Chapter 485 : Having a Backup Plan
485: Having a Backup Plan
Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue had anticipated that changes might have occurred above the blood pool, but they never imagined that reinforcements would arrive so quickly. And these reinforcements weren't just anyone—both of Senior Sister's mothers had come together.
They broke through the blood pool and leaped onto the stone bridge, immediately coming face to face with the people there.
Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue emerged later than expected. Qingyu's gaze discreetly examined both of them from head to toe, while Zhu Baiyi approached immediately, asking with concern: "How are you? Are you alright?"
Yun Qingyue had already returned to human form and shook her head: "We're fine." After a pause, she asked: "Why are you and Master here? And it's only been a few days—how did you get here so quickly?"
She remembered that when she and Jiang Mo left the sect, Sect Leader Zhu and Qingyu were still soaking in the lightning pool. The journey from Xuanqing Sect to this place would take at least a month—could it be that immediately after they left, the sect learned about Mount Xuanyin and sent the two of them?
Clearly, Divine Lord Zhiming was always so immersed in sleep that even the sect's disciples had forgotten his abilities.
Zhu Baiyi offered a brief explanation. Once Qingyu confirmed through observation and conversation that Yun Qingyue was unharmed, she also relaxed. Meanwhile, when leaving the blood pool, Jiang Mo had naturally brought Tan Xin out as well, and was now speaking with the Buddha Sect elder.
The Buddha Sect elder received Tan Xin from Jiang Mo's hands and gratefully expressed his thanks: "I deeply appreciate both of your help in rescuing Tan Xin. In the future, whatever you may need, Buddha Sect will undoubtedly repay you with everything at our disposal."
Seeing the elder's excitement, Jiang Mo momentarily didn't know how to respond—his gratitude was sincere, and while they had indeed rescued Tan Xin, the current situation was far from good. If something happened to Tan Xin, it might even affect the sealing formation and consequently the entire cultivation world.
So when handing him over, she hesitated, wanting to speak but stopping herself. Eventually, Yun Qingyue couldn't bear to watch and briefly explained the situation: "Elder, there's no need for such gratitude. We haven't really done anything, nor could we. Someone has planted a Blood Fiend Beast Pearl in Tan Xin's chest, which is connected to the formation beneath the blood pool. With our limited knowledge, we have no solution."
These words shocked all three Great Achievement cultivators. The Buddha Sect elder instinctively tore open Tan Xin's robe.
Cultivators possess strong recovery abilities, with higher cultivation levels enhancing this further. Even if flesh wounds don't heal instantly, their recovery is visibly rapid. But Tan Xin's case was different—the wound on his chest, opened by spiritual energy, remained completely unchanged, showing no signs of healing.
All three paused momentarily, then the Buddha Sect elder formed a hand seal. Tan Xin's wound opened further, revealing the Blood Fiend Beast Pearl inside.
Every Great Achievement cultivator was knowledgeable and experienced. The Buddha Sect elder recognized the Blood Fiend Beast Pearl at a glance, his expression immediately darkening. Unlike Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue's rash attempt to dig out the pearl, he simply placed Tan Xin on the stone bridge, then began reciting incantations while rapidly forming Buddhist hand seals.
Golden Buddha light quickly gathered in the elder's hands, transforming from gentle radiance to something almost blinding. Then, with a stern shout, he pushed the hand seal forward, sending the Buddha light flying swiftly toward Tan Xin.
The Buddha's disciple should naturally be the most suitable person in the world for Buddhist cultivation, with Buddha light flowing through him transparently and completely. However, when this dazzling Buddha light struck Tan Xin, it failed to merge with his body. Instead, everyone present felt a vibration in their ears, as if a sharp ghostly wail had torn through the air, causing their eardrums to ache. The source of the sound was precisely where Tan Xin lay.
Jiang Mo instinctively covered her ears, but found it ineffective. Squinting toward Tan Xin, she saw a large mass of golden Buddha light enveloping him, with black energy faintly visible seeping from his body, then dissolving in the Buddha light.
This might work!
Jiang Mo's eyes brightened instantly. She stopped covering her ears and grabbed Yun Qingyue: "Ah Yue, the Buddha light is working!"
Yun Qingyue also saw what was happening within the Buddha light, but compared to Jiang Mo's excitement, she perceived the situation more clearly—the Buddha light was continuously being consumed, while the black energy from Tan Xin's body seemed endless. As time passed, not only did the black energy fail to diminish, but even more emerged, as if deliberately depleting the Buddha light surrounding it.
This Buddha Sect elder possessed Great Achievement cultivation and was certainly considered highly accomplished within Buddha Sect. Yun Qingyue didn't know how powerful his Buddha light was, but his previous technique was clearly a major one, requiring significant energy to perform.
In contrast, the black energy in Tan Xin's body came from the blood pool below, truly inexhaustible.
Sure enough, as time gradually passed, the Buddha light enveloping Tan Xin became increasingly thin and scattered. In the end, not only did it fail to enter Tan Xin's body, but it actually agitated all the black energy within him. Once the Buddha light dissipated, what surrounded Tan Xin was a layer of strange, thick black mist, occasionally coalescing into ghostly faces with terrifying appearances.
Seeing this, Jiang Mo drew a sharp breath. She hadn't witnessed such abnormal phenomena in the blood pool before. Now, looking at Tan Xin wrapped in black mist, Jiang Mo sensed impending doom—she had thought Tan Xin's constitution had resisted the demonic energy's corruption, but clearly it hadn't!
If Tan Xin's body was completely corrupted, what would happen to the Seven Treasures Glass Heart? And what about the sealing formation?
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Tan Xin's condition was dire. The most urgent task was to sever his connection to the blood pool, then eliminate the demonic energy—his body still had a link to the Seven Treasures Glass Heart, and though they didn't know the current situation, eliminating the demonic energy was essential to ensure the Glass Heart wouldn't be affected. Destroying his body was absolutely out of the question.
The Buddha Sect elder's expression was grave as he took out a sarira and placed it on Tan Xin's chest as a temporary measure. Having done this, he had no other immediate solution for Tan Xin's condition, so he asked the two: "What about the formation beneath the blood pool? Do you both still remember it?"
Both had seen the formation beneath the blood pool with their own eyes, and to fully understand its structure, they had specifically circled the bottom of the blood pool, ensuring they had clearly observed every formation line. Therefore, not only could Yun Qingyue remember the formation below, even Jiang Mo could sketch the entire formation for others to observe and analyze.
Jiang Mo rarely had an opportunity to contribute and didn't hesitate. She immediately concentrated spiritual energy at her fingertips and sketched the pattern of the formation on the ground—though she didn't understand formations, she could perfectly reproduce it to scale.
Qingyu and the others gathered around, observing carefully. With their cultivation levels, they all had some knowledge of formations.
The three Great Achievement cultivators huddled together, whispering for quite some time. Finally, Zhu Baiyi said: "It should be the Blood Reversal Grand Formation, though the blood pool below is somewhat unusual, making the formation slightly different as well."
The other two weren't as familiar with demonic path formations, at least not as knowledgeable as Zhu Baiyi: "How is it different?"
Zhu Baiyi made several gestures over the formation diagram, broadly pointing out various aspects, before finally uttering two words: "Demon Race."
Jiang Mo didn't fully understand, but Qingyu and the other clearly did, their expressions instantly becoming solemn. Subsequently, Qingyu even proposed a bolder hypothesis: "The formation beneath the blood pool is connected to Tan Xin, allowing the blood pool to influence him and, by extension, the Seven Treasures Glass Heart suppressing the grand formation. With the blood pool located here, is it possible that this formation isn't only connected to Tan Xin but also related to the sealing formation?"
At these words, Zhu Baiyi and the others fell silent, because after consideration, they found this quite plausible, even highly likely—this blood pool didn't appear by accident; it was clearly related to the great war between the two sects. The war between Crimson Blood Sect and Nine Abyss Sect had been initiated by Nine Abyss Sect, and Mount Xuanyin had been their chosen battlefield!
In retrospect, if someone had planned all this in advance, they could indeed have led everyone by the nose.
The brief silence sent a chill through everyone's hearts. Jiang Mo looked around at everyone's solemn faces and was the first to speak: "Regardless, the sealing formation cannot be broken. As long as the passage isn't opened to let the Demon Race through, everything can still be salvaged."
This was obviously clear to everyone, but bringing it up now definitely caused them all to snap out of their excessive concerns.
Qingyu nodded, her cold voice echoing in the stone cavern, yet somehow reassuring: "Well said. Let's set aside other matters for now and focus on resolving Tan Xin's situation first." As she spoke, she glanced down at the blood pool, then at the two Great Achievement cultivators opposite her: "This blood pool—I'm afraid we'll need to go down there."
Hearing this, Zhu Baiyi immediately frowned, clearly wanting to object—the blood pool was extremely malevolent, and she didn't want Qingyu to touch it, feeling something ominous—but ultimately, reality prevented her from saying anything extra.
The Buddha Sect elder, hearing this, recited a Buddhist phrase and naturally didn't refuse either.
Just as the three were preparing to explore the depths of the blood pool, Yun Qingyue, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke: "Wait, perhaps you don't need to rush down there." As she spoke, her fingertips moved slightly: "We left some backup measures when we came up."
While speaking, spiritual energy flowed from her fingertips, and Jiang Mo's formation diagram began to show some changes.