Chapter 256: Got Tricked
“Let’s first look for a considerably weaker spot in the formation!” Since this formation was covering the entire building, then there would definitely be a backdoor, in other words, the weakest spot in the formation.
Zhu Yao thoroughly looked around the entire building, and then she heard Ying Luo sending a voice transmission from above her. “Over here!”
Riding on her sword, she flew up, and as expected, she saw a place at the rooftop which evidently had scarcer amount of spiritual energy compared to the rest. Though, that place had a Wind Chime Formation in place.
“Your granddaddy!” Ying Luo could not help but cuss out.
The Wind Chime Formation was different from the rest of the formations, as it seemingly did not carry any offensive properties. However, if the formation was triggered, it would release a loud chime-like sound.
If they were to enter from this place, it would be akin to the two of them telling the rest of the people that they were breaking in to steal the mystic artifact, and to have the guards come over.
“My girl Yu Yao, what do you think…” What do you think we should do?
“I recall that this building is made out of wood.” She suddenly spoke of something completely unrelated.
Ying Luo was stunned for a moment, and then she nodded. “That’s right.”
“Are you good with wood type mystic arts?”
“Not… I’m not bad with it.”
“Great then.” Zhu Yao said. “You just have to directly impart life into this wooden building and awaken all the wooden materials. Then, speed up their growth rate.”
“You’re saying…” Ying Luo’s eyes shone.
Zhu Yao nodded. The defenses outside the building were very solid, making it difficult to enter from the outside. However, opening it from the inside was a different matter altogether. Since this building was constructed with wood in the first place, and the formation would not have any defenses prepared against the building itself, if the wooden materials within began to grow, then the formation would not be triggered. As long as the wooden building opened up an entrance on its own, then the formation would be akin to a dud.
However, this method could only be used by someone with the wood spirit vein. Even if her lightning spirit vein could convert spiritual energy, it would still carry a slight presence of lightning spiritual energy, which would be easily sensed by the formation. Ying Luo on the other hand had all five spirit veins, so it would be just right if she made the move instead.
Ying Luo cast a wood type mystic art, and circulated her spiritual energy. In but a few moments, saplings began to grow on the wooden materials on the entire rooftop, and they grew longer and more abundant as time went by, as they slowly gathered in their direction. They then began to intertwine with each other, forming a circular shape, which ended up turning into a passageway made by trees and wood. They directly stretched out from the rooftop, as though they had stretched open a hole right in the center of the formation.
“It’s enough now, let’s go!” Ying Luo turned joyous, as she took the lead in flying inside.
Zhu Yao paused for a moment. She looked at the passage, and then at the terrifying formation that were still present below the entrance. She suddenly felt that everything had gone a little too easy. Was it just her imagination?
“My girl Yu Yao, hurry!” Ying Luo urged her from inside.
Suppressing the suspicion in the depths of her heart, Zhu Yao followed after her.
Because they entered from the rooftop, they arrived at the top floor the moment they arrived. Several spiritual swords were placed there, but none of them was their target mystic artifact. The two of them searched all the way down, and only when they reached the first floor did they see the dark green bamboo flute placed at the top of a pedestal. There were miasma constantly flowing around the flute, and golden coloured symbols could be faintly seen.
“Found it.”
When Zhu Yao looked at that flute, the bad premonition in the depths of her heart grew even more intense. “I kind of feel that this has been a little too smooth-sailing.”
“Didn’t things go pretty smoothly with the previous mystic artifacts too?” Ying Luo said.
That’s true!
Ying Luo stepped forward. Just as she was about to take the flute, a formation suddenly flashed in her surroundings.
“Watch out!” Zhu Yao quickly reached out, instantly pulling her away. Four chains immediately appeared from the spot she was standing on earlier, rising into the air and wrapping around the center. If not because she had pulled her away quickly, Ying Luo would have already been chained up.
“This…” She was similarly stunned as well. While they were in the building, not a single formation ripple was felt the entire time. Just how did the formation here appear then?
“Hurry and dodge.” The four chains from earlier did not stop, and had instead come chasing in their direction.
Zhu Yao gave her a push, pushing her several meters away, before taking a step back on her own. Coincidentally, she backed up to the exit, and just as she was about to cast an art to restrict the four chains, Ying Luo suddenly shouted with a pale look.
“Yu Yao!”
Unable to react in time, Zhu Yao simply felt something rushing towards her in the next instant, striking heavily on her back. The gate to the building had opened all of a sudden, and a large ray of red light shone, instantly brightening up the entire building. Zhu Yao puked out a large mouthful of blood, and simply felt a tingling noise resounding in her ears. The noise was especially piercing to the ears, constantly stirring one’s mind and soul.
Ying Luo could no longer endure it any longer, puking out blood.
“Girl!” Zhu Yao endured the pain, and just as was about to head over.
A copper bell suddenly flew in, ear-piercing sounds endlessly rang out. Furthermore, that copper bell grew even larger, and in the next moment, it took up the entire floor. Zhu Yao had no choice but to fly out of the building, only to see the Nascent Soul practitioners of the various sects had long gathered outside, and leading them was Ding Chunqiu.
The hell, she just knew that this one called Ding Chunqiu was up to no good.
She finally figured out what felt amiss. The formations of the building were all used to prevent people from going in, but not preventing people from coming out. If the formations were truly used to guard a mystic artifact, the defenses should not have been one-way only.
Ding Chunqiu had long designed it properly, and waited for them to send themselves to his doorsteps.
At the moment Zhu Yao flew out, the building had already collapsed. That copper bell flew out, and its height had already grown to that of an average human’s. The bell ringing reverberated, and that copper bell actually began to slowly turn transparent, revealing an absolute beauty dressed in an azure top and green skirt.
“Girl!” Zhu Yao was stunned. When was she enclosed in the bell? And she had even reverted back to her original appearance.
“Ying Luo, it’s as he had said, she’s really that Ying Luo who once died!” Someone in the crowd exclaimed out.
“Then how could she possibly come back to life? Wasn’t her soul long scattered away?”
“What about that Devil? Did he come back to life as well?”
“Heavens, that woman over there can’t be a Devil, right?”
“It’s no wonder she wants to steal away the mystic artifact.”
“Everyone!” Ding Chunqiu suddenly shouted. “Ying Luo has already been bewitched by the Devil, and has turned into a Demoness! For the countless lives under the heavens, we definitely mustn’t let off these two servants of the Devil!”
When the crowd heard this, they fearfully pulled out their weapons one after another, and had expressions that looked as though they were preparing to go out with a bang.
Zhu Yao puked up blood from anger. She just knew that the moment the girl’s identity was exposed, these people would crowd together and attack her. If things were as usual, she really wouldn’t place these people in her eyes. However, her Dantian was instantly shattered by that strange copper bell earlier, it was already considerably good that she was still holding on.
“Yu Yao.” Ying Luo’s voice transmission suddenly rang in the depths of her heart. “Take the emerald bamboo flute and go! Remember what you promised me, and completely eliminate the Devil.”
The hell, girl, do you have to be such a saint!? Right now, the Devil is actually all you can think of? Those people are out to kill you, you know?
“I’m… someone who should have died long ago in the first place.” As though she knew what Zhu Yao was thinking, she said with a sunken voice. “Hurry and go, if your identity is exposed, it will influence Forgotten God Palace.”
Zhu Yao turned to look at the flute in the ruin, and then turned to look at Ying Luo, who was trapped in the bell and was already being surrounded by the various sects. Gritting her teeth, she swung her sword and attacked one of the Nascent Soul practitioners that was approaching her.
She instantly summoned her sword intent.
A lightning phoenix instantly charged through the skies, and its sharp cries resounded through the clouds, completely suppressing the sounds of the copper bell. With a twist of her hand, the lightning phoenix charged towards the copper bell. With a crackling noise, a crack appeared on the copper bell.
She immediately flew over and reached her hand into the crack. Instantly, it felt as though her right arm was being pierced by millions of metal needles, causing her to be filled with unbearable pain. However, she had no choice but to hold on, as she desperately yanked out the girl Ying Luo. When she looked at her arm again, it had already been meshed with flesh and blood.
It really is motherf**king painful.
Zhu Yao recalled her sword intent. With its wings wide open, the lightning phoenix suddenly turned and pounced straight towards the other practitioners. The lightning pressure that filled the sky, forced the crowd to kneel onto the ground one after another. Taking this opportunity, Zhu Yao pulled the girl, and flew wildly towards the east.
“Yu Yao, you shouldn’t have… saved me?” Ying Luo suddenly spoke.
“My ass!” Zhu Yao really wanted to turn around and spit all over her face. She no longer cared if she believed her not, and immediately said. “This old lady here shall tell you the truth now. I’m basically not here for whatever merit or whatever Devil, this old lady’s goal is to save your ass.”
“…” The girl was stunned.
After a long while…
“Yu Yao.”
“Mn?”
“As I thought… You like me, right?”
“…” Don’t make me kick you off.”
In the first place, the spiritual energy in her body had pretty much scattered away due to her shattered Dantian, and then she forcefully summoned her sword intent earlier as well. As Zhu Yao wildly flew, she felt an unprecedented fatigue, and the spiritual energy in her body was seemingly about to deplete. After flying for a short while, she handed over the task of flying the sword to Ying Luo, but their speed had evidently slowed down.
But fortunately, there were no longer pursuers behind them. With the speed they were travelling at earlier, it was hard for the various sects to catch up.
“What’s that place in front?” Zhu Yao could faintly see a floating mountain in front of them, however, she could not understand why they wasn’t any spiritual energy drifting around its surroundings. On the mountain peak, a palace-like structure could be faintly seen.
“It’s that ancient ruin.” Ying Luo’s eyes brightened, as she explained. “It’s the one where the Devil resided in back then.”
“Let’s go in!” Zhu Yao was decisive. Not only was the final mystic artifact inside, due to it being related to the Devil, not many practitioners dared to approach it.
Ying Luo naturally understood her intentions, and instantly flew the sword into the palace.
That palace was extremely huge, and the surroundings were filled gigantic stone pillars that were at least three stories high. Ying Luo found a flat land and then placed her down. She pulled out a few Energy Restoring Pellets, and passed them to her.
“No need.” Zhu Yao shook her head. “My Dantian has shattered, medicinal pellets are basically useless now.”
Her hands trembled, and her expression was instantly a little pale. “Yu Yao…”
“I’m fine, it’s not the first time my Dantian has shattered anyway.” After having it shattered so many times, she was already used to it. Zhu Yao looked at her teary face, and glared at her. “Don’t look as though I’m going to die.”
“But…” Wouldn’t a practitioner die if his or her Dantian was shattered?
“Don’t worry, I can restore it.” Zhu Yao took a deep breath, and then sat in a lotus position. She then casually added. “I never expected that copper bell to be that incredible either.”
“Yu Yao, I’m sorry.” Her expression grew even paler. A while later, she said. “That’s the Sealing Bell of Truth. It’s a…”
“God’s Artifact?”
“You knew?” She had a stunned look.
“I guessed.” Actually, she saw it back then. When that copper bell grew large, three black, bolded words were clearly written on it – ‘God’s Artifact 3’. However, the quality of this God’s Artifact was not as good as the previous ones, as it was instantly shattered by her sword intent. It was no wonder it did not have the word ‘bug’ on it.