Xuantian Immortal Cultivation Record

The instant "Old Yan's" spirit vanished, the head of the Nascent Soul stone golem beside him exploded with a "bang," then it released its grip on Zhang Yuanjing's hand and fell backward.

At the same time, in the second hall of the Hou Tu Palace, all twenty-plus stone golems fiercely battling Ling Xiao and the other six, including the three Nascent Soul stone golems, had their heads explode and collapsed to the ground.

This sudden change startled Ling Xiao and the others, who suspected some terrible conspiracy and quickly retreated through the passage back to the first hall.

"Junior Sister Xuan, what's going on?" Ling Xiao immediately asked Xuan Yi.

"It looks like… a head explosion!" Xuan Yi said, also in disbelief and feeling incredulous.

"Junior Brother Hu?"

"Reporting to the Mountain Lord, my assessment is the same as Senior Sister Xuan's."

"Well, let's go in and take a look."

As Ling Xiao spoke, he took the lead, crossing the passage and re-entering the second hall.

Sure enough, the floor was covered with stone golem wreckage. Apart from the thirty or so bodies that they had spent several days defeating, with their bizarre and varied forms, the remaining twenty-plus all had shattered heads and intact bodies.

"That's really strange. Could someone have mastered the central array base?" Hu Chou said with a somewhat grave expression.

"The central array base? Impossible. If someone controlled the center and could manipulate these stone golems, there would be no need to order them to self-destruct. Wouldn't it be better to have them serve you?" Xuan Yi shook her head in denial. After pondering for a moment, she continued, "I still stand by my previous judgment. The central array base must be within these seven halls of the Hou Tu Palace. Moreover, it's either the sixth hall or the seventh hall."

"I also lean towards Junior Sister Xuan's judgment, but we must also be prepared for other possibilities. What if that Wu Yuankui has a stroke of luck and finds the central array base outside? That would be troublesome." As Ling Xiao stepped over the stone golem wreckage, heading towards the north side of the hall, he said, "Junior Brother Hu, go outside and take a look around. Find Wu Yuankui and keep an eye on him. Of course, keep your promise and don't hurt him."

Hu Chou acknowledged, cupped his fist towards Ling Xiao, then turned back to the first hall, exited the gate, and went to find Wu Yuankui and Zhang Yuanjing.

Ling Xiao walked to the front of the purple jade door leading to the third hall, and found that this door was very different in appearance from the stone door of the second hall, but the size and shape of the two slots were exactly the same.

"Junior Sister Xuan, can the restriction here be broken?"

"Mountain Lord, breaking the restriction would take too much time and could easily trigger a violent reaction from the entire formation. I suggest relying on the Seven Stars Seizing Mystery Formation to open a passage and enter."

"Wouldn't that mean we have to retrieve the array flags outside?"

"That's for sure, but this formation can be broken from the inside even more easily than from the outside."

"Oh, that's good. Let's do as you suggest!"

Xuan Yi went to the connection between the first and second halls, and with a series of hand seals, retrieved all seven array flags at the same time. Naturally, the array base, which had cost a large number of spirit stones to build, had to be abandoned.

Turning around, she walked directly to the front of the purple jade door and began to set up the Seven Stars Seizing Mystery Formation. She was skilled and experienced, and quickly set up the formation.

With Ling Xiao's heavy strike from the Profound Yin Unyielding Sword, a purple-glowing passage appeared before the five of them.

"Let's go!"

The group passed through the passage and entered a small garden with two paths. At the end of each path was an entrance to a great hall. At the fork on this side, two signs were erected; the one on the left read "Hall of True Inheritance," and the one on the right read "Hall of Teaching."

This put Ling Xiao in a bit of a dilemma. Should they split up and advance simultaneously, or concentrate their forces on one path? They had too few people; there were only a handful of them in the palace now. If they split up, both groups would be somewhat weak. After all, it was still uncertain what enemies would appear in the halls ahead.

"Mountain Lord, since the path splits, there are probably formations and restrictions ahead. Moreover, these two halls must have different levels of importance," Xuan Yi said, with her keen insight, she keenly perceived the relationship between the two halls. "The Hall of Teaching should be one level lower, and perhaps easier to enter."

"Well, let's take a look first. If entering different halls means the paths ahead are separate, we might not be able to find what we're looking for here." Ling Xiao seemed hesitant, unable to make up his mind for a moment.

"Then let's choose the Hall of True Inheritance!" Xuan Yi said decisively.

"Let's try it." Ling Xiao nodded slightly.

Xuan Yi turned to the purple passage and retrieved the array flags again, before following Ling Xiao and the others towards the Hall of True Inheritance.

At the end of the road was a wall, seamlessly integrated with the palace, with no trace of a doorway.

Everyone was stunned, thinking they had taken the wrong path. They all looked back, but behind them was only a winding path, with no other forks.

"Junior Sister Xuan, is there a special formation here hiding the door?"

"There's only the formation integrated with the palace…" Xuan Yi also shook her head in confusion. The layout here was beyond her expectations. "It's as if the senior who set up the formation is playing a joke on us!"

"Let's go to the other path."

Ling Xiao led the group back to the fork and headed towards the Hall of Teaching. Soon, a light yellow door appeared in front of them. The door was closed, but there was no spiritual pressure.

"No restriction?" Ling Xiao was a little surprised, feeling it seemed too easy.

"Indeed, there isn't." Xuan Yi walked forward, reached out and grabbed the raised carvings on the door, and slowly pushed it open. With a creak, a hall ten feet square appeared before them.

"Who's there?"

In the dim candlelight, two old Daoist-looking cultivators jumped up and quickly turned around. One of them asked, his voice hurried, low, and full of vigilance.

"Oh, there are people here, haha!" Ling Xiao slowly walked into the hall. He had already guessed the identities of the two, and was fearless. "I suppose you are people from the Hou Tu Sect. Which one is the True Man Wen?"

Wen Songnan's heart sank, realizing that something was wrong.

"Hehe, it is indeed Ling. True Man Wen, I have long admired you. I greatly admire your methods. Today I finally meet you in person. You are indeed extraordinary!" Ling Xiao's eyes flashed with bright light, piercing through the gloomy darkness, staring straight at Wen Songnan's face, constantly moving his feet, looking for openings.

Wen Songnan chuckled, put on a calm and composed look, and said in a calm and indifferent tone, "Sect Leader Ling is also very powerful. He was able to safely pass through the alien demon army, successfully find this place, and even break through three formations in a row to reach the core inheritance of the ancient sect. I, a direct descendant of the Hou Tu Sect, am only a few moments ahead. I also admire you very much!"

Wen Songnan's divine sense spread out, but he couldn't accurately capture Ling Xiao's aura. He only felt that his cultivation realm was sometimes in the early stage of Nascent Soul and sometimes in the middle stage of Nascent Soul, not very strong, and there was no sense of oppression from a late-stage great cultivator.

Xuan Yi ignored their verbal sparring and looked around the hall.

This hall was unremarkable, with no furnishings. The only special thing was that the three walls were covered with golden characters.

She casually read a few paragraphs and knew they were earth-based cultivation methods, so she stopped looking at them and instead stared at the junction of the walls and the floor, carefully examining every inch. Finally, in the northwest corner of the hall, she found a hidden door, concealed by a simple formation, but it was not difficult to break.

"Go!"

Wen Songnan was extremely alert. While confronting Ling Xiao, he didn't neglect Xuan Yi's movements. Seeing her gaze fixed on the northwest corner, he immediately let out a low shout, twisted his body, and rushed towards that place.

Wen Zaidai was already on his west side, closer to the hidden door. He glanced with some regret at the complete formulas of the Driving Stone, Rolling Sand, and Dividing Earth techniques on the wall, then resolutely turned his head and was the first to rush into the door. He saw a gray light flash on his body, and then he disappeared.

Wen Songnan followed closely behind, his body also flashing with gray light, and then he disappeared into the door.

"Mountain Lord, forcefully break the formation!" Xuan Yi shouted.

Ling Xiao sacrificed the Profound Yin Unyielding Sword and used all his magic power to strike down with the sword. With a "boom," the wall in that corner exploded, revealing a door about ten feet high.

"Chase!"

Let's talk about Hu Chou. After leaving the palace gate, he opened his divine sense and stretched it out in all directions. With his early Nascent Soul realm, his divine sense was over a hundred miles away, but he didn't find any important places around the Hou Tu Palace. There were only some ordinary houses, or scenes used to train low-level disciples. Seeing that there were many mountains in the west and dense forests, making it easy to hide traces, he went all the way west.

After traveling about one hundred and fifty miles, he found a thirty-foot-high white pagoda fifty or sixty miles away to the south. His eyes lit up, and he turned south and flew over.

"This is… Senior Brother Sun?" Hu Chou stopped ten miles north of the white pagoda in surprise and uncertainty. A person who shouldn't be here, avoided his divine sense, and appeared here. It was Sun Muyang, whose facial muscles were twisted and lifeless.

Hu Chou had many opportunities to go deep into the Void Demon Space or the Void Demon World, and knew many secrets. Sun Muyang's situation was very similar to the demonic transformation after an alien demon possessed and devoured his spirit. As long as he devoured a few more Nascent Souls, he would change his zombie-like appearance and become no different from ordinary cultivators.

Hu Chou hesitated for only a few breaths, then immediately turned and fled. He thought his strength was slightly inferior to a demonic cultivator at the Nascent Soul level, and it was difficult to fight a decisive battle. He thought it would be better to find the Mountain Lord and Xuan Yi first and deal with it together.

He had a rough face and acted cautiously, always thinking carefully before acting.

"Sun Muyang" had naturally discovered Hu Chou long ago. Seeing that he was so vigilant, he sneered twice and quickly chased after him.

The two were only ten miles apart, and "Sun Muyang" had the soul of an alien demon, and was particularly good at escaping, so he quickly caught up with Hu Chou.

Fortunately, the white pagoda was only two hundred miles away from the Hou Tu Palace. Hu Chou used a mid-grade top-quality Wind Riding Talisman and managed to enter the first hall of the Hou Tu Palace before "Sun Muyang" caught up.

When he turned into the right side hall, he was immediately dumbfounded—there was no passage on the door!

He immediately turned around, but "Sun Muyang" was already in the first hall. His lifeless, dead-fish-like eyes stared indifferently at Hu Chou, and he made a strange "ho ho ho" sound.

Hu Chou was caught off guard and became passive. He couldn't help but feel a little unstable, and the first thought that came to his mind was to break through the enemy's obstruction, escape first, find a place suitable for his battle, and then fight a decisive battle.

So, with a wave of his hand, he sacrificed the Beast Soul Axe. The lion, wolf, cow, elephant, and tiger roared together. The giant axe flashed with white light and red dots, and the axe body quickly grew larger, and he slashed at "Sun Muyang" with the axe.

"Sun Muyang" seemed to have not expected Hu Chou to suddenly hurt someone, and flashed his body, dodging to the other side of the hall, giving way to the palace gate.

Hu Chou was overjoyed. He changed his magic formula, controlled the Beast Soul Axe to stop its momentum, made a sharp turn, continued to chase and kill "Sun Muyang", and flashed out of the hall himself.

"Sun Muyang" dodged again, and Hu Chou successfully crossed the gate.

However, just as he was about to escape from the hall, a soft but tough mist entangled him, making him stagger as if he had fallen into a quagmire.

He was shocked, and then he realized that this was one of Sun Muyang's unique moves—"Entangling Dream Sword Qi."

Hu Chou then realized that in his urgency, he had fallen into "Sun Muyang's" divine sense deception, neither discovering the trap at the palace gate, nor ignoring Sun Muyang's own water-based swordsmanship skills for no reason.

He bit his steel teeth, his magic power swelled up, his coat shattered instantly, revealing a flowing and colorful inner armor. This armor was called "Silver Snake Armor", it was a middle-grade spiritual treasure, and it was his greatest reliance on always preserving his life after experiencing many dangerous situations.

The Silver Snake Armor absorbed enough spiritual power, and silver snakes swam on the surface of the armor.

"Open!" Hu Chou shouted. The Silver Snake Armor actually exploded with a "bang", and countless fragments with the afterimages of silver snakes splashed in all directions, completely breaking through the "Entangling Dream Sword Qi".

Hu Chou only felt his body lighten, and he quickly flew out of the hall completely. At the same time, he pinched a magic formula and pointed it at the Beast Soul Axe in the first hall, and actually blew it up too.

Then, without looking at the result, he took out a dark spear from the storage ring, held it behind him, and fled south with all his strength.

After flying out hastily for about ten miles, Hu Chou suddenly felt his ears a little itchy, as if someone was breathing behind his head.

He couldn't help but lose his soul. Knowing that he couldn't look back, he still turned his head instinctively.

Sure enough, it was "Sun Muyang's" extremely terrifying face. He just stuck out his tongue and licked it, and hooked out Hu Chou's vigorous Nascent Soul and swallowed it.

In the last moment of losing consciousness, Hu Chou thought that when he sacrificed the Beast Soul Axe and slashed at "Sun Muyang", "Sun Muyang's" dodging to the other side of the hall was also an illusion, it was his deception of his divine sense.

Therefore, "Sun Muyang" had been waiting outside the hall for a long time. His self-detonation of the Silver Snake Armor and Beast Soul Axe did not hurt him at all.