Chapter 1410: The Buddhist Sect Emerges
Chapter 1410: The Buddhist Sect Emerges
The four of them stared unblinking at the crimson light. A scorching aura came rushing out from within, and the surrounding seawater instantly boiled.
The scene before them defied their expectations, and their delight faded as they exchanged glances. They had assumed that attacking this spot might reveal a door, or the full form of the array sealing the entrance. No one had imagined this. What lay inside seemed to be an active subterranean fire vein, not the Buddhist relic they had pictured.
While the four were still at a loss, the crimson light abruptly stopped spilling outward and contracted rapidly toward the center. The scorching aura was pressed back with it, and in the blink of an eye the array was about to revert to its original state.
If the crimson light vanished, everything their attacks had accomplished would be wasted. The Fire Jade Centipede could not hold on much longer. One way or another, they had to enter Pure Sea Sect while the insect array still endured!
At the sight, Qin Sang and the others exchanged a look.
"Again!" Valley Master Mu barked. The Snake Spear gave off a cold, eerie glow, like a python coming to life in that instant.
Qin Sang had reached the same conclusion. Having come this far, having even offered up the Fire Jade Centipede, there was no reason to give up now, whether or not Pure Sea Sect really lay within.
Deciding on the spot, he drove the Golden Sinking Sword to its utmost, transforming it into a streak of golden light. Daoists Qi and Wang were no slower; their banner array wheeled, and a deeper, more condensed sword of dark-blue water materialized.
The four Spiritual Infant cultivators held nothing back this time. Black, gold, and blue; the naked eye could see only the strange radiance of the three attacks as they converged on a single point in an instant. Their control was exquisite beyond measure, the assault compressed to its very limit, and the moment it touched the crimson light, it detonated!
What followed exceeded everyone's expectations. The crimson light stopped contracting, and after a brief pause, it surged madly outward in every direction faster than before, the seawater boiling once more.
Rushing out with it came an aura of crimson flame, utterly savage, suppressed for countless years and finally, thanks to Qin Sang's group, freed from its seal to vent itself!
Feeling the might of that aura, all four cultivators paled. Far from daring to press forward, they retreated as one to avoid its edge.
At the same moment, provoked by the crimson light, the array's outline finally revealed itself! Wherever the crimson light passed, a faint golden Buddha's light materialized out of thin air. Each ray of that radiance was a barrier thin as a cicada's wing, layer upon layer.
When all the Buddha's light had emerged, the sight was extraordinary. The layered barriers of light folded together into an unopened Buddhist lotus, clasped tightly shut! The lotus bud was the array's true, complete form.
The crimson light rampaged inside the lotus. The Buddha's light blazed, contending with it for brilliance. Within their field of view, only those two lights, crimson and gold, could be seen. Only Qin Sang, aided by the Sky-Eyed Butterfly, could vaguely make out something unusual at the heart of the crimson light.
That was most likely where the entrance to Pure Sea Sect lay. Even so, neither Qin Sang nor Valley Master Mu dared approach the lotus rashly at a time like this. They obediently withdrew to the side and watched.
"Could this really be nothing but a seabed fire vein?" Daoist Qi murmured.
"It can't be that simple," Daoist Wang said, shaking her head. "Why would Pure Sea Sect build atop a seabed fire vein on the verge of eruption? And if the vein were about to erupt, why not relocate instead of going to such tremendous lengths to seal it with an array?"
They watched the changes inside the lotus tensely, talking as they observed. Thought after thought flashed through Qin Sang's mind until a sudden sense of foreboding took hold. He turned his head. "How many Spiritual Infant cultivators are there near Ethereal Sea?"
"Good territory is actually scarce in Boundless Sea, so Spiritual Infant dojos lie far apart, and we each keep to our own. Besides us, the only one nearby is the current island master of Nine-Precept Island, the Precept-Keeping Sage. What are you thinking, Daoist Master?" Daoist Qi looked over in surprise.
Qin Sang pointed at the Buddhist lotus. "I want to know how many people would be drawn here if word leaked out, and how fast they could arrive."
Before he finished speaking...
Rumble! A thunderclap burst from within the lotus.
The collision between the crimson light and the lotus had reached its fiercest. The lotus shook, and under its radiance the surroundings became a sea of gold. Yet the crimson aura yielded nothing, if anything surpassing it, smashing through barrier after barrier of Buddha's light.
Amid the rumble, the lotus split open with a crash! In an instant, a shockwave of crimson-gold swept toward all directions at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Look out! Scatter!"
Sensing the wave's power, the four cultivators blanched. If they were caught by that crimson flame aura head-on, pent up for who knew how long, now mingled with the force of the shattering lotus array, they would likely not survive.
Boom! Boom! Boom... Four figures burst through the sea's surface one after another and hovered in mid-air, staring ahead in horror.
Boom! A colossal pillar of crimson-gold light surged into the sky.
In both scale and momentum, it dwarfed the phenomenon Daoist Qi had witnessed before. The four craned their necks in unison and still could not see its end. The pillar showed no sign of fading; it only intensified. Mountainous waves surged as the tranquility of Ethereal Sea was torn utterly apart.
Their expressions shifted uneasily. What Qin Sang had feared was happening. The two forces showed no sign of weakening, and they were powerless to suppress them. If this continued, immortal cultivators even ten thousand li away would be startled by the phenomenon.
Once such news spread, it would sweep across half the Boundless Sea at breakneck speed and draw other Spiritual Infant cultivators here. Fortunately, those people would need time to arrive; Qin Sang's group should still be able to enter Pure Sea Sect first.
***
In the distance, the Chaotic Devil Elder and the Precept-Keeping Sage had seen it all too. The Precept-Keeping Sage stood momentarily dazed. He had realized it as well that if they could not find a way in soon, the opponents to come would number far more than the four ahead. He couldn't help feeling relieved at his own foresight in bringing the Chaotic Devil Elder.
The Chaotic Devil Elder, however, was staring fixedly at the crimson-gold pillar, something sinister creeping into his eyes.
"Useless fools, fit only to ruin things!" he snarled, striking his black bamboo staff down hard.
The Precept-Keeping Sage glanced at him in surprise, unable to fathom why he had lost his composure.
***
"What now?" Daoists Qi and Wang both looked to Valley Master Mu, wearing wry smiles. "After all our scheming, are we just clearing the way for someone else?"
Valley Master Mu pondered briefly, dove down to investigate, and returned to the surface shaking his head. "The shockwaves from the collision of those two forces are still growing stronger. I can't see the true scene inside. Forcing our way in now would mean near-certain death."
"Charging in now would mean certain death!" Qin Sang suddenly cut in, casting a long look at the seabed. "There are bound to be other dangers below the entrance, a protective array, for instance! Our only course is to wait for the crimson flame aura to weaken before trying again. Otherwise, fending off the flames while dealing with whatever else awaits, even the four of us together could hardly protect ourselves."