201: Chapter 201 Void Beast, Array Core

The Seal reinforcement ceremony was held on the plaza of Wendao Peak.

Representatives of the twelve giants of the Central Region gathered together, and the flags of each Sect fluttered loudly in the wind.

The twelve giants were divided into four branches, corresponding to the four regions—Wendao Sect, Heavenly Sword Pavilion, and Wanxiang Sect were responsible for the Northern Region, while the remaining nine were in charge of the East, South, West, and Central regions.

The Wendao Sect was presided over by Sect Master Ye Cang himself. Tangtang had rarely changed into a clean Daoist robe, and she sat in the corner, chewing on a candied hawthorn, looking like an emotionless mascot.

The representative from the Heavenly Sword Pavilion was Ling Wushuang, a woman who looked to be in her early thirties, but whose actual age was at least several hundred years.

She wore a snow-white robe, with a slender sword hanging from her waist, the scabbard inlaid with a blue gemstone.

Her face was cold and aloof, and her brows and eyes carried the sharp air peculiar to a Sword Cultivator, but when those eyes saw Chu Sheng, they suddenly brightened.

The zhu xian sword at Chu Sheng's waist—he had only brought one—vibrated gently.

Ling Wushuang's sword also vibrated.

A subtle resonance arose between the two swords, like two wild beasts sniffing each other to confirm each other's identity.

Ling Wushuang walked up to Chu Sheng, glanced at him, and said, "Good sword."

Chu Sheng said thank you.

Ling Wushuang added, "The person is not bad either."

Chu Sheng was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say.

The Old Grandfather muttered in the ring, "This woman has a vicious eye."

The gate of the Seal was deep underground at Wendao Peak, usually locked by layers of Restrictions.

The reinforcement ceremony began, and several great Cultivators walked to the gate simultaneously, each injecting their spiritual power into the Array Eye on the gate.

Four different attributes of spiritual power intertwined, like four keys inserted into a keyhole at the same time, slowly turning.

The runes on the gate lit up one by one, changing from green to red, from red to gold, and finally, the entire gate was glowing.

The gate opened a crack.

A decaying, bloody stench poured out from the crack, as if an Ancient Tomb from a thousand years ago had been opened.

The Disciples on the plaza covered their noses one after another; some turned pale, and some dry-heaved.

The Peak Master of the Tenth Peak frowned, and Tangtang's action of biting the candied hawthorn paused for a moment.

The gate opened completely.

Inside, it was dark—not the darkness of night, but a light-absorbing, bottomless, abyss-like black.

Ye Cang looked at Chu Sheng and said, "Go in. Find the Array Eye and reinforce the Seal. You must come out within thirty days."

Chu Sheng nodded and stepped inside.

Behind him, Ye Gucheng, Feng Qingyang, and Ling Wushuang followed, and further behind were twelve elite Disciples selected from each peak, all with cultivation levels above the Spirit Sea.

The scene inside the Seal left everyone silent.

There was no sun or clouds in the sky, only a massive crack in the Void Realm, like a vertical eye spanning across the firmament.

Black mist surged at the edges of the crack, and occasionally, lightning would strike from within, illuminating the entire wasteland.

The ground was scorched black, as if it had been burned by a great fire, or as if it had been plowed by some enormous claw.

Bones were scattered everywhere—some human, some from Yao Beasts, and others that were indistinguishable.

Between the bones, countless damaged Magic Treasures were scattered.

Yellow Rank and Profound Rank items were everywhere, discarded on the ground like trash.

Earth Rank items were not rare either, and Chu Sheng even saw a few fragments of Heaven Rank items—broken swords, shattered shields, and cracked Pill Furnaces lying quietly in the scorched earth, as if telling a story.

An elite Disciple bent down to pick up an Earth Rank longsword, but as soon as his hand touched the hilt, the sword crumbled into powder.

With a gust of wind, the powder dissipated, leaving nothing behind.

"Items from a thousand years ago have long since lost their spiritual power," Ye Gucheng said calmly.

The Disciple's expression was somewhat ugly as he pulled his hand back.

The team marched for about two hours before encountering the first Void Beast.

It crawled out from a crack in the ground, shaped like a giant lizard, pitch-black all over, with no eyes or scales, its skin like solidified asphalt.

It wasn't large, only about the size of a cow, but its aura made everyone take a step back.

It was something completely opposite to spiritual power—like a black hole, like an abyss, like the natural enemy of the world of spiritual power.

An elite Disciple drew his sword and slashed, but the Sword Qi landed on the Void Beast like water into a sponge, absorbed without a sound.

The Void Beast was not injured; instead, it swelled up a size.

Ling Wushuang drew her sword.

Her sword was fast—so fast that most people present didn't even see it.

A white streak of Sword Qi flashed, and the Void Beast was split in two from head to tail.

It let out a sharp hiss, and its body dissolved into black smoke and dissipated.

But everyone felt a sliver of their internal spiritual power being drained away.

It was very faint, so faint it could be ignored, but everyone felt it.

Chu Sheng frowned. The Void Beast drains the spiritual power of surrounding Cultivators when it dies? What the hell is this thing?

Ling Wushuang sheathed her sword with a calm expression, but her fingers were trembling slightly.

When that sword killed the Void Beast, it didn't consume spiritual power; it consumed her blood Qi.

Feng Qingyang's expression began to look strange.

Chu Sheng noticed that a faint black light occasionally flashed in the depths of his eyes—so faint that if one didn't look carefully, it would be impossible to notice.

Feng Qingyang walked at the very back of the team, with the Disciples bringing up the rear, and no one noticed his abnormality.

Chu Sheng glanced at him, but he didn't look back, only keeping his head down, his steps somewhat heavy, like a traveler carrying a very heavy burden.

The team stopped in front of a ruined altar.

The altar was built of black stone, covered in dense array patterns, most of which were already blurred and unclear.

More bones were scattered around the altar, denser than what they had seen before, like the end point of a tragic battle.

Several skeletons still maintained a fighting posture; one skeleton held a broken sword in its hand, the tip of which was plunged into the chest of the skeleton opposite it.

As soon as Chu Sheng approached the altar, those skeletons suddenly moved.

They didn't stand up; they trembled, as if awakened by something.

Black mist overflowed from the gaps in the bones, condensing in the air into fuzzy human shapes—Resentful Souls.

They wore Daoist robes from a thousand years ago, their faces blurred, but their eyes were blood-red, filled with resentment and unwillingness.

They stared at Chu Sheng.

All the Resentful Souls stared at Chu Sheng.

The aura of the Taixu True Scripture on Chu Sheng was like a lamp, exceptionally conspicuous in the darkness.

"Taixu... Taixu..." the Resentful Souls let out hoarse roars and pounced toward Chu Sheng.

There were many of them, a black mass like a swarm of locusts passing through.

Ye Gucheng drew his sword. The moment the wentian sword was unsheathed, a streak of Sword Qi swept across, cutting the dozen or so Resentful Souls in the front in half.

The Resentful Souls screamed and dissipated, but more surged forward.

Ye Gucheng's arm was bitten by a Resentful Soul.

It wasn't a physical bite, but an erosion of resentment. His sleeve tore, and a black mark was left on his forearm, like a scar burned by fire.

He frowned but did not retreat, continuing to swing his sword.

Ling Wushuang also made her move. Her sword light was even sharper than Ye Gucheng's; with one slash, the Resentful Souls were torn apart like paper.

Chu Sheng did not act. He knew these Resentful Souls weren't coming for him; they were coming for the Taixu.

He cursed the Old Grandfather in his heart, but the Old Grandfather was playing dead in the ring.

The team was forced to split up.

Ye Gucheng stood before the altar, looking at the dense crowd of Resentful Souls in front, then back at the long road behind, and made a decision.

He had Feng Qingyang take most of the Disciples to bring up the rear and clear out the remaining Resentful Souls, while he himself would take Chu Sheng, Ling Wushuang, and a few elite Disciples to continue deeper and find the Array Eye.

Feng Qingyang nodded without speaking.

His eyes shone with a faint, eerie light in the darkness, but no one noticed.

Feng Qingyang stood alone in front of a skeleton.

That skeleton was larger than the others, with thick bones and a deep crack in the skull, as if smashed by some blunt object.

The skeleton's hand held a dilapidated shield, the patterns on it worn smooth by time, leaving only a lump of iron.

Feng Qingyang squatted down and reached out to touch the skeleton's skull.

The corners of his mouth curled into an eerie arc, like a smile, yet also like a cry.

His lips moved, emitting a very, very low sound—so low that even the Disciples standing behind him couldn't hear.

"Finally... found a host."

He stood up, turned around, and walked toward the Disciples.

His steps were much lighter than before, and that eerie arc still hung on the corners of his mouth.

The Disciples didn't notice; they were focused on clearing the Resentful Souls, and no one was looking at his face.

In the distance, Chu Sheng followed Ye Gucheng and Ling Wushuang, walking across the scorched black wasteland.

He didn't look back, but he felt something staring at him from behind, like a pair of eyes hidden in the darkness.

Ahead, another bolt of lightning struck down from the Void Realm crack, illuminating the entire world.

In the light of the lightning, he saw a massive structure—not an altar, but a palace.

A black palace stood at the end of the wasteland, like a crouching giant beast.

That was where the Array Eye was located.

Chu Sheng quickened his pace, but that gaze from behind remained stuck to his back, like an unremovable thorn.