Anomalous Sign

With nothing else to do, Qi and Wang drew back to keep watch on the periphery. Qin Sang stayed close to the altar, using his spiritual sense to soothe the Fire Jade Centipede while watching Valley Master Mu's movements. Valley Master Mu sat cross-legged atop the altar, raised both hands, and formed an unusual hand seal, holding it completely still. At the same time, his lips moved slightly as he chanted obscure, indecipherable syllables. As the secret technique got underway, the altar began to emanate an azure light from within. Instead of diffusing outward, the azure glow gathered across the altar's surface, surging upward like flowing water. Gradually, Valley Master Mu and the three spirit insects were bathed in the azure light, their figures blurring until they were almost impossible to distinguish with the naked eye. Instinctively uneasy, the Fire Jade Centipede gently twitched the legs along its flanks. Right then, the altar shuddered violently. *Whoosh!* The azure light snapped inward, coalescing above the altar into a roughly circular diagram densely packed with eerie runes. The three spirit insects sat precisely at three vertices, each cocooned in azure light, and involuntarily began to revolve along with the diagram. Not only the Fire Jade Centipede, but the other two spirit insects grew uneasy as well. Reassured by their masters, they soon settled down, and the insect formation was successfully established! Suddenly, Valley Master Mu's voice cracked like spring thunder as he shouted a bizarre incantation. The Tide-Guiding Horseshoe Crab and the Black Demon Ant were the first to react; the power within their bodies was drawn out by the formation and, following the shifts of the array, steadily channeled into the Fire Jade Centipede. In an instant, the Fire Jade Centipede's body pulled taut as a wire. Its legs tucked inward tightly against its sides. Flames erupted from within it, whipping wildly. This was only the beginning. As the insect formation pressed on, the Black Demon Ant grew somewhat listless, and the Tide-Guiding Horseshoe Crab's aura began to wane. In contrast, the Fire Jade Centipede's aura grew increasingly powerful. Although it was an exotic insect whose potential far exceeded ordinary spirit insects, its stage of cultivation was lower than both of the others, trailing the Tide-Guiding Horseshoe Crab by an entire major realm. Before long, the influx exceeded what it could withstand. Foreign power was forcibly poured into its body. The Fire Jade Centipede curled into a tight knot, shivering in agony. Qin Sang watched its condition intently, ready to intervene at any moment. He would not permit Valley Master Mu to act recklessly and inflict irreversible damage, or worse, cause the Fire Jade Centipede to share the fate of the Jade-Biting Bee. So long as any injuries remained within acceptable limits, he would have plenty of time to help it recover later. Watching from the periphery, Qi and Wang also wore tense expressions. Valley Master Mu's mastery over the insect formation was consummate. The channeled force was kept remarkably gentle, minimizing the harm done to the Fire Jade Centipede as much as possible. As time passed, the Fire Jade Centipede's aura surged ever higher, soon surpassing that of the Black Demon Ant. "Enough!" Qin Sang stared fixedly at the centipede and abruptly called a halt. Valley Master Mu's eyelids twitched, and he readily complied, staying his hand at once. Opening his eyes, he glanced at the Fire Jade Centipede and gave a slight nod. "It's still a hair shy of its limit, but this should be enough—it is virtually on the cusp of the fourth metamorphosis. If this doesn't work, channeling more will be pointless anyway... Let us try!" Qin Sang sent out his spiritual sense. Under the excruciating pain, the Fire Jade Centipede's feeble consciousness had become utterly muddled. It took Qin Sang considerable effort just to establish a tenuous connection and do everything he could to soothe it. Slowly, the centipede's curled body unfurled. All four watched it with bated breath. After a few breaths, the Fire Jade Centipede's upper body swayed slightly and gave a subtle reach forward. The movement was minuscule, yet it could not escape the eyes of Nascent Soul cultivators. Valley Master Mu's pupils narrowed, and he immediately looked toward Qin Sang. He saw Qin Sang's expression turn grave. A moment later, Qin Sang shifted his gaze from the centipede toward the formation beside them and pointed. "There!" A surge of wild joy swept through the group. The Fire Jade Centipede had truly sensed the entrance to the Jinghai Sect! Qin Sang was not certain whether this was due to the Myriad Spirit Fruit, but one thing was clear: inside lay a treasure that called to the Fire Jade Centipede. The message relayed by the centipede's consciousness just now had been fleeting, but its direction was unmistakable. It was not in the dead center of the formation, but slightly to the right. Having long prepared himself, the cultivator surnamed Qi did not hesitate in the slightest upon hearing this. With a blur of his figure, he charged toward the indicated spot. Yet before he could get close, the previous phenomenon recurred, and the formation instantly displaced him to the opposite side. They had anticipated this, however, and were not discouraged. Qi and Wang unleashed various methods in successive attempts, yet all returned empty-handed, leaving them frowning deeply. They brought out their respective magic treasures and launched full-force strikes at the supposed entrance, only for their attacks to vanish like stones cast into the sea. The formation did not displace the attacks, but neither did it react in any visible way. Maintaining the insect formation while dividing his attention to observe, Valley Master Mu spoke up: "It seems impossible to physically approach the entrance within the formation. We can only force our way in! The lack of any phenomenon likely means our strike isn't powerful enough to break the formation." Before the words had completely left his mouth, Qin Sang interrupted him. "The position changed! Over there!" Hearing this, the faces of the other three changed dramatically. "The entrance to the Jinghai Sect can actually move within the formation! No wonder all our previous probes yielded nothing," the female cultivator surnamed Wang said in a grave voice. "And ordinary attacks won't do anything—we must strike together and focus all our power on a single point!" Valley Master Mu nodded. "Deploy the array!" Qi and Wang returned to the front of the altar. Working in seamless coordination, they tapped their mustard seed bags, and a series of blue banners flew out in a steady stream. Shifting positions rapidly, they moved with deft precision. Before long, an intricate banner array took shape around them. Standing at its center, they formed hand seals to activate it. Submerged beneath the water, the array was unaffected, its banners fluttering freely. Pure water elemental energy condensed steadily toward the array's center. As the two Nascent Souls drove the array with full strength, the seawater churned, and a crystal sphere of water, clear as glacial ice, gradually formed. After a dizzying sequence of transformations, it condensed into a seven-foot-long, transparent water sword! The water sword pointed into the distance toward the formation, poised to strike. At the same time, Valley Master Mu retrieved a serpent spear. The spearhead gleamed with sharp blue light, incomparably keen. At first only an arm's length, it flew into the air as Valley Master Mu flicked a finger, swelling drastically in size, its tip likewise aimed squarely at the formation. "Daoist?" the cultivator surnamed Qi called out. All three turned their eyes toward Qin Sang. During this time, the entrance had shifted several more times. Judging by the pattern pieced together from the Fire Jade Centipede's feedback, it moved roughly every three breaths, yet its new position was entirely random. Qin Sang nodded slightly. With a thought, the Jinchen Sword leaped out from the Qianjun Ring. "There!" At Qin Sang's command, four Nascent Souls struck with all their might. *Swish! Swish! Swish!* The water sword, the serpent spear, and the Jinchen Sword—three overpowering strikes slammed into the very same point at the exact same instant! Previously, Qi and Wang's attacks had merely passed straight through. This time, what resounded was a deafening roar! *Boom!* Time seemed to freeze as the three attacks came to a standstill in midair. At the same moment, deep within the formation, a speck of crimson light bloomed and spread at visible speed, like ink dispersing in water.