Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 472 Mysterious Ruins
As the three spoke, more and more black tornadoes began to form around them.

"These black gales are increasing." Wei Fan's words were somewhat flustered, because as far as he could see, gales were rising everywhere, forming more and more huge tornadoes.

The howling wind, like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves, came from all directions, the sound deafening, as if countless demonic wolves were howling all around.

“We have no choice but to break through. The formation of the gale has a limited range, and it only appears in specific areas. We will be safe once we break through this area. We will take turns casting defensive spells to break through. I will condense the first defensive spell, Fellow Daoist Wei will condense the second, and Fellow Daoist Song will condense the third. Don’t think about conserving spiritual energy. The gale is getting stronger and stronger. If we don’t use our full strength, we might all perish here.”

Cheng Zongyuan's expression was solemn, and his words were forceful and clear, as if a commander-in-chief of the three armies were issuing an order, giving people a sense of irresistibility.

As soon as he finished speaking, he clasped his hands together and cast a defensive spell. Immediately, ice pillars condensed around them, dozens of ice pillars connected one after another, forming three huge ice walls that enveloped the three of them.

Seeing that he had already cast the spell, Wei Fan also put his hands together, and the surrounding sand and stones surged and condensed into a huge sand and stone sphere inside the ice wall.

Under Song Xianzhen's keen observation, Cheng Zongyuan's technique had a defensive power of 1500 points, while Wei Fan's technique only had 700 points.

A second-grade high-level defensive spell typically only has 600 power points.

Cheng Zongyuan's improvement was twice that of others, which shows that the water-attribute technique he cultivated must be of a very high grade, otherwise he wouldn't have such a great improvement.

Based on the data showing that his spiritual power far exceeds that of ordinary cultivators, it can be basically determined that he has cultivated at least two different techniques: one is a water-attribute technique that can increase the power of water-attribute spells, and the other is a technique that strengthens spiritual power.

This is actually quite reasonable. Song Xian himself cultivates two kinds of techniques. As a disciple with a single spiritual root and innate supernatural abilities, Cheng Zongyuan would inevitably receive the best resources from the Xuan Yuan Sect. It is not surprising that he cultivates two high-level techniques.

After both of them used defensive spells, Song Xian did not hold back and unleashed his Flame Wall. Flames rose up and transformed into flame shields, which condensed into a wall.

The spells cast by the three formed three defensive systems, protecting them as they moved forward.

Click, click, click.

With a piercing friction sound, the black gale grew stronger and stronger, almost obscuring the sky and earth, and finally collided with the spells conjured by the three.

Like swords striking stone, the massive black tornado repeatedly collided with the ice wall. Under intense friction, the black tornado gradually dissipated, but the next moment, several more tornadoes formed by gale-force winds collided with it.

Before long, the triple ice walls crumbled and shattered. As the gale-force winds and sand spheres collided, Cheng Zongyuan once again formed hand seals to solidify the ice wall technique.

The three of them braved the raging winds that blotted out the sun, and were attacked by more and more gale-force winds and tornadoes.

The gales seemed to be sentient beings, sensing the intruders and gathering here in droves.

The sounds of clattering and friction were incessant as the three took turns casting defensive spells.

One spell after another was formed, and after an unknown amount of time, they finally escaped the area of ​​fierce winds.

In the distance, a vast expanse of black, barren mountains stretched as far as the eye could see. Looking back, the storm whipped up by the gale-force winds continued to rage in the black desert.

Fortunately, Cheng Zongyuan decided to break out of the area affected by the gale. If he had stayed there, he would have had no idea how long the gale would last.

During this period, Song Xian cast the Flame Wall spell three times, Cheng Zongyuan cast the Ice Wall spell five times, and Wei Fan cast the Sand and Stone spell seven times.

The reason why each person's spells differ is because the power of each person's spells is different.

Once the defense formed by the spell breaks, it must be cast again immediately, which is why Wei Fan consumes the most spiritual power.

"No wonder Fellow Daoist Song was able to fight three against one in Xijiang County, killing two of them and becoming famous in one battle. The mere ordinary second-tier high-grade spell, Flame Wall, has such great power in your hands. I have truly broadened my horizons today."

After escaping the area of ​​fierce winds, Wei Fan breathed a sigh of relief, praising Song Xian while his eyes betrayed his apprehension.

He also possessed a fire-attribute spiritual root and had cultivated many fire-attribute spells, thus recognizing this fiery city wall.

Before setting off, he had carefully investigated Song Xian's past and knew that he was proficient in fire-attribute magic, but he had only heard about it and had never seen it with his own eyes.

Seeing the wall of fire he unleashed today, even with prior intelligence, still left me greatly astonished.

The power of a second-grade high-level spell could reach this level, completely exceeding his expectations.

"Fellow Daoist Wei is too kind. This is my specialty." Song Xian replied calmly, not wanting to dwell on the topic any longer. "We have already left the Black Desert region. Fellow Daoist Wei, do you know just how large this secret realm is?"

"This is my first time inside, how would I know the specifics of this place?"

Song Xian glanced at the seven stars aligned in the sky above: "We need to get back to the entrance before the alignment disappears. If the stars disappear and the rotating passage closes, we're doomed. We must hurry. Fellow Daoist Wei must have some clues for deciding to head south! At this point, let's not keep things to ourselves."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Zongyuan, who had been silent all along, turned to look at Wei Fan: "What Sect Leader Song said makes sense. We are now in the same boat and should share information. Fellow Daoist Wei, it's come to this point, why do you need to hide it from us?"

Upon hearing this, Song Xian remained outwardly calm, but his heart stirred slightly. He had originally thought that the two were longtime friends who trusted each other, but now it seemed that this was not the case, and their relationship was not as solid as he had thought.

Otherwise, Wei Fan wouldn't have concealed the information, and Cheng Zongyuan wouldn't have echoed his words at this time to put pressure on him.

This is actually a good thing for him.

Seeing that the two were staring intently at him, Wei Fan had no choice but to confess: "I saw a topographical map in the murals in that cave. Beyond this black mountain range, there is a green forest, and there is a black palace there."

"A black palace? Is there any guard there?"

"I don't know." As soon as Wei Fan finished speaking, a series of thumping sounds came, and then a huge black pillar of fire shot up from below, heading towards the three of them.

It turned out that a monster with the head of a deer and the body of an ox was lurking beneath the desolate mountain. Perhaps the three of them had trespassed into its territory, for it had launched an attack on them.

The black pillar of fire was spewed from the mouth of the deer-headed, bull-bodied demon, which rose into the air with black flames burning beneath its feet, and approached the three of them.

The moment the pillar of fire struck, Song Xian clasped his hands together, and numerous flames rose from his palms, transforming into a giant fireball that crashed down on the deer-headed, bull-bodied demon.

Under his keen observation, the black pillar of fire was quite powerful, with an attack power of 1100 points.

This demon's aura was already comparable to that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, almost reaching the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment.

The massive fireball clashed with the black fire pillar. Upon contact, the fire pillar shattered the fireball with overwhelming force. As more and more fireballs appeared, the black fire pillar gradually succumbed and disintegrated. After absorbing the Qianyou Extreme Flame, the power of his fire-attribute spells was further enhanced. The ordinary second-grade high-level spell, Flame Meteor, had a base attack power of only 500 points, but under his command, its power reached 2,000 points.

On the other side, Cheng Zongyuan and Wei Fan were not idle either, while Song Xian was launching a magical attack.

Wei Fan also used the second-grade high-level earth-attribute spell "Mount Tai Pressing Down," which condensed a small black mountain that crashed down.

Cheng Zongyuan clasped his hands together, and a giant water-shaped hand condensed in the sky, reaching out to grab the demon.

With a roar, the demon unleashed a burst of black light from its bull-headed and deer-antler-like forms, thrusting towards the black mountain.

Like mountains colliding, with a deafening roar, the demon's body trembled, and then it used its black, glowing antlers to strike the black mountain again, with only two impacts.

The black mountain, several tens of meters in size, crumbled with a crack, and at that moment, the giant hand that Cheng Zongyuan had conjured also reached out to grab it.

The monster raised one of its hind legs and kicked the giant water hand. Without a sound, the giant hand shattered and turned into a large amount of water that poured down.

The monster let out a painful howl, thick white smoke billowed from its body, and its skin slowly rotted away.

The liquid looked ordinary, but it was extremely poisonous; it would tear the skin of any monster it touched.

This monster's body was incredibly tough, yet under the pouring of large amounts of water, not only did its thick skin melt away, but even its flesh emitted white smoke.

Song Xian's fiery meteor had shattered the black flames, and the remaining half of the fireball hurtled towards the monster.

The monster's skin had ulcerated in many places due to the corrosive effects of the water, so it once again spewed out pillars of black fire to meet the attack.

At the same time, Wei Fan once again used his magic to condense four giant sand and stone claws, which grabbed the monster's limbs.

Cheng Zongyuan then conjured a giant water-shaped hand and reached out to grab it.

The monster roared, its body emitting black flames. Its four giant sand and stone claws disintegrated under the burning black flames and its own struggle. Then it spat out a black pillar of fire that struck the water-shaped giant hand.

He then fled without looking back, black flames rising beneath his feet, moving with incredible speed as if riding the clouds, quickly creating a distance in the blink of an eye.

The three exchanged a glance but did not give chase.

They came here to find treasure, not to hunt this monster.

With the strength of the three of them, it wouldn't be difficult to defeat this monster, but it would still take some time.

Since the monster had already chosen to flee, the three of them were unwilling to waste any more time on it. After all, they were pressed for time and had to get back before the alignment of the seven stars disappeared, so they ignored it and chose to continue on their way.

After traveling for a while, a vast, verdant mountain range came into view. The lush forests stretched as far as the eye could see, but soon, the group came to see the black palace standing amidst the mountains and forests.

This hall is not large, only a hundred feet in size, and has a very different style. It is cylindrical in shape and it is unknown what material it is made of. The whole structure is as if it were carved from a single giant stone, and from a distance it looks more like a tomb.

The entire palace is now hidden by trees, with vines extending from the inside out and climbing all over the outer walls.

The three of them descended in a flash of light and arrived at the entrance of the palace, where there was a huge stone gate.

Just as Wei Fan was about to push the door open, a buzzing sound suddenly came from all directions.

Suddenly, a multitude of black insects surged in from all directions. Hundreds of black insects crawled out from the depths of the ground and rushed towards the three of them.

The leading insect was several meters long and its aura was no weaker than that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the Great Perfection stage. There were also several other insects, whose auras were all at the Foundation Establishment stage. The remaining insects varied in size and their auras ranged from the late Qi Refining stage to the early Qi Refining stage.

Hundreds of insects emerged from the ground, buzzing and resonating.

Upon seeing this, the three men's expressions immediately changed, and they quickly took flight and fled upwards.

The leading insect king emitted a sharp cry, and visible sound waves surged toward the three of them, while hundreds of other insects also cried out loudly.

In an instant, the condensed sound waves surged in from all directions like a vast ocean.

Song Xian clasped his hands together, conjuring a wall of flames to protect himself. Cheng Zongyuan also unleashed layers of ice walls, while Wei Fan condensed a sphere of sand and stones, just as he had done against the gale. The three of them used their respective methods to condense three defensive shields to protect themselves as they broke through the encirclement. The dense swarm of insects and demons from all directions rushed forward, and even Golden Core cultivators had to temporarily avoid their attacks, let alone them.

The sonic attacks from all directions came wave after wave, without any interweaving sound. The outermost fire shield was the first to twist and deform under the continuous sonic attacks, and then shattered.

Immediately afterward, the sand and gravel sphere that Wei Fan had condensed shattered with a roar. Just as the ice wall was about to break, the three of them broke out of the insect encirclement and fled backward.

The insect king did not lead its army of insects in hot pursuit. Seeing that the three were getting further and further away, it returned to its underground nest.

The three walked for quite a while before stopping when they saw that there were no more insects or monsters chasing them.

At this moment, the full moon in the sky had passed its zenith and was tilting eastward, indicating that midnight had passed and the three of them did not have much time left.

"What should we do? Those insect monsters are lurking around the main hall. If we don't deal with them, we won't be able to enter the hall safely." Wei Fan frowned, his tone clearly anxious.

"At this point, there's no other way but to either sneak in or get rid of those bugs." Cheng Zongyuan frowned slightly, but as he spoke, he looked at Song Xian, clearly asking for his opinion.

Although he was invited by Wei Fan, Song Xian's strength along the way far surpassed Wei Fan's, so he had gradually begun to disregard Wei Fan in his mind.

Song Xian's eyes flickered slightly: "It's unrealistic to sneak in. The nests of those hundreds of insects are right next to the palace. The Insect King is quite powerful; it's impossible to avoid its notice. Besides, think about it, why would those insects build their nests around the palace instead of going inside?"

"There are only two possibilities. First, those insects were raised by the original owner of the palace."

"Secondly, there are even more powerful monsters or demons inside the palace, and they dare not enter."

"Even if we manage to sneak in, if we encounter a powerful demon within the palace and engage in combat, those insects will swarm in, attacking us from both inside and outside. That would be the only way to our deaths."

(End of this chapter)