Chapter 85: Unleashing the Seal

The fivefold secret seal might be a formidable obstacle for others, but in Old Wu’s eyes it was hardly worth mentioning. Seizing the opportunity to teach Lin Xiaobao a lesson, he then fell silent once more.

“Senior, may I borrow a superior-grade spirit stone from you?” Lin Xiaobao asked hesitantly after obtaining the method to break the seal. “And… that array pen.”

While observing Chen Zhong’s arrangement earlier, Lin Xiaobao had noticed that the array pen he used was actually a lower-grade Dao implement. Using it to break this seal would undoubtedly yield twice the result with half the effort.

“You want…” Chen Zhong was somewhat disappointed by Lin Xiaobao’s request. He had always regarded Lin Xiaobao’s performance highly, believing the boy to be a promising talent. But now, in his eyes, Lin Xiaobao seemed a bit too eager for quick success. After all, even he himself was powerless against this seal; no matter how early Lin Xiaobao had begun studying arrays, it was impossible for him to break it.

“Yes, I want to give it a try,” Lin Xiaobao replied, expressing his intention.

“You should know the consequences of failure.” From Lin Xiaobao’s demonstrated mastery of arrays, Chen Zhong already knew what failure would entail, but he still felt compelled to warn him. The person who arranged this ancient seal had used the technique of fivefold secret sealing, indicating a profound understanding of arrays. The process of breaking the seal allowed no margin for error; once a mistake was made and triggered a change in the seal’s array, the backlash would be so fierce that Chen Zhong himself could not guarantee he could withstand it.

“I know, but I am confident,” Lin Xiaobao said earnestly.

“Very well, let it be my repayment for your help in obtaining the Blood Sun Secret Sprout,” Chen Zhong sighed. “Do your best. If anything happens, I will do everything in my power to protect you.”

With that, he handed his array pen and a superior-grade spirit stone to Lin Xiaobao.

Taking the array pen and spirit stone, Lin Xiaobao drew a deep breath and recalled Old Wu’s guidance. Then he infused the array pen with spiritual energy, tapped the spirit stone, and the hard superior-grade spirit stone instantly liquefied into a pool of abundant spiritual essence. Lin Xiaobao began to inscribe on the invisible gate of the seal.

As Lin Xiaobao set to work, Chen Zhong swiftly conjured a powerful aura shield to protect him. But as Lin Xiaobao continued his task, Chen Zhong’s expression grew increasingly grave, and he fell into deep contemplation. Soon, he seemed to gain some insight, and then his face was filled with astonishment.

Though the evidence was right before his eyes, he still could not believe that someone of Lin Xiaobao’s age could have such profound mastery of arrays. It seemed Lin Xiaobao truly had found a way to break this ancient seal.

However, Lin Xiaobao overlooked one crucial issue: knowing the method was one thing, but with his current cultivation, supporting himself through the completion of five complex arrays was quite another. By the time he finished the fourth array, Lin Xiaobao’s face was pale as snow, his spiritual energy utterly depleted. Even with the constant replenishment from the Spirit Gathering Array, and despite the high density of spiritual energy in this place, the immense consumption was simply overwhelming.

More importantly, there was no room for error throughout the entire process, and the drain on his mental strength was enormous. At this point, Lin Xiaobao’s clothes were soaked with sweat, his lips trembling, as if he might collapse at any moment.

“Let me take over now. You should rest,” Chen Zhong said, seeing that Lin Xiaobao could no longer continue. He snatched the array pen from Lin Xiaobao and began to operate it himself.

Once he stopped, Lin Xiaobao felt a wave of relief, but also a keen awareness of his own inadequate cultivation. Despite the guidance of the two elders, and his remarkable skill in arrays and alchemy, without strong cultivation to support it all, everything was but an illusion.

He activated the Mindwave Technique to restore his mental strength, but the feeling of weakness rose again. Clearly, he needed to continue training to improve his cultivation.

Chen Zhong, though exceptionally skilled in arrays, did not have Old Wu’s guidance for breaking the seal, so he proceeded with extreme caution. It took him four whole hours to complete the final array.

By then, Lin Xiaobao had fully recovered and stood quietly behind Chen Zhong with Si Mengling, watching in silence.

As the last stroke was finished, the five Nine Palace arrays began spinning rapidly, generating a powerful suction force. Although Lin Xiaobao and Si Mengling stood behind Chen Zhong, their cultivation was insufficient to resist the pull, and their bodies were drawn forward involuntarily.

“Quick, retreat!” Chen Zhong shouted, his wide sleeves sweeping the two of them instantly several hundred yards away.

A thunderous boom resounded from the sealed gate, and the entire valley sank deeply. In midair, a grayish-white vortex appeared.

“Is that a portal of space?” Chen Zhong murmured as he gazed at the vortex. “The predecessor who laid this seal truly possessed an array mastery far beyond our reach.”

“Hurry inside!” Lin Xiaobao had no time for sentiment. He knew the spatial portal beneath the seal would not last long; if they missed their chance, everything within the seal would vanish forever into the endless void.

Prompted by Lin Xiaobao’s urging, Chen Zhong regained his composure, raised a powerful aura shield around the two, and plunged headlong into the portal.

As soon as the three entered, the spatial portal vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

About a quarter of an hour later, Long Xiaotian and Ao Wuchen arrived with several dozen elders of the Wind and Snow Pavilion, followed by numerous elders and disciples from the Flowing Cloud Sect.

The commotion caused by breaking the seal had been so great that, even searching from afar, they sensed it. After searching, they found no clue related to the ancient seal, but the abundance of spiritual energy and medicinal herbs scattered everywhere prompted both factions to clash fiercely.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiaobao and Si Mengling, who had entered the spatial portal, remained completely unaware of all this.

Inside the spatial portal, even under Chen Zhong’s protection, Lin Xiaobao felt a powerful tearing force all around. His heart tightened; without Chen Zhong’s help, even if he had broken the seal, traversing the spatial passage would have been fraught with difficulty.

Of course, Lin Xiaobao did not realize yet that for Chen Zhong to shield all three of them from the force of the spatial passage required an extraordinary level of cultivation.

Lin Xiaobao could not comprehend the depth of Chen Zhong’s power, mainly because his own strength was so weak that he could not fathom such might. Yet in the presence of the two elders, Chen Zhong’s cultivation was trivial, so while they understood his abilities, they deemed them insignificant. Such coincidences would later give rise to many unforeseen events.