Chapter 62: Stealth Under the Moon
Rage surged wildly within Chu Yun's chest, like magma about to erupt. His eyes, blazing with crimson-gold flames, fixed their gaze on the vast, sinister altar in the distance. His knuckles turned white from the strain he exerted on the Evil-Suppressing Sword. He nearly lost control of himself, unsheathing his sword and charging into that living hell, slaying those beasts who treated life as worthless. "Chu Yun, calm down." A cold hand gently pressed against the back of his hand. It was Li Ge. Her voice, like a cold spring from the depths of the underworld, carried a force that could force calm. "I can sense your anger. But anger won't solve anything; it will only lead to the deaths of all three of us here." Chu Yun's chest, heaving violently, slowly calmed. The crimson-gold hue in his eyes faded, returning to a deep, dark darkness. He knew Li Ge was right. They were only three, facing countless Shadow Pavilion masters and an army of invulnerable puppets. Forcing their way in was like hitting a rock with an egg. "You're right." He took a deep breath, suppressing the murderous intent within him. "We need a plan." The three of them retreated silently from the bell tower, hiding behind the rubble of collapsed buildings. Under the cover of darkness, they discussed in low voices. "We must infiltrate the heart of the altar." Chu Yun looked at the altar, which continuously channeled energy to the blood moon. "Only by destroying the formation that drains life essence can we fundamentally stop this blood sacrifice." "It's difficult." Mo Li's face was extremely solemn. She pulled out a palm-sized, sophisticated "scope" made of crystal and brass gears from her treasure bag. She pointed it at the altar and turned the gears. The view of the altar transformed into a complex "network diagram" composed of countless crisscrossing energy flows of varying brightness and darkness. "See?" She handed the peephole over. "The altar itself is a massive forbidden magic circle, draining energy while also guarding its perimeter. Those bright white lines are 'open sentries,' made up of patrolling Shadow Pavilion masters and puppet armies, constantly patrolling every angle." "And those even more troublesome dark red lines," she pointed a finger at the hidden energy lines that almost blended into the darkness, "are 'hidden sentries,' 'sensing traps' set by Shadow Pavilion's top formation masters. They're invisible and intangible, and if an energy source not belonging to this formation touches them, the alarms of the entire altar will be instantly triggered. Open sentries, hidden sentries, and the invulnerable puppet army, this is simply a...
Rage, like magma about to erupt, surged wildly within Chu Yun's chest. His eyes, blazing with crimson-gold flames, fixed their gaze fixed on the vast, sinister altar in the distance. His knuckles turned white from the sheer force of his grip on the Evil-Suppressing Sword. He was on the verge of losing control, unsheathing his sword and charging into that hell on earth, slaying those beasts who treated life as worthless.
"Chu Yun, calm down." A cold hand gently pressed against the back of his hand. It was Li Ge. Her voice was like a cold spring from the depths of the underworld, carrying a power that could force anyone to calm down. "I can sense your anger. But anger won't solve anything. It will only lead to the three of us dying here."
Chu Yun's chest, which had been heaving violently, slowly calmed down. The red-gold in his eyes slowly faded, returning to a deep, dark darkness. He knew Li Ge was right. There were only three of them, and facing them were countless Shadow Pavilion masters and an invulnerable puppet army. Forcing their way in was like hitting a rock with an egg.
"You're right." He took a deep breath and suppressed the murderous intent in his heart, "We need a plan."
The three of them retreated quietly from the bell tower, hid behind the ruins of the collapsed houses, and discussed in low voices under the cover of night.
"We must infiltrate the core of the altar." Chu Yun looked at the altar that continuously supplied energy to the blood moon. "Only by destroying the formation that extracts life essence can we fundamentally stop this blood sacrifice."
"It's difficult." Mo Li's face was unusually solemn. From her treasure bag, she pulled out a palm-sized, sophisticated "peepscope" made of crystal and brass gears. She pointed it at the altar and turned the gears. Through the peeping scope, the altar scene transformed into a complex "network diagram" composed of countless crisscrossing energy flows of varying brightness and darkness.
"See?" She handed the peephole over. "The altar itself is a massive forbidden magic circle, draining energy while also guarding the surroundings. Those bright white lines are 'sentinels,' patrolling Shadow Pavilion masters and puppet troops, constantly monitoring every angle."
"And those even more troublesome dark red lines," she pointed her finger at the hidden energy lines that almost blended into the darkness, "are 'hidden sentinels,' 'sensor traps' set by Shadow Pavilion's top formation masters. They're invisible and intangible, and difficult to see with the naked eye. If an energy source not belonging to this formation touches them, the alarms of the entire altar will be instantly triggered. With these visible and hidden sentries, plus the invulnerable puppet army, this is a truly impenetrable 'fortress.' We can't get in at all."
"No, there is a way." Li Ge, who had been silent the entire time, suddenly spoke. She closed her eyes and activated the Ghost Healer's Secret Technique. Her senses, like invisible tentacles, reached out to the altar, brimming with death and evil. She didn't sense the "checkpoints" made of "formations" and "energy," but rather the pervasive "evil spirit" flowing through the city.
"No formation can be perfect," she said slowly. "As long as it's in operation, there will inevitably be a flow of 'energy'. Where there is flow, there will be 'dead spots'."
"That altar is drawing spiritual energy and resentment from the entire city's earth veins, but to maintain its own stability, it also emits some unabsorbed, chaotic 'waste gas'. Where these 'waste gases' are located is where the evil energy in the city is the thickest and most chaotic, and the energy flow there is disordered. The 'secret sentries' Mo Li mentioned will inevitably avoid those areas to avoid being disturbed by this disordered energy. And those places are our only 'way out.'"
Li Ge's words dispelled the haze of "despair" in Chu Yun and Mo Li's hearts.
"Can you find those 'blind spots'?" Chu Yun asked immediately.
"Yes." Li Ge nodded, "However, the evil energy in those places is the heaviest. Once we enter, we must perfectly blend our own aura with the evil energy there. Otherwise, it will be like a drop of clear water dropped into boiling oil. It will be easier to be discovered than in other places."
"Leave this to me." Chu Yun pulled three blank sheets of talisman paper from his bosom. He bit his fingertip, and using the blood as a guide, he quickly drew a complex and ancient rune he had never drawn before. This was a forbidden technique from the secret text of the Evil Suppression Bureau, the "Imitative Breathing Talisman." This talisman allowed the wearer to perfectly simulate the energy of the surrounding environment in a short period of time, but the drawing and use of the spell were extremely demanding. Failure or being discovered would result in a terrible backlash.
"Okay." A moment later, three "breath-imitating talismans" emitting a faint bloody light appeared in his hands. His face became even paler because he had consumed a lot of his energy and mind.
"One for each of you." He handed the talisman to Li Ge and Mo Li. "Wear it, and with Li Ge's guidance, we should have a 70% chance of sneaking into the core area of the altar without anyone noticing."
"What about the remaining 30%?" Mo Li asked.
"The remaining 30%," Chu Yun said, looking at the altar that looked like a devil's cave, his eyes cold and resolute, "can only be left to God's will."
The plan was set, and the three of them no longer hesitated, placing the "breathing talisman" on their chests. A cold, evil, and foul aura instantly enveloped them, as if they had instantly transformed into "evil spirits" walking the city.
"Follow me closely." Li Ge's voice rang out through the soul connection, "Don't take a wrong step."
After saying that, she was the first to slip into a darker and more dilapidated alley nearby, and Chu Yun and Mo Li immediately followed.
The stealth operation began. They were like dancers walking on a knife's edge, surrounded by a deadly "dragnet" woven by countless invisible sentries, both visible and hidden. Under Li Ge's precise guidance, they had to navigate the narrow "crack" in this "net," each step cautiously and with the utmost care, as if treading on thin ice. They could even clearly sense the patrols, composed of Shadow Pavilion masters and puppet troops, passing less than three feet away, and could smell the sickening stench of corpses and blood emanating from those "soulless puppets." But the patrols seemed oblivious to them, the sinister aura simulated by the "mimicry talisman" perfectly deceiving them.
Time passed by minute by minute, and the three of them were all in their throats, getting closer and closer to the altar. One hundred feet... fifty feet... thirty feet...
Just as they were about to step into the core area of the altar and see the dawn of victory, something strange happened!
Li Ge, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and his body stiffened.
"What's wrong?!" Chu Yun and Mo Li immediately became alert.
"Trap..." Li Ge's voice was filled with disbelief and deep despair, "There's actually a 'trap' hidden in a 'blind spot' here!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a small sensing array composed of countless more hidden and more vicious blood-colored runes suddenly lit up on the plain ground beneath her feet, and instantly burst out with extremely sharp energy waves that could pierce the eardrums!
"Buzz!" The shrill and piercing alarm sounded instantly throughout the dead silent ancient city of Jichuan.
"Oh no! We've fallen into a trap!" Chu Yun's face instantly turned ashen. He knew that from the very beginning, he had underestimated the scheming and viciousness of Xuan Chenzi and his people. The other party had even taken into account the "blind spot"!
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
“There!”
Almost immediately after the alarm sounded, countless roars filled with murderous intent echoed from all directions. A patrol of dozens of men, composed entirely of Shadow Pavilion's elite black-clad assassins, burst forth from the nearby shadows like sharks smelling blood, instantly surrounding the three men!
Exposed! Their stealth operation failed at the last step!
"Kill!" The Shadow Pavilion leader, leading the group, issued a direct, unequivocal order. Dozens of black-clad assassins simultaneously drew their poison-infused, shimmering scimitars and pounced on the three men like ghosts.
"Fight with them!" Mo Li shouted angrily, and the mechanical arm armor was ready to unleash the strongest attack.
"No!" Chu Yun rejected the idea instantly, his mind racing. He knew they absolutely couldn't fight here now. If they were held back, they would be met with an endless onslaught from the invulnerable puppet army and all the Shadow Pavilion masters on the altar! They had to eliminate these people in the shortest possible time and continue their charge towards the altar's core. This was their only chance!
"Li Ge! Mo Li! Cover me!" Chu Yun let out a decisive growl, no longer hiding his breath, and unreservedly burst out the golden Taiyi Qi in his body that had been boiling with anger and murderous intent!
“Boom——!” A dazzling golden light filled with the emperor’s domineering power shot up from his body into the sky, as if he had turned into an angry god of war who had descended here!
"Thunder and Fire: Heavenly Punishment!" He formed seals with his hands, using his body as a formation, drawing upon the thunder of the nine heavens and the fire of the earth's core! A massive talisman, woven from pure golden lightning and flames, instantly took shape above his head, emitting an extremely masculine and powerful force imbued with the aura of "destruction" and "judgment." This trembled the souls of the Shadow Pavilion assassins who rushed over, those practicing sinister techniques!
"Go!" Chu Yun pointed fiercely at the Shadow Pavilion killer who was close at hand, and the huge thunder and fire talisman fell down with the power to destroy the world!
There were no screams or struggles. Those elite assassins from the Shadow Pavilion, capable of unleashing a bloody storm on the martial arts world, were instantly purified and vaporized by the golden lightning and fire, along with their scimitars and black robes, beneath the domineering thunder and fire talismans that contained all of Chu Yun's wrath and murderous intent. Not even a trace of ash remained.
A quick fight, a quick decision, a deadly blow.
But Chu Yun's face was devoid of joy. His face paled even further at the full force of his attack, and a stronger sense of foreboding welled up within him. He could clearly sense the unreserved surge of Taiyi Yuan Qi he had just unleashed, like a boulder dropped into a tranquil lake, completely alarming all the "guards" at the altar. Waves of icy murderous intent, ten, a hundred times more powerful than the patrol before them, awoke from the massive altar, locking onto the three of them with a fierce gaze.
There is no longer any "luck" on the road ahead, and all that remains is endless murderous intent.
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