Chapter 448

Chapter 448: Collecting the Ancient City of Yin Ruins

Beneath the ground, thousands of feet deep, the rocks trembled as cracks suddenly appeared.

“Boom…” Rocks the size of small mountains fell and rolled away across the flat ground, only stopping when they hit an ancient stone statue.

Two hundred Condensed Essence Stage practitioners filed in, lining up on both sides to welcome the arrival of the brothers from the Mirror Lake faction.

Now, who didn’t know about the rise of the Mirror Lake faction, which had overwhelmed all other sects? Therefore, when Brother Li Yingjun called out, even those holding important positions in the sect set aside their tasks and put all their effort into clearing the underground tunnel.

Not counting the two hundred Condensed Essence Stage practitioners before them, the sect also had a large number of Concentrating Spirit Stage cultivators and other Condensed Essence Stage practitioners, all mobilized by the Mirror Lake faction to dig tunnels everywhere.

Before long, Li Hui arrived and looked toward the Ancient Tomb of the Divine Sparrow, saying, “Good, you all return and expedite the progress. Open the long-sealed underground tomb of the Haotu Sect. With the dark moon calamity approaching, we need to boost our strength. I will set up three lists—Heaven, Earth, and People—to outline various ghostly beings, and present rare treasures to encourage all disciples in the sect to eliminate these ghostly entities. Those who are capable can take the opportunity to rise quickly.”

The practitioners softly discussed among themselves and then bowed before leaving.

At that time, Que San stood in front of the Ancient Tomb of the Divine Sparrow, pushing forward with force. The air swirled and quickly opened a vortex passage along with his arms.

“Master, we are back!” Que San exclaimed joyfully. After all, he was the guardian of the Ancient Tomb of the Divine Sparrow. He had thought he would never return once he left, but who would have known that just two years later, he not only returned but would assist his master in retrieving the Ancient City of Yin Ruins? The project was truly grand.

For Que San, his cultivation direction revolved around building palaces. All the construction in the Buddhist nation of Golden Shell was entrusted to him, allowing him to oversee various underground projects, leading his cultivation to rise steadily.

He was now at the Late Condense Essence Stage, and once he secured the Ancient City of Yin Ruins, he would instantly break through limitations and enter the Bosa Stage. If he managed to fully restore the city, he would be at the mid-stage Bosa, and further progress would allow him to reach the late-stage Bosa.

“I’ll arrange the talisman formation, and you’ll lock the position.”

“Understood!” Que San accepted the order and stepped into the tomb.

Li Hui set up the talisman formation. Previously he lacked confidence, but now armed with the Spirit Bright Great Saint’s Qi Tian Talisman and leveraging the talisman power he had accumulated through sacrifices, he prepared to do his utmost to fish the Ancient City of Yin Ruins from deep underground.

Even disregarding the city’s outputs, just the suppression and control it held over insects, beasts, and ghosts warranted taking this risk. When confronting the ghostly creature that might be restraining Mu Qianyun, he needed to have some means of counterattack.

Half an hour later, Que San transmitted a message: “Master, I found it! The Ancient City of Yin Ruins lies within the Inferno, suppressed by boundless heat to control the evil. With the emergence of the dark moon, if we manage to fish it up, it may become a disaster.”

“I know this is very dangerous, but I have to take a shot at it,” Li Hui stated, realizing he needed extraordinary power to break free from the current predicament. Without it, he wouldn’t be able to continue smoothly.

“Alright, I understand. I’ll immediately establish a connection between the Ancient Tomb of the Divine Sparrow and the Ancient City of Yin Ruins.” Que San moved decisively, knowing that retrieving the city held only advantages for him.

Another half an hour passed, and the underground roared intensely. A monkey king, standing a staggering nine hundred and ninety-nine zhang tall, exerted tremendous power to drag the Ancient City of Yin Ruins upward from the deep layers.

This ancient city had the nature of a cave heaven, and as it rose slightly, immeasurable golden light shot down from the Ancient Tomb of the Divine Sparrow. Li Hui was fully energizing the Golden Shell, preparing to guide the Ancient City of Yin Ruins into the miniature Buddhist nation.

“Crack, crack, crack…” The muscles on the monkey king’s body bulged, suddenly coated with a layer of silver light. Fueled by the silver light, his hidden potential erupted in a frenzy, pulling up the water bucket as if drawing water from a well.

“Boom, boom, boom!”

The ground shook continuously, forcing the Ancient City of Yin Ruins back into the present world. This was no task for the Jade Symbol alone, but fortunately, all the guardians of the Buddhist nation had amassed enough power to transform into the Six-Armed Arhat to help.

The collaboration of the monkey king and the Arhat multiplied the thunderous sounds.

“Crack…” The Ancient Tomb of the Divine Sparrow shattered, various dark energies bursting forth—not just the dark energy that was simple.

Li Hui hurriedly released two rolls of decrees, causing a proud nine-colored divine deer to appear in the air, showering down myriad beams of light to purify the area. Suddenly, an overwhelming suction surged, wildly absorbing the fierce energy. The fierce beast Tao Wu emerged; although it wasn’t as strong as the nine-colored deer at the moment, its recovery speed was exceptionally fast, seemingly about to regenerate a fierce beast from the decree.

Suddenly, a small gourd flew into the air.

Yang Gu dwelled within its nest, peeling away layer after layer of dark clouds from the Ancient City of Yin Ruins, much like a strong man undressing a young bride, wild in its eagerness.

At this moment, all means were employed. The monkey king’s height swiftly shrank from nine hundred and ninety-nine zhang to six hundred, then from six hundred to one hundred zhang, finally stopping at sixty zhang, consuming an immense amount of energy!

The Six-Armed Arhat had already dispersed; the Golden Shell drilled into the ruins of the Ancient Tomb of the Divine Sparrow, heading toward the Ancient City of Yin Ruins. Li Hui quickly activated the Deputy Inspector General’s seal; without the seal proving his identity, the resistance would be unbelievable.

As the collection neared completion, Li Hui did not dare relax.

The talisman in the air spun, Tao Wu devoured shadows. Some might say it was a voracious beast, and it seemed it was hinting at breaking loose from control.

“Suppress it!”

Such a ferocious talisman was too dangerous, and any wrongdoing might lead to disaster. Li Hui quickly infused it with Buddhist power to suppress it, and fortunately controlled it just in time, reducing the suction by a third; otherwise, it could have turned into a disaster.

“Whether you’re fierce or wild, if you have the ability, harm the Yin Moon Dynasty instead.”

“Boom…” Exhausting all his strength, the Golden Shell and the Ancient City of Yin Ruins finally merged deep underground. However, the situation was far from over.

Just as the Golden Shell surfaced from deep underground, Guang Jin shouted, “Master, it’s bad! With the current strength of the Golden Shell, we can only merge less than half of the Ancient City of Yin Ruins; it might not even reach half, only three to four tenths of the area.”

“The Ancient City of Yin Ruins is so large?” Li Hui gasped in disbelief and quickly sent Que San inside, instructing, “Immediately peel away whatever can be peeled.”

“Understood,” Que San replied, rushing in with a team to suppress and examine, discovering many years of dark clouds shrouding vast areas revealed. They were far larger than the previously viewable territory.

After the Ancient City of Yin Ruins revealed its full scope, the territory expanded tenfold. Even Que San didn’t realize the true breadth of the Ancient City of Yin Ruins. After observing just a few locations, he exclaimed in shock, “Heavens! I’ve never seen such a vast Yin Ruins before, with dark wood built nests for ants. I’ve heard that disciples from all the major sects lost their true spirits, it must have been the doing of these dark tide ants.”

The Golden Shell was extraordinarily heavy. Li Hui had to channel all his Buddhist power just to barely hold it in his palm, wearing a bitter smile on his face: “In a few hours, the Jin Tian Treasure Mirror will be opening soon, and I must also visit Cheng Tian Peak. I’m a lazy person; how can I be so busy? No, I need to find a way to send someone else to do the work.”