Chapter 649: Sacrificial Formation
From the moment they suspected Kong Yunfei, Jiang Yue and Yu Nianzhen were not optimistic about the secret realm.
However, their expectations were still optimistic compared to reality.
As soon as they entered the secret realm, they encountered a wasteland, grey skies, and death qi.
There was no trace of spiritual or immortal qi in the secret realm.
"This..." Jiang Yue muttered, looking around with a solemn expression.
"It’s worse than I expected." The swordsman stated.
"Death qi has replaced immortal qi. How many cultivators died here?" Jiang Yue wondered.
At the same time, a black wind whistled towards the two and Yu Nianzhen hurriedly encircled them with a sword-intent barrier.
Barely a moment later, the wind hit the barrier and horrifying screeches reverberated.
"Broken souls." Jiang Yue muttered; his hands clenched into fists.
"Let’s look around first." Yu Nianzhen said and rubbed his husband’s hair to soothe him.
When mortals died, their souls went to the underworld and later entered the reincarnation cycle.
However, only complete souls could be reincarnated.
If a piece of soul was missing, the soul in the underworld would be corroded and eventually turn to nothing.
When they saw so many broken souls in the secret realm, Yu Nianzhen and Jiang Yue couldn’t help but pity the fate of the dead people.
However, until they figured out what was going on, there was nothing they could do to save the souls.
"There is a formation on the ground." Jiang Yue said, pointing to the ground several kilometres away.
"What kind of formation?"
"I don’t know yet. I will study it when we get closer."
"Good."
Since the air in the secret realm was a forbidden zone, the two couldn’t fly and had to walk to the edge of the formation.
This took three days.
Along the way, they saw no animals, plants, or dried bones.
They didn’t even see a broken house, cave, mountain, or river.
The place was desolate and the aura was unavoidably suffocating.
Even immortal masters couldn’t stay in the death qi for a long time without suffering serious consequences.
"We can’t stay for longer than twenty days." Yu Nianzhen said when they reached the edge of the formation.
"I know." Jiang Yue nodded.
Soon after, he began examining the formation and Yu Nianzhen stayed beside him to protect him.
Two days later, Jiang Yue raised his head with a solemn expression.
"What’s wrong?"
"It’s a sacrificial formation." Jiang Yue started and began explaining.
"It sacrifices the body, soul, and cultivation of everyone within the formation. These things are then condensed into a pill which is used to improve an evil cultivator’s cultivation."
Yu Nianzhen frowned when he heard this.
He and Jiang Yue had encountered the Death Flower Ascension Front and many evil cultivators.
However, they had never encountered something so sinister.
Thinking about the millions of Cangxing cultivators who had disappeared in the past several hundred years, the two couldn’t help but be angry.
"This kind of evil cannot stay in the Cangxing world." Jiang Yue said and Yu Nianzhen nodded in agreement.
Although they weren’t righteous, the Cangxing world was their home.
When it came down to it, they couldn’t look away and allow Kong Yunfei to refine their fellow world mates.
"Is there a way to destroy the formation?"
"This exact formation is not in my inheritance. However, there are several like it. I should be able to do something after studying it for a while."
"Are twenty days enough or should we leave the secret realm for the time being?"
Jiang Yue didn’t answer right away.
Instead, he frowned and turned to the sacrificial formation.
Eventually, he sighed and looked at his lover with a solemn expression.
"I will map the formation before we leave."
"Okay."
It took twenty-two days for Jiang Yue to completely map the sacrificial formation.
As a result, when the two exited the secret realm, their complexions were pale and their qi was a little stagnant.
"That secret realm is not a place for human beings." Jiang Yue complained as soon as they came out.
"Our bodies are stained with death qi. We need to expel it as soon as possible."
After saying that, Yu Nianzhen nodded at several Cangxing leaders and activated three formation disks.
Soon after, he and Jiang Yue sat cross-legged and began adjusting their bodies.
Three days later, Yu Nianzhen exhaled a cloud of grey-black qi, smiled and opened his eyes.
Without delay, he turned to his left and saw Jiang Yue sitting with his eyes closed.
’He shouldn’t be much longer.’ Yu Nianzhen thought and patiently waited for his lover to open his eyes.
An hour later, Jiang Yue opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Yu Nianzhen looking at him.
"Am I good-looking?" He teased.
"The most good-looking." The swordsman nodded and Jiang Yue chuckled in good humour.
"You are also the most handsome."
After saying that, Jiang Yue stopped smiling and looked at Yu Nianzhen with a solemn face.
"Did you expel the death qi from your body?" He asked.
"I did. How about you?"
"Same." Jiang Yue said and Yu Nianzhen sighed in relief.
At their cultivation level, death qi was not fatal.
However, having death qi in their body was detrimental to their cultivation.
Depending on the amount, the death qi would corrode their organs and cause their qi to be stagnant.
If the situation wasn’t remedied on time, their cultivation would stop at the immortal level or worse, drop to a lower realm.
"How long will it take to study the formation?"
"Not long." Jiang Yue assured.
Now that he had a map of the formation, finding its weak points would not be too difficult.
"Will Kong Yunfei know when the formation is broken?"
"He will suffer a backlash." Jiang Yue said with a thoughtful expression.
"I just don’t know if he will hunker down at the Black Tripod sect or come here to investigate the situation."
"It would be best if he came here." Yu Nianzhen said and a trace of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
