Gu Yuanyuan looked at the undoubted determination in his master's eyes, and thought that his meager strength would indeed only become a drag.
She bit her lip, suppressed the sadness and reluctance in her heart, and nodded vigorously.
"Yes, Master! Disciple, obey! You... must be careful!"
She took one last deep look at the ruins where she grew up. Her eyes swept over the familiar broken walls, with complicated and difficult-to-understand emotions in her eyes. Then she turned around resolutely and walked towards Shen Qingtian.
Shen Qingtian reached out and pulled Gu Yuanyuan onto the flying sword, letting her stand behind him.
She glanced at Gu Sheng one last time, her eyes under the bronze mask filled with inquiry and concern, but in the end she didn't say much, just nodded again.
"Let's go!"
Shen Qingtian shouted low, the sky-blue flying sword under his feet buzzed and trembled, and instantly burst out at an astonishing speed, turning into a dazzling blue rainbow, tearing the air, and shooting towards the exit of the secret realm!
This flying sword is obviously extraordinary. It can actually ignore most of the Aerial Restriction Array suppression in the secret realm. Its speed is far faster than ordinary flying magic weapons, and it disappears at the end of the dim sky in the blink of an eye.
Gu Sheng stood there, watching the blue rainbow disappear completely. He didn't slowly look back until he could no longer feel the breath of the flying sword.
The solemn look on his face did not dissipate, but instead deepened.
Sending away Divine Craftsman's Maze Hall and Gu Yuanyuan is a way to survive and to prepare for the worst possible situation.
Next, he will face the monstrous dangers hidden in this Hall of a Thousand Souls secret realm alone.
His sight finally settled on the huge black door suspended in mid-air, exuding an ominous aura, deep in the ruins.
That is the entrance to the core area of Hall of a Thousand Souls.
Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Sheng swayed, quickly walked through the ruins, and ran towards the black door.
The few Boundless Sect evil cultivator disciples stationed at the door seemed to have only received the order to prohibit outsiders from leaving. They only glanced at Gu Sheng, who was obviously rushing towards the inside of the secret realm, and did not stop him.
Gu Sheng stepped through the huge portal that seemed to be made of solid darkness.
The scene in front of me suddenly changed!
The expected majestic and gloomy hall did not appear. Instead, what came into view was an extremely empty and huge square.
The ground of the square is paved with dark, ink-like boulders, cold and hard, extending to the end of the sight.
The square was empty, without any buildings, and only a suffocating sense of dead silence and depression filled the air.
What made Gu Sheng's pupils suddenly shrink were the people in the square.
Densely packed figures!
There are thousands of people!
These people seemed to have been immobilized, or like sculptures that had lost their souls, standing stiffly throughout the square.
They wore all kinds of clothes, including the green shirts of the disciples of the Holy Academy, the attire of other sects or casual cultivators, and even many people wearing Boundless Sect clothes.
But at this moment, no matter which force they originally belonged to, they all showed a strange and identical state.
Their eyes were dull and lifeless, as if their souls had been pulled out, leaving only empty bodies.
The expression on his face was frozen in numbness and confusion. He showed no reaction to the sudden intruder Gu Sheng, not even turning his eyes.
Thousands of people, like thousands of stone statues, stood in this dead square, forming an extremely strange and creepy scene.
What made Gu Sheng's heart sink even more was that he keenly sensed that although the aura exuded by these warriors was weak, there were many strong ones among them!
His eyes quickly swept over and quickly locked onto a burly man wearing animal skin clothing.
The energy fluctuations emanating from this person have reached the eighth level of the sect realm!
This person could be considered a master anywhere, but at this moment he was standing still, his eyes were empty, and he was completely unaware of everything around him.
"Is this... a sacrifice?"
Gu Sheng felt chill in his heart. Xiao Beixuan and Nether River Venerable have indeed taken action!
The thousands of warriors walking like zombies in this square are the "materials" they prepared to activate the evil Thousand Souls Sacrifice Array!
He carefully released his spiritual consciousness, like an invisible tentacle, cautiously exploring this dead square.
His consciousness swept across the frozen warriors, and the information fed back further confirmed his guess.
The souls of these people seemed to be imprisoned and suppressed by some powerful force, and even... were being slowly pulled away!
Although their life breath is still there, it is like a candle in the wind, extremely weak, and it is passing away at a slow but irreversible speed.
And the True Essence in their bodies was like a frozen river, dead silent, yet vaguely pulled by some huge force beneath the ground of the square.
Gu Sheng's eyes turned to the ground. The dark boulder ground is not completely smooth, but has countless extremely subtle dark red lines that are almost the same color as the ground.
These lines crisscrossed each other, forming an unimaginably large and complex pattern that covered the entire square!
At this moment, these dark red lines are exuding extremely weak energy fluctuations, like countless greedy roots, silently absorbing vitality and True Essence from the frozen warriors!
"The sacrifice has begun to warm up..."
Gu Sheng's heart sank to the bottom. The situation was worse than he expected.
Xiao Beixuan obviously didn't have the patience to wait until the three-day period, or in other words, in order to ensure the success of the formation, he had already started "processing" the sacrifices in advance!
He suppressed the shock in his heart and quickly searched among the frozen figures with sharp eyes.
Zhao Boyang, Jin'er, Old Xiong, Old Zhen were they also caught here? Where is Bai Zhi?
The square is too huge and the people are as dense as a forest, so it is not easy to search.
While Gu Sheng maintained a high degree of vigilance, guarding against possible patrols or Boundless Sect masters, he quickly shuttled through the still crowd, his eyes scanning the numb faces.
Suddenly, his steps suddenly stopped!
Among the relatively sparse people near the central area of the square, he saw a few familiar faces!
It is Zhao Boyang, Old Xiong, Old Zhen! And that Chen Zhen (Old Zhen) who questioned him before!
The four of them stood stiffly like other sacrifices, their eyes were empty and there was no expression on their faces.
Zhao Boyang still had scars and bloodstains from the previous battle. Old Xiong and Old Zhen were even more pale and breathless. It was obvious that they were at the end of their game before they were captured.
Chen Zhen was standing a little behind them, with similarly dull eyes.
Gu Sheng's heart suddenly tightened.
Sure enough, they were caught! And judging from the state, it is obvious that he has been imprisoned by the soul and has become a member of the sacrifice!
What about Jin'er? Where did she go? With the terrifying strength she showed in the end, there was no way she could be captured so easily!
He immediately expanded the search scope and carefully probed around Zhao Boyang and others, but found no trace of Jin'er.
The woman disappeared without a trace.
"Who is she? What is her purpose?"
Gu Sheng is filled with doubts.
The power that Jin'er finally burst out was beyond what ordinary warriors could possess, and even far exceeded his knowledge of the strong Human King Realm.
She lurked beside Zhao Boyang, cutting off her connection with the puppets at the critical moment, but she did not kill Zhao Boyang and others, she just allowed them to be captured and used as sacrifices... Her behavior was full of contradictions and mysteries.
After suppressing his doubts about Jin'er, Gu Sheng's eyes fell on Zhao Boyang and others again.
Although they were imprisoned, their breath of life still existed, but it was extremely weak. We must find a way to rescue them!
But right now, the thousands of imprisoned warriors in the square, as well as the Sacrifice Array that had started to operate, were like huge nooses, suffocating him.
If you take action rashly, not only will you not be able to save anyone, you may even get involved yourself.
He forced himself to calm down. The top priority is to find Bai Zhi!
She is the key to the Xiao Beixuan plan, and is the only person currently known who may have an in-depth understanding of this formation.
If you find her, you may be able to find the key to breaking the situation!
Gu Sheng looked past Zhao Boyang and others, to the deeper part of the square, to the area occupied by more numb figures.
He restrained his breath and blended his figure into the shadow of the crowd. Like the most cautious hunter, he quietly sneaked towards the center of the square.
Every step was taken carefully, avoiding the looming dark red lines on the ground. At the same time, his consciousness was like the most sophisticated radar, constantly scanning the surrounding environment and the frozen figures, looking for any clues related to Bai Zhi.
Just as he was about to approach the area in the center of the square, the edge of his consciousness suddenly caught extremely weak but extremely familiar energy fluctuations!
That fluctuation... carries a pure and holy aura, which is incompatible with the cold and dead silence that pervades the square!
Gu Sheng was refreshed and immediately followed the weak fluctuations to focus his consciousness.
After passing through the layers of numb figures, his "eyes" finally locked on a relatively inconspicuous corner at the edge of the central area.
There, a woman in a plain white dress stood quietly.
Her eyes were also closed and her face was dull, just like other sacrifices.
But Gu Sheng's consciousness was keenly aware that there seemed to be an extremely thin, almost imperceptible transparent halo circulating around her.
It is this layer of halo that exudes that faint holy wave, stubbornly resisting the erosion from the ground formation and the power of soul imprisonment!
And hanging between her slender neck was a small, crescent-shaped white jade pendant.
At this moment, the jade pendant was emitting an extremely weak but continuous warm white light, like a firefly in the darkness, guarding its owner.
"Bai Zhi!"
Gu Sheng whispered in his heart, with a sharp light in his eyes. Finally found it!
Gu Sheng stood on the edge of the dead square, his eyes sweeping over the thousands of warrior figures, his eyes as cold as iron.
These warriors with imprisoned souls are the key "fuel" for Xiao Beixuan and Nether River Venerable to activate Thousand Souls Sacrifice Array.
The most direct way to destroy their plans is to make these "fuels" disappear completely!
Upon thinking of this, Gu Sheng no longer hesitated.
His thoughts moved slightly, and on his left arm, the silent main vine of Heavenly Demon Vine suddenly burst into dazzling golden-red light!
A violent, bloodthirsty, ferocious aura that seemed to come from the depths of the wilderness suddenly erupted!
As if countless ferocious beasts were roaring silently, the dark boulder ground beneath Gu Sheng suddenly exploded!
Countless vines as thick as giant pythons, covered with dark golden scales, and with cold metallic light at their tips, broke out of the ground instantly like claws protruding from hell!
With a scream that ripped through the air, they rushed towards the frozen figures in the square crazily!
The numbing sound of flesh tearing sounded intensively!
Those warriors who had their souls imprisoned and had no power to resist were as fragile as paper in front of the vines as sharp as the blades of divine weapons!
The head was pierced, the chest was torn, and the limbs were severed... Blood surged out, instantly dyeing the dark ground red!
The nauseatingly strong smell of blood was like a real wave, sweeping across the entire empty square in an instant!
In just a few breaths, the thousands of standing figures turned into a mess of broken limbs and bloody flesh!
The entire square instantly turned into a Shura slaughterhouse!
While the bloody massacre was going on, Gu Sheng keenly sensed an abnormality.
Those warrior bodies that were pierced and torn apart by the vines, at the moment when their life breath was cut off, there were streams of pure and huge life force that were madly sucked into the raging vines!
The main vine of Heavenly Demon Vine shines brighter and brighter, with gold and red glowing, and even a faint dark purple color.
The shape of the vines seems to be undergoing subtle changes. The scales are thicker, the tips are sharper, and the ferocious aura exuding is rising!
A strong throbbing, as if to break through some kind of shackles, passed from the core of Heavenly Demon Vine to the mind of Gu Sheng!
"The life force has been extracted? The body is not completely dead?"
Gu Sheng's eyes narrowed, and he instantly understood the key.
"Old Ghost of Styx! What a trick! He actually used some evil method to forcibly strip away the souls of these warriors and imprisoned and enslaved them. However, their physical bodies did not really die, but their consciousness was taken away and turned into pure 'living corpses'!
As a carrier of sacrifice, it can not only provide majestic vitality, but also prevent the real resentment of death from interfering with the operation of the formation! "
These "corpse puppets" are essentially the living dead whose vital signs are maintained by special means!
Heavenly Demon Vine Strangling their bodies is equivalent to forcibly interrupting this maintenance. The majestic vitality naturally escapes, which happens to be a great tonic for nourishing its advancement!
"Not good!"
Gu Sheng My heart skipped a beat! These corpse puppets must have restrictions that allow Xiao Beixuan and others to sense their life and death!
Thousands of corpse puppets were destroyed in an instant, and Xiao Beixuan might have noticed it!
Hall of a Thousand Souls Deep in the main hall.
Xiao Beixuan was closing his eyes and adjusting his breath, trying to suppress the anxiety in his heart.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes suddenly, and they were bloodshot!
A bloody smell so strong that it was suffocating seemed to penetrate the barrier of space and rush directly into his nasal cavity!
At the same time, the black compass suspended in front of him, with its dense dots of light representing the sacrifices in the square, was like a candle blown out by the strong wind, all extinguished in an instant!