Standing before the cave, Gongliang Yu looked all around before flicking out more than a dozen streaks of blue light.
Within the blue radiance were spirit talismans.
Each talisman was merely the size of a Go piece, crafted from spiritual jade and remarkably intricate. They scattered around the cave entrance like celestial maidens showering blossoms. Linked together, every talisman formed an alert talisman array. Some concealed themselves in the void, while others vanished seamlessly into the mountain rocks and the ground without a trace.
Having laid down these talismans, Gongliang Yu darted into the cave.
Not long after he left, Dongyang Bo arrived at the spot where Gongliang Yu had just stood.
Within the white light, the vajra ring quivered slightly, sending out silent, delicate ripples that pinpointed every talisman and effortlessly masked their perception.
Taking advantage of the opening, Dongyang Bo slipped through the talisman array.
As the ripples from the vajra ring subsided, the talismans remained completely undisturbed, entirely unaware that someone had pulled off a deception and slipped right through their midst.
Soon after, a third person appeared.
Qin Sang had clearly observed every one of Gongliang Yu's movements.
He had seen similar techniques before.
Back in the ancient cultivator's remnant abode, when Old Man Dique plotted against Daoist Xuanyu and coerced Qin Sang into scouting ahead, it was precisely because Daoist Xuanyu had left similar talismans along his path as an early warning.
However, Gongliang Yu's mastery was clearly far more profound than Daoist Xuanyu's.
The auras of these talismans were intertwined, forming an exceptionally intricate talisman array.
Even if a Nascent Soul cultivator were momentarily careless, they could very well trigger the talismans and alert Gongliang Yu.
Aided by the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, Qin Sang could see through the intricacies of the talisman array, but he could not bypass it as effortlessly as Dongyang Bo. Most likely, Dongyang Bo had harbored premeditated intentions for a long time and thoroughly studied Gongliang Yu's various methods beforehand.
Secretly channeling the Heavenly Eye divine ability, Qin Sang gained a clear understanding of the talisman array.
Suddenly, his momentum shifted drastically, as if he had transformed into a sharp sword. His sword intent bore down upon the talisman array, and a minute beam of sword light abruptly erupted from his body, slashing forth.
The sword qi tore through the void and vanished in an instant, as though it had never existed.
Qin Sang, meanwhile, had already slipped into the cave alongside the sword light.
One after another, the three had entered, leaving only the talisman array guarding the entrance.
Only after entering the cave did one realize that the interior was immensely vast.
As it turned out, the space beneath the hills was hollow. It seemed a great river had once flowed here, carving out a colossal riverbed over a hundred li wide, stretching endlessly ahead and behind, bottomless to the eye.
Gongliang Yu hovered above the river of blood, his expression grave.
Though the subterranean river had vanished, the cavern was flooded with dense blood mist, resembling a surging river of blood flowing continuously downstream along the ancient riverbed.
Within this realm, the malevolent, shadowy power was even more ferocious.
Yet what worried Gongliang Yu most was not the corrupting malevolence. According to the information he possessed, the Blood Zhi Herb grew at the bottom of the river of blood, and one had to enter the bloody waters to have any hope of finding it.
Undercurrents surged within the blood river; it was nowhere near as calm as it appeared on the surface. Though Gongliang Yu's cultivation was by no means weak, he could still sense that many things in the river posed a threat to him.
The riverbed was bound to be even more terrifying. With his current level of cultivation, retrieving the treasure from such a place was impossible.
Gazing at the river of blood, Gongliang Yu's expression shifted erratically, as though he were wrestling with a difficult choice.
In the end, Gongliang Yu hardened his resolve. Raising the hand gripping the jade crescent to his face, a phantom of his primordial spirit emerged at the center of his brows, shooting a strand of divine sense onto the jade piece.
*Snap!*
The jade crescent shattered on cue.
In an instant, it crumbled into fine powder.
And as the jade disintegrated, a cluster of clear cyan light remained behind.
*Whoosh!*
Wrapping the clear cyan light with his divine sense, he drew it into his primordial spirit. Instantly, his gaze turned extraordinarily lucid. This cluster of light possessed the ability to steady the soul; Gongliang Yu felt his mind become firmer than ever before, all stray thoughts thoroughly dispelled.
Within his purple palace, cyan light flickered as that luminous aura shielded his primordial spirit.
After sensing its effects for a brief moment, Gongliang Yu raised his other hand.
Looking down at the miniature figurine in his palm, Gongliang Yu knew matters had progressed to a point of no return. Hesitating no further, he formed an incantation seal and unfastened the yellow talisman affixed to the figurine's forehead.
*Boom!*
In a flash, dazzling light flared from the figurine.
Within the glow, countless illusory silhouettes of talismans flickered rapidly. Lurking behind these talisman apparitions were faint human figures—some writhed in agony, some raged in madness, some cackled wildly, others shrieked, dancing like a horde of fiends.
At the sight of these phantoms, a trace of dread actually crept onto Gongliang Yu's face.
*Buzz! Buzz!*
The figurine sprang to life, thrashing violently with boundless strength.
Sensing that the figurine was about to break free of his control, Gongliang Yu's expression shifted slightly. Daring not delay, he spat out a mouthful of blood essence and channeled the manipulation technique according to his sect's secret arts, forming seal after seal that sank into the figurine's body.
*Bang!*
The palm-sized statuette swelled dramatically, expanding to the height of an ordinary human. It stood suspended in midair before Gongliang Yu, its blank, featureless face directly confronting him.
At that moment, its face began to squirm, twisting in a nauseating display.
In the blink of an eye, facial features sprouted across the figure's face.
Bizarrely, this face was identical to Gongliang Yu's, as if looking upon his own twin brother.
Staring at the face, Gongliang Yu felt as though he were looking into a mirror. Beneath his quiet apprehension lay an indescribable discomfort.
Just then, the figure suddenly opened its eyes. Its pupils were pitch-black as ink, its gaze brimming with madness, while an inexplicable, sinister smirk hung at the corners of its mouth, sending a shiver through Gongliang Yu's heart.
At the same time, a terrifying aura suddenly erupted from within the figure, instantly surpassing Gongliang Yu's and matching that of a Nascent Soul!
This was none other than one of the four secret talismans secretly passed down through the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace—the Nascent Soul talisman puppet!
Among the four secret talismans, the Tiangang Saber Talisman, the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman, and the Neijing Origin Talisman were all ordinary spirit talismans.
Only the Nascent Soul talisman puppet was an entity akin to a puppet. It had been unintentionally created by the founding patriarch of the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace, who drew from the Dao of talisman soldiers and melded it with other puppet arts, demonic soul-refining techniques, and various profound secret arts to forge this talisman puppet.
After that patriarch fell, he left this Nascent Soul talisman puppet with the sect as its paramount treasure.
The Nascent Soul talisman puppet served as the guardian deity of the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace and possessed other astonishing capabilities besides.
Relying on this puppet, the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace had weathered countless tribulations and survived through periods of decline without waning, enduring down to the present day among the ranks of top sects.
Rumors held that the Nascent Soul talisman puppet could never be taken out of the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace.
This was because successive generations of Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace disciples had only ever resorted to activating the Nascent Soul talisman puppet out of dire necessity, when the sect suffered a catastrophic crisis and foreign enemies assaulted their gates.
A Nascent Soul-tier talisman puppet coordinated with the mountain-protecting grand array rendered their defense impregnable.
Outside the sect gates, no Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace cultivator had ever been seen employing the talisman puppet in battle.
Now, however, Gongliang Yu had actually brought the Nascent Soul talisman puppet outside. It was evident the rumor was either mistaken, deliberately spread by the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace, or due to other reasons.
Gongliang Yu had awakened his sect's talisman puppet obviously intending to borrow its might to aid him in delving into the river of blood to seek the treasure. Yet his expression seemed abnormal; he appeared utterly terrified of the puppet.
This was because the talisman puppet crafted by the founding patriarch had originally harbored flaws. Over countless years, the puppet had grown increasingly sinister, and its other functions had been all but ruined.
Each time the Shangyuan Pure Tranquility Palace invoked it, they had to pay a tremendous price.
Injuring the enemy by a thousand at the cost of eight hundred of one's own.
Chapter 1236