Chapter 484 : Bound Hand and Foot
484: Bound Hand and Foot
Jiang Mo knew Tan Xin's condition wasn't good, but knowing couldn't compare to the shock of witnessing black energy drilling into his chest with her own eyes. In that moment, Jiang Mo even feared his body would immediately become demonically possessed.
Fortunately, that didn't happen—the Buddha's disciple's body was more resistant than expected.
Even so, Jiang Mo still felt lingering trepidation. After some hesitation, she carefully lifted Tan Xin's robe. The exposed chest near his heart was revealed—white skin, smooth and even, with no sign that the most vital organ was missing beneath. The original sacrifice hadn't left a wound, and even if it had, several years would have been sufficient for Buddha Sect to repair it.
Jiang Mo had examined Tan Xin's injuries years ago, so seeing this now wasn't surprising. She only wanted to check if the black energy was still there, but finding no trace of it, she had to give up.
Just as Jiang Mo was about to cover Tan Xin's chest again, Yun Qingyue suddenly spoke: "Wait."
Jiang Mo immediately stopped but with some confusion: "What is it?"
Yun Qingyue stepped forward, her gaze fixed on the location of Tan Xin's heart. Jiang Mo wasn't sure what she had noticed. After waiting a while without receiving an answer, just as she was about to inquire again, she saw Yun Qingyue flap her wings, sending a beam of spiritual light toward Tan Xin.
The light struck Tan Xin directly, cutting open his chest.
Slicing someone's chest open without warning—Jiang Mo instinctively closed her eyes, somewhat afraid to witness the little monk's blood spattering everywhere. But that didn't happen. Though Tan Xin's chest had been cut open, the blood flowing from the wound was minimal, almost negligible. When Jiang Mo opened her eyes and saw this, she couldn't help but let out a surprised "Hmm?"
Yun Qingyue didn't rush to explain. She manipulated spiritual energy to form two hands, clearly intending to inspect the wound more closely. Seeing this, Jiang Mo finally stopped her: "Ah Yue, this is a blood pool. This... isn't a good idea, is it?"
The demonic energy in the blood pool was already corroding Tan Xin's body; with an opening, it would likely become worse.
Yun Qingyue wasn't upset at being stopped. She slightly raised her chin, gesturing for Jiang Mo to check: "Look at what's inside Tan Xin's chest."
Jiang Mo was confused. Tan Xin's heart had merged with the Seven Treasures Glass Heart and been sacrificed to suppress the sealing formation, so his chest should be empty, sustained only by spiritual medicines. Hearing her Senior Sister's tone, could it be that his chest had somehow grown a new heart?
That was ridiculous—if Buddha Sect with all their methods couldn't grow a new heart, how could soaking in a blood pool accomplish it?!
Despite her internal skepticism, Jiang Mo still heeded her Senior Sister's words. Her furry tiger paw soon pressed against Tan Xin's chest, and what little spiritual energy she could still mobilize entered his body through her breathing. Very quickly, the large tiger's entire face wrinkled with uncertain surprise: "Hmm, there really is something in there..."
Not only was there something, but if Jiang Mo's sensing wasn't mistaken, it wasn't anything good. Whatever existed there was filled with negative energy—definitely not a newly formed heart!
So what lay beneath the flesh?
Jiang Mo moved aside, no longer hindering Yun Qingyue, and watched as those hands formed from spiritual energy pried open the flesh around Tan Xin's heart. She could barely bring herself to look, yet couldn't turn away. So when the flesh was pulled back, revealing the crimson-black pearl underneath, it immediately caught her eye.
"This is... a Blood Fiend Beast Pearl?!" Jiang Mo exclaimed in shock, instantly connecting several pieces.
A Blood Fiend Beast Pearl was the pearl found on the forehead of a blood fiend beast—when the beast first appeared, it had been intercepted and killed by Jiang Mo and others, with only the pearl being snatched away by a person in black.
They had never known what happened to that pearl. Sect Leader Zhu had apparently searched for it without success, but no one had imagined it would appear in Tan Xin's chest. Facing this scene, however, it wasn't entirely unexpected—after all, the blood fiend beast had formed at Mount Xuanyin and was naturally closely connected to this place and its blood pool. Using it as a conduit made perfect sense.
Jiang Mo's scalp tingled. She circled Tan Xin twice, extending her paw then withdrawing it. From her appearance, she clearly wanted to plunge her tiger claw into his chest, but the pearl looked even more malevolent than before, making her hesitant.
"Ah Yue, what should we do now?" Jiang Mo was hampered, finally seeking her Senior Sister's help.
Yun Qingyue could utilize more spiritual energy than Jiang Mo, naturally making her more composed. Hearing the question, she didn't waste words, directly manipulating her spiritual energy hands to extract the pearl. But as she pulled, countless tiny red lines were revealed connecting the pearl like veins and blood vessels, tightly binding it to Tan Xin's body. Not only that, even the great formation beneath their feet was affected by the disturbance.
With just a moment's attempt, Yun Qingyue immediately understood it couldn't be done!
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
The Blood Fiend Beast Pearl in Tan Xin's chest was like a transplanted heart—though not perfectly compatible, all the meridians and blood vessels connecting to this "heart" had been attached. Therefore, even though this "heart" wasn't quite right, pulling on it would still affect everything else.
Not only was Jiang Mo at a loss, but even Yun Qingyue momentarily didn't know what to do.
The two were stumped before the little monk. Yun Qingyue turned to try breaking the formation below. But even with her considerable knowledge of formations, enhanced by her ability to see formation lines from the Formation-Breaking Cone, she found no way to approach this incredibly complex formation at the bottom of the blood pool—vaguely, she sensed this formation differed from typical cultivation world patterns, likely related to the Demon Race.
The formation couldn't be broken, the little monk's problem couldn't be solved, and the formation targeting divine beasts above still retained its power. Yun Qingyue wasn't confident she could bring Jiang Mo out of the blood pool. Moreover, there were many powerful experts stationed in the stone cavern above.
For a time, the two found themselves in another desperate situation, unable to advance or retreat.
Jiang Mo paced anxiously around Tan Xin, watching black energy from the blood pool flowing into his chest, powerless to stop it. Whether this energy was being absorbed by the Blood Fiend Beast Pearl or merging with Tan Xin's body, it clearly wasn't good. She couldn't help but regret—perhaps she shouldn't have saved Tan Xin back then; perhaps letting him sacrifice himself would have been the better choice.
But saying this now was too late.
After several hesitations, Jiang Mo stammered to her Senior Sister: "Ah Yue, do you think..." The rest of her words remained unspoken.
Yun Qingyue seemed to understand what she wanted to say. She raised her wing to pat the tiger's head, offering comfort: "Don't overthink it. We'll handle whatever comes; there's always a solution."
Whether by coincidence or luck, just as Yun Qingyue finished speaking, the two suddenly felt a surge within the blood pool. The invisible restraints vanished—from Yun Qingyue's perspective, the formation lines above were dissipating.
When formation lines dissipate, there are two possibilities: either the formation has been broken, or someone has actively shut it down!
……
Yun Qingyue's understanding of formations was impeccable. At this very moment, above the blood pool, Zhu Baiyi was laboriously breaking a formation node. She had heard from captives that the blood pool contained the bones of three divine beasts, originally intended to target Jianbing.
Of course, they had also heard rumors about the Swan Goose, never expecting such an easy "buy one, get one free" situation.
The mother was somewhat angry hearing this, but compared to anger, rescuing her child was more important—according to the stone cavern guards, Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue had been in the blood pool for seven days. Normally, they should have been thoroughly corrupted by the blood pool, close to death. But judging from the soul lamp in Qingyu's hand, Yun Qingyue's condition was perfectly fine; the flame burned steadily and vigorously.
From the soul lamp's state, the two youngsters appeared safe, but precisely because of this, the two mothers above the blood pool didn't dare lower their guard. Having finally extracted information about the formation from the captives, they immediately began breaking it from the outside.
The points where the formation could be shut down had been revealed by the prisoners, but once activated, the formation targeting divine beasts couldn't be deactivated—they knew nothing about the great formation at the bottom of the blood pool targeting Tan Xin, as that was beyond the guards' control—fortunately, with two Great Achievement cultivators plus the Buddha Sect elder helping, the three Great Achievement cultivators working together to destroy the formation showed significant results.
With a series of crackling sounds like demolition, the formation beneath the blood pool began to loosen.
Above the blood pool, Zhu Baiyi and the others only felt an energy fluctuation. But deep at the bottom, Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue could feel the constant pressure suddenly lighten, as if invisible shackles had been broken.
Jiang Mo leaped up, looking toward the unchanging dark red above: "What happened? Did the formation time out?"
Yun Qingyue had already broken through her restraints earlier, so the formation's effect on her had been greatly reduced, but she too felt relieved without the formation's pressure. Hearing Jiang Mo's words, she again patted the tiger's head with her wing: "How could this kind of formation have a time limit? You should read more books when you have time."
The illiterate tiger covered her head with both paws, immediately feeling aggrieved: "I need to cultivate—where would I find time to learn so much?"
Compared to Jiang Mo, Yun Qingyue understood formations, could forge artifacts, and had some knowledge of talismans and alchemy—she was practically a master of all trades. The little tiger was quite different; she had used all her time for cultivation because only by cultivating and advancing could she keep pace with her Senior Sister—in terms of cultivation level, she had indeed achieved her wish, but unfortunately still couldn't match a natural scholar.
Yun Qingyue didn't mean to belittle Jiang Mo; it was just a casual remark. Seeing Jiang Mo's dejection, she immediately comforted her: "Alright, alright, my little tiger is already very impressive. When we have time in the future, I'll teach you slowly, how about that?"
Jiang Mo was somewhat pleased, the tips of her ears burning slightly. This was the first time her Senior Sister had called her that, and it sounded so intimate.
The White Tiger raised a paw to scratch her burning ear, nodding haphazardly in agreement before quickly changing the subject: "Regardless, now that the formation is gone, shouldn't we go up and take a look, Ah Yue?"
Yun Qingyue glanced at the great formation glowing red beneath their feet, her gaze focused: "Let's wait a moment."