The two immediately took out various small array plates and conducted a detailed examination of the surrounding area. Soon after, Hongxiu responded.
"The formation is very perfect; the Lesser Sumeru Vajra Formation is flawless and almost without any flaws."
"No flaws?" Lu Xuan was slightly surprised.
"That's right, but in this situation, the real flaw is the absence of any flaws. Because that's impossible. No matter how powerful the formation is, it will inevitably change after tens of thousands of years without maintenance. This is because the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is not static, but is undergoing subtle changes every moment."
Even in such a secluded place, there is no absolute balance. And these subtle changes are the greatest enemy of any formation. This is not something that the power of a formation alone can resist; it is almost a rule of nature itself.
"I understand what you mean. You mean that this formation is able to remain intact because someone is maintaining it all the time, right?"
The conversation between Lu Xuan and Hongxiu sent chills down the spines of Marquis Nanlong and the cultivator surnamed Lu. Initially, they were captivated by Hongxiu's array formation concepts. Later, however, they were genuinely terrified by the implications of her words. What did it mean that someone was constantly protecting her? Could there be someone else here?
"There's no one else here, so it can only be the one who's been sealed away maintaining these restrictions." These were the words of Old Demon Han. He had already summoned the Azure Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword, ready for battle.
Lu Xuan also waved his hand to protect Hongxiu and Xin Ruyin behind him.
Upon seeing their actions, Marquis Nanlong and the cultivator surnamed Lu's expressions changed. But before they could react, the previously flawless Lesser Sumeru Vajra Formation suddenly shattered. A beam of dark light shot out. Marquis Nanlong, who was closest to them, didn't even have time to react.
Even Han Laomo's Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword was a step too slow. It was pierced directly into Nanlong Hou's head by a beam of dark light. However, some people did manage to keep up with the rhythm of the dark light.
The moment Wu Wuguang appeared, Lu Xuan also made his move. However, he did not attempt to intercept Wu Guang. It was clearly some kind of special primordial spirit escape technique, similar to a cultivator's nascent soul escape technique; at this distance, it was impossible to stop him. Therefore, his target from the beginning was Marquis Nanlong.
The instant the dark light pierced through, a beam of golden lightning from Lu Xuan's hand also struck Nanlonghou's body at the same time.
In the empty hall, only a scream could be heard. The dark light shot directly from Nanlonghou's body and into the body of the cultivator surnamed Lu. However, Lu Xuan used the same trick again. The instant he invaded the opponent's body, a golden bolt of lightning shot in.
In the void, only an angry roar could be heard. A cloud of black mist appeared in mid-air. At this moment, the so-called rare and precious treasures within the Lesser Sumeru Vajra Formation had long since vanished. Those things were actually illusions conjured by some kind of magic. Now, floating in the sealed area were three ancient treasures.
A round bowl, a small silver sword, a jet-black staff, and a blood-red bead. However, at this moment, all four magical treasures emitted a faint, ethereal black aura. Clearly, they had long been corrupted by some external force.
Marquis Nanlong and the cultivator surnamed Lu managed to escape, immediately hiding behind Lu Xuan. They had figured it out: Lu Xuan and Han Li had come prepared. They had subdued the unknown demon with a single move, while they themselves were completely powerless against it.
As cultivators at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, they were possessed by someone with a single thought! This terrifying experience severely damaged their souls, and they were now completely afraid to act on their own.
"Evil-repelling Divine Thunder!" A deep voice echoed from within the black mist. It was unexpected that such a divine power existed in this realm. Lu Xuan had just used the Evil-repelling Divine Thunder. Most mortal supernatural powers were ineffective against ancient demons. However, the Evil-repelling Divine Thunder was precisely their nemesis.
The other party invaded the human cultivator's consciousness to seize their physical body. Lu Xuan, however, directly injected the Evil-Repelling Divine Thunder into the other party's body, using his unique Heavenly Thunder Body Tempering technique. This technique was developed by him during his cultivation of thunder arts in order to comprehend the laws of lightning.
It can effectively simulate the body-tempering effect during a tribulation of lightning. If this method were replaced with the exorcising divine lightning and applied to an ancient demon, it would be as unbearable as a human taking a sulfuric acid bath.
"As expected, it is an ancient demon. However, only its primordial spirit remains. It is beyond my expectations that you can use the power of your primordial spirit to lock up so much true demonic energy. How about it? As long as you open your mind and let me place a restriction, you can still leave here alive."
Lu Xuan's tone was unhurried, as if he had victory in his grasp. This enraged the ancient demon's primordial spirit, yet it also felt somewhat helpless.
If it had successfully possessed the human, it would be absolutely unafraid of the few human cultivators before it. It had locked away a wisp of true demonic energy. By simply infusing it into a human body, it could immediately create an ancient demonic body. Although it wouldn't be as powerful as the original physical body, it would be more than enough to deal with these human cultivators. At that point, it would even dare to confront the Evil-Repelling Divine Thunder head-on.
However, the problem was that the other party seemed to have been prepared and thwarted his possession attempt. This put him in a dilemma.
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Chapter 539 The True Demon Appears
Submission was out of the question. Given the ancient demon's former cultivation level, human cultivators like Lu Xuan were less than food to it, merely desserts. Therefore, it unsurprisingly chose to resist. Then, the scene froze for a moment. Suddenly, many figures appeared in the not-so-large hall.
Even the Marquis of Nanlong and the cultivator surnamed Lu were stunned. The appearance of Lu Xuan, a powerful cultivator, had already taken them by surprise. Now, suddenly, two more powerful cultivators appeared, along with ten Nascent Soul level cultivators. This was truly beyond their comprehension.
"No, these...these are all puppets!!"
Marquis Nanlong suddenly understood. However, his astonishment did not diminish; on the contrary, it intensified. He had never even heard of puppets at the late Nascent Soul stage, let alone two appearing at once. In comparison, the ten Nascent Soul level puppets, which were originally considered astonishing, became less remarkable.
Even the ancient demon was stunned. Even with only its primordial spirit remaining, it was confident it could break through the encirclement with its remaining true demonic energy. But now, with sixteen against one, it was beginning to weaken.
"Boy, who exactly are you?"
"There's no point in spouting this nonsense. No matter who I am, I'm a human cultivator. You, on the other hand, are a demonic cultivator, or more precisely, an ancient demon. So, we're destined to be enemies. I'll say it again: open your mind and let me place a restriction on you, and you can live. Otherwise, you'll be annihilated here, body and soul."
"Hmph, surrender is absolutely impossible. But we can make a deal. You human cultivators came here only to search for treasure. All the treasures in this place are in my hands. Let me go, and I'll tell you all the treasure locations in the valley."
"Really? That sounds interesting, but how about we show some sincerity first?"
“Okay.” Gu Mo said, giving Lu Xuan an address.
"This location was the original entrance to the Spirit Garden. The real Spirit Garden was indeed shattered in the great war back then. However, you can still enter through the entrance into fragments. Inside are countless treasures that you humans dream of."
"Is that so?" Lu Xuan said, taking out a jade slip to record the location. He then showed it to Hongxiu for comparison.
“That’s where the Ghost Spirit Sect went,” Hongxiu said softly.
"Understood. Let's get started."
The twelve puppets attacked simultaneously. Before the ancient demon could react, twelve different divine abilities slammed into him. The next second, the black mist in the air exploded and then reformed in another direction. At the same time, a sharp pain appeared in Lu Xuan's mind, but it wasn't enough to interrupt his spellcasting. Clearly, the ancient demon had used some kind of divine power, but it had no effect on Lu Xuan.
The warding-off divine thunder in his hand was still unleashed. The ancient demon, in his primordial spirit state, possessed astonishing escape techniques, darting back and forth in the confined space. He managed to remain undefeated despite being surrounded by twelve puppets. However, Lu Xuan knew his true strength. This was the human realm; he couldn't absorb demonic energy to replenish himself.
In reality, ancient demons can only recover in one way in the mortal realm: by devouring the nascent souls of human cultivators. They then assimilate these souls with true demonic energy to replenish their own energy reserves and even enhance their cultivation.
But now, all those attacking him were puppets. This drove the ancient demon to the brink of madness. Most terrifyingly, the human cultivators opposite him knew his weaknesses perfectly well. They had thwarted his possession attempt from the very beginning, preventing him from unleashing his full power. After all, ancient demons were born body cultivators; they were at their strongest only when their physical bodies were intact.
He continuously used various secret techniques to evade the surrounding attacks, causing the ancient demon's true demonic energy to rapidly deplete. Once the true demonic energy was exhausted, even if he devoured the human's nascent soul, he wouldn't be able to recover. However, the surrounding encirclement was like an impregnable wall, giving him no chance whatsoever. It trapped him firmly in the sealed land, slowly draining all his power.
At this moment, Lu Xuan suddenly received a telepathic message from the Heavenly Demon. Since signing the contract with Lu Xuan, this demon had been trying his best to remain invisible, because he had discovered that Lu Xuan was constantly looking for a reason to kill him. Therefore, he rarely spoke. However, this time he spoke.
"If I were to devour the primordial spirit of this ancient demon, I would be able to regain some of my supernatural powers. Of course, if you are unwilling, then you can just kill it."
"Are you sure? I've killed many cultivators and demonic beasts, why does it have to be this one?"