In the boundless desert, the temperature was still rising. The pervasive heat made people panic. Cultivators who couldn't use their spiritual power to resist the high temperature clearly sensed the heat poison and the essence sun fire drilling into their skin, which magnified their fear.
Just when they were at the end of their rope, they had placed all their hopes on the only two Nascent Soul cultivators present, Gou Liang and Li Minghua. Now, when they heard their humble words, they could not help but feel disappointed and anxious.
But no one could blame them. After all, it was too difficult and impractical to ask the sword cultivators and elixir cultivators to break such a mysterious and profound ancient formation.
Everyone immediately turned their attention to the Taoists of the Myriad Buddhas Sect and the Taiqing Sect. Although they didn't specialize in the formation, there were many formation cultivators in the sect, and the formation heritage was profound.
The Myriad Buddhas Sect and the Taiqing Sect's cultivators, who had high hopes, looked at each other. The leader of the Myriad Buddhas Sect, Immortal Wuwei, chanted the name of Buddha and said, "Amitabha, monks don't lie. Although my junior brothers and I have practiced the formation, we are not proficient in it and have shallow knowledge. We really can't do it now. "
The Taiqing Sect's cultivator also smiled bitterly and echoed, "Yes. If the elders in the sect were here, they might have a way to break the formation. But the highest cultivation among us is only a fourth-grade formation master. It's not easy to break the formation. "
Although they understood the reason, no one was willing to accept this conclusion.
"What should we do now? Don't tell me that we're just going to sit here and wait for our deaths! "
Immortal Hua Fei, a disciple of the Thousand Talismans Sect, couldn't help but say. His lips were dry and cracked, and he kept swallowing the little saliva left. He couldn't support himself and leaned on his fellow disciples. How could he not panic when his life was in danger?
The Wuji Sect's disciple also said, "Instead of waiting for death, why don't we explore the way out? Maybe we can find a way out."
The Blue Sky Sect's disciple immediately rejected, "No, this formation is incomparably powerful. If we stay together, we can take care of each other. If we act separately, if something happens …"
The Xuanyang Sect's disciple said impatiently, "This and that won't work. Who can come up with an idea?"
"Since this Immortal's Cave has appeared, it means that this senior also intends to let the descendants enter and have a look. There must be a way out. In my opinion, there is nothing here other than the stone tablet and sand. The secret to breaking the formation must be hidden on the stone tablet. "
The disciples of the School of Imperial Beasts had always been gentle and patient. At this moment, they looked at the stone tablet calmly.
The disciple of the Taiqing Sect was not so optimistic. He said worriedly, "But there is nothing on the stone tablet except for those few sentences. If we can't figure out the mystery in the words in ten hours, we will definitely die …"
Everyone was talking at once, Gou Liang and Li Minghua did not express their stance, so the disciples of the Seven Sword Sect and the Ling Xiao Arch were all silent. Only when they saw that these people could not say anything meaningful did Li Minghua give a look to one of his martial nephews.
The Ling Xiao Dan Cultivator understood and said impatiently, "Stop talking. Rather than wasting your breath arguing here, why don't you calm down and think of a way out? What's the use of just talking without doing anything? "
Then, he turned to the disciples of the Jade Drop Sect and said, "Fellow Daoists, the Jade Drop Sect has been next to the River of Forgetfulness ever since it was founded. Looking at the words' River of Forgetfulness' and 'Endless Yellow Springs' engraved on the stone stele, perhaps the owner of this secret realm has some sort of relationship with your sect. Previously, there were people who came to explore this place. Did they find anything? "
"This …"
Hearing this, the disciples of the Bi Luo Sect hesitated.
An impatient cultivator could not help but shout, "Say something! If you don't say anything now, are you going to tell the King of Hell what you want to say? It's fine if you die, but if you hide it and implicate us, we will see if our sect will forgive your Bi Luo Sect! "
These words were too harsh, but no one stopped them.
At this juncture, the Bi Luo Sect's concealment had angered everyone.
Facing everyone's hostile gazes, the faces of the Bi Luo Sect disciples stiffened. The leader, Enlightened Master Wen Yu, hesitated for a bit before saying, "Fellow Daoists, please forgive us. It's not that we want to hide it, but this matter involves the reputation of our ancestors. The sect master has ordered us not to talk about it in private, so we don't dare to say anything."
Li Minghua spoke up at the right time, "Since it's a matter of life and death, I'm sure our ancestors won't blame us. Brother Wen Yu, there's no harm in saying it. Once we leave this place, we won't say anything that shouldn't be said. "
"Yes, yes, if you don't believe us, we can make a heart demon oath — —"
"Don't be like that, Wen Yu naturally believes in your character." Wen Yu hurriedly spoke up to stop the conversation. Seeing that he had achieved the effect he wanted, he no longer concealed it and sighed, "The reason for this matter is an old matter from tens of thousands of years ago. Even our Jadefall Faction's knowledge is very limited. We only know that long before our sect was established, our ancestor, Fairy Bi Yao, met a rogue cultivator, but unexpectedly, that person turned out to be a demonic cultivator … "
While everyone was listening attentively, a sharp scream suddenly interrupted Enlightened Master Wen Yu's narration.
"Ah! Hot, so hot! Save me! "
It was the Thousand Talismans Sect disciple named Hua Fei who let out a blood-curdling scream. His skin cracked without warning, and in less than a breath's time, his hair had already been burnt to ashes. His exposed hands, neck, face, and even his scalp had been scorched red like charcoal. His skin and flesh were charred black, and along the lines of his blood vessels, there was a red flame.
It was as if he was being tortured in a pot of oil. He was in so much pain that he rolled on the ground, clutching his face and screaming heartbreakingly. His brother, Enlightened Master Hua Lian, who was closest to him, subconsciously reached out to pull him. When his hand touched his skin and flesh, he screamed and hurriedly pulled back his hand, but his fingers had already been burned to charcoal!
Enlightened Master Hua Lian was scalded to the point of shaking his hand. When he raised it again, his injured middle finger and index finger had already been cut off, leaving only a little bit of bone and flesh connected to his palm. The red flame was about to drill into his palm along the bone — — At the critical moment, Enlightened Master Hua Cheng, the leader of the Thousand Talismans Sect, made a prompt decision to cut off his right hand, saving his life.
"Get out of the way! Everyone get out of the way!! "
Seeing this, everyone was shocked. Their instinct to avoid harm made them quickly move away from the burning man who was rolling on the ground.
"Senior, Senior, save me … Senior …"
At this time, Enlightened Master Hua Fei's entire body was burning. His clothes had already been burned to ashes, making his miserable state completely visible to everyone. They could only see the red flame burning from the inside of his body. Enlightened Master Hua Fei's meridians and blood vessels ruptured one by one. His blood turned into a thick magma-like liquid, but not a single drop flowed out. In a very short time, all of his vitality was taken away.
Until his death, Hua Fei's hand was still stretched out to his most trusted Senior for help. However, the latter was powerless and could only watch as Hua Fei was burned into smelly charcoal.
"Junior Hua Fei!!"
All the disciples of the Thousand Talismans Sect were mourning. Enlightened Master Hua Cheng knelt on the ground and cried out, blaming himself incessantly. However, no one dared to go near Enlightened Master Hua Fei, who was already beyond recognition, for fear of being implicated.
This accident came without warning. When the disciples of the other sects saw Hua Fei's corpse, which even had two black holes left behind by the melting of his eyeballs, they all shuddered.
"How could this be? Is the fire poison acting up?!"
"Enlightened Master Ming Hua, didn't you say there were still ten hours left? How could the poison act up now?!"
"Ancestors of the Three Pure Ones! Everyone, look! Not only was Enlightened Master Hua Fei's spiritual energy sucked dry, even his soul is gone! "
His soul was actually gone?
Everyone was even more shocked. Immediately after, someone noticed the abnormality in the sky and shouted, "Look in the sky! One of the suns is about to disappear!"
Everyone looked up. Just as the cultivator said, among the nine suns hanging high in the sky, the rightmost one was experiencing a solar eclipse. It was slowly disappearing into the sky.
Nine cycles of the soul, endless Yellow Springs … Could it be that breaking the array required one's soul as the price?!
Everyone's hearts simultaneously formed this terrifying conjecture.
At the same time, outside the secret territory.
The moment Enlightened Master Hua Fei's life tablet shattered, the elder of the Thousand Talismans Sect cried out in pain, "Hua Fei, my disciple!"
The Thousand Talismans Disciple who died, Hua Fei, was the direct disciple of this elder. Being able to condense a core before the age of forty was enough to show his extraordinary talent. How could he not be heartbroken when he died in the secret territory?
Everyone else's faces were also solemn. It had only been an hour since they entered the secret territory, but a Golden Core disciple had already lost his life. From this, one could see how dangerous the secret territory was.
However, they were already prepared for this kind of sacrifice. Although they were anxious, they did not show it. They only expressed their condolences to the Thousand Talismans Elder.
Unexpectedly, a moment later, another Thousand Talismans Disciple's life tablet shattered!
"Martial Nephew Hua Lian!" The Thousand Talismans Elder's expression changed greatly. "Why are you also … This, this, how can I explain this to your father and master!"
He cried out in grief. Hearing this, the others secretly knew that things were not good.
Sure enough, the Thousand Talismans Elder suddenly stood up and coldly questioned the Sect Master of Jade Fall, "Sect Master Qiu, what is going on?! My Martial Nephew not only has my Thousand Talismans Sect Master's secret treasure, he also has the Ninth Grade Defensive Artifact given by the Great Elder. It is impossible for him to lose his life after entering the secret territory for just an hour. Moreover, the two disciples who died were both from my Thousand Talismans Sect. Don't tell me this is just a coincidence! "
It turned out that the Thousand Talismans Disciple who died this time was not an ordinary disciple. His background was also extraordinary. He was the son of the Thousand Talismans Sect Master and the Thousand Talismans Great Elder's favorite disciple.
Since the Thousand Talismans Sect dared to let him enter the Netherworld Mystic Realm that was filled with unknowns, they naturally gave him a talisman that could save his life. No matter how dangerous the mystic realm was, he should die after everyone else. He should not be the second to die!
The Sect Master of Jade Fall was stumped. The risks of entering the secret territory were all agreed upon in advance. The Thousand Talismans Elder asking him to investigate the cause of his disciple's death was simply unreasonable.
He looked at the Seven Sword Sect and Ling Xiao Arch for help, hoping that they would say something fair. However, the Imperial Sword Peak Master and Ling Xiao Arch did not do as he wished.
The two looked at each other and the Imperial Sword Peak Master said, "Although the secret territory is dangerous and one is responsible for one's own life and death, the Seventh Elder's question is not without reason. Sect Master Qiu, let's not talk about Martial Nephew Hua Fei. The cause of Martial Nephew Hua Lian's death is very strange. If you know the details, you should quickly tell us. If it is really that dangerous, we can think of a way outside to prevent the situation from worsening. "
The disciples entering the secret territory were all the treasures of the sect. They were not willing to follow in the footsteps of the Thousand Talismans Sect.
"That's right!"
"The Imperial Sword Venerable is right!"
The rest of the sects were all in agreement, and one after another, they voiced their agreement.
Facing everyone's questioning, the Sect Master of Jade Fall was at a loss for words. He frowned for a moment before finally revealing the matter that he had concealed.
It turned out that when the Jade Fall Sect disciples were scouting, one of them saw the four words on the stone tablet. That was how the name of the Yellow Spring Secret Territory came about.
The nine revolutions of the soul, the banks of the River of Forgetfulness.
The endless Yellow Spring, repent and be saved.
Although they didn't know what it meant, the phrase 'endless Yellow Spring' had appeared in the secret history of the Jade Fall Sect. It referred to the lover of the Jade Fall Sect's founder, Fairy Bi Yao.
That person's title was endless. When he met Fairy Bi Yao, he was already a Body Integration cultivator. He claimed to be a rogue cultivator, but who would have thought that he was actually Mo Xiu. Not only did he cheat Fairy Bi Yao, he also had ulterior motives. In the end, a great war between the Righteous and Devil Paths broke out.
The Jadefall Sect Master said, "… Although our ancestor went through many twists and turns in the end, she managed to kill that devil cultivator on her own, but recently, she was cursed by that devil cultivator and perished during her tribulation transcendence. This matter is related to our founder's holy name, so we descendants should avoid it. Therefore, I ask for your forgiveness and don't spread it to the outside world. "
Hearing this, everyone could only agree. However, they were very dissatisfied in their hearts. Since the Jade Fall Sect knew that this secret territory might be Mo Xiu's cave residence, they didn't even warn them, causing them to fall into a passive position.
In the secret territory, Gou Liang was also looking through the System's information to see the past of that torturous relationship.
Different from what was recorded in the Jade Fall Sect's records, in fact, the meeting between the Body Integration cultivator Endless Devil and Fairy Bi Yao, who was only a Nascent Soul cultivator at that time, was not part of Mo Xiu's scheme. Instead, it was an accidental encounter. Later on, the two of them fell in love with each other and became dao companions.
Unexpectedly, the two of them had only been in love for a few years when Fairy Bi Yao's senior brother discovered that Endless Devil was not only Mo Xiu, but also the vicious sect master of the Five Yama Sect at that time.
Since ancient times, righteous and evil had always been incompatible. As a result, a heaven-sent marriage turned into an ill-fated relationship.
Bi Yao's sect concealed this matter and made use of her ignorance to set a trap to strangle the defenseless Endless Devil. Although they didn't succeed, they still severely injured Endless Devil. Then, with the help of the Five Yama Token that Endless Devil gave to Fairy Bi Yao as a token of love, her sect joined forces with the righteous sects to wipe out the Five Yama Sect in one fell swoop.
It was only when the Five Yama Sect was destroyed that Fairy Bi Yao found out the truth and was in great pain.
What was worse was that she was already pregnant at that time. The sect master, Bi Yao's biological father, naturally couldn't tolerate the birth of such a vile child. Because he couldn't bear to kill his only daughter, he found a worry-free pill to erase Fairy Bi Yao's memory and make her agree to abort the child so that she would no longer suffer.
Unexpectedly, something went wrong with the pill, causing Fairy Bi Yao's memory to be in disarray. She thought that she was humiliated by the Endless Devil and became pregnant with his vile child. Naturally, she hated Mo Xiu to the core. Not only did she personally kill the child in her womb, she also hated Mo Xiu to the core. Whenever she met him, she would kill him indiscriminately.
The sect master was happy to see this happen. Everyone tacitly concealed the truth, as if the truth was what they had announced to the outside world. Mo Xiu, who had evil intentions, concealed his identity to deceive the only daughter of Bi Luo's sect master. Instead, he was used and contributed to the victory of the righteous and evil sects.
As a result, when Venerable Endless stabilized his injuries and returned, he only heard about the black-and-white reality. Not only had his former lover died, even their child had been aborted before it was even born. One could imagine the blow he had suffered.
He didn't want to believe it and stubbornly found Fairy Bi Yao to ask her for an explanation. It could be imagined that Fairy Bi Yao, whose memory was in disarray, hated Mo Xiu to the core for humiliating her. She directly attacked him.
Endless Devil lost his cultivation because of his injuries. He was faced with the joint attack of Bi Yao and her new Dao companion — — the Senior Martial Brother who discovered Endless Devil's identity and revealed it to the sect. Later, he "didn't care that Bi Yao was not a virgin" and "silently protected the beauty's heart in the end." In the end, he was defeated and fled.
Hundreds of years later, Endless Devil, whose cultivation had reached the Crossing Calamity Stage, came to seek revenge with a heart full of hatred. He slaughtered Bi Luo's sect and razed it to the ground. Not a single chicken or dog was spared. Only Bi Yao, her Dao companion, and her child were left.
The battle that caused a sensation in the Heaven Realm finally ended with the death of Endless Devil.
When Fairy Bi Yao fought him with her life, Mo Xiu finally lost to love and went to the Yellow Springs with a sad smile.
This battle made Fairy Bi Yao famous. She rebuilt Bi Luo's sect at the place where Endless Devil fell and used his soul, bones, and blood as a sacrifice to the sect. A thousand years later, Fairy Bi Yao and her Dao companion used the resources left by the sect to become Crossing Calamity Stage experts.
However, just as she was about to ascend, she recovered her memory in the thunder tribulation …
[F * ck, what a big pot of dog blood!]
The System nervously clenched its small fist. When it saw Fairy Bi Yao, it muttered, "Up in the sky and down in the Yellow Springs, both vast and boundless, I can't see him." After laughing bitterly three times, she killed her Dao companion and Senior Martial Brother and destroyed her own soul to die for Endless Devil. When her tears of blood turned into the River of Forgetfulness and covered the place where Endless Devil was buried, she was tortured to the point of crying.
[The System cried and scolded: Master, they are too pitiful! They are really guarding against fire, theft, and Senior Martial Brother. Their hearts are so black!]
[Gou Liang was indifferent. He sneered and said: This story tells us that we shouldn't forget to top up our IQ when we are in love. How stupid must that Mo Xiu be to not see through this kind of scam? Tsk tsk, serves him right.]
[… You heartless scum! (> _)
[Thank you for the compliment.]
While Gou Liang and the System were joking around, the atmosphere inside and outside the secret realm was extremely heavy.
After Thousand Talismans Sect disciple Hua Fei died, Bi Luo's Daoist Wen Yu explained everything he knew.
"When Mo Xiu died, he was already a Crossing Calamity Stage expert. Five Yama Sect's Mo Xiu specialized in eating the souls of cultivators to increase his cultivation. If this place is really Mo Xiu's cave residence, it's not surprising that he extracted souls and used them as bait …"
As he spoke, his expression was grave.
Up until this moment, he still had some hope in his heart. However, he didn't expect that just as he finished speaking, the Thousand Talismans Sect's Daoist Master Hua Lian, who had thought that he had escaped death, would follow in Daoist Master Hua Fei's footsteps. This completely confirmed the fact that this place was the Endless Devil's cave residence.
After Hua Lian's soul dissipated, the ninth sun in the sky completely disappeared.
At the same time, a dark gray river suddenly appeared in front of everyone. With Hua Fei and Hua Lian's bodies as the starting point, it connected to a stone tablet not far away. The scorching sun suddenly dimmed. The sound of oars being paddled could be heard from the stone tablet. Everyone was so shocked that they took two steps back and distanced themselves from the river that suddenly appeared.
Not long after, an old man wearing a straw rain hat stood at the stern of the boat and rowed a light boat out from the stone tablet. There was also a young woman sitting at the bow of the boat. Her long hair hung down like a waterfall and fell on the deck of the boat. It was very beautiful. Her white hand, which was wearing a red spider lily necklace, moved the side of the boat. Her laughter was cold and cheerful. Everyone then realized that the waterless river was flowing with abundant spiritual energy. When it came into contact with the woman's hand, it would shatter into sparkling and translucent rays of light.
The simple wooden boat stopped at the end of the river — in front of the corpses of the two Thousand Talismans Sect disciples. The old man in the straw rain hat stopped paddling and the woman continued to fiddle with the spiritual energy flowing in the river. It was as if she didn't notice that there was someone outside.
Everyone looked at each other. Seeing that Gou Liang didn't plan to appear, Li Minghua could only step forward and say, "Junior Li Minghua, a disciple of Ling Xiao Sect, greets the two seniors. How should I address you?"
These two fellows who appeared out of nowhere looked no different from humans. However, the gloomy and cold aura on their bodies was comparable to that of a malicious spirit. With one look, one could tell that they were not to be trifled with. Hearing this, the woman raised her head. Li Minghua was so scared that he shivered. Behind him, there were even low gasps.
One side of the woman's face was as beautiful as a budding maiden. Who would have thought that the other side of her face, which was covered by her long hair, was full of holes. Her eyelids were stuck together and yellow pus flowed out. It was disgusting and terrifying.
As if she didn't know that she had scared these pitiful little fellows, she laughed and said, "How many years has it been since someone asked me and this old thing's name? Young man, you're very interesting. There's no harm in telling you. This old woman's surname is Meng. That old man is a ferryman with no name or surname. Young man, do you want to ferry? "