Rebuilding the Immortal Cultivator Clan

Chapter 553 - 559: Black Stone

Li Chengshuo had found quite a few spiritual objects during her days in the Secret Realm, but it was by chance that she came across a three-zhang-sized Black Stone, completely covered in Array Patterns.

Originally wanting to take the Black Stone with her and study it in detail after leaving the Secret Realm, she found that it couldnʼt be put into the storage ring.

This unusual circumstance immediately caught Li Chengshuoʼs attention, and, since she had been intending to study Array Patterns, she stopped right there to focus on the Black Stone instead of exploring the realm any further.

Perhaps it was because her skills were lacking or maybe the Array Patterns were too profound—after pondering for such a long time, Li Chengshuo managed to discern only a little about the spatial-related Array Patterns.

With the closure of the Secret Realm imminent, Li Chengshuo reluctantly recorded the Array Patterns of the Black Stone in their entirety onto a Memory Stone, intending to let her mother study them once she returned to her family.

In the remaining time, however, Li Chengshuo did not leave but continued to study the Black Stone intently.

After all, studying from a Memory Stone is not the same as experiencing the real thing, so she had to seize this one and only opportunity.

Because she didnʼt know when the Secret Realm would open again, and by that time, Li Chengshuo was confident she would have achieved Golden Core status and would no longer be able to enter a second-order Secret Realm.

Li Chengshuo studied the Array Patterns quietly and diligently.

But she never anticipated that disaster would strike from out of nowhere!

The Puppet Master sheʼd seen earlier was now pursuing a group of cultivators all by himself and had arrived in front of her.

”Fellow Daoist, save us! This demon wants to use our bodies to make puppets.”

They did not know if Jiang Fengwu could save them, but even if there was a slight hope, they did not want to give up.

As for implicating Li Chengshuo, they could no longer care about that.

Li Chengshuo looked at them with a cold expression and said to the Puppet Master, ”I will leave right now!”

”Iʼm not a Demonic Tao Puppet Master. They ambushed me secretly, and as a result, with insufficient strength, I have been chasing them till here,” Wei Ningchen said unexpectedly, explaining his side of the story.

Li Chengshuo, upon hearing this, was momentarily stunned before nodding slightly and quickly leaving the spot.

Wei Ningchen was also taken aback as he didnʼt understand why he had felt the need to explain—it was out of character for him.

Li Chengshuo, anxious to leave and without discerning her direction, suddenly arrived at the front of towering mountains, where to her surprise, she found many Black Stones engraved with Array Patterns.

The difference was that these Black Stones were smaller, about the size of a fist, and blank.

If not for the fact that they also couldnʼt be placed into Space Artifacts, Li Chengshuo would have suspected whether what she found was a falsehood.

Regrettably, since the Black Stones couldnʼt be put into the storage ring, she could not take too many with her; she only managed to fill a large bag and started to carry the Black Stones back toward the exit of the Secret Realm.

”Hand over the treasures!”

Out of nowhere, four cultivators suddenly appeared, surrounding Li Chengshuo and eyeing her with lecherous looks.

Li Chengshuo felt disgusted and immediately summoned the Moon Serpent and a group of Howling Moon Silver Wolves, launching an attack on them before they could react.

The Howling Moon Silver Wolves that she had enticed years ago had grown up, and the one she contracted had successfully become the Wolf King, capable of controlling the other Silver Wolves in battle.

Although it required a lot of resources, having an Alchemy Master as a father, Li Chengshuo was not short of such things.

The Moon Serpent, her first contracted Spirit Beast, was already in the late second-order and might even be able to break through along with her once she completed her Tribulation Transcendence.

The few cultivators were no match for Li Chengshuo. As the battle began, they were firmly suppressed and started begging for mercy.

”Heh!” Li Chengshuo scoffed coldly. She would by no means spare these cultivators who harbored ill-intentions toward her! Without hesitation, she ordered the Spirit Beasts to continue their attacks, aiming to quickly eliminate them.

”This is your own doing!”

The four of them swallowed a red-colored Spirit Pill that gave off a pungent smell. In an instant, it was as if they had broken through, their aura raging, eyes filled with madness.

”Frenzy Bloodburst Pill?” Li Chengshuoʼs expression became grave.

As the child of an Alchemy Master, although she lacked the talent for Alchemy, she still knew of some special Spirit Pills from her environment.

For instance, the Frenzy Bloodburst Pill they had just taken could forcefully enhance oneʼs strength by a small realm for a short time, and rendered them insensible to pain, with wounds healing quickly—making them very challenging to deal with.

Of course, the side effects, or rather the price, was also very high. Those who took such pills wouldnʼt live long, even if they didnʼt die on the spot.

Roar!

The four of them roared in unison, agilely pouncing towards Li Chengshuo.

The Moon Serpent and Howling Moon Silver Wolf lured away two Cultivators, leaving her to face two rationality-lost, crazed Cultivators alone.

Like zombies that knew no pain, they put immense pressure on Li Chengshuo, and unknowingly, the bottleneck that had been blocking her progress silently shattered.

Li Chengshuo wasnʼt yet aware of this and was only thinking of killing the two people in front of her.

”Awooo!”

One of the Silver Wolves accidentally got hurt. Li Chengshuo dared not delay any longer and activated the few third-tier Talismans she had. The powerful attack killed one of them instantly.

The balance was broken in an instant.

The remaining three Cultivators were also dealt with, one by one.

Li Chengshuo quickly tidied up the battlefield and then left the area at high speed.

On the way, she passed by some Black Stones with Array Patterns. Li Chengshuo stayed a few more days to help the Silver Wolf treat its wounds and took the opportunity to study the Array Patterns. Her gains were meager, and worried about the closure of the Secret Realm, she left with regret.

However, she didnʼt notice that some of the Black Stones in the package she was carrying suddenly showed the same Array Patterns.

Li Chengshuo moved swiftly, and in just a few hours, she flew to the exit of the Secret Realm and walked straight in.

Simultaneously, the Black Stones behind her began to emit Spirit Light. Li Chengshuo, who was supposed to be transported out, entered another channel that would send her to an unknown destination.

”Why hasnʼt she come out yet? Could it be that sheʼs fallen within the Secret Realm?” Wei Ningchen looked at the slowly dissipating entrance to the Secret Realm, his heart filled with inexplicable anxiety and unease.

A fellow Sect member quietly reminded him, ”Senior Brother, the Secret Realm has closed. Those brothers and sisters who havenʼt emerged must have unfortunately fallen. We should now return to the Sect and report this.”

Wei Ningchenʼs mood darkened significantly, his face as cold as frost. The temperature around him seemed to drop several degrees. His fellow Sect members were silent as cicadas in winter, even their breathing slowed considerably.

”Letʼs go!”

It wasnʼt until Wei Ningchen led the way that the others sighed in relief.

----

”Where is this place?” Li Chengshuo, after being transported out of the Secret Realm, was astonished to find herself not in the original region.

Looking around, she saw mountains surrounding her, with only a road leading to the outside world to the northeast.

Instead of hurrying to leave the valley, Li Chengshuo set up a Formation to restore her condition.

Although she had broken through a bottleneck in the Secret Realm and the Spiritual Energy here was quite rich, this was an unfamiliar realm, and it was not advisable to cultivate in seclusion here.

Li Chengshuo now just wanted to find out her location before hurrying back to Wanxian Island to enter seclusion.