jdhmnovel Chapter 596
Chapter 596
The group continued forward, treading on the rune-covered ground. A pale blue light swirled beneath their feet, each step seemingly measuring ancient history. The soft light ahead grew stronger, like the dawn's first rays, gradually outlining the end of the passage. As they drew nearer, the mysterious aura in the air intensified, and everyone felt their hearts pounding in their chests—a mixture of anticipation for the unknown and wariness of the challenges to come.
As the last glimmer of the azure runes faded behind them, the group finally emerged from the passage. A majestic altar appeared before them, its sheer size awe-inspiring—nine lifelike stone dragons coiled at the altar's base, their heads raised high to the sky, wisps of auspicious clouds billowing from their mouths. These multicolored clouds, as if alive, swirled and danced around the altar, sometimes transforming into phoenixes spreading their wings, sometimes coalescing into qilin treading on clouds, each change exuding an ancient and mysterious aura.
In the center of the altar, a stone tablet, nearly two people tall, stood silently. Its surface was carved with intricate patterns, resembling ancient totems or perhaps containing the traces of the universe's laws. The strange light emanating from the tablet was like a flowing galaxy, sometimes coalescing into dazzling points of light, sometimes spreading into a soft halo, as if silently recounting ancient secrets. The crowd involuntarily held their breath, approaching slowly with reverence, eager to uncover its secrets.
Just ten steps away from the stone tablet, a muffled rumble suddenly came from the ground. The once smooth altar floor churned like boiling water, countless cracks spreading out like a spiderweb. Then, a group of stone terracotta warriors clad in heavy bronze armor burst from the ground. These warriors were at least three meters tall, their armor covered in rust, yet the mysterious patterns engraved on it were still visible. The long swords they held gleamed with a cold, sharp light, and dried blood still clung to their blades. Their movements were stiff and mechanical, their joints clicking as they turned, each step causing the ground to tremble slightly, and a suffocating sense of oppression swept over them.
Lin Xiu reacted first, his hands quickly forming hand seals as he shouted, "Wind, come!" In an instant, a fierce wind arose, whipping up sand and stones. Howling wind blades, like sharp blades, swept towards the stone figures, attempting to topple these colossal structures. However, the stone figures, like giant mountains rooted to the earth, remained unmoved despite the raging wind, instead using the force of the wind to advance rapidly.
Seeing this, the mysterious man gritted his teeth and forcefully gathered his spiritual power. His palm glowed with a blue light, and a tangible spell shot towards the stone terracotta warrior. The spell struck the warrior, unleashing a dazzling light, and spiderweb-like cracks immediately appeared on the warrior's armor. Surprisingly, however, these cracks were fleeting; the stone terracotta warrior let out a low roar, and its attack became even more ferocious.
Holding the Star Abyss Heart, Zhao Qingyang observed the stone terracotta warrior's every move with keen eyes. Suddenly, he noticed that the bronze armor at the warrior's joints was relatively thin, and tiny gaps appeared with each movement. A thought struck him, and he immediately shouted, "Attack the joints! Their joints are their weak points!"
Everyone snapped out of their daze. Chen Mo swiftly crushed the talisman, and a crimson flame shot precisely towards the stone statue's knee joint. The flame sizzled upon contact with the joint, and the stone statue's movements immediately slowed. The others also adjusted their attack strategies, unleashing a barrage of talismans, spells, and sword techniques at the stone statue's joint.
Under the combined attack of the group, the joints of the stone figures gradually shattered, and their movements became increasingly stiff. With a final, deafening roar, all the stone figures collapsed like a giant tower, turning into a pile of rubble.
The light emanating from the stone tablet flowed like liquid gold, transforming the entire valley into a blazing furnace. The ground suddenly trembled, and a ghostly blue halo seeped from the ancient patterns, weaving together a constantly shifting star map. Gasps of surprise rose and fell from the crowd; some staggered to support their companions, others gripped their weapons so tightly their knuckles turned white, but the leader, Lin Yan, remained fixed on the center of the stone tablet—where the phantom of half a bronze mask appeared, flickering in and out of sight in the light.
“This is… the mark of the Yunyuan Ancient Clan.” Lin Yan stroked the jade pendant with the same pattern engraved on his waist, his voice broken by the roaring wind. He suddenly noticed that the moss at the base of the stone tablet was rapidly receding, revealing hidden compartments engraved with cuneiform script. Just as everyone drew closer, a cold glint suddenly cleaved down from the clouds, heading straight for the stone tablet!
At the critical moment, the witch Aning lashed out the Binding Spirit Rope, the chains woven from gold and silver threads blooming into a lotus-shaped barrier in the air. A deafening roar of lightning shook everyone's eardrums. Aning staggered backward, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth: "Something is stopping us!" Before she finished speaking, a sickeningly loud grinding sound of bones echoed from afar. The entire mountain range seemed to come alive, hundreds of giant stone statues bursting from the ground, their empty eye sockets flickering with crimson flames.
"Form ranks!" Lin Yan drew his longsword, the blade reflecting the distorted silhouettes of the gargoyles. The ranks instantly dispersed, with shield bearers forming an impenetrable wall in front, and sorcerers chanting incantations behind. As the first wave of gargoyles charged, Lin Yan finally saw that they held rusty bronze spears, their blades gleaming with an eerie purple light.
In the chaos of battle, the young swordsman Archer got his ankle entangled in vines. Lin Yan spun around and swung his sword to cut through the thorns, only to see black slime seeping from the cut ends of the vines, instantly corroding them and creating charred pits. "Don't touch that slime!" he shouted, pulling Archer up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the star map on the stone tablet suddenly reverse, all the light condensing into a beam that shot straight into the sky.
Within the pillar of light, the illusory bronze mask gradually materialized, revealing half a face covered in scales beneath. The creature opened its massive, barbed maw, emitting a piercing shriek that could shatter mountains. A Ning's Binding Spirit Rope suddenly trembled violently, transforming into a stream of light that entered her brow. Ancient runes appeared on her skin: "This is the Tomb Guardian Spirit... We must find its life core!"
Lin Yan gazed at the faint, eerie green lights flickering among the gargoyles, suddenly recalling an ancient text: "The Cloud Abyss Spirit General uses its heart as its core, hiding it in the most secure place." His gaze swept over the spirit general's scale-covered chest, and suddenly he hurled his scabbard fiercely towards its throat. Taking advantage of the spirit general's instinctive backward lean, he leaped up, his longsword thrusting straight at the spirit general's left shoulder blade—the gap between the scales there was the weak point in all its defenses.
The moment the hidden compartment opened, a stench of decay, sealed for a thousand years, wafted out, mixed with a clear, resonant sound like metal clashing against metal. Lin Yan used the hilt of his sword to lift the spiderweb covering the compartment, revealing seven jade slips neatly arranged inside. The top jade slip was engraved with half of a bronze mask identical to the stone tablet, its edges glowing with an eerie light.
"Watch out!" Ah Ning suddenly grabbed Lin Yan's sleeve. A dark shadow flew past his ear and crashed into the rock wall, leaving a dent about an inch deep. Everyone looked closely and saw that it was a completely black Chiwen, with chains wrapped around its eagle beak and dragon claws. The other end of the chains was embedded in a crack deep in the stone tablet. More dark shadows poured out from the crack. These Chiwen had fragments of jade slips embedded in their bellies, which gleamed with a cold, eerie blue light in the moonlight.
"They're guarding the jade slips!" Before Lin Yan could finish speaking, Archer had already charged forward, sword in hand. The horde of Chiwen beasts suddenly launched their attack, the sharp cracking of their claws tearing through the air echoing around them. Lin Yan noticed that these ferocious beasts deliberately avoided the jade slips on their companions' bellies when they attacked, and a plan immediately formed in his mind: "Attack their bellies!"
In the midst of the chaotic battle, A Ning suddenly threw out a talisman, which transformed into a giant golden net that enveloped three Chiwen. Taking advantage of the moment, Lin Yan leaped onto the cliff face, his longsword piercing the abdomen of one of the Chiwen like a serpent. The instant the jade slip fragment hit the ground, all the Chiwen let out a shrill scream, turning into black mist and dissipating into the air.
As the last dragon-like creature disappeared, the ground suddenly cracked open with spiderweb-like patterns. The mountain beneath their feet began to tilt. Lin Yan, quick as a flash, grabbed a protruding rock and shouted, "Hold on tight!" The tilting mountain revealed hidden steps, at the end of which was a bronze altar floating above a lava lake. Seven dragon-coiled pillars surrounded a jade platform in the center of the altar, each pillar topped with a fragmented jade slip.
"So the real jade slip is here." Lin Yan embedded the jade slip in his arms into the nearest dragon pillar, and the surface of the pillar immediately lit up with winding patterns of light. As the patterns of light flowed, the other dragon pillars also began to resonate, and a crystal coffin slowly rose from the jade platform. Inside the coffin lay a woman clad in cloud-patterned armor, the jade slip embedded between her brows emitting a soft light, and in her hand she held half a tattered scroll of silk.
A Ning stepped forward and gently unfurled the silk scroll. Blood-red characters appeared on the yellowed pages: "To unravel the secrets of the Cloud Abyss, one must find the Keys of Heaven and Earth. When the seven keys are in their proper places, life will appear in the Yellow Springs." Before she finished speaking, the crystal coffin suddenly trembled violently. The woman opened her eyes, and black mist surged from her empty eye sockets, enveloping the entire altar. Lin Yan gripped his longsword tightly, standing back-to-back with his companions once more. They knew that the real test had only just begun...
The black mist, like a living thing, surged and condensed above the altar, each fluctuation accompanied by a grating sound like fingernails scraping metal. Lin Yan's temples throbbed; the cries mixed with the low moans were clearly the voices of the dead they had encountered in their past adventures—the herb gatherer torn apart by the claws of gargoyles, the caravan boy who perished in the abyss's fissures—all now uttering desperate wails within the mist.
The woman in the crystal coffin slowly opened her eyes. Black mist emanating from her empty eye sockets condensed into chain-like patterns around her, binding the seams of her cloud-patterned armor. The silk scroll in her hand moved without wind, flowing blood characters appearing on the tattered pages. Each character transformed into a speck of light, merging into the mist, causing the temperature of the entire space to plummet to freezing. The incantation behind A Ning's neck suddenly burned, reminding her that what she was witnessing was no ordinary corpse transformation, but rather the form of a vengeful spirit born from some ancient forbidden technique.
"Be careful! She's gathering power!" Before Lin Yan could finish speaking, the woman suddenly raised her hand and made a grasping motion, causing the dragon pillars surrounding the altar to explode with a deafening roar. The flying bronze fragments transformed into countless daggers within the black mist, carrying a chilling aura as they shot towards the crowd. Shield Guard Old Zhou shouted, raising his shield high above his head; sparks flew amidst the clanging of metal. But the fragments that had come into contact with the black mist began to twist and deform, crawling up his arm like venomous snakes that had come to life.
The black mist suddenly transformed into twelve sharp arrows, whistling through the air as they shot towards the crowd. Archer reacted swiftly, spinning and unleashing seven arc-shaped sword strikes, only to see the mist pulverize upon contact with the blades, then instantly reform. The sorceress Xiaotao, grazed by the mist, let out a piercing scream; her skin, exposed to the black mist, visibly festered, revealing stark white bone.
"This isn't a physical attack!" Ah Ning bit her fingertip and drew a demon-suppressing talisman on her palm, but the talisman spontaneously combusted the moment it touched the black mist. She looked up at the jade slip between the woman's brows, which was constantly flickering, and suddenly remembered the ancient records of her clan: "When soul artifacts are linked, the spirit moves with the patterns." The light from the jade slip and the intensity of the black mist showed a subtle inverse relationship; whenever the light dimmed, the mist became even more turbulent.
Using Old Zhou's shield as cover, Lin Yan leaped up again, his longsword, imbued with the power of thunder and fire, aimed straight for the woman's brow. Just as the sword tip was three inches from the jade slip, the black mist surrounding the woman suddenly condensed into a mirror, reflecting his attack back. Lin Yan hastily changed his move to block, his tiger's mouth splitting open, and he was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the rock wall beside the lava lake. Warm blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, rising in white mist on the cold ground.
The intense pain, ironically, cleared Lin Yan's mind, the words on the silk scroll echoing repeatedly in his head. He struggled to sit up and noticed the fragments of jade slips left by the Chiwen were faintly glowing in the black mist, forming a subtle resonance with the jade slips on the dragon pillar. "Do you remember the jade slips guarded by the Chiwen?" He wiped the blood from his lips, his voice hoarse but firm. "These jade slips must be connected in some way! Aning, use the Spirit-Binding Rope to restrain her! The rest of you, collect the jade slips!"
Aning bit her tongue, spitting her blood onto the Binding Spirit Rope. Golden and silver threads instantly transformed into nine chains, binding the woman. But the black mist surged forth like a tidal wave, corroding the chains with a hissing sound at every point of contact. Ache and Lao Zhou seized the opportunity to rush towards the scattered jade slip fragments, only to find an invisible barrier surrounding them; touching them brought excruciating pain, like being devoured by a thousand ants…
Lin Yan's fingernails dug deeply into his palms, blood dripping down the lines. His gaze swept over the pulsating lava reflections on the rock wall, then suddenly drew attention to the shimmering spots of light floating on the lake's surface—within those orange-red flames flowed an indigo halo identical to that of the jade slip. This resonance that transcended ice and fire caused his pupils to shrink sharply, his memory flashing like lightning through the fog: ancient texts of his clan recorded that the Yunyuan Ancient Clan was skilled at sealing evil spirits using the "Water and Fire Synergy" method.
"Use lava! Like forging in a furnace!" Lin Yan's roar tore through the air, but was drowned out by the woman's next shriek. A Ning's Spirit Binding Rope was already corroded and riddled with holes, the silver threads constantly breaking in the black mist, her wrists a bloody mess, yet she still gripped the chains tightly. Each chain end was entwined with the phantom of a vengeful spirit, desperately devouring her spiritual power.