295: Taboo!

In just this short span of time, the power within both Xiao Shi and Xiang Zizhen was constantly draining away, causing their cultivation Realms to drop.

Xiao Shi dropped directly from the Life Soul Stage to the Soul Awakening Stage. Xiang Zizhen, even more drastically, fell from the Martial Demon Realm straight to the Martial Soul Realm.

This left Xiao Shi inwardly horrified. He felt the terror of a Saint's Domain power for the first time.

"The so-called power of a Saint's Domain..."

"Lies in the fact that these Saints can gather all the power within their own Domains, which includes the power of all the Martial Artists within that Domain!"

"Any Martial Artist located within their Domain is unable to resist."

"When the Saint mobilizes the power of the Domain, one's power will drain away and gather in the Saint's hands."

Xiang Zizhen's expression was grave. Xiao Shi was deeply shaken by this. Although he knew that a Saint possessed terrifying strength within their own Domain, he had not expected that a Saint could forcibly mobilize the power of other Martial Artists within that Domain!

This method was truly too overbearing!

This also made Xiao Shi feel the terror of a Saint for the first time.

The current drop in Xiao Shi and Xiang Zizhen's cultivation directly disrupted their original plan, making them hesitate about whether to proceed at this time.

After some thought, Xiang Zizhen gritted his teeth and decided to continue with the operation.

After all, it was not just him and Xiao Shi whose cultivation had dropped; everyone in the Star Luo Territory was experiencing a drop in cultivation.

Furthermore, this drop in cultivation was only temporary. It was not a permanent decline.

Immediately, Xiang Zizhen took Xiao Shi and headed all the way towards the lowest level of the prison.

Before this, Xiang Zizhen had already used his authority to reassign many of the guarding Prison Guards, ensuring that he and Xiao Shi did not encounter anyone as they proceeded.

Soon, they arrived at the lowest level of this prison.

The place was pitch black. A large, complex pattern was gathered on the ground, resembling a brilliantly blooming flower.

At the very center of the flower, a figure sat cross-legged.

This was clearly an old woman with a full head of white hair. Her eyes were closed, and her face was covered in wrinkles.

Even with the current drop in Realm, she was still maintained at the Martial Demon Realm!

"This person is the guardian here!"

"If we want to enter this place of imprisonment, we must first knock her down."

"But this person is not an ordinary Martial Demon Realm expert; on her body... exists the blessing of the Star Luo Lord. If my Realm had not dropped, I would have been confident in dealing with her."

"But now that my Realm has dropped, I cannot use many of my methods; at most, I can only restrain her."

"Later, I will have to restrain her, and you must find an opportunity to enter the place of imprisonment."

Xiang Zizhen transmitted his voice to Xiao Shi via Soul Consciousness.

Although he had known early on that once a Saint mobilized the power of their Domain, their strength and cultivation would drop accordingly, he had not expected in his original plan that the Star Luo Lord would mobilize the Domain's power.

Because before the operation, Xiang Zizhen's Revered Master had told him that in this battle, the Star Luo Lord would not be able to mobilize the power of the Domain.

Yet, he had not expected... that even while trapped within the Four Symbols World Banning Formation, the Star Luo Lord could still mobilize the power of the Domain. This meant their plan had to be adjusted.

"Do you not need me to attack with you?"

Xiao Shi felt that if he and Xiang Zizhen joined forces, their chances of winning would seem higher. However, Xiang Zizhen shook his head. With an extremely serious expression, he said.

"You must remember, no matter what situation you encounter later, you must not attack her! You only need to find the right moment and enter the place of imprisonment; you must not attack!"

Xiao Shi nodded thoughtfully.

After giving his instructions, Xiang Zizhen's gaze locked onto the old woman ahead.

Whoosh!

His figure moved, and he charged directly toward the old woman. The moment he rushed out, the old woman's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open.

Xiao Shi saw clearly. Inside this old woman's eye sockets, there were no pupils at all, only a greyish-white void.

But when she turned her gaze toward Xiang Zizhen, Xiang Zizhen felt as if he had been locked onto.

"Something is strange..."

Xiao Shi frowned slightly. Following that, he saw a superimposed shadow suddenly appear from within the old woman's body. A figure, entirely decayed and wearing tattered black robes, carrying a suddenly emitted chill, floated directly out from the old woman's body. It lunged ferociously toward Xiang Zizhen.

But the next instant, this figure was shattered by a punch from Xiang Zizhen!

However, after this figure was shattered, it was like splattering ink; all this ink stained Xiang Zizhen's body, emitting a sizzling burning sound. This made it seem as if Xiang Zizhen had been subjected to a powerful contamination.

And it was not just his body that was contaminated. At the same time, this contamination also seeped into his Soul. This made Xiang Zizhen not only slower, but his entire consciousness also became hazy.

Most terrifyingly... was that Xiang Zizhen's pupils were actually disappearing bit by bit under this contamination. It was as if he were being assimilated by the opponent, gradually becoming the same as them.

Fortunately, Xiang Zizhen had many methods. Before his consciousness dissipated, he contained this contamination. But this only prevented it from spreading; it could not eliminate the contamination.

Xiao Shi also realized that this contamination was not simple. He figured this was the reason Xiang Zizhen had warned him not to attack.

Once one attacked the old woman... they would be tainted with this contamination! It would then be very difficult to sneak into the place of imprisonment.

Xiang Zizhen had by now reached the old woman. A vortex suddenly appeared in the center of his forehead, rotating and churning at that spot.

With a crack, his entire forehead split open. From within his forehead, a figure identical to him was projected directly out. It was his Demonic Body Clone!

Clearly, Xiang Zizhen was now able to control his Demonic Body Clone, allowing the Demonic Body Clone to attack alongside him.

However, due to the drop in cultivation, whether it was his main body or the Demonic Body Clone, his overall strength was greatly reduced. Many methods could not be used.

However, the benefit was... the contamination brought by the old woman had a much smaller effect on the Demonic Body Clone than on the main body. This allowed Xiang Zizhen's Demonic Body Clone to attack freely.

Pfft!

Finally, after a fierce battle, Xiang Zizhen succeeded in forcing the old woman's body to no longer sit cross-legged within the flower pattern.

"Now!"

The moment the old woman's body moved, without needing a reminder from Xiang Zizhen, Xiao Shi had already crushed the piece of flesh in his hand and, at the fastest speed, charged forward.

From beginning to end, Xiang Zizhen's goal was not to defeat or kill the old woman, but to make her stop guarding the entrance to the place of imprisonment.

Only by forcing her back would Xiao Shi have the opportunity to enter the place of imprisonment!

At the same time, the flesh that Xiao Shi had crushed was an important item that Xiang Zizhen had previously given him, which allowed his figure to become invisible for a short period.

The two worked together perfectly. Xiang Zizhen was responsible for the distraction, while Xiao Shi seized the opportunity to head directly to the place of imprisonment.

In an instant, Xiao Shi had rushed to the position where the old woman had previously been sitting cross-legged.

In his invisible state, the old woman did not notice him at all.

And the moment Xiao Shi stepped into the flower pattern, his figure instantly vanished from the pattern into thin air.

He passed directly through this entrance and entered the place of imprisonment hidden within this prison!

The sky was overcast and dim. Xiao Shi appeared out of thin air in a quiet valley.

The entire valley did not look very large, carrying a rare sense of peace.

At the same time, the moment Xiao Shi appeared here, he was surprised to discover that his previously dropped cultivation had now directly recovered; he had returned to his original Soul Consciousness Stage.

"Could this place not be the Star Luo Territory?"

Xiao Shi fell into deep thought about this. Logically speaking, all Martial Artists in the Star Luo Territory were currently experiencing a drop in strength and cultivation under the Star Luo Lord's mobilization; no matter where they were in the Star Luo Territory, this would be the case, and no one could be spared.

But now, after entering here, his cultivation had directly recovered. This made him realize that this place of imprisonment was very likely no longer in the Star Luo Territory!

"No..."

"That's not right!"

"The feeling this place gives me... is somewhat like the feeling from earlier in the illusory world, but it's also a bit different. There is no sense of illusion here; it is a truly existing world."

Xiao Shi clearly felt the uniqueness of this place of imprisonment.

No matter what, he had to be cautious and careful in this mysterious and strange place.

Thinking of this, branches suddenly extended from Xiao Shi's body, transforming into a figure beside him. It was his main body!

Before coming, Xiao Shi had already used the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree to hide his main body within the Clone.

He knew very well that in this place filled with danger and unknowns, relying solely on the Clone's abilities would definitely not be enough. The main body definitely had to come in.

For this, he had even prepared items for disguise, planning to quietly disguise his main body as a Clone after entering, thereby continuing to hide his identity and not exposing his true identity.

Now that he was no longer acting with Xiang Zizhen, there was no need to disguise himself.

"Let's first look at the environment here..."

After the main body appeared, Xiao Shi immediately spread out his Soul Consciousness to scout this valley.

However, as his Soul Consciousness spread, he strangely discovered that his Soul Consciousness could not function as a scouting tool in this place.

Although his Soul Consciousness could spread out normally, the spread-out Soul Consciousness could perceive nothing, losing the function that Soul Consciousness should have.

"It seems this place cannot be scouted using Soul Consciousness!"

Xiao Shi understood in his heart. He was not surprised by this. By now, as he experienced more, he had long discovered that many high-level places could not be scouted using Soul Consciousness.

Before entering this place, he had already prepared for the fact that he would not be able to scout with Soul Consciousness.

Xiao Shi looked around. Currently, there were no abnormalities within his line of sight, and he did not feel any danger.

However, for the sake of caution, before acting, Xiao Shi still took out the [Luck Condensing Pill] and swallowed the pill without hesitation.

Hum!

In an instant, after swallowing the [Luck Condensing Pill], streams of invisible Luck immediately gathered toward Xiao Shi, causing an invisible vortex of Luck to appear at his feet.

The Luck of this place of imprisonment was all gathering toward Xiao Shi under the effect of the [Luck Condensing Pill].

Unfortunately, Luck was something... that could not be seen, touched, or felt. As a result, Xiao Shi did not know how much his current Luck had actually increased.

However, what was certain was... as long as this place of imprisonment was not some kind of place of misfortune, his current Luck would definitely be better than usual.

This also made Xiao Shi feel much more at ease. He took a deep breath and began to move forward along the valley road.

Although he lacked the scouting ability of Soul Consciousness, branches from beneath Xiao Shi's feet seeped into the ground and spread rapidly forward underground, allowing Xiao Shi to control the situation within a few hundred meters ahead in advance.

At the same time, even if a crisis appeared ahead, he could use these branches of the Azure Calamity Ancient Tree to respond immediately.

Just like that, after he had traveled for a distance, the journey was calm and peaceful, and he encountered nothing. Until he arrived in front of a stone tablet within the valley.

This was a tall, ancient-looking stone tablet. The entire tablet was about five meters high, covered in wind, frost, and dust, and had blurry handwriting on it.

Xiao Shi stared at the content on the stone tablet.

Valley Taboos: One, when the wind rises in the valley, please stay in place, do not move, do not speak, and wait for the wind to stop.

Two, if you see remnants of Souls in the valley, remember not to attack them!

Three, if you see Corpses or remains in the valley, please be sure to bury them.

Four, no items in the valley may be picked up!

Five, if you encounter a fork in the road in the valley, you must choose the leftmost path.

Six, there will be patrolling guards in the valley; if you encounter trouble you cannot solve yourself, you can ask the guards for help, but after receiving help from the guards, you must fulfill one wish of the guard.

Seven, not all guards in the valley are willing to help; only guards without heads will help. If you encounter a guard with a head, immediately find a way to avoid them.

Eight, in the valley, remember not to have any evil thoughts.

Xiao Shi looked at the message on the stone tablet in front of him. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"It seems my Luck is taking effect!"

Clearly, the reason he was able to encounter such a stone tablet detailing various taboos within the valley was entirely due to his current powerful Luck!

If it were under normal circumstances, this stone tablet would definitely not have appeared. Even if it had appeared, it would be impossible for the tablet to have such detailed taboo items.

This was important information that could only be seen under his powerful Luck.

"If I couldn't see these taboo items... that would be truly dangerous!"

Although Xiao Shi did not know what would happen if he violated these taboo items, judging from these items, most of the taboos would be violated if one did not know about them in advance.

Now that he knew these taboo items, Xiao Shi could avoid them to the greatest extent.

However, what puzzled him was... he did not see any relevant information or clues about the imprisonment of the Four Symbols Divine Martial Sect members in these taboo items.

At the same time, judging from these taboo items, this place did not look like a place of imprisonment at all.