Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 436 The Rain Continues to Fall - Disassembling the Spirit Object

Although I didn't find many good things on this trip.

However, apart from Xiao Chen, everyone else had already mentally prepared themselves for a wasted trip before setting off.

Therefore, the remaining four people only glanced at the jade slip of inheritance, and none of them coveted the stone tablet, let alone the gold hairpin.

It's also interesting to say.

They paid absolutely no attention to the independent secret method, "Yu Feng's Random Notes," and instead discussed the cultivation experience of the Nascent Soul Great Perfection cultivator who had already passed away.

What's even more interesting is that, although everyone initially lamented how difficult spiritual practice truly was,

Throughout history, countless cultivators have been blocked from entering by various bottlenecks, large and small.

However, the final conclusion was quite the opposite—therefore, we should heed the lessons of our predecessors and cherish our youth. We should indulge less in pleasure and more in diligent self-cultivation.

To be honest, this is not entirely unrelated to the original meaning the other party wanted to express; in fact, it's completely contrary to it.

The main reason is that even excluding Xiao Chen, the other four are all under a hundred years old, which is considered very young among cultivators, and they fully deserve the description of having a promising future.

Perhaps only when they reach that age in the future will they understand the true meaning that the old man wanted to convey.

After reading the jade slip of inheritance.

The other True Lords also toured the hall again, checking the hidden chambers and the central round platform.

However, Xiao Chen had already searched very thoroughly, leaving them no room to find anything.

After all, he has considerable experience in this area.

Seeing that the search was fruitless, True Lord Die Lang spoke first and suggested, "It seems that this place should be a prison for imprisoning demons."

"Based on the current situation, it seems unlikely that there is anything else."

"However, I believe that the thirty-six ever-burning lamps in the hall and the large number of demon-suppressing pillars on the outside are still worth further research and should not be moved easily."

"How about we temporarily seal this place with a portable array, so that we can reorganize our manpower for research and development next time?"

What do you fellow cultivators think?

The meaning of True Lord Die Lang is actually very simple: he wants to directly control this deserted island by setting up an array.

This is tantamount to declaring sovereignty and incorporating this area into the territory of the Taoist sect.

This suggestion immediately received unanimous approval from the other True Lords.

Putting aside other places, the fact that those thirty-six ever-burning lamps can bind demons makes it well worth studying their underlying principles.

So the group followed the narrow passage back to the ground.

Die Lang Zhenjun took out a portable array plate and sealed the entrance.

Immediately afterwards, True Lord Ziyang also took out an array plate and quickly set up a simple concealment array on the outside, completely hiding the place.

"Hey, that's not right!"

The Hundred-Aperture True Monarch looked up at the still pitch-black sky and asked, "Fellow Daoist Xiao has already slain the demon, so why is it still raining?"

Mingxiao Zhenjun also looked up in surprise.

Looking at the thick clouds, his eyes lit up: "So, the demons imprisoned on the island are actually unrelated to this heavy rain?"

"We haven't yet discovered the real reason why this place has experienced six consecutive years of torrential rain?"

Although Mingxiao Zhenjun's tone was still somewhat uncertain when he spoke.

But after he finished speaking, he actually believed his own speculation.

In retrospect, the demon had existed for a very long time, while the strange phenomena in the heavens and earth here were less than seven years old at most.

There may not be a direct connection between the two; there could be more to it than meets the eye.

"Fellow Daoist Mingxiao is right!"

Upon hearing this, True Monarch Liekong's eyes lit up: "Since the heavy rain is still pouring down and shows no signs of abating, it must be affected by something else."

"I suspect this heavy rain might be related to the sea creatures."

"Judging from the array foundations left on the island, the sea creatures probably wanted to use the array to release the demons imprisoned inside, but they ultimately failed."

"Perhaps this heavy rain is part of the formation, or perhaps it is a consequence of the formation."

This hypothesis sounds plausible, as the sea creatures are indeed very skilled in water-based magic and formations, and also possess many water-based spiritual creatures.

Moreover, they not only have the capability but also the motivation to do so.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen immediately decided, "In that case, let's continue searching for more clues on the island."

They came specifically because of the unusual celestial phenomena.

Since the cause hasn't been found out yet, there's no rush to leave.

Since everyone present was a Nascent Soul True Monarch, the search was extremely fast.

In less than a quarter of an hour, True Monarch Rift Sky was the first to notice the anomaly: "I've found new array flags!"

He grabbed the compass and shouted, pointing excitedly at his feet.

There they were standing on a blue triangular array flag that had been hidden, embroidered with some spirit patterns that were unfamiliar to most people.

Moreover, judging from the fishtail pattern used to decorate the edge of the flag, there is a 99% chance that it was made by the sea creatures.

The more crucial point is that at this moment, the flag was exposed after being exposed and stepped on the ground.

It immediately emitted a noticeable fluctuation of spiritual energy.

This means that the formation it was in should still be operating; it was just well hidden before, obscuring everyone's divine sense detection.

"There really is a hidden formation."

The Thunderbolt True Lord next to him came over for a look and was immediately shocked: "I just passed by here and didn't notice it at all."

"Sigh, I'll have to study the detection spells inside the gate properly when I get back."

True Monarch Liekong chuckled: "Actually, it was thanks to the compass my senior brother gave me that I discovered the flow of spiritual energy here was a bit unnatural."

"Moreover, if nothing unexpected happens, this should be a fourth-order concealment formation of the sea race."

"It's inherently difficult to detect, so Fellow Daoist Thunderbolt need not be impatient."

However, now that we've found a weakness, things will be much easier from here on out.

The group first followed True Lord Rift Sky and, with the help of the compass he brought, identified two more blue array flags.

With the third array flag forcibly removed, the entire concealment array was inevitably affected.

"Huh, is there a change in spiritual energy?"

Xiao Chen's divine sense had been monitoring his surroundings, and he immediately detected four places where the spiritual energy was abnormal.

Having discovered the suspicious points, the natural course of action was to directly cover them with the Soaring Palm technique, instantly destroying all four array flags.

So many battle flags were damaged at once.

The fourth-order concealment array left behind by the sea creatures could no longer hold on and completely lost its effectiveness due to the conflict in the circulation of spiritual energy.

Only then did everyone realize that although many fragments of the sea creature's array bases were scattered across the island, it seemed that their efforts had failed.

But in fact, there are even more intact sea creature bases hidden at the edge of the island.

Together they formed a brand new grand array, absorbing and releasing an enormous amount of spiritual energy.

At the same time, the thick clouds in the sky were actually closely connected with the second great formation below.

Even the special spiritual liquid that can deplete spiritual energy barriers and corrode golden core sea fish originated from the condensation of this sea creature formation.

The vast majority of them were transported to the area beneath the island.

Enveloping the entire island, it attempted to slowly melt away the prison, which was entirely constructed from demon-suppressing pillars.

During this process, a small amount of the spiritual liquid inadvertently affected the clouds, making the rainwater corrosive as well.

Furthermore, the heavy rains that covered this large area caused the extinction of all the fish, shrimp, seaweed, and other marine life that originally lived in this area.

This includes the golden sea fish that everyone saw when they arrived.

"Oh, I think I roughly know what's going on."

Upon witnessing the situation, True Lord Die Lang immediately guessed the sea tribe's intentions: "Those bastards from the sea tribe came here to try and release the demons from the island."

"They first triggered an explosion on top, but it only destroyed the surface and couldn't break through inside."

"So they set up this large array to slowly melt the Demon-Suppressing Pillar."

The Hundred Apertures True Lord sensed something was amiss: "If they wanted to release the demons, why didn't they just go down through the gaps above?"

"Destroying those eternal lamps should be much easier and faster than setting up such a formation outside."

Why would they go to such lengths when the options are closer?

Upon hearing this question, the True Lords fell silent, racking their brains to figure out the reason behind it.

"Well, I don't think everyone needs to think about it that much."

Xiao Chen suggested, "Whatever the sea race thinks, it's no longer important."

"Why don't we first study how to dismantle this great formation in order to better protect the offerings and spirit stones in the core formation base?"

"I think I saw a fourth-order rhymed stone inside."

"The upper part seems quite large, but unfortunately the lower part is blocked, and it's not easy to see the specific situation through the formation."

As is well known, setting up an array usually requires spiritual materials of the same rank.

In other words, such a large fourth-order formation should contain more than one fourth-order spiritual material.

If the formation can be dismantled intact, then some of the spiritual materials that haven't been damaged yet, or that could be reused, can be recovered.

Of course, you can forcefully break through the formation, but the conditions will be more stringent.

If the formation cannot be destroyed in one strike, then when the formation is damaged and triggers its own repair and defense runes, it will cause unnecessary additional losses.

It must be said that Xiao Chen's suggestion was indeed very practical.

Anyway, the sea creatures have already been defeated, and we can think about the specific reasons later when we get back.

So everyone temporarily stopped thinking and began to work together to study the flaws in this fourth-order formation.

"Oh dear, Fellow Daoist Zhang left a little too early."

The Hundred Aperture True Monarch looked at the fourth-order grand formation with some worry: "Otherwise, now would be the perfect opportunity for him to show off his skills."

Die Lang Zhenjun disagreed: "In my opinion, that's not necessarily true. After all, he himself said that he didn't have much knowledge of the sea race's grand formations."

"We don't need him to break the formation, we still have Fellow Daoist Liekong here."

As he spoke, he glanced at True Lord Rift Sky, who was holding the array plate and was covered in sweat.

Then he added, "And if it really doesn't work, we can just wait a few more days. Anyway, it's not far from the Tiangang Sect."

"Once Fellow Daoist Gang Yuan arrives, it will be a piece of cake."

Fortunately, perhaps it was because True Monarch Rift was particularly capable, or perhaps it was because his compass was good enough, but after working hard for about three hours, he finally figured out how to break the formation.

If you can destroy the nine outer array bases in sequence, and then sever the nine corresponding connecting array patterns in the middle, you can successfully dismantle the main array before it triggers its automatic counterattack.

"But according to my calculations, this speed must be fast."

True Monarch Liekong mentally calculated the time: "From destroying the first array base to severing the connecting array patterns, it cannot exceed one spiritual energy cycle, which is about six breaths."

"Otherwise, even without a master, a fourth-order formation would react on its own."

“But there are seven of us here. Even if each of us is responsible for destroying one array base and its corresponding associated array pattern, we can only take care of seven pairs. There are still two pairs left to deal with.”

"In other words, someone needs to be responsible for destroying three array bases and severing three related array patterns at the same time."

After he finished speaking, everyone almost simultaneously looked at Xiao Chen.

"No problem, just leave it to me."

Xiao Chen naturally agreed without hesitation.

To be honest, the most difficult part of this plan is not actually him.

The key lies in whether the other newly promoted True Lords can promptly dispose of the array bases they are responsible for.

As long as they can handle it, Xiao Chen will have no problem at all.

After agreeing on the plan, Lord Liekong explained the next steps to everyone in the simplest possible way.

There are actually only two key points.

First, everyone listens to his signal and tries to make their move right after a spiritual energy cycle ends.

Second, it is essential to remember the correspondence between the array base and the related array patterns in the middle; you must not make a mistake or misalign it.

This requirement seems simple, but it's actually quite demanding.

If we were to train some ordinary cultivators to carry out this task, we would probably need to prepare several days in advance.

Fortunately, the people on the island at this time were all human elites, so there was no need to worry too much about issues of cooperation and execution.

A moment later, everyone took their places.

Rift Sky True Monarch took a deep breath to calm his mind and carefully watched the flow of spiritual energy within the array in front of him.

Then, seizing the opportunity, he charged forward, throwing a punch while shouting, "Now!"

As a body cultivator, his most explosive and powerful attack method is naturally his punch.

It is worth mentioning that when destroying such a fixed target, the high burst of physical cultivation does have a certain advantage.

The same principle applies to sword cultivators like True Monarch Die Lang.

Because the array base cannot dodge; it can only withstand external attacks.

However, for True Lord Mingxiao, who is a traditional practitioner of magic, the pressure is quite great.

The issue of true essence is actually minor; the more crucial point is that he broke through to the Nascent Soul stage only half a year ago, and has only just begun to learn fourth-order spells.

As for whether he knows how to use it, he can at least use it.

However, without Hextech enhancement, even the power of a Heavenly-level spell is extremely limited.

"Click! Click! ... Click!"

There were almost five explosions and one shattering sound at the scene.

A layer of cold sweat immediately appeared on Mingxiao Zhenjun's forehead, but he did not panic. Instead, he immediately began to remedy the situation.

For a Nascent Soul cultivator, six breaths is quite a long time.

He hurriedly cast a second spell, attempting to shatter the array base in front of him.

"Click~!"

Surprisingly, the array base seemed exceptionally sturdy, withstanding two attacks without completely collapsing.

Although it was covered in cracks and looked as if it would fall over with a gust of wind.

However, since it has not been completely shattered, it can still bear a portion of spiritual energy and operate normally.

Finished!

True Monarch Mingxiao clenched his fists; it was too late now.

He could certainly unleash a third round of spells and easily shatter the array base.

However, it was absolutely too late to process the corresponding related array patterns in the middle.

Although it is not wartime, the consequence of this incident is simply that the first attempt to break through the formation failed, which is not very serious.

However, True Monarch Mingxiao immediately blushed, feeling that he was going to embarrass the sect this time.

Before he even made his move, he was a little worried that his spell wouldn't be powerful enough.

However, he thought that this kind of formation without a master shouldn't be too difficult to deal with; at worst, he could just use two spells to attack it in succession.

However, as it turns out, a fourth-order grand formation is still just a fourth-order grand formation.

The design was intended to counter fourth-tier cultivators, so even ordinary array bases are quite sturdy, far beyond what a newly-broken True Monarch like him could easily handle.

At this moment, Mingxiao Zhenjun had only two words in his heart—regret.

If I had known, I should have just openly admitted that my cultivation was inadequate and then thought of another way.

"Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!"

Four synchronized breaking sounds rang out.

Mingxiao Zhenjun immediately noticed that the array base he was in charge of had been pierced directly by a seemingly inconspicuous flying needle.

Not only that, but immediately another flying needle followed the gap created by the broken array base and flew directly into the array, accurately hitting the corresponding array pattern.

In this way, his task was considered complete.

The one who made the move was naturally Xiao Chen.

Although True Lord Mingxiao did not bring up the issue of magic at the beginning.

However, True Monarch Liekong, who had been worried all along, intentionally placed him to Xiao Chen's right.

After all, True Monarch Rift had personally experienced the situation where he had to fight a fourth-order great demon shortly after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.

Naturally, he was well aware of the serious lack of power in the spells he had just begun to learn.

In this way, because the distance was close enough, when Xiao Chen noticed that the Mingxiao True Monarch next to him might be having some difficulty.

Naturally, without anyone needing to remind them, they proactively took action to resolve the formation base.

They successfully dealt with the last pair of opponents before the new cycle of spiritual energy began.

"Crack! Boom! ...Bang!"

With the destruction of nine key array bases, the entire fourth-order array was paralyzed.

As a result of the chain reaction, more of the outer array bases collapsed on their own, and the inner core array bases also lost their connection and could no longer be maintained.

In the blink of an eye, the entire formation collapsed, and all the internal restrictions disintegrated on their own.

Lord Mingxiao was taken aback, and immediately turned around to express his gratitude.

As a result, Xiao Chen rushed directly to the very center of the formation and began to dismantle the spiritual materials from the core formation base.

And the movements looked quite practiced.

It's clearly not the first time this has happened.

Speaking of which, we have to thank Haihong for this.

First of all, the crab meat is very delicious, but that's not the main point.

The key point is that it was thanks to the fact that it chose to deploy a large number of fourth-order defensive arrays in the shallow sky sea to buy time.

This is why Xiao Chen, who is not a formation master, actually has enough experience to dismantle the core formation base.

Even in the area of ​​recycling spiritual items, he is more skilled than some fourth-tier array masters.

After all, the latter doesn't have many opportunities to dismantle the already refined fourth-order array base, especially the core array base.

"Wow, there are quite a few mid-grade spirit stones here."

While dismantling the spiritual materials, Xiao Chen also used his divine sense to count the mid-grade spirit stones piled up nearby.

Although some of them had their spiritual energy absorbed by the great formation, and some had been severely damaged.

However, there are still more than 23,000 mid-grade spirit stones intact at the bottom.

Of course, for everyone present, this amounted to only about two million spirit stones, which was just a small sum of money.

Everyone's attention was also focused more on the fourth-tier spiritual materials that had not yet been consumed.

Besides the fourth-order flowing stone that Xiao Chen initially saw, there are a total of twenty-seven other fourth-order spiritual items here.

Three of them are particularly important.

They are a piece of Azure Phoenix Burning Feather Ash, a fourth-tier Yin Spirit Heart, and a piece of Earth Mother Heavy Marrow Jade.

Needless to say, the ash from the Azure Phoenix's Burning Feathers is a treasure for fire-type cultivators.

Its most important feature is that it is extremely rare, because there are only two sources in total.

Aside from the fact that when the cubs of the Azure Phoenix clan break through to the Nascent Soul stage, they burn their bodies with spiritual fire, turning their fallen feathers into ashes.

Only when a Nascent Soul Azure Phoenix actively ignites itself in battle to perish together with its enemy, there is a high chance that it will leave behind a piece of Azure Phoenix Burning Feather Ashes after burning itself out.

Simply put, this thing consumes a lot of blue luan birds.

As for the Yin Spirit Heart, a special spiritual object that generates Yang from Yin, it is a top-tier treasure for lightning-type cultivators.

It can also be used in many formations that require balancing yin and yang.

However, these two items are not very useful to Xiao Chen for the time being.

Both of them combined cannot compare to this last piece of Earth Mother Heavy Marrow Jade.

Looking back, Xiao Chen obtained his first piece of Earth Mother's Marrow Jade at the altar on Tianxing Island.

At that time, he did not realize how rare this thing was until he met Su Li and learned that it was one of the essential core spiritual materials for setting up the infant nurturing altar.

Later, during the process of forming his nascent soul, after consuming it, he never saw a second piece again.

You should know that this is not just a rare, high-level spiritual item.

At the same time, it is also a top-grade spiritual jade that greatly assists Nascent Soul True Monarchs in the path of body refinement.

For Xiao Chen, it was an even better thing that could increase his chances of breaking through in his body tempering path.

Although he had been running around for various reasons during this time, he had not been able to return to Ji'e Island to break through the body refinement path.

However, when he finally has the time to make a true breakthrough, he will definitely be able to use this Earth Mother Heavy Marrow Jade.

After all, this is a great item that can increase the success rate of breakthroughs.

(End of this chapter)