Chapter 1843: Ten Great Ancient Seals--Nine Jiaolock Spirit Seal

Each gourd's surface displayed profound, naturally formed patterns.

Around the green vine stood thirty-six azure coiled dragon stone pillars, their runes flickering incessantly. A light azure barrier enveloped the green vine, and on its surface, nine lifelike azure flood dragons ceaselessly roamed, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws as if alive.

The area near the coiled dragon stone pillars was overgrown with weeds taller than a person, but inside the azure barrier, not a single weed could be seen.

"This is the Nine Flood Dragon Spirit Lock Array," Wang Xin exclaimed in surprise. "It's one of the Ten Great Ancient Prohibitions, combining both offense and defense." He couldn't identify the origin of the green vine, but since the Thousand Gourd Sect had deployed such a powerful array to protect it, the vine was undoubtedly extraordinary.

The Nine Flood Dragon Spirit Lock Array is one of the Ten Great Ancient Prohibitions. Unlike other defensive restrictions, which act as passive, massive turtle shells against attacks, triggering this array causes the nine flood dragons to instantly attack the transgressor. Therefore, breaking the prohibition requires destroying all nine flood dragons.

The strength of the flood dragons depends on the power of the array; if tens of thousands of years have passed, their power would undoubtedly have diminished.

With a thought, Wang Xin's body radiated golden light, and a miniature flood dragon suddenly appeared on his surface.

"Great Might Sky Dragon!" With Wang Xin's loud shout, the miniature flood dragon instantly detached from his body, expanding rapidly to over a hundred zhang in length, and flew directly towards the azure barrier.

The golden flood dragon slammed into the azure barrier, producing a muffled thud as if it had struck an impenetrable wall of bronze and iron. The azure flood dragons on the barrier's surface moved erratically, emitting deafening roars. One after another, the nine azure flood dragons flew out from the barrier's surface and charged towards the golden flood dragon.

With rumbling roars, the golden flood dragon, fighting one against nine, was no match. Before long, it was torn to shreds by the nine azure flood dragons. The nine azure flood dragons then lunged straight for Wang Xin, appearing intent on tearing him to pieces.

Wang Xin's body radiated brilliant golden light. He let out a loud shout, unleashing a golden, hazy sound wave that caused the void to tremble. Stone slabs on the ground cracked open, and large quantities of weeds were torn apart, turning into dust.

When the nine azure flood dragons encountered the golden sound wave, their movements froze as if they had been petrified. Seizing this opportunity, Wang Xin transformed into a golden streak of light, pierced through the air, and vanished into the sky in a few flashes.

The nine azure flood dragons did not pursue him, returning instead to the azure barrier where they continued to roam endlessly on its surface. Wang Xin observed for half an hour, finding no anomalies, before returning.

"Haitang is a formation master; she should have a way to break it," Wang Xin mused. "Since this is the relic of a sect, there should be a control array." A thoughtful expression appeared on his face. If he could find the control array and make the sect's ruins manifest, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan could then enter openly.

He transformed into a golden rainbow, flying northwest and disappearing into the horizon.

Unlike the Murong Family's Heavenly Grade Secret Realm, Wang Xin did not have a map for this place and had to wander aimlessly. However, he knew the map of Gourd Island, which made things considerably easier.

After a short while, Wang Xin landed above a giant peak whose upper half had been cut off. The peak's summit was a ten-thousand-mu bluestone plaza, and a dazzling azure hall stood in its center.

The bluestone plaza's ground was paved with azure bricks, which were covered in moss and cracked. Large quantities of weeds grew in the cracks, some taller than a person.

At the entrance of the azure palace stood two three-zhang-tall azure stone lions, covered in numerous green vines. Thick azure jade pillars were also obscured by dense vines.

Wang Xin released several crimson fireballs and threw them onto the weeds, immediately igniting a large fire that grew increasingly fierce.

Before long, the green vines and weeds were burned away, revealing the characters on the plaque.

The plaque read "Xuan Hu Hall" in three small characters. The character for "Hall" was somewhat blurred but still vaguely discernible.

The palace gates of Xuan Hu Hall were tightly shut, with a massive azure gourd pattern carved onto their surface.

Wang Xin formed a hand seal, and his body radiated brilliant golden light. A miniature flood dragon appeared out of thin air, ceaselessly roaming on his body before suddenly flying off, transforming into a golden flood dragon over a hundred zhang long, and charging directly towards the palace gates.

Boom! With a muffled thud, the azure gourd on the palace gates suddenly glowed brightly, and a light azure barrier appeared out of thin air.

The golden flood dragon's massive body slammed into the azure barrier, which immediately dented inward. Countless green vines then flew out from within the barrier, coiling around the golden flood dragon.

Wang Xin formed another hand seal, and the golden flood dragon struggled violently, tearing apart all the green vines wrapped around it. Its scythe-like dragon claws then struck the azure barrier.

Wang Xin pressed his palms together, and blinding golden light burst from his body as a resonant Sanskrit chant emanated from him. A deafening beast roar erupted, and Wang Xin unleashed a golden, hazy sound wave, striking the azure barrier. The azure barrier twisted and deformed, with dense green vines emerging on its surface.

He frowned and released his Bi-Eyed Rat and Wood Demon. The flower buds on the Wood Demon's surface bloomed, emitting streams of pungent, sweet purple miasma that struck the azure barrier, causing wisps of green smoke to rise.

The Bi-Eyed Rat's body glowed with a yellow light as it abruptly burrowed into the ground, vanishing from sight.

Before long, a massive yellow sphere rolled up from the foot of the mountain at an extremely high speed. Everywhere it passed, the ground shook violently, crushing numerous stone slabs.

The yellow sphere slammed into the azure barrier with a loud bang. The azure barrier twisted and deformed, and countless green vines emerged from its surface, coiling around the yellow sphere, the golden flood dragon, and the Wood Demon.

Wang Xin's expression darkened. He flipped his palm, and a shimmering golden spear appeared in his hand, which he thrust towards the azure barrier.

With a loud bang, the golden spear proved to be the final straw; the azure barrier suddenly shattered into countless pieces.

Boom! The palace gates splintered, revealing a hall approximately one mu in size. Inside the hall was a thousand-zhang-wide magic array. On the array's surface were hundreds of uniform grooves, each holding a greyish-white stone. In the center of the array was a translucent azure jade, crystal clear, with an azure koi fish ceaselessly swimming across its surface as if alive.

The azure jade emitted pure spiritual energy, sustaining the operation of the array.

Besides the azure jade, there were also ten spiritual stones of various colors, rich in spiritual energy. Fine wisps of spiritual energy could be seen slowly flowing into these ten spiritual stones.

"Spirit Eye Jade! Spirit Gathering Stones!" Wang Xin gasped, his expression growing agitated.

Spirit Eye Jade is the highest-grade Spirit Eye item, far superior to Spirit Eye Trees. To some extent, Spirit Eye Jade is equivalent to a spiritual vein rich in spiritual energy. Spirit Gathering Stones are a special type of spiritual stone that, after their spiritual energy is depleted, will slowly absorb spiritual energy to replenish themselves.

He had obtained one Spirit Gathering Stone in the Murong Family's Heavenly Grade Secret Realm. Here, there were ten Spirit Gathering Stones and one Spirit Eye Jade, demonstrating that the Thousand Gourd Sect's foundation was far deeper than that of the Murong Family.

After their spiritual energy is depleted, Spirit Gathering Stones recover spiritual energy relatively slowly. If not for the Spirit Eye Jade, the Thousand Gourd Sect's main headquarters would likely have already manifested.

Ten Spirit Gathering Stones are equivalent to a medium-sized Spirit Gathering Array, ensuring there's no need to worry about spiritual energy depletion. From this perspective, the Thousand Gourd Sect possessed a profound foundation.

Besides the Spirit Eye Jade and Spirit Gathering Stones, there was also half a Void Moon Divine Crystal. It was precisely because of this Void Moon Divine Crystal that the Thousand Gourd Sect's main headquarters could be hidden in the void, with the Spirit Eye Jade providing spiritual energy to maintain the array's operation.