Ringing the Bell for a Hundred Years, I Became the Sect’s Ancestor – Chapter 133

Chapter 133: Demonic Ruins?

Xuan Province.

Donghe County, Cang County.

This place was once the territory of the Mysterious Netherworld Sect. After the Mysterious Netherworld Sect was destroyed, it was incorporated into the Divine Sword Sect’s sphere of influence.

After years of governance, the influence of the Mysterious Netherworld Sect has basically been completely eliminated.

Xingye Mountain Range, a long and narrow mountain range stretching for dozens of miles in Cang County. With the emergence of mutations in recent years, Exotic Beasts have frequently appeared in the mountains and forests, making it even more dangerous.

There are often cases of Exotic Beasts attacking human villages.

At this time, in the depths of the Xingye Mountain Range, in a valley in Qingping Ridge, clouds and mist were steaming, and green miasma was pervading the air. Faint sounds of beast roars could be heard from within.

On the periphery, a large area of military tents was set up.

As early as a month ago, the Divine Sword Legion was dispatched to Xuan Province in the name of training and stationed at Qingping Ridge in the Xingye Mountain Range.

Thousands of Divine Sword Legion soldiers had surrounded Qingping Ridge, making it impenetrable even for birds.

At this moment, on a hillside with a higher terrain, more than a dozen figures stood, looking at the miasma-filled valley, their faces all solemn.

Leading them were the two Celestial Beings of the Divine Sword Sect, Xiao Wendao and Unity Peak Master Hou Shuwen.

“Grand Martial Uncle, this can’t go on like this. The risk is too great.”

Hou Shuwen said with a heavy heart.

He originally thought that this ancient ruin would be a great opportunity for the Divine Sword Sect, but he didn’t expect the risk to be so high. They had already suffered heavy losses before even entering.

“Yes, the formation and miasma outside are just the tip of the iceberg. There is also a powerful Venomous Beast inside, not to mention the situation inside.”

Xiao Wendao sighed.

Last time, Martial Melody Peak Master Xie Tiancheng volunteered to lead a team in, but under the attack of that Venomous Beast, almost the entire army was wiped out. It was Xie Tiancheng who stayed behind and held off the Venomous Beast, allowing the survivors to escape. However, Xie Tiancheng perished inside, and even his body couldn’t be retrieved.

Moreover, the people who escaped were also severely poisoned, suffering irreversible and immense damage.

“If only we could break the formation outside and dispel the miasma.”

Hou Shuwen said.

Due to the influence of the formation, their Spiritual Perception was interfered with. Moreover, that Venomous Beast was hiding in the dark, ready to attack at any time, making it impossible to defend against.

“The Formation Masters of our Divine Sword Sect only know a little bit about formations. They can’t break it.”

Purple Lightning Peak Master, Immortal Woman Wan, said from the side.

The Divine Sword Sect also had Formation Masters, but they were mainly responsible for maintaining the formations in the Sword Grinding Cave and the Sword Tomb. Therefore, their level of formation mastery was very poor, and they simply didn’t have the ability to break formations.

There was no other way. Knowledge about formations was too scarce.

Every martial arts faction kept their knowledge to themselves. It was said that only the imperial clan and the Three Great Sects might have the most comprehensive knowledge of formations.

“How about asking the imperial clan for support?”

Hou Shuwen suddenly said.

“If the imperial clan gets involved… I’m afraid our Divine Sword Sect will only get scraps.”

Immortal Woman Wan said.

“But in the current situation, we simply can’t explore this ancient ruin.”

Hou Shuwen smiled wryly.

Having lost a Peak Master and many martial arts experts, the Divine Sword Sect had already suffered enough.

If they invested more forces into it, the consequences would be unimaginable.

He had tried to enter before, but in the end, he was forced to retreat. Because of the influence of the formation, the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi inside was extremely chaotic and even contained deadly poison. This greatly affected the advantage of being a Celestial Being Realm expert.

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

Xiao Wendao said in a deep voice.

He was really unwilling to give up this ancient ruin just like that.

“You stay here and guard. I’ll leave for a while.”

He looked at Hou Shuwen, then his figure moved, rising into the air and flying towards the distance.

“Where is Grand Martial Uncle going?”

Immortal Woman Wan was curious.

“I don’t know.”

Hou Shuwen was also puzzled.

Could it be that Grand Martial Uncle had some other solution?

Time Bell Pavilion.

After Li Qian finished striking the bell, he sat cross-legged with Sword Eighteen placed horizontally in front of him, comprehending the Heartless Sword Intent.

Although the comprehension of Sword Intent was very slow, he couldn’t stop.

Anyway, his current cultivation routine was very regular.

Cultivating the Heartless Sword Manual, comprehending the Heartless Sword Intent, practicing the Great River Sword Qi, improving the Blood and Qi Sanctuary, and studying the Lion Camel Ridge Formation Manual – his time was fully scheduled.

After a long time, Li Qian opened his eyes.

He suddenly heard voices coming from below.

He got up, took Sword Eighteen, and jumped down from the Bell Tower. He saw a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl, with bright eyes and white teeth, talking to Liu Ming.

“Uncle.”

Seeing Li Qian coming down, the girl hurriedly stepped forward to greet him.

“Yuwei, why are you here?”

Li Qian nodded.

This was Li Kun’s youngest daughter, Li Yuwei.

Back then, Li Qian sent someone to deliver a Marrow Cleansing Demon Pill, which was used on Li Yuwei. Therefore, Li Yuwei had good Root Bone aptitude, reaching the Low-Grade Gold Bone level. She passed the Inner Sect Assessment last year and became an Inner Sect Disciple of the Divine Sword Sect, taken as a Direct Disciple by an elder.

“Uncle, grandfather is going to have his sixtieth birthday banquet. I plan to go back for a while.”

Li Yuwei said softly.

She lived in a scholarly family and had been nurtured to read since she was a child. Even after entering the Divine Sword Sect and becoming an Inner Sect Disciple to practice martial arts, she still possessed the temperament of a refined young lady.

“Sixty already?”

Hearing this, Li Qian was slightly surprised.

Unknowingly, another ten years had passed.

He remembered that the last time he went back, or rather the first time he returned to the Li Residence, it happened to be Li Donglin’s fiftieth birthday banquet.

“Yuwei, then bring some things back for me.”

Li Qian said.

“Okay, uncle.”

Li Yuwei didn’t ask why her uncle wasn’t going back.

Being smart and sensible since childhood, she still knew a little about the inside story.

After Li Yuwei left, Li Qian suddenly looked at Liu Ming and smiled. “Liu Ming, are you planning to stay at Time Bell Pavilion forever? Don’t you have any other considerations?”

Liu Ming had been at Time Bell Pavilion for more than ten years.

He was still an Odd-Job Disciple.

Moreover, his cultivation had already reached the Postnatal Seventh Level.

With his aptitude, this was already a miracle.

“With your current cultivation and strength, you can first become an Inner Sect Disciple and serve the Divine Sword Sect for a period of time. In the future, even if you leave the Divine Sword Sect, get married, have children, and establish a martial arts family, there will be no problem in gradually expanding it.”

Seeing Liu Ming still in a daze, Li Qian said with a smile.

“Senior Brother Li, I think it’s quite good here.”

Liu Ming scratched his head.

He had never thought about this matter.

He had already gotten used to being at Time Bell Pavilion for more than ten years.

As for his family, he had gone back a few times over the years and sent them a lot of silver. So, his family bought land and built a house, and they were considered relatively wealthy.

Moreover, his nephew had participated in the Preliminary Selection, but unfortunately, his aptitude was not enough, and he didn’t even pass the Preliminary Selection.

Seeing Liu Ming’s expression, Li Qian was a little speechless. It seemed he was planning to stay at his Time Bell Pavilion and never leave.

However, he was just saying it casually. It didn’t matter if Liu Ming didn’t want to leave.

Anyway, it was troublesome to replace him.

At this moment, a figure descended from the sky and landed not far away. It was Xiao Wendao, the Celestial Being of the Divine Sword Sect.

“Greetings, Great Grand Martial Uncle.”

Li Qian hurriedly saluted, feeling very surprised. What was this Celestial Being Xiao doing at Time Bell Pavilion?

“Li Qian, can you contact that Senior?”

Xiao Wendao actually used Secret Sound Transmission.

“That Senior?”

Li Qian was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted. He was talking about his Avatar!

“Great Grand Martial Uncle, this disciple can’t be sure. After all, that Senior is elusive.”

◈◈◈

Li Qian hurriedly said using Secret Sound Transmission.

“That’s true.”

Xiao Wendao sighed. It had been several years, and that Senior seemed to have vanished without a trace.

“Great Grand Martial Uncle, I don’t know what you need from that Senior. If there’s a chance, this disciple is willing to convey your message.”

Li Qian hurriedly asked.

“Li Qian, if you see that Senior, tell him that our Divine Sword Sect is currently excavating an ancient ruin and has encountered a major problem. I wonder if that Senior can lend a hand? If the excavation is successful, everything in the ancient ruin can be allocated by that Senior.”

After thinking for a while, Xiao Wendao said.

“Great Grand Martial Uncle, this disciple will convey your message to that Senior.”

Li Qian nodded and said.

After Xiao Wendao left the address of the ancient ruin, he flew away.

Li Qian touched his chin, pondering whether he should go and have a look.

But there was no hurry.

Anyway, the ancient ruin was right there and wouldn’t run away.

More than a month later.

On a moonlit night.

Li Qian changed into his black cloak and quietly left Time Bell Pavilion.

When he arrived at Cang County in Xuan Province, the location of the ancient ruin, it was already the Chou Hour, around 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM.

Around the ancient ruin, military camps were scattered, and it was very quiet.

Whoosh!

He quietly landed at the entrance of the valley.

Clouds and mist shrouded the area, and miasma was rampant.

“Formation?”

Under Li Qian’s Spiritual Perception, he could sense the invisible fluctuations of the formation.

For this kind of ancient ruin, the foundation of the formation wasn’t a Formation Disk.

Formation Disks were suitable for carrying and using on the go.

However, their stability wasn’t strong, and they weren’t suitable for long-term use.

Therefore, the formations used in ancient ruins often employed Formation Stakes.

They had high stability and could be used for a long time. As long as they weren’t artificially destroyed or affected by natural disasters, they almost didn’t need any maintenance.

However, the arrangement of Formation Stakes was more difficult.

In the Lion Camel Ridge Formation Manual, there was a specialized method for arranging Formation Stakes.

However, the use of Formation Stakes often involved large formations formed by the combination of several foundations.

Li Qian’s current level of formation mastery wasn’t enough to arrange Formation Stakes.

But he knew that the formation in front of him definitely used Formation Stakes.

The simplest way to break this kind of formation was to find the location of the Formation Stakes and destroy them. However, this was precisely the most difficult part.

The location of the Formation Stakes was often in the most dangerous place within the formation.

Moreover, this kind of large formation was interconnected, and the dangers it contained were too great.

Suddenly, Li Qian’s Spiritual Perception stirred. Not long after, a figure arrived not far away.

It was Xiao Wendao.

Seeing the black-cloaked figure, his heart rejoiced, and he hurriedly saluted. “Greetings, Fellow Daoist.”

“You’ve been studying here for so long, have you made any progress?”

Li Qian’s hoarse and aged voice sounded.

He naturally wouldn’t directly enter the formation to test it.

Therefore, he asked Xiao Wendao first to understand the general situation inside the ancient ruin, so he could have a better grasp of the situation.

“There haven’t been many gains, but the losses have been great.”

Xiao Wendao smiled wryly, then recounted everything they had learned, without omitting any details.

These pieces of information were obtained at the cost of many lives.

After listening, Li Qian didn’t speak. Combining his own judgment, he deduced that the miasma was likely related to that Venomous Beast.

Moreover, there was likely a Formation Stake located in the area where the Venomous Beast was active.

Of course, this was just his deduction.

Thinking of this, a faint golden light appeared around Li Qian’s body. This was the Blood and Qi Sanctuary.

He didn’t fully release it, but instead enveloped himself with it.

This was to prevent the miasma from invading his body.

Moreover, he also had a layer of Protective True罡 on his body.

Whoosh!

He directly entered the clouds and mist.

Inside the clouds and mist, the miasma churned like a living creature, trying to penetrate towards him.

However, when it encountered his Blood and Qi Sanctuary, the miasma seemed to be frightened and abruptly retreated.

Following closely, a terrifying beast roar came from the depths of the mist.

Li Qian didn’t continue to go deeper, but instead closed his eyes, sensing everything with his Spiritual Perception.

He was analyzing the inner workings and traces of the formation through its fluctuations.

Although his formation mastery wasn’t high, he had, after all, studied a formal and complete formation inheritance.

Suddenly, Formation Disks appeared around him, a total of nine. They combined in pairs, releasing formation fluctuations under his control, probing again and again.

After a long time, he suddenly opened his eyes, a look of surprise on his face.

“The formation arrangement here seems to have some resemblance to the Lion Camel Ridge Formation Manual?”

Li Qian muttered to himself.

This was a bit strange.

Because the Lion Camel Ridge Formation Manual itself belonged to demonic formations. Although he hadn’t studied human formations, this Lion Camel Ridge Formation Manual was truly biased towards fierce and evil formations.

This could be seen from its seven foundation formations.

They were the Attracting Foundation Formation, Combining Foundation Formation, Dissipating Foundation Formation, Bewildering Foundation Formation, Devouring Foundation Formation, Polluting Foundation Formation, and Trapping Foundation Formation.

The combination of the Attracting Foundation Formation and the Combining Foundation Formation could form a Spirit Gathering Formation.

It was also the only normal formation in the Lion Camel Ridge Formation Manual.

“Attracting Foundation Formation, Combining Foundation Formation, and also the Polluting Foundation Formation.”

Li Qian withdrew the other four Formation Disks, leaving only three Formation Disks revolving around him, starting to operate.

His current formation mastery wasn’t enough to complete the combination of three foundations.

But strangely, as he controlled the foundation power of the three Formation Disks to combine, there was a faint sign of them taking shape.

In this kind of formation environment, his formation mastery seemed to have improved.

No, it wasn’t that his formation mastery had improved.

It was the formation fluctuations here that greatly reduced the difficulty of setting up the formation.

“There must be more than three foundation formations in this formation.”

Li Qian thought to himself.

He began to try to match the fourth foundation formation.

Hard work pays off, and he finally found the fourth foundation formation, which was the Bewildering Foundation Formation.

“Good heavens, the formation here really comes from the Lion Camel Ridge Formation Manual!”

He was filled with emotion.

At this moment, he was actually a little excited.

With a ready-made formation site, it was equivalent to hands-on practice! This was much better than him studying various formations in vain.

Over the years, his progress in formation mastery had been very slow. He was only proficient, not even reaching Minor Completion.

“The Lion Camel Ridge Formation Manual is used here. Doesn’t that mean this place isn’t an ancient ruin left by humans, but more likely a demonic one?”

He suddenly had a thought.

Now, he became even more vigilant.

Anything related to demons would definitely be troublesome.

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