The Back Mountain Stele Forest was nothing like the quiet place Li Pingsheng remembered.
The thick, inky filth had turned into a viscous black fog, blanketing everything.
The fog was filled with howls. The martial hall disciples and mutated insect beasts had all been corrupted, turned into mindless monsters that lunged at any living thing and bit down.
Li Pingsheng's left arm was hard as iron. Every punch carried the force of his blood and qi, smashing the charging monsters into bloody pulp.
But his right arm was stiff and numb. He couldn't move it at all.
His talent had forcibly sealed the Cold Poison and thunder force inside his arm, leaving the whole limb a terrifying bluish purple.
Even the slightest movement of his blood and qi sent pain shooting through his meridians. Yet his gaze never wavered as he charged in one direction, head down.
He paid no mind to the toll or the pain. There was only one thought in his mind: the faint, dying light in the Wealthy District.
That was his home.
At last, the black fog ahead thinned a little, and the shadow of a massive stone stele swayed in the mist.
It was the Thunder Stele, suppressing the second array core.
But before the Thunder Stele, a pitch-black screen of light sealed off the entire inner area.
A mass of twisting runes slowly revolved across it, exuding a deathly aura.
Without a moment's hesitation, Li Pingsheng pulled the scalding Well-Guarding Bronze Talisman from his clothes with his left hand and pressed it against the screen with all his might.
"Bzzzt—"
The golden lightning patterns on the talisman lit up at once. Where it touched the black screen, a piercing screech rang out.
Black smoke and golden light churned together, clashing violently.
At first, the black screen suppressed the talisman's glow. But it seemed to connect with something beneath the earth, and its light grew brighter and brighter.
In the end, the black screen silently melted away, leaving an opening just wide enough for one person to pass through.
Li Pingsheng turned sideways and squeezed through. The sight before him made his pupils contract.
Beneath the Thunder Stele, at the mouth of the Dragon Locking Well, a crimson blood array revolved.
The array was made up of strange, blood-colored lines that writhed and shifted. They were drawing out the earth's veins and blood qi from the mouth of the well, gulping it down as if it were food.
A foul, bloody wind hit him, making him want to retch.
In the middle of the array, Old Qi sat cross-legged, suspended above the well.
Three blood chains as thick as arms stretched out from the array core, binding him tight and pinning him in midair.
Old Qi's beard and hair stood on end, and lightning crackled wildly around him. Every time he struggled, the blood chains hummed.
But he clearly didn't dare use his full strength. Each time the lightning was about to erupt, he forced it back down.
"Cackle, cackle... Old Qi, still struggling, are you? I'd advise you to stop wasting your strength. You hear me?"
Beside the blood array, a figure in a black robe let out an unpleasant, dry laugh. His hands flew through a series of seals, controlling the entire array.
"Haha... this Blood-Transforming Dragon-Imprisoning Array was specially prepared by my sect for cultivators like you who practice thunder arts."
"The harder you struggle, the faster your thunder cultivation will turn into blood, helping break the seal beneath the well."
"Do you dare move? The moment you do, a hundred years' worth of filth will rush straight for your precious martial hall!"
Old Qi kept his eyes closed, ignoring the taunts as he focused all his strength on resisting the filth beneath the well.
Seeing this, the Black-Robed Gu Master seemed to lose interest. His tone turned boastful as he rambled on to himself.
"You probably don't know, but I've endured humiliation and bided my time for so long. I've prepared plenty of good things for today."
"That stupid father and son from the Zhao Family, and Zhao Ming, who thought he'd struck gold—they were nothing but a few pieces of garbage I tossed out."
"I only meant to use them to hold up Gu Zhenyue and Pei Guang. Cackle, cackle... I never imagined it would work even better than I expected."
"A single pool of filth was enough to throw the whole Azure Cloud Martial Hall into chaos. What a useless bunch."
The Gu Master's voice was brimming with undisguised smugness.
"But what does killing a few martial hall disciples matter?"
"I have one goal: destroy the second array core beneath your Dragon Locking Well and release the Demon Dragon that's been sealed there for a hundred years."
"When the time comes, the whole Outer City will become a feeding ground for the Demon Dragon. Hahahaha... Just imagining the scene makes me giddy with excitement."
"Haha..."
Just as the Gu Master was daydreaming, preparing to finish the final step, a figure dragging a half-crippled right arm silently entered the blood array, boots splashing through the sticky black water.
The Gu Master's laughter stopped. He whipped around.
When he saw that it was just a newcomer, gasping for breath with half his body stiff, disdain flashed in his eyes.
"Damn it! What kind of ant dares ruin this lord's plans dressed like that?"
He couldn't be bothered to get up. With a casual wave, he sent a blood blade slicing through the air with a shriek, straight for Li Pingsheng's throat.
But before the blood blade could reach him, an even faster streak of purple lightning shot from Old Qi's fingertip. It struck the blade dead-on, shattering it in midair.
The array's backlash from his forced attack made Old Qi grunt, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
But he had no time for that. He shouted at Li Pingsheng.
"Boy, don't worry about me right now. Get down the well and repair the array, quickly!!"
The Gu Master froze for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"You old fool, have you lost your mind? The well is sealed by a barrier formed over a hundred years by the earth's filth clashing with thunder arts. Touch it and you die. You're sending him down to his death?"
"You don't know a damn thing! Shut up."
Old Qi roared, his eyes fixed intently on Li Pingsheng.
"Listen carefully, boy. The seal at the mouth of the well repels every outside force. The only thing it won't reject is its own power."
"You have excellent bones and pure yang blood and qi, and you've practiced thunder arts. Your power follows the same path as this array."
"Most importantly, you have the Well-Guarding Bronze Talisman. The earth's veins recognize you."
"Right now, you're the only one who can safely pass through this seal and reach the bottom of the well."
"You're the only one who can do it!"
Old Qi's words sent a jolt through the Gu Master.
The sneer on his face stiffened at once as he stared hard at Li Pingsheng.
What?
Superior bones?
Thunder arts?
The Well-Guardian?
Those words made his heart skip a beat. Something was wrong.
"No, you're asking for death!"
The Gu Master came to his senses. Abandoning the ritual, he lunged forward, his five fingers forming a claw wreathed in bloodlight as he grabbed for Li Pingsheng.
But Li Pingsheng hadn't looked at him once from beginning to end.
The moment Old Qi finished speaking, Li Pingsheng had already made his decision.
Not a word of nonsense. Not a trace of hesitation.
He ignored the Gu Master's threats and leaped toward the lethal aura at the mouth of the well.
He plunged straight into the Dragon Locking Well.
As he jumped, the Well-Guarding Bronze Talisman on his chest lit up, a ring of gentle golden light enveloping his entire body.
When the lethal seal at the well's mouth touched the golden light, it parted on its own, opening a path for him.
Behind him, the Black-Robed Gu Master roared in fury.
But all Li Pingsheng could hear was the wind rushing past as he fell.
Before him lay nothing but darkness, stretching into an unfathomable depth.
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