Within the bright, spacious hall of the Yuanshan City Lord's Manor.
"Supervisor Qi, during this time, I have followed your instructions and dispatched my cultivators to search the area around Yuanshan City with all their strength, but we truly found nothing." Yuanshan City Lord Luo Yan looked at Qi Yuan helplessly.
Qi Yuan waved a hand. "That day, the Heavenly Mystery Mirror warned me that a great calamity would occur within Zhenjiang Prefecture. I then used Observe Heaven to probe the secrets of fate.
"Within the Heavenly Mystery Mirror, I saw a scarlet blood pool and scenes of Yuanshan City. There is no doubt that the Underworld has made plans within the Yuanshan City region."
Luo Yan's expression turned solemn. "Who in Great Xia does not know of the Heavenly Mystery Mirror's ability to probe the secrets of fate? Naturally, I would not doubt Supervisor Qi's words."
"Only..." Luo Yan cautiously probed, "the blood pool is such an important thing that the Underworld will certainly have set up tight defenses around it. It is truly difficult for us to gain anything. Even Yuanshan Tower has failed to discover the slightest clue, has it not?"
Qi Yuan pondered for several seconds, then nodded in agreement. "That is what I thought as well. The Yuanshan City region is so vast. As long as the Underworld cultivators set up a concealment formation to hide the blood pool, having you search for it by manpower alone would be like fishing for a needle in the sea.
"So today, I intend to use Observe Heaven once more to locate the blood pool."
A trace of delight appeared on Luo Yan's face. "The Heavenly Mystery Mirror possesses heaven-reaching power. No matter how deeply the Underworld hides itself, it surely cannot escape the Heavenly Mystery Mirror's detection."
Qi Yuan nodded slightly, and with a thought—
A streak of golden light flashed.
An ancient mirror floated before Qi Yuan.
It was the Heavenly Mystery Mirror Fragment.
The Heavenly Mystery Mirror was divided into yin and yang sides. Its back seemed to be fashioned from polished antique bronze, engraved with mysterious and arcane patterns.
Its front was a flawless glazed mirror surface, not a speck of dust upon it. At a glance, it was hazy and indistinct, with nothing visible within.
This mirror did not reflect people, but it could Observe Heaven.
Only Qi Yuan, the master of the Heavenly Mystery Mirror, could see the scenes displayed upon its glazed surface.
Qi Yuan formed a strange hand seal with both hands.
A faint, indistinct line appeared in the void, beginning at Qi Yuan's hands and connecting to the Heavenly Mystery Mirror.
This was Qi Yuan's lifeline.
A blue-green glow continuously flowed from Qi Yuan's hands along that line, entering the Heavenly Mystery Mirror.
Observe Heaven exchanged lifespan for the secrets of fate.
That blue-green radiance was Qi Yuan's lifespan.
The Observe Heaven technique had many restrictions.
The stronger the object one wished to investigate, and the more precise the information sought, the greater the price that had to be paid.
The blood pool Qi Yuan wished to investigate could only be considered a low-grade blood pool, yet if he wanted to pinpoint its location, even as a Nascent Soul Cultivator, he would have to sacrifice a portion of his lifespan.
As the blue-green light flowed into the Heavenly Mystery Mirror—
Several strands of Qi Yuan's black hair rapidly faded, slowly turning gray before becoming white.
Qi Yuan seemed wholly unaware.
When he had taken charge of the Heavenly Mystery Mirror Fragment, he had already prepared himself mentally.
To safeguard the Peace of the Human Race, none of the Heavenly Mystery Temple's mirror bearers cherished their lives.
A hazy white glow gradually veiled Qi Yuan's pupils.
Through that white glow, Qi Yuan stared at the Heavenly Mystery Mirror's glazed surface.
To others, the mirror surface seemed wreathed in clouds and mist, but in Qi Yuan's eyes, the mist was slowly dispersing.
Pushing aside the clouds and mist to behold the light.
Just as Qi Yuan was about to see the scene behind the mist—
BOOM—
An incomparably massive roar erupted.
A black spiritual radiance shot into the sky.
It punched straight through the roof.
After rising to a certain height, the spiritual radiance instantly transformed into a huge curtain, shrouding the entire City Lord's Manor.
At the same time.
Countless strands of black mist appeared out of nowhere, tangling and merging in the air before coiling into three incomparably thick black serpents.
The black serpents were dozens of meters long, black mist spilling from their bodies as they constantly writhed.
Third-grade formation: Three Spirits Demonic Array.
The demonic array could create three spirit serpents.
The spirit serpents possessed three abilities: barrier formation, attack, and trapping enemies.
Thus came the name Three Spirits.
At some unknown moment, three black-robed cultivators appeared amid the black mist, their faces likewise shrouded in black fog.
Each of the three black-robed cultivators held a small black flag.
In the space of a spark—
The three black-robed cultivators activated the black flags in their hands.
These were the Formation Flags that controlled the three black serpents.
Hiss—
Hiss—
Hiss—
Driven by the black flags, the black serpents raised their heads and shrieked at the same time.
Qi Yuan's face went pale.
The serpents' shrieks carried soundwave attacks that assaulted the soul.
Qi Yuan, who was using the Observe Heaven divine ability, had been caught off guard and immediately fell prey to the attack, freezing in place.
Naturally, the Underworld cultivators would not miss such an excellent opportunity.
Under their control, the three black serpents lunged at Qi Yuan with blinding speed and bound him tightly.
Once the three black serpents, each dozens of meters thick, wrapped around Qi Yuan, his entire body was swallowed by black mist. From outside, Qi Yuan could not be seen at all; only the Heavenly Mystery Mirror's golden light still shone brilliantly within the black fog.
Seeing this, Luo Yan let out a sinister chuckle.
The grand plan had succeeded.
The Heavenly Mystery Temple's mirror bearer could comprehend the secrets of heaven, yet had he not still failed to escape my schemes?
Now!
Clang—
A crisp sword cry rang out.
Dozens of cool azure sword lights surged forth.
Like a great army pressing toward the border.
They glimmered brightly within the black curtain.
The sword lights shot directly toward the three flag-bearing black-robed cultivators within the black mist.
Their force was overwhelming.
The expressions of all three black-robed cultivators changed.
They each hurriedly activated secret arts—some defensive Spirit Artifacts, some defensive spells—trying to block the vast tide of sword light.
But it was all futile.
Beneath the azure sword lights, the three black-robed cultivators, along with their defensive spells and defensive Spirit Artifacts—
Melted away like ice and snow.
They collapsed in an instant.
The sword lights' might was plain for all to see!
Once the three black-robed cultivators died, the black serpents entwined around Qi Yuan could no longer trap him.
"A Golden Core Sword Cultivator, sword-light division... Tantai Qingrun!" Luo Yan's eyes widened in fury.
Those dozens of azure sword lights were the Crescent Moon Sword Art unique to the Tantai family!
Within Yuanshan City, the only person capable of using the Crescent Moon Sword Art was Yuanshan Tower's master, Tantai Qingrun.
Indeed, beneath the black curtain, high in the air—
It was as though a door had opened.
A square halo of dark gold light spread open, and a woman clad entirely in white emerged, floating in the air.
She was none other than Yuanshan Tower's master, Tantai Qingrun!
Tantai Qingrun's cold eyes swept across the City Lord's Manor, shrouded in black mist.
"Rakshasa, what formidable methods you possess." Tantai Qingrun's voice was clear, distant, and icy.
No wonder that ever since she had taken over Yuanshan Tower, she had always felt as though an enormous invisible hand was obstructing their investigation into the Underworld, causing every endeavor to go awry.
Who could have imagined that the Underworld's Rakshasa was actually Yuanshan City's city lord, Luo Yan!
Tantai Qingrun's killing intent soared to the heavens, tinged with worry.
Had the Underworld's infiltration of the human race already reached such a terrifying extent?
Rakshasa's expression changed.
The Qi Yuan who had originally been bound by the black serpents had already quietly broken free after Tantai Qingrun killed the three Underworld cultivators controlling them.
Outside the black curtain, numerous Yuanshan Tower cultivators had gathered and were attacking the Three Spirits Demonic Array.
Though the Three Spirits Demonic Array was a third-grade formation, it certainly could not hold out for long beneath the combined assault of so many cultivators.
Within the formation stood a Nascent Soul Spirit Cultivator and a Golden Core Sword Cultivator skilled in slaughter, while the strongest among their party of Underworld cultivators were merely Golden Core.
They could not win in battle, nor could they flee.
A dead-end situation!
Before you continue