Chapter 105: Deep in the Nest

The fall of the half-step Spirit Transformation magic creature was like pouring cold water into a boiling pot, completely breaking the dead silence on the edge of the Imperial Mausoleum Forbidden Zone. The formation light curtain at the underground entrance, which had been rippling violently, became dim and uncertain because it lost the support of the magic creature's power, its concealment effect greatly reduced, revealing the deep passage behind it that exuded a thick evil and magic energy.

Lin Xuan did not hesitate at all, his figure like electricity, shooting directly into the passage. Huangfu Hao saw this, left most of the secret guards to continue guarding the outer perimeter, and followed closely with two Late-Stage Soul Formation personal guards.

The passage tilted downward, deep and dark, with clear claw marks and corrosion marks left on the walls, obviously left by the magic creature coming in and out on weekdays. The deeper they went, the thicker the evil aura mixed with the coldness unique to Shadow Tower assassins and the Abyss of Ruins magic energy became, making one feel nauseous.

After moving forward for about a hundred zhang, the view suddenly opened up, and a huge underground space appeared before everyone.

This was not the underground of a deserted village at all! It was clearly an underground fortress built by hollowing out the mountain belly!

The space was tens of zhang high, more than a thousand zhang in radius, and the top was embedded with phosphorus stones emitting ghostly green light, illuminating the entire space like a ghost domain. All around were dense stone rooms and caves, where the cold light of weapons and pairs of eyes full of killing intent could be vaguely seen. In the center was a huge blood pool, in which viscous, dark red liquid rolled, exuding suffocating blood and magic energy, and a kind of evil formation seemed to be drawn at the bottom of the pool.

And beside the blood pool stood an altar built entirely of white bones. Above the altar, a dark crack exuding strong spatial fluctuations was suspended! Strands of pure magic energy were seeping from the crack, merging into the blood pool below!

"Spatial crack! A crack connecting to the Abyss of Ruins!" Lin Xuan's pupils shrank! He finally understood where the half-step Spirit Transformation magic creature came from, and also understood the real purpose of the Shadow Tower establishing a nest here—they were not just training assassins, but using the special environment of the Imperial Mausoleum Forbidden Zone and this spatial crack to breed and attract Abyss of Ruins magic creatures!

"Trespassers in the forbidden land, kill without mercy!"

Just when Lin Xuan and others were shocked by the scene before them, countless black shadows surged out from the stone rooms and caves all around, instantly surrounding them! There were no fewer than a hundred people, among whom more than ten were at the Soul Formation stage, and the three leaders had auras that reached the peak of the Late-Stage Soul Formation! They were all the most core and elite assassins of the Shadow Tower!

They were obviously alarmed by the battle outside just now, and now they came out in full force, their killing intent soaring!

"Form the 'Ten Thousand Shadows Immortal-Slaying Formation'!" A Late-Stage Soul Formation peak assassin with a ferocious scar on his face shouted sharply, trying to organize resistance.

The auras of more than a hundred assassins were instantly connected, and the shadows under their feet spread and intertwined, forming a huge formation that covered the entire underground space! Countless shadow tentacles stretched out from the formation, wrapping around Lin Xuan and others like living things, and countless invisible shadow blades were hidden in the void, waiting for an opportunity! The formation power invoked the earth vein death energy and blood pool magic energy, doubling its power, enough to trap and kill an Early-Stage Spirit Transformation!

"Protect Your Highness!" The two Imperial Family guards' faces changed drastically, and they immediately sacrificed magic treasures to protect Huangfu Hao in the middle, fully resisting the erosion of the formation.

Huangfu Hao's face was also pale. Although he was a member of the Imperial Family, when had he ever seen such an evil and terrifying scene and killing situation?

Facing this desperate situation, Lin Xuan snorted coldly, not only without fear, but instead, a more intense fighting spirit and killing intent burned in his eyes!

"Ghosts and monsters, dare to speak of slaying immortals?"

He stepped out, ignoring the shadow tentacles wrapping around and the hidden blades, and the Chaos Star Dharma Image behind him manifested again! The three-zhang dharma image stood majestically, Zhou Tian stars flowed, shedding infinite starlight!

"Elder Xinghui... Illumination!"

The dharma image's hands were folded, and then suddenly opened! Dazzling starlight erupted like a sun, centered on Lin Xuan, sweeping in all directions!

Wherever the starlight passed, those shadow tentacles were like meeting their nemesis, making a "chi-chi" sound, rapidly melting and dissipating! The shadow blades hidden in the void were also forcibly forced out, turning into blue smoke in the starlight!

This pure yang and rigid starlight that purified everything was the natural nemesis of these evil things!

The offensive of the Ten Thousand Shadows Immortal-Slaying Formation was instantly broken by more than half!

"How is it possible?!" The scar leader was horrified. The combined attack formation he was famous for was so easily resolved by the other party?

"It's my turn!" Lin Xuan's eyes were cold, the dharma image raised its hand, and condensed the Starfall God Spear again! But this time, it was not one, but three!

Three star spears made entirely of pure star power and Chaos currents floated in front of the dharma image, exuding a sharp killing intent that pierced everything!

"Go!"

Lin Xuan pointed with his fingers!

The three Starfall God Spears were like three meteors tearing through the darkness, shooting at the three Late-Stage Soul Formation peak assassin leaders respectively!

Fast speed! Fierce power! Soul locking!

The three leaders were terrified, feeling the fatal threat, frantically urging spiritual power, and unleashing their strongest life-saving means, either turning into shadows to escape, or condensing ghost shields, or sacrificing defensive magic treasures!

However, in the face of absolute power and attribute restraint, all struggles were futile!

"Puff!" "Puff!" "Puff!"

Three light sounds sounded almost at the same time!

The first spear pierced through the ghost shield, nailed a leader to the rock wall, the star power erupted, blowing him into fragments!

The second spear caught up with the figure turning into a shadow to escape, pierced from his back, and came out from his chest, bringing up a pool of black blood mixed with magic energy!

The third spear directly shattered the bone shield of extraordinary quality, and the momentum did not diminish, blasting the head of the last leader into fine powder!

The three major leaders died instantly!

The leaders fell, the formation core collapsed, and the remaining assassins were suddenly in chaos, their morale collapsed!

"Saintess Yun Yao!"

Lin Xuan gave a clear shout!

The Azure Luan Saintess Yun Yao, who had long been unable to hold back, let out a long cry that pierced gold and cracked stone, flew up from Lin Xuan's shoulder, her figure swelled in the blue light, and she restored herself to her divine battle form! She spread her wings, and the endless Azure Luan True Flame was like a pouring heavenly river, sweeping toward those chaotic assassins!

Where the blue flames passed, the Golden Core assassins instantly vaporized, and the Soul Formation assassins were also burned and screamed, their protective spiritual light rapidly dimming!

Lin Xuan's main body also moved! The Chaos Immortal-Slaying Sword Embryo was in hand, his body turned into afterimages, like a tiger entering a flock of sheep, every time the sword light flashed, an assassin would fall! He specifically picked those Soul Formation assassins to attack, using sword fingers, fist aura, and domain power alternately, invincible!

Huangfu Hao and his guards were also greatly encouraged, taking the opportunity to counterattack and kill the fish that slipped through the net.

This was a one-sided massacre!

The core nest that the Shadow Tower had painstakingly operated for many years collapsed rapidly under Lin Xuan's absolute force and attribute restraint, like clay chickens and pottery dogs!

In just the time of a stick of incense, in the underground space, except for Lin Xuan and others, there were no survivors! The blood pool was still rolling, but the spatial crack on the white bone altar seemed to have become a bit more stable because it lost the support of energy, and no longer twisted violently.

The battle ended, and the thick smell of blood and magic energy mixed, making one feel nauseous.

Lin Xuan stood by the blood pool with his sword, looking at the dark spatial crack with a grave gaze. He could feel the chaotic and evil aura belonging to the Abyss of Ruins from the opposite side of the crack.

"This crack must be sealed!" Lin Xuan said in a deep voice. If it were allowed to exist, it was unknown how many magic creatures would cross the border.

He walked to the white bone altar and observed carefully. The runes on the altar were evil and ancient, using the blood and souls of living beings as energy to maintain the stability of the crack.

"Brother Lin, such an evil formation, I am afraid we need to invite the formation masters of the Imperial Family's Offering Hall..." Huangfu Hao stepped forward, looking at the altar and the crack, still having lingering fears.

"No need." Lin Xuan shook his head, chaos light flowing in his eyes. "Breaking cleverness with force is also possible!"

He took a deep breath, and the Chaos Dao Seed and Star Dharma Image power were urged to the extreme! His hands hugged empty in front of his chest, and a much larger and deeper Chaos Returning to Ruins whirlpool condensed in front of him!

The whirlpool rotated slowly, exuding a terrifying aura that swallowed everything and returned to nothingness!

"Seal!"

Lin Xuan gave a low shout, and his palms pushed forward fiercely!

That huge Chaos whirlpool, like an invisible millstone, slowly pressed toward the white bone altar and the spatial crack!

"Ka-cha... Boom!"

The white bones on the altar broke inch by inch and turned into fine powder under the crushing of Chaos power! The evil runes on it shattered and annihilated one after another!

That dark spatial crack, losing the support of the altar energy and being eroded by the Chaos Returning to Ruins power, began to twist and shrink violently, and magic energy was constantly stripped and swallowed at the edges!

Finally, in a roar of magic that seemed to come from the depths of the Nine Nethers and was full of unwillingness, the spatial crack was forcibly closed and disappeared completely!

Only a bare stone platform purified by Chaos power remained.

The hidden danger was temporarily lifted.

Lin Xuan dispersed the whirlpool, his face slightly pale. Forcibly sealing a spatial crack connected to the Abyss of Ruins, even if it was just a smaller one, was a huge consumption.

He swept his gaze over this messy underground fortress and said to Huangfu Hao: "Your Highness, the subsequent cleaning of this place will be left to you. All items related to the Shadow Tower and the Abyss of Ruins must be strictly sealed and reported to the Imperial Lord."

"Brother Lin, rest assured!" Huangfu Hao agreed solemnly, looking at Lin Xuan with gratitude and admiration. If it weren't for Lin Xuan today, he would have been buried here, and the Imperial Dynasty would have faced huge hidden dangers.

Lin Xuan nodded and said nothing more. He walked to the purified stone platform and picked up a fragment about the size of a fingernail, pitch black, but containing a trace of strange golden light, which fell from the core of the altar during the sealing process just now.

This fragment felt cold to the touch, faintly exuding an aura that was completely different from star power, but equally vast and ancient.

"This is..." Lin Xuan frowned slightly, feeling that this thing seemed to be related to the "Star Tower".

He put away the fragment, preparing to study it slowly later.

After this battle, the core power of the Shadow Tower in the Imperial Capital was almost uprooted, and the conspiracy of colluding with the Abyss of Ruins also initially surfaced. But Lin Xuan knew that this was far from over. The threat of the Abyss of Ruins, the movements of the Star Palace, the hostility of the Zhao Clan, and the undercurrents deeper in the Imperial Capital... everything indicated that a bigger storm was still behind.

He glanced at the few low-level assassins who were unconscious in the corner and were deliberately left alive (for interrogation), and said to Huangfu Hao: "This place is not suitable for staying long, let's go."

The group quickly left the underground nest full of blood and sin.

Outside the Imperial Mausoleum Forbidden Zone, the night was still deep. But Lin Xuan knew that his actions tonight would inevitably be like a huge stone thrown into a calm lake, setting off unprecedented stormy waves in the Imperial Capital and even the entire Tianyuan Imperial Dynasty! ===== CHAPTER 106 =====