Chapter 404: Entering the First Layer
"Ahhhhh." Someone screamed in horror.
Looking back, Jiang Yue saw that the opening had closed and one of the team members was torn into bloody pieces.
However, he didn’t have time to dwell on that.
"Those bastards are attacking the formation." He said.
Hearing this, everyone looked outside and saw a group of people gathered in front of the formation.
"Ayue, what will happen if they continue attacking the formation?" Yang Xu questioned.
"The formation pockets will become unstable and eventually, they will collapse."
When everyone heard that, they looked at the pocket walls.
As Jiang Yue said, the pocket walls were already unstable.
They were flickering strangely and looked ready to fall apart.
"What can we do?" Someone questioned.
"Move forward." Jiang Yue said and his eyes hardened in determination.
Before entering the formation, he already guessed that other cultivators would not stand around and do nothing.
After all, the ’tomb’ was a high-level find and possibly had opportunities that could help nascent soul realm cultivators break through to the reincarnation realm.
"There is something ahead of us." One of the team members shouted and everyone turned to the front.
"Demonic qi..." Someone muttered and everyone turned solemn.
"It’s because they attacked the formation." Jiang Yue spoke through gritted teeth.
"Activate your isolation talismans, don’t let the demonic qi touch you." Yang Xu instructed.
"Stay alert, we will have to move in ten breaths." Jiang Yue followed, which made the team tense.
Although they all had isolation talismans, no one really wanted to take the risk of running towards the demonic qi.
However, staying in the seventh pocket was not an option.
If they didn’t move soon, the pocket would collapse or move, causing them to fall into the formation and die.
"I am right behind you." Yu Nianzhen whispered into Jiang Yue’s ear.
"I know." Jiang Yue said and his mood lightened.
As the person in charge, he was under a lot of pressure.
Knowing that Yu Nianzhen was guarding behind him made him feel at ease and his mind cleared.
"Don’t fall behind." Jiang Yue shouted and opened a gap in the pocket wall.
Soon after, nine people rushed out of the seventh pocket and entered the eighth.
Unfortunately, the demonic qi had already invaded the eighth pocket and half the pocket was coloured black.
[Don’t be afraid, I am here.] Yu Nianzhen messaged as he took Jiang Yue’s hand.
[I am not afraid.] Jiang Yue answered.
In the five years he stayed at the bottom of the lake to study the formation, demonic qi had flowed out several times.
Because of this, Jiang Yue knew the isolation talismans were effective for keeping out demonic qi.
However, this knowledge did not make him less nervous.
After all, the concentration of demonic qi in the formation was higher than what flowed out.
"They are still attacking." A team member observed and everyone turned back.
Outside, several people were desperately attacking the formation.
"If we can’t enter, you shouldn’t even think about succeeding." One of the attackers roared.
"Disciple Jiang, the pocket walls are becoming thinner." Elder Song observed.
Hearing that, several team members panicked.
Originally, they volunteered for the team because they thought they would have a chance to find treasures before the others came out.
However, reality was turning out differently than they expected.
"Elder Song, can you take me into the portable cave?" One of the team members asked.
"I also want to go in."
"Elder Song, we haven’t contributed so far and our presence is unnecessary. Can I enter the portable cave?"
At this, Elder Song looked at the people in disgust but still looked at Yang Xu to ask for his opinion.
"Those who don’t want to stay can enter the portable cave." Yang Xu decided.
Although he looked down on those disciples for their lack of backbone, Yang Xu was also happy.
He felt that a smaller team would work better and travel faster.
Since he thought this way, there was no reason to retain team members who didn’t want to be there.
"I will stay." Bing Lan said and looked at her husband stubbornly.
"Okay." Yang Xu nodded and agreed.
[Master agreed so easily?] Jiang Yue transmitted to Yu Nianzhen.
[Taoist companions should share weal and woe. Although master wants to protect her, he also knows that allowing her to become a greenhouse flower can only harm her and not benefit her.]
[You are right.] Jiang Yue said and frowned before he continued.
[We don’t know what will happen when we enter the secret place in one hundred years. Before then, it’s best to toughen up as much as possible.]
"Focus on the next opening." Yu Nianzhen reminded and Jiang Yue immediately began his work.
"Having only five people is not bad. We will move faster." Elder Song said and Yang Xu nodded before he spoke.
As expected, having a smaller group allowed them to move faster.
In less than half a day, the five had already passed through twenty-eight formation pockets which was a little more than halfway into the first formation.
"It’s been half a day and the isolation talismans are about to fall apart. It’s time to replace them." Yu Nianzhen reminded.
Hearing that, the other four quickly checked their isolation talismans.
As Yu Nianzhen said, the yellow talismans were about to turn completely black.
When they turned black, they would lose their isolation effect and the five would be exposed to the demonic qi.
"Disciple Yu is diligent." Elder Song praised while activating another talisman.
The others also did the same and then waited for Jiang Yue to open the next pocket.
One day later, the group of five finally walked out of the fifty-fourth formation pocket and entered the first layer of the sealed battlefield.
"It’s full of demonic qi." Bing Lan said and frowned.
"It’s what we expected." Yang Xu said and sighed.
"We don’t have too many isolation talismans. Let’s start looking for demon-repelling flowers." Elder Song suggested and the others agreed.
Logically, they would cover more ground if they dispersed and searched separately.
However, the sealed battlefield was an unknown place.
They didn’t know what they would encounter and because of this, they decided to act in a group.
"There are many buildings in this area." Yu Nianzhen observed.
When he looked around, he found the first layer of the sealed battlefield reminded him of the outer sect.
Although the buildings were gloomy due to demonic qi, their overall structure was similar to the outer sect of the Sea Cloud sect.
"Demon-repelling flowers grow in places with high concentrations of demonic qi. Let’s find such a place." Jiang Yue reminded.
"There is a place that looks darker than the rest." Bing Lan said and pointed towards the West.
"It indeed does look darker." Elder Song confirmed.
"Let’s go there and have a look." Yu Nianzhen said and everyone agreed.
A moment later, they set out towards the West but still looked around as they walked.
After walking for an incense stick, Jiang Yue suddenly called for a stop.
"Disciple Jiang, is there something wrong? Is it the formation?"
"No...." Jiang Yue muttered and then took a few steps to his diagonal right.
"There is something over here." He said and the others looked over curiously.
"What is it?" Elder Song asked excitedly.
"I don’t know. Let me check."
"Let me come." Yu Nianzhen immediately went forward.
Before Jiang Yue could stop him, Yu Nianzhen removed an ordinary sword from his storage ring and used it to prod something on the ground.
"It looks like a storage ring." He finally said.
"Storage ring? Can a storage ring remain intact in this kind of place?" Bing Lan questioned.
However, everyone had the same doubts.
Like people, ordinary weapons and equipment were also susceptible to demonic qi.
Take the sword in Yu Nianzhen’s hand, for example, it had already started to fall apart after only a few moments in the demonic qi.
Thinking of that, it was difficult to believe that a ring had survived for hundreds of thousands of years in demonic qi.
"We will know if we check it." Jiang Yue said and used a pair of gloves to pick up the ring.
"Ayue, what kind of gloves are you wearing?" Bing Lan asked when she saw the gloves were not corroded.
"They are ordinary gloves but they have been engraved with an isolation formation." Jiang Yue said.
"What’s in the ring?" Elder Song asked urgently.
"There are pill bottles, clothes, spirit stones, and several closed boxes." Jiang Yue answered.
Although the ring didn’t have too many things, Jiang Yue was satisfied with the first find.
"The things can’t be taken out in this place." Yang Xu warned when Jiang Yue was about to empty the storage ring.
"We can open it when we enter the ancient palace or leave the sealed battlefield." Yu Nianzhen said.
"I almost forgot." Jiang Yue said apologetically.
In his excitement, he forgot where they were.
If he dared to remove the items in the storage ring, they would likely be destroyed by demonic qi.
