Qin Sang looked toward Yunyouzi and saw him standing with several fellow disciples from the Taiyi Dan Sect. Their eyes met, and they nodded to each other in greeting without exchanging words, then focused their gazes on Che Yutao, wondering what task these Golden Core Masters would assign them.
After witnessing the scene just now, everyone wore exceptionally solemn expressions, feeling secretly uneasy. The smile on Mu Yifeng's face had long faded, as he knew in his heart that this trip might not be an easy or enviable assignment.
Even with four Golden Core Masters joining forces, they had been powerless against the black hole, and had even been forced to retreat and evade when the dark light counterattacked. If the restriction was already this formidable before they had even entered the ancient cultivator's abandoned abode, wouldn't the interior be vastly more dangerous?
Earlier, someone had jokingly remarked that they were merely cannon fodder paving the way for those coming later. Was that jest about to turn into a grim prophecy?
Unfortunately, they did not know the full contents of the clues, knowing very little about this ancient cultivator's abandoned abode.
Qin Sang's thoughts raced as he evaluated his own capabilities. With his several magic tools and three baleful corpses, his strength was by no means the weakest among this group.
As the saying went regarding choosing what to pursue and what to forsake, things worth risking his life for might not even exist in the ancient cultivator's abandoned abode. Once inside, he would not strive to find countless treasures; his primary objective was simply to stay alive, which shouldn't be too difficult.
"Senior Brother Mu..."
Qin Sang sent a voice transmission to Mu Yifeng. "Apart from Martial Uncle Che and Martial Uncle Xuan Yu, I haven't met any of these seniors. Could you introduce them to me, lest I inadvertently commit a breach of etiquette and offend them later?"
Although Qin Sang knew which Core Formation stage cultivators were stationed at Xuanlu Pass, he could not match their names to their faces. He had never seen the other three before and feared he might make a mistake by merely guessing their identities.
What he asked was no confidential matter, so he was not worried about being noticed by these Golden Core stage cultivators.
Standing beside Qin Sang, Mu Yifeng replied impassively through a voice transmission, "That woman in palace attire who wields the phoenix hairpin is Senior Sikong Muyue of the Taiyi Dan Sect. That middle-aged scholar is Senior Du Yi, the Sect Master of the Qingluo Sect. Senior Dique, who uses a crutch, was originally a rogue cultivator who later became a guest elder of Xuanlu Pass, and he has the closest ties with sects like the Qingluo Sect and the Medicine King Sect."
Listening to Mu Yifeng's pointers, Qin Sang looked at each of them in turn and committed them to memory. Confirming that none of them was a Golden Core Master from the Medicine King Sect, he gave a subtle nod.
Yin Xingge had very likely been acting under the orders of a Golden Core Master when entering the mine shaft to search for Qianyang crystals, and Qin Sang's Fire Jade Centipede had been obtained from Yin Xingge. If a Golden Core Master from the Medicine King Sect were present, Qin Sang wouldn't have dared release the Fire Jade Centipede even if it bore no imprint. Now, however, he had no such reservations.
Using the Fire Jade Centipede to lead the way, he might just be able to seize the initiative among the crowd.
The Fire Jade Centipede could only sense fire-attribute spiritual objects, which were not as immediately useful as spirit wood, but they could still be traded. Rather than aimlessly searching for spirit wood, it made far more sense to first secure whatever he could lay his hands on.
Having made up his mind, Qin Sang settled his focus and listened intently to Che Yutao's orders.
"Fellow Daoist Sikong will shortly impart a joint-attack formation to you, called the Nine Luminaries Star River Formation. You will have one shichen to comprehend it, and then rely on this formation to enter the ancient immortal's abandoned abode..."
With that, Che Yutao nodded to Sikong Muyue. Sikong Muyue lightly flicked her fingers, and over twenty streaks of flowing light flew from her scallion-white fingertips, drifting toward Qin Sang and the others respectively.
Seeing the stream of light heading straight for the space between his brows, Qin Sang resisted the urge to fight back. The moment the light sank between his brows, a new piece of knowledge instantly appeared in his mind—the method to deploy the Nine Luminaries Star River Formation.
The Nine Luminaries Star River Formation required nine people to take the positions of the Nine Luminaries, utilizing the formation to pool their power and unleash a mighty force far exceeding the sum of their individual abilities.
The formation was exceptionally intricate, demanding a great deal from all nine people. Qin Sang dared not be careless and immediately focused his mind on comprehending it. Fortunately, he had studied Senior Sister Qingting's notes on formations and possessed a fair understanding of the Dao of formations, so grasping it was not difficult for him.
In less than a shichen, Qin Sang opened his eyes, a faint starlight seemingly twinkling in his pupils. Pulling his consciousness back from his comprehension of the formation, he glanced at the others.
Some had already grasped the formation and wore relaxed expressions; others knitted their brows tightly, deep in painstaking thought.
After one shichen, everyone had comprehended the formation. Without waiting for Che Yutao's command, they formed groups of nine and took up their positions according to the formation's requirements.
Che Yutao nodded in satisfaction. "Now, attempt to activate the formation, then bring the three groups together to stack the three formations!"
The crowd was taken aback. To stack the formations—did that mean it would take the combined power of twenty-seven people just to break the restriction?
Under Che Yutao's urging, no one dared hesitate. They quickly moved toward the center, channeling spiritual power from their bodies as they closed in, gathering it overhead.
As soon as the formation took shape, the spiritual power above surged like gathering clouds and rising winds, then began to merge. Once the spiritual power stabilized, it ultimately formed a dazzling river of stars.
It was as if a section of the Milky Way had been cut from the horizon and brought down to the mortal realm.
The river of stars was breathtakingly beautiful. Drawn by the formation's power, the cultivators slowly drifted into it, radiance surging around them as they transformed into the nine brightest stars within the river.
The river of stars brought together the power of nine people, spiritual power harbored among the stars, faintly giving off powerful fluctuations.
This was not yet the end. None of them had forgotten Che Yutao's order. After the three star rivers came into being, they linked together into a single whole, forming an even deeper, vaster starry sky!
"Good!"
Seeing the formation succeed on the first attempt, Che Yutao showed a look of approval and called out loudly, "From this moment on, slowly draw near the restriction of the ancient cultivator's abandoned abode. Everyone, focus your minds inward and fully channel the power of the star river to protect yourselves. No matter what occurs, you are not permitted to resist in the slightest. Rest assured, if any life-threatening danger arises, we will rescue you."
Completely absorbed in driving the Nine Luminaries Star River Formation, the crowd had no spare energy to reply, but immediately complied with the command, moving slowly toward the center of the stone-strewn area.
Qin Sang was enveloped within the river of stars and carried along by its power. Even without Che Yutao's instructions, he could not make any independent moves; he could only drift along with the star river.
As the star river entered the stone-strewn area, drawn by spiritual resonances, the black hole in the center materialized out of thin air.
Within the star river, everyone kept the orders firmly in mind and focused entirely on shielding themselves; the star river made no offensive moves whatsoever. Consequently, although the fluctuations within the black hole grew increasingly violent, the dark light bearing that destructive aura from before did not appear.
At the same time, Che Yutao and the others exchanged glances and moved in unison. The five gathered around the black hole, watching with some tension as the star river approached it.
The instant the star river was about to touch the black hole, the atmosphere grew solemn to the extreme. Fluctuations of spiritual power surfaced around the five Core Formation stage cultivators, ready at any moment to step in and rescue them.
Upon touching the black hole, the star river seemed to be squeezed by immense gravity and contracted slightly, yet showed not the slightest sign of shattering; the front section of the star river had already entered the black hole with ease.
Seeing this, Che Yutao and the others' eyes lit up with delight.
"The restriction's force encountered by Foundation Establishment cultivators is indeed different from what we faced!"
Che Yutao shouted, "Everyone, hear my command: reverse the formation and withdraw from the black hole!"
Chapter 227