txolops Chapter 24 A Triumphant Return
Chapter 24 A Triumphant Return
The remaining lightning power was extremely stubborn, like a tiny venomous snake, clinging tightly to the flesh.
It wasn't until late at night, as the powerful regenerative abilities of the Witch Clan's battle body gradually gained the upper hand, that tingling and stinging sensation slowly subsided.
Huang Chen let out a long breath and opened his eyes.
In the darkness, a hint of weariness flashed in his eyes. The wound on his left arm had stopped bleeding, and a layer of dark red scab had formed on its surface.
Although it still aches slightly, at least it doesn't affect my mobility anymore.
He sat up straight and took out the storage bags from his pocket.
While rummaging through Chu Yunfei's storage bag, Huang Chen touched a hard object—a dark gold storage ring hidden in a secret compartment at the very bottom of the bag.
Huang Chen raised an eyebrow and took out the storage ring. The surface of the ring was engraved with intricate cloud patterns, and it felt cool to the touch, faintly emitting a weak spiritual energy fluctuation.
The wealth of the disciples of the Great Sect is indeed more than what is shown on the surface.
The space inside the storage ring was several tens of feet square.
In the very center of the space, a small mountain of low-grade spirit stones was neatly stacked.
The crystal-clear spirit stones exuded a rich spiritual energy, weaving together into a dazzling sea of light within the dark storage space.
Huang Chen glanced at the number and estimated it to be at least 50,000.
Besides the spirit stones, there were also several exquisite jade boxes and a few jade slips exuding an ancient aura.
Huang Chen withdrew his divine sense, tightly gripping the storage ring in his hand. After the initial excitement, a strong sense of crisis instantly surged into his heart.
Chu Yunfei is not an ordinary rogue cultivator; he is an inner sect prodigy of the Xuantian Sect. A person of this caliber must have a life-bound soul tablet kept within the sect.
Once a person dies, their soul tablet shatters, and powerful figures from the sect can very likely use the secret technique of cause and effect to track down the murderer across millions of miles.
Although Huang Chen had kicked the corpses of Chu Yunfei and the other two into the most violent gale zone before leaving the Gale Valley, he watched as the three corpses were shredded into a bloody mist by the terrifying gale, leaving not even a trace.
But that's not enough; physical destruction of the body and the elimination of evidence cannot prevent the strange causal tracking of the cultivation world.
Immediately bring up the system panel in your mind.
"Open the store."
2000 points of karma were instantly deducted, and a talisman emitting a faint golden light appeared out of thin air in the palm of the hand—a low-level karma purification talisman.
Huang Chen crushed the talisman in one hand, and a soft sound, inaudible to ordinary people, echoed in the tree hole.
Golden specks of light scattered like fireflies, transforming into an invisible ripple that swept from the top of Huang Chen's head to the soles of his feet.
In the instant the ripples swept across, I vaguely saw several extremely thin, blood-red threads wrapped around my body, the resentment and karma left behind by Chu Yunfei before his death.
The golden ripples, like sharp blades, easily severed the blood-red threads, turning them into wisps of black smoke that dissipated into the air.
A pale, fish-belly white light appeared on the horizon.
Huang Chen pushed aside the stone blocking the entrance to the tree hole, crawled out, identified his direction, and then, in a flash, disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.
Noon on the fifth day.
The familiar deep valley finally came into view at the end of the horizon.
Huang Chen stood on the ridge, looking down at the Firewood Shelter below.
Outside the formation, several demonic beasts paced restlessly, occasionally scratching at the light barrier with their claws, creating weak ripples.
Huang Chen leaped off the ridge, his body accelerating suddenly in mid-air.
"Bang!"
The few wandering monsters didn't even have time to scream before they were kicked away, their foul-smelling blood splattering onto the rocks.
Huang Chen strode toward the entrance of the formation, and the light shield rippled with water-like patterns.
As soon as I stepped into the shelter, a solemn yet orderly atmosphere greeted me.
The women quietly mended torn animal hides in a corner, while the men silently sharpened bone knives and iron tools by the fire. Thin broth simmered in several large pots, maintaining the shelter's basic daily operations.
Ashi squatted beside the array's core, his brows furrowed in a deep knot. He stared intently at the faintly flowing array patterns on the array plate, clutching the last two low-grade spirit stones tightly in his hand, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.
"The master hasn't returned yet..." Ah Shi muttered to himself, his voice revealing a hint of anxiety and worry.
Just then, a steady and powerful sound of footsteps came from the entrance passage.
Ashi suddenly looked up and saw Huang Chen's tall figure striding through the passage.
"My lord!" Ah Shi suddenly stood up.
The faint sounds that had been filling the cave instantly ceased. The woman mending animal hides stopped sewing with her bone needles, and the man sharpening weapons put down his whetstone. Everyone stood up, their eyes fixed on the man.
There were no hysterical screams, only sighs of relief that spread through the cave. As long as this man was still there, the shelter would never collapse.
Huang Chen walked straight to the center of the formation and glanced down at the gray-white residue in the groove that had been completely turned into waste stone.
"Step back."
Ashi and the other young men quickly stepped back as instructed and held their breath.
Huang Chen raised his right hand, and the dark golden storage ring flashed a deep, faint light in the dim cave.
"Splash—"
The crisp, dense sounds of collision suddenly echoed within the cave, like celestial music.
Hundreds and thousands of crystal-clear low-grade spirit stones poured down from mid-air like a dazzling waterfall of stars, instantly filling the huge array eye grooves and even piling up into a small mountain that emitted a brilliant fluorescent light, to the astonished gazes of the crowd.
The extremely dense spiritual energy suddenly erupted, transforming into a tangible white mist that swept outwards.
The once dilapidated and dimly lit Flame Array, like a parched traveler finally receiving rain after a long drought, greedily devoured this vast and pure energy.
"Buzz!"
A dull rumbling sound came from deep underground.
The light shield covering the valley entrance suddenly burst forth with dazzling light.
The thickness of the light shield increased at a visible rate, and a faint layer of golden runes even appeared on its surface.
The oppressive force of the formation spread outwards, instantly dispelling the remaining demonic energy and poisonous miasma at the valley entrance.
Everyone was so stunned by the mountain of spiritual stones that they were speechless.
Huang Chen turned to look at A Shi.
"Go and arrange manpower to take turns guarding the key points of the formation."
As if waking from a dream, Ashi vigorously wiped his face and loudly replied, "Yes!"
Huang Chen nodded and turned to walk towards his stone chamber deep inside the cave.
I'm so tired, I need to get a good night's sleep.
……
Thousands of miles away, the sea of clouds churns.
Majestic immortal mountains float in mid-air, cranes cry out, and spiritual energy turns into rain.
Xuantian Sect.
Halfway up the main peak, a magnificent palace entirely crafted from obsidian stands silently. Above the palace entrance hangs a huge plaque with three large, gilded characters: Soul Tablet Palace.
Inside the hall, the air was filled with the fragrance of sandalwood, and tens of thousands of eternal lamps floated slowly in mid-air, illuminating rows of towering jade shelves.
The shelves were densely packed with the life-bound soul tablets of the sect's disciples. The higher up the tablets were, the more precious the material they were made of, representing the more prestigious the status of their owners.
On the top few rows, there are dozens of crystal-clear purple jade soul tablets.
It is exclusive to the true disciples of the Xuantian Sect.
An elderly man with white hair and beard sat cross-legged on a prayer mat in the center of the main hall.
He was the elder in charge of guarding the Soul Tablet Hall. His cultivation had reached the mid-stage of Earth Immortal. For hundreds of years, he had been in seclusion here, rarely concerning himself with worldly affairs.
The main hall was so quiet that the only sound was the faint crackling of the lamp wicks.
Sudden.
"Click."
A crisp cracking sound suddenly rang out in the empty hall.
The elder guard suddenly opened his eyes, a hint of surprise flashing in his cloudy eyes, and his gaze instantly locked onto the direction from which the sound came.
This is the area where the Purple Jade Soul Tablet is located.
"Click...click..."
The cracking sounds grew more frequent.
The elder guard's figure vanished from the prayer mat in an instant, and the next second he appeared in front of the towering jade shelf.
The leftmost purple jade soul tablet in the third row, representing Chu Yunfei's natal soul, is now covered with spiderweb-like cracks. The purple spiritual light that originally flowed within the jade tablet is rapidly dimming.
"This... how is this possible?" The elder guard gasped.
Chu Yunfei is the grandson of the Grand Elder of the Inner Sect. He is exceptionally talented and has been granted many life-saving trump cards.
He was just training on the edge of the Ten Thousand Mountains, how could he have perished?
Before the elder could react...
"Bang!"
The purple jade spirit tablet finally succumbed to its internal collapse and shattered with a deafening roar.
Purple jade shavings scattered on the ground like snowflakes.
The light of the eternal lamp flickered violently at that moment, as if mourning the fall of a great hero.
The guard elder stared blankly at the debris on the ground. The eldest elder was extremely protective of his own. If he knew that his most beloved grandson had died outside, the entire Xuantian Sect would be turned upside down.
"Someone come here!"
The elder guard suddenly turned around.
"Ring the Dragon Bell!"
"Seal off the mountain gates! Immediately send someone to invite the Grand Elder out of seclusion!"
A moment later, a deep and long bell tolled, echoing from the summit of the Xuantian Sect's main peak.
The sound of the bell pierced through the sea of clouds and spread throughout the seventy-two sacred mountains.