The sky over the entire wasteland gradually darkened, and a black sandstorm swept in, with a tendency to cover the sky and the sun, as if it knew that someone was trying to escape, so it wanted to destroy everything.
An ominous aura spread throughout the world, and everyone knew that if they couldn't get out this time, they might never have the chance to get out again.
Cheng Huaian picked up the pen and quickened his pace again, and he finished very quickly.
Ye Su was not slow either, but the rune in the center of the stele was too complicated and extremely energy-consuming, so it was still not completed.
As for Lian Lian, when she was halfway through drawing the talisman array, her right hand holding the pen began to tremble and she was unable to continue.
The pain, the pain that came from the gaps between her bones, made her hands tremble violently, and Lian Lian subconsciously just wanted to escape.
"What's wrong with you?" Zhou Yun was in charge of flying her on the sword, and seeing that Lian Lian hadn't started writing for a long time, he couldn't help but ask.
"Nothing." Lian Lian clasped her right hand tightly with her left hand, forcing herself to continue.
Her injury has healed and she shouldn't feel any pain.
Lian Lian's face was pale, and she clenched her teeth, using her left hand to guide her right hand to continue.
…
When Lian Lian finally sealed the talisman, she was soaked through, and the sandstorm that was already close at hand blew her, making her feel bone-chillingly cold, but a warm feeling rose in her heart: she had drawn it! She no longer had to finish just one talisman and then stop drawing, she could do it!
As soon as the runes on the western stone tablet were replenished, one could clearly feel that the flow of energy within the realm was changing. The uncomfortable feeling of desolation began to disappear, and even spiritual energy slowly flowed back, but the black sandstorm became more and more intense.
"Retreat!" Xu Chengyu shouted to Lian Lian and Zhou Yun, asking them to go to the stone tablet in the center. He flew up into the air, holding the sword, and slashed at the approaching black sandstorm.
The sword was sharp and awe-inspiring, slashing straight at the huge sandstorm that was as big as a dragon.
“Senior Tu…” Zhou Yun looked back at Tu Shi, whose body had expanded to the extreme and was wrapped in a black sandstorm, and a bitter feeling spread in his eyes.
Everyone gathered in front of the stone tablet in the center to protect Ye Su from the black sandstorm, but the surrounding stone tablets began to be blown and were likely to collapse for the second time.
No one noticed that Ye Su, who was filling in the runes in front of the stone tablet, was also attacked by the evil spirit, because she did not slow down and continued to move as usual.
Ye Su stared intently at the patterns on the stone tablet, his hand constantly drawing downwards, freeing up only a little spiritual energy to protect his spiritual palace and sea of consciousness.
"Fu Cheng."
After Ye Su filled in the runes on the stele, the entire world seemed to solidify in an instant. A golden light flashed in the forest of stone tablets, the rune formation was activated, and the black sandstorm actually began to slowly fade away.
But this place is still a dead end and no one can get out.
"Senior Tu!" Ma Congqiu noticed with his sharp eyes that after the black sandstorm dissipated, he saw Tu Shi half-kneeling in front of the western monument.
Or rather, Tu Shi’s legs were gone, and even the magic circle fell to the ground because his hands were also swollen and exploded.
"Life and death are reversed, and the formation is controlled by me." Tu Shi stared at Ye Su in front of the stone tablet in the center and chanted this spell.
His face had already cracked, revealing a grayish-white light, as if his head would explode in the next second.
At the same time, Ye Su was also chanting this spell: "Reversal of life and death, the formation is controlled by me."
Starting from where the two were standing, a magic circle was formed and rotated.
—Defy life and death, the formation is completed!
There was a light shining in the world. The last scene seen by the people in front of the stone tablet in the middle when they left was Tu Shi using his body to feed the formation, his Nascent Soul ruptured, and his true appearance completely disappeared.
…
Tu Shi couldn’t remember when it started.
He joined the Wanfo Sect later, and followed the masters to practice Zen and learn magic arrays every day.
Day after day, year after year, every wish was fulfilled, from having enough food to learning the Dharma circle and becoming a Buddhist.
He couldn't remember whether people had always thought he was incompetent, or whether objections began to arise after he became a Buddhist. Some people felt that he was not suitable to be a Buddhist in terms of either his personality or appearance, but he didn't care. He even set his next goal as successfully inheriting the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect.
Unfortunately, he had not even completed a year as a Buddhist disciple when he stepped into this secret realm and could never get out again.
The moment his golden elixir broke, he thought he was going to die, but Tu Shi was unwilling to accept that. He struggled for two hundred years, rebuilding his golden elixir, forming his Nascent Soul, entering the stage of spiritual transformation, and even reaching the stage of fusion.
Sometimes Tu Shi would think that it would be better to just overcome the tribulation and become a god here, and then ascend directly. But the spiritual energy in the world was becoming increasingly scarce, and he would eventually face the possibility of disappearing.
Just at this moment, several young monks also fell in and found a possible way out.
Tu Shi felt that it was the Buddha who blessed him and brought him a glimmer of hope. However, this happiness did not last long. He discovered that this magic circle was a death circle, the stone tablet on the west side was broken, and evil spirits were rising to the sky.
In order to reverse the life and death formation, one person must stay behind to attract the evil spirit.
Tu Shi did struggle, he really wanted to go out and see what the outside world had become.
but…
Tu Shi clasped his hands together, endured the pain of his body swelling and tearing, and calmed his evil spirit.
Before his death, he even had a smile on his face: All Buddhas save people, and he is worthy of the title of Buddha's son by killing the world.
…
The life and death formation was reversed, and everyone was able to escape from the endless abyss. The secret realm of the deserted city began to collapse for no reason, kicking out all the cultivators inside.
The group stood outside, unable to recover for a long time.
No one could accept that a senior whom they had just met died in such a tragic way in front of them.
Ye Su looked down at the letter Tu Shi gave her. This might be the only evidence that the former Buddhist disciple had lived for another two hundred years.
"The secret realm of the deserted city has collapsed."
"Did anyone take the treasure that guards the territory?"
"Who is so powerful?"
"Look, isn't that Cheng Huaian and Lian Lian from the Five Elements Sect?"
"The ones next to them are disciples of our sword sect, right? These two sects must have teamed up to take away the treasure that protects the territory."
"I don't know what the treasure in the secret realm of the deserted city is, but it should be a good thing."
The monks who were kicked out gathered together and talked about it.
Only Ye Su and the others knew that they got nothing, and Senior Tu Shi even sacrificed himself to get them out.
"I'm going to advance." Lian Lian said suddenly.
Cheng Huaian immediately said goodbye to the few people, moved his fingers, revealed two teleportation talismans, threw them to the ground, and the two of them disappeared from everyone's sight in an instant.
"Brother." Ma Congqiu glanced at the communication jade plate and said to Xu Chengyu, "It's almost time for us to go back to Wujian Sect to grab a spot in the sect competition."
Ye Su also wanted to go see his fellow junior brothers and sisters, so he planned to go back to Wujian Sect with them.
As for Lu Jiu, she also wanted to participate in the sect competition. Since she had no sect or school, she could only join under the name of the Nameless Sect. First of all, she had to obtain a pass.
Each party has a certain number of places, and independent cultivators can win a pass by directly participating in the selection.
"I'm going to Tushou City too." Lu Jiu said. Since she was a sword cultivator, it was natural for her to compete with the sword cultivators for the pass.
"The teleportation scroll is gone." Xu Chengyu said, "Let's take the teleportation array back."
"Brother." Zhou Yun reminded, "We are out of spirit stones."
In the world, all of Ma Congqiu's spirit stones had been used up. Now the spiritual power in their spirit palaces had not yet fully recovered, so they might not be able to keep flying the sword for long.
"If you don't mind, you can wait until I sell all the talismans and collect the spirit stones for the teleportation array before leaving." Ye Su took out a stack of talismans and said.
Ma Congqiu was a little skeptical: "There are talisman masters everywhere. Everyone in the streets and alleys can draw talismans. Can your talismans be sold?"
"Try it." Ye Su thought about it carefully and said, "If it doesn't work, you can sell it at a low price."
At worst, Huang Erqian should still have some spare money.