Chapter 49 The vortex is a spiritual vein.
Encouraged by Zhan Yao, Yu Cen and Xu Lian immediately expressed that they would not back down.
Only Mu Fuyu had not spoken yet, so everyone's eyes fell on her again.
There was not much expression on her face, she just said lightly, "I won't quit."
There was no other reason, she just remembered the crystal piece on her chest, and the look on Xie Hanyi's face, covered in frost, waiting for her before she left.
He asked her to protect herself and return safely, and she also wanted to complete the mission and add luster to him.
Although she knew that the difficulty of the task had increased suddenly and there was no more specific description in the original book, she firmly believed that there would always be a solution.
"Alright." Chu Ye looked at the four junior brothers and sisters who hadn't retreated, and as the eldest brother, he rarely showed his approval and recognition. "You are so determined, you are worthy of being my Tianyan disciples. However, no matter what, I will be there when you encounter danger. Remember, don't try to be brave, understand?"
This is the duty of the eldest brother leading the team.
Several people nodded solemnly, without any objection.
Next, we will discuss what to do next.
"We can't just go out and look for monsters like before," Zhan Yao shook her head. "These monsters have consciousness. Once they sense they've been discovered, they'll immediately drain the possessed person's energy and escape, costing them another life."
"If we use talisman paper, we may be able to prevent the monster from leaving and temporarily protect the possessed person. But we still don't know how many people are possessed. If we act rashly, I'm afraid that more innocent people will lose their lives." Li Mu said worriedly.
"We should find the person who is controlling the monsters behind the scenes." Chu Ye said.
Only by finding the person behind the evil and cutting off his control over the monsters can we solve the fundamental problem.
"Since the monsters possessing humans have consciousness, we have found two just now. The demon cultivators behind them should have noticed it and will surely take some action." Mu Fuyun said.
"I just don't know what he will do." Yu Cen touched his head and took out the scroll and compass that recorded the situation.
For a moment, the compass seemed to freeze.
He stared, trying to see more clearly.
However, the next moment, the stagnant magnetic needle began to spin violently again, looking even more chaotic than before, as if there were countless monsters outside, passing by them and gathering in a certain direction.
"What's going on?" Zhan Yao's realm was the highest among the new disciples, and he was the first to notice the abnormality outside.
"There's some unusual movement." Chu Ye's face darkened. He stood up and held the sword at his waist, ready to draw his sword at any time.
The others followed suit and stood up, ready to draw their swords.
Only Mu Fuyun looked towards the sand table again.
"Look."
On the sand table, the crystals that had originally turned red and were floating and swaying began to flicker from east to west. After a while, the two crystals on the east side went from flickering to completely extinguished and fell back onto the sand table.
"They're—moving, heading west!" Yu Cen exclaimed, "Big Brother, should we follow them immediately?"
At this time, Chu Ye also received a message from the sect's Instructor Shen: "Instructor Shen asked us to do our best to protect the people in the town, and at the same time protect ourselves. The sect has sent a message to the Demon Lord Cang Yan, asking him to send someone here. The sect will also send someone here after the teleportation array is set up."
Xu Lian: "It would be great if someone could come to support me."
Yu Cen: "There's no time to lose, Big Brother, let's go out and check out the situation!"
Chu Ye didn't dare to delay for a moment, and took a few people out of the communication center to check the situation in the town.
The information center is located in the downtown area, but due to the series of accidents, there are few pedestrians on the street and it seems very empty.
At this moment, they were standing on the side of the street, but they could see several figures walking step by step from the east on the east-west street.
At first glance, they are all ordinary people, dressed differently, walking slowly and keeping a distance from each other, obviously not familiar with each other.
But as they got closer, the magnetic needle on the compass moved more and more chaotically, and several people noticed something strange.
"His eyes are dull and his face is expressionless...his mind has been taken away!" Li Mu said in surprise.
"There's a dark aura spreading through his eyes, just like the person possessed by a demon we found earlier." Zhan Yao frowned, moving his hand around the hilt of his sword, but making no move to draw. "They're indeed gathering in the same direction."
"It must have been summoned by the demon cultivator." Chu Ye released his spiritual sense, carefully avoiding the possessed people around him. After quickly checking the situation nearby, he said, "Everyone follow, don't act rashly."
As he said this, he walked ahead. Li Mu and Asin stayed in the communication center, waiting for support, while the others followed behind him.
At first, there were only seven or eight people walking west along the street, but as they passed one intersection after another, more and more people joined the small team, and it gradually became a team of a hundred people. Walking on the winding street, there was an inexplicable feeling of creepiness on one's back.
"There are so many people..." Yu Cen lowered his voice and said in horror.
No one responded, but everyone had the same thought in their minds.
The team headed westward until they walked out of Beiwu Town, leaving behind a series of footprints along the vast desert under the bright sunlight.
When the wind blew, the yellow sand rose up and quickly covered the footprints, leaving no trace.
"Where are they going?" Looking at the endless yellow sand, Xu Lian felt a little anxious.
They were at least ten miles away from Beiwu Town. Looking back, they could no longer see the houses and city walls of Beiwu Town; and looking forward, there was still a vast sea of sand, no cliffs or high slopes, and no towns or people.
Yu Cen was also unsure where these people, who had lost their minds and were controlled by monsters, were going to be led. Could it be a trap?
But thinking that his companions must also be feeling nervous, he didn't want to add to this depressing atmosphere. Besides, as a disciple of Tianyan, he couldn't stand by and watch these innocent suffering people being manipulated.
Therefore, he held it in all the way and didn't say a word.
This feeling was really uncomfortable, making him feel depressed and he couldn't help looking around anxiously.
However, there was nothing to see around except yellow sand, scorching sun, and people with numb expressions and stiff limbs.
As he was feeling annoyed, a desert lizard that emerged from the sand caught his attention.
The gray-black lizard has strong ridges and undulating bumps on its back, which appear dry and grayish-yellow under the reflection of the yellow sand and the scorching sun.
Despite the lack of water, the lizard did not feel restrained. As soon as it emerged from the sand, it crawled quickly. Compared with those lifeless puppets, the lizard's movements seemed much more agile and lively.
Yu Cen felt as if the blocked emotions in his heart had found a way out.
However, before it could breathe a sigh of relief, the fast-crawling lizard suddenly encountered an invisible obstacle.
It was still transparent air, with nothing but sand, but the lizard couldn't crawl forward at all and could only keep arching its back against the air.
"This is—" Is it forbidden? Is there a hidden secret here?
Before he could finish, Chu Ye suddenly shouted, "Everyone, don't move!"
Several people subconsciously stopped almost at the same time, maintaining a defensive posture and standing still.
"There are restrictions here, be careful not to touch the key points!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the key point was triggered and the surrounding scenery began to change dramatically.
The endless yellow sand on the ground began to flow rapidly like water, gradually forming a huge whirlpool, as if sucking in everything around it.
The quicksand in the center of the vortex sank inward, forming a huge black hole.
In the cave entrance, black gas surged and soon formed a thick ball.
The ball of black gas rolled and transformed into the shape of a human. It was too thick. If it were not for the traces of air surging at the edge, from a distance, people would think it was a real person.
Soon, the demonic energy that looked like a human figure moved as if stretching its body. It did something unknown, but a strong sense of oppression suddenly arose around it. Together with the suction force at the center of the vortex, it pulled in several people standing on the periphery.
"He is sucking away our spiritual energy!" Yu Cen shouted in shock, while trying hard to stay where he was and not be pulled into the center of the vortex.
"So, this is the purpose of these monsters leading us here!" Zhan Yao said.
"He is trapped and is trying every possible way to absorb spiritual power and essence to break through the restrictions!" Mu Fuyun gritted his teeth.
The crystal fragments on her chest were now colder than the ice and snow of Lingshan Lake, prickling the skin beneath her clothes and making her shiver all over. Although she felt a little uncomfortable, it was this discomfort that allowed her to remain calm and clear-headed.
A powerful demon cultivator was clearly trapped beneath the vortex. Beiwu Town was populated by mortals, and while they possessed abundant vital energy, it was far too little to transform into power. Even if they were to drain it all, they still wouldn't be able to match the power of these serious cultivators.
But they had only just arrived in Beiwu Town today. Before the demon cultivator discovered their tracks, he had already been using demonic energy to secretly control the people in the city. There must be other reasons.
Where do these puppets find their spiritual power?
She felt that the spiritual power in her body was being forcibly drained away, so she quickly tried to gather her energy, barely able to steady herself, and looked around to observe the situation.
The puppets whose minds had been taken away did not stop, but continued to move forward step by step, but not towards the center of the vortex, but towards another small sand dune that appeared in the west at some point.
Above the sand dunes, a fiery red light shot straight into the sky, like a burning cloud, so bright that people couldn't help but squint their eyes.
"That is..." Mu Fuyun couldn't help but open his eyes wide and muttered.
"It's a spiritual vein." Chu Ye's face was almost ugly to the extreme.
Like Dongji Island, the spiritual veins of the entire continent are also buried beneath the Xisha polar region.
The spiritual veins contain endless power, which can only be maintained stable by relying on layers of restrictions.
Those puppets, under the control of the evil spirit, are gradually forming a huge formation.
And now, what the demon cultivator has to do is to use this formation to tear a hole in the restriction, gain enough power, and then break through the restriction in the vortex!
"Not good!" Zhan Yao quickly realized the current situation, "Quick, use the immobilization talisman!"
The immobilization talisman can temporarily immobilize the puppets, preventing them from forming a formation, and can also prevent the evil energy in their bodies from sucking away their essence and escaping.
Chu Ye took out a thick stack of immobilizing talismans from the mustard seed bag, intending to withstand the suction of the vortex and the oppressive feeling on his body and stick the talismans on them before the puppet formation was formed.
However, the suction force around him was getting stronger and stronger at this moment. Even though he had a high level of cultivation, he seemed a little powerless after having half of his spiritual power suddenly sucked away.
Even so, he still warned his fellow apprentices: "Hurry up and find a way to stay away from the vortex and protect yourselves!"
He trudged forward in the flowing yellow sand, his speed not much faster than that of the puppet.
"No, let's go too!" Yu Cen didn't want Chu Ye to take the risk alone, so after hesitating for a moment, he also moved over there with difficulty.
Seeing this, the remaining three people followed.
The spiritual power is consumed quite quickly, especially for Mu Fuyun. Once the spiritual power is consumed, it is easy to lose balance.
She gritted her teeth, took out the spirit stone from the mustard seed bag, crushed it in her palm, and relied on the spiritual power in the spirit stone to try to create resistance in her veins to prevent the spiritual power from being directly sucked away.
The five people, led by Chu Ye, finally approached the puppet, and with great difficulty pasted the talismans on it one by one. They also set up a simple formation and wanted to stay away from the center of the vortex.
The demon cultivator realized that his plan had been disrupted and seemed to be extremely angry. The black energy in the center split into five thick strands and rushed towards them like swords.
Mu Fuyun was standing at the end, and when he turned his head, he was closest to the whirlpool, so he immediately blocked it with the Hengyu Sword.
The evil spirit is invisible and can only move freely when it possesses a person.
The sword stab was useless, and he could only use his spiritual power to transform into sword intent to barely block it.
A monk and a demon started fighting.
The few people who followed behind also got involved in the melee one after another.
"No, if we continue like this, our spiritual power will be drained away and we will surely die!" Xu Lian said anxiously while struggling to resist the monster with a tricky angle.
Chu Ye distracted himself and blocked her way, saying, "Support from the sect and the Demon Realm is on the way. There should be many secret realms nearby. If we can find an opening, we can go in and take shelter for a while, and then we can breathe a sigh of relief."
Not only that, when the secret realm is opened, it will also generate destructive power, which can temporarily destroy the power that the demon cultivator has already accumulated.
"But where can we find it now!" Xu Lian was exhausted and confused due to the disturbance.
After a brief silence, Yu Cen suddenly said, "I should know one."
As he spoke, he fended off the monster's approach while taking two steps in a certain direction and groping around in the empty sand with his hands.
He didn't know where he touched, but the air around him suddenly shook, and a transparent cyclone was like a big hole, sucking him in.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
