Chapter 1408: Nine Precepts Finger Ring

**The Mortal World**

**The Mortal World**

“They’ve already entered.”

Reverend Precept Keeper whispered. He gently turned the ‘Nine Precepts’ thumb ring on his other hand, concealing his unease and excitement.

The Chaotic Demon Elder and Reverend Precept Keeper appeared before the Buddha Lotus.

The Fiery Aura and the Buddha Lotus clashed fiercely, creating extreme chaos. Qin Sang and the others couldn't have left any hidden measures here, so they weren't concerned.

By now, excluding Qin Sang’s group of four, they were still the only two Nascent Soul cultivators present in the Void Sea.

Of course, other Nascent Soul cultivators might have secretly arrived without revealing themselves, evading the spiritual senses of the Sky-Eyed Butterfly and the Chaotic Demon Elder.

The Chaotic Demon Elder remained silent. He gazed at the center of the light pillar.

In his cloudy eyes, an eerie blackness spread from his pupils, instantly transforming them into black demonic eyes. Where his pupils once were, two tiny vortices now spun, as if capable of absorbing light. Within them, the shadow behind the door was reflected, incredibly profound.

Moments later, the Chaotic Demon Elder’s eyes returned to normal. He let out a light cough and asked, “Are you certain that the ‘Nine Precepts’ can guide us through the Net Sea Sect’s protective formation?”

“Indeed!” Reverend Precept Keeper hesitated, not daring to be absolute. “Unless there’s an unforeseen circumstance… this ring was obtained by my master from the corpse of a Buddhist cultivator of the Net Sea Sect. It might be an elder’s token from the Net Sea Sect.”

“Unforeseen circumstance?” The Chaotic Demon Elder sneered. “If there were no unforeseen circumstances, Master Nine Precepts would have already found the Net Sea Sect. Why would we have waited until now?”

Reverend Precept Keeper dared not argue. The Chaotic Demon Elder spoke the truth. Back then, his master, Master Nine Precepts, had very limited information. At the very least, they knew nothing about the Buddha Lotus formation outside the Net Sea Sect.

“Let’s go in first and discuss it later.”

The Chaotic Demon Elder tapped his black bamboo staff. An invisible, colorless force erupted, enveloping both of them.

Reverend Precept Keeper originally intended to conjure his protective magical artifact, but seeing this, he instead summoned a silver halberd and followed closely behind the Chaotic Demon Elder.

They passed through a fissure in the Buddha Lotus and entered the light pillar. The abnormal phenomena impacted their protective energy. The black bamboo staff in the Chaotic Demon Elder’s hand trembled slightly, occasionally flashing a jade-green light, but the protective energy around them remained impenetrable.

The Chaotic Demon Elder walked step by step towards the entrance. His steps were steady. This was a clear contrast to Qin Sang and the others before them.

Witnessing this, Reverend Precept Keeper’s reverence for the Chaotic Demon Elder grew. He gripped his silver halberd tightly, constantly prepared to confront any unforeseen changes.

Soon, they arrived before the door. After observing it for a moment, they stepped inside.

‘Whoosh!’

The moment they entered, a scorching gale blasted towards them. The Chaotic Demon Elder’s eyebrow twitched. He raised his bamboo staff and pointed forward, instantly conjuring a thin light shield in front of him, blocking the gale.

Unexpectedly, the light shield lasted less than three breaths of time before it seemed to be corroded by something, developing tiny pinprick-sized holes. In an instant, countless golden lights pierced through the light shield, shooting towards them like golden needles.

The Chaotic Demon Elder let out a soft ‘Oh?’ He showed no panic, flicking his sleeve. A token flew out, looking identical to the Chaotic Demon Token that Reverend Precept Keeper had previously destroyed. However, this Chaotic Demon Token was clearly much thicker and heavier than the previous one.

The Chaotic Demon Token expanded in the wind, instantly growing to the size of a door panel, completely shielding them.

‘Clink, clink…’

A dense flurry of crisp sounds. The Chaotic Demon Token and the two cultivators retreated again and again, until the evil wind was finally repelled. Both remained unharmed.

The Chaotic Demon Elder turned the Chaotic Demon Token to look at it. Patches of golden liquid had clung to it, but before the Chaotic Demon Elder could remove them, they dissipated on the spot, vanishing without a trace.

“What was that? It treated true essence as nothing! If there were more of it, what then?”

Even with the Chaotic Demon Elder’s extensive knowledge, he couldn’t identify what the liquid was. Most Buddhist sects in the Northern Sea resided in the relatively stable Crescent Realm and had not yet amounted to much, so the Chaotic Demon Elder’s understanding of Buddhism was merely superficial.

He pondered for a moment, unable to deduce the origin of these things. He then turned and commanded Reverend Precept Keeper, “Take out the Nine Precepts thumb ring.”

“Yes!”

Reverend Precept Keeper put away his silver halberd and removed the thumb ring from his hand. Protected by the Chaotic Demon Elder, and without needing to worry about his own safety, Reverend Precept Keeper assumed a lotus position, closed his eyes tightly, and cradled the thumb ring in his hands.

Immediately, Reverend Precept Keeper’s demeanor changed dramatically, acquiring a solemn and venerable presence that even the Chaotic Demon Elder couldn’t help but glance at.

‘Buddhist cultivation method?’ This thought flashed through the Chaotic Demon Elder’s mind. He moved the Chaotic Demon Token next to Reverend Precept Keeper and surveyed his surroundings, assessing the environment.

It was clear that they had now breached the Net Sea Sect’s protective formation, or some kind of guardian restriction. The moment they entered, the door vanished. Within the formation, they couldn’t determine their exact location. Above and below, everything was a chaotic scene. They floated in the void, neither touching heaven nor earth.

The evil wind was merely the beginning. The Chaotic Demon Elder could sense that other attacks were imminent. Even during lulls in the attacks, the extremely dense Fiery Aura surrounding them was not to be trifled with. The protective energy enveloping them was being continuously depleted by the Fiery Aura.

The conventional method would be to force their way through, analyzing the grand formation’s continuous changes to find its patterns and thus break it. Since the grand formation was ownerless, its operation would be sluggish, making success highly probable, but it would be too slow. With the thumb ring, which originated from the Net Sea Sect, in his hand, Reverend Precept Keeper might be able to guide them to easily exit the grand formation.

However, the more the Chaotic Demon Elder surveyed his surroundings, the more solemn his expression became. This Fiery Aura shouldn’t have been here originally, but it was now omnipresent, even dominating the space!

Back then, it was unknown what changes had occurred within the Net Sea Sect. The Fiery Aura and the protective formation had managed to coexist for countless years, slowly influencing each other. No one could say what kind of changes had transpired in between, or if it was still the original grand formation.

The Chaotic Demon Elder’s thoughts raced. He looked at Reverend Precept Keeper. Reverend Precept Keeper’s entire body seemed to be covered in a layer of gold leaf, his form like that of an Arhat, as true essence continuously poured into the ‘Nine Precepts’ thumb ring.

‘Buzz, buzz…’

The Nine Precepts thumb ring vibrated softly, emitting a fluctuating Buddha’s light from its characters, as if calling out to something.

Just then, Reverend Precept Keeper suddenly stirred, his body trembling. The thumb ring nearly slipped from his grasp, but he clutched it tightly. Before the Chaotic Demon Elder could question him, Reverend Precept Keeper continued his attempts. After several more attempts, cold sweat began to stream down his face.

“This treasure can guide me to perceive the changes in the formation, but it’s extremely difficult. I suspect it might only be effective on the outer perimeter of the protective grand formation. The formation here… seems to have been altered.” Reverend Precept Keeper said hoarsely. This situation was beyond his expectation. The Chaotic Demon Elder had been right! The Nine Precepts thumb ring likely wouldn’t provide them with much of an advantage.

The Chaotic Demon Elder remained unfazed. His eyes narrowed slightly, a cold glint flashing through them. “They must still be on the outer perimeter. Can you locate their position? It seems… we must act soon!”

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