Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 471 Seven Stars in a Row
"Senior Brother Jiang, our intelligence team is short of funds. We hope you can allocate some more spirit stones." Huang Ye spoke only after Xiao Ling had walked away.

"Not enough again? How much do you need this time?"

"There are still four months left, which will cost about 20,000 spirit stones."

"You want this much?"

"Because of Senior Brother Fan's matter, the sect leader wants us to find clues and find the murderer as soon as possible, which has cost a lot of spirit stones. There is also the war in Nanhan County, which the sect leader also wants us to pay close attention to. All of this intelligence requires a lot of spirit stones to pave the way."

"Alright. At most twelve thousand spirit stones. I'll talk to the Finance Department. Anyway, there's nothing urgent this year."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Jiang."

While the two were talking, Xiao Ling had already returned to her residence. Inside, a man was waiting. Upon seeing her return, he immediately went up to greet her and bowed.

"Uncle Xiao, you're back."

"I've already reported the matter. The sect wants us to give a final reply to the Bright Moon Sect. Go to Tiger Gate City again!"

"Yes. Uncle Xiao, what about the headquarters' funding?"

“I’ve already brought it up, but Jiang Zichen hasn’t agreed yet, saying he needs to think about it.”

Upon hearing this, the man became somewhat displeased: "Our External Affairs Hall earns so many spirit stones for the sect every year, but we are always stingy when it comes to funding. The Surveillance Hall, Internal Affairs Hall, and even the Personnel Hall all receive more additional funding each year than we do."

"Alright, enough rambling, get on with your business! I'll figure out the funding. If the sect won't provide it, I'll get some from somewhere else."

.........

Autumn goes and winter comes, winter goes and spring comes, the sun and moon alternate, and the tides rise and fall.

On a remote, deserted island, the three waited for almost a year, and finally the day when the seven stars aligned.

On this day, after the sun set, the moon rose as usual.

The sky was filled with stars, exceptionally bright.

High in the sky, the constellations Tian Shu, Tian Xuan, Tian Ji, Tian Quan, Yu Heng, Kai Yang, and Yao Guang appeared one after another, gradually forming a line as the moon rose to the center.

"The seven stars are aligned! The seven stars are aligned! Quick, put the key in!" Wei Fan was excited as he watched the seven stars align in a line.

The three of them had been waiting here for a year, just for this day.

Before this, the seven stars had been getting closer and closer. Now that the stars were finally aligned, not only Wei Fan but also Song Xian were overjoyed.

He quickly took out the golden rhombus-shaped stone and placed it into the black stubborn rock. With a soft click, the key was inserted into the stubborn rock perfectly.

He quickly stepped back, and the three of them stared intently at the stone. However, as before, the stone did not move at all.

Cheng Zongyuan frowned: "What's going on? Wasn't it said that the secret realm could be opened on the day the seven stars align?"

Wei Fan was also a little confused: "I...I don't know either. The inscription on the stone wall in that cave says that when the seven stars are aligned, insert the two keys and you can open the secret realm."

Song Xian narrowed his eyes, stroking his chin thoughtfully: "Is there any other step?"

Just as the three were filled with doubt, a soft sound suddenly came from inside the stone, like the sound of a mirror shattering.

Immediately afterwards, stone chips flew everywhere, and a layer of stone skin on the surface of the black rock fell off, revealing several dazzling beams of light shooting out from within.

Seven beams of light, each a different color, joined together and shot into the sky, as if to connect with the seven stars high above.

The beam of light penetrated deep into the clouds before gradually disappearing.

The next moment, all the rocks on the mountain emitted a series of sounds, as if they had been summoned by something, and the shattered stone chips on the surface swirled and rose into the air.

Seeing this, Song Xian quickly retreated. He saw that many large rocks on the mountain were emitting light and rotating around the black rock. From a distance, it looked as if the entire mountain was spinning at high speed.

Upon seeing this scene, the three men reacted with different expressions.

Wei Fan's mouth gaped slightly, his surprise mixed with joy.

Cheng Zongyuan's eyes flickered, a mixture of surprise and wariness in them.

Song Xian was suspicious, his surprise mixed with doubt.

He never expected the secret realm to open in such a way; it was simply unheard of.

The question is, where does this force come from?
They had examined all the stones, including the black, stubborn rock, and found no trace of spiritual energy. Why did they remain unresponsive on ordinary days? Yet, such a drastic change occurred on the day the seven stars aligned.

While he was still pondering and wondering, the large stones automatically arranged themselves into a regular shape, with nearly a hundred large stones neatly arranged, resembling an altar.

The next moment, a beam of light shot out from all the stones, condensing in mid-air. Space was slowly torn apart, and as time passed, a rotating black void condensed, faintly glowing with dark light.

The three unconsciously exchanged glances, their eyes filled with deep astonishment and doubt. No one knew whether this swirling black void was the entrance to a secret realm or something else entirely.

"Let me give it a try." Wei Fan patted the spirit beast pouch, and a blue butterfly several feet in size flew out from it. This was his spirit beast, whose aura had reached the late stage of Qi Refining.

The blue butterfly flapped its wings and took flight, heading towards the swirling black hole. As its body disappeared into the black hole, it vanished in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, Wei Fan frowned, because in that instant, he lost contact with the spirit beast. Fortunately, the spirit beast did not die, because it was connected to his soul. If it died, his soul would be damaged.

But now he is safe and sound, which means that the spirit beast is still alive, but he has lost contact with it.

"Fellow Daoist Wei, how is the situation? Can you sense it?"

"They are currently safe and sound, but have lost contact."

Cheng Zongyuan pressed on, "Then could you bring your spirit beast back? That way we can test whether it can come and go freely, in case we go into the inner room and can't get out."

"No, I've severed my mental connection with it, so I can't give it any commands."

"Let me give it a try." Cheng Zongyuan clasped his hands together, his spiritual power surged, and an ice bird several feet in size condensed in front of him. Then he made a slash on his palm, and as blood gushed out, he drew several runes on the ice bird with his blood-stained fingers.

The bird, which was originally as cold as ice, came to life as if it had been reborn after the blood runes were incorporated into it. It flapped its wings and headed towards the spinning black hole in the sky.

As soon as its form disappeared, Cheng Zongyuan frowned: "The bird condensed by this secret technique is connected to my senses. No matter where it goes, I can observe everything it sees through its eyes. But now, I have also lost my sensory connection with it."

Wei Fan looked at Song Xian and said, "Fellow Daoist Song, as far as I know, you have a fifth-order spirit beast. Why not let it explore the way? Fifth-order spirit beasts are already quite intelligent. As long as you give it commands, if it can come and go freely, it will return on its own."

Song Xian glanced at him, not surprised that he had learned about the Golden Armored Ant, a spirit beast, since the Golden Armored Ant had been involved in his famous battle. Even Cheng Zongyuan had heard about his battle in Xijiang County from him, so Wei Fan must have already found out everything in private.

Actually, he had a better method; he could have ordered the ghost generals inside the Blood Soul Banner to go in and investigate the situation.

The Ghost General is not only more intelligent than the Golden Armor Ant, but can also communicate without any obstacles. If it is lost, it is not a big deal, as the Blood Soul Banner will continue to be generated in the future.

But he didn't want to reveal this trump card in front of these two people.

“Fellow Daoist Song, now that the gate to the secret realm has been opened, and you have a fifth-tier spirit beast, why not use it? Fellow Daoist Wei has already used his spirit beast to explore the way, and it is safe for now. What do you have to worry about?” Cheng Zongyuan saw that he was silent and thought that he was reluctant to part with it.

Wei Yuan immediately chimed in, "Indeed! Fellow Daoist Song, now is the time for us to weather this storm together. If we had any other methods, we would have used them long ago. Your spirit beast is only going to scout ahead, not to be sent to its death. What's there to be reluctant about?"

The two of them spoke in unison, their eyes both fixed on him, putting invisible pressure on him.

Song Xian did not respond. He flipped his hand and took out the Blood Soul Banner. The banner flashed, and a red-faced, fanged ghost emerged from inside.

He flipped his hand and took out a flying talisman, sticking it to the ghost's body. After his spiritual power surged in and activated the talisman, the ghost's body floated up and headed towards the rotating void in mid-air.

When Wei Fan and Cheng Zongyuan saw a ghost emerge from the banner, they exchanged a glance and both saw surprise in each other's eyes.

However, the two did not ask any further questions. The three of them were a temporary team and did not know each other well, so it was not appropriate for them to pry into each other's secrets.

Moreover, Song Xian did all this at their request, and if they were to pry into the details, it would surely displease them.

The secret passage has now been opened. Although we do not know what is inside, judging from the strange situation, the inner room is probably not safe. At least during the exploration, the three of us will have to work together.

After the ghost disappeared, a black dot floated out from the rotating black void after a while.

Wei Fan's eyes lit up: "It's the monster that Fellow Daoist Song controlled. It seems that one can freely enter and exit the secret realm."

Cheng Zongyuan stood to his left and behind him, looking at Song Xian thoughtfully.

After the ghost returned to his side, it burrowed back into the Blood Soul Banner.

"It seems there's no problem." When he turned to speak to Wei Fan, Cheng Zongyuan immediately looked away and returned to his original expression.

"Let's go inside without delay!" Wei Fan glanced at the two of them.

Both nodded in agreement, but neither of them made a move.

"Fellow Daoist Wei, should we retrieve those two keys first? What if someone comes here and takes them away? Could something unexpected happen?" Song Xian looked at the luminous, dark round stone.

"I don't know either, let's try taking it down first and see what happens?" Wei Fan flashed to the black stone and was about to take out the golden rhombus-shaped stone when he felt a force coming from him. His body was shaken and he staggered, almost falling down.

Upon seeing this, Song Xian and Cheng Zongyuan exchanged a glance, both feeling puzzled, and then they also came to stand before him.

"Fellow Daoist Wei, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

"It's nothing." Wei Fan waved his hand, and then his spiritual power surged. He reached out to take the key, but an invisible force blocked him. When his palm touched the stone, he felt that the golden rhombus stone had become one with it, and he couldn't get it out at all.

"No, we can't get it out." Seeing this, the two of them tried one after another, and sure enough, they couldn't get it out.

Cheng Zongyuan looked up at the swirling black opening in the sky: "We don't have much time left, we need to hurry inside. Since this only opens on the day the seven stars align, it's very likely that it will close after tonight. We'll have to wait for the next alignment before we can go inside again."

He said this, but his body remained completely still.

"Then let's go! We've come this far, we can't just back down now." After saying that, Wei Fan's escape light rose up, and he went straight into the swirling black void.

Song Xian glanced at Cheng Zongyuan, then followed suit and took to the air. As soon as he entered the black hole, he felt dizzy, as if he had entered a rapidly spinning well. His body felt as if it was filled with a thousand pounds of weight. The surroundings were completely dark and there was no sound.

After about several dozen breaths, it was as if a dazzling light pierced my eyes, and the feeling of weightlessness disappeared immediately.

Song Xian immediately regained control of his body, and his eyes returned to clarity.

As far as the eye can see, there is only a vast expanse of black desert.

Above, the swirling black void remained, and above that, a full moon and a sky full of stars, with seven stars forming a single line.

It seems that this place is not an alien realm like the Ghost Realm; the world here is connected to the outside world in the same place.

In the black desert, Wei Fan was already waiting.

Song Xian landed in front of him with a flash of light, looking around: "Fellow Daoist Wei, do you know anything about this place? Where should we go?"

“Head south.” Wei Fan said without hesitation.

Song Xian didn't ask any more questions, he just nodded. Now the two of them were in the same boat. Since Wei Fan had a plan, he must be confident. He must have obtained clues from that cave.

Soon, a figure descended from the spinning black hole high in the sky; it was Cheng Zongyuan.

After the three reunited, the escape light headed south.

As they were traveling, a fierce wind suddenly swept through the once calm desert, blowing up countless black sand grains. In just a short while, the sky was covered with black sand, and the entire desert was shrouded in flying sand.

Although the three were not actually stopped by the strong wind, the flying sand obstructed their vision, making it difficult to see the road ahead.

Fortunately, the cultivator's divine sense can replace the eyes, so he is fully aware of the movements within a radius of several hundred feet.

However, at that moment, a howling sound, like that of a wolf, suddenly rang out.

"What is that?" Wei Fan stared in astonishment at the black storm surging ahead, which looked like countless tiny black snakes gathered together to form a massive black tornado that rose into the air.

“It’s a gale.” Cheng Zongyuan’s eyes narrowed.

"Gale?" Song Xian looked at him with some surprise. Although he had never seen a gale in person, he was familiar with the name.

Gale is a natural disaster formed by the convergence of forces between heaven and earth. It only occurs in specific areas and is caused by the gathering of wind-attribute forces between heaven and earth. Once it starts, it will definitely spread over a large area.

The power of a gale is determined by its coverage area; the larger the coverage area, the stronger the gale.

Some powerful gales are so strong that even Golden Core cultivators cannot withstand them; there are examples in the cultivation world of Golden Core cultivators being swallowed up by gales.

"Is this a gale? Then why is it black?" Wei Fan was both surprised and puzzled.

"It's probably due to the special nature of this black desert; the strong winds have sucked in too much black sand, which is why it looks black overall. I've seen the formation of strong winds with my own eyes, so I can't be wrong."

(End of this chapter)