Chapter 131: Conspiracy

Qu Yiqiu stepped onto the damp, withered grass and could not help but look down. The liquid oozing from around the soles of her shoes was not rainwater, but thick, viscous blood.

Horrified, she looked up and cast her spiritual sense in all directions, instantly revealing the true nature of this graveyard.

"The names carved on them... they are all disciples of the Xuanyi Sect!"

Qu Yiqiu’s spiritual sense encountered no obstruction in this graveyard. However, when she clearly saw the names left on each burial mound, she was struck with overwhelming shock.

"Why would it be like this?" Qu Yiqiu could not help but exclaim. Those people were the very disciples who had entered the secret realm alongside her.

Xiao Yan emerged from between her brows, sniffing the scent of the blood with a grave expression. "Master, if we move forward, we will understand."

This was the first time Qu Yiqiu had seen Xiao Yan wear such a solemn expression. She vaguely realized that this graveyard would reveal the deepest secret hidden within this secret realm.

Qu Yiqiu summoned her Ice-Colored Jade Ribbon and drifted along the path that led out of the graveyard.

...

"Master, have mercy! A disciple from the Tianyan Sect broke into the ancient tomb and released the ferocious beast, Taotie." The woman, clutching a ceramic jar, had delicate features but knelt on the ground with a pale complexion.

Deng Jingyao, dressed in luxurious robes, wore a look of utter disdain. He kicked her over with one foot and scolded, "Useless thing! As the spirit of this secret realm, you cannot even manage a single seal!"

The woman tumbled awkwardly a few times before respectfully kneeling back in place. "It is Yanxi’s fault. Please, Master, punish me!"

Deng Jingyao sneered, "What good would punishing you do? Can you seal the beast Taotie back away?"

The woman who called herself Yanxi pressed her forehead to the ground, her fragile body trembling uncontrollably. She dared not answer, only repeating her plea: "Yanxi deserves to die! Yanxi deserves to die!"

"What happened to her? Did the matter concerning the secret realm not succeed?" Ni Jinfen walked in anxiously.

Deng Jingyao’s face darkened with irritation. "The remaining disciples of the Tianyan Sect have all been forced into the Necrotic Locking Array. In a few days' time, we can finish them off."

Ni Jinfen’s face lit up with joy, but she asked in confusion, "Then what is the Sect Master still worrying about?"

Deng Jingyao slumped back onto his throne in frustration. "It should have been a flawless plan, but who would have thought this idiot would allow Xia Changhan to break into the ancient tomb and release the ancient beast, Taotie!"

"What? Taotie has been unleashed!" Ni Jinfen was stunned.

Deng Jingyao’s expression was grim. "It is currently trapped in the Feiling Secret Realm, but if I dare to touch the secret realm’s passage, it will surely be able to escape."

"Then what should we do? My disciple, Yu Man, and our sect’s prodigy, Huo Tangsheng, are still in the secret realm!" Ni Jinfen became immediately nervous, her joy vanishing.

Deng Jingyao’s face grew darker and darker, his eyes fixing on Yanxi with increasing malice. "Taotie has just broken out of the array; it must be starving and looking for food everywhere. If we use a wave of bait to lure it away, they can get out."

Ni Jinfen hesitated. "But if we do that, even more people will die."

Deng Jingyao looked up at the sky, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "This is all heaven’s will!"

As the two spoke, neither noticed that Yanxi, with her head bowed low, had a look of grim determination flash through her eyes.

...

"I actually can't get in."

Qu Yiqiu looked at the burial mound sealed by gray-white chains, intuiting that this was the source of the mystery that had made the secret realm so sinister.

Xiao Yan circled the gray-white chains a few times, his chubby little hands resting on his chin. "Master, perhaps I can open it."

Qu Yiqiu was stunned. "How do you intend to open it?"

Xiao Yan pressed his hands against the gray-white chains and slowly closed his eyes. "The key to the Sinister Prison Hall."

Qu Yiqiu looked at him in surprise.

Xiao Yan’s delicate, adorable body suddenly burst forth with a powerful and dense aura of malice, condensing into two massive black chains in his palms, the links wreathed in terrifying power. Just by standing near them, Qu Yiqiu could feel the lingering, ferocious energy radiating from the black chains.

At the same time, a wispy white mist was flying toward the enraged Taotie. The mist suddenly stalled, hanging in the air as if buffeted by the wind.

"Someone has disturbed the Blood Prohibition!" The white mist instantly coalesced into a human face—it was the deathly pale Yanxi.

Her hollow eyes now flickered with a hint of hope. Gazing toward the direction of the Taotie, she resolutely turned and left.

Huo Tangsheng looked at the mess of ruined puppets and summoned several more wolf-like puppet beasts.

...

The two sets of chains entangled with one another while Qu Yiqiu watched from the side. Suddenly remembering the surging Crimson-Purple Sparrow Phoenix Fire within her, she flicked her hands, throwing it toward the gray-white chains.

"Whoosh!"

The flames soared, behaving like a greedy beast, instantly wrapping around the entire length of the gray-white chains.

The grass beneath Qu Yiqiu’s feet heaved like a serpent twisting its body, or waves crashing against a shore; the ground began to churn. Qu Yiqiu leaped several yards into the air as the rolling grass transformed into a nine-headed giant python, dripping with thick blood, glaring at her with sinister intent.

"Blood Sacrifice!" Qu Yiqiu was startled.

This was a forbidden technique. Even demonic cultivators would not use it lightly. Because this forbidden art was abominable and defied the laws of heaven, once used, countless people would be sacrificed for it.

"No wonder the yin energy here is so heavy; the burial mounds and the grass are stained with fresh blood." Qu Yiqiu gritted her teeth, a surge of anger rising in her heart. She suddenly understood that the names carved on the mounds had all become blood offerings for this prohibition.

But when did it begin? And why were there only the names of Xuanyi Sect disciples?

As these questions swirled in her mind, she caught sight of the nine-headed python’s heads lunging toward her. She instantly unleashed a brilliant glow, activated her protective shield, and rode the Ice-Colored Jade Ribbon to snap their necks.

Yet, as soon as one head fell, another would quickly grow back. The nine-headed python’s sharp, poisonous fangs attacked her relentlessly. She had no time to spare to watch Xiao Yan’s battle.

The white mist flickered and vanished. Yanxi spotted Qu Yiqiu’s figure in the midst of the battle from afar. As for Xiao Yan, who had transformed into black chains and was locked in a struggle with the gray-white ones, she did not notice him at all.

The only glimmer of hope in Yanxi’s eyes vanished the moment she assessed Qu Yiqiu’s cultivation level. A look of utter devastation returned to her pale face. The hope she had craved had once again turned into boundless, icy despair.

The scent of death engulfed her. Yanxi gave a bitter, wretched smile and resolutely flew toward Qu Yiqiu.

"Go to the Necrotic Locking Array and take your companions away from here!"

Qu Yiqiu and Xiao Yan were both startled.

Qu Yiqiu quickly diverted a sliver of her focus toward Yanxi and said in surprise, "You are the attendant from the mural!"

She was also the woman in the jade coffin holding the urn.

Xiao Yan, having taken the form of black iron chains, remained still. With the power of the Crimson-Purple Sparrow Phoenix Fire assisting him, he felt a bit more at ease and scanned the suddenly appearing woman several times.