Chapter 402: Chapter 282: Turbulent Changes: The Struggle Erupts in Jun City (Part 2)

「Two days later.」

In a manor on the outskirts of Antu City, a group of Donghua Martial Artists received Array blueprints from back home. All the necessary rare materials had been sent along with them.

Such were the advantages of having a massive organization at their back.

Yi Beidou and the others immediately began to set up the Array.

Inside one of the manor’s rooms, the walls were plastered with talisman paper. Golden threads connected them, forming a strange, talismanic pattern.

On the floor, a Nine Palace Bagua diagram was drawn with cinnabar mixed with the Blood of the Saint Realm from the group. On the ceiling, a celestial map was laid out using beautiful jade, metal, and crystal. The overall pattern of the Array bore a faint resemblance to the Grand Array in Antarctica.

In the center of the room stood a brass object resembling a Celestial Sphere.

FWOOM!!

Demon Flame erupted around Yi Beidou. His surging Life Magnetic Field stimulated the Grand Array, and an otherworldly light instantly flowed through the golden threads on the walls. The Nine Palace Bagua on the floor seemed to rotate, the celestial map on the ceiling began to shift, and even the Celestial Sphere in the center of the room started to turn.

As Yi Beidou intensified his Life Magnetic Field’s output, everything within the Array spun faster and faster. Finally, light flickered in the void at the center of the Celestial Sphere, faintly revealing the shape of a world map.

However, the map showed nothing out of the ordinary, nor did it point to a specific target.

The Spiritual Talismans were still suppressed and had not yet fully broken free.

"Looks like it’s a success."

Yi Beidou recalled his Demon Flame, and the Array in the room quickly ceased its operation.

"The Array is too large. It’s not very convenient for carrying around to track things," Meng Qianyuan said with a frown.

"That won’t be an issue," Yi Beidou said. "Once we capture the aura of the Spiritual Talismans, we won’t need the Array’s help anymore. We can track them ourselves."

He had never seen a Spiritual Talisman before and was unfamiliar with its unique magnetic field fluctuations. Trying to sense it out of thin air would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. But if the Array could guide him to lock onto a Spiritual Talisman’s aura just once, he was confident he could sense its presence from then on, as long as it wasn’t sealed again.

"All we can do now is wait," Zhou Qingchen said.

The others nodded in agreement.

Now, all they could do was wait.

For a time, an eerie calm fell over the Mediterranean Region.

There were no more attacks, no sensational headlines, and no more Saint Experts arriving on the scene.

The Saint Experts who had decided to withdraw were gone, the nations that had chosen to back down had done so, and those who knew what was truly happening were all waiting in silence.

But the general public around the world, who had been following the situation, was unaware. Seeing that things in the Mediterranean Region seemed to be stabilizing, many speculated that the hidden storm had passed and the conflict was over.

What they didn’t know was that the truly terrifying conflict had not even begun. This was merely the calm before the storm.

The days passed, one by one.

「Four days later, at the Gibraltar Kunca Mansion.」

The conference room where the Five Divine Sect Leaders were meeting had been sealed. Its four walls were now covered in complex, inscribed runes.

Beams of light shot out from the five leaders, connecting to form chains that converged on three objects suspended in the center of the room, sealing them.

They were three archaic-looking Spiritual Talismans that appeared to be made of dark wood. A mystic inscription was carved on each in an unknown, blood-red script, seemingly holding some arcane significance.

The three Spiritual Talismans appeared solid, but were in fact condensed entirely from an ethereal magnetic field.

A Spirit Treasure.

As for the Spirit Treasure’s specific function, that remained unknown. From the moment it appeared, it had been fought over by various factions, and its twelve Spiritual Talismans were scattered to the winds.

The expressions of the Five Vein Leaders were grave. The three Spiritual Talismans sealed by the runic chains trembled violently, and their struggles grew more intense by the moment.

They were about to lose control.

The Five Vein Leaders understood that the storm was about to break. And just then...

VMMMM!!

The five of them seemed to sense something and looked to the southeast. They clearly felt a hidden aura erupt, soaring into the sky. Even from hundreds of kilometers away, its powerful influence reached them.

It was a calling, an intense yearning for reunification.

One of the Spiritual Talismans had broken its seal first, releasing powerful, clandestine ripples to summon the others.

This aura shattered the equilibrium and triggered a chain reaction.

VMMMM!!

The aura of another Spiritual Talisman broke through its seal, clearly perceived by the Five Vein Leaders.

Then a third, and a fourth...

At the same time, the three Spiritual Talismans under their suppression also sensed the call. As they trembled, wisps of light pierced through the seal and escaped into the outside world.

All twelve Spiritual Talismans began to radiate their auras, sensing one another. They could no longer be sealed or suppressed, their locations laid bare for all to see.

The clandestine struggle had officially begun.

Back in the Array room at the manor outside Antu City, Zhou Qingchen sat cross-legged at the Array’s core, his rising Qing Guang sustaining its operation.

Suddenly, the entire Grand Array’s light flickered erratically. The Celestial Sphere at its center trembled unceasingly as an image began to faintly materialize within it.

BOOM!!

Zhou Qingchen shot to his feet. His Qi and blood surged as his Qing Guang flared brilliantly, drastically increasing his Life Magnetic Field’s output.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!

Outside, figures flickered into existence. Yi Beidou and the others had also sensed the disturbance in the Array. They rushed over at top speed, pouring into the room and releasing their own Life Magnetic Fields to fuel the Array.

The Celestial Sphere spun faster and faster, the glowing map within it becoming ever clearer, until one by one, points of light began to ignite across its surface.

All of the points were located in or around the Mediterranean Region.

"The locations of the Spiritual Talismans... they’ve appeared," Zhou Qingchen said softly.

FWOOM!!

The Demon Flame around Yi Beidou blazed to life. Flaming, tendril-like wisps wrapped around the Celestial Sphere, ultimately piercing into the flickering points of light on the map.

’I have their auras now. I’ve memorized them,’ Yi Beidou thought, a flicker of understanding in his mind. He gazed westwards.

From now on, he could sense the Spiritual Talismans’ locations even without the aid of the Array Map.

"So, which one do we target first?" Meng Qianyuan asked.

All eyes turned to the map.

"There are two Spiritual Talismans here," Zhou Qingchen said, pointing to a spot on the map. "And it’s the closest location to us. How about we choose it?"

They had to leave immediately, with no time for a detailed investigation. The best strategy was to go for the nearest target.

"Agreed."

The others nodded, having no objections.

That location was...

Constantinople.

「Meanwhile.」

In a basement somewhere in Constantinople, a tall, imposing middle-aged white man sat cross-legged atop a raised altar in the center of the room.

Hanging from his ears was a pair of pendants. Within each triangular pyramid, an impassive eye stared out.

Without a doubt, this man was a member of the Illuminati.

The basement was laid out with arcane array patterns, and various Dharma Artifacts and other objects were placed around the man.

On the four walls, the outlines of countless eyes were painted with an unknown golden liquid. At the center of each pupil was a socket, and within each socket was a "jewel."

These "jewels" gleamed like pupils; it was as if they were made from actual human eyeballs.

An ordinary person in this secret chamber would likely be horrified, perhaps even suffer a complete mental breakdown.

The Hundred-Eyed Altar.

These "jewels" were, in fact, made from real eyeballs—the man’s prized collection, gathered over many years.

Some of these eyeballs were relics from his own past incarnations, some were taken from his rivals, and others came from the "bright pearls" he had discovered among the teeming masses.

And now, all these eyes had become a part of his power, a part of his very foundation.

A member of the Illuminati, the Eye of the Sun.

’So, it finally begins,’ the Eye of the Sun thought. ’I can already sense the approaching crisis. There are hidden auras, trying to conceal themselves, but they’re closing in fast.’

The Eye of the Sun opened his eyes, a faint smile touching his lips.

’Since things are already getting so out of hand, we might as well make it a real party.’

’Let me take temporary control of this entire city... with this ’eye’ of mine.’

’Beneath the Eye of the Sun, no one can hide.’

The Eye of the Sun muttered to himself.

The next moment, his body began to tremble violently. A strange expression, a mixture of a smile and excruciating pain, twisted his features.

THUMP! THUMP!!

His brow throbbed violently, as if a heart were growing there. A terrifying wave of magnetic field energy burst from his body.

The entire altar shook violently, and the eyes on the basement walls trembled in unison, their light flickering erratically.

Then, something incredible happened.

SQUELCH!!

The throbbing in the Eye of the Sun’s brow reached its peak. The flesh suddenly split open, splattering blood that streamed down his cheeks.

And from within the sundered flesh, a transverse eye emerged.

Its gaze was detached and cold, as if it were God Himself looking down upon all creation.

As this third eye opened, everything else seemed to dim, as if it were the sole focal point of this space, possessing the power to dominate all else.

Just like the sun in the Sky.

This was the Divine Eye Technique. Devi had once used this ability, but the Divine Eye he formed on his brow was an illusion, condensed from the light of a magnetic field, not something real.

But the Eye of the Sun was completely different. This eye was no illusion, no Blinding Technique, but a true, physical organ formed of flesh and blood!!

This completely defied all logic.

A Saint Expert possessed the power of a Dharma Body, but a Dharma Body was merely a modification of existing organs. It had not, in the end, broken free from the shackles of the human genome.

But this transverse eye was different. It was a new organ that had grown on a human body, one that had broken through the limits of human genetics and shattered the bonds of the flesh.

The root of all this was inextricably linked to the fundamental biological units used to form the eye.

It was not made of human flesh and blood, but of Earth Immortal Cells!!

The Ancient Ones devoured Earth Immortal Cells for their own use. In the beginning, when the number of these cells was small, they could only improve one’s physical constitution and enhance their Life Magnetic Field to a limited extent.

But as the number of consumed Earth Immortal Cells increased, they could use their own special Secret Techniques to break the limits of the human body and condense new organs within themselves.

These inconceivable new organs, composed of Earth Immortal Cells, possessed terrifying abilities.

Within the Hidden Realm, they are known as the "Immortal Soul" or "Divine Soul."

Condensing an Immortal Soul is the prerequisite for becoming one of the "Sleepers."