Sky-Shrouding Profound Array

Taiyue Sect. Located in the Southern Frontier, although the Taiyue Sect was not as adept at using gu poisons as Ten Thousand Poisons Mountain, quite a few disciples within the sect cultivated divine abilities in this field. Poison, in particular, often proved extraordinarily effective during magical battles between low-level cultivators. Moreover, certain potent poisons could be obtained from the outside world without requiring years of arduous cultivation, yielding results much faster than practicing other divine abilities. It was precisely for this reason that disciples of other sects harbored immense dread toward both the Taiyue Sect and Ten Thousand Poisons Mountain. Inside the mountain gate, everything seemed normal. With the grand Dharma gathering imminent, many disciples of Mount Taiyue had traveled to observe the ceremony. Some followed their elders, while others, reluctant to be bound, gathered companions and boarded ships heading north, sightseeing along the way. The sect had grown considerably deserted. In days past, seniors at the False Core and Core Formation stages constantly came and went through the mountain gate, but today, several shichen passed without a single one in sight. The disciples tasked with guarding the mountain were thoroughly bored and drowsy. "Noon is almost here." A youthful-looking disciple stretched his back, squinting up at the blazing sun overhead. "Senior Brother Wu and the others will be here soon to relieve us. Ah! The Ullambana Festival is about to start. What a shame that I chickened out at the final moment last time and didn't dare assault my bottleneck. Otherwise, I would have had the chance to go and watch. That's a grand event held once every five hundred years! A Core Formation cultivator only lives for five hundred years; missing it this time is a lifelong regret!" The slender young man beside him wore a lazy expression. "The sect isn't restricting our movements. If you want to go so badly, just find someone to cover your shift and travel with friends like Senior Sister Liu Si and her group. Wouldn't that be a blast?" Fear crept across the youth's face, and he shook his head repeatedly. "I hear that fiends from the Northern Desolation have been moving south frequently, and Jinyu Province isn't peaceful. Those fiends don't care which sect you're from—they're bloodthirsty by nature! If you fall into their hands, the end is always the same! With my meager cultivation, getting skinned and eaten alive wouldn't leave me anywhere to cry for justice." "Coward!" The young man sneered. Refusing to back down, the youth retorted, "If you're so brave, Senior Brother Li, why didn't you go?" "I don't give a damn about that bullshit Dharma gathering. With that time, I might as well practice a few more incantations to give myself an extra means of saving my neck," the young man scoffed dismissively. The youth was not so easily fooled. "I heard there will be sparring matches at the gathering, and the Nascent Soul patriarchs of various sects will take the field in person. Isn't observing great powers duel much better than working behind closed doors?" "Small ability, big ambitions! Could you even understand a battle between Nascent Soul figures?" The young man retorted sharply. Just as he was about to continue lecturing his junior brother, he suddenly felt a wave of eerie chill. He reflexively looked up at the sky, freezing on the spot, his mouth hanging open for a long time. At the same time, the youth also sensed the light abruptly dimming. In their line of sight, a black shroud appeared in the heavens, stretching outward from deep within the sect. It looked not like a dark cloud, but rather a pitch-black curtain rapidly spreading until it covered the entire Taiyue Sect. Beneath the curtain lay pure darkness; not even the slightest ray of blazing sunlight could penetrate it. The black curtain originated from deep inside the sect, seemingly near the forbidden grounds. It was impossible to tell whether something had gone awry within the sect or if an ancestral patriarch was casting a grand divine ability. When the curtain draped overhead, night descended. It became pitch-black, dark enough that one could not see one's own fingers, let alone one's companions. "What hour is it?" "Why did it turn dark?" Chaos erupted all around. The young man finally snapped to his senses. He swiftly formed a hand seal, and a bead of light slowly rose with a flicker of yellow radiance from his fingertips while his other hand pressed the transmission talisman at his waist. Yet the talisman produced no response whatsoever. Receiving no signal, the young man felt an escalating sense of unease. He bellowed, "Form up the array! Quickly!" Immediately, a brief commotion stirred among the surrounding disciples, followed closely by an eerie silence. The young man's heart sank. By the dim yellow light, he saw the youth who had just been bickering with him standing stiffly, his face ashen and pale, like a walking corpse. Terror surged through his heart. In the next breath, before the young man could do anything, he froze in place. The vitality swiftly drained from his eyes, following in the youth's footsteps. Before the mountain gate of the Taiyue Sect, the gate-guarding disciples stood rooted like wooden stakes. To their deaths, they never knew how they died, nor who the culprit was! An evil wind swept over, and a streak of gray qi shot through the corpses, solidifying into a human figure before the mountain gate. The figure wore a gray robe and had their face completely concealed, but judging from the slender fingers and the silhouette beneath the fabric, it appeared to be a female cultivator. The female cultivator produced a clear crystal bottle, uncorked it, and lightly flicked her fingers. Wisps of ethereal soul shadows drifted from the corpses and were drawn into the bottle. "They're just low-level disciples, hardly worth looking at. Junior Sister, if you're lacking soul bodies, this senior brother can simply gift you a few bottles." A sinister voice approached from afar, coalescing beside the female cultivator into another gray-robed figure—this one a man. "I wouldn't dare take Senior Brother Liao's things." Seeing the man approach, the female cultivator instinctively stepped aside, corked the bottle, and shook it with satisfaction. "They are disciples of a major sect, after all. Their foundations are solid and their nascent spirits dense; the quality of your soul bodies might not even match theirs." The man chuckled with a sinister rasp. "Even Buddhism has its Joyous Meditation. Why should we demonic cultivators be bound by mundane propriety? Today, with the sky as our canopy and the earth as our bed, it is a joyous occasion! When will Junior Sister finally stop guarding against this senior brother with such vigilance?" "Once my demonic arts reach completion, my chastity will have to be sold anyway. If Senior Brother offers a higher price than Master, this junior sister wouldn't mind being your transient partner for a night." Her remark choked off the man's words. She turned her head toward the forbidden grounds of the Taiyue Sect. "A pity the sect had us guard the mountain gate; we won't run into high-level cultivators." The man said flatly, "Can't Junior Sister see that Master is protecting us? This is the Taiyue Sect. A counterattack with the full might of an entire sect is no trivial matter... Hm! Someone is coming!" The black curtain had stopped expanding once it reached the boundaries of the Taiyue Sect. Inside, the Taiyue Sect was deathly still, yet viewed from the outside, the sun shone brightly, birds sang amidst fragrant flowers, and everything appeared completely normal. Two streaks of escaping light flew in from the distance—a man and a woman, both disciples of the Taiyue Sect. The two had just returned from the Southern Frontier with considerable gains, intending to enter secluded cultivation within the sect to assimilate what they had gathered. Little did they imagine that the sect had already been overrun by demons. They flew past the mountain gate, laughing and chatting. In an instant, the smiles froze on their faces. They perished silently, their bodies crashing hard against the earth. Similar scenes played out repeatedly along the perimeter of the Taiyue Sect. The Taiyue Sect, one of the premier immortal sects in the Nineteen Misty Rain Provinces, had been reduced to a bloody hell! ... The forbidden grounds of the Taiyue Sect. Tenglong Cliff. This was the secluded cultivation ground of successive sect masters of the Taiyue Sect. Only great cultivators or Nascent Soul cultivators on the verge of a breakthrough possessed the qualifications to select an immortal's cave on Tenglong Cliff. Beneath Tenglong Cliff lay a bottomless abyss of ten thousand fathoms. Legend had it that in ancient times, a submerged dragon had leaped from the abyss and soared into ascension, hence its name. A strange wind blew across Tenglong Cliff without pause year-round, possessing the power to erode bones and melt souls. Without sufficient cultivation, one could not even gain a footing here. At this moment, a group of figures appeared on the rarely visited Tenglong Cliff. The group was split into two parts. Some stood in loose formation upon the protruding rocks of the cliff face, the majority being Core Formation cultivators. Having stood there for only a short while, some were already unable to endure it and flew back to the top of the cliff. These individuals were all clad in gray robes, hiding their heads and covering their faces. However, judging from the divine abilities they used to resist the strange wind, several factions had clearly joined forces. Before the cliff face, another group hovered in midair. The strange black wind blew up from the abyss with the ferocity of a gale, yet near these people, it parted silently, failing to stir even the corners of their robes, forming a stark contrast to those on the cliff face. They maintained a certain distance from one another, their factions clearly delineated. They no longer had any need to disguise their identities. Among them were old acquaintances of Qin Sang. Su Zinan and Mo Xingdao remained inseparable, though this time without the Dark Moon Guard at their side. The scar-faced man stood side by side with Cave Master Qiling, the two seemingly discussing something via voice transmission. Centipede-like scars still lined the scar-faced man's face, though they had faded somewhat since the last time, allowing the outline of his features to be vaguely discerned. Flanking the left and right, the two factions framed another group in the center led by a white-haired old man, which was the most populous. Among them was Elder Leng, who had previously gifted Qin Sang's incarnation the Gu God Token. On the outermost periphery of the crowd, two other individuals stood apart, belonging to neither side. However, their auras were not the slightest bit weaker than Su Zinan's or the others'—they were all great cultivators! One was burly and carried a heavy sword wrapped in white cloth on his back, its material indiscernible. This man looked thoroughly ordinary, with plain features, save for a pair of eyes that were exceedingly profound, as if nothing he saw could stir a ripple in him. In his hand, he held a token face down. On the back of the token was the character for "Earth." The sword-bearer stared intently at the white-haired old man's movements without uttering a word. The other wore white robes and covered his face with a blue mask. The mask appeared exceptionally supple, resembling a mass of flowing water, yet outsiders could not peer through this "water" to see his countenance; it merely reflected the observer. The white-robed man sat cross-legged in midair, his hands resting atop his knees. In his palms lay a piece of mystic ice, similar in style to the sword-bearer's token, yet markedly different—resembling an imitation. Similarly, Su Zinan gripped a piece of scorching red jade in his hand. Both were observing the white-haired old man while refining their tokens. "It is done! The Sky-Shrouding Profound Array is complete!" The white-haired old man exhaled lightly, surveyed the crowd, and said to the people behind him, "Old Man Yue must be scheming something at the Dharma gathering; he took away many experts. Even so, several formidable figures remain behind to guard the Taiyue Sect. Everyone, be meticulous! Junior Brother, the rest is in your hands. Ensure that the Taiyue Sect is sealed off completely—do not let anyone escape or send out word." The man took his orders and departed. The people waiting on the cliff face all followed him away. The scar-faced man turned to Cave Master Qiling and said, "I'll trouble the Cave Master to make a trip as well, lest an accident occurs and all our efforts go down the drain. After today, when the Wuxiang Immortal Sect reappears in the world, we will only have one chance." Cave Master Qiling agreed. Just as he was about to set off, Su Zinan called out to him. "Why not let Fellow Daoist Mo accompany the Cave Master? That will ensure nothing goes amiss." Having finished refining the red jade, Su Zinan looked toward the white-haired old man. "Opening the grand array of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect in a moment shouldn't require this many hands, should it?" The white-haired old man glanced at the others and nodded. "Three Five Phase Tokens and two imitation Five Phase Tokens, operated by five great cultivators, should give us a seventy percent certainty. If it doesn't suffice, it won't be too late to ask Fellow Daoist Mo for reinforcement. Although Fellow Daoist Su does not walk the Great Dao of Fire, your ability to manifest other Daos through the Dao of Blood is truly formidable—this old man is filled with admiration! Were it not for Fellow Daoist Su's assistance, I fear we would have had at most a fifty percent chance." Su Zinan smiled faintly and said, "You have only yourselves to blame for keeping Su in the dark all along. The Wuxiang Immortal Sect is merely a legacy of Deity Transformation. How could those ancestors of yours compare to my foster father? Could Su really be blinded by greed? Remember the enemy I asked you to investigate? If you had helped Su capture that person, we would have assembled the Five Phase Tokens long ago!" Hearing this, everyone looked over. "What does Fellow Daoist Su mean by that?" the white-haired old man asked curiously. Su Zinan sneered. "Back then, you were the master of the Six Prefectures Hall auction. Could you truly be unaware of that person's divine abilities? His fire-manipulation techniques are exceptionally overbearing. Ambushed by demon cultivators, he slaughtered two mid-stage metamorphosis great demons in the blink of an eye and sent a late-stage metamorphosis demon king fleeing in panic. Unless the rumors about the Wuxiang Immortal Sect were exaggerated, among the sects and forces of this era skilled in fire manipulation, none can rival the heritage of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect. That person is very likely the Fire Phase successor of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect!" The white-haired old man mused, "That person's divine abilities are indeed extraordinary. However, it is said that he was able to turn the tables on the demon cultivators because a helper secretly assisted him. The spiritual fire he commands is also completely different from the records, unlike a Fire Phase successor. Furthermore, that person only showed his face once before vanishing without a trace. His movements are elusive; unless he takes the initiative to reveal himself, there is no way to track him down." At this point, the scar-faced man, who had been listening all along, could not help interjecting, "Why did Fellow Daoist Su say the Five Phase Tokens could have been assembled? Can you be certain that this person possesses both the Water and Fire Phase Tokens?" Su Zinan, however, turned his gaze toward the white-robed man engrossed in refining the mystic ice, his tone enigmatic. "We'll have to ask this fellow daoist to find out." The white-robed man slowly raised his head, his expression hidden beneath the mask. "What does Fellow Daoist Su mean? I have no connection with that person, and today is the first time I have heard of him from Fellow Daoist Su." His tone was somewhat displeased, suspecting Su Zinan of leveling baseless accusations against him. Su Zinan sized him up from head to toe, then changed the subject. "Su was not asking about him, but about the whereabouts of the Water Phase Token. Since Fellow Daoist is the Water Phase successor, why do you not possess the Water Phase Token?" This was almost an interrogation. A chill crept into the white-robed man's tone. "Why must this old man possess the Water Phase Token? This fellow daoist holds the Earth Phase Token, yet he is not the Earth Phase successor. Is Fellow Daoist Su also going to ask where his token came from?" The sword-bearer had been watching the spectacle unfold. Not expecting to be drawn into it, he glanced at the white-robed man. Su Zinan said with a beaming smile, "Do not take offense, Fellow Daoist. Su is merely curious about what truly happened to the Wuxiang Immortal Sect back then. So, Fellow Daoist only obtained a portion of the Water Phase heritage and is not the true Water Phase successor?" The white-robed man grunted reluctantly, "Indeed!" The white-haired old man spoke up to smooth things over: "Back when the Wuxiang Immortal Sect was attacked by scoundrels, the sect disciples fled in all directions. Most only managed to carry away parts of the heritage, whereas the true successors might not have survived at all." "No wonder! It was Su's ignorance; please do not take offense, Fellow Daoist." Su Zinan nodded in realization and offered an apology. "Su once saw a tomb suspected to belong to the Water Element Master." Before anyone could respond, he spread his hands, an expression of regret washing over his face. "A pity someone beat me to it. By the time Su arrived, only ruins remained, so Su cannot be certain." "Was it that person?" Everyone finally understood why Su Zinan was pursuing that man so relentlessly; it was not merely about revenge. Upon hearing this news, their hearts leaped as well. What a pity the man had not shown himself. "It was him." Su Zinan nodded.