Chapter 704: Chapter 704
The cave was eerily silent.
In such an environment, everyone instinctively felt a bit tense.
Qin Sang kept pondering the reason behind the unusual reaction of the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells. Is it because a powerful spiritual flame is hidden somewhere within the cave, or is it merely being agitated by this strange cold mist?
The cave wasn’t as deep as expected. As Qin Sang contemplated, he noticed that Daoist Fan at the front had suddenly stopped and whispered, "Up ahead is the entrance to the cave dwelling."
Only then did Qin Sang notice that the stone steps beneath their feet had come to an end, opening up into a flat stone platform.
The space here seemed quite vast, but the cold mist was so dense that visibility was severely limited. Nothing could be seen, not even with spiritual consciousness. Latest content publıshed on novèlfire.net
After hastening forward a few steps, Qin Sang and the others finally saw the faint outline of a black stone wall. Embedded in it was a perfectly round entrance to the cave, sealed by a thin black light barrier.
The light barrier was faintly translucent, and they could vaguely see the interior. It was a small, sparse stone chamber. A shelf carved into the nearest wall was already empty, clearly stripped of any treasures, likely by Daoist Fan.
Everyone stepped forward to examine the barrier. They quickly realized that it contained an intricate formation. Its power must have once been formidable, or else it would never have withstood the cold mist for so long.
"Breaking this barrier isn’t difficult. I’ve already entered before. It’s just that doing it alone took too much effort. If the seven of us work together, it’ll be much easier. But be careful. We must not destroy the barrier. These barriers are connected to the ones that seal the cold mist. There are hordes of demonic beasts nearby. If we allow the cold mist to pour out of the cave, the phenomenon will definitely attract great demons..." said Daoist Fan.
Everyone listened closely as Daoist Fan explained how to break the barrier.
At that moment, a female cultivator turned to look behind and asked, "Daoist Fan, where exactly is the cold mist coming from? What lies beyond this space? Are there other cave dwellings? Did you explore the rest?"
Daoist Fan paused, then lifted his head and looked toward the deeper part of the cold mist. "It’s not a stone wall opposite this chamber. It’s a steep cliff. There’s an underground chasm—immensely deep, unknown, and mysterious. The cold mist fills the chasm and seems to be seeping out from its depths."
"Did you try going down? What could be at the bottom of that chasm, to generate such bizarre cold mist?" Qin Sang asked.
He suspected that if a spiritual flame truly existed, it might lie deep within that rift. The cold mist could be tied to the flame.
If the cold mist was indeed a manifestation or byproduct of the flame’s power, it would naturally carry traces of its unique aura, which explained the reaction from the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells.
Qin Sang rarely spoke, so his sudden question drew the Daoist Fan's attention.
He glanced at Qin Sang with mild surprise, then nodded.
"I did try descending along the cliff wall, but the chasm seemed bottomless. There was nothing but cold mist. After descending for a while, I suddenly felt a deep, inexplicable fear. I didn’t dare go any farther, so I turned back and focused on cracking the cave dwelling’s barrier."
"Later, I discovered that the cave dwelling contained many treasures. As long as I could open the third layer of the barrier, the rewards would be unimaginable. Why risk my life exploring the unknown?"
What he said sounded like the words of someone seasoned and practical. When everyone approached the cliff and saw the bottomless chasm for themselves, they found the reasoning hard to argue with. Had they been in his shoes, they might have made the same decision.
The Transformation Realm demonic beast's hide, the Sun-Piercing Talisman...
Any one of those items was enough to let them thrive in the Core Formation Realm, let alone several in a row.
"Daoist Fan, you mentioned that the third layer of the barrier is extremely sturdy and difficult to break, possibly requiring a lot of time. If things don’t go smoothly and we remain exposed to the cold mist for too long, I fear we won’t last. We must act quickly. Let’s begin the process," the scholar said solemnly.
Daois Fan’s expression turned serious, and he gave a slight nod. "Then please follow my instructions. We will attack a single point together. Using brute force will trigger a counterattack, but the backlash won’t be too severe. Don’t be alarmed. When a crack appears in the barrier, rush in as fast as you can."
Once he was certain everyone had memorized the key points, Daoist Fan waved his hand. The group spread out in a fan-shaped formation around him and sat down cross-legged.
Daoist Fan flicked his fingers rapidly, sending out seven black bone nails in succession.
Thump, thump, thump...
The nails embedded themselves into the barrier. One was in the center, the other six formed a ring around it.
These nails had clearly been crafted from some type of beast bone.
Qin Sang, with some knowledge in barriers, could tell that these were specialized barrier-breaking artifacts. As for their actual power, it was still unclear.
Daoist Fan appeared somewhat drained after deploying the nails. He took a few breaths before speaking again. "Each of you, select one nail and pour your true essence into it. Then follow my lead."
He himself focused on the central nail. Qin Sang casually chose one and began channeling his essence into it.
To his surprise, the inconspicuous-looking nail showed no signs of breaking under the intense flow of true essence. In fact, as more energy surged into it, a phantom image began to form above it, gradually growing larger.
Following Daoist Fan’s repeated instructions, everyone acted in perfect coordination. Before long, the phantoms above each nail merged into a single, massive illusion of a bone nail, positioned precisely over the center of the barrier.
"Go!" Daoist Fan bellowed, his face flushed with effort.
The giant phantom nail trembled for a moment, then drove itself down viciously toward the barrier.
In the next instant, a loud bang echoed through the cave, followed by a violent tremor that shook the ground. The blast was so deafening that, despite standing near the barrier, everyone’s ears rang with a dull hum.
Then, an astonishing scene unfolded. A vertical crack split open at the center of the barrier, running from top to bottom. Immediately after, two massive ripples spread outward like waves on water, and a surge of black light erupted from the barrier.
Everyone’s expressions changed drastically. They hurried to dodge. Qin Sang retreated without hesitation. The black light tore through the cold mist like dry twigs, effortlessly scattering it and throwing their formation into disarray. Chaos followed.
The anxious shout of Daoist Fan came from the front. "Don’t panic! The barrier has been broken. Hurry and follow me inside!"
Only then did Qin Sang realize he had retreated too far. After the initial alarm passed, he also noticed that the black light, though overwhelming in appearance, lacked any real offensive force.
He quickly stopped himself, pressed off the ground, and charged forward through the black light. Soon, he returned to the barrier’s edge.
Just then, a graceful silhouette flashed past in front of him. It appeared to be one of the female cultivators. Through the barrier, he could faintly see a few figures already inside the stone chamber. Several of the others had entered ahead of him.
Seeing her pass through safely, and with the crack in the barrier beginning to close rapidly, Qin Sang no longer hesitated. He was just about to dart through when his body suddenly halted mid-motion.
A strange glint flickered in his eyes. Instead of entering, he unexpectedly stepped back.
"Daoist Qin, what are you waiting for? The barrier is about to restore itself. Why aren’t you going in?"
The voice of the gaunt old man suddenly called out from behind.