Repairing the Plank Road

Demon Monarch Tongyou, Xiang Qing, Daoist Chongyi, and Qingjun each held a talisman. Originally, one of the jade talismans had been entrusted to Dongyang Bo. After Dongyang Bo's unexpected disappearance, Daoist Chongyi took his place. Qin Sang and the others positioned themselves behind the four cultivators, working under their guidance to collectively activate the jade talismans and power the Inverted Nine Palaces Array. Illusory projections of heavenly palaces rose from the jade talismans, billowing with clouds of Yin and Yang Qi. The largest were the size of bushels, while the smallest were like go stones, resembling stars of varying brilliance and dimness. Before long, a river of stars cascaded downward into the void, laying out the Eight Trigrams and fixing the Nine Palaces to form an earthly plate. Li above, Kan below, Zhen to the left, and Dui to the right, with Gen, Xun, Kun, and Qian occupying the four corners. In an instant, everyone vanished inside the grand array, leaving behind only the slowly revolving array diagram. This was the upright Nine Palaces formation, structured upon the Later Heaven Eight Trigrams—authentic Daoist orthodoxy with boundless tactical transformations. Whoosh! Whoosh! No sooner had the grand array taken shape than bloody light poured forth like a torrential deluge, surging out from the banner gates. Even more astonishingly, once the bloody light enveloped the Inverted Nine Palaces Array, every lethal threat they had just encountered in the Black Pagoda array began to manifest one by one within the Banner Gate Grand Array. This gave Qin Sang and the others the uncanny illusion that they were trapped inside the Black Pagoda array itself—an active, living formation manipulated by a guiding hand. Of course, the power of the Banner Gate Grand Array could not truly compare to the Black Pagoda array, but it still caused their brows to furrow with an ominous foreboding. Rumble... Countless blood thunders surged out from the banner gates, showering down like rain before detonating with deafening booms. The Inverted Nine Palaces Array shuddered violently, engulfed in blood thunders and battered by a savage onslaught. Maintaining the formation, the group concealed themselves within the Nine Palaces, keeping outside attacks from penetrating their defenses. Meanwhile, they sought to shatter the Banner Gate Grand Array and force their way into the blood pool entrance. From Jingyu, they had learned that a blood pool lay below, crisscrossed with black chains, and that an ancient cultivator was sealed at its very bottom. The Corpse Flower Blood Amber was there as well. Earlier, only Jiang Chenzi and his cohorts had appeared in the Banner Gate Grand Array; Old Demon Ye was nowhere to be seen. Evidently, Old Demon Ye was occupied with cracking the blood pool's seal and had no attention to spare for this battle, leaving him no choice but to send Jiang Chenzi and the others to set up an array and hold them off. Meanwhile, the alliance's top experts were fully assembled. Powering the Inverted Nine Palaces Array together, their formation was in no way inferior to the Banner Gate Grand Array. For the sake of the Corpse Flower Blood Amber and the ancient cultivator, Qin Sang also cooperated with all his might. He secretly employed Witch Clan secret techniques to boost his Heavenly Eye divine ability, searching for any vulnerability in the Banner Gate Grand Array. In everyone's estimation, breaking through the Banner Gate Grand Array's blockade while Old Demon Ye was tied down should not have been difficult. Yet to their surprise, the banner array's might proved far greater than anticipated. Demon Monarch Tongyou and Qingjun exchanged a glance and bellowed in unison. Chanting incantations together, they pushed the grand array's power nearly to its peak. Boom! A brilliant light flared as two pillars of radiance—one black and one white—soared into the sky, repelling the bloody light and throwing the Banner Gate Grand Array into utter turmoil. The two grand arrays violently clashed. Yet despite their efforts, they could find no obvious flaw, remaining firmly blocked at the threshold. Seizing the moment when the two grand arrays collided, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly searched in every direction. However, the bloody light was far too dense; penetrating layer upon layer of obstruction to pick through the array lines bit by bit proved excruciatingly slow. Suddenly, Qin Sang caught a crucial clue and cried out in alarm, "Not good! The Banner Gate Grand Array can connect to the blood mist inside the Black Pagoda array, drawing upon its power!" The others were thoroughly shaken upon hearing this. Only then did they realize that Old Demon Ye understood this place far better than they had imagined—he had actually refined three treasure banners to serve as a conduit, tapping directly into the power of the Black Pagoda array! No wonder the Banner Gate Grand Array was so powerful. Even without Old Demon Ye presiding over it, there was no way they could break through the blockade in short order. By the time they shattered the formation, he would have long since achieved his aim. "Unless we burn our blood essence to forcefully stimulate the array implements' core essence," Qingjun said in a heavy voice. "However, doing so would severely deplete our vitality, leaving us powerless to contest Old Demon Ye once we breach it." Qin Sang's brow furrowed slightly. While the Corpse Flower Blood Amber was not an absolute necessity for him, a treasure capable of directly advancing a Nascent Soul cultivator's cultivation realm was exceedingly rare in this world—something he could not afford to pass up. After a brief contemplation, he turned to Jingyu and asked, "The Black Pagoda is in ruins. Could the ancient restrictions at the core have escaped the ancient calamity and remained completely intact? Do you still recall what you saw back then, Fellow Daoist?" Jingyu immediately grasped Qin Sang's intention upon hearing his question. The Corpse Flower Blood Amber was crucial to her future tribulation transcendence. She racked her brains, carefully recalling her ordeal from all those years ago. After a moment, she replied in rapid succession, "The ancient restrictions here are far more complete than elsewhere, but they did suffer damage and have broken sections. It's just that when I discovered the ancient cultivator's plot back then, I was solely focused on escaping with my life and didn't have time to inspect them closely. I only remember a few spots, and I can't say for sure whether a person could squeeze through them." Repairing the plank road by day, crossing secretly to Chencang by night. Seeing that the Banner Gate Grand Array could not be breached quickly, Qin Sang had conceived this alternate approach. Otherwise, remaining at an impasse would only result in drawing water with a wicker basket—an effort entirely in vain. Not only would they fail to capture the ancient cultivator, but the Corpse Flower Blood Amber would also fall into Old Demon Ye's hands. The others exchanged glances, all visibly tempted; it was certainly worth a try. "Wasting our strength here is no solution," Qingjun said, nodding. "Given the circumstances, our only choice is to test Fellow Daoist Mingyue's plan." Remembering something else, she added, "We had best avoid letting Sin Abyss detect our movements, or another variable will arise. Some of us must stay behind to maintain the Inverted Nine Palaces Array; we cannot pull away too many hands." Demon Monarch Tongyou agreed. "Indeed. Doing so offers two advantages: the clash of the arrays and the shockwaves battering the ancient restrictions will provide cover for the infiltration. Furthermore, catching Old Demon Ye off guard by appearing before him unexpectedly will make our task much easier. The inverted Nine Palaces formation specializes in trapping and slaying. When the time comes, whoever holds the array must adapt to the situation, switching tactical stances to pin down the Banner Gate Grand Array and prevent them from reinforcing Old Demon Ye." Had the area below held an ancient cultivator's vault or a primeval secret realm, they might have vied for the chance to enter. After all, whoever entered first would have the best opportunity to claim the most valuable treasures. Now, however, their objective was an ancient cultivator. As long as they captured him and extracted the ancient secrets, everyone would benefit. Moreover, directly facing Old Demon Ye inevitably carried great peril; remaining outside under the protection of the Inverted Nine Palaces Array was actually the safest option. Consequently, there was no dispute, and the roster was settled swiftly. The most delicate matter lay in choosing who would hold the jade talismans. To pull the wool over their enemies' eyes and keep Jiang Chenzi and the others in the dark, the Inverted Nine Palaces Array's power could not noticeably diminish. Daoist Chongyi and his two disciples cultivated a unique technique. Though their strength had surged after consuming the medicinal pills, they were subject to certain restrictions—for instance, they could not stray too far from one another, which limited their mobility. Facing a figure as renowned and seasoned as Old Demon Ye, they knew they could not deceive his eyes, making it far better for them to stay behind and wield the jade talismans. Working in unison, the three of them could take charge of a talisman each. The final selection, however, proved somewhat unexpected. Qin Sang had assumed it would be his senior sister. Having obtained the Yuanshen Sect's legacy, she possessed profound attainments in array formations; having her oversee the Inverted Nine Palaces Array would ensure absolute reliability. Unexpectedly, Demon Monarch Tongyou directly tapped Qingjun to accompany the infiltration team, leaving Xiang Qing behind to anchor the grand array. Xiang Qing had already refined several wisps of Ancestral Holy Fire, significantly bolstering his strength. Yet in Demon Monarch Tongyou's eyes, Qingjun's prowess was still greater than Xiang Qing's.