At the same time that the people from the East Sea Army were moving to investigate what had happened at the river, Xuan Hao arrived in a large underground space similar to the one he had encountered below the ruins of the Raging Flame Sect. The only difference compared to the seal located beneath the ruins of the Raging Flame Sect being that the seal beneath the river looked like it had already started breaking apart, while the dark miasma below continuously pushed against the seal to speed up the process.
"This…"
Seeing this scene, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine.
Even though he wasn't too experienced when it came to formations, he could still tell that the seal in front of him wouldn't be able to hold on for long under the constant attack of the dark miasma below.
"To think the damage was this severe…" Similar to Xuan Hao, the old man also froze on the spot filled with horror after he saw the state of the seal. "Even with the help of the divine blood, I won't be able to fully repair it and will at most be able to stabilize it for a few more years. Maybe I will be able to get more help in dealing with strengthen the seals after returning, but it might be too late by then."
Frowning visibly as he went over the current situation by himself, the old man ultimately let out a reluctant sigh before starting the process of repairing some damaged parts of the seal and strengthening other parts with the help of an even larger assortment of strange artifacts than he had used while repairing the seal below the ruins of the Raging Flame sect.
ROOOOAR-!
Of course, as the old man began the process of repairing the seal, the all too familiar roar of the being sealed inside the seal echoed out from the depths of the abyss that was covered by the dark miasma as a terrifying aura swept over the old man and Xuan Hao who had hidden a short distance away from the old man.
The aura is actually so much more powerful compared to the one beneath the Raging Flame Sect. Maybe even stronger than the one inside the dark red whirlpool seal!
Feeling this terrifying aura, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine as he thought about this. Not just because of how strong the aura was, but also because the aura was almost comparable to the one, he had felt inside the dark red whirlpool where he had been on the other side of the seal for a short time.
The implication behind this was rather unsettling, as it meant that the being sealed beneath the river was only a single step away from escaping the seal.
"Hmph! Don't think you can take advantage of me to escape while I'm working on the seal!"
Whoosh~
Having seemingly seen through the intentions of the shadowy being that had emerged at the edge of the seal at some point in time, the old man didn't hesitate for a second as he pulled out a circular artifact and threw it towards the shadowy being that seemed to be trying to escape through some of the gaps that had formed in the already badly damaged seal after the old man had begun to work on repairing it.
Roar!? Having sensed something terrifying from the circular artifact that seamlessly passed through the seal without being stopped, the shadowy being turned around and tried to escape back down into the dark abyss that it had come from-
Crack-Bang!
However, it was far too slow to react, as the circular artifact suddenly broke apart. Revealing a small golden drop of blood inside.
R-roar!?
Seeing the small golden drop of blood that had emerged from the artifact, the shadowy being that had remained fearless so far suddenly began to shake in fear before freezing in place, unable to move as the golden drop of blood flew towards it.
Watching this scene play out from afar, Xuan Hao couldn't help frowning to himself as he focused all of his attention on the small drop of blood.
What is that? Is it perhaps the divine blood mentioned by the old man? But why does it give me such a strange sense of familiarity…?
Not able to understand the strange feeling he felt after the appearance of the golden drop of blood and wanting nothing more than to investigate it further, Xuan Hao could only reluctantly watch as the golden drop of blood entered the body of the being hidden in the dark miasma-
FWOOSH-!
R-r-roar!?
Not a second after the golden drop of blood entered the body of the being in the dark miasma, did the seal suddenly light up with a terrifying light that far surpassed anything he had ever seen from the seal beneath the ruins of the Raging Flame Sect.
"Hehe, with the help of the divine blood, the seal should be able to operate at its full power for a few minutes no matter how damaged as long as the core is intact." Chuckling to himself as he saw the seal essentially come back to life again, the old man smiled proudly after hearing the panicked and fearful roar coming from the dark miasma.
At the same time, he didn't waste a second as he used this precious opportunity to repair as much of the seal as possible. Understanding that the divine blood wouldn't be able to keep the seal operating at full power forever.
RUMBLE-!
With a resplendent burst of light following the seal recovering its past full power for a moment, countless golden tendrils unfurled from each of the divine formation symbols covering every inch of the underground space, all of them unfurling into a massive golden net that covered the dark miasma before converging on the helpless being inside the dark miasma.
Roar!
However, even using all of its strength to try and fight back against the luminous energies converging on it from all sides through the golden tendrils that now covered its entire body, the being in the seal was helpless to struggle against the overwhelming tide of light that washed over it. Only able to twist and turn in agony as the powerful luminous energy belonging to the Dao of Light seared through its entire body, while it was forced deeper int the dark abyss that it had emerged from.
The power of the seal even forced back the dark miasma that had overtaken the underground space. Giving Xuan Hao and the old man a chance to see the true appearance of the underground space. Allowing both of them to understand that the underground space wasn't just a random underground space where the seal happened to be set up by chance, but instead a massive underground hall that had long since been destroyed with the passage of time.
The only thing that remained intact from the once massive hall that should have made up the underground space where the seal was located being the broken tiles and pillars inside the seal that the dark miasma had hidden before. Considering that none of these ruins had appeared outside of the seal, the reason why they had managed to survive for so long inside the seal itself, should be due to the fact that the being sealed inside the seal didn't seem to care about destroying this last bit of what remained of the hall it had been sealed together with it.
At the same time, it also made Xuan Hao realize that the size of the seal shouldn't have covered the same large area that it covered at the moment.
"…"
Looking at the light from the seal forcibly suppressing the shadowy being deep into a space located below the ruined hall that he found himself inside of at the moment, Xuan Hao was shocked to discover that the true size of the seal in its peak was nothing more than a small ball of light no larger than his head that was located in a small room beneath the ruined hall itself.
The reason why the seal had been changed to cover the now ruined hall was due to the simple fact that it had been weakened over the long years and should have used some kind of incomprehensible method to forcibly sustain itself by expanding in size, either to absorb more spiritual qi from the surrounding environment or some completely different thing he had no way to understand at the moment.
In the end, the being hidden in the dark miasma had ended up being fully sealed after the appearance of the divine blood. Not able to put up the slightest bit of resistance in the process.
Although it would only last for a few minutes according to the old man, Xuan Hao didn't think too much about it as he focused his full attention on the seal operating at full power. Intending to learn as much from it as he could in the short time it was active.
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