Chapter 507 - 225: The Core?
After their inspection, the expressions of the powerful experts turned grave. Most of them had cultivated the Spiritual Sense Leaf Skill to some degree. Though their proficiency might not match the tyrannical power of a specialist like Yun Guanyu, it was enough for them to discern some of the details.
"This power... it’s as black as ink. Just investigating it sends a chill down to the bone. It’s as vast as a sea of clouds... This is no ordinary force! And that aura of filth and deathly resentment... it doesn’t look like it’s meant to suppress it..."
A stunningly beautiful woman dressed in palace robes, with three crimson marks like raindrops between her brows, spoke in a low, heavy voice as she stared gravely at the mouth of the well.
She appeared to be no older than sixteen, with a slender, graceful figure and an exquisite bearing.
Yet she stood beside Sect Leader Xuan Qiong, and her aura was in no way inferior to his... It was clear she was a peerless expert who had simply maintained her youth.
"Fairy Yu Xiao is correct."
After the woman finished speaking, another man beside her—a middle-aged man with a stern face, radiating a tyrannical aura—also wore a grim expression. "This aura is ominous to behold... If it were to be unleashed, I fear the consequences would be unimaginable."
"It feels as if... the Three Religions intend to use the power of filth and deathly resentment to draw out this other force..." Beside the man, an elderly man in a green robe with a kind face and a long, deep aura that gave off an extremely comfortable feeling, spoke slowly.
"Venerable Songtao’s judgment is the same as our sect’s."
Sect Leader Xuan Qiong nodded slightly, his expression grave. "It is precisely because we discovered this power was so alarming that our sect widely invited our fellow cultivators to come and deliberate... Once this power is unleashed, I’m afraid it won’t just be the people of my Canglan Prefecture who will face disaster. Even the surrounding prefectures... will likely not escape its reach."
"An Array Hub of this magnitude, yet with no trace of the Three Religions. It’s clear they intend to hide it... but that also points to another problem," said a middle-aged man who had been deep in thought, his voice heavy.
After everyone’s attention turned to him, he continued grimly, "I’m afraid this Ancient Well is not the key... Otherwise, no matter how much they wanted to cover their tracks, they wouldn’t have left it without a single master from the Three Religions... The Celestial Spirit Sect previously clashed with the Path of Non-Birth, which drew out Huoxin, one of the Seven Dusts of Non-Birth. This shows the Three Religions do not lack masters... If this place were the critical core, it would be impossible for them to have made no arrangements... Even if they had just stationed a master like Huoxin here, this Ancient Well... would not have been accidentally stumbled upon by a junior, whose fluctuations of Spiritual Sense True Essence provoked a counterattack from the well, thereby exposing it."
Hearing this, the faces of all the powerful experts turned extremely ugly.
"Venerable Qian Yuan, you mean to say...?" Sect Leader Xuan Qiong asked in a solemn tone.
"My meaning is simple... We have yet to find the core of the Three Religions’ operation. This Ancient Well may be one of the cores... but it is by no means the only one. There is a more important location. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the Three Religions not to have masters guarding this place." Venerable Qian Yuan’s eyes narrowed.
Hearing this deduction, everyone subconsciously drew in a sharp breath of cold air.
Fairy Yu Xiao also gasped, murmuring softly, "The power contained in this place is already horrifying to contemplate. If this is not even the core... Don’t tell me the Three Religions intend to overthrow the entire nation of Great Yu?"
As this speculation arose, everyone’s expression became unprecedentedly solemn.
For a time, no one spoke.
They all stared at the Ancient Well, the divine light in their eyes flickering.
After a long while, Sect Leader Xuan Qiong took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Whatever their plan is, the fact that we’ve discovered it ahead of time... is ultimately a good thing. It’s obvious that even if the Three Religions have such intentions, they are certainly not yet capable of achieving them. Otherwise, given the madness of the Three Religions, Canglan Prefecture would have already become a living Purgatory."
"We discovered this well over two months ago. The Court and my sect’s disciples and informants have been observing the situation in Canglan Prefecture, but there has been no trace of the Three Religions... It’s as if they’ve vanished into thin air."
"This shows that a crucial step has not yet been completed."
"As long as we find their trail ahead of time... or this so-called ’core’ of theirs, we can surely foil their plot."
Sect Leader Xuan Qiong’s words caused the tension on everyone’s faces to ease slightly, and they all nodded to themselves in agreement.
...Indeed, given the madness of the Three Religions, once their preparations were complete, they would never have waited.
They would have struck long ago!
By the time the local Court and sects could react, it would have already been a scene of corpses and a sea of blood.
But now, Canglan Prefecture was still at peace. Even the sporadic traces of the Three Religions that had appeared before seemed to have vanished completely.
This was proof enough that they were still gathering their strength.
A crucial step was not yet complete.
"Mm, Sect Leader Xuan Qiong is right. We still have time."
Venerable Qian Yuan nodded slightly, then asked, "What’s our next move?"
After he spoke, everyone subconsciously looked toward Sect Leader Xuan Qiong.
After all... this was Canglan Prefecture, the home turf of the Heavenly Gang Wuji Sect.
And since Xuan Qiong had invited them all here, they naturally had to respect his opinion.
Xuan Qiong nodded slightly and didn’t stand on ceremony. He looked toward Fairy Yu Xiao. "Fairy, your Bi Luo Cloud Palace possesses extraordinary attainments in the dao of arrays. I’m afraid we will need to ask the Bi Luo Cloud Palace to lay down a great sealing array here to prevent any unexpected fluctuations from the power within the Ancient Well."
Fairy Yu Xiao nodded slightly upon hearing this. "That is as it should be."
"As for our other fellow cultivators... everyone, finding that crucial location is likely our top priority right now. Ordinary disciples would probably not even recognize it if they saw it... I’m afraid I must trouble you all to investigate carefully and see if you can find that critical core."
He clasped his fists and bowed to the surrounding crowd.
"Demons and heretics are to be slain by all. Since this is all for the sake of eliminating the evil disciples of the Three Religions, there is no need for such words. This old man will head east to search for that core," the kind-faced elderly man said with a slight nod.
"In that case, I will go south," Venerable Qian Yuan also nodded.
"Then I will go north."
"I’ll go west..."
The powerful experts quickly assigned themselves directions, intending to conduct a thorough search for the so-called core.
Not long after, the various experts began to spread out and search carefully...