bookmarkrole Chapter 319 - 318: The True Face of the Blood Spirit Array
Chapter 319 - 318: The True Face of the Blood Spirit Array
The bottom of Li Shui Lake.
Household garbage, discarded fishing rods, helmets... and an assortment of strange, scattered toys.
Farther out, scattered relics hinted at a glorious past. Even after a hundred years, the scars of battle, marks left by clashing weapons, still spoke to the ferocity of that ancient war.
"What’s this?"
Qin Yang landed near the lakebed and searched for a moment with Liu Wushuang.
He looked around the bottom with great interest.
White bones lay buried in the sand.
Unidentifiable iron artifacts littered the ground.
Along with all sorts of plastic bags.
And bizarre little toys.
After watching for a moment, Qin Yang suddenly frowned.
His gaze landed on something not far away.
It was a relic from some ancient ruin, a Copper Pillar made of dark, reddish metal. A quick glance suggested it was at least five or six meters tall, and its base was a divine statue of the Black Tortoise—a turtle entwined with a snake.
It was exquisitely detailed, startlingly lifelike.
A profound, mystical aura emanated from it, instantly setting it apart from the other objects on the lakebed!
"There’s no need to go any further, Young Master," Liu Wushuang said softly, hovering behind Qin Yang. "This is the location of the Blood Spirit Array."
"This pillar... is the Blood Spirit Array?"
Qin Yang frowned at his words and shot him a sidelong glance. "Your Venerable Alliance just left it down here without setting up any defensive measures?"
"Not at all, Young Master.
The Blood Spirit Array is far too important; it’s always been the top priority for the Venerable Alliance. There’s no way we would be so careless. If you would look carefully around this pillar, you should be able to see what’s really going on."
Liu Wushuang shook his head and added with an air of mystery, "Look very carefully..."
"Tsk. So dramatic."
Qin Yang clicked his tongue, too lazy to press the issue, and simply looked in the direction Liu Wushuang indicated.
He narrowed his eyes.
This time, he looked more closely...
Vast knowledge of Arrays surfaced in his mind.
His gaze swept over the uneven lakebed, flowed across the surface of the Copper Pillar, and took in the surrounding debris and garbage as well.
Sure enough, it wasn’t long before he spotted the signs!
The engravings on the Copper Pillar’s surface weren’t decorative patterns, but ancient, abstruse array lines. They conformed to the principles of Array Formation and were still in constant operation.
And around this Copper Pillar, mystical Array Patterns lay hidden amongst the waterweeds and gravel, shimmering with the lake-bottom currents until they were almost perfectly integrated with their surroundings.
If one didn’t look closely, they would be completely overlooked.
Schools of fish darted through the gravel, the aquatic environment was thriving, and ripples from swimming koi spread outwards. Everything seemed so vibrant and full of life.
An Array within an Array!
"They can even do something like this?!"
Turning his head, Qin Yang looked at Liu Wushuang beside him. "You guys are pretty good at hiding this grand Array. You even nested it like a Russian doll?"
"The Venerable Alliance has a lot of tricks up its sleeve, doesn’t it?"
"Hehe, you flatter us, Young Master."
Liu Wushuang scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.
He wasn’t at all surprised that Qin Yang had figured it out.
’After all,’ he thought, ’with the Young Master’s mastery of Arrays and his Celestial Venerable Realm Cultivation, it would be stranger if he *couldn’t* see through this grand Array...’
"The Young Master is correct. The Copper Pillar you’re seeing is the core of the Venerable Alliance’s concealment Array."
"No wonder I couldn’t find it before..." Qin Yang’s eyes swept over the Array, one eyebrow raised. "So there was another grand Array here all along, blocking all external senses and completely concealing the aura..."
"Yes, this Array is called the Black Tortoise Array."
Liu Wushuang explained respectfully from the side:
"It is one of the Venerable Alliance’s protective measures. We spent a fortune on it back in the day, all to prevent outsiders from breaking into the Blood Spirit Array."
A nostalgic look appeared on Liu Wushuang’s face as he spoke.
"Young Master, you have no idea... Back when we were setting it up, this Black Tortoise Array was so time-consuming and difficult. It gave everyone in the alliance a terrible headache!
It didn’t just consume ten years’ worth of our stipends; we also had to keep it secret from the citizens of Jianghai City, setting it up clandestinely at the bottom of the lake... We went through untold hardships to create what you see before you today."
"A bunch of filthy rich show-offs."
Qin Yang rolled his eyes, uninterested in hearing any more about their extravagant spending, and turned his attention back to the Array.
"So, you’re saying I just need to get past this Array to reach the Blood Spirit Array?"
"Well... yes, that’s the gist of it. But Young Master, you mustn’t be careless..."
Liu Wushuang hesitated for a moment. Seeing Qin Yang’s calm expression, he couldn’t help but offer a word of caution, pointing a finger toward the edge of the Black Tortoise Array.
"If we cross the boundary carelessly, we’ll trigger its defensive measures."
"What kind of defensive measures?"
Qin Yang asked. "Will it just trap me?"
"There’s more to it than that."
Liu Wushuang lowered his voice. "When you step into the Array, its defenses will tie you down. But its real purpose... is to send a notification..."
"A notification?"
"Exactly, a notification!"
Liu Wushuang’s voice rose. "The Black Tortoise Array is an external, supplementary Magic Array, designed primarily for delaying tactics! When an intruder enters its range, it will simultaneously deploy restraining measures. And what’s worse... it will immediately notify the Alliance Leader."
"Notify Meng Tianxuan?"
The corner of Qin Yang’s mouth twitched when he heard that.
He could barely contain his amusement.
’If this were a few days ago, I might have been a little wary.’
’After all, I hadn’t even reached the Earth Venerable Realm back then.’
’But things are different now. I just condensed a Celestial Venerable Dharma Aspect. Am I really supposed to take this kind of crap from them?!’
’And here I was, looking for someone to practice on!’
"If Meng Tianxuan has the guts, let him come."
Qin Yang chuckled softly.
He walked slowly toward the Array.
"Alright, enough nonsense,"
"Since this pillar is the core, this will be easy."
Qin Yang looked at the central Copper Pillar. His gaze sharpened, and in an instant, he saw through its secrets. He then raised a hand, preparing to shatter the Array.
The next moment.
A palm and a finger!
Sky-Covering Palm and Heaven-Caging Finger shot out. In a flash, they deftly slipped through a fissure in the Array, heading straight for the center of the Copper Pillar!
WHOOSH—
The surrounding water seemed to come to life, gathering near the pillar to block the attack, but before it could even form a proper barrier, Qin Yang’s power shattered it.
The two streams of power bored through, reaching the Copper Pillar’s surface in an instant.
CLANG! CLANG!
A terrifyingly powerful brute force descended. The Sky-Covering Palm and Heaven-Caging Finger merged, forming a colossal, mountain-sized hand that gripped the Copper Pillar tightly, as if to tear it out by the roots.
’Tsk, this thing is damn heavy?’
Qin Yang’s brow furrowed slightly. Gritting his teeth, he put more force into his hands. The muscles in his back coiled tight as he unleashed a vast, boundless, mountain-toppling power.
RUMBLE!
In an instant, the sand and mud on the lakebed churned into a massive vortex. All the debris began to spiral in the current. Before Qin Yang, the Copper Pillar of the Black Tortoise Array seemed as insignificant as a toothpick!
He was striking at the very source!
The Copper Pillar was ripped clean from the ground!
The moment the core of the entire Array was removed, a dense web of cracks spread across its surface!
In an instant, the landscape of the lakebed changed dramatically!
The schools of swimming koi seemed to sense the danger, scattering abruptly and fleeing into the surrounding water.
The moment the Copper Pillar disintegrated, a thick black fog erupted!
An seemingly endless, toxic miasma began to spread, but it had barely extended half a meter before Qin Yang—who had anticipated this—thrust out a palm and skillfully deployed a Spatial Lock.
The pocket of sealed space directly absorbed and neutralized the dense fog.
It was completely effortless...
And with that, the Black Tortoise Array was broken.
"..."
Liu Wushuang: "???"