The Thing Beneath the Seal Almost Scared the Piss Out of Me!
Su Zhan put the scroll away.
"Tell me everything in your family's Inheritance about this Sealing Formation. Don't leave out a single word."
Yuan Ji closed his eyes.
He was reminiscing.
After a long while, the old man finally spoke.
The first patriarch's dying words mentioned that the Sealing Formation's creator left a contingency plan before disappearing. If the Sealing Formation's energy drops below 10%, the Grotto-Heaven Core will automatically activate the "Martyrdom Program." The entire Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven, along with everything within it, will be compressed into a single point and disappear, including the Sealing Formation and everything Sealing Formation within it.
Su Zhan frowned slightly.
"To perish together."
"Yes. But the trigger condition for the Martyrdom Program is below 10%. If a method to replenish the Sealing Formation is found before then--"
"Then you won't have to die."
Yuan Ji nodded.
Su Zhan stood up.
Are there any other clues?
"There's one." Yuan Ji lowered his voice. "The third generation patriarch's notes recorded something—he once discovered a Stone Stele in a corner of the grotto-heaven. The Stone Stele was inscribed with words left by the builders."
What script?
The Heaven-Mending Stone are hidden in the Five Domains. Gather all five stones, Sealing Formation be eternally secure.
Su Zhan listened without saying a word.
Five Domains, five stones. Collect them all and the Sealing Formation will never weaken.
Where is the Stone Stele?
"Shortly after the third patriarch found the Stone Stele, the grotto was invaded by the Black Demon Sect. The location of the Stone Stele was lost in the chaos."
Su Zhan leaned against the wall next to the core sphere and closed his eyes for a few seconds.
Collecting all five stones is a long-term goal. The most pressing matter right now is to ensure the Sealing Formation remains intact for the next eight or nine months.
He opened his eyes.
"Yuan Ji, gather everyone in the family. Starting today, the security level of Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven is raised to the highest level. All entrances and exits are sealed off. I'll handle things outside; you stay inside and guard the place."
"And what about you?"
"I'll go check on that Sealing Formation."
Yuan Ji's face paled even more.
"My God, Divine Lord Majesty, that thing..."
"Don't worry." Su Zhan patted the surface of the core sphere. "I'll just look at it. I won't touch it."
His hand left the sphere.
He tapped his fingers in the air a few times—making a plan in his mind.
Let's first examine the actual condition of the Sealing Formation.
Let's try to find that Stone Stele again.
Then—leave the cave and find the five stones.
One thing after another happened.
Su Zhan walked down to the bottom of the core sphere.
At the very bottom of the sphere is a passage that extends deeper—the only path to the layer where the Sealing Formation is located.
The entrance to the passage was sealed off by a ring of golden Rune.
That's the core sphere's built-in protection.
Su Zhan touched the golden Rune.
The Rune flashed, exhibiting a repulsive force—but not strong. Last time, he used the Five-Method Fusion to shatter the Sect Master's Clones and gained partial recognition from the Grotto-Heaven Core, so the repulsive force was weaker than when the Yuan Household encountered this position.
He applied a little more force.
The Rune trembled.
A crack appeared.
A very faint breath wafted out from the crack.
That aura had no temperature, no color, and no smell.
But Su Zhan got goosebumps on the back of his head.
Within his Sea of Consciousness, all six Cultivation Method simultaneously fell silent.
Even the most talkative Blazing Dragon Venerate remained silent.
What emanated from that crack was not energy, not Principle, not murderous intent.
It is fear itself.
Su Zhan stood before the Rune rift for three breaths.
Three breaths later, he took a step back, and the gap closed automatically. The golden Rune returned to their original state, and the chilling aura was kept out.
Su Zhan let out a sigh of relief.
He wasn't scared off; rather, the Cultivation Method collectively sounded an alarm in his Sea of Consciousness.
[Thunder Emperor Divine Seat]: Don't force your way in. You don't understand the structure of the Sealing Formation right now. Opening it won't help; it will only accelerate the depletion of the Sealing Formation's energy.
[Shadow Thousand Silk Lock]: My threads attempted to penetrate the outer layer of the Rune and received some feedback. The Sealing Formation has seven layers in total. Currently, the outermost two layers have become much thinner, and the third layer is also weakening. The contents inside... when my threads touched the third layer...