Time flowed steadily.
Su Yi paced back and forth in front of the walls of the main hall, as if he had discovered something, with a contemplative expression on his face.
After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
Su Yi suddenly stopped in front of a mural on the east side of the main hall. Although the mural was damaged and blurry, it could still be vaguely distinguished that it depicted a mountain range coiled like a giant dragon.
It resembled the dragon-shaped mountain range they were currently in.
However, at the pinnacle of the mountain in the mural, there was no nine-level pagoda. Instead, there was a depiction of a dark underground world beneath the mountain range!
"Hmm?"
At a glance, Su Yi saw that although the mural depicting the underground world was quite damaged, there was a pattern resembling a blood-colored vortex suspended within it.
Beneath the blood-colored vortex was a lotus platform, and a figure of the Buddha sat upon it.
These patterns were all quite blurry, but upon seeing them, Su Yi suddenly remembered—
In the depths of the Bloodthorn Demon Mountain's underground world, there was also a huge blood-colored vortex, along with ancient temples and altars!
"So, beneath this so-called Prajna Zen Garden, there is also a sealed spatial barrier?" Su Yi raised an eyebrow.
Whenever there is a spatial barrier, it is like a passage connecting two worlds!
"Friend, take a look at this."
Suddenly, Ning Yi exclaimed in surprise from not far away.
Su Yi followed her gaze and saw that the blood flowing from the bodies of the monks from Shanglin Monastery was silently disappearing.
On the ground soaked with blood, blood-colored arrays and mysterious symbols emerged, eerie and enigmatic.
Su Yi approached and took a closer look, realizing, "This is a sealed gateway that can only be opened by a blood sacrifice."
A sealed gateway?
Just as Ning Yi and the others were thinking about this, they suddenly witnessed a large lotus-shaped stone slab in the center of the main hall silently disappearing.
Soon, a underground entrance with a radius of three zhang appeared there!
"Indeed, this nine-level pagoda is just a suppressive object. The true secrets lie beneath this dragon-shaped mountain range..." Su Yi exclaimed. "Let's go and take a look."
He took the lead.
After entering the underground entrance, they descended a series of stone steps. Every three zhang, a bronze lamp lit with Buddha oil hung, dispelling the darkness.
Su Yi and his group descended for half an incense stick's worth of time, traversing countless steps, until they finally arrived in a cave that resembled an underground world.
This place was vast, with towering Buddha statues standing as if forming an interconnected group of statues.
Some were seated in meditation, holding a flower with a smile.
Some were sitting cross-legged with mythical creatures, holding a treasure bottle in their hands.
Some had three heads and six arms, with wrathful eyes like Vajras.
And so on...
With a single glance, it seemed as if one could see countless divine Buddhas, creating an especially awe-inspiring sight.
"Be cautious. Look at the arrangement of these Buddha statues. They correspond to the heavenly stems and earthly branches, the Nine Palaces, **, and the Four Symbols. There are also variations of Yin, Yang, emptiness, and solidity..."
Su Yi swept his gaze around. "This formation is just like the one sealing the 108 altars in the Bloodthorn Demon Mountain. They are all sealing formations."
Ning Yi and Mu Xi exchanged a glance, as if they had realized something, and said, "Friend, could it be that there is also a spatial barrier suppressed in this place?"
"It seems so," Su Yi replied, leading the group forward, weaving through the different Buddha statues.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that Su Yi would sometimes take winding paths, sometimes leap into the air, and sometimes take a few steps back, maneuvering through the obstacles.
As they went round and round, Ning Yi and the others were amazed and secretly sighed. If it weren't for Su Yi leading the way, they wouldn't have been able to take a single step in the face of such a complex and mysterious sealing formation.
"Wait a moment."
Half an incense stick's worth of time later, Su Yi suddenly stopped in front of a Buddha statue.
This Buddha statue was also nine zhang tall, seated cross-legged, with hands clasped in the gesture of holding a lotus flower at the abdomen. A sinuous dragon coiled around its back, with the dragon's head rising from the shoulder.
The appearance of this Buddha statue was different from the others. Its contours were graceful and gentle, exuding a serene and profound tranquility between its brows.
"It is indeed you..." Su Yi recalled the image of the white-robed monk riding a true dragon and traversing the depths of the starry sky.
At this point, he was certain that the white-robed monk must have emerged from this "Prajna Zen Garden"!
"A cultivation force that existed in the secular world of the Great Zhou Empire a long time ago, yet capable of traversing the stars. This Cyan Vast Continent is becoming more and more interesting..." Su Yi's gaze became profound.
"Friend, I apologize for the intrusion."
Su Yi slightly bowed to the Buddha statue, and then his figure rose into the air. With his hands forming intricate seals, he released a profound and mysterious cyan radiance.
Boom!
Instantly, the Buddha statue shone brightly.
In the eyes of Ning Yi and the others, the Buddha statue seemed to awaken from eternal darkness, opening its eyes and emitting an indescribable supreme power.
In a trance, their minds were overwhelmed, and their thoughts went blank.
They didn't know how long it took, but when Ning Yi and the others snapped out of their stupor, they suddenly realized that everything they had just witnessed had disappeared.
The Buddha statue still stood in the darkness, without any abnormality.
Looking at Su Yi, he was sitting cross-legged to the side, in meditation.
At a glance, Ning Yi and the others could see that Su Yi seemed to have expended a great deal of energy, appearing weak and far from the calm demeanor he had before.
After a full incense stick's worth of time passed, Su Yi woke up from his meditation, and his entire body's aura had returned to its peak state.
Ning Yi, who had been waiting there, couldn't help but ask, "Friend, could it be that this Buddha statue is the foundation of this sealing formation?"
"You're right," Su Yi nodded.
Earlier, he had almost exhausted his cultivation in order to refine this "foundation."
Fortunately, he had managed to completely refine the formation in the end.
This formation was called the "Brahma's Banishing Demon Formation" and had been suppressing this underground world for countless ages.
"Let's go," Su Yi said without delay, heading straight ahead.
Whenever there was a Buddha statue blocking their path, he would simply flick his sleeve, causing mysterious prohibition ripples to emanate from around the statue, revealing a pathway.
These scenes confirmed to Ning Yi and the others that Su Yi had completely gained control over this mysterious sealing formation!
Soon, the group passed through the formation and saw a massive blood-colored vortex.
This vortex spanned the void, covering an area of three hundred zhang. It resembled a gaping bloody mouth in the sky, slowly rotating and causing the surrounding space to distort with a rumbling roar.
Beneath the blood-colored vortex was a lotus platform.
The platform was nine chi tall, polished like black jade, and scattered with blood-colored fragments resembling broken eggshells.
This scene was almost identical to the mural Su Yi had seen on the first floor of the pagoda earlier.
The difference was that the mural depicted a figure of Buddha sitting on the lotus platform, while now they only saw the blood-colored fragments.
"This place is indeed similar to the depths of the Bloodthorn Demon Mountain, sealing another spatial barrier," Ning Yi and Mu Xi both showed a serious expression.
Having previously accompanied Su Yi to the Bloodthorn Demon Mountain, they naturally understood that the other side of this spatial barrier likely led to an unfamiliar cultivation world!
At this moment, Lansuo couldn't help but say, "I have also seen a similar blood-colored vortex deep within the Ten Thousand Gu Demon Mountain. It's almost identical."
Ning Yi and Mu Xi were both surprised. There was also a spatial barrier in the depths of the Ten Thousand Gu Demon Mountain?
"I was near the blood-colored vortex in the Ten Thousand Gu Demon Mountain when I was affected by the Spirit Demon Gu. If it weren't for Lord Su's rescue, I'm afraid I would have perished long ago..."
As she spoke, Lansuo glanced at Su Yi, her face flushing for some unknown reason.
"In that case, could there be similar spatial barriers in the eight demonic mountains within the Great Zhou Dynasty?" Mu Xi muttered, feeling a bit alarmed.
"Something doesn't seem right."
At this moment, Su Yi, who was examining the black jade lotus platform, furrowed his brow and spoke, "Many years ago, someone should have been here before."
"What?" Ning Yi and the others approached with an expression of surprise and suspicion. This underground world was covered by a sealing formation, and it was only by following Su Yi that they were able to arrive here safely.
But in the past, who had such great ability to accomplish this?
"These fragments are remnants of the 'Dao Cocoon,'" Su Yi said as he picked up a blood-colored fragment from the lotus platform and examined it. "If my deduction is correct, there was once a cultivator from another realm who used the method of the 'Dao Cocoon' to invest a portion of their soul's power into this realm and seize the body of a powerful individual."
He rubbed the blood-colored fragment in his hand and speculated, "This event should have occurred within the last few decades, no more than thirty years, because the aura of the 'Dao Cocoon' fragments has not completely dissipated."
Ning Yi and the others exchanged bewildered glances, their expressions filled with astonishment.
In the recent decades, there had been invaders from another realm who attempted to possess bodies here!?
That invader was highly likely to have come from the other side of the spatial barrier!
And the one who was possessed... who could it be?
"There is a jade token here," Ning Yi suddenly spoke, bending down and picking up a three-inch jade token engraved with a phoenix and bird totem from the shadows at the bottom of the black jade lotus platform.
"Take a look, friend," Ning Yi said, unable to discern anything, as she handed the token to Su Yi.
Su Yi examined it and said, "It's just a jade token made of Qingliu jade, nothing extraordinary. If my deduction is correct, this should be left by the possessed powerful individual."
Mu Xi said, "In that case, as long as we find out the owner's identity of this token, we can determine whether they are the person possessed by the cultivator from another realm."
In the past, in the Bloodthorn Demon Mountain, there was an invader from another realm who used the method of the "Dao Cocoon" to inhabit the body of the Marquis Wuling, Chen Zheng, attempting to descend into this world.
But Su Yi managed to foil their plan.
Therefore, both Ning Yi and Mu Xi realized the gravity of the situation—
There was likely a cultivator from another realm present within the Great Zhou Dynasty!
Who was the unfortunate one who entered this place and was possessed?
Whoosh!
Just as everyone was filled with doubts, suddenly, a dazzling blood light shot out from the darkness not far away, aiming at Su Yi, who was standing on the black jade lotus platform.
Clang!
In a deafening collision, Su Yi narrowly blocked the sneak attack with his Xuanwu Sword. However, his tall figure was violently shaken and sent flying off the black jade lotus platform.