Chapter 1409: Strange Phenomenon
Chapter 1409: Strange Phenomenon
With nothing to do, Daoists Qi and Wang withdrew to the side to stand guard. Qin Sang stayed close to the altar, soothing the Fire Jade Centipede with his spiritual consciousness while observing Valley Master Mu's movements.
Valley Master Mu sat atop the altar, raised both hands into a strange hand seal, and held it motionless. At the same time, his lips moved faintly, producing a stream of unintelligible syllables.
As the secret technique progressed, the altar began radiating azure light from within. Rather than diffusing outward, the light gathered along the altar's surface and surged upward like flowing water.
Gradually, Valley Master Mu and the three spiritual insects were all bathed in azure light until their figures were nearly impossible to make out with the naked eye.
Instinctively uneasy, the Fire Jade Centipede swayed the legs along its sides. Just then, the altar gave a violent shudder.
Whoosh! The azure light abruptly contracted, condensing above the altar into a nearly ring-shaped pattern crammed with dense, eerie runes.
The three spiritual insects sat precisely at its three vertices, each wrapped in a cocoon of azure light, and began revolving involuntarily along with the pattern. Now it was not only the Fire Jade Centipede; the other two insects grew restless as well. But soothed by their masters, they soon calmed down, and the insect array was successfully formed!
Suddenly, Valley Master Mu's voice burst forth like spring thunder, barking out a strange incantation. The Tide-Drawing Horseshoe Crab and the Black Devil Ant reacted first. The power within their bodies was drawn out by the insect array and, following the array's shifting momentum, slowly poured into the Fire Jade Centipede.
In an instant, the Fire Jade Centipede's body pulled taut as a wire, its legs clamping tightly together, flames erupting from within as it thrashed violently. And this was only the beginning.
As the insect array continued, the Black Devil Ant began to wilt, and the Tide-Drawing Horseshoe Crab's aura weakened too. The Fire Jade Centipede's aura, by contrast, blazed ever stronger.
Though it was a supernatural insect whose potential far exceeded other spiritual insects, its cultivation was lower than both of the others, a full major stage beneath the Tide-Drawing Horseshoe Crab, and before long the influx exceeded what it could bear.
As the external power was forcibly poured into its body, the Fire Jade Centipede curled into a tight ball, trembling in agony.
Qin Sang watched its condition intently, ready to intervene at any moment. He could not let Valley Master Mu do as he pleased and cause irreversible harm, or worse, send the Fire Jade Centipede down the same path as the Jade-Carrying Bee.
So long as its injuries stayed within limits, there would be plenty of time to help it recover later. Watching from the perimeter, Qi and Wang wore tense expressions as well.
Valley Master Mu's control over the insect array was exquisite beyond measure. The power within it flowed with the utmost gentleness, minimizing the harm to the Fire Jade Centipede.
As time passed, the centipede's aura climbed higher and higher, on the verge of surpassing the Black Devil Ant.
Eyes locked on the Fire Jade Centipede, Qin Sang suddenly called a halt. "Enough!"
Valley Master Mu's eyelids flickered, but he complied readily, stopping at once. He opened his eyes, glanced at the Fire Jade Centipede, and nodded slightly. "A little short of its limit, but this will do. It's as close to the fourth metamorphosis as it can get. If this isn't enough, pouring in more would be useless anyway. Give it a try!"
Qin Sang extended his spiritual consciousness. Under the intense pain, the poor creature's mind had become a chaotic muddle, and it took great effort before Qin Sang could barely sense its consciousness and do his best to soothe it. The Fire Jade Centipede's curled body slowly unfurled.
The four cultivators stared at it, silently hopeful. A few breaths later, the centipede's upper body suddenly swayed and dipped forward ever so slightly. The movement was tiny, but nothing escaped the eyes of Spiritual Infant cultivators.
Valley Master Mu's pupils constricted, and he looked quickly to Qin Sang, only to find him grave-faced. A moment later, Qin Sang abruptly shifted his gaze from the Fire Jade Centipede to the array nearby and pointed. "There!"
Wild joy surged through them all. The Fire Jade Centipede had truly sensed the entrance to Pure Sea Sect!
Qin Sang couldn't be sure whether it was the Myriad Spirit Fruit at work, but one thing was certain: something inside was drawing the Fire Jade Centipede.
The impression the centipede had transmitted just now was brief but unmistakable in direction. It pointed not to the array's exact center, but to a spot right of center.
Daoist Qi had long been ready. At the word, he didn't hesitate for an instant; his figure flickered and he shot toward the spot Qin Sang indicated. But before he could get close, the old scene repeated itself, and the array displaced him to the other side. They had expected as much and were not discouraged.
Daoists Qi and Wang each brought their own methods to bear, trying one after another, and returned empty-handed every time, frowning. They deployed their astras and attacked the entrance's location with full force, but it was like stones sinking into the sea. The array did not displace their attacks away, yet showed no reaction to them whatsoever.
Still maintaining the insect array, Valley Master Mu split his attention to observe for a while, then spoke, "As it stands, reaching the entrance from inside the array is impossible. Our only option is a frontal assault! The lack of any reaction likely means our array-breaking force isn't strong enough."
Before he could finish, Qin Sang cut in. "The position changed! It's there now!"
The three of them paled at his words.
"So the entrance to Pure Sea Sect can move within the array. No wonder all our probing went nowhere. And ordinary attacks accomplish nothing. We'll have to strike together and concentrate everything on a single point!" Daoist Wang said gravely.
Valley Master Mu nodded. "Set up the array!"
Daoists Qi and Wang returned to the front of the altar. Working in perfect concert, they tapped their Mustard Seed Pouches, and banner after blue banner streamed out like flowing water. Their figures wove and shifted, hands moving swiftly, and before long an intricate banner array had taken shape around them.
Standing within it, the two formed seals to drive it. Underwater, the array was unhindered, its banner faces rippling as pure water-elemental energy converged endlessly toward its center.
As the two Spiritual Infant cultivators drove the array with all their strength, the seawater churned, and a transparent sphere of water like cold ice gradually took shape. After a dazzling series of transformations, it crystallized into a transparent water sword seven chi long! The water sword pointed toward the great array in the distance, poised to strike.
Meanwhile, Valley Master Mu produced a Snake Spear. Its tip flashed with blue light, keen beyond compare. At first only an arm's length, the spear soared up at a flick of his finger and swelled enormously, its point likewise aimed straight at the array.[1]
"Daoist Master?" Daoist Qi called. The three of them turned to Qin Sang.
In the meantime, the entrance's position had shifted several more times. From the Fire Jade Centipede's feedback, they had worked out a pattern of sorts. It moved roughly once every three breaths, but where it moved was entirely random.
Qin Sang gave a slight nod, and at a flicker of his thought, the Golden Sinking Sword leaped out of the Thousand-Jin Ring.
"There!"
At Qin Sang's command, all four Spiritual Infant cultivators struck with everything they had.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The water sword, the snake spear, and the Golden Sinking Sword, three attacks of overwhelming might, slammed into the same point at the same instant!
Before, Daoists Qi's and Wang's attacks had simply passed straight through. This time, what answered was a deafening roar!
Boom!
Time seemed to freeze as the three attacks stalled in place. And within the array, a point of crimson light began to bleed outward at a speed visible to the naked eye, like ink spreading through water.
1. Snake Spear is an ancient Chinese weapon; it is a spear shaped like a snake. ☜