Chapter 264: Chapter 262: Deliberately Targeting
In the Holy Spirit Land, Jiang Jichen was shirtless, soaking in the Mysterious Spirit Liquid contained within the Ancient Medicine Cauldron, a look of pure enjoyment on his face.
And waves of aura from the Ancient Pure Spiritual Power were wafting out from his bathwater!
If Nangong Jinjie, Ling Dong, and the others knew they were mesmerized by the aura emanating from Jiang Jichen’s bathwater, they would likely be driven mad with rage.
Of course, Jiang Jichen saw the tunnel that cut through the Holy Spirit Land.
However, this tunnel was extremely long and not at all straight.
It was winding and twisting, sometimes even having to circle around the Holy Spirit Power before it could advance.
This was because the magic of the Array-Avoidance Pearl lay in its ability to automatically find the weaknesses in the Array, constructing the tunnel through its weakest nodes.
Therefore, even within the constructed tunnel, Array Power still existed. It was just dozens of times weaker compared to the Array’s true might.
They still had to maintain their defensive barriers of light and advance cautiously. They moved with extreme care, their expressions incomparably grim.
In contrast to the Noble Family Descendants, Jiang Jichen was currently looking at his own skin, which had grown even fairer and more delicate from soaking in the Mysterious Spirit Liquid. He sighed helplessly and said, "I just managed to get a bit of a tan sunbathing naked in the sea of sand, and now I’m all pale again!"
But then his expression hardened with determination. "This won’t do. I need to get out of here as soon as possible and sunbathe naked until I get my tan back."
But to get out, he would have to pass through the Forbidden Array. When Jiang Jichen had entered, he had been at death’s door. If he hadn’t happened to fall into the Mysterious Spirit Liquid, he would probably be a corpse by now.
About an hour later, the Noble Family Descendants, maintaining their defensive barriers, had already traversed one-third of the Forbidden Array.
They had encountered no danger during the process and their journey was smooth, which allowed them to breathe a sigh of relief.
"It seems that while this Forbidden Array is fearsome, it has weakened over the long years. The entire Array is riddled with weak nodes. It’s nothing to be afraid of!"
Nangong Jinjie declared arrogantly.
Because their advance was going so smoothly, Ling Dong was also in high spirits. The thought of soon obtaining the treasures on Jiang Jichen’s person, as well as the Divine Treasure of the Holy Spirit Land, made him uncharacteristically friendly toward Nangong Jinjie. He responded with a wide smile, "Indeed. Jiang Jichen’s luck has been heaven-defying, allowing him to collect so many peerless treasures. But in the end, he’s just done all the work for us. How pitiful, pathetic, and laughable!"
The others nodded in agreement upon hearing Ling Dong’s words, their faces relaxed.
PFFT!
However, just as they were advancing leisurely and chatting, the chest of a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Realm disciple from the Nangong Family suddenly exploded. He had been directly pierced by a bolt of Forbidden Force, dying a violent death!
"What happened?"
"The Forbidden Force suddenly flared up! It’s a sudden change, impossible to defend against... Everyone, be careful!"
...
With this sudden incident, the relaxed atmosphere from moments before was instantly swept away, and everyone’s mood grew heavy.
Nangong Jinjie’s face, in particular, was ashen. The one who had died was a disciple of his Nangong Family.
’Anyone who could make it to the third level is an elite disciple who could have been a great help to me. And now... he just croaked without doing a damn thing!’
His face was grim and he was in a foul mood, but he also knew there was nothing to be done. One of his own had died, and he could only chalk it up to bad luck.
However, just as that disciple from the Nangong Family was slain by the bolt of Forbidden Force, a figure covered in blood, with skin split open and flesh mangled—a battered and broken silhouette—shot out of the Forbidden Array in the Holy Spirit Land. In a flash, it plunged into the Mysterious Spirit Liquid within the Ancient Medicine Cauldron.
It was, of course, Jiang Jichen. He was coughing up mouthfuls of bloody foam, the whites of his eyes showing as he nearly suffocated.
Just now, he had dashed into the Forbidden Array for a mere moment, using his own body to trigger a fluctuation in the array and assassinate that disciple from the Nangong Family.
But he had almost died in the process!
If he hadn’t previously tempered his body with wisps of Forbidden Force, and if not for his own formidable physique and Life Force, he probably wouldn’t have lasted even an instant, unable to escape the Forbidden Array in time.
And even if he managed to force his way out of the Forbidden Array, recovering from such grievous injuries would not be easy.
But he had the Mysterious Spirit Liquid!
The Mysterious Spirit Liquid might not be very effective against other types of injuries, but it had an astonishing effect on damage caused by the Forbidden Force. It was as if... it was born to heal injuries from the Forbidden Force.
That was why, the instant he burst out of the Forbidden Array, Jiang Jichen immediately dove into the cauldron of Mysterious Spirit Liquid he had prepared beforehand.
HAAAH!
Only after he was submerged in the Spiritual Liquid did Jiang Jichen finally let out a breath. His Life Force, which had been on the verge of extinguishing, instantly returned.
About a quarter of an hour later, Jiang Jichen shot out from the Ancient Medicine Cauldron!
He was still shirtless, but he no longer looked battered and broken as he had before. Instead, his skin was completely unscathed, white as jade, and shimmering with a faint luster.
"My physical body has grown stronger again. This Forbidden Array is truly a great help for tempering my flesh. But still... that was a real brush with death, and unbelievably painful!"
Jiang Jichen first sighed with emotion, then added with relish, "Still, being able to temper my body while also killing Nangong Jinjie’s subordinates and driving him crazy... that’s a pretty satisfying feeling!"
At this, Jiang Jichen suddenly let out a sinister laugh. Then, gritting his teeth with a fierce look on his face, he vanished in a flash, once again charging into the Forbidden Array.
PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!
Inside the Forbidden Array, Jiang Jichen was assaulted by countless attacks of Forbidden Force. His body was pierced, creating one Blood Cave after another. The Forbidden Force also formed into blades that sliced his flesh and scraped his bones, a sound cringe-worthy enough to make one’s teeth ache.
Only a Body Refiner like Jiang Jichen, who possessed a shockingly perverse willpower and immense vital endurance, would dare to temper himself in such a manner.
This time, upon entering the Forbidden Array, Jiang Jichen could clearly feel it was much better than the last. His physical body was tougher, and it had even developed a hint of immunity to the Forbidden Force.
Jiang Jichen had no time to appreciate the changes in his body. He needed to redirect a strand of Forbidden Force toward the group of Noble Family Descendants.
He pushed his Divine Soul Power to its limit, and it was as if he could see the dense and terrifying web of illusory forbidden lines within the Forbidden Array.
He finally locked onto one illusory forbidden line that connected to a point not far from a Nangong Clan Member standing next to Nangong Jinjie.
All he had to do was trigger this illusory line, making it surge from weak to strong, and it would pierce through the tunnel created by the Array-Avoidance Pearl to kill that disciple of the Nangong Family.
Of course, Jiang Jichen had also considered killing Nangong Jinjie, but his defenses were too strong. The power of this single illusory line would only inflict a minor wound on him. In that case, it was more worthwhile to kill one of his followers.
PFFT!
Without any warning, this disciple of the Nangong Family was pierced through the brow by a bolt of Forbidden Force, dying instantly.
"Why is it another person from my Nangong Family who died?"
Nangong Jinjie’s face was dangerously grim, and he was on the verge of going insane.
He felt as if this Forbidden Array was deliberately targeting him.
