Cultivation: Immunity to Negative Effects

At that moment, Zhang Chi and the three from the Hundred Flowers Palace were exposed, no longer hidden by the Array Flags, but the Hundred Flowers Saintess was already prepared.

She swept a hand over her Storage Bag and instantly produced three items.

The first was a piece of white gauze, ten zhang square.

This item was a special Magical Treasure. It floated down over the four of them, and they instantly vanished from sight.

Other Cultivators were unable to detect them, whether by sight or with their Divine Thought.

Yet they could still observe their surroundings as usual.

The second item was a massive chunk of flesh and bone, which she tossed directly into the center of the Array.

This chunk of flesh emanated a rich Blood Qi and a faint pressure of Magical Power, clearly belonging to some kind of Tier Four Demon Beast.

It was also the bait meant to lure the Black Sand Profound Snake.

The final item was a golden Array Disc, the very core for controlling the Array.

However, the Hundred Flowers Saintess kept personal control of this core, which was the only way the three from her palace could truly be at ease.

Upon seeing the Array Disc, however, Zhang Chi’s pupils couldn’t help but contract.

"Fellow Daoist, is there something wrong with my Array Disc? Or perhaps you wish to control it?" the Hundred Flowers Saintess asked with a smile.

The two Nascent Soul Cultivators looked over as well.

"No problem, I’m just a bit surprised. I assumed that only Array Flags were needed to set up the Array this time. Besides, I’m a complete novice when it comes to Arrays, so I won’t get involved in controlling it."

Zhang Chi quickly waved his hands in refusal.

Even with her face veiled, the Hundred Flowers Saintess was exceedingly captivating, her beauty rivaling that of Qin Susu in her prime.

But Zhang Chi was in no mood to admire her beauty; he only felt his scalp tingle with dread.

The Saintess’s Array Disc appeared normal, but he was almost certain it had been modified.

He hadn’t seen the Array Disc before, so he’d assumed it was just an ordinary Nine Spirits Earth-Splitting Array.

But now he realized it had most likely been altered into the Nine Spirits Celestial Earth-Sundering Array.

The addition of a single word in its name allowed the Array’s Mighty Power to increase dramatically.

An increase in Mighty Power alone wouldn’t have been a bad thing.

But the word "Celestial" implied that the Cultivators helping to operate the Array would become sacrificial offerings.

When necessary, these Cultivators would have to contribute their entire Spiritual Power, and even their Blood Qi and Divine Soul.

When the Array was unleashed at its maximum Mighty Power, it could even drain the Cultivators completely, killing them on the spot.

"Haha, you must not be aware, Fellow Daoist. This Array is called the Nine Spirits Earth-Splitting Array..."

The Hundred Flowers Palace Saintess and the others looked as if they’d had a sudden realization before bursting into laughter. The Saintess even kindly began to explain things to Zhang Chi.

They had time to kill anyway, and since the Magical Treasure hid them, their conversation wouldn’t compromise the mission.

However, the Hundred Flowers Palace Saintess only spoke of common knowledge about the Array, making no mention of the truth.

Zhang Chi, for his part, feigned ignorance. He even pretended not to understand the most basic knowledge about Arrays, asking a few questions they found laughably simple. Seeing this, the three from the Hundred Flowers Palace soon lost interest in talking to him.

’I hope I’m wrong. Otherwise, those three are definitely up to no good.’

’Fortunately, I wasn’t assigned to control an Array Flag. But even so, I can’t let my guard down. I could be called in as a replacement at any moment!’

Zhang Chi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a mix of relief and anger.

To think he had actually wondered if they weren’t bad people. Now it was clear they were all harboring malicious intent.

He also found it strange. He didn’t understand how they dared to pull something like this after signing a Spirit Contract.

He even suspected they had some Secret Technique to circumvent the Spirit Contract’s restraints.

But upon careful recollection, he quickly figured out why.

It wasn’t that complicated, really. They had simply played with the wording when drafting the Spirit Contract, deceiving the ten Golden Core Peak Cultivators.

They had said they wouldn’t force them to risk their lives or harm them without reason. However, if a special situation required the Cultivators to "voluntarily" make sacrifices without their knowledge, it clearly wouldn’t be a violation of the Spirit Contract.

Furthermore, the Spirit Contract stipulated that the Cultivators had to operate an Array, but it never specified *which* Array. Therefore, since the Cultivators had agreed, they had to cooperate fully, no matter what kind of Array it was.

After thinking it over, Zhang Chi decided not to inform the other Golden Core Peak Cultivators.

For one, it was only a suspicion; he couldn’t be one hundred percent certain.

If he was mistaken, the mission would surely be ruined, and he would be targeted by the three from the Hundred Flowers Palace.

According to the Spirit Contract, if he sabotaged the mission, they would be within their rights to attack him directly.

Secondly, even if he was right, the modifications to the Array wouldn’t necessarily lead to dire consequences.

Besides, with the Spirit Contract binding them, those Cultivators had no way of resisting anyway.

「Several days passed in the blink of an eye.」

One night, with a bright moon hanging high in the sky, a rustling sound suddenly broke the silence of the desert.

The sound grew louder and louder, and soon, they saw a sandstorm sweeping toward them, blotting out the sky.

However, it was just an ordinary sandstorm, not the legendary black one, so the Cultivators were not afraid.

But Zhang Chi, though he appeared to be resting with his eyes closed, was already secretly on high alert.

The next moment, even the three Cultivators from the Hundred Flowers Palace sensed something and opened their eyes.

Meanwhile, the sandstorm intensified, and a torrent of yellow sand quickly buried their position.

A massive black shadow then poked its head out from the raging winds and swallowed the chunk of Tier Four Demon Beast flesh in a single gulp.

The black shadow was a gigantic black snake, a full hundred zhang long, with a single black horn on its head. It was wreathed in black Demonic Qi and radiated a terrifying pressure.

After eating the Demon Beast’s flesh, the giant snake was about to ride the demonic wind away, but at that moment, the two Nascent Soul Cultivators from the Hundred Flowers Palace stepped out in unison, appearing suddenly in the air above it.

"Vile beast, die!"

The Nascent Soul Female Cultivator let out a cold cry as a pair of giant black hammers appeared in her hands, which she brought down viciously on the giant snake.

At the same time, the Golden Armor Nascent Soul waved a hand, summoning a palm-sized golden Treasure Pagoda. It furiously absorbed the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, expanding rapidly as it bore down to suppress the great snake.

The moment the Treasure Pagoda appeared, everything in the vicinity seemed to be locked in place. The sandstorm dissipated in an instant.

The giant snake was about to struggle, but its body froze. It was struck by the giant hammers and the Treasure Pagoda, then plummeted to the ground, gouging out a massive crater.

"It’s the Black Sand Profound Snake! Form the Array!"

The Hundred Flowers Palace Saintess immediately activated the Array Disc. Lang Shiyuan and the others gripped their Array Flags, pouring immense amounts of Magical Power into them.

The nine Array Flags instantly erupted with a dazzling radiance. In the blink of an eye, the light linked together, forming a hemispherical golden barrier that trapped the giant snake inside.

Golden beams then shot out from the flags like silken threads, wrapping around the giant snake and binding it layer by layer.

"Excellent!"

The Cultivators were all overjoyed.

The two Nascent Soul Powerhouses seized the opportunity to unleash a furious assault.

The Nascent Soul Female Cultivator’s body swayed as she violently absorbed Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. She then began to grow rapidly, soon becoming a giant dozens of zhang tall. Her weapons grew in size with her, and she continued to smash them ruthlessly down upon the giant snake.

The Golden Armor Nascent Soul kept the Golden Pagoda suspended in the sky, continuing to radiate its Power of Imprisonment down on the giant snake.

At the same time, he formed a profound Spirit Technique with his hands. Three incomparably sharp, golden Magical Treasure Flying Sabers shot out, leaving trails of afterimages as they streaked like lightning toward the giant snake’s eyes.

The other Cultivators and the Hundred Flowers Saintess focused on maintaining the Array. Only Zhang Chi was temporarily without a task, but he couldn’t just stand by and watch. With a wave of his hand, he summoned a black Magical Treasure, the Small Bell.

DONG... DONG...

The Small Bell grew larger and larger, then began to emit massive Sound Waves that carried a dizzying effect. The waves were directed solely at the giant snake, leaving the other Cultivators unaffected.

As for his other abilities, Zhang Chi kept them in reserve; he didn’t want to reveal too much of his true strength.

Besides, unless he used his Spirit Sword, he couldn’t have dealt any substantial damage to the great snake anyway.

This Small Bell, however, he had already upgraded to a Middle Grade Magical Treasure. While it couldn’t wound the snake, it could clearly disrupt it.

"Not bad!"

Seeing this, the three from the Hundred Flowers Palace couldn’t help but nod in approval.

The Golden Core Cultivators were also energized, all of them believing victory was assured.

SWISH!

But in the next instant, layers of black light suddenly appeared on the giant snake’s body, rapidly converging on the single horn on its head.

The horn then erupted with a thin, fierce beam of black light. It instantly severed the threads of light from the Array binding its body, then sliced through the Power of Imprisonment from both the Grand Array and the Golden Pagoda.

Fortunately, none of the Cultivators manning the Array were in the path of the black light’s slash, or they would have been killed instantly.

The giant snake simultaneously swung its head, easily dodging the Golden Armor Nascent Soul’s Flying Saber Magical Treasure.

The Nascent Soul Female Cultivator’s giant hammers managed to strike it, but its physical defenses were so powerful that it was in no immediate danger of dying.

The great snake then opened its cavernous maw and let out a furious roar. The tremendous sound waves instantly left the Cultivators present feeling dizzy and disoriented.

The snake then slithered through the air, seizing the chance to execute a rapid Flying Escape toward the edge of the Array.

"Don’t let it escape!"

The Nascent Soul Female Cultivator shouted upon seeing this.

"Don’t worry, it’s not getting away!"

But the Golden Armor Nascent Soul was not flustered in the least. With a wave of his hand, a great golden net descended from the sky.

BOOM!

The giant snake had just taken flight when the net caught it, slamming it back to the ground.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Nascent Soul Female Cultivator’s twin hammers followed, crashing down with the fury of a tempest.

SWISH!

Seizing this brief respite, the Grand Array immediately reformed, once again enveloping the giant snake.

ROAR!

But the giant snake was no pushover. It let out another furious roar as a black Demon Pill, wreathed in black Demon Fire, shot out from its mouth and slammed into the two giant hammers.

CLANG!

The giant hammers were instantly sent flying.

At the same time, the light from the great golden net dimmed as the Demon Fire burned a large hole right through it.

The Array was pierced through completely. The Demon Pill then hurtled viciously toward one of the Array Flags and the Cultivator holding it.

This Cultivator was a burly, bearded man—the very same Loose Cultivator who had been the first to pass the identity test back at the City Lord’s Mansion.

His strength was considerable, so he had passed the subsequent trials as well, earning his place as one of the ten Golden Core Peak Cultivators.

"No!"

But now, facing the Demon Pill, he had no time to react. He was struck instantly and vaporized into dust.

The Array Flag, however, suddenly flew away on its own at the critical moment, dodging the attack.

The Array Flag was spared only because the Hundred Flowers Saintess had used the Array Disc to control it just in time.

"You, go take his place!"

And with that, Zhang Chi, the replacement, had no choice but to step up.