Chapter 439: Chapter 425: In the Cave, the Quasi-Path Breathing Method
Even though he knew they could pass through, he couldn’t blatantly compel Elder Huo to take the risk.
After all, Elder Huo was responsible for protecting everyone and would never willingly lead them into perilous territory.
Therefore, Gu Ming could only use this opportunity to subtly guide them.
Cyan Treasure understood implicitly, effortlessly controlling its seemingly thunderous breathing.
While it appeared to be merely gulping down the local Spiritual Qi, under its Quasi-Path Realm control, the suction influenced the flow and direction of Spiritual Qi throughout the entire area.
In just a few moments, a relatively stable and safe passage with a significantly lower concentration of Memory Essence naturally formed, extending toward the patch of land shrouded in black mist where the strange Spirit Medicines grew.
In their urgency, the group had no time to consider the potential dangers ahead and subconsciously turned down this "path to survival."
Elder Huo only realized after they entered the new cavern that the concentration of Memory Essence nearby had plummeted, and the pressure on them eased significantly.
Although he was puzzled, Cyan Treasure’s Breathing Technique had been a huge help, so he didn’t dwell on a certain someone’s ulterior motives.
He said to the students behind him,
"Students, Cyan Treasure’s Breathing Technique has achieved a breakthrough. It has temporarily entered the Quasi-Path Realm and purified a safe area for us."
"But I don’t know how long this state can be maintained. Let’s keep moving... If you come across any Spirit Medicines along the way, feel free to collect them."
Elder Huo paused deliberately after that last sentence.
His Divine Sense constantly scanned the surroundings.
He could sense patches of Spirit Medicine, shrouded in Spiritual Qi and overflowing with medicinal properties, that made even the High-star Pet Beasts in his Beast Taming Space grow restless and salivate.
They were clearly peerless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, the kind one might find only once in ten thousand years.
Since they were passing by, how could they possibly miss this opportunity?
Elder Huo took the initiative, plucking two strange herbs from the air. They were shrouded in black mist, shaped like thorny black coral, and emitted a mental aura of fear.
Seeing this, the other students finally caught on and began to act.
Gu Ming was the fastest. The moment the thought formed in his mind, he urged all his Pet Beasts—except for Cyan Treasure—to act simultaneously.
Mouse Treasure used Earth Escape to burrow into the soil, pulling the herbs up by the roots.
Mianmian’s Spiritual Power helped clear out hidden dangers for everyone. Even though Cyan Treasure had absorbed most of the Memory Essence, remnants of dangerous dreams still lingered.
Ah Kun gathered the ambient moisture in the air, forming a cascade of water that washed over the rock faces to collect the easily accessible Spirit Medicines.
Ah Ji’s method was even more uncanny. Its body transformed into a shadow and slipped into the ground.
It then moved to a central point between several of the Spirit Medicines.
Its shadow burst out like a spiderweb, connecting to the "shadows" of the distant herbs.
By manipulating their shadows, it connected to the actual bodies of six Spirit Medicines at once, yanking them out by the roots from within the darkness underground!
The group swept through like a plague of locusts. Wherever they went, any Spirit Medicine emitting black mist and possessing a strange form,
...be it the constantly snapping fish-mouth grass or the menacing, fang-baring biter-blossoms, was plundered completely.
As everyone was frantically gathering the herbs,
the deeper they went, the more drastically the surrounding scenery changed. The feeling of trepidation permeating the air also grew more intense.
Before long, the view ahead suddenly opened up. A strange object appeared before them, wrapped in a thick black mist. It was the size of an ostrich egg, stood about knee-high, and was faintly pulsating as if it were growing and expanding.
Due to his lower Star Level, Gu Ming could only feel a suffocating pressure emanating from the misty black egg.
Elder Huo, however, perceived it with perfect clarity in an instant.
It was a Spirit Beast Egg, and it was emitting the aura of a newborn Seven-star beast!
Moreover, this aura was from the exact same source as the black mist creature he had sensed flitting past their group earlier!
’Is this its true body? Or is it the offspring it laid?’
In a flash, thoughts raced through Elder Huo’s mind.
An inexplicable desire, originating from the very depths of his soul, suddenly surged within him.
The egg seemed to contain some ancient and abstruse Array Daoist Skill that held a fatal attraction for him.
The surrounding aura of fear, far from calming him, acted as a Catalyst, intensifying his fervor.
Elder Huo acted almost without a second thought.
He summoned his Array Pet Beast and laid down multiple Light Arrays.
Bolts of lightning crashed down like chains, sizzling as they purified the protective black smoke on the egg’s surface.
He swiped his sleeve, and another dazzling golden light shot out. It landed and transformed into an Array Beast shaped like a Profound Turtle, its shell engraved with the All Heaven-star Map.
This was his Star Pivot Array Turtle Pet.
The moment the Star Pivot Array Turtle appeared, it stomped its four feet heavily on the ground. Amidst a low hum, a complex incantation echoed in the air.
"Eight Gates Golden Lock Array!"
The base of the array spread out, expanding rapidly across the ground from the turtle’s position. It merged with the pre-existing Light Arrays, and the golden light flared brilliantly, shining like the sun as it enveloped the pulsating, misty black egg at the Array Hub.
As Elder Huo swiftly pointed with his fingers like a sword, the stars on the Star Pivot Array Turtle’s shell suddenly lit up.
Above the Array Plate, countless golden chains condensed from pure Thunder Spiritual Power materialized from thin air. They didn’t strike about randomly; instead, as if alive, they precisely interwove to form a three-dimensional cage.
"Thunder Shock Spirit Binding Array!"
The two arrays layered together, forming the Thunder Shock Spirit Binding Array.
These lightning chains didn’t launch a brute-force assault. Instead, they constantly weaved about, searching for the weakest points in the protective miasma on the misty black egg’s surface.
A harsh SIZZLING sound filled the air.
Each time a chain made contact, the thick black mist would fade slightly, like melting ice.
However, the Spirit Beast Egg seemed to possess a will of its own and sensed the threat.
The black mist on the egg’s surface churned violently, coalescing into several twisted, ghastly hands that fiercely grabbed at the lightning chains, attempting to tear them apart!
For a moment, the lightning and the black mist were locked in a stalemate, emitting a grating sound that set one’s teeth on edge.
Elder Huo’s expression darkened.
He secretly commanded his three Eight-star Pet Beasts, having the still-injured and not-yet-recovered Star Compass Beast preside over the grand array and maintain the pressure.
A soft white light, containing the power of infinite permutations, shot from the center of the Star Compass Beast’s Array Plate and flowed into the Golden Lock Thunder Array.
The light of the array transformed. In the gaps between the lightning chains, countless motes of annihilation light, as fine as dust, suddenly appeared.
These motes of light seemed faint, but they were the perfect counter to Spiritual Energy.
They seeped into the black mist, leaving no crevice untouched, and began to disintegrate its structure from within, causing the ghastly hands to turn illusory and dissipate.
Seizing the moment the black mist was significantly weakened by the annihilation light,
Elder Huo bit his fingertip, drew an incredibly complex, blood-red Talisman in mid-air, and slammed it onto the eggshell!
Gu Ming watched the entire process, dazzled by the evolution of the Array Dao. He couldn’t quite follow what was happening.
He was also somewhat surprised by this new Talisman technique that Elder Huo had just employed.
’This stuff... I remember reading about it in a textbook. It’s a discipline considered a tier below the Array Dao, but just as difficult to master: the art of Talismans.’
The instant the Talisman made its mark,
the light of the entire Eight Gates Golden Lock Array completely converged, transforming into countless fine golden threads that wrapped the Spirit Beast Egg layer by layer, as if spinning a cocoon.
In the end, it formed a golden cocoon of light, covered in sealing Runes. The cocoon trembled violently a few times before finally falling still.
’So it seems the art of Talismans can be used to strengthen arrays,’ Gu Ming thought.
After a monumental effort, Elder Huo finally managed to completely seal the restless Spirit Beast Egg and quickly stored it in his Beast Taming Space.
The moment the seal was complete, Elder Huo’s turbulent mind gradually calmed. As his reason returned, a wave of belated fear washed over him. ’I was so reckless just now!’
Just then, Cyan Treasure once again guided them, pointing out a path to the side and rear of the lair that looked like another exit.
This would undoubtedly save them from the desperate situation of having to backtrack and run straight into their pursuer.
"Let’s go, quickly!"
Elder Huo shouted urgently.
He could already clearly feel a furious, terrifying will approaching from behind at an astonishing speed.
It had almost reached the entrance to the lair.
Sealing the egg just now had earned him a priceless treasure, but it had also wasted invaluable time. It was a truly unwise move.
But the temptation, which had sprung from the depths of his soul, had been truly irresistible.
Before the words had even left Elder Huo’s mouth, a terrifying pressure that could freeze one’s very soul surged from the passage behind them like a tidal wave!
The cavern walls, which had been gleaming with iridescent light, instantly lost all color, becoming stained a despairing, ashen gray.
The thick black mist spread rapidly along the ground and walls like a living entity, devouring even the light wherever it passed.
Before this all-devouring curtain of darkness, a twisted, ghastly white veil, seemingly woven from countless wailing, tormented souls, quietly materialized.
Beneath the veil was nothingness, yet it seemed to hold the world’s ultimate malice and cold, its gaze locked dead upon the frantically fleeing group.
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