Formations

As Xiao Fan reeled from the shock, Xun Huan continued speaking into his mind. "The Soul-Capturing Porcelain was originally a magical artifact your founding emperor used to seal this old man away. But for some reason, the seal seems to have loosened recently, and the Soul-Capturing Porcelain has gradually begun to lose control."

"The Soul-Capturing Porcelain can release a deathly white mist that steals the souls of living beings, stripping away all vitality. Once one enters the mist, their soul will be imprisoned forever, with no hope of escape."

"Unless..."

Xiao Fan sucked in a sharp breath. "Unless what?"

"Unless, young friend, you can help this old man seal the Soul-Capturing Porcelain once more and draw the deathly white mist it has released back inside."

Xun Huan paused briefly before continuing. "The Soul-Capturing Porcelain belongs to the water element of the Five Elements, and earth restrains water. Thus, the Coiling Dragon Soul-Locking Array primarily suppresses it with the power of earth-element dragon veins, then reinforces the array's foundations with the Four Symbols as guardians..."

Following the array diagram Xun Huan had transmitted into his mind, he traced the rune marks on the ground and made a circuit through the Daoist temple's front courtyard, side courtyard, and rear courtyard.

The Four Symbols' array foundations lay in the four cardinal directions of the temple—east, south, west, and north—with four ash-white stone statues placed there: the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise.

Yet the north-facing statue of the Black Tortoise was somewhat strange. Its surface was severely cracked, and a chunk was even missing from the edge of its tortoise shell...

Just as Xiao Fan was puzzled, an aged voice sounded in his mind. "This was caused by the Soul-Capturing Porcelain corroding the Black Tortoise statue...

"The Black Tortoise draws upon the waters of the Northern Abyss, which correspond with the Soul-Capturing Porcelain's water element, so it was the first to suffer corrosion. If even one of the Four Symbols' array foundations collapses, the array will fall out of balance, and the Soul-Capturing Porcelain will inevitably lose control at an accelerated pace. When that happens, the mist will sweep across the land—an apocalypse may well follow!"

Xiao Fan inspected the Black Tortoise statue closely. It truly looked as though it could crumble apart at any moment. It clearly would not hold out much longer.

Further inside, atop a tripod-shaped incense altar in the central courtyard, there were no incense sticks. Instead, a golden scroll floated in the air.

The scroll was not blank. Golden runes flowed endlessly across its surface, faintly forming the image of a coiling dragon-shaped chain. It exuded a heavy, majestic aura of suppression.

"That is the scroll at the heart of the array! Young friend, hurry forward and follow this old man's instructions—use blood to kindle fire!" There was a trace of barely perceptible urgency in Xun Huan's voice.

Xiao Fan immediately became wary. "According to you, Senior, this white mist appeared because the Soul-Capturing Porcelain is gradually losing control. Then if I destroy the seal as you say, wouldn't the Soul-Capturing Porcelain completely lose control?"

Just as Xiao Fan had said, he had basically figured out the situation by now. The formation charms and talismans throughout this Daoist temple, soaring through heaven and burrowing through earth, were likely meant to control the Soul-Capturing Porcelain and seal this old man.

This thing was a third-grade calamitous artifact. If it was not kept under control, the consequences of it losing control would be unthinkable.

The old man wanted him to destroy the Coiling Dragon Soul-Locking Array in the temple. Once that happened, the Soul-Capturing Porcelain would lose control, and the old man could seize the chance to escape.

Yet the most terrifying part was not even the calamitous artifact going out of control. It was that the founding emperor had actually used a third-grade calamitous artifact to seal this old man?! That was simply terrifying beyond measure!

Could he really be released?? Xiao Fan's scalp prickled. This old man seemed even more dangerous than a third-grade calamitous artifact!

Faced with Xiao Fan's doubts, Xun Huan merely smiled faintly. "Young friend, there is no need to worry. Once this old man regains his freedom, I will naturally have a way to seal the Soul-Capturing Porcelain again."

Facing a third-grade calamitous artifact... he was so confident, so composed. Xiao Fan's scalp went numb as he thought, Could this old man be a second-grade sorcerer?!

The reason he believed the old man was most likely a second-grade sorcerer was that first-grade sorcerers were practically no different from gods. How could they possibly be sealed by a third-grade calamitous artifact?

If he were a third-grade sorcerer or below, let alone sealing the Soul-Capturing Porcelain again with a flick of his hand, he would have long since had his soul scattered after being stuffed inside for so long. How could he still be alive?

By that reasoning, this old man was most likely second-grade!

Remnants of the previous dynasty... a second-grade sorcerer... If he let him out, all of Great Liang would probably suffer disaster...

Only then did Xiao Fan understand. His father's mission this time had not been to escort the coffin of the Grand Imperial Consort at all—it had been this old man!

His father was unconscious now, so the exact details of the mission remained unknown.

Judging from the current situation, the mission had likely failed... Something must have happened to loosen the Soul-Capturing Porcelain's seal, causing the entire gorge to be swallowed by white mist.

At that thought, Xiao Fan sternly questioned him again. "If it truly is a third-grade calamitous artifact, breaking the seal and letting it lose control could very likely bring about a world-ending disaster!"

The scene fell silent for a time...

Before long, Xun Huan's voice entered Xiao Fan's mind again. "Originally, this old man did not wish to explain the matter in too much detail, lest I frighten you, young friend. But you seem to have many misgivings. It appears I must make things clear."

"As time passes, the array's spiritual power will be exhausted. In time, the force suppressing the Soul-Capturing Porcelain will weaken, and the deathly mist will likewise sweep across the Nine Provinces. It is only a matter of time."

Hearing Xun Huan's words, Xiao Fan hesitated. The current situation was exceedingly difficult, because he had no way to verify whether Xun Huan was telling the truth.

It was like some stranger you had never met claiming he was Qin Shi Huang and asking you to send him fifty bucks to help him escape his predicament.

Under normal circumstances, Xiao Fan would not have believed a single punctuation mark of such nonsense, much less hesitated.

But the situation before him forced him to make a decision, because aside from trusting Xun Huan's words, there was simply no other way to leave this bizarre mist.

Moreover, he could clearly feel his body growing weaker and weaker within this deathly white mist, while his father's life hung by a thread.

So if he followed Xun Huan's words and helped lift his seal, would he truly fulfill his promise?

Was there a possibility that, the moment this old man regained his freedom, he would simply kill Xiao Fan and his father in an instant?

Who knew?!

For a second-grade sorcerer to kill a ninth-grade martial artist required no more than a single thought!

He could never place his life and death in the hands of another person's promise!

Xiao Fan simply got straight to the point and voiced his concern.

"Forgive this junior for speaking frankly: if I help Senior break the seal, how can Senior guarantee that you will honor your promise?"

The moment he said this, another burst of dizzying laughter rang out. "Hahaha... Young friend, are you afraid this old man will tear down the bridge after crossing the river?"

"You can see my current state. This old man has nothing to offer you as a guarantee. If you trust me, then help me break the seal."

"If you do not trust me, this old man can do nothing about it. At most, I will wait a few more years. Once the deathly mist completely loses control, this old man's seal will naturally be lifted."

"But then again, even if this old man can afford to wait, can you, young friend?"

Xiao Fan scratched his head. It seemed he had no room to choose...

Pressed by Xun Huan, Xiao Fan steeled himself and walked over to the golden scroll floating above the central formation eye.

He drew a deep breath, then fiercely bit through the tip of his index finger!

Just as blood welled from his fingertip and, with resolute intent, he reached toward the dragon-shaped rune scroll—

Boom!

An unimaginable, vast, and majestic will crashed savagely into Xiao Fan's mind like a mountain collapse and a tidal wave!

It was not a voice, but an interrogation and warning branded directly into the depths of his soul!