Demon-Purifying Square Seals

They ate grilled meat and drank tea, chatting about their current situations.

“Over the past two months, we've been looking through ancient records at Jun Luo's home, Chenze's home, and Book Peak's library, and we found some information.”

Wen Xuan placed a newly skewered piece of demon beast meat onto the grill. “Tens of millions of years ago, the forces in the cultivation world had not yet reached a balance.

“To fight for territory and chances, various factions entered the fray one after another. Friction among the younger generation was constant, and great battles frequently erupted between powerful experts.

“In those chaotic times, an unprecedented genius appeared out of nowhere and refined the Puppet Thousand-Machine City.

“Relying on just one person and one city, they established a firm foothold in that chaotic world, gaining the power to contend with the major factions.

“Rumor has it that this was the city closest to an immortal city, and the magic tool closest to an immortal artifact beneath the Immortal Realm.

“It exists in this world yet also does not, existing like a secret realm with an unpredictable location.

“The city is guarded by puppets, along with countless mechanisms and arrays, preventing outsiders from entering.

“Later, something seemed to have happened.

“At the peak of the Puppet Thousand-Machine City's fame, its once high-spirited City Lord suddenly became low-key.

“Abandoning even the chances they were halfway through contesting, they vanished from the eyes of the world.

“For tens of thousands of years after the Puppet Thousand-Machine City disappeared, various factions searched for news of it continuously, but they never found even a trace.

“They didn't even know what the City Lord's name was or where they came from.”

Mu Chenze poured the first round of tea and handed the cups to them one by one. “The song from the Luan'an Mountain Range also originates from tens of millions of years ago, and it is particularly unique to the five of us.

“Wen Xuan suspects it has a connection to the Puppet Thousand-Machine City. Based on this speculation, we deliberately looked into information in this area.”

“And?” Gu Ningyun took the teacup and couldn't help but press further.

Mu Chenze shook his head. “Aside from what I mentioned back in the Luan'an Mountain Range and what Martial Aunt Yi Shu told us, we haven't been able to find any more information.”

“Can't? What do you mean?” Recalling Martial Aunt Yi Shu's words, Gu Ningyun had a vague suspicion.

Mu Chenze fanned the stove with his folding fan. “We suspect that both our families and the sect have some records regarding the song, but for some reason, they can't let us know.”

Well, it was just as she expected.

“What about the Puppet Thousand-Machine City inheritance token? Is there any record of that?”

“The Puppet Thousand-Machine City vanished completely, so naturally no information about its inheritance was passed down.”

Wen Xuan took a sip of tea to moisten her throat and lowered her voice. “But we compared the hidden patterns on the token, and they are exactly the same as those drawn in the ancient books.

“When you input spirit energy into the token, those hidden patterns move like clockwork mechanisms.

“This kind of design can only be accomplished by the City Lord of the Puppet Thousand-Machine City. It cannot be faked.

“Although we don't know where those demon cultivators got their information, this inheritance token is highly likely to be the real deal.”

Gu Ningyun took out her Inheritance Token No. 18 and channeled spirit energy into it.

Sure enough, the hidden patterns on both sides of the green token began to shift, as if some mechanism had been triggered.

She watched it for a moment but couldn't make heads or tails of it, so she also lowered her voice conspiratorially. “Then how are we supposed to use this token?”

Jiang Yao leaned in as well. “My Master said that these ancient inheritances all have trials. Before the trial begins, the token will react. We just need to keep a close eye on it.”

Gu Ningyun put the token back into her storage ring. Good heavens, it turned out that what they had won from the demon cultivators was such a formidable chance.

Wen Xuan patted her head as she leaned closer. “Ningyun.”

“Hmm?” Gu Ningyun craned her neck, waiting for her to finish patting, and tilted her head to look at the grilled meat Wen Xuan was seasoning.

Wen Xuan burst into laughter and handed her the grilled meat. “Your sea of consciousness was injured. It must have hurt a lot, right?”

Gu Ningyun took a big bite of the meat, her cheeks puffing out as she looked at her with eyes full of confusion.

Why bring this up all of a sudden?

Wen Xuan sighed softly. “That night, under the attack of the ancient song, the four of us were completely powerless to resist.

“Only you, with your special constitution, managed to fight for a sliver of hope.

“You saved us, but you ended up with the most severe injuries.”

Wen Xuan looked into her eyes and gently wiped away a smudge of grease from the corner of her mouth with her index finger. “Ningyun, we don't want this to happen again.

“We don't want you to shoulder all the pressure on your own.

“We don't want all our hopes to rest solely on your shoulders.

“Instead of that, we would rather become your hope.”

Even though Ningyun was younger than all of them, she was the one they wanted to take care of.

At this moment, Mu Chenze, Jun Luo, and Jiang Yao also looked at her earnestly.

Gu Ningyun chewed and swallowed the meat, then giggled. “Then I'll have to work even harder. I can't let you guys overtake me.”

Wen Xuan was speechless and rubbed her hair into a messy bird's nest.

Gu Ningyun covered her head to dodge. “Hey! That's going too far! I care about my image too, you know!”

“Last time in the Luan'an Mountain Range, what attacked us was mainly the great demon's resentment.

“Perhaps due to the array, only our seas of consciousness were attacked.

“Our physical lack of control was mainly caused by the great demon's pressure.”

Amidst the laughter, Jiang Yao brought up the serious business. “The higher the cultivation base and the deeper the resentment of a demon beast, the stronger the attack power of its remaining great demon's resentment.

“This kind of resentment, besides eroding our primordial spirits and causing harm, can also injure our meridians, dantian, and even our spirit roots when it materializes.

“As we travel outside, there are countless ancient tombs and ruins in the cultivation world, so it's inevitable we'll encounter it again.

“Although your melodies can dispel it, as we've said, we don't want you to bear it alone anymore.”

Gu Ningyun took the white jade bowl handed over by Jun Luo. Red plum blossoms floated inside, brewed into a slightly thick, gelatinous soup.

She scooped up a spoonful. The petals were soft and sweet, the fragrance overflowed, and it was rich in spirit energy.

She listened to Jiang Yao while she ate.

“While you were recovering on Mount Wuji last month, we spent our time on the fifth floor of the library combing through ancient books. Just two days ago, we finally found a way to counter the resentment.”

Jiang Yao stirred his plum blossom soup with his spoon. “Using Demon-Purifying Flower stems as the primary material, thousand-year soul-nourishing wood as the secondary material, along with other artifact refining materials, we can refine a set of magic tools called the Demon-Purifying Square Seals.

“When separated, there are five pieces of the magic tool, which can be used individually.

“Each of the five of us can have one. When used individually, the jade seal can serve as a defensive magic tool to ward off attacks from resentment.

“Even resentment that has accumulated for tens of millions of years, like the one in the Luan'an Mountain Range, can be resisted to some extent.

“Combined, the five magic tools form a single set.

“Depending on whether two, three, four, or all five of us are together, we can form four different arrays. They can not only defend but also counterattack if we have enough spirit energy.

“The power of the arrays increases with the number of people, reaching its maximum when all five of us are together.

“Actually, our Masters had also looked into some methods to help us solve this issue.

“But after looking over the ancient records we found, they ultimately decided to use the method from the books.

“After all, whether judging from the accident in the Luan'an Mountain Range or the situation of the five of us, this kind of matched set of magic tools is the most suitable for us.”