From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 408 Finding the Key to Breaking the Dilemma

The purple spiritual energy, like a bolt of lightning, struck the runes beneath Blood Shadow's feet with pinpoint accuracy.

In that instant, I felt the entire space tremble, and a powerful energy wave spread out from the rune.

Blood Shadow's movements abruptly stopped, an expression of disbelief on his face, like a rooster being choked, clucking a few times but unable to utter a complete sound.

"What's going on?!" he shouted in terror, his body trembling uncontrollably. The dagger in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter, echoing sharply in the silent cave. My heart skipped a beat.

I secretly breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, my gamble paid off!

It turns out that the compass that controls the mechanism has some kind of mysterious connection with this rune.

I had felt that the runes on this compass looked familiar before, and now I finally remembered. I had accidentally found an ancient book in Master Qingfeng's study, which recorded some long-lost formations. One of these formations could control a person's actions through special runes.

"Xiao Yao, what... what did you do?" Xueying's voice trembled violently, as if it were being squeezed out from between his teeth. I could feel the fear in his eyes, a fear of the unknown and the inability to control it.

This fear is more terrifying than death itself.

I gave a cold laugh and didn't answer his question. "Zi Ling, increase the intensity!"

Zi Ling nodded, her hands quickly forming hand seals, and a continuous stream of spiritual energy poured into the runes.

The runes emitted a dazzling light, and Blood Shadow trembled more and more violently. His face turned pale, his lips turned purple, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, soaking his hair and making him look even more disheveled.

"Ah—" Blood Shadow let out a shrill scream, his body suddenly falling backward and crashing heavily to the ground. He twitched a few times and then fell still.

Phew... this problem is finally solved.

I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling much less pressure on my body.

"Xiao Yao, you...you actually..." Master Qingfeng looked at me in shock, seemingly unable to believe that I would use this method to deal with Blood Shadow.

"Master, this is not the time for sentimentality," I said firmly. "Blood Shadow is ruthless. If we don't strike first, I'm afraid..."

I paused, not continuing, but the meaning was already quite clear.

Master Qingfeng remained silent for a moment, then finally nodded, indicating his agreement with my approach.

I know he must have felt conflicted. After all, he was a compassionate Taoist priest, but in this dog-eat-dog world of cultivation, sometimes, in order to survive, one has to do things that go against one's principles.

As we ventured deeper into the immortal array, a damp, decaying smell permeated the air, making us feel quite uncomfortable.

The surroundings were quiet, with only the echoes of our footsteps reverberating, making it seem particularly eerie and terrifying.

"Wait!" I suddenly stopped and looked into a dark corner ahead.

There seemed to be something shimmering faintly, which stood out starkly against the dim light.

"What's wrong?" Fairy Lin asked in confusion.

I shook my head, indicating that I didn't know either, and then carefully walked towards that corner.

Upon closer inspection, I discovered it was an old book, lying quietly in a corner. The pages were yellowed and covered in dust, clearly indicating that it hadn't been touched for a long time.

I picked up the book, gently brushed away the dust, and revealed the cover.

The cover bears a few ancient characters: "The Secret Records of Immortal Arrays".

"The Secret Record of Immortal Arrays?" Daoist Qingfeng walked over, glanced at the book's cover, and immediately showed a surprised expression. "This...this could be..."

He excitedly took the book, opened it to the first page, and began to read it carefully.

"That's right, this is the legendary 'Secret Records of Immortal Arrays'!" After a while, Daoist Qingfeng raised his head, his tone filled with excitement. "This book records all the secrets of immortal arrays, including how to break them!"

A surge of excitement welled up inside me; it seemed we had finally found the key to breaking the immortal formation!

According to the book, the key to the immortal formation is hidden deep within this cave.

We continued walking through the cave, encountering many traps and mechanisms along the way, but we managed to overcome them all.

Suddenly, a group of mysterious phantoms appeared before us.

These phantoms were dressed in black robes, wore ferocious masks, and held sharp weapons, exuding a powerful killing intent.

"Be careful, these phantoms are very powerful!" Master Qingfeng warned.

We dared not be careless and unleashed our magical weapons, engaging in a fierce battle with the phantom.

These phantoms were incredibly fast and their attacks were extremely fierce, leaving us somewhat unable to defend ourselves for a time.

"Ah!" Fairy Lin cried out in pain as her arm was slashed by a phantom's sword, and blood instantly stained her sleeve.

"Fairy Lin!" My heart tightened, and I rushed over to check on her injuries.

Just then, I suddenly discovered that Blood Shadow had taken advantage of the chaos to steal Zi Ling's array treasure!

"Blood Shadow, you despicable scoundrel!" Zi Ling was so angry that her face turned red, but she couldn't spare the energy to chase after him.

Even worse, Elder Xuanfeng was actually bewitched by the illusion's magic and fell into a hallucination!

I have to fight against the phantoms, take care of Fairy Lin, and find a way to awaken Elder Xuanfeng. The pressure is immense...

"Xiao Yao..." Fairy Lin weakly grasped my hand, her eyes filled with worry, "What should we do..."

I had to fight the phantoms while also searching for the key nodes, which put me under immense pressure.

The phantom was so fast that it was impossible to see it, and its attacks were incredibly fierce, as if it wanted to tear each and every one of us to pieces.

After Zi Ling's array treasures were stolen by Xue Ying, her combat power noticeably decreased, and she could only barely hold on.

Although Lin Xianzi's bleeding had temporarily stopped, her face was growing paler and paler, clearly indicating that she was severely exhausted.

Elder Xuanfeng was still trapped in a hallucination and his mind was unclear.

I felt like a wild beast driven to the brink of despair, surrounded by dangers everywhere.

My strength gradually ran out, and my movements became sluggish.

Sweat trickled down my forehead and dripped into my eyes, stinging me.

Every time I swing the sword, I can feel my arm trembling.

The roar of the phantom was in my ears, mixed with Fairy Lin's panting, Master Qingfeng's reminder, and Elder Xuanfeng's ramblings. Everything seemed so chaotic.

Just when I was about to give up, I suddenly heard a strange sound.

The sound was like metal rubbing against a stone wall, soft and lingering, as if it were a secret signal coming from another world.

A thought struck me, and I immediately stopped what I was doing and listened carefully.

The sound grew clearer and clearer, seemingly coming from not far away.

"Hang in there, everyone! I've found something!" I shouted, hoping to give my companions a glimmer of hope.

I followed the sound, my heart pounding.

Finally, in an extremely hidden corner, I discovered a small stone door.

The stone gate was covered with complex runes, emitting a faint blue light, giving it a mysterious and dangerous feel.

Is this the key point of the Immortal Array?

I took a deep breath and decided to take the risk.

I slowly reached out my trembling hand and touched the runes.

The runes began to slowly rotate under the touch of my fingertips, emitting a soft clicking sound.

I quickly followed the instructions in the "Secret Records of Immortal Arrays" to unlock the restrictions one by one.

Each time I break through a barrier, a portion of my physical strength is drained, but I know it's the only way out.

I gritted my teeth and persevered in breaking the last barrier.

The stone gate slowly opened, revealing a deep cave entrance, from which a faint white light emanated, as if leading to another world.

A strong desire welled up within me; this was the key to breaking the immortal formation!

"Xiao Yao..." Fairy Lin's voice was weak, but I could feel her...

Just then, a strong sense of danger surged into my heart.

I turned around abruptly and saw the figure of Blood Shadow darting out of the darkness, its eyes gleaming with greed.

He held the stolen array treasure in his hand, a ferocious smile on his face.

"Xiao Yao, you are truly a genius, but your good fortune ends here!" Blood Shadow's cold voice echoed in the cave, seemingly foreshadowing a new contest about to begin.

I gripped my sword tightly, my gaze resolute, with only one thought in my mind: no matter what, I must protect everyone and break the immortal formation!