This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

Chapter 112 Awakening

Xu Hao led the way, and everyone closely followed, walking nearly seventy feet through the dim underground passage.

On both sides of the passage, the walls were engraved with profound and mysterious Taoist patterns.

Lu Qingshan glanced briefly and understood that these patterns were used to conceal Spiritual Power, no wonder Su Shu had swept the area several times with her Divine Sense and hadn't discovered anything.

However, now that they were inside the passage, these patterns naturally could no longer obstruct their Divine Sense.

Lu Qingshan sent his Divine Sense downward and discovered that the passage had reached its end; the long-sought Formation Point was right in front of them.

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As they were so close to their goal, Tiger Squad became even more cautious.

They all understood that it was often at the moment of success and relaxation that one was most likely to fail and lose everything.

Su Shu, feeling uneasy, added another Defensive Spirit Technique to Xu Hao.

A massive stone door stood before everyone.

This was a specially arranged stone door, which could have been easily opened with just a Dharma Seal if Ximen Zi were here.

Their only option now was to forcefully break through the door.

Li Zu activated his Spiritual Power, transforming it into a large hand, and pushed hard.

The stone door did not budge.

Xu Hao frowned, stepped forward without another care, took a deep breath, his muscles bulged and veins popped as he placed his palms on the stone door, channeling his Spiritual Power and pushed hard.

Although Xu Hao's arms were trembling, accompanied by creaking noises, the stone door finally began to move under his immense strength, revealing a slight gap.

Once the gap in the stone door was wide enough for a person to pass through, Xu Hao withdrew his hands and cautiously leaned in to probe.

Before he could get a clear look at the situation inside, everyone heard an extremely piercing sound.

Sizzling——

A flashing purple light burst forth, and before Xu Hao could react, it struck him.

Boom!

Under the attack of the purple light, Xu Hao's figure flew backward and crashed into the wall of the passage, where he finally came to a stop.

Dust rose, and everyone felt a violent tremor in the passage.

Xu Hao clutched his chest, supported himself on the floor, and struggled to get up.

"The people from the Netherworld are indeed cunning. If it weren't for Su Shu's Spirit Art, that attack would have certainly shattered my Golden Scales Body!" Xu Hao extended his right hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

Seeing that Xu Hao was not severely injured, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's not move yet, I'll try again to make sure there's no further danger," Xu Hao stopped Zhong Ming who was about to act.

Hearing this, Zhong Ming immediately halted.

Xu Hao stood up, adjusted the somewhat boiling Qi-Blood inside him, and then resolutely stepped into the stone chamber again.

This time, they encountered no further attacks.

Seeing it was safe, Lu Qingshan and the others followed Xu Hao inside too.

The interior space of the stone chamber was not large and extremely simple, with not much inside; more precisely, there was only one thing.

In the center of the stone chamber stood a stele surrounded by black mist, engraved with numerous Taoist patterns, all of which glowed with a crimson blood light, like flowing blood, terrifying and shocking.

In the center of the stele, where the mysterious Taoist patterns converged, a blood-red hexagonal crystal was embedded.

Thump, thump, thump!

The eerie sound they had heard earlier was emanating from this crystal.

The sound felt very strange, like the beating of a heart at the junction of blood vessels, oppressive and unsettling.

"This is one of the Formation Points of the Asura Blood Formation," Lu Qingshan murmured.

"Shouldn't we destroy it now?" Li Zu was eager to act but also apprehensive about proceeding rashly.

"Hmm," Lu Qingshan nodded. This object was foreign even to him, and whether it possessed other mysteries, only time would tell.

With Lu Qingshan's consent, Li Zu had no more reservations, and a powerful Ice Arrow was shot towards the crimson crystal in the center of the stele.

—Unknowingly, Lu Qingshan's influence within this squad had become equivalent to that of Xu Hao.

Clink—

The sound of shattering jade echoed.

The blood-red crystal was exceedingly fragile; under the attack of Li Zu's Ice Arrow Spell, it immediately shattered into pieces.

The debris scattered on the ground, emitting a strange and unique fragrance.

Lu Qingshan sniffed, feeling somewhat familiar.

The scent seemed identical to the smell of the Blood Pool.

And just as the crystal shattered, the mysterious thudding sound disappeared, and all the patterns on the stele instantly lost their luminescence, dimming down, surely not displaying the marvels from before.

Meanwhile, outside Zhenjiang City.

A surge of black light rose upon the Heavenly Curtain Barrier, rippling once before fading.

"Here it comes again," Lu Zhou said, unable to help himself at the sight, "This happens from time to time; I wonder what the issue is."

"Great Elder," Lu Bei suddenly spoke.

"Hmm?"

"Have you noticed, this Barrier seems considerably weaker than before," Lu Bei carefully surveyed the Barrier before him, speaking slowly.

"Hmm?!" Lu Zhou quickly projected his Divine Sense, roaming over the Barrier.

"It really has weakened considerably from before!"

Lu Bei spoke solemnly, "I noticed before, every time the black light flashes over the Barrier, it weakens a bit, though it wasn't very apparent, so I wasn't quite sure.

Now, after several occurrences, the gap in the power of the Heavenly Curtain Barrier from its initial state is visibly apparent."

"Could it be?" Lu Zhou thought aloud.

Lu Bei nodded, "Perhaps, someone inside the city is deciphering this Formation!"

A hint of joy appeared on Lu Zhou's face, "In that case, the situation inside the city might be much better than we anticipated!"

Lu Bei was not as optimistic, "Perhaps, but regardless, the weakening of the Barrier's power is always a good thing—the weaker the Barrier, the easier it is for those of us outside to break through it!"

...

Li Zu's mouth hung open in utter astonishment.

"Is that it?"

After much trouble, they had found a Formation Point, only to discover its unexpected fragility, leaving Li Zu somewhat incredulous.

Clearly, Li Zu had entirely overlooked the effort spent in locating this Formation Point.

Swoosh—

An eerie sound, akin to a rat scurrying, suddenly echoed in the quiet Stone Chamber.

Everyone's hairs stood on end as their alertness reached its peak.

I knew it wouldn't be that simple!

While everyone was on high alert, Lu Qingshan was somewhat astonished as he glanced toward his waist.

That sound, could it have come from here?

There, attached was a Spirit Beast Bag.

"What a wonderful scent, what is this? Oh, it smells a bit familiar... Huh? Lu Qingshan, you haven't found another Blood Pool, have you?" a mischievous voice rang out.