Irritability, fatigue, headache.
Yet there were no injuries on his body, and there was no obvious problem with the circulation of his mana.
And then there was Lu Ya, who had suddenly appeared earlier, made a round, and left...
The answer was practically right in front of him.
The Nail-Head Seven-Arrows Book.
That was what made this thing truly disgusting.
It did not require facing you in a magical battle.
It did not require breaking through Protective Immortal Radiance.
It did not even require knowing what you did every day.
All it took was setting up a straw effigy.
Writing down the target's name.
Then using lamps and talisman seals to worship it day and night.
Once the time came, even an Immortal would be worshipped to death by force.
Zhao Gongming could chase a whole group of Golden Immortals from the Elucidation Sect and smash them with his twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls.
Yet in his original fate, he had died beneath such underhanded means.
At that thought, Lin Yuan's gaze turned cold.
"Uncle."
"You haven't fought anyone these past few days, have you?"
"No."
Zhao Gongming shook his head.
"Since Lu Ya left, I have remained in the camp."
"I have barely even refined the Sea-Calming Pearls."
"Has your body shown any other abnormalities?"
Zhao Gongming thought for a moment.
"I feel somewhat drowsy during the day."
"And when meditating, my mind is occasionally restless."
"But fluctuations in one's vital energy are normal enough for cultivators."
"Has this happened before?"
"Rarely."
Lin Yuan was completely certain now.
This was absolutely not an ordinary fluctuation in his condition.
Zhao Gongming also sensed that something was wrong from his expression.
"Nephew."
"Do you know something?"
"This disciple cannot determine the exact method."
Lin Yuan did not directly mention the Nail-Head Seven-Arrows Book.
He had no way to explain where he had learned the details of such a thing.
But that did not stop him from pointing out the general direction.
"This disciple suspects someone is casting a curse from afar."
Zhao Gongming's brows immediately furrowed.
"A curse?"
"Yes."
"If you had been injured directly, Uncle, you would certainly have sensed it yourself."
"Yet your mana is normal, your immortal body is unharmed, and still you are inexplicably restless and mentally exhausted."
Lin Yuan spoke slowly.
"Then there was Lu Ya's inexplicable visit and that fight earlier."
"This disciple keeps feeling that he did not come to fight you."
"It was more like he came to confirm something."
Zhao Gongming's expression finally darkened completely.
A Daluo Golden Immortal would naturally not consider curses a joke.
The Primordial World held countless divine abilities.
Some severed the physical body.
Some seized the Primordial Spirit.
Some cursed the soul.
Some killed through karma.
Some methods might not be especially powerful in direct combat, but given sufficient time to prepare, they could cause even high-realm Immortals to suffer greatly.
"Can you find it?"
Zhao Gongming asked.
Lin Yuan shook his head.
"This disciple cannot do it alone."
The Primordial World was too vast.
Having him use Innate Spiritual Perception to find an altar hidden in some unknown location—
was no different from searching for a needle in the sea.
But—
he was not alone.
A name suddenly came to Lin Yuan's mind.
Yao Bin.
One of the Ten Heavenly Lords.
The master of the Soul-Sundering Formation.
What he specialized in was precisely techniques involving souls and Primordial Spirits.
He had gone to such lengths to pull all Ten Heavenly Lords out of their original deathtrap.
Wasn't this exactly where they could come in handy?
"Uncle."
Lin Yuan's eyes lit up.
"I'll find someone."
Before Zhao Gongming could ask anything,
Lin Yuan had already turned and rushed out of the command tent.
With a flash of Wind Thunder,
he appeared directly in the area where the Ten Heavenly Lords were resting.
"Senior Brother Yao!"
The instant his voice fell,
the curtain of a nearby tent was lifted.
Yao Bin emerged with a frown.
"Junior Brother Lin?"
"Why are you shouting so loudly in the middle of the night? Has West Qi attacked?"
"This is more troublesome than an attack from West Qi."
Lin Yuan did not waste words.
"Someone is cursing Uncle Zhao."
Yao Bin's expression changed abruptly.
"Senior Brother Zhao Gongming?"
"Yes."
"Senior Brother, you specialize in soul techniques. Can you take a look?"
"Let's go."
Yao Bin did not say a single unnecessary word.
Just as the two were about to leave,
several nearby tents also lit up.
Qin Wan, Zhao Jiang, Wang Mo, and the others emerged one after another.
"What happened?"
"I think I just heard Senior Brother Zhao Gongming?"
Lin Yuan took one look at them.
He could not be bothered to hide it.
"Someone is casting a curse in secret."
"I suspect it is related to Lu Ya."
The moment those words came out,
the group, still somewhat bleary-eyed a moment ago, instantly woke up.
Li Xingba was the first to curse aloud.
"He couldn't win head-on, so now he's resorting to dirty tricks?"
Gao Yougan sneered.
"I said Lu Ya's arrival was suspicious."
"He circled around Senior Brother Zhao for half the day, said he'd learned something, then ran off."
"Now it seems he really was up to no good."
Qin Wan said directly:
"Let's go together."
"Even those who do not understand curses can stand guard."
Warmth rose in Lin Yuan's heart.
That was why he liked these people from the Interception Sect more and more.
Normally, every one of them spoke without much sense.
But when one of their own was in trouble,
they ran faster than anyone.
The group soon returned to Zhao Gongming's command tent.
When Zhao Gongming saw more than a dozen people crowding in, he was also taken aback.
"You all are..."
Wang Mo waved his large hand.
"Senior Brother."
"Don't talk yet."
"Let Yao Bin take a look."
Yao Bin walked up to Zhao Gongming.
"Eldest Senior Brother, forgive the offense."
Zhao Gongming naturally would not put on airs at a time like this.
"Go ahead."
Yao Bin sat down cross-legged.
A small black banner flew from his sleeve.
The banner fluttered despite the lack of wind.
Then a strand of extremely faint ghostly light descended toward Zhao Gongming's brow.
At first,
there was no abnormality at all.
But as Yao Bin continuously channeled his mana,
the black banner suddenly trembled lightly.
The originally tranquil ghostly light was drawn by some invisible force.
It slowly tilted toward the northwest.
Yao Bin's expression changed instantly.
"There really is something."
Everyone's gazes turned cold.
For the first time, Zhao Gongming himself showed obvious killing intent.
"Can you tell what it is?"
"Not yet."
Yao Bin frowned.
"This force is very well concealed."
"It is not directly harming the Primordial Spirit."
"It is more like..."
TEXT:
He closed his eyes and carefully sensed it.
"It's as if someone is slowly drawing my senior brother's soul away."
Lin Yuan finally felt certain.
It matched.
The ritual of the Nail-Head Seven-Arrows Book had always been meant to gradually weaken the soul and spirit.
The final arrow decided life or death.
"Can you track it?"
Lin Yuan asked.
"It's too far away."
Yao Bin shook his head.
"And the other side has clearly used some method to conceal causality."
"But as long as this pull remains, I can follow its direction."
"It'll just take time."
"How long?"
Three to five days."
Lin Yuan's heart tightened.
Too slow.
The Nail-Head Seven-Arrows Book required twenty-one days of worship in total.
Zhao Gongming was already showing obvious symptoms.
That meant the ritual definitely hadn't begun today.
He had no idea how much time remained.
"Three to five days won't do."
Lin Yuan said grimly.
"It has to be faster."
Yao Bin also knew how serious this was.
"If someone can help me expand the range of my soul perception, it can be much faster."
Qin Wan immediately asked,
"Will a formation work?"
Yao Bin froze.
Then his eyes lit up.
"Yes!"
"The Soul-Sundering Formation uses souls as its guide to begin with."
"If you use the Ten Ultimate Linked Formation to amplify the Soul-Sundering Formation for me..."
At that point,
everyone looked at Lin Yuan at once.
The corner of Lin Yuan's mouth slowly rose.
The Ten Ultimate Formation again.
Good.
The Ten Heavenly Lords they had saved
would now turn around and save Zhao Gongming.
This thread had finally truly connected.
"Set up the formation."
Lin Yuan said directly.
"We'll find them tonight."
"I want to see
which bastard is hiding behind the scenes, worshipping my Martial Uncle Zhao."
Before you continue