From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 523 The Seal Reopens

The cracking sound of the light membrane splitting was like a needle piercing my eardrums. I stared at the black smoke churning on the spiritual vein, my molars aching from clenching them.

The veins in my left shoulder throbbed, and the deathly aura of the Void Realm was drilling into my heart through my blood vessels. Even the ice crystals that Wen Chen had sealed on my wrist with the Ice Spirit Lock were cracking.

"The seal must be repaired as soon as possible!" The ethereal immortal's voice suddenly cleaved through the chaos. He had somehow appeared at the edge of the light membrane, his Daoist robe torn to shreds by the black mist, yet his eyes shone with an astonishing light. "If we delay any longer, the entire secret realm will be permeated with the deathly aura of the Void Realm!"

I looked up abruptly, the spirit crystal on my sleeve burning so hot it almost burned through the fabric—this was something that had suddenly fallen out of the pages of "The Ancient Demon Suppression Record" when I was flipping through the ancient book pavilion yesterday. At the time, there was half a tattered scroll tucked inside the book, which read, "The Nine Luminaries Sealing Array, using star stones as a guide, can suppress the rifts in other worlds."

Thinking back now, the words on that tattered scroll still seem to linger before my eyes; it turns out they were prepared for today.

"Elder Qingfeng!" I rushed towards the array plate, clutching the spirit crystal, my boot crushing a shattered array flag. "Take Qingwei and Mingxin to the east, south, and west sides to set up the Nine Luminaries Array Eyes, burying three Spirit Gathering Jade at each location!"

Elder Qingfeng's kneeling back stiffened abruptly. When he looked up, his protective goggles were covered in spots of black mist corrosion. "Young friend..." His Adam's apple bobbed, and his calloused hands pressed against the array plate, "The spiritual vein of the main array position has been damaged; I'm afraid it can't support the complete Nine Luminaries..."

"You have to hold on, even if you can't!" I interrupted him, the spirit crystals burning my skin. "Yesterday I read in the 'Demon Suppression Record' that the core of the Nine Luminaries Formation is the resonance of the star stones in the main formation position. As long as the formation eye is in place, even if the spiritual veins in the main formation position are damaged, it can still draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth!"

Elder Qingfeng's beard twitched, and he suddenly kowtowed heavily. "This old minister obeys!" He stood up, leaning on the array plate, the copper bell at his waist blackened by the black mist. "Qingwei, Mingxin, retrieve the Spirit Gathering Jade!" Two disciples in moon-white Taoist robes ran from the direction of the medicine hut, the jade box in their arms gleaming faintly in the black mist—it turned out that Ziling had already had them prepare it.

"Wen Chen!" I turned to look at the battlefield. The icy blue sword energy was slicing through the Blood Fiend's poisonous claws. Wen Chen's black robes were stained with black blood, but he still stood straight.

He heard me shout, turned his head, and the icy patterns at the corners of his eyes gleamed coldly in the black mist. "Hold those two back!" I yelled, "At most, in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, I want the starstone at the main formation to light up!"

Wen Chen's sword suddenly flashed with a blinding cold light. The blood demon that had been clinging to him howled and retreated, its left arm severed at the shoulder, black blood splattering onto the ice wall with a sizzling sound. "Good." He only said one word, but his voice was like a boulder pressing on my heart, and I suddenly felt less panicked.

"Senior Sister Xiao!" Zi Ling's voice came from the right. The coral beads in her hair were glowing red from the fire talisman. The three crimson flame talismans she was holding in her fingertips flew out with a "whoosh" and exploded into a wall of fire at the feet of the black-robed man.

The man in black robes, who was about to slip into the crack in the light membrane, was stopped by the wall of fire. He abruptly turned his head, his eerie blue left eye beneath the hood like a poisoned dagger. "Trying to run?" Zi Ling wiped the soot from her face and flung out five more fire talismans. "My fire talismans can burn away the death energy of the Void Realm. You try it!"

As I watched her leap nimbly through the black mist, the coral beads at the ends of her hair swaying with her movements, I suddenly remembered three months ago at the medicine hut, when she held up her medicine hoe and said, "My specialty, Zi Ling, is tripping up the enemy."

At this moment, she was indeed tripping up the enemy—the fire talismans were burning, their black smoke hissing and emitting white smoke, and the black-robed man's pace had noticeably slowed down.

The sharp pain in my left shoulder suddenly intensified, and I stumbled, almost falling into the crack in the light membrane.

Wen Chen's Ice Spirit Lock shattered into ice shards with a "crack," and death energy rushed up his neck through his blood vessels, blurring his vision.

No, I bit my tongue, the taste of blood spreading in my mouth—the main position hasn't been reached yet, Xiao Yao, you can't fall.

"Young friend!" The ethereal immortal suddenly grabbed my wrist; his palm was burning hot, like holding a living flame.

The deathly aura shrieked the moment it touched his hand, jolting me awake. I saw golden light swirling in his eyes. "Go to the main array position. I'll suppress this deathly aura for you."

“Senior…” My throat tightened.

"Stop talking nonsense." He released my hand, his fingertip touching my brow. A golden line crawled down my nose and onto my forehead, and the deathly aura instantly retreated to the edge of my heart. "You think this old bone of mine is here to watch the ceremony?"

Hurry up!

I turned and ran towards the main position. The cracks in the light membrane emitted a piercing buzzing sound above my head, and with each step I took, I could hear the crisp sound of the spiritual veins breaking.

The main array is located at the very center of the light membrane. The ground, which was originally engraved with demon-suppressing patterns, is now covered with scorched cracks. On the central stone pier, a stone tablet covered with moss is slowly emerging. The tablet is engraved with crooked runes, some of which are blurred by corrosion. But I recognized it at a glance as the "Nine Luminaries Star-Guiding Pattern" drawn in the "Demon-Suppressing Record".

The deathly aura on my left shoulder suddenly began to surge again. I squatted down, leaning on the stone tablet, and the spirit crystal burned a red mark on my palm.

In the distance came the sound of Wen Chen's sword, the explosion of Zi Ling's fire talisman, and the tinkling of Elder Qing Feng's copper bell—these sounds were like a rope, binding me to the entire battlefield.

“Nine Luminaries... Star Guiding…” I gasped for breath, pressing the spirit crystal into the indentation of the stone tablet. “I hope you’re not lying to me, this is a fragment from an ancient text.”

The stone tablet suddenly trembled, and moss fell in rustling motions, revealing the silvery patterns beneath.

I stared at the patterns, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of my throat—they were glowing, like stars illuminated by the wind, one, two, three...

(Ending: The silver light from the stone tablet suddenly connected into a line, leaving a pale blue mark on my palm.)

From afar came the roar of Blood Fiend, and Wen Chen's low shout of "Retreat!"

I looked up and saw that the dark red shadow in the deepest crack of the light membrane seemed to pause for a moment, while at the bottom of the stone tablet, a line of small characters covered by moss slowly emerged: "Only when the star stone returns to its place will the truth be revealed."

As soon as the small characters at the bottom of the stone tablet appeared, the spirit crystal in my palm suddenly became as hot as a piece of burning charcoal.

Silver light climbed up along the patterns on the stone tablet and wrapped around my wrist. I heard a soft cracking sound from my joints—the sound of spiritual energy being forcibly extracted.

The fragment only says "using star stones as a guide", but doesn't mention that activating the Nine Luminaries Array requires risking one's life.

The deathly aura on my left shoulder began to surge again, and the golden mark left between my brows by the ethereal immortal was fading little by little. I gritted my teeth and pushed the last wisp of spiritual energy into the stone tablet: "Hold on, Xiao Yao, you're just one step away."

"Watch out!" Wen Chen's voice pierced the black mist like an icicle.

The moment I looked up, a black whip, accompanied by a foul stench, lashed towards the stone tablet. The barbs at the tip grazed my right shoulder, tearing the fabric and sending a burning pain through my skin.

Blood Fiend broke through Wen Chen's sword net at some point. His hood was blown off by the sword energy, revealing half of his rotting face—his left cheek was covered with purple spots, while his right cheek still retained some handsome features, like a monster forcibly mixed together by some force.

"You little bastard!" He grinned, black blood seeping from his rotting gums. "How dare you touch my Void Realm passage?"

"I'll tear you apart!" The black whip lashed out again, this time aimed straight for my throat.

I wanted to dodge, but my legs, drained of spiritual energy, were as weak as cotton, and I could only watch helplessly as the black whip approached—

A streak of icy blue sword energy blocked the way.

Wen Chen appeared beside me without my noticing, his dark cloak fluttering in the wind from the sword energy. He gripped my wrist, the chill of the Ice Spirit Lock flowing into my veins, temporarily suppressing the deathly aura. "Retreat to the center of the formation." His voice was colder than an ice wall. He pressed his fingertips on the back of my hand, a coded signal only we understood—stay calm, I'm here.

I staggered back to the stone tablet, watching Wen Chen swing his sword to entangle Xue Sha's black whip.

The sword flowers of the Shattered Star Sword Technique bloomed in the black mist, each one carrying a bone-chilling cold. The tip of Blood Fiend's whip was frozen, and his movements were noticeably slowed down by half a beat.

Zi Ling's fire talisman flew in from the right at just the right moment, burning Xue Sha's back and causing blue smoke to rise. He screamed and turned to pat the fire, but Wen Chen seized the opportunity to close in, pressing the tip of his sword against Xue Sha's chest: "Retreat now, and I'll leave you with a whole corpse."

"A complete corpse?" Blood Fiend suddenly laughed, his rotting face twisted into a grotesque arc. "Once the army of the Void Realm tramples this broken secret realm, you won't even have any dust left!" He yanked his black whip, and Wen Chen's sword was pulled off course by half an inch. Blood Fiend took the opportunity to pounce on me—but just then, nine clear bell tolls came from all directions.

The array's cores in the nine directions—east, south, west, north, center, and so on—lighted up simultaneously.

I saw Qingwei and Mingxin kneeling and spitting blood at the eastern array eye. Elder Qingfeng's copper bell was shattered into dust, and his hand holding the array flag was trembling. Yet, the spirit-gathering jade in the array eye was shining brightly.

Zi Ling's fire talisman suddenly turned golden, and the coral beads in her hair faded to white in the golden light, a sign of her spiritual power being depleted—it turned out that she had already fused her natal spirit bead into the fire talisman.

"It's done!" My throat tightened.

The silver light from the stone tablet shot into the sky, condensing into a rotating sphere of light overhead. Nine beams of starlight shot up from the center of the array, like nine silver chains binding the sphere of light.

Blood Fiend froze in place, staring up at the orb of light, his rotting face finally revealing terror: "Impossible... this broken formation should have been lost long ago!"

"It wasn't lost." I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and spat my last breath of spiritual energy onto the stone tablet. "Because someone remembers."

The ball of light suddenly accelerated its rotation, and I heard a piercing shriek coming from the crack in the light membrane—the sound of the aura of the void being sealed and compressed.

Blood Fiend frantically lashed out at the ball of light, but the black whip emitted blue smoke as soon as it touched the light shield, and his hand sizzled from the heat.

Wen Chen's sword pressed against the back of his neck, this time leaving no room for retreat: "Retreat."

Blood Fiend suddenly turned and smiled at me, a deep gash splitting open on his rotting right cheek: "You think you've won by sealing the passage?" His voice grew weaker, his figure becoming transparent, "The true entrance lies deep within the spiritual veins, once the death aura permeates the entire secret realm..." His words were cut off by the roar of the light sphere, leaving only a scream, "You'll be begging to let us in!"

Before he finished speaking, his figure vanished completely.

The black mist, like water being drained, retreated to the edge of the light membrane in the blink of an eye.

I slid down to the ground, supporting myself on the stone tablet. The deathly aura in my left shoulder finally stopped churning, but all the bones in my body felt like they had been dismantled and reassembled.

Wen Chen squatted down, his fingertips brushing away the sweat from my forehead. The chill of the Ice Spirit Lock, mixed with the fragrance of medicine, rushed in—he had somehow slipped a Nourishing Essence Pill into my mouth.

"Senior Sister Xiao!" Zi Ling stumbled over, the coral bead was nowhere to be seen, and her hair was covered in black ash. "Are you alright?"

Mingxin said he saw the shadow of the Blood Fiend go deeper into the spiritual vein!

Elder Qingfeng coughed as he approached, the corrosion spots on his protective goggles deepening. "Young friend," he said, "this old minister just examined the array's core and discovered traces of it being dug up at the bottom of the spiritual vein." He pulled out half a charred jade fragment. "This was picked up from a crack in the ground; it looks like a remnant of a teleportation array."

The ethereal immortal stood before the light membrane, golden light seeping from the cracks in his robe. Hearing the noise, he turned and smiled, "It seems that Lord Blood Fiend wasn't lying." He lightly touched the light membrane with his fingertip, and a wisp of black energy seeped from the sealed crack. "This seal can only hold for a hundred years, but the hand of the Void Realm has already reached beneath the spiritual veins."

I took the jade fragment from Elder Qingfeng. The patterns on the fragment reminded me of the "Reverse Star Array" in "The Record of Demon Suppression"—a forbidden technique that connects the two worlds.

Wen Chen's hand covered the back of my hand, the coolness of the Ice Spirit Lock seeping into my heart through my veins: "Tomorrow we'll go to the depths of the spiritual vein." He spoke softly, yet it was like a ballast stone. "I'll go with you."

Ziling squatted down to help me tidy my messy hair. The warmth of the fire talisman still lingered in her palms: "I'll go too!"

I still remember the spiritual vein diagram you taught me to recognize at the medicine hut last time.

Elder Qingfeng tucked the fragments of the bronze bell into his sleeve: "Though this old minister is old, my ability to probe the earth's veins remains."

The ethereal immortal turned and walked towards the medicine hut. Wherever his robe swept, the black mist retreated three feet. "I'll go check the incomplete scrolls in the ancient book pavilion; perhaps I can find the solution to the Reverse Star Formation." He paused, then turned back, his eyes gleaming even brighter. "Young friend, you should inquire about the origin of the mark on your palm."

I looked down at the pale blue mark on my palm. I hadn't noticed it before, but now I realized that the pattern was exactly the same as the "Nine Stars Guiding the Stars" pattern on the stone tablet.

The wind swept past, carrying the lingering black mist, and I suddenly shivered—the words of the Blood Fiend before he vanished still echoed in my ears, the fragments of the teleportation array deep within the spiritual vein, the mark that suddenly appeared in my palm, and the words on the stone tablet, "Only when the Star Stones return to their places will the truth be revealed"...

Wen Chen helped me to my feet, his body heat seeping through my cloak. "Let's go back to the medicine hut first." He bent down to fasten the collar of my clothes, which had been torn by the black whip. "You need to regulate your breathing."

I watched the black mist gradually dissipate and listened to the rooster crowing coming from the medicine hut in the distance—this was a vitality that had not been seen in the secret realm for a hundred years.

But Zi Ling's hand, gripping my sleeve, was trembling. There was blood on the handkerchief Elder Qing Feng used to cover his mouth when he coughed. The ice patterns on Wen Chen's sword sheath were deeper than usual.

We won this battle, but the real battlefield has only just begun.