Slaying Demons: Starting with Upgrading my Calligraphy-Chapter 490 - 431: Treasure Ice Pillars

"Prince, should we act here? This Black God Venerable has the Confounding Heaven and Earth, Heart-Bewildering Forbidden Law inscribed upon it, and it’s currently situated in the deep sea of the Ruins of Return.

That Daoist will surely be alone, and if we act here, we can evade everyone’s attention, including his master and the two Martial Monarchs of the Domineering Body Sect."

Standing beside Zhao Qianqiu, a man in embroidered clothing flicks off the black bloodstains from his longsword.

When other Dao Experts were transported to various places by the Confounding Heaven and Earth, Heart-Bewildering Forbidden Law on the Black God Venerable,

Zhao Qianqiu and his party were exceptions.

The bright yellow jade pendant fastened to his waist shone brightly, a completely different aura from ordinary Dao, shielding the four from any foreign powers’ influence.

Beside Zhao Qianqiu at this moment, dozens of corpse pieces of Peeping Heart Demons lay devastated, with black viscous blood flowing across the deck, emanating a strong sea stench.

Slowly rotating the thumb ring, Zhao Qianqiu’s gaze is as deep as an abyss, his eyes scanning lightly over these Ruins of Return anomalies.

"Hmm, that Daoist is young, yet already has Divine Luster Inward Concealment, even I cannot fathom his depths.

This time on the Southern Ming Wasteland expedition, the Eastern Scoundrel even sent the Divine Authority Furious Thunder Vajra.

In my opinion, the sword seizure is false; protecting the Daoist is true.

Just as well, there are impediments from the Forbidden Law on this ship; they must have already been separated.

Zhao He, you go ahead to seek him out, and if you find him, strike without hesitation.

Life or death... it doesn’t matter." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Having received Zhao Qianqiu’s command, the sword-bearing man named Zhao He nodded heavily:

"Rest assured, Prince, I understand."

"Oh, by the way, if you capture him, remember to bring back his eyes; I feel like I’ve seen those eyes somewhere before."

"Yes!"

...

Unaware that he’s already being watched, Qi Xiu, at this moment, descends step by step down the spiral staircase of the dim, damp ship hold into the depths of the giant ship treasure.

Creak, creak—

The floorboards beneath his feet continuously produce unusual sounds, which are particularly shrill and eerie in the dead silence of the ship cabin.

There are nine layers in the bottom chambers of the Black God Venerable.

The first to fourth layers have been damaged over endless ages, and most things stored inside have either been lost or washed away by seawater.

Now, apart from the Hidden Scale Demon Eels that specifically attack souls hidden therein, there’s nothing else on these layers.

Having the memory of the Peeping Heart Demon, Qi Xiu now navigates the Black God Venerable with much more ease.

Though the Peeping Heart Demon is not an important figure on the Black God Venerable.

But having wandered the ship for so many years, he more or less understands the situation of the entire giant ship.

Guided by these memories, Qi Xiu bypassed the first four layers directly and entered the fifth layer of the ship cabin.

The long corridor greeted him with intense stench and mildew, mingled with peculiar auras, forming a colorful miasma.

With a flick of his sleeve, Qi Xiu swept away the miasma and rotated his eyes, inspecting this cabin layer.

No Space-Bounding Dharma Gate?

After scanning, Qi Xiu looked slightly surprised, as this cabin layer truly existed and did not use the Space-Bounding Dharma Gate to expand space.

The Peeping Heart Demon, after all, being a presence of the deck, only knew of the part of the Mystic Monarch’s soldiers’ weapons stored on the fifth layer, but didn’t know where those things were.

With so many rooms, looking room by room would take quite some time.

With a thought, Qi Xiu flipped his right hand, and suddenly a handful of soybeans appeared in his palm.

Sowing Beans into Soldiers!

Whoosh—

The soybeans scattered and divine light expanded, clouds swirling, revealing groups of mighty, awe-inspiring Yellow Turban Strongmen.

Bang bang bang bang!

The next moment.

The sounds of cabin doors being opened began to reverberate, the Yellow Turban Strongmen speedily advancing due to their massive numbers, quickly extending the search.

Standing at the first cabin door, Qi Xiu glanced into the room, seeing a mysterious divine glow hidden in one corner.

Wouldn’t my luck be this good?

Noticing the divine glow, Qi Xiu paused, wanting to investigate before suddenly feeling his spine heat up, scorching his skin.

Hmm?

Dragon Binding Rope?

Frowning, Qi Xiu seemed to realize something, immediately retracting his stepping out.

"Caught in the act, eh."

Narrowing his eyes, Qi Xiu exhaled deeply, points of golden light slowly emerging all over his body, forming grand and imposing Suppression Talismans.

Suppress!

With the Suppression Talismans guarding his mind, the scene before Qi Xiu turned into ash-like embers, his vision blurred, he found himself still on the spiral staircase to the fifth layer.

Yet descending another layer, the staircase was already broken in the middle.

If he had taken that step just now, he would have fallen into the abyssal ship cabin below.

Lowering his eyes to inspect the darkness beneath him, Qi Xiu chuckled softly.

Confounding Heaven and Earth, Heart-Bewildering Forbidden Law?

Interesting.

Having momentarily fallen for the Heart-Bewildering Law, Qi Xiu turned his hand and took out the Haotian Mirror.

It’s too dark here, let me brighten it up for you.

Boom——

The overpowering Haotian Mirror’s light burst forth, causing the surrounding void to explode open. All the darkness shrieked and retreated under the pure, blinding light, the boundless brilliance filling the entire cabin.

Soon, a hidden crack in the corner was caught by the Haotian Mirror’s light.

Rip——

The mirror’s light transformed into a sword, instantly tearing open the crack, releasing waves of dazzling divine treasure light, like an endless waterfall.

That was the true location of the cabin.

This Peeping Heart Demon Chapter knew I intended to extract his memory, so he set a trap in advance within his memory, wanting to deceive me under the Heart-Bewildering Forbidden Law’s influence, making me unable to find the true cabin.

As expected, those who could guard this giant ship for countless ages were no ordinary beings.

Having found the true location of the cabin, Qi Xiu turned into a cloud of mist and swiftly entered the crack continuously spewing divine marvel treasure light.

Upon entering the crack, the scene revealed itself brightly.

Numerous towering ice pillars stood amidst the icy expanse, each pillar over a hundred feet in diameter, reaching into the clouds, with their tops unseen.

Within these translucent, faintly dark-tinged ice pillars, one could visibly see many high-quality magical treasures sealed and frozen.

The light from these treasures refracted through the ice pillars became even more dazzling, seemingly making it easier for one to discover them on purpose.

Pale snowy ground, dark-tinted ice pillars.

The black and white interplayed, forming a beautifully contradictory tapestry.

"Oh, someone arrived early?"

Landing on the snowy ground, Qi Xiu noticed several figures pacing with furrowed brows in front of the ice pillars.

Those Dao Experts who had arrived earlier also noticed Qi Xiu’s arrival.

"Isn’t that the young Daoist from the Shenxiao Sect?"

"From the outside? This Daoist actually has some strength, managing to explore all the way here without getting caught in the cabin; indeed, those who embark for the Southern Ming Wasteland are not ordinary folks."

Noticing Qi Xiu’s arrival, a few individuals contemplated briefly, then gestured in acknowledgment.

"Why are a few of you lingering here?"

Since they already greeted, Qi Xiu responded politely, especially considering they arrived first and likely knew more about the situation.

"You must be Qi from the Shenxiao Sect, I am Huo Xiao from the Nine Revolitions Sect."

A bald, muscular man with a rotund body, bare upper torso, and six floating light rings behind his head, Huo Xiao spoke first:

"You may not be aware, Daoist, that these ice pillars contain magical treasures once gifted by the Mystic Monarch to his subordinates, of excellent quality.

However, retrieving the treasures from within is no small feat."

"Oh? I’d like to hear more."

Looking up at the ice pillars before him, a flash of purple gleamed in Qi Xiu’s eyes, revealing understanding, though he did not voice it, choosing instead to continue seeking Huo Xiao’s insights.

"The water of these ice pillars originates from the Ruins of Return’s Haiyan; you see those wisps of black air on the ice pillars, they are the resentments of the Sea God Mystic Monarch.

If we melt the ice to retrieve treasures, we would immediately suffer the invasion of Mystic Monarch’s resentment.

Though nailed and suppressed in the Haiyan, Mystic Monarch was genuinely a Primordial Spirit True Honor level Ancient God.

If his resentment entangles us, even we might find it hard to break free.

So, despite the treasure mountain in front of us, all we can do is gaze and sigh, standing and shaking our heads."

Understanding the sentiment in Huo Xiao’s words, Qi Xiu nodded.

After all, with so many magical treasures right before their eyes yet unreachable, even Dao Experts would find it hard to remain desireless.

His purple-infused gaze scrutinized the ice pillars a few times before Qi Xiu suddenly said:

"Since opening the ice pillars yourself would result in being invaded by Mystic Monarch’s resentment.

Then let someone else open them."

Qi Xiu’s suggestion left Huo Xiao and the others momentarily stunned.

Could such an approach work?

But who would be selfless enough to make a wedding dress for others?

As he spoke, Qi Xiu slowly turned, his gaze falling on a corner of the snowy ground not far away.

"Since you’re here, why hide? Is the Great Profound Royal Family so lacking in dignity?"

"Insolent! You, a mere commoner, dare to criticize the royal family; do you not want your head?"

Holding a longsword, Zhao He stepped slowly out from the void, his emerald eyes sizing up Qi Xiu with abandon.

"My master has decreed, you are to..."

"So much nonsense! Did Zhao Qianqiu send only you? What a pity, it’d be great if he came too, I could settle the score here, saving trouble in the Southern Ming Wasteland!"

Zhao He’s vision blurred, and suddenly Qi Xiu, previously hundreds of miles away, had flashed right in front of him, swinging his wide sleeve with a wave, a sky-blotting black hole descending directly upon him.

Universe in the Sleeve!

...