Chapter 36: Theft
While the two Spatial Tempering cultivators were still speculating about what was happening, the figure had already appeared in a black hall.
The hall wasn't very large, only around 200 to 300 feet in size, and there was a thick white jade pillar standing at its center. There were countless runes inscribed upon the surface of the stone pillar, and gentle yellow light was radiating from the top of the pillar, forming a dome-shaped yellow light barrier that encompassed a certain area.
Around a dozen red stone cabinets could be seen within that area, but it was impossible to see what was inside the cabinets, giving them a rather mysterious air.
The figure remained on the spot as he carefully inspected the yellow light barrier up ahead with blue light flashing in his eyes.
Moments later, he swept a hand through the air, releasing dozens of bursts of black light, which were quickly revealed to be a series of black array flags that landed around the yellow barrier in an orderly fashion.
Immediately thereafter, he made a hand seal, and pillars of black light erupted out of the array flags before coming together in mid-air, forming an even larger black light barrier that completely encompassed the entire yellow barrier beneath it.
The yellow light barrier already took up close to half of the space within the hall, and the black light barrier encompassed virtually the entire hall.
The figure then opened his mouth to release a burst of azure qi that landed upon the yellow light barrier, attempting to bypass it just as he had done with all of the previous restrictions.
However, in an unexpected turn of events, the azure qi had only just corroded a palm-sized hole into the light barrier when the surface of the light barrier suddenly began to glow brightly, releasing countless bursts of yellow light that enveloped the cloud of azure qi.
At the same time, the runes on the white jade pillar at the center of the light barrier lit up in unison, and the yellow light barrier flashed brightly as countless dazzling threads of yellow light appeared, wrapping themselves around the cloud of azure qi before constricting viciously.
The azure qi was instantly sliced into countless shreds that quickly dissipated, following which the yellow light also receded, and the hole in the light barrier sealed over again.
The figure's expression remained completely unchanged upon seeing this, seemingly not very surprised by this outcome. After scrutinizing the white jade pillar for some time, he flipped a hand over to produce around a dozen more array flags of different colors.
With a casual flick of his wrist, all of the array flags spread through the area, hovering in mid-air to form a strange ovular array that seemed to be completely random and erratic, but there was far more to the array than met the eye.
As the figure continued to cycle through a series of hand seals, black light flashed from his hands incessantly, and the dozen or so array flags also began to glow with light of different colors as they struck the yellow light barrier like a series of javelins, driving their way in like nails to encircle an area that was around 10 feet in size.
The surface of the yellow light barrier flashed wildly as it resisted the advance of the array flags, and at the same time, a burst of powerful magic power fluctuations surged through the air. However, these fluctuations would instantly vanish as soon as they made contact with the black light barrier, unable to spread any further beyond that.
The figure chanted a complex incantation, and the dozen or so array flags flashed brightly as they sped up drastically, finally completely embedding themselves into the light barrier.
In the next instant, the yellow light on the surface of the light barrier in the section encircled within the array flags quickly dimmed.
The figure immediately released another burst of azure qi out of his mouth, and this time, the weakened light barrier was unable to offer any resistance, and most of it was eroded away in the blink of an eye.
However, the runes on the white jade pillar suddenly began to flash brightly, and the rest of the yellow light barrier outside the encircled area also glowed with dazzling radiance. An enormous outpouring of yellow light emerged, surging toward the area encircled by the array flags like a violent wave, but the array flags managed to keep the turbulent yellow light firmly at bay.
Fierce magic power fluctuations proliferated through the air, only to be contained by the black light barrier. However, the magic power fluctuations on this occasion were incredibly fierce, and the black light barrier began to buzz and tremble incessantly, seemingly on the verge of being overwhelmed.
Thankfully, it only took around two or three seconds before a large hole was eroded into the section of the yellow light barrier encircled by the array flags.
The figure immediately flew through the hole in the light barrier, landing near the white jade pillar before opening his mouth to release a cloud of dense black qi. The black qi enveloped the jade pillar, and at the same time, he made a hand seal before releasing a string of black incantation seals onto the pillar.
The black qi quickly spread over the jade pillar, staining all of the runes on its surface black.
The light glowing from the jade pillar quickly dimmed, and the fierce light surging over the yellow light barrier also slowly receded. Soon, everything was back to normal.
With a wave of the figure's hand, the dozen or so array flags flew out of the light barrier before returning to his grasp, and they were promptly stowed away.
Immediately thereafter, the figure flipped a hand over to produce a stack of yellow array flags, which shot forth as around a dozen streaks of light that struck the yellow light barrier from the inside.
These array flags flew into the light barrier before vanishing without encountering any resistance.
The entire yellow light barrier rippled momentarily before returning to normal, and the large hole that had been corroded into its surface also quickly sealed over again.
Only then did the figure direct his attention toward the dozen or so stone cabinets positioned around the jade pillar.
Every single one of the stone cabinets was enshrouded within a dark red light barrier.
The figure made his way over to one of the stone cabinets, then opened his mouth to release a burst of azure qi onto the light barrier without any hesitation. The affected area of the light barrier instantly began to ripple violently, and the red light quickly began to fade, looking as if it were about to be snuffed out imminently.
Right at this moment, specks of white light appeared on the surface of the red light barrier, and the red and white lights intertwined to keep the azure qi at bay.
At the same time, the deafening sound of a huge gong being struck rang out deep within the hall.
The space around the figure rippled slightly, and he seemed to have been caught off guard by this.
However, in the next instant, he immediately began to chant an incantation while making a series of hand seals, and the cloud of azure qi immediately began to churn violently, taking on various different forms to attack the red and white restriction, but no matter what form the azure qi took on, it was still unable to break through.
All of a sudden, the figure dispelled the cloud of azure qi in a decisive manner with a wave of his hand. He then joined his index and middle fingers together before pressing them against his glabella, and a black rift suddenly split open there before widening to reveal an inky-black eyeball.
Black runes emerged within the eyeball, and a beam of black light around as thick as a human finger shot out before striking the restriction around the stone cabinet in a flash.
In the face of the beam of black light, the red and white restriction was instantly punctured before shattering with a dull thump.
At the same time, a burst of enormous spiritual sense erupted out of the figure's glabella before splitting itself up into around a dozen portions, each of which entered a jade slip before rapidly inspecting its contents.
With the strike of that gong, all of the restrictions outside the scripture library instantly began to flash wildly while a piercing alarm rang out.
"Someone's broken into the scripture library!"
"Who would dare to do that? They must have a death wish!"
"Could it be the same bastard that broke into the Heavenly Talisman Hall two days ago?"
A series of furious voices rang out as one figure after another converged toward the scripture library from all directions.
With the precedent set by the Heavenly Talisman Hall incident, the patrols didn't hesitate at all, informing the sect's higher-ups of the situation while the most powerful patrol group leaders among them instantly charged into the scripture library.
Lights appeared all over the Cold Flame Sect in the night, and a chaotic commotion erupted.
The first people to react were actually the two Spatial Tempering cultivators at the entrance of the inner library.
As soon as the alarm was raised, the two of them immediately sprang to their feet with furious expressions.
Someone had snuck into the inner library right under their noses!
Could it really have been a Grand Ascension cultivator?
That same thought immediately occurred to both of them, but this wasn't the time to be pondering such matters. Each of them quickly summoned a jade talisman, but one was of a crescent shape, while the other was ovular in form.
The two jade talismans were placed together to form a complete circle, which was immediately adhered to a certain part of the stone door.
The rippling restriction on the door quickly vanished, and the stone door swung open, following which the two of them immediately flew in without any hesitation.
Both of them faltered slightly at the sight of the black light barrier before them.
In a state of urgency, the portly monk quickly made a decision, gritting his teeth as he flipped a hand over to produce a round mirror.
He made a hand seal, and gray light flashed from the mirror before it released a thick beam of gray light, which struck the black light barrier with a deafening boom.
The light barrier churned violently as large ripples surged over its surface, but it wasn't immediately destroyed.
At the same time, the thin man summoned four azure flying swords, which circled around briefly in the air before transforming into four azure lotus flowers.
Countless streaks of azure sword qi erupted out of the four azure lotus flowers, all of which struck the black light barrier.
Finally, the black barrier was unable to withstand the assault and was torn apart to reveal the scene within.
"Stop!"
The two Spatial Tempering cultivators were quite relieved to see the indistinct silver figure within the light barrier, but at the same time, they were also furious and embarrassed.
The figure was only giving off a Nascent Soul aura!
However, the figure paid no heed to the two Spatial Tempering cultivators. He had just finished inspecting the contents of the jade slips in one of the stone cabinets, and he quickly moved on to another one.
Another beam of black light shot out of his glabella to shatter the restriction around that stone cabinet, following which he calmly released his spiritual sense again to glean the contents of the jade slips in the cabinet.
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