Chapter 296: Damn it, damn it, truly damn it! (6k)

At this moment, Watching Yan Sen looked down at the two disheveled figures and sneered.

"How about that? She left a seal in your consciousness, making it impossible for outsiders to search your souls, yet she didn't erase the relevant memories."

He stroked his chin, his tone filled with mockery and confusion.

"She is just too kind-hearted, unable to be ruthless. I truly don't know how someone like that managed to break through to the late Soul Severance realm in such a short time?"

"Clearly, our cultivation bases were the same before."

Following this, he snapped his fingers lightly, and the invisible force that had been shackling Zhou Qing instantly dissipated.

Zhou Qing's knees went weak, and he nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

Ignoring the surging blood in his body, he scrambled toward Lu Yaoyao to ensure she was unharmed, only then letting out a quiet sigh of relief.

Afterward, he slowly turned to look at Watching Yan Sen, hidden anger flickering in his bloodshot eyes.

"Speak, how exactly did you get in? Also, don't even think about playing any tricks; my patience is limited."

Watching Yan Sen's triangular eyes flashed with malice: "Otherwise, this seat will let you know what it means to be unable to live and unable to die."

Zhou Qing forcibly suppressed the surging killing intent, his Adam's apple bobbing with difficulty.

But he was powerless right now; the gap was simply too vast, and any resistance would be futile.

However—

He thought of the late-stage Soul Severance Great Perfection-level Green Fire Profound Turtle that had severely wounded Shen Hanyi within the Kunpeng Forbidden Zone.

That was merely the outer perimeter of the palace; according to Number Six, there were definitely existences at the Demon Emperor level inside.

A bold plan quietly took shape in his heart. To break the deadlock, he had no choice but to endure for now and enter the game himself.

"When that six-colored array is activated, in the bottom right corner, is there a translucent phantom of an old man?"

Zhou Qing spoke, his voice low but steady.

Watching Yan Sen's eyes lit up instantly, his body leaning forward beneath his black robe: "That's right!"

"That old man was an ancient Old Peng Wang who fell in our Eastern Region long ago."

Zhou Qing paused, then continued, "He entered in the past and left behind special methods on it, and I obtained his inheritance."

"That is also why Senior Shen was willing to bring us along."

Watching Yan Sen frowned, then suddenly realized: "Compatibility, perception, and deception?"

Zhou Qing nodded: "Exactly!"

"So that's it. You should have said so earlier! Show it to me!" Watching Yan Sen urged impatiently.

Zhou Qing turned to look at Lu Yaoyao. The girl's pale face was full of worry, and she shook her head slightly.

He responded with a reassuring smile, signaling her to be at ease.

Following this, golden light erupted from his body, and he transformed into a Golden-Winged Great Peng that blotted out the sky.

Watching Yan Sen's eyes shone with greed, his covetous expression undisguised: "It has both form and power. What is this technique called?"

Zhou Qing transformed back into human form, his robes fluttering: "Di Huang Jing!"

"Di Huang Jing? A good name. This can be considered your fortuitous encounter!" Watching Yan Sen smiled broadly, stepping forward to intimately pat the dust off Zhou Qing's clothes.

"Look at you, such a simple matter, yet you had to make such a big scene. It really hurts the feelings between us!"

【Heart-Mirror Points +6】

The next moment, the 【Ant】 tag above Watching Yan Sen's head instantly changed to 【Dead Man】.

Zhou Qing's expression was calm, but he hid sharp edges in his eyes.

This was within his expectations.

The "Di Huang Jing" originated from the ancient bloodline of the Golden-Winged Great Peng; even the semi-pure-blooded Old Old Peng Wang had to endure countless calamities to awaken this divine ability.

How could such a divine ability not stir murderous intent in someone like Watching Yan Sen?

If it weren't for Second Uncle stepping in previously, Prince Xuan Yuan Shuo would likely have made a move on him long ago.

"Go, go, go! No time to lose, let's go take a look!"

Watching Yan Sen waved his arm impatiently, tearing open a pitch-black rift in the void, from which a flying boat covered in eerie runes slowly emerged.

Before Zhou Qing and Lu Yaoyao could react, an invisible giant force swept them up and threw them onto the flying boat.

In an instant, the boat shot off like an arrow from a bow, tearing through the sky and leaving behind only a fleeting shadow.

The next day, Shen Yunzhou walked out from the depths of the sect, feeling satisfied. His body was still wreathed in a thick, decaying aura, and a lingering smile hung on his face.

"Refreshing! Brother Zhou, this increase in my realm of understanding is immense. I want to borrow this precious land to enter seclusion..."

His voice came to an abrupt halt. Only then did he realize the surroundings were terrifyingly silent; Zhou Qing and Lu Yaoyao, who should have been waiting outside, were nowhere to be seen.

"Went back?" Shen Yunzhou scratched his head, filled with confusion.

That shouldn't be right. They had agreed to wait for him.

Even if they had something urgent to attend to, they would have left some kind of message.

At this moment, the Black-Gold Dung Beetle in his arms suddenly jumped down, sensed the air above its head for a moment, and then scurried off in a hurry.

Shen Yunzhou was filled with doubt and followed it.

Very quickly, at the location of the mountain gate, he saw two pools of blood, and the Black-Gold Dung Beetle was circling them, pointing them out to Shen Yunzhou.

Shen Yunzhou frowned and leaned down to sniff them.

"Fresh. At most, it's been a day!"

Shen Yunzhou muttered to himself, then looked up and surveyed his surroundings, his face instantly turning gloomy.

Because there was a layer of fine powder on the ground where bluestone had been pulverized, and the spiderweb-like cracks on the nearby boulders were shocking.

There were also messy footprints on the ground.

One had to know that, like the previous sects, it was nearly impossible to tell from the outside that this place had been exterminated.

Even inside, various buildings were almost perfectly preserved; how could there be signs of a struggle left here?

"Could it be that the people from the Golden Thunder Sect returned? Did Brother Zhou and Sister Lu fall into an ambush?"

Thinking of this, Shen Yunzhou clenched his fists, his aura instantly turning icy, and a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.

Without any hesitation, he bit his finger and dripped a drop of his blood into one of the pools.

Then, his hands moved rapidly, forming seals.

When he was establishing his Foundation, his elder sister had found him a strand of the fourteenth-ranked Heavenly Dao Qi—"Asking Antiquity"!

And when he condensed his Nascent Soul, it brought him an enhancement called 【Blood Reflection】.

This 【Blood Reflection】 could use the traces left by others to reconstruct the relevant scenes that occurred around those traces at the time.

Previously, to comprehend his realm of understanding, he had often used the saliva, blood, or excrement left behind by Demon Kings and Demon Emperors to find the direction they had left in.

However, there was a time limit; once it exceeded about five days, it could no longer be reconstructed.

At this moment, as his hands moved faster and faster, dense blood-colored runes suddenly appeared on the ground.

Those runes began to twist constantly, absorbing all the residual aura in the surroundings.

Before long, hazy light and shadows were projected onto the bloodstain, becoming increasingly solid.

Very quickly, he saw a familiar figure, clutching Lu Yaoyao's throat tightly, looking mockingly at Zhou Qing, who was frozen in place and unable to move.

"Watching Yan Sen—"

Shen Yunzhou's eyes instantly filled with blood, and he roared.

He never expected that Watching Yan Sen would have found them so quietly, and treated his two good friends so ruthlessly.

"It's the Kunpeng Palace where the shapeshifting divine medicine that my sister brought back was located!"

Although there was no sound in the light and shadow, Shen Yunzhou immediately guessed the key to it.

After all, when they had talked about the "Smiling Tiger" last time, Lu Yaoyao had explained that day's events in detail.

It was very clear that Watching Yan Sen had returned to the scene of the crime, wanting to enter that ruin again.

Sure enough, at the end of the scene, Watching Yan Sen took the two of them onto the flying boat, and the boat disappeared in an instant.

"Damn it, damn it, truly damn it!"

Shen Yunzhou clenched his fists, his spiritual power surging. He kicked a stone pillar beside him hard, and the pillar shattered, sending stone fragments flying everywhere.

At this moment, his heart was filled with remorse and anger; this was all because of his own affairs that they had been implicated.

But right now, he had no idea where that island was.

"Lu Yaoyao seemed to have said it was at the border. Yes, the border. Brother Zhou and I went there last time."

At this moment, Shen Yunzhou couldn't care about anything else. He immediately took out his flying boat and chased in the direction Watching Yan Sen had disappeared.

"If you hurt my friends even a little, I, Shen Yunzhou, will make you pay in blood, even if it costs me my life, and ensure you die a miserable death!"

Shen Yunzhou gritted his teeth, his voice filled with determination and killing intent.

On the flying boat, Zhou Qing slowly withdrew his hand from Lu Yaoyao's back, his spiritual power retracting into his meridians like silk threads.

Afterward, he asked softly: "How do you feel?"

Lu Yaoyao's face was still a bit pale, but fortunately, with the circulation of the "Ice Cleansing Technique" and the spiritual power Zhou Qing had injected, her aura had gradually stabilized.

She nodded slightly, her gaze glancing toward Watching Yan Sen, who was meditating with his eyes closed on the deck ahead, and transmitted her voice secretly.

"Brother Zhou, that secret realm won't open again for another thousand years. When we arrive, if they find they can't get in, won't they kill us on the spot to vent their anger?"

Zhou Qing followed her gaze, staring at Watching Yan Sen's back, killing intent surging in his eyes.

But the situation had been critical at the time; you were almost strangled to death by him, what else could I have done?

Moreover, if he had continued to claim ignorance at that time, with Watching Yan Sen's petty nature, he definitely would have torn through space and brought them back to the Taiqing Sect.

At that point, the entire sect would have been bathed in blood to force them into submission.

By then, the losses would only have been greater.

Therefore, he had no choice but to gamble!

Once they were far from the sect and arrived at that island, he would have to try his luck with his 【Double Pupils】 and 【Daily Appraisal】.

After all, Watching Yan Sen had already sentenced them to death; whether it was the secret of the six-colored array or the "Di Huang Jing," he would never let them return alive.

Since that was the case, it was better to give it his all.

"Stay close to me when the time comes!" Zhou Qing said, his expression as cold as frost.

Lu Yaoyao looked at his determined profile and nodded vigorously, a flash of resolve in her eyes.

She didn't want to ask too much about her father's plan; since she was old enough to understand, such life-and-death crises had followed her like a shadow, and she was long accustomed to seeking survival in the darkness.

Now, she only hoped not to drag him down and needed to recover as quickly as possible.

Zhou Qing watched her quietly, constantly pondering his next countermeasures.

At the border, Prince Xuan Yuan Shuo, the Flood Dragon Emperor, the Qingluo Beast, and the Weilun Demon were potential helpers, but now, they had no chance of making contact.

Moreover, with the temperaments of those fellows, who would be willing to wade into these muddy waters?

Don't forget, Watching Yan Sen also mentioned an "Eighth Uncle" waiting for them.

Someone who could become a mid-stage Soul Severance powerhouse must be unfathomably strong.

In this way, it was truly difficult to handle.

It seemed this trip was truly a narrow escape from death!

Zhou Qing's brow furrowed even deeper.

Watching Yan Sen's flying boat was covered in pitch-black runes, its speed astonishing, even capable of briefly tearing through space.

Whenever its energy was fully charged, it would dive into spatial rifts to travel.

The journey that would normally take three months relying on the teleportation arrays of various prefectures was covered in just over ten days to reach the border.

Zhou Qing looked at the black Great Wall winding like a giant python below, silently hoping Prince Xuan Yuan Shuo would appear here.

But the flying boat swept past the defense line without any obstruction, plunging straight into the Demon territory, and his last hope vanished with it.

Fortunately, Lu Yaoyao had mostly recovered and quietly took out a picture book, looking at it with a furrowed brow.

On it was a middle-aged man with a weathered face, holding a broken sword, constantly battling various Demon Emperors.

And in one corner, there was a little girl curled up, trembling all over.

She wanted to follow the memories to find some traces that could contend with the Soul Severance realm, but unfortunately, she found nothing.

Perhaps because of her arrival, many established paths had truly been changed without her knowing.

The reason her father agreed to that Smiling Tiger was entirely because of her.

But if she weren't there, would there have been other choices and developments?

Thinking of this, she looked up at the figure with furrowed brows again, her heart filled with self-reproach.

Seeming to notice Lu Yaoyao's gaze, Zhou Qing turned his head slightly and revealed a smile.

"Don't worry, I'm here!" Zhou Qing transmitted.

Lu Yaoyao's eyes turned red, and she nodded vigorously.

"If this is truly a dead end, don't leave me behind again this time!"

Lu Yaoyao muttered to herself, the fear and anxiety in her eyes gradually dissipating, replaced by a sense of calm.

【Today's posts are refreshing...】

【New post has been saved to the Strange Qi Qi Tie Lu, please check it in time.】

Just as Zhou Qing was feeling worried, a familiar notification sound suddenly rang out in his mind.

After a brief moment of astonishment, his face was filled with wild joy.

Random post, oh random post, you are truly too random.

Ignoring everything else, Zhou Qing hurriedly focused his divine sense on the Strange Qi Qi Tie Lu.

Very quickly, an earthy-yellow post was quietly embedded within it.

【Misfortune Post: Can be cast into another person's body. The target will encounter a bloody disaster; minor cases result in severe injury or disability, major cases result in death. Duration: three days!】

【Note: The power of this post is ten times that of the Bad Luck Post. Use with caution! The Heavenly Dao has its cycles; the caster has a certain probability of needing to bear the corresponding karma.】

Seeing the newly refreshed post and reading the relevant introduction carefully, Zhou Qing wept with joy.

They were almost at death's door; what did bearing some karma matter?

A Misfortune Post, ten times the Bad Luck Post—damn it, if he didn't use this on Watching Yan Sen, he would be doing a disservice to this post.

He had to make him taste the flavor of a bloody disaster no matter what.

After all, once they entered that Kunpeng Palace, they would be forcibly expelled in five days.

Three days was enough!

"We're here!" At this moment, Watching Yan Sen turned his head slowly, a flash of malice in his triangular eyes.

Zhou Qing and Lu Yaoyao had just propped themselves up, and before they could see the full view of the island below, the flying boat suddenly dissipated like black mist.

An invisible giant force gripped them, sweeping them into a rapid descent.

When their feet touched the ground, a bone-chilling cold spread from the soles of their feet.

The two were already beneath the six-colored pillar of light that reached the sky; within the blinding light, countless runes could be seen twisting like snakes.

In front of the pillar of light, an old man in a large cloak stood with his back to them, his half-ash-gray face covered in spiderweb-like patterns.

His withered fingers were tapping incessantly on the array, emitting crisp sounds like metal striking stone.

Yan Weiyi turned around abruptly, his turbid eyes sweeping over Zhou Qing and Lu Yaoyao, and he sneered: "One at the Soul Transformation realm, one at the Nascent Soul realm—these are the people you said could break the restriction?"

His calloused palm slammed heavily onto the array, causing the air to hum. "Can their cultivation keep up, or can their array master grade keep up? Isn't this just nonsense?"

Watching Yan Sen, however, clapped his hands and laughed without haste: "Eighth Uncle, every profession has its specialty. Sometimes, four ounces can move a thousand pounds and turn the tide."

Yan Weiyi waved his hand impatiently, his withered facial skin twitching: "Let them try."

Watching Yan Sen looked at Zhou Qing with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

Zhou Qing suddenly straightened his back, his words clear: "I can't open it!"

"Boom!"

A terrifying pressure poured down like a tidal wave. Zhou Qing felt as if a thousand mountains were pressing down on his head, and his knees hit the ground with a "crack."

His right leg bone snapped under the heavy pressure, but fortunately, golden light flickered, and it healed again.

Lu Yaoyao screamed and lunged forward, but was knocked back by an invisible wall of air.

"Are you playing with me?" Watching Yan Sen approached slowly, the air exploding under the pressure, and the ground cracking inch by inch wherever he passed.

"I cannot break this array, but I can enter it!" Zhou Qing bit his back molars, blood sliding from the corner of his mouth.

The pressure suddenly dissipated. Watching Yan Sen's brow furrowed into a knot: "What do you mean?"

Even Yan Weiyi stopped his movements, his turbid eyeballs turning slightly.

Lu Yaoyao flew to Zhou Qing's side, supporting him, her eyes full of worry.

Zhou Qing panted heavily, feeling as if all the bones in his body were about to fall apart.

Fortunately, the "Vajra Golden Bone" was constantly helping him recover.

Afterward, he looked at the six-colored array and said: "According to what Senior Shen said, the interval between each activation of this array is a thousand years. Since it was activated last time, if you want to open it again, you have to wait a thousand years."

"But if there is some way to tamper with the time runes it has set, returning it to its initial state, I have a way to bring you in!"

Hearing Zhou Qing's words, Yan Weiyi turned his gaze back to the six-colored array in front of him.

His withered fingers subconsciously stroked the edge of his cloak.

After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice: "This doll is right. I have been studying this array for these days, and I have also sensed clues in this regard."

Watching Yan Sen turned his head abruptly, malice flashing in his triangular eyes: "Why didn't you say so earlier!"

Zhou Qing straightened his back, the veins on his neck jumping due to the pressure, but his expression remained calm: "You live one day at a time. Even if you kill us both now, there is no way to get in."

He swept his gaze over the runes flowing on the array and sneered.

"Moreover, I am not lying. As long as you can deceive this array, I can indeed bring you in. Otherwise, may I ask who can break a six-colored array?"

Watching Yan Sen snorted and was about to flare up, but was stopped by Yan Weiyi raising his hand.

A curve appeared at the corner of his mouth: "Sen'er, I have a way to shorten these time runes, but I'm afraid I need your help."

"Eighth Uncle, is what you said true!" Watching Yan Sen's eyes lit up instantly, and he stepped forward impatiently.

Yan Weiyi nodded and said: "In the days you were away, your Eighth Uncle also figured out some clues."

"If you want to break this array, even if a legendary sixth-grade array master came, they might not be able to open it."

"But if it's just changing some things, although it's a bit difficult, it's not impossible. As long as he isn't lying, he can indeed bring us in when the time comes."

Watching Yan Sen rubbed his hands excitedly, his gaze fixed on the old man's phantom in the bottom right corner of the array: "He should be able to."

His voice turned cold abruptly, and murderous intent surged: "But if he dares to play tricks on me, I will let them taste the most cruel punishments in this world!"

After Watching Yan Sen finished speaking, he waved his black robe, and a cold-glinting restrictive barrier suddenly enveloped Zhou Qing and Lu Yaoyao, with fine runes coiling around them like chains.

"Stay put!"

After saying this, under Yan Weiyi's guidance, countless dense spiritual seals overflowed from their bodies, and they began to crack it.

"Twelve thousand spiritual seals, thirty thousand spiritual seals!"

Looking at the spiritual seals floating around the two, Zhou Qing looked at Yan Weiyi with some surprise.

This guy's attainments in arrays were actually this high!

"Are you okay?" Lu Yaoyao asked worriedly.

Zhou Qing shook his head and said: "I'm fine. I was worried they wouldn't be able to get in before, but now we actually have a chance to escape."

Lu Yaoyao's eyes lit up instantly, and she seemed to guess something: "Driving the tiger to swallow the wolf?"

Zhou Qing nodded appreciatively and said quickly: "Watch your expression, don't let them discover any clues."

Lu Yaoyao immediately put on a look of despair, collapsing to the ground, her shoulders trembling violently, and sobbing sounds coming out intermittently.

Zhou Qing: "..."

"Another two weak humans brought here? Why does that girl look so familiar?"

A few drops of water on a nearby leaf slid off quietly, then bounced and flew into the ocean.

After seeing the relevant scene, the Demon Emperor Qingluo Beast looked thoughtful.

Its eyes lit up very quickly.

"Isn't this the little girl under the claws of the Peng Emperor Feng Feng Xuan Ling? She didn't die?"

"Also, I originally wanted to invite the Peng Emperor to go see the Spider Emperor together, fearing he would steal my home here."

"I didn't expect that after the veiled human female cultivator appeared, her strength was so terrifying. Fortunately, I slipped away quickly."

"Perhaps because they are both humans, this woman survived."

The Qingluo Beast muttered to itself, then shook its body, and a few more inconspicuous water droplets slowly seeped over.

Just like that, a full half-month passed, and the speed at which Watching Yan Sen and Yan Weiyi formed seals became faster and faster.

Until the next moment, the six-colored pillar of light trembled violently, and the center of the array emitted a tooth-aching sound of metal twisting.

The runes originally flowing on the surface of the array suddenly flickered constantly, and then twisted crazily.

Joyful smiles appeared on their faces, but suddenly, a chaotic aura as thick as a giant python gushed out, carrying a large area of runes.

It was just like the backlash Shen Hanyi had suffered initially.

But this time, the speed was extraordinarily fast; the two didn't even have time to react before they were directly sent flying.

Pfft—

Blood drew a scarlet arc in the air. Watching Yan Sen slammed heavily into the stone wall, shaking down many rocks and debris.

Yan Weiyi broke dozens of giant trees before he could stop, panting heavily.

"Good opportunity!"

Zhou Qing's eyes lit up. Taking advantage of the sky full of dust, he immediately cast the 【Misfortune Post】 into the pile of rubble...

(End of chapter)