Slender willows sway in the breeze

Chapter 173 Who Cares About Runes

It stomped its foot, and the ground instantly cracked open, with countless sharp rocks jutting out from the ground and piercing towards the crowd.

Gu Changzhou hurriedly shouted, "Watch out for the spikes!"

At the same time, he infused the power of the stars into the "Star Guardian Shield," making the shield's light even more dazzling and resisting the incoming rocks.

However, the impact of the rocks was enormous, and the shield developed cracks under the constant impact.

Seeing this, Tong Lei continued to control the "Flaming Dragon Heart-Burning Thorn" to attack the Qilin's eyes while shouting, "We can't let it recover! Everyone, keep attacking!"

The dragon's spikes darted through the blood mist, heading straight for the Qilin's eyes.

Yuan Jingshan quickly changed hand seals: "Earth spirit forms a wall, layer upon layer of protection!"

The ground shattered by the Qilin instantly sprang up into earthen walls, which not only blocked some of the rocks that were piercing towards the group, but also surrounded the Qilin, attempting to trap it again.

Liu Sijun focused intently on activating the Taixu Mirror, causing its light to grow even stronger. The pillar of light, imbued with purifying power, was like a sharp blade, firmly locking onto the Qilin's abdomen. The pillar of light and the blood-red light from the Qilin's abdomen clashed, emitting a series of hissing sounds, as if engaged in a fierce struggle.

Sensing the threat to its eyes and abdomen, the Qilin roared and suddenly changed its strategy.

Instead of forcibly breaking free from the earthen prison and dodging attacks, it concentrated all its strength on defense, and a thick shield of blood-red light formed on its body.

Tong Lei's "Flaming Dragon Heart-Burning Thorn" struck the light shield, only scattering large sparks; Liu Sijun's purification beam could only make the light shield tremble slightly, unable to break through.

"This Qilin's defense is too abnormal; this can't go on!"

Yuan Jingshan said anxiously.

Gu Changzhou frowned, his mind racing as he tried to come up with a solution.

“Listen to me, everyone. We’ll distract it, and then I’ll look for an opportunity to attack its vitals. Brother Tong, you continue to use the Flame Dragon to draw its attention, focusing on attacking its eyes; Si Jun, you use the rune light of the Void Mirror to interfere with its movements, making it difficult for it to concentrate on defense; Brother Yuan, you use earth magic to constantly harass it, putting pressure on it from all directions.”

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately acted according to Gu Changzhou's plan.

Tong Lei unleashed "Flaming Dragon Dance," and countless small flame dragons flew out from his longsword, like a flock of firebirds, rushing towards the Qilin's eyes.

The Qilin was indeed enraged.

Its attention was mostly focused on defending its eyes, constantly shaking its head in an attempt to dispel the fire dragon.

Liu Sijun then shot out beams of runic light from the Taixu Mirror. These beams, like nimble snakes, weaved through the blood mist and struck the Qilin's body. Although they did not cause any real damage, they slowed down the Qilin's movements.

Yuan Jingshan manipulated earth magic, transforming the earthen wall into countless sharp earthen cones, which shot towards the Qilin from all directions.

The muffled thuds of earthen spikes kept coming from the Qilin's body, and its light shield began to flicker erratically under the barrage of attacks.

Just as the Qilin was struggling to cope, Gu Changzhou seized the opportunity, channeled the power of the stars, and unleashed "Starfall." He concentrated all the power of the stars in his body onto the sword, which shone brightly, like a star about to fall.

Then, he flashed and appeared above the Qilin like a ghost, stabbing fiercely at the Qilin's abdomen.

The Qilin sensed the deadly threat above and tried to dodge, but its movements were restricted by the attacks of the group. The sword, carrying earth-shattering power, pierced the Qilin's abdomen.

The Qilin let out a deafening scream, its crimson light dimmed instantly, and its massive body crashed to the ground, splattering a cloud of blood mist.

Looking at the fallen Qilin, everyone felt a surge of relief at surviving such a calamity. However, the danger within the blood mist was far from over; the strange occurrences in Burial Valley continued, and the conspiracy between Xuanji Hall and Blood Spirit Sect was still brewing in the shadows.

"This Qilin is so powerful, it must be not far from the core of the formation."

Liu Sijun wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the still thick blood mist around him.

"That's right, everyone, let's put in more effort and find the core of the formation as soon as possible." Gu Changzhou sheathed his sword and said with a determined expression.

Tong Lei forcefully plunged his longsword into the ground, using the momentum to stand up. "Let's go, keep moving forward. I want to see what other tricks the Blood Spirit Sect can pull."

Yuan Jingshan nodded as well. Although the battle had just exhausted his spiritual energy, his eyes still showed determination.

The four continued their journey through the blood mist, which seemed to have become even more chaotic due to the death of the Qilin. Sometimes it churned like a surging wave, and sometimes it suddenly stopped, as if it were accumulating some kind of power.

They hadn't gone far when a huge stone platform suddenly appeared ahead.

The stone platform is octagonal and covered with various strange runes that shimmer with a blood-red light, echoing the surrounding blood mist.

In the center of the stone platform, there is a huge blood-red crystal. A powerful force seems to be surging inside the crystal, constantly emanating an evil aura.

"This should be the core of the blood mist formation."

Gu Changzhou looked at the stone platform and said with a solemn expression.

"It seems I was right. The aura emanating from this crystal and the evil power in the blood mist are of the same origin."

Liu Sijun nodded and said.

However, just as they were about to approach the stone platform, a layer of blood-red light suddenly rose up on it, and runes appeared on the light platform. The runes flashed rapidly, as if activating some kind of powerful defense mechanism.

"This is bad. These are the Blood Spirit Cult's protective runes. If we want to destroy the array's core, we must first break through this light barrier."

Liu Sijun frowned as he carefully observed the runes on the light screen.

Tong Lei gripped his longsword tightly. "I don't care about the runes, I'll just blast them open with brute force!"

As he spoke, he unleashed the "Flaming Dragon Burns the Heavens and Annihilates the World" technique, sending a massive flaming blade of energy slashing towards the light barrier.

After the fiery blade energy struck the light barrier, it burst into a dazzling light, but the light barrier only trembled slightly and did not suffer any substantial damage.

Looking at the light screen, Yuan Jingshan said with concern, "The defensive power of this light screen is beyond our imagination. Simple physical attacks probably won't work."

"Miss Liu, you have a deep understanding of runes. Is there a way to break the runes on this light screen?"

Liu Sijun nodded slightly and said, "These runes seem complex, but I have seen similar rune systems in my research on the Taixu Mirror. They should be arranged in a certain order. As long as we find this order, we can break through the light barrier."

As he spoke, Liu Sijun took out the Taixu Mirror, infused it with spiritual power, and began to interpret the order of the runes through the power of the Taixu Mirror.

The Taixu Mirror shimmered with light, and various runes and patterns appeared on its surface, echoing the runes on the stone platform.

(End of this chapter)