Slender willows sway in the breeze

Chapter 191 The Divine Artifact is Awakened

Because they were prepared, the Blood Spirit Cult members who blocked their way were all killed.

They continued along the same path and soon arrived near the altar.

The altar was brightly lit, and the Blood Spirit Cult and the Zhu family were busy making final preparations for the ceremony.

Gu Changzhou observed the surrounding situation and transmitted his voice to the others: "Everyone, be careful. The enemy will definitely be more vigilant now. Let's proceed according to plan."

Liu Sijun, accompanied by experts skilled in rune formations, quietly circled around to one side of the altar, looking for the right moment to launch an attack.

Gu Changzhou led the other experts to hide in the shadows, waiting for Liu Sijun's signal.

At this moment, the leader of the Blood Spirit Cult stood in the center of the altar, holding a staff that emitted an eerie light, and chanting obscure and difficult-to-understand incantations.

As he chanted, the runes around the altar began to flicker, and a powerful and evil aura spread out.

Once the ceremony begins, it becomes extremely difficult to stop it.

Liu Sijun made a decisive move and transmitted his voice to the expert beside him: "Now is the time to make your move!"

Everyone immediately channeled their spiritual power and unleashed their respective rune spells, attacking the core of the rune array on the altar.

The powerful surge of spiritual energy caused the runes around the altar to flash, throwing the Blood Spirit Cult and the Zhu family into chaos.

The leader of the Blood Spirit Cult noticed that someone was disrupting the ceremony and roared, "Who is it? How dare you ruin my important event?"

He immediately directed his followers to defend against the attack.

Seeing this, Gu Changzhou led the other experts out from the shadows and engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy.

In an instant, shouts of battle rose from all sides of the valley, and spiritual energy shone brightly.

In the chaos, Liu Sijun discovered the key hub of the altar's rune array. She concentrated all her spiritual power and unleashed her strongest rune spell, attacking that hub with all her might.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, the key to the rune array was successfully destroyed, and the rune light that was originally shining on the altar instantly dimmed.

The Blood Spirit Sect leader's face turned extremely ugly when he saw that the rune formation had been broken.

Unwilling to accept defeat, he frantically urged his staff on, attempting to forcefully initiate the ritual.

However, without the support of a complete rune array, his efforts were in vain.

Taking advantage of the situation, Gu Changzhou led his experts to charge at the Blood Spirit Cult leader. After a fierce battle, they finally subdued the Blood Spirit Cult leader.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the Zhu family members scattered and fled.

At that moment, a muffled rumbling sound suddenly came from the sky, and the originally dark night sky was illuminated by a strange light.

Liu Sijun was startled and said, "This is bad! They seem to have activated some kind of restriction related to the ancient artifact. Even if the rune array on the altar is destroyed, the artifact may still be born!"

Gu Changzhou's expression was grave: "Lord Si, is there any way to stop it?"

Liu Sijun quickly surveyed his surroundings and discovered a hidden passage beneath the altar, emanating an aura similar to that of the token.

She said, "Perhaps the answer is down there, let's go down and take a look!"

The two led the remaining experts cautiously into the passage. A pungent odor permeated the passage, and the walls were covered with strange runes.

They followed the passage deeper and discovered a huge underground cave.

In the center of the cave, on a stone platform emitting a faint glow, lies a mysterious artifact—the ancient artifact that everyone has been searching for.

The artifact was surrounded by a ring of blood-red light, within which runes faintly flowed, seemingly resisting the approach of the crowd.

Just then, a group of phantoms suddenly appeared in the cave. These phantoms all looked like experts from the Blood Spirit Sect, and they rushed towards Gu Changzhou and the others.

Liu Sijun frowned and said, "These phantoms should be the last line of defense set up by the Blood Spirit Sect. Everyone, be careful!"

Gu Changzhou swung his sword at the oncoming phantom, only to find that the blade passed right through it without causing any damage.

After a moment of contemplation, Liu Sijun said, "These illusions are formed from spiritual energy, and ordinary attacks are ineffective. We need to find their source of spiritual energy and destroy it!"

The group searched the cave for the source of spiritual energy, but the phantoms kept attacking, causing them great trouble.

Just when everyone was feeling overwhelmed, a master noticed a red rune flashing on the wall and shouted, "Miss Liu, Marquis Gu, could this be it?"

Liu Sijun glanced at it and said, "It's highly likely. Everyone, concentrate your spiritual power to attack that rune!"

Upon hearing this, everyone gathered their spiritual power and attacked the rune.

The runes shimmered, clashing with the spiritual power of the crowd.

With everyone's efforts, the rune's light gradually dimmed, and the phantom's attacks became weaker and weaker.

Finally, the runes shattered with a crash, and the phantom vanished.

However, just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the crimson light around the ancient artifact suddenly intensified, and the powerful force caused the entire cave to tremble.

Liu Sijun's heart tightened: "Is this the divine artifact being awakened?"

Gu Changzhou nodded: "It seems they have other ways to awaken the artifact."

She stared intently at the artifact, the runes swirling around it, growing ever more dazzling. Suddenly, she realized that while these runes shared similarities with the Blood Spirit Cult runes she had seen before, they also contained a more ancient and mysterious aura.

Liu Sijun's face lit up with joy, and he shouted, "Everyone, stay calm! The awakening of this divine artifact is not unstoppable. The arrangement of these runes may seem chaotic, but it actually follows an ancient cyclical pattern. We can use this to reverse the pattern with spiritual power and thus prevent the artifact from being awakened."

Gu Changzhou immediately directed everyone: "Everyone, get ready and act according to Miss Liu's instructions."

Liu Sijun concentrated and carefully observed the flow of the runes.

She quickly calculated a solution in her mind.

About half an hour later, she finally came to a conclusion: "Lord Gu, you lead a few experts and, using the five elements as a guide, start from the east and proceed in order from left to right, injecting spiritual power in sequence to disrupt the cycle of the runes. The others should stand guard to prevent any unforeseen events."

Gu Changzhou acted swiftly, leading several experts to the designated location. Following Liu Sijun's instructions, they slowly infused the five elements of spiritual power into the runes surrounding the artifact.

As spiritual energy was injected, the runes flashed even more intensely, and the artifact trembled even more violently.

However, just when everyone thought they were about to succeed, the artifact suddenly emitted a powerful counterforce, knocking Gu Changzhou and the others back.

Several experts were seriously injured, with blood trickling from the corners of their mouths.

Liu Sijun was anxious, but he still forced himself to remain calm: "Don't be discouraged, everyone. Our method is correct, but the intensity and timing still need to be adjusted. This time, I will work together with Gu Hou, and the others will do their best to channel spiritual energy into us to enhance our strength."