Chapter 48

Xu Zhi Nan said, "Since Gong Shu Ju's greatest vitality is its’ extreme spiritual power consumption and limited range, Chen Xing Yong must be very close to us, and now that a quarter of an hour has passed, he must be struggling to hold on, so we will consume his spiritual power all at once, otherwise ..."

The water was about to flood the inn, and all the people were standing on the eaves, desperately waiting for the drowning moment to come.

"But how can I drain his spiritual power?"

Xu Zhi Nan's expression had a hint of oddity, as if it was difficult to speak, "I once read about a formation in the ‘Yellow Emperor's Yin Fu Heavenly Secret Scripture’."

At these words, the cultivators looked at each other, not knowing how to take it for a moment.

This Heavenly Secret Scripture is a forbidden book, containing too many evil and powerful techniques that can bring great hidden dangers to the practitioner and others. Since ancient times, countless people have tried to make a name for themselves by relying on this book, but have invariably ended up dead, and the orthodox immortal families have even kept this book a secret. Slowly, almost no one dares to practice it.

In fact, this book was written by the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan. It is a book on the art of war condensed from his lifelong cultivation, and the techniques in it are so profound that they cannot be mastered by mere mortals. The forefathers of the immortal cultivation world were able to dominate the world after learning all the subtle things from this book. Now, all the immortal sects that are well known in the immortal cultivation world are more or less influenced by this book in their founding techniques, and many of the talismans, witchcraft and formations that are widely circulated are also improved by the techniques in this book.

It can be said that the Heavenly Secret Scripture is the most powerful secret book of Kungfu in the world, and is one of the sources of the immortal cultivation world today. It’s just that the dross has been removed and the essence has been taken*. Of course, everyone knows that the so-called "dross" is the real "essence" of the book, but it cannot be used by mortals. There is also a saying that only those who have obtained the ancient magical treasure, the Xuanyuan Heavenly Secret Talisman, can understand the book. Those who practice blindly will go off the rails and will not end well.

Although this book is a forbidden book, it has been printed in countless copies and is not difficult to obtain, nor is it possible to destroy it completely. It is generally believed in the immortal cultivation world that in order to stop people from practicing evil arts, it is better to avoid it than to stop them.

But at the same time, no one would openly claim to have read it.

Now it was a time of necessity, and Zong Zi Heng asked, "What is the formation?"

"The Ten Thousand Gathering Air Formation. It is said that the ancestor of the Medicine Valley created the Spiritual Breath Returning Formation which was inspired by this formation."

Zong Zi Xiao said in surprise, "The Spiritual Breath Returning Formation is used to heal many people at the same time, by channeling the spiritual energy from the eye of the formation, so is this Gathering Air Formation ..."

"That's right, just the opposite, it can suck all the spiritual energy of the people around it into the formation eye."

Zong Zi Heng gasped. Such a sinister formation deserved to come from the Heavenly Secret Scripture. After all, the Heavenly Secret Scripture also taught people to dig out other people's golden cores to refine immortal cores to supplement themselves.

Xu Zhi Nan explained again, "It's because this formation is very similar to the Spiritual Breath Returning Formation, almost like two sides of a mirror image, that’s how I remembered it."

Right now no one would bother to look deeper into what Xu Zhi Nan was saying. If they didn't break this Gong Shu Ju, dozens of lives would be drowned alive.

"Brother Xu, there's no time to lose, let's quickly set up the formation."

"Okay, we ..."

"Wait." Zong Zi Xiao glared at Xu Zhi Nan, his tone cold and hard, a depth beyond his age in his eyes, "Who will be the eye of the formation?"

They were still in a life-or-death situation. If their spiritual energy was sucked away at this time, they would lose their power to resist, and if they failed, they’re afraid that only the person who was the eye of the formation could escape.

Xu Zhi Nan paused: "His Highness will be the eye of the formation."

"Senior Brother ..."

Xu Zhi Nan waved his hand, indicating that they did not need to say much.

Zong Zi Xiao nodded in satisfaction.

Zong Zi Heng did not push back, not because he harbored selfishness, but that the eye of the formation, while receiving spiritual power, also bore the responsibility of fighting the enemy alone, and as the eldest son, he was most accustomed to taking on the responsibility since he was a child.

Xu Zhi Nan used his spiritual power to draw a formation on the water. Zong Zi Heng was at the eye of the formation, and together with the others, they injected spiritual power into the formation. The stronger the formation's spiritual power, the greater the range it could draw, and Chen Xing Yong and the others must be nearby.

The spell floated on the surface of the water, and the mysterious spell emitted a black and red glow, reflected by the water waves in a demonic way. Not long after, the spell formation glowed brightly and all the cultivators felt a powerful force, like a hand seizing their golden cores, greedily pumping spiritual energy outwards, which they could hardly resist.

It was the first time they had all been sucked out of their spiritual energy, and the feeling that it seemed to be gutting one from the inside was truly terrifying.

It was not easy for Zong Zi Heng either. The reckless flow of spiritual energy into his body, which did not belong to him, was so difficult to control that he nearly lost his composure, and at the moment when the water was already reaching his mouth and nose, he had to exclude external disturbances and meditate before he could barely control the surging spiritual energy, allowing it to gradually flow through his body in an orderly manner.

This bizarre experience, which felt very long, was in fact very brief. A strong wave of dizziness hit him, and space seemed to stagger and distort before his eyes, followed by the sound of water clattering, and the suffocating feeling of being pressed against his chest by the water instantly disappeared.

Zong Zi Heng opened his eyes and found that although he was soaked to the skin, he was no longer in the water, just sitting on his butt in a puddle of standing water.

He looked up sharply. The houses, the trees, the green slab stones, all returned to their normal size, no, they returned to normal!

The cultivators and the people were slumped to the ground, and the occasional passerby in the distance all looked at them in amazement.

Zong Zi Heng leaped up, his sharp gaze quickly locked on those who intended to escape, they had all risen into the air with their swords. It seemed that the formation had not completely sucked out their spiritual energy, so many people had scattered and fled, and he could not tell from their backs who was Chen Xing Yong. He had to chase them one by one, he simply was unable to go after them all at the same time.

Zong Zi Heng’s expression sank as his spiritual pressure surged around him, not angry but powerful. He poured his spiritual energy into his sword and used the seventh Chongtian of the Zongxuan Sword Technique. His sword waved in the air, his white clothes flying, and his sword energy transforming into an arc of swords, chasing the enemies in the air as if they had eyes.

The silvery-white sword arcs flew through the sky, brushing against the branches and leaves with the sharpness of a blown blade. When they hit the flesh, the result was predictable.

Wails arose, blood splattered, and one by one, people fell from the sky.

Zong Zi Heng sharply withdrew his sword and glared sternly at his enemies on the ground. Despite being soaked to the skin, he did not look in the least bit wretched, but rather like a little white dragon out of the water, with his chest up and head held high, looking proudly at the world.

"Brother, you're amazing!" Zong Zi Xiao ran over and looked at Zong Zi Heng with surprise and admiration, "You've reached the high realm of the seventh Chongtian?"

Zong Zi Heng said in a warm voice, "Not yet, I borrowed everyone’s spiritual power to make it."

"Without our spiritual power, you can do it with a full-power strike, right?"

"It's not as powerful as you think." Despite Zong Zi Heng's estimation of his own power, he could not say so. It would be disrespectful to his elders if others knew that at the age of nineteen, he had almost caught up with the cultivation of his eldest uncle and father.

Xu Zhi Nan also sighed in admiration, "Zi Heng, the rumors are true, you are truly worthy of a generation of heavenly pride."

Zong Zi Heng calmly explained, "Big brother Xu, you are over-complimenting me, if I hadn't sucked away everyone’s spiritual energy, I wouldn't have been able to use this move."

"Big brother, your sword ..." Zong Zi Xiao suddenly pointed nervously at Zong Zi Heng's sword.

Zong Zi Heng looked down at his sword, only to see that the silver blade was crawling with fine cracks, thinking it was because the sword had never taken on such a huge amount of spiritual power at once, that's why ...

Zong Zi Heng frowned and carefully ran his fingers gently over the sword's body.

Only a soft snap was heard and the silver blade broke from the middle.

The crowd was frozen.

Zong Zi Heng's heart was torn hard. Looking at the broken sword in his hand was like looking at an old friend breaking before his eyes. Even though it was just an ordinary sword that had been with him for over ten years. This sword was given to him by his eldest uncle before he went into seclusion, originally for him to use for practice, but he used it until now, as it was the best sword he could get.

"Big brother ..." Zong Zi Xiao looked at Zong Zi Heng carefully, only to feel the pain endlessly. The lost and distressed expression that his big brother had never had before, he remembered it for the rest of his life.

"Zi Heng." Xu Zhi Nan said comfortingly, "This sword has completed its mission."

Zong Zi Heng pursed his lips and nodded shallowly, but his mind was bewildered. He did not know what a swordsman should do when he lost his sword.

The disciples of the Chunyang Sect had already pulled out their binding ropes and tied those men in all directions, and someone called out, "Senior Brother, we've found Chen Xing Yong!"

Xu Zhi Nan narrowed his eyes and said in a cold voice, "Tie them up and watch them closely."

The Zong brothers looked at the unconscious man at the same time, hatred erupting in their eyes.

Zong Zi Xiao drew his sword and said through clenched teeth, "Wake him up, I want to..."

"Immortal Lord." A soft female voice rang out from behind.

Zong Zi Heng turned around and saw that it was the young girl he had saved.

"Thank you Immortal Lord for saving my life, I don't know how to repay you." Her cheeks were blushing, and her little daughterly attitude of wanting to look at Zong Zi Heng but not daring to do so was very cute.

"There is no need to be polite, it is all because of us that you have been involved in this unwarranted disaster."

"May I ask your name?"

"Is my big brother's name also something you can ask?" Zong Zi Xiao said before Zong Zi Heng could say, "You don't need to say thank you, just go."

The young girl froze on the spot.

Zong Zi Heng scolded, "Zi Xiao, you are simply rude and impolite, is that how big brother taught you?"

"I'm young and don't know any better." Zong Zi Xiao said with a straight face.

"You ..."

Xu Zhi Nan said, "Zi Heng, there are many people here, let's interrogate Chen Xing Yong in another place."

 

----

dross has been removed and the essence has been taken*[取其精华，去其糟粕]--- Absorb the best things and discard the bad and useless things

 

Edited on 25 Mar. 21 (Emzie)

 

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