Want to pick the easy target?
While Honglian was still unsettled, Yun Qian quietly made a hand seal, and a wisp of pale golden spiritual energy flowed and condensed in her palm like a wisp of silk.
"Find a way to contain this inner core and seal it with an array to prevent the vengeful spirit from dissipating." Xiao Hei's voice came from the inner palace, calmly analyzing, "Then find the person who set up the array and kill them, and the array will break on its own."
“Leave the killing to Baichuan and Qin Wu,” Yun Qian replied mentally. “I only need to deal with this inner core.”
Before she finished speaking, the spiritual power she had been cultivating in her palm suddenly erupted! The pale golden light instantly transformed into a complex cage, completely enveloping the red lotus not far away. The array patterns acted like locks, and the red lotus couldn't even move a single finger, her eyes filled with horror.
Yun Qian didn't even look at her, her figure flashing forward like lightning. She clasped her hands together in front of her chest, then slowly pulled them apart, and a dazzling and exquisitely structured golden magic circle materialized out of thin air between her palms!
"Seal it off!"
Yun Qianqing let out a shout, knelt on one knee, and pressed her palm heavily onto the ground. The golden magic array expanded in response, shining brightly, like a huge glass dome. It not only completely enveloped the strangely spinning inner core, but also forcibly restrained the surging black energy around it within the array, preventing it from escaping.
However, the sluggish flow of spiritual energy and the throbbing pain in her internal organs made Yun Qian's face even paler. She clenched her teeth, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead, but she still struggled to maintain the stability of the formation.
Just as she felt exhausted, a gentle breeze swept by, and a figure in cyan appeared silently beside her. Lin Huaiyu pulled her up with one hand without a word, while the other hand precisely took her place. A vast yet gentle spiritual power, like a river flowing into the sea, instantly poured into the magic array, making the golden light even more stable and solid.
“You…” Yun Qian was slightly taken aback.
Lin Huaiyu didn't look at her, her tone clearly showing a hint of anger: "Are you out of your mind? With your current condition, you dare to use spiritual power like this?"
Yun Qian stood beside him, looking at his profile, her tone slightly awkward, without even realizing it herself, as she softly retorted, "Well, it's not that serious."
Lin Huaiyu snorted softly, but the output of spiritual energy in her hands became even more stable: "What's wrong with waiting a little longer? I'll be there soon."
"I didn't know you would come." Yun Qian looked away. This person was always elusive, how could she know where he was? Besides, the Immortal Sect Competition had already ended, and she hadn't expected Lin Huaiyu to have followed her all the way.
“When you were in danger, I was always there for you.” Lin Huaiyu finally turned his head and glanced at her, his gaze deep. “Sili’s thoughts are unpredictable. If he were to take action himself, the three of you working together might not be able to stop him. I originally intended to escort you back to Cangmin Mountain.” He paused and added, “Of course, I have no intention of setting foot in the Cangmin Mountain area.”
“Next time you encounter danger, just wait for me, I will definitely come.” His voice was deep, with an undeniable certainty.
Yun Qian pursed her lips and didn't argue further. Since Lin Huaiyu had taken over, she was happy to relax and silently walked to the side to find a relatively flat stone to sit on. Her inner sanctum was currently churning with discomfort from forcibly using her spiritual power earlier.
With Lin Huaiyu's help, sealing an inner core was naturally a piece of cake. In just a moment, the churning black energy completely subsided, and the inner core was firmly sealed within the golden array sphere, with no trace of its aura escaping.
He walked to Yun Qian's side and handed her a pill brimming with spiritual energy. This time, Yun Qian didn't hesitate and took it without hesitation.
Honglian, trapped within the formation, was completely dumbfounded. Seeing how easily the two had resolved the strange inner core that had been troubling her, she felt both shock and sorrow, her eyes involuntarily reddening. But she dared not even breathe; either the man or the woman before her could obliterate her with a flick of their finger, so she could only desperately minimize her presence.
Little did she know that in this vast underground space, her bright red attire would be the most conspicuous presence. However, Yun Qian and Lin Huaiyu were simply too preoccupied to notice her at the moment.
"Why did you come in here too?" Yun Qian asked after catching her breath.
Lin Huaiyu casually sat down beside her, his posture languid, as if he had just done something insignificant: "If you are really trapped here, someone with sufficient cultivation will have to forcefully break the formation from the outside. So, I came in."
"Aren't you afraid that the person who set up the formation is more powerful than you?" Yun Qian raised an eyebrow slightly, her tone carrying a rare hint of teasing.
Lin Huaiyu smiled slightly, with an innate arrogance: "In this world, no one has a higher cultivation level than me."
As the chosen one who inherited divine power, he was certainly qualified to say such a thing.
“Even without your arrival, we can still get out,” Yun Qian said calmly.
“Of course.” Lin Huaiyu nodded, his gaze seemingly able to penetrate the soil and see the situation on the ground. “Baichuan and Qin Wu have already forced the person who set up the formation to the point of having no power to fight back. In my opinion, the formation will break on its own in no time.”
Meanwhile, on the upper floor of the inn.
Bai Chuan, wielding a long sword that gleamed coldly, approached the black-clad man huddled in the corner step by step, his tone laced with a chilling sarcasm: "You certainly know how to pick on the weak."
The entire inn was formed from this person's mental array, but with his cultivation level, supporting such a massive array was probably already at its limit. Each time he activated the array's power, it severely depleted his spiritual energy and mental strength. He had used it once to deal with Yun Qian and again to dodge Qin Wu's sword intent. Now, facing the seemingly weak Bai Chuan, if he were to forcefully activate the array again, it would likely collapse first!
The man in black was no fool. He had initially targeted Yun Qian, who was disguised as someone with no cultivation, but fled immediately after realizing he had run into a brick wall. Who knew he would run into the monstrous Qin Wu in the blink of an eye? He intended to use the same trick again, choosing this seemingly easiest-to-bully sickly fellow, but could someone tell him why this healer's swordsmanship was also so sharp and ruthless?
He couldn't even withstand three moves!
The man in black clutched his chest, which was churning with blood, and watched in horror as Bai Chuan slowly approached.
Bai Chuan was already quite strong. Although he was a medical cultivator and always carried a sickly air about him, he was able to withstand Yun Qian's sword a hundred years ago. He squatted down, looking the man in black at eye level, even with a gentle smile on his face, but his words were chilling: "Will you dispel the formation yourself, or will I kill you and forcibly break the formation? Choose one."
"Oh, right." He seemed to suddenly remember something, took out an empty sachet from his pocket, and waved it in front of the man. "I forgot to tell you, the air here is already filled with my specially made deadly poison. If you don't take the antidote within an incense stick's time, you will die from exhaustion of your essence and blood."
"You have about an incense stick's time to think it over. Do you want the antidote, or do you want to fight to the bitter end?"
Bai Chuan slowly sheathed his sword and stood up, looking down at the man who had completely lost the ability to resist, as if he were looking at a dying ant.
At first, the man didn't believe it, but after only a few breaths, he clearly felt his life force draining away at an alarming rate! The man turned pale and was filled with terror.
Bai Chuan leisurely enjoyed watching his fear unfold. He was waiting, waiting for the moment when the opponent's psychological defenses would completely collapse. Subduing the enemy without fighting would naturally be the best outcome, but before that, he had to figure out the true purpose behind this man's formation.
However, under the extreme pressure of fear, a glint of mad ruthlessness flashed in the man's eyes. He struggled to his feet and pulled a Qiankun bag from his robes.
The bag was only slightly ajar, and a rich, sweet, exotic fragrance wafted out – it was the scent of parting!
Bai Chuan had smelled this scent before, whether in the Li Kingdom's palace or on the Wuji Platform of Tianyan Mountain, but this was the first time he had ever smelled it so strongly.
This Qiankun bag is probably filled with this strange incense powder.
Fortunately, Yun Qian had already given him the Spirit-Nourishing Grass, and Bai Chuan was clear-headed and unaffected. He frowned slightly, looking at the man in black with confusion: "What are you doing?"
The man in black froze, staring incredulously at the unresponsive Bai Chuan. Even a mere whiff of this incense could trigger inner demons and stimulate one's cultivation; inhaling such a large amount would cause one to lose consciousness within moments… How could this person be unharmed?
Seeing that the other party remained silent, Bai Chuan lost his patience and his tone turned cold: "Are you perhaps waiting for this Li Xiang to take effect on me?"
"You...how do you know about Li Xiang?!" The man in black's voice trembled, his mask unable to completely conceal the drastic change in his expression. Very few people in this world know about Li Xiang; how could he know?!
"Junior brother, kill him." Bai Chuan, having learned the purpose of the formation, didn't want to waste any more time and spoke calmly.
Before he could finish speaking, an irresistible, sharp sword blade pierced through the man's head like a thunderbolt from the heavens! He didn't even have time to react before his life was completely extinguished.
Qin Wu's figure landed silently beside Bai Chuan like a ghost. His gaze swept over the Qiankun bag, and he said in a deep voice, "That day on the Wuji Platform, this was the scent I smelled."
Bai Chuan picked up the Qiankun bag, which contained a large amount of fine pink powder, undoubtedly the Li Xiang.
With the demise of the one who set up the formation, the formation centered around him also dissipated. The magnificent inn vanished like a bubble, replaced by a low, dilapidated thatched hut.
Bai Chuan crouched down again and tore open the man's shirt. His exposed skin was covered with countless eerie, dark black runes!
Let yourselves be the battleground!
A formation within a formation!
Yun Qian and Lin Huaiyu emerged from the underground space and returned to the surface. She walked to Bai Chuan's side, squatted down, and carefully examined the array patterns on the man's body, her expression solemn: "The array on his body is the source of the continuous spiritual power that the Heart Array provides."
Using his body to nourish his mind! The man before us is not the true mastermind behind the formation; he is merely a pawn carefully cultivated by the mastermind, a vessel of spiritual energy used to maintain the formation's operation!
No wonder this man is so weak.
Yun Qian stood up and looked around the village, now resembling a lifeless wasteland as the formation dissipated. This vicious formation had drained the power of every living being in the village, solely to maintain the operation of that inner core. And that inner core, constantly devouring the vengeful spirits and yin energy, was likely the core ingredient for making the Li Xiang incense.
These people are producing incense in large quantities!
With so many incense sticks, what exactly are they trying to do?
Before Yun Qian could think it through, Zhihua, who had been held by Qin Wu, couldn't wait to break free. With a kick of her hind legs, she tried to rush into Yun Qian's arms for comfort.
However, just as its front paws left the ground, a hand with distinct knuckles precisely grabbed it by the scruff of its neck. Lin Huaiyu expressionlessly pulled the uncooperative white cat close to his eyes, meeting its disgruntled heterochromatic pupils for a moment.
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