Black Lotus Mountain, located in the middle of the Black Lotus Forbidden Ground, is surrounded by poisonous mist in every direction which makes it a graveyard for cultivators. Instead of Spirit Qi, the whole Forbidden Ground is filled with dense Poison Qi. An ordinary Nascent Soul Realm cultivator wouldn't last 5 minutes alive near the Mountain as the poisonous air has the ability to corrode Nascent souls. Only Spirit Severing Realm cultivators and above stand a chance in this place.
Five figures could be seen at the periphery of the mountain. They were looking around with vigilance. "Fellow Daoist Liang, how is that? Have you managed to discover anything about the killing formation?"
Liang looked around, surveying the area around them before replying nonchalantly, "It wasn't really that hard to guess. The formation around the mountain is an ancient formation. It was popular thousands of years ago and is called the 'Soul Reversal Extermination Array'. Its primary function lies in attacking the intruder souls, so any living being with a soul would be detected and attacked once it enters the array formation, regardless of their strength or cultivation level."
Bai Shuan looked at him with suspicion, "Then how are we supposed to pass through that kind of formation?"
Liang looked at him and grinned, "The Soul Reversal Extermination Array may be powerful, but it also has a fatal flaw. It can only be activated once it detects soul energy!"
Yan Ming asked in confusion, "What kind of power is this soul energy? How come I haven't heard of it?"
Before Liang Yifei could say anything, Mi Ling replied, "Soul Energy is something similar to Spiritual Power. It's like the Spirit Qi but for the soul. Every soul emits different levels of soul energy."
Liang nodded in agreement, "That's right, and the higher the cultivation level, the stronger the soul energy. So, if we suppress our soul energy to a minimum, we might be able to cross the array undetected."
Bai Shuan raised an eyebrow, "But how do we suppress our soul energy?"
Mi Ling chuckled, "We can't. Soul energy is a completely different path of cultivation from spirit cultivation."
Li Wei interrupted, "You mean the soul cultivators, right?"
Mi Ling's eyes flashed with a surprise for a second before nodding, "Yes, you are right, fellow Daoist Li. But this does not matter anyway."
Yan Ming looked at Liang Yifei bitterly and asked, "So, fellow Daoist Liang, do you have another way to pass the formation array?"
Liang replied indifferently, "No, I am afraid it's the only way to control the soul energy."
The four cultivators' expressions dropped when they heard this.
Suddenly, Liang smiled mysteriously, "But.. It's not like there's no way to suppress our soul energy."
Surprise filled the faces of the four cultivators as they looked at Liang, who continued to smile enigmatically. "Have you ever heard of the Soul Suppressing Jade?"
The four cultivators shook their heads, indicating that they didn't know anything about it.
"The Soul Suppressing Jade is a rare treasure that can suppress soul energy to nothing," explained Liang calmly.
Mi Ling looked at him sternly before smiling, "Since you talk that much, I suppose you have them, right?"
Liang chuckled, "Of course, I do. I have a few pieces of the Soul Suppressing Jade in my possession. I brought them in case I needed it."
Yan Ming looked impressed, "That's some impressive foresight, Brother Liang."
The four experts couldn't contain their excitement and asked Liang to give them each a piece of the jade. Liang handed them each a piece of the jade and instructed them on how to use it to suppress their soul energy.
Mi Ling examined the jade piece for a while before looking at Li Wei. "Before we enter the mountain, I hope fellow Daoist Li uses his weapon now."
Li Wei nodded before taking out a small black orb. He began to pour his spiritual power into it, and suddenly, the orb glowed with a bright light, enveloping the five cultivators.
As they got closer to the mountain, the poisonous air became more dense, but each one of them was not an ordinary cultivator. They were unaffected by it.
As they entered the array, they could feel a faint pull on their souls, but the Soul Suppressing Jade did its job perfectly, keeping their soul energy completely suppressed. They moved forward confidently, undetected by the array.
Eventually, they reached the base of the Black Lotus Mountain. A small cave could be seen there, and surprisingly the area was very desolate around the cave. Even the weird plants that filled the mountain stopped around the cave periphery. The air was thick with poison, and the ground was covered in black mist. The mountain itself was shrouded in darkness, and it was impossible to see what was beyond.
Bai Shuan looked at the area around the mountain base, and he could feel that the poison here was very different from the one that filled the Forbidden Ground, and spoke, " Mi Ling, I think that's the Poisonous Dome that you mentioned."
Mi Ling looked at Yan Ming and smiled, "Sister Yan, it's your turn."
Yan Ming shrugged, and then she walked towards the cave slowly until she was on the edge of the Poisonous Dome. She took out a strange red cauldron from her spirit ring.
It looked very ancient with many different symbols inscribed on it. She placed the cauldron on the ground and poured some of her spiritual power into it. The cauldron started to glow with a fiery red light, and suddenly, the thick poisonous air inside the dome began to head inside the cauldron. Then, she began to add many different herbs and materials inside it, The red light around it began to disappear, and five strange pills appeared inside the cauldron. Yan Ming took one out of the cauldron and said, "This pill should be able to let us pass the Dome easily."
The other four looked at the pill suspiciously, not expecting the process to be too easy. But none of them stepped forward to take the pill. Seeing this, Yan Ming's eyes flashed before laughing. Then, she took out one of the pills and swallowed it. Seeing this, each one took a pill, and they swallowed it too.
Soon, everyone entered the poisonous domes behind her cautiously. After a while, they arrived at the cave entrance.
" We should wait here for a while. It will not be long before the old geezer begins his breakthrough," Mi Ling said, and her footsteps stopped.
After a while, the sky above the mountain began to change. Even though it was originally covered by black clouds, now lightning arcs could be seen swimming around the black clouds in a frenzy. Suddenly, a massive amount of energy burst from the cave. The lightning began to gather and condense, soon descending with unimaginable speed on the cave, penetrating the cave wall with ease. Soon, one bolt's descent followed another.
Mi Ling looked at the scene patiently, her eyes flashing with golden light for seconds before disappearing without anyone noticing.
"It's time, let's enter." With that, Mi Ling entered the cave. The other four nodded and followed her.
As soon as they entered the cave, they were welcomed by the sight of destruction around them. A middle-aged man could be seen in the centre of the cave, strong and imposing, with a scar running down his cheek and a fierce glint in his eye. He wore a traditional and simple white robe, a sword at his side, though his condition didn't seem good. From the look of it, the tribulation lightning had done a great deal of damage to him.
Mi Ling looked at the sky and murmured to herself, "It should be any time now."
Soon, the lightning in the sky began to change, and it began to gather, forming a massive arc descending on the man inside the cave.
Drunken Sword Lord's expression changed when he saw that. He knew that the Lightning Tribulation was becoming more and more powerful. He began to form many hand seals with his hands while chanting in a low voice. Soon, the lightning arc descended on him. Once it approached his body, it began to glow in blue light, and soon, a massive sword ray emerged from his forehead, colliding with the lightning arcs, but to no avail. The lightning bypassed the sword ray, striking the Drunken Sword Lord furiously.
After the lightning strike, his aura began to decrease rapidly. After passing this tribulation he should begin to breakthrough officially, but just as he was about to close his eyes.
"Fellow Daoist Bai. It is your turn now. Hurry!" Mi Ling said, looking at Bai Shuan.
Bai Shuan nodded and charged forward, his sword glowing with a bright light. He used his stealthy skills to sneak up behind the Drunken Sword Lord, who was still recovering from the Heavenly Tribulation. The old cultivator didn't even notice his presence until it was too late. Bai Shuan swung his sword, aiming for the Drunken Sword Dao Lord's neck. The sword cut through the air and landed on the Sword Lord neck with a loud clang.