Chapter 751: Stone Hall

The Human World

The Human World

After shaking off the Purple Star Vultures, everyone felt a sense of relief. Affected by the poisonous mist in this treacherous zone, their strength was limited, making it genuinely difficult to handle such a large flock of Purple Star Vultures.

"Have you noticed?" the sword-carrying youth asked, staring at the spot where the Purple Star Vultures had vanished. "The insect-beasts we've encountered since coming in seem relatively normal usually, but once they start fighting, they instantly become insane, incredibly ferocious, and completely lose their minds."

"Indeed," replied Xiang Yi, "that's why they're called savage insects and beasts. It's not just here; all living creatures within the Seven Kill Hall are like this. No one knows what affects them; even Nascent Soul Patriarchs cannot fully comprehend the secrets of the Seven Kill Hall. So, everyone, please remember to leave the Seven Kill Hall before the spiritual formation shatters."

Xiang Yi looked down at the ground, moving around, seemingly searching for something. The interior of the canyon felt like a completely different world from the outside. Not a single blade of grass or plant was visible here; it was utterly desolate, covered everywhere in hard, sharply angled rocks as keen as knives. Everyone moved with extreme caution in such terrain.

Xiang Yi eventually determined their direction. The terrain within the canyon was peculiar. As they moved forward, they found themselves descending in stages, almost as if they were walking down from a mountaintop towards its base. With the poisonous mist obscuring their vision, they couldn't clearly see the surrounding terrain, so they could only make wild guesses. The descent was deeper than they had imagined, seemingly without end. Savage beasts were still active here, and Xiang Yi avoided them whenever he could.

The poisonous mist grew progressively thicker. Everyone periodically checked the Bone Lotus, only feeling reassured when they confirmed it showed no abnormalities. At this point, only three of its petals had turned purple, indicating they still had ample time.

Finally, the downward movement ceased. By then, they had no idea how deep they had descended. The poisonous mist completely enveloped the protective barrier created by the Bone Lotus, like a thick purple curtain. They could barely sense any surrounding dangers, relying almost entirely on their hearing. Fortunately, they didn't encounter any savage beasts skilled in stealth along the way.

After traveling a bit further, Xiang Yi signaled for everyone to stop. He then looked to his left and unleashed a surge of true essence with a wave of his hand. The true essence parted the poisonous mist, which quickly closed back in, but everyone clearly saw the silhouette of an ancient, rustic stone hall within.

"Fellow Daoist Xiang, is this the stone hall...?"

Seeing Xiang Yi nod, everyone rejoiced; they had finally reached their destination. However, no one dared to relax. Their brief glimpse had shown the stone hall to be extraordinary, with ancient prohibitions swirling around it. Hidden in the heart of this Purple Mist Forbidden Zone, it was likely a dangerous place. The Merchant Alliance sending so many people here was clearly indicative of its significance.

"Don't go over yet," Xiang Yi said in a low voice. "First, circle the ancient hall. If there are any savage beasts nearby, hunt them down. We don't want them to detect us when we break the prohibition and cause major trouble."

"Are there even stronger savage beasts inside?" Qin Sang asked curiously.

Xiang Yi nodded. "This appears to be the lower layer of the Purple Mist Forbidden Zone. According to Merchant Alliance records, there's a bottomless chasm ahead. That is the true core area of the Purple Mist Forbidden Zone and the source of the poisonous mist. If we enter that chasm, the Bone Lotus would likely be completely corrupted and lose its effectiveness very quickly; the poisonous mist there is even feared by Nascent Soul Patriarchs. Additionally, at the bottom of the chasm, there might be savage beasts lurking that rival shapeshifting great demons."

Everyone marveled, truly a forbidden zone! Without the Bone Lotus, their true essence would likely be depleted in short order if they were exposed to the mist. And this incredibly dangerous place wasn't even the core of the Purple Mist Forbidden Zone.

They began circling the stone hall, searching for savage beasts. They indeed found two lion-like savage beasts, which they proactively engaged and eliminated. Only after clearing the area did they approach the stone hall.

Upon reaching the stone hall, strange expressions appeared on everyone's faces. Perhaps it couldn't even be called a stone hall; it was simply too small, only about half the size of a room and quite unremarkable. Aside from the ancient prohibitions, it had no distinct features.

"Is the Merchant Alliance asking us to break through the prohibitions and enter the stone hall to retrieve treasure?"

The Liu couple stepped forward, activating their true essence to lightly touch the ancient prohibitions. "These ancient prohibitions don't seem very strong; at least, it wouldn't be difficult for a Nascent Soul Patriarch to break them," they remarked. "This structure has stood here so conspicuously; it must have been visited by countless Nascent Soul Patriarchs already. What could possibly be left?"

Xiang Yi calmly responded, "This is all I know. The Merchant Alliance's request is indeed for you all to assist me in breaking through the prohibitions, and then enter to retrieve something. Many secret areas within the Seven Kill Hall are like this; possessing high cultivation doesn't mean one can do as they please. Just because Nascent Soul Patriarchs have visited doesn't mean all treasures have been taken."

As he spoke, Xiang Yi took out eight small triangular flags and distributed them among the group. These eight apricot-yellow triangular flags were identical, their staffs even shorter than a palm. Qin Sang took one and immediately recognized it as a prohibition-breaking artifact. He surmised that with all eight of them controlling this set of triangular flags, they should be able to breach the ancient prohibition.

"These are Earth Origin Flags," Xiang Yi explained. "I cultivate earth-attribute techniques, so I will be the array core. You all, fellow Daoists, will assist me. Pay careful attention to the array formation..."

Xiang Yi carefully explained the key points of the array formation to them. As all of them were highly cultivated, they quickly grasped the intricacies of the array. In front of the ancient hall, they arranged themselves in formation, with Xiang Yi at the center.

Xiang Yi held the Bone Lotus in one hand and a triangular flag in the other. Once the others were in position, Xiang Yi gave a slight nod, then channeled his full true essence into the triangular flag.

*Thump!*

The triangular flag instantly swelled to a height of three zhang, plunging into the ground with a thud. Xiang Yi's hand seals changed rapidly, releasing incantations that all merged into the triangular flag. The flag rustled, consuming true essence like a bottomless pit. As true essence was infused, mysterious cloud-seal lightning patterns began to appear on the triangular flag. A burst of apricot-yellow light erupted, and the ground surprisingly began to tremble.

"Form the array!" Xiang Yi's tiger-like eyes widened, and he let out a furious roar.

Qin Sang and the others immediately sat cross-legged and activated their triangular flags. A clear difference became apparent: their triangular flags were a zhang shorter than Xiang Yi's, and the cloud-seal lightning patterns on them were less dense. However, the yellow light emitted by their spirit flags was no less intense than that of the array core flag. Once the yellow light appeared, it seemed to be drawn by some force, converging towards the array core. As a result, the array core spirit flag became even more dazzling.

The earth trembled violently, as if a subterranean dragon had turned over. Had they not cleared the area beforehand, the surrounding savage beasts would undoubtedly have been drawn to them. A continuous stream of Earth Origin energy was drawn from the earth's veins and infused into the flag array. At this moment, a pulsating orb of light appeared on the array core spirit flag, accumulating a terrifying power.

Simultaneously, Qin Sang and the others' true essence was rapidly depleting, and they couldn't move freely, needing to continuously maintain the spiritual array. Qin Sang had taken a few pills beforehand, so his situation was still manageable.

"Go!"

*Boom!*

A dazzling ball of yellow light shot out and slammed hard into the ancient prohibition. Instantly, the yellow light enveloped the entire stone hall. One could only feel two immensely powerful forces clashing, neither yielding.