Chapter 642: One Against Five

Chapter 642 -308: One Against Five

“Something’s not right!”

Watching the thunder continuously crashing down over Lake Heart Island, Shi Liangcai suddenly shook his head slightly. He immediately activated the White Jade Compass in his hand again, formed a hand seal with his other hand, and began to chant:

“Kan Palace to the north, Li Palace to the south, Zhen Palace to the east, Dui Palace to the west… The Earth Star presides over the eight directions, but does not enter the Central Palace…”

The White Jade Compass in Shi Liangcai’s hand was called the Taiyi Nine Palace Divination Disc. It was a Pseudo-Spiritual Artifact passed down through the Taiyi Sect. By using the methods of the Nine Palace Bagua, it could manipulate the geomantic fortune of the mountains and rivers to enhance one’s Realm Power.

In battle, it was no weaker than a common sword- or blade-type Pseudo-Spiritual Artifact.

Within various cave mansions, the Taiyi Nine Palace Divination Disc, when paired with the Taiyi Sect’s inherited Taiyi Numerology for divining fortune, could play a tremendous role—be it in searching for all kinds of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects, seeking advantages and avoiding harm, or divining fortunes to save one’s life.

Seeing Shi Liangcai concentrating on his divination, Nangong Yi and Pan Yi both fell silent to avoid disturbing him.

After a long while, Shi Liangcai finally stopped his divination. His graying brows were knitted tightly, his expression growing more shocked and uncertain!

“Steward Shi, what is it?” Nangong Yi asked.

“How strange!” Shi Liangcai glanced again in the direction of Lake Heart Island and said pensively,

“The Fog Concealment Cave Mansion is laid out with the Nine Palaces Locking Spirit Heaven and Earth Array. This Kan Palace location should use frigid water as its Array Hub to control the power of ice and snow. There’s no reason for a phenomenon of unending thunder to appear here.

The Zhen Palace location uses Thunder Wood as its Array Hub to summon the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder. Only there should a phenomenon of intertwined lightning appear.

Therefore, some kind of change might have occurred at the Kan Palace Array Hub.”

“A change?” Nangong Yi asked in confusion.

Shi Liangcai said, “For a phenomenon of rolling heavenly thunder to appear at the Kan Palace Array Hub, it’s highly likely a Demon Beast’s thunder tribulation has occurred.”

There are many kinds of changes that can occur in a cave mansion, and the most common is a Demon Beast’s thunder tribulation.

After hundreds or even thousands of years inside a cave mansion, some particularly powerful Demon Beasts will often generate Demonic Power and advance to become Tier Six Demon Beasts.

However, due to the suppression of the cave mansion’s Array, the Demon Beast’s Demonic Power cannot be mobilized. The moment it is generated, it is suppressed within the Heart Pouch and transforms into a Demon Heart containing Demonic Power.

A Demon Beast that possesses a Demon Heart is still at Tier Five in terms of strength, but its true combat power far exceeds that of an ordinary Tier Five Demon Beast.

Once such a Demon Beast leaves the cave mansion, it will almost always advance directly to become a Tier Six Demon Beast.

Therefore, they are also known as Pseudo Tier Six Demon Beasts.

If a Pseudo Tier Six Demon Beast’s Demon Heart condenses further, it might even evolve into a Tier Seven Demon Beast’s Demon Core. Once a Demon Core forms, it will shake the very foundation of the cave mansion’s Array, causing the Array to break and the cave mansion to collapse.

Thus, once a cave mansion’s Array senses such a Pseudo Tier Six Demon Beast, it will often mobilize the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, transforming it into Thunder Power to suppress the beast and prevent its Demon Heart from condensing further.

This is the Demon Beast’s thunder tribulation.

The Demon Heart of a Pseudo Tier Six Demon Beast contains a massive amount of Qi Blood Power, enough to supply a Perfect Martial Artist of the Organ Refining Realm with the Qi Blood Power needed for more than a year of cultivation.

Furthermore, consuming a Demon Heart can replenish expended Qi Blood Power in an extremely short amount of time.

A fully formed Demon Heart is worth as much as five Source Crystal Jades. Therefore, finding and killing a Pseudo Tier Six Demon Beast to obtain its Demon Heart has also become a great opportunity within a cave mansion, second only to the cave mansion’s Array Hub.

“In that case, there’s a great opportunity on Lake Heart Island!” Nangong Yi’s eyes lit up. The three of them working together were more than capable of killing a Pseudo Tier Six Demon Beast.

“Indeed. According to my divinations, with the Central Palace Array Hub of this cave mansion being hidden, the fortune in the Kan Palace is the most auspicious.”

Shi Liangcai nodded, but his expression grew even more solemn as he said,

“But misfortune often lurks within good fortune. It seems this great opportunity has also brought great disaster. This is a place of immense peril.”

Nangong Yi was rather unwilling to give up. “So, Steward Shi, are you also suggesting we don’t go to Lake Heart Island?”

“Not at all!” Shi Liangcai shook his head. “After we entered the cave mansion, its Array trembled violently twice. Only an Innate Realm Expert entering the cave mansion could cause such a massive tremor.

Evidently, two Innate Realm Experts have entered the cave mansion.

They are the biggest variable in this cave mansion trip, and they also bring the greatest danger.

Our best course of action is to occupy an Array Hub as soon as possible. By using an Array Banner, we can wield a portion of the cave mansion’s Array power, and only then can we rest easy.

Several days have already passed. If we hurry to another location to fight for an Array Hub now, we’ll likely be behind the others and have lost the initiative.

On the contrary, fighting for the Kan Palace Array Hub is actually more advantageous for us.

The three of us can join forces to form the Three Talents Battle Array. With the power of two Pseudo-Spiritual Artifacts, even if we fail to seize the Array Hub, we will still be able to advance or retreat as we please.”

Nangong Yi breathed a sigh of relief, but he couldn’t help but inwardly blame Shi Liangcai for being deliberately mysterious. In a somewhat dissatisfied tone, he said:

“Steward Shi, if you were in favor of going to Lake Heart Island from the start, why did you have to be so dramatic about it!”

Shi Liangcai stroked his beard and said, “Not at all. I had to explain the dangers involved clearly, so that we would know what we’re getting into by going to Lake Heart Island.

We must be doubly cautious. If we encounter a powerful enemy, we must not get entangled in a prolonged fight. We must retreat at the first opportunity.”

“Of course,” said Nangong Yi.

Pan Yi, ever the most cautious, added, “We might as well scout out the situation around Lake Heart Island first before considering whether to venture deeper onto the island.”

Shi Liangcai nodded in approval. “That is as it should be.”

Having decided on a plan, the three of them subtly formed a Three Talents Array formation. Each unleashed their Primordial Gang True Force and skimmed across the lake’s surface toward Lake Heart Island.

…

On Lake Heart Island, atop a stone platform on a cliff, Chen Cheng was cultivating intensely, completely unaware that he had been mistaken for a Pseudo Tier Six Demon Beast by Nangong Yi and the others.

Over the past few days, he had started to get the hang of it. At first, he would control the Demon Seed to reveal an aura equivalent to a single fingertip, which would draw down bolts of thunder the thickness of a chopstick.

When he executed the Perfect Level Nine Heavens Thunder Shocking Hammer Technique to deduce its final Mystical Technique, the thunder’s aura only increased to the thickness of two fingers, which was still easy enough for him to handle.