back then, Xiang Yi and the others had also used black flood dragons conjured from spirit talismans to suppress the backlash of the thunder cables on the ancient divine platform, ultimately unraveling its restriction. The situation here was strikingly similar. Only, the black flood dragons had become black dragons, far mightier in both size and aura than those in the past. The black dragons were wildly unruly. The long-bearded old man and the others struggled intensely, barely able to restrain them even with all their might. Su Nü alone was exceptionally at ease; the black dragon coiled above her head, docile and obedient. Is true demonic qi sealed inside the talismans? Su Nü sensed a familiar presence from the black dragon—precisely the true demonic qi she cultivated. Just then, Venerable Ye's voice sounded in her ear: "Circulate your technique and do as I say..." Daring not disobey, Su Nü could only follow his instructions to the letter. With Su Nü's involvement, the other three black dragons also calmed down considerably. Finally, all the black dragons gave a low whine and plunged together into the grand formation. With a rumbling roar like muffled thunder, the formation blazed with brilliant light, fusing with the black dragons to transform into a colossal sword of light that plunged toward the hill from midair! With the power of that sword of light, piercing straight through the hill would be effortless. Yet an astonishing sight unfolded. Without warning, a dense, dazzling golden light erupted from within the hill, forming a hemispherical barrier of light. Deep within the golden radiance, the outline of an immense divine platform faintly appeared. "An ancient divine platform!" Qin Sang narrowed his eyes and inspected it closely. "No! It only looks similar in appearance, but it is far grander than the one in the Purple Mist Deathland, and its runes are much more intricate. Yet without a doubt, the two divine platforms are connected..." "Break!" Venerable Ye roared, thrusting his palm downward with violent force. Boom! The sword of light struck the barrier. The barrier of light was actually a kind of seal. Golden light shone dazzlingly as the mountains trembled, yet the ancient stone platform inside remained completely unmoving. The seal was exceptionally sturdy, holding firm against the sword of light without being pierced. However, just as the two were locked in a stalemate, Venerable Ye flicked his other hand downward. The talisman in his grip fell, deceptively slow yet arriving swiftly, floating down to adhere directly to the surface of the barrier. At the same time, the black dragons conjured from true demonic qi pounced together upon the spirit talisman. With a buzzing hum, the black dragons coiled around the spirit talisman and unexpectedly pierced through the barrier right at the tip of the light sword. Inside the barrier, the divine platform's restriction was triggered. Four iron chains transformed into a silvery white, and countless bolts of lightning lashed upward from below. The chains were all thunder cables as well, yet their might far surpassed those of the platform in the Purple Mist Deathland. Rumble! The black dragons were swallowed by the thunderbolts, their true demonic qi scattering and their forms shrinking at a visible pace, but they succeeded in shielding the spirit talisman. In the end, the talisman landed upon the divine platform. Venerable Ye exhaled a long breath of relief and formed an incantation seal, shattering the sword of light. Looking back at the spirit flags that composed the formation, all of them were covered in cracks, their power completely spent and ruined beyond use. By then, both the golden light and the shadow of the divine platform had vanished as well. Only the devastated hill remained to show that something extraordinary had taken place here. "The matter is settled. We can leave." The multi-colored glow around Venerable Ye dissipated as he sealed his cultivation once more. He coughed a few times, a flush surging into his face, his stance somewhat unsteady. "That's it?" Su Nü was left in a daze. She had thought the Business Alliance harbored ill intentions toward her, that she might once again be treated as a sacrifice, and had bent every effort toward escaping and saving herself. To that end, she had not only colluded with an outsider to plot the seizure of the Soul-Washing Liquid, but had even ambushed and killed her senior brother to interrogate him. Never had she imagined that none of it was true—the Business Alliance had merely wanted to borrow her demonic arts to suppress the black dragons. All her frantic efforts seemed utterly ridiculous now. Bitterness welled up in Su Nü's heart.