Chapter 24
The two arrived at the bottom of the cliff, where there were scattered rocks and overgrown weeds.
He surveyed the surroundings, slowly strolled along the bottom of the cliff, and carefully searched the mountainside.
On the surface, the mountain appears quite ordinary, with no obvious cave entrances or luminous crystal outcrops.
If there truly is a crystal mine hidden beneath Cangming Mountain, and it has remained undiscovered for so many years, with successive sect leaders and high-ranking cultivators failing to detect any fluctuations in spiritual energy, then this crystal mine must be extremely well-hidden, difficult to detect by ordinary means.
Jiang Liuya saw the Xuanjing Orchid from before and gently flicked its petals with her finger.
"Xuan Jinglan, have you seen the crystal mine?" she asked Xuan Jinglan softly.
Her response was the silent, gentle swaying of the Xuanjing Orchid.
"Crystal mine, oh crystal mine, how did you manage to hide yourself?" Jiang Liuya tilted her head and muttered to herself.
His innocent and amusing appearance, like a child searching for treasure, made Danxi shake her head and chuckle.
Jiang Liuya's eyes suddenly lit up, and she guessed, "Under this mountain, could there be many spirit-locking rocks that seal off the spiritual energy of the crystal mine?" The marrow-connecting grass she had obtained before had its energy sealed by spirit-locking rocks, which is why it had not been discovered by anyone for so many years, until she finally found it.
Danxi shook her head slightly and said, "There seems to be a peculiar force here that keeps interfering with the spiritual energy of the crystal mine."
Danxi is an innate wood spirit, and he is very sensitive to spiritual power. He had some senses when he was on the mountain, and when he came to the bottom of the cliff, he became even more certain of his guess.
"You mean, you sensed two forces. One is the spiritual energy fluctuation of the crystal mine, and the other is a mysterious, unknown force?" Jiang Liuya asked.
Danxi cast an appreciative glance at her: "You could say that."
"It can actually restrain the immense spiritual power of the crystal ore. Isn't this mysterious power incredibly strong?" Jiang Liuya asked.
"Perhaps," Danxi replied, a hint of worry in her voice.
At that moment, Danxi's gaze was drawn to a vine.
The vines grew in a strange way, spiraling upwards and clinging tightly to a corner of the cliff. This spiraling vine covered only a small patch, almost imperceptible without close inspection.
Danxi slowly walked towards the vines, and Jiang Liuya noticed his actions and quickly followed.
“There seems to be a gap in spiritual energy here,” Danxi said slowly.
Jiang Liuya quickly formed hand seals, and a fire spirit flew out from her fingertips, instantly engulfing the vine.
Flames leaped and crackled on the vines. As the flames gradually died down, a well-hidden cave was slowly revealed where the vines had been.
The cave is incredibly narrow, like a child hiding and playing there; the entrance is only big enough for a slender woman to squeeze through.
Danxi narrowed his eyes slightly, made a hand seal, and concentrated his spiritual power at his fingertips, forming a bright ball of light. With a gentle wave of his hand, the ball of light shot into the cave like a shooting star.
The two listened intently at the cave entrance. After a long while, faint sounds began to emanate from within the cave. The sounds were so faint that they seemed to come from a very distant place.
“It’s very deep and very big inside.” Danxi frowned slightly.
"I'll go in and take a look first," Jiang Liuya said. The entrance to the cave was too narrow, and Danxi's tall figure would obviously have difficulty entering. It was more appropriate for her to explore it alone.
Danxi hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Be careful. If you find anything wrong, retreat immediately."
Jiang Liuya nodded in response.
Danxi handed her a ball of spiritual energy.
He watched as Jiang Liuya bent down and crawled into the cave, the spiritual energy ball glowing and illuminating the narrow passage ahead. A sudden unease gripped his heart.
He waited quietly at the entrance of the cave, and by following Jiang Liuya's spiritual energy ball, he could vaguely sense the situation inside the cave. He thought to himself that at least he could know if she was safe.
Jiang Liuya crawled forward in the dark passage for a while, and the inside of the cave became more and more spacious.
She stood up and walked slowly, looking around as she went.
The cave was completely silent, deathly still, with only the sound of one's own breathing all around.
The light from the spirit orb shone on the cave wall, casting a reflection of the wearer's own image.
Suddenly, she noticed something moving on the stone wall in the distance.
Holding the spirit orb, she leaned closer to examine it. The stone wall was covered with pale golden runes.
These runes seemed to be alive, flowing silently on the stone wall.
Jiang Liuya carefully examined the characters and patterns on the stone wall.
These strange runes gave her a strange sense of familiarity. It seemed as if she had seen similar patterns somewhere before.
She examined it carefully while pondering it deeply.
Then she noticed that there seemed to be a gap in the center of the rune.
The characters danced, yet all of them bypassed the small space in the middle.
This is an incomplete magic array; the missing part in the middle should be the array's core.
A blue figure flashed through my mind. The pattern, with its circular outer rim and layers of rune-like patterns.
The dense, pale blue lines began at the corners of his eyes and meandered downwards. The outer layer consisted of concentric circles, while the inner layer was composed of fine lines, some curved and some straight. These lines intertwined to form a complex and mysterious pattern.
It once appeared on his face!
That pattern seems to complete this magic circle!
Jiang Liuya gathered spiritual energy in her hands and used her fingers as a brush to lightly trace patterns on the incomplete array. This incomplete array was like an ancient riddle. And she was the one who had just found the key and was trying to solve the riddle.
Her expression was focused, as if the entire world had shrunk to just the array before her. The pattern in her mind grew clearer and clearer. It seemed to possess a special magic, deeply imprinted in her mind, remaining vivid in her memory even after many days. Every line, every turn was clear in her mind. She had wondered and pondered before: what kind of power did this pattern contain? And what was its purpose?
Her hands moved rapidly in mid-air, each stroke precise. A radiant light of spiritual energy flowed from her fingertips, transforming into a mysterious pale gold after each stroke.
As she continued to outline the formation, the key element was gradually completed, and the golden array began to flow more rapidly, as if the previous obstructions and blockages had been completely cleared. The spiritual energy within the array surged like a rushing river, surging and turbulent, carrying an unstoppable momentum.
Jiang Liuya could sense that the power contained within the formation was gradually awakening, like a giant beast that had been sleeping for a long time about to open its eyes.
She was both excited and nervous, staring intently at the formation before her. Suddenly, the rock wall where the formation was located collapsed with a deafening roar.
A tremendous force shook the earth, causing the entire space to tremble and the surrounding air to become distorted.
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