Mortal: Fairy Song Yu has issued you a task.

Chapter 84 Opening the Altar

"Who exactly are you? Why are you here!" The man surnamed He was wary. The person in front of him was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, yet he had been able to follow him all the way without revealing his presence. He was definitely not an ordinary person.

The woman surnamed Zhang demanded sharply, "Were you the one causing trouble in the main hall?"

"It is indeed I." The old man, who was Lin Jingchu's clone, stroked his long beard. "I am actually the guardian of this cave. My ancestor was a servant under the master of this mansion, and my family has been living in seclusion here to guard it ever since. Therefore, when I discovered that you had trespassed, I used some means to try to force you to leave."

Before the other party could ask further questions, he said solemnly, "But now, the real crisis for us is the Demon Flame Sect. Not only have they sent many late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, but they also have Core Formation cultivators to reinforce them!"

The man surnamed Xu suddenly spoke up: "Senior, even if what you say is true, my Yuling Sect and the Demon Flame Sect are both among the six sects of the Demonic Path, and we have always had dealings with each other. Even if they come here, they may not necessarily kill us, and they may even be able to negotiate."

"Hmph!" Upon hearing this, the old man suddenly let out a cold sneer. "Boy, you are far too naive. This altar, just as you guessed, is an ancient teleportation array. Once activated, it will lead to an unknown secret realm. Guess what will happen to you when the people from the Demon Flame Sect come in."

Liu Yu and her group exchanged glances and withdrew the released spirit beasts and insects, but they remained vigilant with the magical artifacts in their hands.

Lin Jingchu didn't care. Under the wary gazes of the four, he walked to the altar and said, "This secret realm is called Panlong Secret Realm. The monsters that roam the dangerous rapids of Panlong River all escaped from here."

Upon hearing this, a burning desire flashed in the eyes of the four members of the Spirit Control Sect. The Spirit Control Sect was based on the art of beast taming, so if there truly was such a secret realm full of dragon-blooded demonic beasts, it would be tantamount to discovering an enormous treasure trove.

However, all of this is predicated on the truth of what the person before them said. At this moment, they haven't even confirmed whether the person from outside is truly from the Demon Flame Sect.

"The owner of this mansion is a Nascent Soul cultivator. Even if it's an abandoned cave, apart from the Demon Flame Sect, what other force could forcibly open the underwater restrictions in such a short time?" Lin Jingchu's gaze swept over the four people, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "You might as well check yourselves to see if you have any traces of the Demon Flame Sect's tracking techniques."

He was gambling, betting that the Demon Flame Sect had indeed come after Liu Yu and the others, given how coincidental it was.

The result did not disappoint. Both the man surnamed Xu and the woman surnamed Zhang exclaimed in surprise, "It's the 'Fire Erosion Mark'!"

A faint gray flame flickered on each of their arms before extinguishing.

Liu Yu and the man surnamed He exchanged a glance, and Liu Yu reluctantly began to believe what the old man in front of her had said.

Lin Jingchu breathed a sigh of relief and stopped talking nonsense. He patted his storage bag, and two jade tokens and two bronze tokens flew out.

One of the jade tokens was formed from the Mirror Flower Water Moon Technique. The two bronze tokens were tracking tokens he had obtained earlier, of the same origin as the jade tokens, and could be used as substitutes for the keys.

"Each person should hold one of these four tablets, and they should be placed at the four corners of the altar!" Lin Jingchu spoke rapidly. "Activating them simultaneously will require forty mid-grade spirit stones!"

He tossed the other three plaques, besides the genuine jade plaque, to Liu Yu and the others, and at the same time, he took out eight mid-grade spirit stones and quickly filled them into the altar.

With a formidable enemy outside and a formidable opportunity within, there was no time to think further. Liu Yu and the man surnamed He took the lead, taking out spirit stones to add to the offerings. Xu and Zhang, though reluctant, gritted their teeth and followed suit.

Forty mid-grade spirit stones were placed in their positions, and the ancient patterns all over the altar began to glow faintly.

"Everyone to your positions, infuse your magic power, activate the tokens!" Lin Jingchu shouted, taking the lead in pouring his magic power into the genuine jade token in his hand.

The two men, He and Xu, each held a bronze plaque, while Liu Yu held the illusory jade plaque. Upon hearing the sound, she immediately activated her magic power.

Four beams of light rose from the token, resonating with the altar. The spirit stones in the grooves simultaneously shone brightly, their surging spiritual power being frantically drawn out, transforming into streams of light that rushed and converged along the altar's patterns, flowing towards the center.

The altar began to emit a low hum, and a point of eerie blue light at its center slowly and laboriously expanded outward, spreading outward in ripples of spatial fluctuation.

Time passed in a tense atmosphere. Half an incense stick later, the central ball of light had expanded to about half a person's height, and the spatial fluctuations it emitted became increasingly intense. The two bronze plaques in the hands of the man surnamed He and the man surnamed Xu, unable to bear the weight, had several fine cracks appearing on their surfaces.

Just then, the woman surnamed Zhang, who was holding the azure pearl in one hand, suddenly cried out in alarm, "Oh no! The Demon Flame Sect has found the core entrance and is forcibly breaking the seal!"

The jewel in her hand flashed rapidly, signaling a critical situation.

"Don't panic! The entrance barrier is different from the one in front. It will take them at least ten hours to break through!" The old man that Lin Jingchu had transformed into shouted sharply, his beard and hair slightly bristling, while his magical power remained steady.

The other three, who were already wavering and about to increase their magical power, instantly regained their composure upon hearing this and continued to output magic steadily.

The altar operated more and more violently, and the cracks on the two bronze plaques multiplied, spreading like a spider web.

"Crack...snap..." A subtle yet clear cracking sound rang out as a large crack appeared in the bronze plaque in the man's hand.

Just as his heart sank, the light gate at the center of the altar suddenly expanded and then stabilized, forming a solid, dark blue light curtain!

The man surnamed He exclaimed happily, "It's done!" He felt a little relieved.

However, in the next instant, something unexpected happened!

The broken bronze plaque floating in front of him and the bronze plaque belonging to the man surnamed Xu both arced through the air and fell into the hands of a burly man in gray who had appeared at the entrance of the stone chamber at some unknown time!

Only Liu Yu was quick-witted and nimble-fingered; with a swift movement, she snatched back her own magical jade token.

The four members of the Yuling Sect were shocked and were about to release their magical artifacts and spirit pets again almost instantly.

"Don't panic!" the old man, Lin Jingchu, hurriedly said, pointing to the burly man, "He is my nephew, family!"

The burly man, who was actually Lin Jingchu, simply clasped his hands in a silent response.

The old man, Lin Jingchu, continued, "These spirit stones can't sustain the passage for long! Everyone, as long as the mountains and rivers remain, we'll meet again!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the main body and the clone simultaneously leaped into the dark blue light gate.

The moment the two figures disappeared, the magical jade tablet in Liu Yu's hand instantly scattered into specks of spiritual light.

"They..." The woman surnamed Zhang looked at the light gate that was beginning to fluctuate slightly and seemed no longer stable.

"Go!" Without another word, the man surnamed He roared and charged towards the portal. After all, this was their only way out.

Seeing this, the man surnamed Xu and the woman surnamed Zhang gritted their teeth and rushed into the light gate one after another.

Liu Yu was left alone in the stone chamber. Her gaze swept over the altar, and after a moment's thought, she decisively released a scorpion-shaped spirit insect that was half the height of a person.

She gave the final command to the dark blue-green spirit insect before turning and stepping into the portal.

As the spiritual energy of the spirit stone was drained, the light gate flickered violently a few times before finally collapsing and dissipating.

……

When the Demon Flame Sect members opened the core entrance and searched all the way to this stone chamber, they saw the spirit scorpion swinging its tail, relentlessly stabbing and chiseling at the surface of the altar, making a crisp "clanging" sound.

Faced with the intruders, it brandished its pincers, raised its tail hook, and let out a threatening hiss, but was instantly subdued.

Before long, Lian Feihua stepped into the stone chamber surrounded by many disciples of the Demon Flame Sect.

She looked at the struggling spirit scorpion, which was being trampled on the ground by her subordinates, and sneered, "A mere level one Azure Armor Scorpion, it dares to destroy the altar?" She then waved her hand to signal the array master behind her to come forward and check.

The altar had been chiseled countless times, its surface riddled with pits, but this did not fundamentally damage it.

After receiving a reply from the formation master that it would be repaired in a day or two, Lian Feihua murmured to herself, "Considering you 'helped' me find the entrance to the Panlong Secret Realm, I'll make sure you die a little easier."