123: Chapter 123 Entering the Divine Mechanism Tower

Grand Minister Liao Sishui did not speak again.

One could imagine that outside the dark walls, there was a cold, cyan-colored face watching everything happening inside.

Elder Luo Xi strictly ordered Xia Shaoxin and Liu Tingting to board the boat.

The two had no choice but to step onto the boat. Elder Luo Xi stood at the bow, casting a Spell to control the small boat's movement.

The pond was actually extremely vast; it should be called a lake.

A huge black shadow gradually appeared ahead. As the small boat bumped against the shore, Elder Luo Xi commanded, "Get off the boat immediately and charge straight ahead. The gate of Shenji Tower is just a few zhang away; do not hesitate!"

His voice was extremely serious, and it seemed to carry a hint of fear.

Xia Shaoxin looked up ahead, but it was pitch black; he could not see any tower.

Now, he could only trust Elder Luo Xi's words.

He stepped onto the shore and felt a sticky sensation under his feet. He looked down, but could see nothing; it felt like small things were scurrying about under his soles.

He pushed off with his back foot, but just as he lifted it, his front foot slipped. Despite his agile reactions, he fell onto the shore.

Suddenly, a faint, shrill screaming reached his ears, as if a dozen women were shouting directly into them. The sound was not loud, but it was soul-stirring.

Elder Luo Xi, still on the boat, kicked the soles of Xia Shaoxin's feet. Using this force, Xia Shaoxin stood up, his body lifted off the ground, and those sounds instantly vanished.

His clothes felt as if they were covered in paste, which was extremely disgusting.

"Run!"

Without another word, Elder Luo Xi reached out and pushed him. Xia Shaoxin sank his Qi into his Dantian, steadied his stance, and slid forward a zhang.

Daring not to look or think about anything, he stepped on the sticky ground and staggered forward for a few zhang. Suddenly, a solitary tower, about two stories high, appeared before him.

The gate was slightly ajar. He crashed straight in and fell to the ground.

Elder Luo Xi and Liu Tingting soon tumbled in as well.

The three of them hurriedly got up and tried hard to open their eyes, but they couldn't see anything beyond a chi away, as if they had fallen into the Void Realm.

Elder Luo Xi took out a Night-Luminescing Pearl Magical Artifact, illuminating the entire first floor of Shenji Tower.

The first floor of Shenji Tower was actually a passageway open from north to south. A table was placed in the corner, and apart from that, there were no furnishings.

The area was not large; it looked just like a study tower for a Young Master.

There was a staircase on the side leading to the second floor.

Suddenly, he heard a squeaking sound by his ear. He turned around abruptly and realized that some strange, tiny plants were clinging to the outside of the door, continuously spraying black, sticky liquid.

At the entrance of Shenji Tower, it was as if an invisible wall was blocking all the plants outside.

The plants seemed to be stimulated by the Night-Luminescing Pearl; they pushed desperately inward, piling up three chi high at the entrance.

No wonder one had to enter at night and could not use a Night-Luminescing Pearl.

These monsters were phototactic; the brighter it was, the more active they became.

"This is not a product of our world!" Liu Tingting had never seen such disgusting plants.

Elder Luo Xi said, "You are wrong. They were originally ordinary species around Shenji Tower, but they were eroded by the poisonous Qi leaking from Shenji Tower and turned into these monsters."

He turned his head to look Xia Shaoxin up and down, and said with gratification:

"Last time, a Disciple who came with me fell down in front of Shenji Tower, inhaled too much poisonous Qi, fainted on the spot, and was dragged into the water by these monsters. It wasn't me who pushed him."

"I didn't expect that you would also fall, yet be able to stand up again. It seems your Physique is indeed very special."

Xia Shaoxin told the two about how, after he fell, he pressed his ear to the ground and heard women screaming.

"This is the sound of the monsters; it can only be heard when close to the ground," Elder Luo Xi explained.

Liu Tingting heard this and, half-doubting, lay on the floor of Shenji Tower with her ear three cun from the ground. She was startled by that shrill sound and jumped up.

After getting up, the screaming sound was completely gone.

She frowned tightly and hurriedly retreated to the middle of Shenji Tower.

Xia Shaoxin walked to the door, drew his sword, and slashed fiercely. A patch of plants was severed in response.

He used the sword tip to pierce one, dragged it into Shenji Tower, and as it passed the invisible boundary at the door, it instantly turned into black water.

He then used the sword tip to hook another one, stopped outside the door, blocked Liu Tingting and Elder Luo Xi behind him, and quickly recited the Sacrificial Incantation silently.

As a result, it could not be sacrificed.

Since they could not be used as medicine, these were just useless mutated monsters.

He swung his sword in a rage. A low scream came from outside the door, the plants suddenly all ran away, and the entrance was finally clear.

"So, this Shenji Tower still has a Protective Array," the tension in Liu Tingting's heart greatly decreased.

She frowned tightly, covered her nose, and pointed at Xia Shaoxin's body.

Xia Shaoxin looked down and saw that he was covered in black sticky liquid, looking as if he had been fished out of a latrine.

There was no other way; he could only endure it.

Xia Shaoxin searched carefully on the floor, but found no signs of an "entrance."

Elder Luo Xi, however, stepped onto the stairs and went up.

Xia Shaoxin followed closely. The second floor had only one room. The floor was crisscrossed with countless red ropes, a Taiji diagram was carved in the center, and it was surrounded by a circle of hexagram images.

"I came here last time, but no matter what, I couldn't unlock this Teleportation Array," Elder Luo Xi said with emotion.

Liu Tingting stepped forward, stared at the Bagua diagram, and fell into silence.

"Help me unlock the Formation. After we enter the Forbidden Ground, I will unblock the Acupoints on Fellow Daoist Xia's body."

Elder Luo Xi's tone was extremely flat, trying to minimize the sense of threat.

Liu Tingting glanced at Xia Shaoxin, reached out, touched the Bagua Formation, and attempted to crack it.

A Formation uses a Magical Artifact as the eye of the Formation to channel the rules of heaven and earth, becoming a special kind of power.

To crack a Formation, one must first find the eye of the Formation, and secondly, determine the rules of the Formation's operation, which is equivalent to a key.

The eye of the Formation that was found on the palace wall just now had been hidden by the Formation; once revealed, it would cause a violent Spiritual Qi tremor.

Liu Tingting successfully removed the eye of the Formation, and after climbing over the city wall, she restored the eye of the Formation.

It was originally very successful, but the appearance of Grand Minister Liao Sishui greatly dampened the joy of this success.

Elder Luo Xi watched with great interest as Liu Tingting cracked the Formation.

As the saying goes, 'different trades are like mountains between them.' Among the hundreds of arts of the Immortals, the art of Formations requires extremely high talent. Even if one understands the rules for setting up a Formation, it is very difficult to successfully set one up.

Elder Luo Xi said to Xia Shaoxin, "I was trapped here last time and couldn't withstand the poisonous Qi of Shenji Tower. Today, after taking this Medicinal Pill of yours, it actually hasn't taken effect yet. I really didn't expect this pill to have such an effect."

Before long, Liu Tingting let out a muffled groan.

A beam of light emitted from the ground, rapidly grew, became round, and formed a circular gate.

"Amazing!" Elder Luo Xi praised, "You unlocked the Formation so quickly!"

He sighed.

"Indeed, the gap between talents is quite large. I brought three Disciples, wasted time, didn't open the mechanism, and they were killed by the poisonous Qi instead."

Liu Tingting, covered in sweat, said in a low voice, "Let's go in together. The Teleportation Array is a bit weak; going in one by one consumes even more power."

The three stood by the circular gate. A light flashed, and the world seemed to spin.

When they opened their eyes and looked around, it seemed to be a secret passage. There was a turn ahead, leading to who knows where.

This place was brighter than outside. On both the left and right sides, a zhang away, were walls built of stone slabs. The ground was made of uneven bricks and stones, and the ceiling was rock.

What was most shocking was that many skeletons were scattered on the ground, clearly human.