Jingyu gave a bitter smile. "Fellow Daoist need not spare my blushes. Back then, I was carelessly lured into the Blood Lake, where I met a formidable enemy and barely escaped with my life. Today, it was only thanks to Fellow Daoist Mingyue's rescue that I was able to break free..."
Qin Sang watched the chaotic melee ahead and asked, "Were you attacked by flesh puppets?"
Demon Monarch Tongyou said helplessly, "We actively hunted them down, hoping to capture one. We exhausted all means trying to track Old Demon Ye, but couldn't find a trace of him; we were buzzing about like headless flies. Then we thought to start with the grand array and find its core. But even though the Black Pagoda grand array is heavily damaged, it remains vast and complex. With our abilities, we couldn't decipher its patterns anytime soon. The flesh puppets were likely spawned by the Black Pagoda array and have myriad ties to it, so we thought to make a breakthrough through them."
Qingjun followed up, "The earlier tremors in the Black Pagoda array were likely caused by Old Demon Ye breaking some restriction. He deliberately laid a false trail to tie us down outside the Blood Gate for a time, precisely to prevent us from tracing him. Now, no sound or aura leaks from them at all. If we don't unravel the Black Pagoda array as soon as possible, I fear we won't be able to stop them."
Saying so, Qingjun glanced at Jingyu.
Demon Monarch Tongyou also revealed an expectant look.
Understanding their unspoken question, Jingyu said, "Fellow Daoists, have the others stop first. While it's true the flesh puppets were spawned by the Black Pagoda array, they have no intellect and can hardly be considered living beings; even if you capture one alive, you won't be able to interrogate it. I know where the core of the grand array is. That was where I ran into peril back then. Sin Abyss went to great lengths to open the Blood Lake, and nine times out of ten, that is their goal."
Then Jingyu gave a brief account of what she had experienced back then, naturally omitting the existence of the Corpse Flower Blood Amber.
Having disengaged from the flesh puppets, the crowd was utterly astounded to hear Jingyu's tale.
"No wonder Sin Abyss mobilized so heavily, abandoning even the battlefield! An ancient cultivator is sealed here, and has actually managed to linger on to this day?"
"The ancient cultivator's identity is unknown, and he tried to capture Fellow Daoist Jingyu as food for blood. He's certainly no benevolent figure! Does Old Demon Ye even know what consequences releasing him would bring?"
"Fellow Daoist Mingyue's speculation wasn't unfounded—perhaps Old Demon Ye knows the ancient cultivator is at the end of his rope, and in his boundless ambition, wants to imprison the ancient cultivator to interrogate him for ancient secrets!"
...
Everyone buzzed with discussion, their interest instantly piqued by Jingyu's words.
They were all Nascent Soul cultivators, the paramount figures of this era, yet they faced the predicament of having their path forward severed.
No treasure could compare in importance to their path of cultivation.
Though among everyone present, not one might succeed in breaking through to the late Nascent Soul stage, who could resist the temptation to glimpse ancient secrets from an ancient cultivator's mouth?
Furthermore, if Sin Abyss succeeded in forcing out ancient secret arts and had their strength soar, with Old Demon Ye's brazen ambition, the two domains would never know peace again.
Snatching the ancient cultivator away would benefit everyone.
Having learned the truth, they did not hesitate in the slightest, immediately deciding to follow Jingyu to the core of the grand array to seize the ancient cultivator or prevent Old Demon Ye from undoing the seal, depending on the circumstances.
Jingyu led the way in front, with the crowd following closely behind.
The grand array was indeed exceedingly intricate; had Jingyu not guided them, Old Demon Ye would likely have long taken the man away by the time they found the core.
Within the array, countless lethal perils shifted in dazzling succession. As they sped along, silhouettes of black pagodas began appearing in denser clusters, signifying they were drawing closer and closer to the array's core.
After speeding along for a while longer and bypassing pagoda after pagoda, Jingyu suddenly halted.
The others stopped behind her, and saw two black pagodas standing side by side up ahead.
These two black pagodas were almost identical to those seen elsewhere, with the unique feature being that another two pagodas stood side by side behind them. The four black pagodas anchored the four cardinal directions, framing a square space between them.
Inside this space, none of the previously encountered perils existed. There was only a thick cloud of blood mist churning ceaselessly around a peculiar black pagoda, unable to escape the bounds enforced by the four pagodas.
This black pagoda was larger and loftier than any they had seen before.
The crowd's gazes shifted, settling onto that black pagoda one after another. Yet, seeing no figure, they could not help but ask, "Is the ancient cultivator sealed within this black pagoda?"
Jingyu sneered and shook her head. "Have you all not realized it yet? This pagoda is merely an illusion produced by the grand array—a deceptive trick. However, it is true that the person is sealed between the four black pagodas. The illusion created by the Black Pagoda array is extraordinary, seeming as though it truly exists. We must first dispel the illusion before we can find the passage inside."
The crowd was astonished; indeed, none of them had recognized it as an illusion, and they could only marvel at the subtlety of the grand array.
Only Qin Sang had detected a hint of anomaly beforehand.
Even so, he had not expected the entire black pagoda to be an illusion. Alerted by Jingyu's words, he quickly focused his gaze.
Demon Monarch Tongyou frowned. "Wouldn't forcibly dispelling the illusion expose our presence in advance? Fellow Daoist, do you have a better plan?"
Jingyu shook her head. "I only know how to break it by brute force."
The crowd exchanged glances. They had originally intended to approach in secret and strike while their foes were off guard, but that seemed impossible now, and time would not allow them to search leisurely for a method to unravel the array.
Qin Sang studied it for quite a while, unable to devise a better alternative for the moment.
After conferring, they decided to strike!
Those stepping forward were Jingyu, Demon Monarch Tongyou, and Daoist Chongyi along with his two disciples—all of whom possessed methods to dispel illusions.
Demon Monarch Tongyou produced a black gourd. With a flick of his finger, the blood gourd flew high into the air, and then belched out clusters of black Yin Thunder as large as human heads.
These Yin Thunders floated around Demon Monarch Tongyou, dormant and held in reserve.
Daoist Chongyi and his two disciples sat cross-legged on the ground. Each took out an azure medicinal pill and swallowed it. Then, Daoist Chongyi summoned a fresh, verdant spirit herb.
This spirit herb looked as if it had just been freshly plucked, its blades stiff and straight like rapiers, spinning before Daoist Chongyi.
The blades were multicolored, appearing not like a naturally grown plant, but rather a secret treasure.
Daoist Chongyi grasped the secret treasure and waved his arm, sweeping out waves of wondrous light imbued with the power of the Five Elements, while Si Di and his fellow disciple remained completely motionless.
Qin Sang sensed that the fluctuations of wondrous light swept out by Daoist Chongyi grew stronger with each wave, already surpassing the capability of Daoist Chongyi alone. Master and disciples were jointly driving the secret treasure, yet he could not even tell how they managed it.
"Could it be because of that pill?"
Qin Sang asked his senior sister via voice transmission.
Only then did he learn that the true heritage of the Taiyi Dan Sect actually consisted of only a single cultivation technique, though different practitioners reached different insights and manifestations of it.
Yet through that kind of pill, they could temporarily transmute the technique's properties so that their minds and true essence became interconnected. Not only could this unleash greater power, but it could also achieve feats impossible for a single person, such as driving treasures beyond their normal limits.
Qin Sang marveled in amazement upon hearing this.
Just then, Jingyu revealed her monster form. Opening her beak, a flash of silver-white lightning darted into the blood mist, heading straight for the illusory black pagoda.
Demon Monarch Tongyou converged all the Yin Thunders together and unleashed them.
Daoist Chongyi swept his arm repeatedly, sending wondrous light pouring forth like flowing water in a surging torrent, closely following behind.
Chapter 1257