Song Changsheng cast a Skylight Spell for illumination and took the lead, stepping boldly into the cave dwelling. Zhuang Yuchan and the others followed closely behind.
Beyond the stone door, the passage widened considerably. Under the magical light, they could see a series of simple murals carved into the walls.
However, Song Changsheng and the others were completely baffled. They couldn't make heads or tails of what the creator of these murals was trying to express.
The passage wasn't long so short that they could already see the spacious chamber carved out at the end.
But the walk was anything but easy. Just as Song Changsheng had suspected, the corridor was filled with formation traps. Recklessly charging through would end in a miserable death.
Yet amidst this web of formations, Song Changsheng noticed something unusual.
"There are a lot of formations, but none of them are of high grade. What's more, the methods required to break them are incredibly tricky. Without a deep understanding of formations, you'd never figure them out no matter how hard you tried."
After pondering for a moment, Song Changsheng began to get a sense of the cave owner's intentions.
He had already suspected something back at the stone door, and what he found here seemed to confirm his theory.
The owner of the cave didn't set up these formations to repel intruders instead, they were deliberately arranged as tests, meant to identify someone with talent in formation arts who could inherit the owner's legacy.
This wasn't idle speculation on Song Changsheng's part, but the result of careful analysis based on all the signs so far.
That realization stirred a flicker of excitement in him. The owner of this cave possessed a profound mastery over formations. If Song Changsheng could obtain this person's inheritance, it would be an immense boon for his cultivation path.
Reinvigorated, he focused intently, breaking through one formation after another. As they progressed, he moved with increasing speed. In less than half an hour, they reached the end of the corridor and stepped into a chamber carved out by human hands.
"Looks like this was a reception room," Zhu Yiqun said after scanning the area.
"With a stone table this huge, we didn't need you to point that out," Song Changsheng replied while checking the surroundings for any hidden mechanisms.
"Tch, I'm not gonna argue with you. I'm off to find some treasure! A Foundation Establishment cultivator's cave must have plenty of good stuff!" Zhu Yiqun's beady eyes gleamed with excitement as he hurried through the main doorway into the next chamber.
Song Changsheng shook his head helplessly, then turned to Zhuang Yuchan with a smile. "Let's go too, before that greedy fatty snatches up all the good stuff."
....
While the group was busy exploring the cave-dwelling, the Blood Demons outside hadn't been idle either.
The Black Steward stood on a high vantage point, watching as the underlings below, under the orders of several minor leaders, busily moved about.
They were placing specially made black ceramic jars around the perimeter of the formation. A closer look would reveal that these jars were being set precisely at the weak points of the formation exactly where Song Changsheng and his group had previously carved out a path.
Though it was a simple act of copying what had already been done, it was an extremely difficult task for these demonic cultivators. As soon as they stepped within a certain range of the formation, the yang energy would begin to continuously erode the demonic energy within their bodies.
The process was excruciating and torturous. If not for the Black Steward's brutal reputation and deeply ingrained authority, they would have long since given up.
When the final jar was finally set into place amidst cries of pain, the skull-faced man quickly approached the Black Steward, bowing and scraping as he reported, "Sir, all the Black Blood has been positioned. What are your instructions?"
"What are you waiting for? Break the formation at once! If you mess this up and fail to complete the Lord Hall Master's task, I'll make sure you suffer a fate worse than death!"
The Black Steward's icy glare sent a shiver down the skull-faced man's spine.
"Don't worry, my lord! This Black Blood was refined through a secret ritual that lasted forty-nine days, using the bodies of over a hundred spirit-rooted children. It's filled with intense yin and baleful energy.
If we'd had enough of it earlier, we would've broken through this Xuan Yang Heavenly Steel Array already. But now, by leveraging the weak points exposed by their tunnel, we've set up the Blood Demon Yinbane Formation. It'll succeed!"
The skull-faced man wiped the cold sweat from his brow and spoke quickly.
"Hmph, it had better," the Black Steward said coldly. Then he closed his eyes, entering a meditative state.
At the skull-faced man's command, the Blood Demon Yinbane Formation was immediately activated…
Inside the cave, Song Changsheng and the others continued their deep exploration. However, the cave contained dozens of stone chambers, making progress slow and inefficient.
After finding yet another empty chamber, Song Changsheng turned to the others and suggested, "This won't work we're moving too slowly. We should split up and search individually. Whatever we find, let it be up to fate."
Zhu Yiqun looked hesitant as he glanced at Xu Yunhe beside him. "But if we split up, then Fellow Daoist Xu…"
"As long as I'm not forced into combat, my injuries won't be a problem," Xu Yunhe said firmly. His fighting spirit had returned. Since their findings were up to personal luck, he didn't want to be a burden to the group.
"Then let's go with Fellow Daoist Song's plan each of us will follow our fate," Zhuang Yuchan agreed with a nod.
Everyone voiced no objection, and soon they each set off in different directions.
Relying on his instincts, Song Changsheng moved forward and eventually stopped before a stone chamber. He pushed open the door and entered, finding the room mostly empty only a few simple furnishings, nothing of real value.
It wasn't the first time he had come up empty-handed, so he wasn't too disappointed. After checking thoroughly to make sure nothing was overlooked, he moved on to the next chamber.
This one was different. It was circular and, judging by its layout, resembled a study. The purple sandalwood bookshelves lining the walls confirmed his guess.
The shelves were stacked with numerous jade slips, all coated with a thick layer of dust. Fighting down a surge of excitement, Song Changsheng began combing through them one by one.
But he quickly realized he had gotten his hopes up too soon. No one knew how many years this cave had been abandoned, and most of the jade slips had already degraded whatever content they once held had long since faded away.
Forget about powerful techniques he was lucky to find even a complete sentence.
Still unwilling to give up, Song Changsheng continued his search through the shelves. And at last, perseverance paid off he found a few jade slips that were surprisingly well-preserved.
It was clear these had been specially treated; otherwise, they wouldn't have survived till now.
The fact that they needed special treatment spoke volumes about their importance.
Struggling to contain his excitement, Song Changsheng picked up the first jade slip and pressed it to his forehead. As a faint glow flickered, the contents of the slip instantly poured into his mind.
"Spiritual Qi Conversion Technique?"
Lowering the jade slip, a look of surprise flickered across Song Changsheng's eyes. This jade slip recorded a secret art.
Unlike spells, which were limited by the user's cultivation level and had finite power, secret arts scaled with the user's strength and theoretically had no upper limit.
They were incredibly rare. Despite knowing dozens of spells, the only secret art Song Changsheng had ever acquired was the Breath Concealment Technique he had comprehended from the Dao Scriptures.
But what truly thrilled him was the effect of this newly found secret art…
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