txolops Chapter 343 Blood Pillar Soars to the Sky
Chapter 343 Blood Pillar Soars to the Sky
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Upon hearing this, a hint of regret flashed deep in Ling Yuling's clear and bright eyes. The usual languid smile on her lips seemed to fade slightly. She gently put down her teacup and let out a long, somewhat regretful sigh.
"Alas... It seems that Yu Ling's opportunity has not yet arrived. Since Master has important matters to attend to, the most important ones are naturally the priority. I only hope that when he returns one day, Yu Ling will have the honor of meeting him and receiving his teachings."
Her words were appropriate, and her posture was quite humble, perfectly portraying the role of a junior eager to meet a senior.
"Sister, don't be disappointed. When Master returns, Mingyue will definitely introduce you to him." Mingyue comforted her with a smile, then naturally changed the subject, a pure and excited smile on her face.
"By the way, I've been pondering the nested rune structure of the Golden Spear Talisman that my sister discussed with me last time for a long time after I got back..."
Hundreds of miles away from Silver Shark Island, Luo Ming hovered above the sea of clouds and took out a cyan jade slip with a special material and a warm touch from his storage bag.
This jade slip is a common sea map found in Silver Shark Island Market, marking the general topography of the hundreds of thousands of miles of sea surrounding the island, known monster habitats, and some explored special areas that may contain resources or dangers.
Luo Ming pressed the jade slip to his forehead, immersing himself in it with his divine sense, and began to rapidly browse the vast amount of information within. His goal was clear—to find a sea area with relatively heavy Yin energy, secluded enough, and unlikely to be disturbed by other cultivators, as a temporary location for the Ghost King's breakthrough.
"The extremely yin and desolate places naturally formed in the Ghostly Land are extremely rare and hard to find in the outer sea. We can only settle for second best and find some places where yin energy gathers." Luo Ming pondered as he looked at the map.
"Deep-sea trenches, the confluence of cold, dark currents formed by the long-term cooling of submarine volcanoes, the junctions of sea creature territories, or deserted islands that were once inhabited by a large number of Yin-attribute demons and ghosts... In these places, the Yin energy should be denser than in ordinary sea areas, barely enough for a Ghost King to absorb when breaking through."
His gaze swept across the marked points on the map, his divine sense processing the information at high speed, constantly eliminating areas that were too close to Silver Shark Island, might be inhabited by cultivators, or were marked as being occupied by powerful demonic beasts.
"About two hundred thousand miles to the southeast, there is a desolate sea area called 'Corpse Whale Tomb'. Legend has it that in ancient times, a large number of 'Yin Bone Whales' perished here, their bones piling up over the years, forming a deathly sea area filled with yin energy. Low-level bone demons and yin spirits often appear here, but there are no valuable resources, and few cultivators go there..."
"Hmm, this place has a stable source of yin energy, a relatively enclosed environment, and the presence of low-level ghosts provides cover, making it unlikely to arouse suspicion. The distance is moderate, and the risks are relatively controllable. This is the place."
Having chosen his target, Luo Ming no longer hesitated. He put away the jade slip, identified the direction, and then, with a thought, a faint light flashed beneath his feet, and the Wind-Escape Shuttle appeared silently beneath him.
This time, he no longer deliberately concealed himself completely, but he also did not push himself to the limit. He simply maintained a speed slightly faster than that of an ordinary late-stage Core Formation cultivator, but not too conspicuous, and transformed into a faint blue rainbow, speeding towards the "Corpse Whale Tomb" sea area in the northeast.
Deep in a sea area perpetually shrouded in a thick, gray-white fog that seems to absorb all light.
A solitary, oddly shaped black island, like the spine of a giant beast, lies half-hidden on the sea.
The island is filled with jagged rocks and sparse vegetation, exuding a musty, lifeless atmosphere.
At this moment, in the central area of this deserted island, a figure shrouded in a wide black robe, with even his face completely obscured by the shadow of the hood, is moving cautiously.
In his hand, he tightly gripped a strangely shaped dark red disc.
The disc was neither gold nor jade, and it was icy to the touch. Its surface was engraved with intricate, twisted patterns resembling blood vessels. Even more bizarrely, on the disc, there were four illusory figures of monstrous beasts, each only the size of a thumb, with different shapes, and a blood-red color, constantly swirling and emitting faint hissing sounds!
The man in black robes walked and stopped, sometimes advancing several feet forward, sometimes retreating a few steps, his gaze fixed on the four blood-red phantoms on the disc in his hand.
As he moved, the aura emanating from the four illusory beast figures on the disc constantly fluctuated in strength. Sometimes one of the figures would shine brightly and shriek sharply, while at other times they would all dim and almost dissipate.
"Hehe...hehehe..."
From beneath the black robe came a hoarse, low laugh, suppressed with extreme excitement, like the sound of an old bellows being pulled.
"It wasn't in vain that I spent a century and exhausted most of my wealth; I've finally found the entrance to this secret realm!"
He abruptly stopped, his gaze, hidden in the shadow of his hood, fixed like that of a hungry wolf on a rough patch of ground in front of him that appeared ordinary and no different from the rest of the place.
The phantom was flashing with crimson light, its aura fluctuating violently. Readers were all discussing the allure of Xianxia novels in the forum. It even seemed to be on the verge of breaking free from the disc's restraints and lunging directly at the stone wall!
"This is it! That's it!" The man in black robes suddenly became breathless, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.
Without further hesitation, he slapped his empty left hand on the storage bag at his waist, and several small flags of different colors, shimmering with light, flew out one after another.
He moved swiftly, circling the ground and inserting the small flags one by one in a specific direction and order. Each time a flag was inserted, it flashed with light and disappeared into the soil, leaving only a barely perceptible spiritual mark on the surface.
A moment later, as the last small flag was inserted into its designated position, the man in black robes formed a hand seal and uttered a low shout:
"The Four Spirits return to their places, the Blood Restriction—Issued!"
"Buzz—!"
Centered on the ground, within a radius of ten feet, a layer of thick, dark red, blood-red ripples suddenly appeared! The air seemed to become heavy and have a fishy, sweet taste.
As the crimson ripples spread, the originally rough, ordinary, and unremarkable black ground began to violently twist and change, like a melting wax figure! The stone skin peeled off, and debris flew everywhere, revealing the shocking true face hidden beneath!
The exposed areas were an ominous dark red, as if they had been soaked and congealed by countless drops of blood.
It resembled an altar.
The ground was covered with countless twisted, bizarre, and ancient blood-red runes and eerie marks, densely packed and layered upon each other! These runes and marks seemed to have a life of their own, writhing slightly under the reflection of the blood-red ripples, exuding an unsettling aura of evil and desolation.
In the very center, there was a perfectly round groove, about the size of a bowl, with smooth edges. The groove's pattern matched the edge of the dark red disc in the black-robed man's hand perfectly!
"Hahaha! Found it! This is it!" The man in black robes could no longer contain his elation. He looked up at the sky and let out a hoarse laugh, his eyes filled with undisguised greed and madness.
"Once I enter and find the legendary 'Purple Pool of Ten Thousand Spirits Blood,' with its boundless essence and the secret techniques left behind by the ancient Sea King Sect, I will surely be able to break through my bottleneck in one fell swoop!"
He laughed loudly and impatiently raised his hand, pressing the dark red "Four Spirits Soul-Guiding Plate" in his hand hard into the circular groove in the center of the ground!
"Click."
With a soft click, the disc and the groove fit together perfectly, without any gaps.
At the very moment the two made contact—
"boom!!!"
The entire surface of blood-red runes seemed to be instantly infused with boundless power, and all the distorted rune marks on it simultaneously erupted with a blinding, pure, and extremely intense crimson light!
The light was so intense that it instantly pierced through the perpetual gray-white mist over the island, staining a large part of the sky with a blood-red hue!
At the same time, on the blood-red compass embedded in the groove, the four illusory figures of demonic beasts that were originally howling incessantly seemed to have encountered the most terrifying deprivation, and at the same time let out a miserable howl of extreme despair!
Their phantoms struggled and twisted wildly in the bloody light, but like ice and snow exposed to the scorching sun, they rapidly became transparent and thinner at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Finally, with a soft "poof," they exploded together, turning into four wisps of gray-black smoke. They were instantly swallowed up by the writhing blood-red runes on the wall, like a whale sucking up water!
The crimson compass itself cracked with a "crack," losing all its brilliance and becoming a piece of junk.
However, the man in black robes had no time to worry about the enormous cost of this magical artifact. Because something even more shocking and horrifying had happened!
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
As the ground runes were fully activated, a deep, muffled roar, seemingly originating from the earth's core yet also from the highest heavens, suddenly exploded! The entire island trembled violently with this roar, and towering waves surged across the sea!
In the reflection of the black-robed man's suddenly contracted pupils, filled with disbelief and horror, a massive pillar of light, hundreds of feet in diameter and as solid as a blood-red crystal, burst through all obstacles, rising from the island and piercing the clouds, centered on the altar!
The pillar of light exuded an intense, overwhelming aura of blood and ancient pressure. Its intense light was clearly visible even hundreds or thousands of miles away, like a blood-red lighthouse lit up in this dark sea!
"No...no good!" The man in black robes froze instantly, replaced by boundless terror and panic, and cried out in a terrified voice.
"How could... how could such a commotion have occurred?! This blood... this momentum... cultivators a hundred miles away, no, a thousand miles away, could detect it!"
His original plan was to open the entrance to the inheritance without anyone noticing, sneak in silently, and enjoy all the treasures and opportunities within.
But the towering column of blood before him was far more spectacular than he had imagined! This was no "sneaking in"; it was clearly a grand announcement to the world!