Chapter 134 Flesh and Bones She watched him repeatedly coalesce into human form
Since she began her cultivation, she has been studying formations.
Before entering this realm, Ji Mingran knew that the sealing technique of the Hongqi Sect's forbidden area was actually an array.
She is skilled at using formations and also at breaking them.
This trapping formation is mysterious and complex, but it is not without a way to break it.
The activation, operation, and dissipation of a formation cannot be separated from spiritual power. By following the spiritual power, one can find the formation patterns, formation eyes, and formation language, and then dismantle these elements that constitute the formation one by one, thus causing the formation to disappear.
Each time a memory scene shifts, it marks the moment when the spiritual energy fluctuations of the formation are most intense. The term "intense" only refers to the magnitude of the spiritual energy changes relative to the normal operation of the formation.
This formation is profound and mysterious. The spiritual energy contained within is without wave or trace, and is difficult to find. Even the most drastic changes in spiritual energy are like ripples on the sea caused by a drop of water. The changes are subtle and the opportunity is fleeting, making them difficult to detect.
However, Ji Mingran was born with a lack of spiritual power, which made her particularly sensitive to spiritual power and even spiritual energy. During the last memory jump, she sensed the changes in spiritual power and vaguely felt the array patterns of flowing spiritual power. However, the last memory jump happened so suddenly that she was unable to explore further.
Having learned from her previous experience, she wouldn't miss the opportunity this time.
Chains formed from the array's power bind the trapped person's body and soul, throwing them into a past memory scene read and created by the array. This consumes their consciousness, divides their soul, and then devours their power for one's own use.
She was someone who entered the formation, not someone who was trapped.
The person who was trapped was Yu Tianxing.
She wanted to save him.
"Breaking the formation or dispelling it, which do you choose?" Ji Mingran whispered to the chains.
She had only been in the formation for a short time and had only glimpsed a corner of its structure. She had not yet found a way to break the formation, but that did not mean she could not get out of it.
Destruction is far easier than unraveling.
Moreover, she noticed from the beginning that they were afraid of her.
Before entering the formation, the formation's intent consulted her, seeking her opinion and awaiting her reply. During her time in the formation, she did not suffer any actual harm. This is not the reaction one would expect from a trapped formation.
In her understanding, a trapping formation has the effect of forcibly sealing, suppressing, and binding. The formation's intent should be strong and domineering, suppressing anyone who mistakenly enters it without explanation.
But it didn't.
The continuous clanging of chains reached her ears, subtle and soft, as if responding to her words.
In a moment of lapse of consciousness, the scene seamlessly shifted, with ice, snow, limbs, blood, and the murderer all engulfed in darkness and silence.
His palm was suddenly empty, and the chains vanished.
Lifting his gaze from his empty palm, all he could see was darkness. Ji Mingran was enveloped by the cold dampness, immersed in the gloom, his body quietly rising and swaying.
The jagged, ravine-like silhouettes that suddenly appeared in his field of vision stretched as far as the eye could see. For a moment, Ji Mingran thought he was still in the Prize Pool Secret Realm, still in the Spiritual Cultivation Competition.
Although she could hardly see, she had only recently left this place and the memories were still fresh. These towering, steep shadows and the currents that swirled around her body all told her that she was in the deep sea cliff where she had first found the Spirit Stone.
How did I end up here?
In the memory scene, Yu Tianxing died. She thought the memory scene would collapse or reset. If it was the former, she might see Yu Tianxing's true form. If it was the latter, she would relive the previous experience.
So she asked Kunzhen to take her to see Yu Tianxing as soon as possible, instead of waiting for ages to see him.
But neither of those expectations came true. The trap had brought her here.
Ji Mingran recalled that Yu Tianxing had indeed told her that he had been to this area of the sea.
Could it be that he was referring to more than just the sea?
Without hesitation, Ji Mingran took out a lighting artifact from the exquisite brocade pouch.
She arrived at this deep seabed through a hidden teleportation array in the underwater vortex, carefully avoiding sea monsters and struggling to resist the natural resistance of the cliff bottom to all Taoist magic, which was quite arduous.
But now she is nothing more than a ghostly presence trapped in this memory scene.
In this state, she was unable to use Taoist arts, so it didn't matter whether the stone wall restrained her or not. Moreover, nothing in the memory scene could sense her, which made her completely unrestrained.
Ji Mingran felt a sense of unbridled freedom. After picking and choosing, she eliminated ordinary lighting items such as candles and lanterns, and found the "searchlight" artifact that Zhu Shibai had described as being made.
With the push of a switch, the incandescent light immediately illuminated everything within a five-mile radius.
A massive, contorted sea monster swam past, revealing an endless chasm with sheer cliffs.
The cliff face was riddled with narrow caves. Last time she hadn't seen them clearly, but this time, with the help of a searchlight, the interiors of the caves were laid bare. Inside each cave, what could be called "creatures" lay limp and mangled, their flesh and blood barely recognizable, like mud.
Scattered, twisted, and bizarre-shaped creatures also crashed into the cave entrance, but an invisible barrier blocked them. Then, a shadowy figure moved, dragging the creatures back. Accompanied by the creatures' screams, blood splattered onto the cave entrance, and the barrier slowly slid down.
The scene after the lights were turned on was quite impactful; the previous darkness, in fact, became a form of psychological and spiritual protection.
Ji Mingran stared unblinkingly at the cave wall closest to him.
An inconspicuous shell the size of a fist is embedded in it.
Ji Mingran subconsciously reached into the exquisite brocade pouch again, his fingertips touching the spirit stone that emitted a slight warmth.
The physical object was with her; before her eyes was the image of the Spirit Stone that had fallen into this realm before.
It has always been here, exactly as it was when she found it.
It's different... Ji Mingran's gaze shifted to the right, landing on the adjacent cave.
When she took the Spirit Stone, the cave was empty, but now it is not empty.
Strong light pierced through, revealing the interior in its entirety.
The cave seemed to have been used as a garbage dump, with broken and scattered internal organs, broken and incomplete bones, incomplete limbs, and blood-stained chunks of flesh being roughly thrown here, scattered everywhere.
Ji Mingran held up the searchlight, remaining motionless for a long time.
Deep inside the cave, in a corner mostly buried by bones and blood, she saw only half of a black pupil.
Ji Mingran slowly bent down, covered his chest, and took a deep breath.
Her heart was throbbing with pain; the sudden throbbing almost made her think she was being attacked by the trap.
This feeling is the same as when I saw Yu Tianxing being attacked by celestial phenomena before.
Ji Mingran was puzzled. She was clearly like a ghost without a physical body, so why did her heart suddenly clench and ache?
Her chest felt blocked and suffocated, as if weighed down by a heavy stone, making it difficult for her to breathe and causing her discomfort.
Yes, it's uncomfortable. The body's reaction stimulated long-forgotten memories in his mind, and Ji Mingran recalled this feeling that he had almost completely forgotten.
This uncomfortable feeling is called sadness.
Humans experience joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. In the past, during the end times, her emotions became increasingly calm and undisturbed. Over time, she forgot the physical sensations she had only experienced in her childhood.
Reincarnated into a new world, she was happy every day until today, when she was struck by sadness and grief.
Even though he knew this wasn't what Yu Tianxing was currently experiencing, the series of unexpected events happening before his eyes still made him feel extremely distressed.
This can be seen as her regaining the emotions that a normal human being should have, indicating that she is further integrating into human society.
Thinking this, Ji Mingran felt a little better. Rubbing her chest, she swam towards the cave.
The cave was blocked by an invisible barrier, preventing her from entering.
Ji Mingran had no choice but to crouch close to the transparent barrier and look inside the cave.
Since there are memories of this scene, it means that Yu Tianxing is not dead.
Even though he was completely dismembered, he still did not die.
Ji Mingran squatted at the cave entrance and waited quietly.
As time passed within the memory scene, Ji Mingran lost track of how long he had remained there.
She watched little by little as broken limbs and bones were slowly repaired, and shattered internal organs gradually became whole again. She saw tendons, bones, flesh, and blood come together and take shape.
She saw the boy's gradually taking shape, half of his silhouette.
Yu Tianxing, he actually grew back.
The process was too painful. The half-formed outline could only crawl on the ground, struggling and twisting. Every time the scattered organs, bones and blood moved, rubbed, and collided, the half-outline trembled violently.
The damaged trachea emitted a rough and unpleasant groan of pain.
He cried out in a low, hoarse voice, filled with pain and despair.
Ji Mingran could only say in front of the cave, "Bear with it, bear with it, Yu Tianxing. Today your heart will heal, tomorrow your bones will connect, you'll get better." She knew he couldn't hear her, but she still kept repeating it to him every day.
Gradually, the boy's muffled groans subsided, and he grew into a quarter of his human form. But at that moment, his incomplete body swayed and crashed into the entrance of the cave.
The shadowy figure emerged and instantly shattered the hard-won humanoid form, scattering limbs and flesh away.
The body disintegrated before it could even utter a sound; despair silently permeated the cave.
In the repeated torment, time seemed to fly by, and Ji Mingran watched as Yu Tianxing repeatedly formed incomplete human forms, collapsed in front of the cave, and was beaten to pieces, only to crumble in the end.
Finally, one day, the condensed body curled up in a corner of the cave, and condensed into a complete body.
His pale, weak, handsome face had a pair of dark eyes that seemed to have forever captured that icy, snowy land, leaving it lifeless and devoid of light. He stared coldly at the cave entrance, swayed as he stood up, and stretched his long, slender fingers out of the cave.
The shadowy figures surged forward wildly, more ferocious and ruthless than ever before, attempting to tear the body to shreds once more.
It was only an inch from his skin. The expressionless boy curled his fingertips and grabbed the shadowy figure, tearing it off.
Yu Tianxing grabbed the shadowy figure and slammed it against the cave entrance.
Thump! Thump! Thump! The heavy, muffled sound broke the stillness of the deep sea.
The invisible barrier, when attacked, launches an even fiercer attack.
Countless sword flashes, lightning bolts, thunder roars, and attacks of fire and ice rained down on him.
However, this body, which had been disintegrated and reassembled countless times, had become so hard that it was indestructible. No matter how many attacks the barrier launched, it could no longer shake this body in the slightest.
At that very moment, at the bottom of the rift valley that suppressed all Taoist arts, Ji Mingran sensed a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy.
Her starry eyes were fixed on the distance ahead.
A tall figure emerged from the cave and floated on the water.
The boy's eyes were obsidian-black and cold, his appearance was beautiful and bewitching, and his black hair spread out behind him like seaweed, as if he were a demon god in the world.
Ji Mingran smiled and raised his head, about to walk towards him.
"Brother! Are you alright?!"
She turned her head.
Jiang Chaoxing, dressed in rags, appeared from around the corner, swimming anxiously towards Yu Tianxing with a worried expression.
Jiang Chaoxing and Ji Mingran frowned. What was he doing here?
Author's Note: I ended up working overtime until 11 PM, so I'm making up for it now. [Laughing and crying with facepalm]
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