Chapter 302 : Hidden Mission
The altar built by the merpeople was extraordinarily sturdy—previously, even Zhu Baiyi's full-force attack at Grand Achievement stage couldn't damage it in the slightest, yet now it had been completely shattered by a single strike from the Square Seal... This truly exceeded everyone's expectations, including Jiang Mo's. The sound of people gasping could be heard throughout. Subsequently, when everyone looked at Yun Qingyue again, their gazes were different, now carrying obvious reverence.
Jiang Mo also drew in a sharp breath, staring in astonishment at the destroyed altar, then at the Square Seal that had shrunk and returned to Senior Sister's hand, before finally stuttering: "Se-Senior Sister, your..."
Everyone was stunned by Yun Qingyue's power, but not only did Yun Qingyue's face show no trace of pride, her brows actually slightly furrowed.
For a moment, Jiang Mo couldn't understand Senior Sister's reaction. But before she could ask more, or Senior Sister could respond, the system's notification sounds suddenly rang out in succession—
"Ding, congratulations to the host for discovering the hidden mission: Repair the Damaged Sealing Formation.
Tens of thousands of years ago, when the demonic realm invaded and devastated all living beings, the cultivation world united its efforts to establish a sealing formation, sealing the passage to the demonic realm. However, through the vicissitudes of time, the former glory and sacrifices have been forgotten by the world. Time has faded the past and eroded the power, and you've suddenly discovered that the powerful seal from tens of thousands of years ago has been damaged and must be repaired immediately, or great calamity will befall."
"Ding, congratulations to the host for completing the hidden mission: Repair the Damaged Sealing Formation (1/4)."
The system's mission prompts often revealed much information, especially after the main storyline mission began, where any word in the mission description might hide secrets. However, after reading these two notifications, especially seeing the "1/4," she couldn't help but curse inwardly.
Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Jiang Mo finally asked: "System, is this all the information you have for the mission? No coordinates, no clues—I don't even know where this sealing formation is. How am I supposed to find the other three damaged places to repair? Why not just ask me to find a needle in the ocean? No, finding a needle in the ocean might actually be easier!"
After speaking, she glanced at the shattered altar before her and didn't forget to add a complaint: "And you say this situation counts as a repair? We just completed one sacrifice, and now the altar is destroyed. How can this be considered a repair?!"
The system could feel the host's resentment, but after reviewing both mission prompts, it could only helplessly say: "Host, this is how the main system issued the mission. What can I do? As for the location of the sealing formation, you could return to Xuanqing Sect to investigate, or ask Sect Leader Zhu; perhaps you'll find out. There must be some clues."
After discussing the mission, it addressed her complaints: "As for the repair... Host, didn't you see? When Senior Sister's Square Seal came down earlier, the text and images beneath the seal lit up. The system detected sealing and suppressing power in those patterns. It's with their reinforcement that this damage is considered repaired. Otherwise, the suppressing merperson pearl would be like a recharged battery that leaks—it wouldn't solve the fundamental problem."
Hearing this, Jiang Mo was somewhat surprised. Thinking back, she couldn't recall the situation beneath the Square Seal. Therefore, she curiously looked at the small seal in Senior Sister's hand and asked: "Senior Sister, may I take a look at your Square Seal?"
Upon hearing this, not only did Yun Qingyue not loosen her grip on the Square Seal, she actually tightened it—not because she was unwilling to show the Square Seal to Jiang Mo; in fact, she had once wanted to give this small seal to her. But this Square Seal was too strange. Setting aside past incidents, this time when it shattered the altar, it wasn't her intention at all. The Square Seal had escaped on its own and acted of its own accord!
Before this, Yun Qingyue hadn't known the Square Seal's attack was so formidable.
Precisely because it was powerful yet not completely under control, Yun Qingyue was wary of it and didn't dare to be careless.
Jiang Mo noticed Senior Sister's subtle movement, and it would be a lie to say she wasn't disappointed. Her gaze toward Yun Qingyue visibly turned dejected—she was merely curious, not insistent on seeing the small seal, but Senior Sister's distant behavior truly hurt the tiger's feelings.
In the end, Yun Qingyue didn't show her the Square Seal, but instead placed a restriction on it and put it away before rubbing the tiger's head and saying to Jiang Mo: "Alright, there's no rush now. I'll explain it to you later."
Well... that's acceptable too.
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While Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue were still hung up on the issue of the Square Seal, Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu, after their initial astonishment, first turned their attention to the destroyed altar before them—Jiang Mo's earlier words were correct. This altar required sacrifice every hundred years. This time they had managed to muddle through without incident, but they hadn't yet figured out how to handle it next time. Now, simply and brutally smashing the altar wasn't actually a good choice, after all, the fundamental reason for building the altar was for the seal beneath it; the altar itself didn't have any particular significance.
Now that it was destroyed, wouldn't they have to rebuild an altar for sacrifice a hundred years later? Just thinking about it was suffocating!
Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu began to inspect the scene with their minds full of concerns, while the others who had just been rejoicing over successfully dealing with the sacrifice were somewhat dumbfounded. Especially the merperson—the entire fish froze for a moment, then frantically rushed forward: "The altar, the altar..."
No one knew what material the altar was made of, nor how many formations it contained that enabled the sacrifice of energy, but now it was all destroyed. The merperson pounced on the ruins of the altar, and tears immediately streamed down: "The altar is destroyed, what will we do in the future? Without sacrifices, the seal will be destroyed, and everyone will die!"
Hearing these words, everyone couldn't help but shudder. Previously, when facing the altar, everyone had been fearful of death, but now that the altar was destroyed, no one was smiling—just as the merperson said, this hundred years might be peaceful, but what about the next hundred years?
"We shouldn't, shouldn't have destroyed the altar," someone finally said.
Countless gazes turned toward Yun Qingyue, some resentful, some wary, but fortunately, through the destruction of the altar, everyone's hearts had developed infinite reverence for her, so no one dared to truly offend her.
Zhu Baiyi and Qingyu didn't care what others thought, nor did they mind the merperson's distraught crying. The two circled the damaged altar, releasing their divine sense and spiritual power to probe.
After a while, Qingyu tentatively said: "Beneath this altar, there seems to be another layer of seal?" And its strength was not low.
Zhu Baiyi had naturally also sensed it, and her cultivation was higher than Qingyu's, her perception more acute. The seal beneath the altar didn't seem to be the original sealing formation, but rather a patch added later. It wasn't as secure as the original, but with this patch, the damage to the formation had been greatly compensated. At least in this situation, the merperson pearl wouldn't need to be sacrificed to every hundred years.
She wasn't slow-witted and quickly understood the connection, her gaze inadvertently glancing at Yun Qingyue. This glance happened to catch her placing restrictions on the small seal. Zhu Baiyi vaguely felt that the small seal was somewhat familiar, but couldn't recall its origin, so she asked Qingyu: "What treasure is that small seal? Do you know?"
Hearing this, Qingyu also turned her gaze in that direction, but by the time she looked, the Square Seal had already been put away by Yun Qingyue. However, during that earth-shattering strike earlier, she had seen the true appearance of the Square Seal, so she shook her head: "I don't know, it must be something she obtained through chance." Then she pointed at the ruins before them: "Here, is there anything else we need to do?"
Zhu Baiyi swept her gaze over the altar ruins. Originally, with countless formations reinforcing it, the altar was truly an altar, but now everything had been destroyed, and this place was just a useless ruin. She shook her head: "No need, it's useless now."
Among those present, Zhu Baiyi had the highest cultivation, and even if her knowledge wasn't the most extensive, she was certainly among the elite.
Qingyu therefore didn't say more, only slightly lowering her eyes, lost in thought.
Seeing this, Zhu Baiyi approached on her own initiative, almost pressing against Qingyu's ear, and asked: "What are you thinking about?"
Qingyu slightly raised her eyes, her gaze passing over the eyes beyond Zhu Baiyi's veil, then looked around: "I'm thinking, now that matters here are concluded, should we be heading back?"
At these words, Zhu Baiyi first froze, then felt an overwhelming sense of loss surge through her heart.