284: Chapter 284: The Power of Laws

In the stone chamber, there was a deathly silence.

The eight Body Integration Stage big shots stood around Old City Lord Li Cang, their gazes falling on the purple-gold law seed, then on the wretchedly crippled Old City Lord Li Cang.

The miserable state of Old City Lord Li Cang was like a basin of ice water poured over their heads, extinguishing a portion of their flames of greed.

However, it did not extinguish their desire to seize the treasure.

The Mahayana Stage—that was a Realm that did not exist in the entire Northern Territory.

As long as they obtained it, they could break through the shackles of ten thousand years and become the first Mahayana Stage Cultivator of the Human Race or Yao Race.

At that time, whatever Sword Qi Great Wall or Ten Thousand Demon Plains there was, all would have to bow their heads and submit.

This temptation could not be offset by the miserable state of Old City Lord Li Cang alone.

"Are we still going to seize it?"

Snake Emperor's seven heads spoke simultaneously, their voices hoarse and grating, breaking the deathly silence.

No one answered.

Lion Cangqiong's mane was still burning, but the flames were much dimmer than before.

His vertical pupils stared at the law seed, his eyes filled with a complex expression intertwined with greed and wariness.

Supreme Elder Jian Cangqiong's Sword Intent remained sharp, but there were several bloodstains on his white robes.

His fingers gently rubbed against the sword hilt, his thumb tracing the patterns on the scabbard, emitting a faint rustling sound.

Family Head Zhao Tiangang clutched the wound on his arm, blood seeping out from between his fingers and dripping onto the ground.

His face was pale; the side effects of the Nine-Turn blood burning pill were still present, and his aura was much weaker than before.

Family Head Zhao Tiangang looked at everything before him, feeling somewhat unwilling to give up.

He was the Old Ancestor of the Zhao family and one of the most powerful people in the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Therefore, he could not return empty-handed.

Feng Tian, Lei Tian, Chi Tian, and Sparrow Emperor were also all injured, their auras all having diminished.

But their gazes never left that bead.

"Not seize it? Are we just going to let it go like this?"

Family Head Zhao Tiangang gritted his teeth and said.

"Nine of us in the Integration Stage, scared by a single bead? If word gets out, where will we put our faces?"

"Did you not see Old City Lord Li Cang's fate?"

Lion Cangqiong said coldly.

"Do you think you are stronger than him?"

"The Old City Lord is the Old City Lord, and I am me."

Family Head Zhao Tiangang was unconvinced.

"He rushed up first without precautions. Now that we know the bead has a trap, would we still fall for it?"

"Do you know what the trap is? Do you know how to avoid it?"

Supreme Elder Jian Cangqiong asked indifferently.

Family Head Zhao Tiangang was speechless.

He truly did not know.

The black light came too quickly, so fast that he hadn't even seen it clearly.

How Old City Lord Li Cang was attacked, where the tentacles came from, and how the black light trapped him—he knew nothing of it.

Snake Emperor hissed, "That black light is somewhat like an ancient sacrificial Formation."

"There are records in my clan that ancient mighty figures liked to set up Restrictions on treasures to prevent them from being easily taken away."

"But Old City Lord Li Cang's cultivation dropped after being attacked, rather than him being killed, which shows that the Restriction is not for killing, but for testing."

"Testing?"

Lei Tian frowned.

"Testing what? Testing whose guts are bigger?"

"Testing who is qualified," Snake Emperor said.

"The Opportunity of the Mahayana Stage is not something anyone can take."

"Old City Lord Li Cang was not qualified, so he was rejected."

"Then who is qualified?" Feng Tian asked.

Snake Emperor's seven heads shook simultaneously: "I do not know."

Silence descended once again.

The eight big shots each had their own thoughts; some were calculating how to avoid the trap, some were observing the state of others, and some were waiting for someone else to make the first move.

Xiao Ran huddled behind a stone pillar, listening to their conversation, and sneered in his heart.

He knew that was no test; it was a trap set by that thing in the dark.

Old City Lord Li Cang was not unqualified; he was treated as an appetizer.

That thing in the dark devoured his cultivation to restore its own power.

And these people were still discussing who was qualified; it was truly laughable.

Just then, the law seed lit up again.

It was not the soft golden light from before, but a blinding purple-gold light, like a small sun exploding in the stone chamber.

Within the light, countless runes flew out from the bead, rotating, dancing, and intertwining in the stone chamber.

The runes were golden, emitting a rich aura of Law.

That was the Law of the Mahayana Stage; even a single strand would be enough for a Body Integration Stage Cultivator to contemplate for a hundred years.

The eyes of the eight big shots lit up simultaneously.

"Power of Law!" Family Head Zhao Tiangang exclaimed.

"What a rich aura!" Lion Cangqiong's mane stood on end again.

"This is... the Law of the Mahayana Stage!"

Supreme Elder Jian Cangqiong's Sword Intent soared sharply; he opened his eyes, his black pupils filled with sword light.

The runes flew more and more, faster and faster, forming a river of Law in the stone chamber.

The river flowed out from the bead, spreading in all directions.

Wherever it passed, the runes on the stone walls lit up again, the debris on the ground floated up, and even the dust in the air became crystal clear.

The Power of Law was reshaping this space.

The eight big shots felt their cultivation loosening.

Those Bottlenecks that had trapped them for hundreds of years appeared to crack under the impact of the Power of Law.

Their spiritual power was running wildly, spontaneously absorbing the surrounding aura of Law.

"My Bottleneck has loosened!"

Lei Tian roared excitedly, the electrical light around his body exploding several times over.

"Me too!"

Chi Tian's cold air became denser, and the layer of ice beneath his feet spread to the entire stone chamber.

"We cannot wait any longer!" Family Head Zhao Tiangang roared.

"The Opportunity is right before our eyes; if we don't take it, are we going to wait for it to fly away on its own?"

He was the first to rush up.

This time, he did not use a Blood Shadow Clone, but instead used a Magic Treasure.

A golden short sword.

The short sword flew out from his sleeve, turning into a streak of golden light, stabbing toward the law seed.

Family Head Zhao Tiangang indeed did not dare to touch it with his hands, fearing being attacked by the black light.

But he could use a Magic Treasure to retrieve the bead.

The golden light struck the bead.

"Ding—"

With a crisp sound, the golden short sword was bounced back, the blade covered in cracks.

The bead remained motionless, not even shaking once.

Family Head Zhao Tiangang's expression changed.

His short sword was an ancient secret treasure, yet it couldn't even break the bead's defense.

Others also moved.

Lion Cangqiong slapped out with a claw, the golden claw shadow blotting out the sky.

The claw shadow landed on the bead, ripples appeared on the bead's surface, and the claw shadow was bounced away.

The webbing between Lion Cangqiong's thumb and forefinger cracked, and blood flowed freely.

Supreme Elder Jian Cangqiong slashed out with his sword, the silver-white sword light like a strip of silk, striking the bead.

A tiny crack appeared on the surface of the bead, but it quickly healed.

Supreme Elder Jian Cangqiong's Sword Intent was bounced back; he let out a muffled groan and took a step back.

Snake Emperor's seven heads simultaneously spat out venom, poisonous fire, poisonous smoke, poisonous needles, poisonous silk, poisonous miasma, and poisonous fog.

The seven types of poison intertwined, forming a massive poison ball that smashed into the bead.

The poison ball was blocked by the light on the bead's surface, exploding and turning into a sky full of poisonous fog.

After the poisonous fog dissipated, the bead remained intact.

...

The eight big shots each used their means, attacking for a full cup of tea's time.

The law seed still remained motionless.

Their spiritual power was mostly exhausted, and their auras were much weaker.

But the law seed was getting brighter, the runes were flying more and more, and the river of Law was flowing wider and wider.

"It is about to stabilize!" Supreme Elder Jian Cangqiong said in a deep voice.

"Once it is completely stable, we can collect it!"

"How much longer?" Lion Cangqiong asked.

"Soon."

The eight big shots formed a circle, surrounding the law seed in the middle.

They no longer attacked, but stared at the bead, waiting for the moment it stabilized.

Xiao Ran leaned behind the stone pillar, watching all this, feeling increasingly excited in his heart.

He noticed that the dark red lines on the surface of the law seed were becoming more and more numerous.

Those lines spread on the bead like blood vessels, each pulsation accompanied by an aura of decay.

Although those runes emitted a golden light, deep within the light, they were clearly black.

And the eight big shots did not notice at all.

"Soon, soon," Xiao Ran silently chanted in his heart.