Watching another cultivator in mid-air being devoured by the Corpse Puppet, Mo Tiange and the other two dared not delay any longer and flew toward the direction of the storerooms.
Time was almost up. Everyone else would be gathering at the storerooms. As long as they broke the Illusion Formation and entered the storerooms, they would be safe.
Given the strength of the several late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivators, Mo Tiange had no doubt they could break the restrictions of the ancient cultivator cave abodes. But whether they could find enough tokens was another matter. She and Qin Xi had been purely lucky. If not for Fuyaozi knowing about the spiritual eye cave abodes on the Bitter Cultivation Cliff, given their strength, competing with others for the ancient cave abodes would have been very difficult, let alone finding three tokens at once.
On their flight to the storerooms, they encountered the Corpse Puppet once more. Fortunately, they were vigilant and avoided it early. Afterwards, they found several abandoned cave abodes, discovering a few skeletons inside that had almost turned to black ash, and picked up several Qiankun Bags.
These cave abodes were located within a valley, of low grade, clearly not belonging to high-level cultivators. They used only Qiankun Bags, not Qiankun Rings. A look at the Qiankun Bags confirmed they were only at the Core Formation level. Inside, while there were some materials worth investigating now, none were too precious for the three of them. They casually divided them up, considering it better than nothing.
The journey was thrilling but safe, and they finally reached the storerooms before the end of the second day.
"Fellow Daoist Qin, Little Friend Mo, you two are quite early," someone was already waiting at the storeroom entrance—it was Scholar Yu and Han Shizhi.
Returning the greeting, Qin Xi said indifferently, "Scholar Yu is even earlier. I presume things went smoothly."
Scholar Yu wore a smile, seeming in good spirits. Then his gaze fell upon Jing Xingzhi. "I wonder who this fellow daoist is..."
"This is Fellow Daoist Jing Xingzhi, an old acquaintance of mine. We happened to meet earlier, and he helped us, so..."
"Oh..." Scholar Yu nodded slowly, thoughtful. "So, you two intend to bring Fellow Daoist Jing?"
"This shouldn't violate our agreement with everyone, should it?"
Scholar Yu's gaze swept over the sword on Jing Xingzhi's back, his attitude casual. "Entering the storerooms depends entirely on tokens. I have no objection."
Though he said so, all three understood his real thoughts. An early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, even a sword cultivator, what influence could he have among so many late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators? Besides, the number of people brought wasn't the issue; the issue was whether this person was trustworthy and whether he would be a burden. Scholar Yu had made such a mistake before, bringing two early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators who not only failed to help but nearly dragged him down in the passage. The smartest was Venerable Wuming, who left all his sect members outside the Immortal Palace, bringing only Juewu inside, thus handling things with ease.
Feeling this disdain, Jing Xingzhi's expression showed no abnormality. Scholar Yu didn't even greet him, but he didn't mind, finding a corner to sit and meditate on his own. This man seemed unreliable, but having survived safely in an environment of sect suspicion and even cultivated to late-stage Core Formation, his survival wisdom was naturally not lacking.
After brief greetings, the five fell silent. After a while, another streak of light approached from the distance—it was Venerable Wuming and Juewu.
Mo Tiange was somewhat surprised. She had thought the Jiuyan Sect group would return first, given they had two late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators and were the strongest. But upon reflection, they also had the most people. Obtaining four tokens to let all four enter the storerooms was even more difficult.
"Fellow Daoist Wuming!"
"Great Master."
Seeing Venerable Wuming, Scholar Yu and Qin Xi both greeted him. Among their group, Venerable Wuming had the best rapport and was most trusted by others, largely due to the cultivation technique he practiced. Buddhist teachings were gentler than those of the Daoist and Confucian schools, and Venerable Wuming clearly practiced a highly disciplined technique with extremely high demands on mental state. People like him, in the unpredictable world of cultivation, were often the first choice for trust.
Of course, Scholar Yu and Qin Xi's courtesy toward him wasn't solely for that reason. Scholar Yu and Venerable Wuming were old friends, having interacted for a long time. As for Qin Xi, he had received Venerable Wuming's help when entering the Immortal Palace passage and was grateful. Their small team consisted of five parties. Apart from the Jiuyan Sect being stronger, each party's strength was similar. Having an ally was beneficial.
Venerable Wuming, still with closed eyes, smiled and greeted everyone, not neglecting even the two juniors. Finally, he mentioned Jing Xingzhi. "I wonder which of you this fellow daoist is a friend of?"
Qin Xi introduced him again, indicating that Jing Xingzhi had joined their side.
Venerable Wuming's expression remained unchanged. He nodded slightly and smiled. "So it's Fellow Daoist Jing."
Jing Xingzhi also stood and returned the greeting. "Greetings, Great Master."
After another while, the Jiuyan Sect group finally arrived.
True Person Yuan Mu's expression was unpleasant; the iron mask on Ironface True Person's face concealed his expression and blocked divine sense, making it impossible to see any abnormality; Ling Shiyu's face was pale, as if injured; Ling Yunhe followed obediently behind.
Seeing the several people sitting or standing outside the mountain wall, True Person Yuan Mu's expression darkened further. Everyone had returned early, each looking quite pleased, clearly having achieved their wishes. Thinking of the price he had paid, how could he have a good expression? Nevertheless, he still greeted everyone politely and courteously and expressed no objection to Jing Xingzhi's arrival.
Mo Tiange was curious. What situation had the Jiuyan Sect encountered? With their lineup of two late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators and one mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, they were actually more disheveled than the others? This was truly unusual.
As she watched, her gaze suddenly met Ling Yunhe's. Ling Yunhe smiled slightly at her, his eyes seeming to understand, making Mo Tiange somewhat embarrassed. She cupped her hands toward him and stopped scrutinizing.
After the four parties gathered, they waited for a long time. During this period, that God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet exterminated several more cultivators. Then, having no target, it wandered through the Immortal Palace.
Most of the day passed. After this Corpse Puppet's sweep, the slightly weaker Nascent Soul cultivators in the Immortal Palace were almost wiped out, leaving only those late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivators and a few lucky survivors. The survivors, already on guard, had long hidden far away. The Immortal Palace was so vast; even if the Corpse Puppet was at the God Transformation Stage, it couldn't sense human presence from too far away. Without sensing human presence, it was merely a puppet, doing nothing but wandering unconsciously.
However, after the slaughter, its deterrent power had deeply ingrained itself in everyone's minds. While treasure hunting, they remained constantly vigilant to avoid encountering this Corpse Puppet, lest centuries of cultivation effort come to naught.
"Why hasn't Fellow Daoist Guifang arrived yet?" As time passed, reaching the final day, Scholar Yu looked up at the sky, still seeing no streaks of light approaching, and asked.
No one could answer this question. Only True Person Yuan Mu said, "Perhaps Fellow Daoist Guifang encountered some trouble."
"Then do we still wait?" Scholar Yu frowned, tapping the folding fan in his hand. "Time is short. Once the passage closes in a day and the divine sense on the five sacred objects disperses, there will be no way to open it again. If trapped here, what use is advancing to God Transformation?"
"..." Everyone fell silent. Scholar Yu's words were precisely what worried them.
Within this Immortal Palace, spiritual qi was abundant, high-grade spirit stones could be found everywhere, and ancient spiritual objects were discovered from time to time. If one could cultivate here, the speed would far surpass the outside world. But if the Immortal Palace passage closed, unable to exit, what use was cultivating to God Transformation? Advancing to God Transformation was to explore the secrets of longevity, even to ascend and become an Immortal. If trapped here forever, one would end up like that God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet—possessing cultivation but utterly meaningless.
Moreover, with a God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet currently roaming the Immortal Palace, if they stayed here, no matter how they hid, they would likely ultimately not escape being exterminated.
"Little Friend Mo," True Person Yuan Mu suddenly spoke after a while, "if Fellow Daoist Guifang doesn't come, can we open the Illusion Formation with our own strength?"
Mo Tiange pondered for a moment before answering, "It should be no problem."
Hearing this, True Person Yuan Mu revealed a smile. "In that case, let's proceed. The agreed time has passed. Fellow Daoist Guifang is long overdue; we cannot wait forever."
"Indeed," Scholar Yu nodded. "Time is pressing; it can only be so."
Venerable Wuming hesitated slightly, sighed softly, and did not voice opposition.
Since they had all decided thus, Qin Xi and Mo Tiange certainly had no objection. Demon Lord Guifang and his disciple were not allies; they feared too many people might harbor ill intentions.
After exchanging a glance with Qin Xi, Mo Tiange nodded in agreement. "Very well, since all you seniors think so, let's begin."
With the decision made, Mo Tiange did not delay. She took out the Taiji Bagua Diagram from her sleeve, combed through the surrounding spiritual qi, then retrieved a bell-shaped magic treasure from her Qiankun Bag.
She flicked it gently. The bell treasure floated into mid-air, moving without wind, emitting crisp sounds.
"This is..." Seeing this, Scholar Yu was momentarily stunned.
Mo Tiange did not speak, focusing on manipulating the object, making it roam across the entire mountain wall.
The "ding-ling ding-ling" sounds continued incessantly. Everyone listening realized the sound affected divine sense. The Core Formation cultivators quickly calmed their minds and focused their intent on their dantians.
After watching for a while, Scholar Yu let out a breath and said, "So sound waves can be used this way." Seeing Han Shizhi looking rather confused, he explained, "This treasure uses sound waves as a means to attack the Illusion Formation. Because the sound wave attack is very slight, the Illusion Formation won't automatically counterattack. But under these sound waves, spiritual qi produces subtle fluctuations. Someone familiar with formations can locate the weakness of the Illusion Formation based on these fluctuations."
As soon as he finished speaking, the bell armor treasure stopped. Mo Tiange said joyfully, "Seniors, it's right there!"
Everyone looked up. The weakness of the Illusion Formation was at a corner of the mountain wall.
Mo Tiange put away the bell treasure and turned to Scholar Yu. "Senior Yu, you won't need me next, right?"
Scholar Yu nodded slightly and stepped forward. "Since a weakness exists, then it's easy. Fellow daoists, let's join forces to strike it and create a crack!"