freenovelworld Chapter 1218 1 Doors
Chapter 1218 1 Doors
Half an hour later, the Azure Phoenix Boat landed at the foot of Mount Luoxia... The group disembarked and headed towards the cave... Mount Luoxia was densely wooded, with a light mist hanging in the air, and the occasional cries of demonic beasts could be heard, making them feel somewhat tense...
"The entrance to the cave is just ahead..." the Li family cultivator leading the way said, pointing to a dark cave entrance in front of him... The rocks around the entrance were dark red, clearly showing signs of being baked by high temperatures...
Liu Yang walked to the cave entrance and released his spiritual sense to probe the interior of the cavern... As soon as his spiritual sense entered the cavern, he sensed a rich fire-attribute spiritual energy, along with several faint fluctuations of spiritual energy—the aura of the Crimson Flame Serpent... In addition, he also sensed a faint array fluctuation, hidden deep within the cavern, appearing and disappearing intermittently...
“That’s right, there is indeed the aura of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison here…” Liu Yang withdrew his spiritual sense and said to Li Xiong, “The array fluctuations deep inside the cave should be the seal of the entrance… Let’s go in now, and be careful to guard against the Crimson Flame Serpents and the array’s attacks…”
"Alright!" Li Xiong nodded and said to the Li family cultivators behind him, "Everyone be careful, form a defensive formation, and protect Fellow Daoist Liu!"
The group formed a circular formation, with Liu Yang and Su Qingyao in the middle, and Li Xiong and Li Qing leading the way, slowly entering the cave... The cave was pitch black, illuminated only by the spiritual energy gathered at the cultivators' fingertips... The ground was slippery, and the sound of water dripping onto the rocks could be heard from time to time, making it seem particularly eerie...
After walking for about fifteen minutes, a hissing sound suddenly came from ahead. Then, dozens of red snakes emerged from the cracks in the rocks, their bodies wreathed in faint flames—they were Crimson Flame Snakes...
"Watch out! It's a Crimson Flame Serpent!" Li Xiong shouted, raising his hand to unleash a burst of spiritual energy at the serpent... The energy struck the serpent, which let out a scream and was instantly sent flying, landing motionless on the ground...
The other Li family cultivators also joined the fray, unleashing their spiritual power and magical artifacts to battle the Crimson Flame Serpents... Although the Crimson Flame Serpents were only first-tier demonic beasts, their numbers were vast, and their flames were poisonous; once burned, one would be poisoned and fall into a coma, making them very difficult to deal with...
Su Qingyao conjured an ice blade at her fingertips and launched it at the Crimson Flame Serpent... The moment the ice blade touched the serpent's flames, it hissed, extinguishing the flames instantly. The serpent was also sliced in two by the ice blade... "These Crimson Flame Serpents are afraid of ice! Everyone, use ice-type spiritual energy to attack!" Su Qingyao shouted loudly...
Upon hearing this, the Li family cultivators all switched to using ice-type spiritual energy to attack... Sure enough, the Crimson Flame Serpent's flames were instantly suppressed upon encountering the ice-type spiritual energy, greatly reducing its combat power... Liu Yang stood still, not making a move—he didn't need to deal with these first-tier demonic beasts personally; this was a good opportunity to observe the strength of the Li family cultivators...
Soon, the crimson flame snakes in the cave were cleared away... The Li family cultivators were all somewhat exhausted; several had their clothes burned by the flames, and one had accidentally been splashed with the venom of a crimson flame snake, his arm already turning black...
"Quick, give him an antidote!" Li Xiong hurriedly took out an antidote and handed it to the injured cultivator... After taking the antidote, the cultivator's complexion gradually returned to normal, but the black marks on his arm did not completely disappear...
"Fellow Daoist Liu, shall we continue forward?" Li Xiong asked, looking at Liu Yang...
Liu Yang nodded, his gaze sweeping over the fork in the road ahead—there were three paths in the cave, each pitch black and seemingly endless… “Our spiritual sense can’t detect what’s beyond the forks, shall we split up?”
Li Xiong hesitated for a moment, then said, "Going separately is too dangerous. If we encounter danger, it will be difficult to support each other... Why don't we take the middle fork together? The middle fork is the widest, and it should be the main path leading deeper into the cave..."
Liu Yang didn't object. He released his spiritual sense and carefully examined the spiritual energy fluctuations of the three forks in the road. He discovered that the middle fork indeed had a stronger array-like energy fluctuation... "Alright, let's take the middle fork..."
The group continued onward. The middle path was indeed much wider than the other two, and the ground was relatively flat... After walking for about half an hour, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared ahead, followed by a chilling aura that contrasted sharply with the fire-attribute spiritual energy they had encountered earlier...
"The place where we found the stone gate is just ahead!" the Li family cultivator leading the way said excitedly...
The group quickened their pace, heading towards the light... Soon, they saw a massive stone gate standing at the end of the cave, about three zhang high and two zhang wide. Its surface was covered with intricate patterns, half red flame patterns and half blue ice patterns—the very patterns that marked the entrance to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison... A faint light curtain surrounded the stone gate, clearly a sealing formation...
Liu Yang walked to the stone gate and carefully observed the patterns on it... He found that these patterns were somewhat similar to those in the stone chamber of the Zhao family's forbidden area, but more complex and containing much stronger spiritual energy... "This is the entrance to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison..." Liu Yang said confidently, "The formation on the stone gate is the 'Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Formation,' which can only be broken with the Ice and Thunder Token..."
Li Xiong and Li Qing looked at the stone gate with excitement—they had finally found the entrance to the legendary Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison. As long as they could open the stone gate, they could obtain the treasure inside, and the Li family could become the number one family in Qingyang City!
Liu Yang took out the Ice Lightning Token from his storage bag and held it in his hand... As soon as the Ice Lightning Token touched the array light barrier of the stone gate, it emitted a dazzling light. The ice-blue half lit up with a cold light, while the dark purple half crackled with arcs of lightning... Liu Yang pressed the Ice Lightning Token into the groove on the stone gate and infused it with spiritual power...
"Om-"
The Ice and Lightning Token resonated with the patterns on the stone gate, causing the flame and ice patterns on the gate to light up, echoing the light from the Ice and Lightning Token... The array's light barrier began to fluctuate, gradually thinning...
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the cave, accompanied by fluctuations in spiritual energy—clearly, someone was chasing after them... Su Qingyao's expression changed, and she quickly said, "Master, someone is coming! It seems to be someone from the Wang family!"
Liu Yang frowned. He hadn't expected the Wang family to find this place so quickly... He increased the amount of spiritual energy he poured in and said to Li Xiong and Li Qing, "You two go and hold off the Wang family. I'll break the formation as soon as possible!"
"Alright!" Li Xiong quickly agreed and said to the Li family cultivators behind him, "Everyone, follow me and block the Wang family members. We can't let them interfere with Fellow Daoist Liu's efforts to break the formation!"
Li Xiong led the Li family cultivators towards the entrance of the cave. Li Qing hesitated for a moment, then followed—he knew that the most important thing now was to protect Liu Yang and help him break the formation. Once the entrance to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison was opened, even if the Wang family came, it would be useless...
Su Qingyao stayed by Liu Yang's side, her eyes warily fixed on the darkness deep within the cave—she had a feeling that besides the Wang family, other dangers awaited them...
Liu Yang focused intently on deciphering the formation. The resonance between the Ice and Lightning Token and the stone gate grew stronger and stronger, and the formation's light barrier had become extremely thin, allowing him to vaguely see the scene behind the stone gate... He could sense a powerful spiritual energy fluctuation behind the stone gate, even more concentrated than he had imagined—it seemed the treasures within the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison were far richer than he had anticipated...
"boom--"
A loud crash came from the direction of the cave entrance, clearly indicating that the Li and Wang families had clashed... A cold smile curled at the corner of Liu Yang's lips—the Wang family's arrival was just in time. Once he opened the stone door and entered the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison, he would let the Li and Wang families fight to the death here, while he reaped the benefits...
Just then, the stone door suddenly made a series of cracking sounds, the array's light barrier completely disappeared, and the stone door slowly opened to both sides... A dense surge of ice and fire spiritual energy poured out from behind the stone door, causing Liu Yang and Su Qingyao to take a deep breath—this spiritual energy was more than ten times denser than that of Qingyang City; if they cultivated here, their cultivation level would definitely improve rapidly...
"Master, the stone gate has opened!" Su Qingyao exclaimed excitedly...
Liu Yang nodded, his gaze fixed behind the stone gate—behind the gate lay a long passage, its walls inlaid with luminous minerals that illuminated the path ahead… Deep within the passage, a colossal palace could be vaguely discerned, its roof red and walls blue—the very core area of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison…
"Let's go!" Liu Yang put away the Ice Lightning Token and led Su Qingyao into the passage... He knew that the real danger had only just begun...
At the entrance of the cave, Li Xiong was leading the Li family cultivators in a fierce battle against the Wang family... Although Wang Hu's dantian was injured, he still came in person, accompanied by Wang Lie, Wang Feng, and more than a dozen Wang family cultivators, clearly having come in full force...
"Li Xiong! Your Li family dares to trespass into the entrance of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison! You have some nerve!" Wang Hu roared, raising his hand to unleash a burst of spiritual energy at Li Xiong... His injuries hadn't fully healed, and his spiritual energy was weaker than before, but it was still not to be underestimated...
Li Xiong hurriedly defended, and their spiritual energies collided, producing a loud bang... "Wang Hu! The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison is unclaimed land. Whoever finds it first owns it. What does it have to do with your Wang family?"
"No man's land?" Wang Lie sneered. "Liu Yang stole the Zhao family's Ice Thunder Token, and your Li family cooperated with him, which is to make an enemy of the entire Qingyang City! Today, we will act on behalf of Heaven, kill you, and take back the Ice Thunder Token!"
With that, Wang Lie led several Wang family cultivators towards Li Qing—he knew Li Qing was Li Xiong's son, and if he could capture Li Qing, he could use him to blackmail Li Xiong...
Li Qing's expression changed, and he hurriedly circulated his spiritual energy to defend himself... His cultivation was only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, and he was no match for Wang Lie at all. After several rounds, he was forced to retreat step by step, and several wounds appeared on his body...
"Qing'er!" Seeing this, Li Xiong panicked and wanted to help Li Qing, but he was entangled by Wang Hu and couldn't break free at all...
Just then, a violent surge of spiritual energy emanated from the depths of the cave, followed by a cold voice: "Clan Chief Li, thank you for helping me hold off the Wang family. I'll be entering the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison now... As for the Zhao family's assets, consider it my payment to you..."
It's Liu Yang's voice!
Li Xiong and Wang Hu were both stunned. They didn't expect Liu Yang to open the stone door so quickly and go straight in!
"Liu Yang! You dare to lie to us!" Li Xiong roared, trying to run deeper into the cave, but Wang Hu stopped him...
"Li Xiong, don't waste your energy..." Wang Hu sneered, "Liu Yang is just using you. After he gets the treasure of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison, he definitely won't come back... Now, let's settle our scores first!"
As he spoke, Wang Hu increased his spiritual energy output and launched a fierce attack on Li Xiong... Seeing that Liu Yang had entered the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison, the Li family cultivators immediately lost their fighting spirit and were forced into a retreat by the Wang family cultivators...
Deep inside the cave, Su Qingyao said with some worry, "Master, isn't it a bad idea to just abandon the Li family like this? What if the Wang family wipes them out? Then no one will help us anymore..."
Liu Yang's lips curled into a cold smile: "Help us? The Li family only wanted to use us to obtain the treasure of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison. Now that they're no longer of any use, keeping them around is pointless... Besides, letting the Li family and the Wang family fight to the death is the best outcome for us..."
Su Qingyao suddenly understood, stopped talking, and followed Liu Yang deeper into the passage... On the walls on both sides of the passage, besides the glowing minerals, there were also many murals. The murals depicted cultivators practicing ice and fire elemental techniques, as well as some legends about the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison...
Liu Yang carefully examined the murals, hoping to find clues about the ancient artifact he needed... Suddenly, his gaze fell upon one mural—it depicted an altar with a black box on it. Beside the box stood a cultivator in white robes, holding a token similar to the Ice and Thunder Token... Below the mural, a line of small characters was inscribed: "Ice and fire share the same origin, thunder breaks all laws, the two elements unite, and eternal life can be attained..."
"Ice and fire share the same origin, and lightning breaks all laws..." Liu Yang muttered to himself, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes... He cultivated ice and fire techniques, and the Ice and Lightning Token contained lightning-attribute spiritual power. Could there be some connection between these three?
Just then, a fork in the road suddenly appeared ahead, with a door on each side. One door was red...