"Impossible! Under the suppression of two Heaven-Crossing Spirit Treasures, no one in this realm could possibly break free from the Nine Truths Demon-Subduing Grand Formation. Besides, the seal has already developed cracks. If you had truly freed yourself, Senior, you could have left this mountain long ago. Why would you still be lingering here? Most likely, you've merely managed to free a wisp of spiritual consciousness and are trying to frighten this junior away." After his initial panic, Xiang Zhili quickly recalled something, and his expression returned to composure in the blink of an eye.
"You know about the Nine Truths Demon-Subduing Grand Formation and the Heaven-Crossing Spirit Treasures! Could you be a descendant of the Three Sons of Kunwu?" The woman's voice was still pleasant to the ear, but her words had suddenly turned several degrees colder.
"This junior is not a descendant of the Three Sons of Kunwu, Senior, but there are indeed a few people in this realm who know of your existence. This junior happens to be one of them." As he spoke, Xiang Zhili darted his eyes about him ceaselessly, looking extremely cautious.
"Hmph! Stop looking for a way out. My true body is indeed still trapped, but I will not allow you to destroy this once-in-ten-thousand-years opportunity to break free. You can stay right here and behave yourself for a few months."
The woman had barely finished her cold words when the air above the stone pavilion twisted violently, and a white vortex materialized out of thin air. A vast curtain of five-colored radiance suddenly poured down from the vortex, engulfing the little old man.
"The Illusory Celestial Phenomenon!" At the sight, Xiang Zhili's face changed drastically. Without a moment's hesitation, silver light erupted from his body and transformed into a streak of escaping light that shot away.
But the five-colored radiance merely rotated slightly, and an enormous suction force materialized out of nowhere, forcing the old man's escaping light to falter for an instant.
Then the radiance swept past, and Xiang Zhili vanished on the spot without a trace, as if no one had ever been there at all.
"It seems I'll have to slumber for a while longer. The fewer cultivators who make it here, the better! I hope the day I wake will be the day I truly break free! Three Sons of Kunwu — I will make you pay the price for sealing me! When that day comes, heh heh..." The woman murmured weakly for a few moments, then broke into a burst of frantic, coquettish laughter before her voice cut off abruptly.
---
Seven days later, just as the Ye family had broken through the Gate of Ten Thousand Cultivators only to fall into another impossibly sophisticated illusion array, and just as Han Li and his companions had been blocked by a peculiar restriction on a section of the stone steps and were forced to rack their brains for a way to break through, the surface above the seal — near that nameless little lake — was anything but quiet.
Over a thousand cultivators had gathered in the area, scattered across a radius of several dozen li. Even among the Nascent Soul cultivators, more than a dozen had appeared.
The most eye-catching of them were four Poison Saint Sect elders standing side by side on one bank of the lake. The other Nascent Soul cultivators mostly acted alone, having clearly rushed here upon hearing the news.
At this moment, a disciple was reporting something to the Poison Saint Sect elders.
"Grand Elder, we've already searched over half of the underground seal and found something promising. About twenty-odd li from here, underground, someone has deliberately concealed something with an illusion array. Our disciples skilled in formations are working hard to break through it. Although it's only a temporary formation, the person who set it was truly formidable, so it will still take some time." The disciple, who wore a red headband, spoke respectfully.
"Good — at least we have a lead. We've been here for several days already. If we still couldn't find the entrance to the seal, that would be the real problem. But be careful — don't let the others notice what you're doing. Go back for now. Report to us immediately once the illusion array is broken." The middle-aged cultivator with green markings on his face exhaled a long breath and issued his orders.
"Yes, sir!" The disciple bowed and responded. Then he pulled out an Earth Escape Talisman, slapped it against his body, and his figure sank into the ground, vanishing from sight.
At that moment, another Poison Saint Sect elder spoke up:
"Senior Brother, there's no need for excessive worry. We don't have any late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators in the Southern Border, and even if cultivators from other sects arrive, the four of us together have nothing to fear from anyone."
"That may be true, but with every day we delay, more high-level cultivators will arrive. And the Southern Border isn't controlled solely by our sect — there are several that are no weaker than our Poison Saint Sect. If they arrive before we enter, that would be extremely problematic. And if we delay much longer, the ten great sects of both the righteous and demonic paths will likely intervene." The green-marked middle-aged cultivator said gloomily.
Hearing this, some of the other Poison Saint Sect elders looked unconcerned, while others showed a hint of unease.
It was then that the green-marked cultivator suddenly let out a soft exclamation and abruptly raised his head to look toward the sky on one side.
The others were startled and followed his gaze.
In the distant sky, spiritual light flickered as a massive gray fog bank materialized at the horizon. It then hurtled toward them at astonishing speed.
The terrifying spiritual pressure emanating from within the fog was immediately detected by the four Poison Saint Sect cultivators' spiritual senses, and their expressions couldn't help but change.
The fog bank arrived above the little lake in the blink of an eye. Then with a soft pop, it exploded and vanished without a trace, leaving five faint white figures hovering in the air — all with indistinct features, all completely motionless.
"Five Demons of Unified Will!" The green-marked cultivator's expression froze instantly.
"The Five Demons? Could it be the avatar demons of Old Devil Qian from the Yin Luo Sect?" Another Poison Saint Sect elder exclaimed in a low voice, his face turning pale green.
"Hmph! Besides that old devil, who else in the world cultivates such demonic arts? Old Devil Qian's true body can possess any one of the five demons, and unless you can kill all five simultaneously, he is essentially immortal." The green-marked middle-aged cultivator snorted coldly, then said quietly, his voice betraying a deep wariness.