Chapter 422: Sevenglow Lotus
The Spirit Sealing Pillar was actually a huge magic tool used by ancient cultivators to seal the nearby Spiritual Qi and isolate it from the outside the world. This rarely seen magic tool was typically used in one of two ways.
One purpose was to seal extremely rare spirit medicines and spirit herbs, preventing their spiritual nature from weakening due to outside exposure. Another purpose was to suppress particularly formidable ghost spirits or devils and prevent them from escaping. Regardless of which purpose this particular Spirit Sealing Pillar served, its value would prove to be extremely significant to Han Li and company.
Spirit medicines have their obvious uses, but if the Spirit Sealing Pillar was suppressing devils, they would prove to be optimal materials for increasing the strength of one's magic treasure by subduing and containing them within their magic treasures.
However, they clearly understood that if the Spirit Seal Pillar was used to seal a spirit or a devil it was guaranteed to be difficult for them to subdue it after it was released. There was even a chance that it would cause backlash instead.
Although everyone looked at each other with pleasant surprise, nobody brashly suggested immediately toppling the pillar to see what was underneath.
After a long while of silence, Jin Qing bitterly laughed and muttered, "This is quite the conundrum! But since we've spent quite a bit of effort, nobody wishes to turn back, yes?"
"If you want to leave, then leave! I will be staying here! Don't say that there might not be devils within. We must be ready to attempt to subdue whatever is inside." Cultivator Jian coldly spoke with his hands behind his back.
Jin Qing smiled in response and turned towards Hu Yue and asked, "How about you, Fellow Daoist Hu?"
After muttering to himself for a moment, Hu Yue gave a resolute answer, "Fellow Daoist, you should know that because us rogue cultivators are unwilling to be restricted by others, our freedom comes at the cost of poverty. We must seize every opportunity we are given!"
Jin Qing didn't reveal any surprise and turned his gaze to Han Li.
With a raised brow, Han Li indifferently said, "I am indifferent. If a majority wishes to see what is underneath, I will stay as well." Since he now had seventy-two Bamboo Azurecloud Swords refined from Gold Lightning Bamboo, he had nothing to fear from demons and ghosts.
"Don't bother asking me. Although I am only a Foundation Establishment cultivator, my father fortuitously gave me a devil repelling magic treasure. Even if I lack the strength to protect myself, no harm will come to me." Without waiting for Jin Qing to ask her, Shi Die took the initiative to answer after tilting her head.
"Alright! Since everyone is unwilling to return empty handed, let's push the pillar over. Even so, please be careful!" Jin Qing lightly sighed and spoke with a cautious expression.
"Hehe! There is no need for Fellow Daoist Jin's warning as nobody here is willing to treat their lives lightly. But still, let's get the ugly matters out of the way first. If any devils or ghosts appear, then the subduer will have the right of ownership. Fighting over them is forbidden." Cultivator Jian slowly spoke with a strange glint flashing from his eyes.
"That is obvious. It is only natural to yield in accordance to skill, considering the bounty's nature," Jin Qing spoke in agreement.
The others didn't have any objections.
When cultivator Jian saw this, his spirit was roused, and he revealed a trace of joy.
Shi Die shot him a sideways glance and mysteriously smiled, asking, "Could it be that fellow Daoist has a special method to subdue devils? Is that why you're so confident?"
"That's… I won't conceal this from you all. My cultivation art has a divine ability specialized in dealing with ghosts and devils. I had originally believed it wouldn't be of much use, and I didn't expect that I would be able to finally make use of it." After some slight hesitation, cultivator Jian nodded and gave a straightforward explanation.
"The skulls of the wicked eccentric that Han Li had exterminated seemed to be refined from demons. It seemed that Fellow Daoist Jian had quite a bit of trouble with them?" Shi Die spoke with doubt.
"Sigh, it seems my poor performance has caused doubt. My divine ability requires prior preparation in order to be utilized. That wicked eccentric had caught me unprepared, and as a result, I made for a sorry sight." Cultivator Jian shook his head and explained with slight embarrassment.
Shi Die nodded and turned her gaze back towards the Spirit Sealing Pillar.
"Since everyone is unwilling to give up, let's start! It is a bit troublesome to overthrow a Spirit Sealing Pillar as it can only be released after turning it several times with great force." Shi Die excitedly explained.
When the others heard this, they narrowed their eyes. Although they were cultivators, they didn't actually possess much physical strength. Even with immense strength talismans, the group wouldn't be able to physically shift such a huge stone pillar.
Han Li frowned and inwardly sent out a command.
As Crooked Soul walked towards the stone pillar, he said in a deep voice, "Let me do it. I have quite a bit of strength."
Hu Yue and the others revealed slight amazement. After all, Crooked Soul had yet to speak since arriving here, but now suddenly he took the initiative to solve this matter.
"Then we will have to trouble Fellow Daoist Crooked Soul!" Shi Die said with curiosity.
Crooked Soul continued to walk towards the stone pillar as if he hadn't heard her. His body first flashed with yellow light before he placed an immense strength talisman on his body. Afterwards, he rolled up his sleeves, took a deep breath, and clasped the stone pillar in his arms.
The ten meter tall stone pillar released a rumbling noise and started to turn bit by bit, much to the delight of the others.
Crooked Soul's thick, taut arms were completely exposed and shined faintly of red light. After the stone pillar had been turned three times, he used all of his strength to push the pillar to the side before suddenly moving away.
The stone pillar fell to the side with a series of booms, causing the ground to tremble for a moment. From the deep groove it left behind when landing, it was clear that the stone pillar was extremely heavy.
However, the others didn't pay any attention to the stone pillar, and instead focused their attention on the large hole left behind from its collapse.
The hole was pitch-black and from it blew a cold wind, but it also had a flight of small white stairs that led downward.
"Let's go!" After looking at the hole for a moment, cultivator Jian decided to take the lead.
After some hesitation, the others followed after him. Now that they've made it this far, no one was willing to turn tail.
Han Li stood in his original spot with a single hand grasping his chin with a contemplative expression as he watched the other cultivators climb down the stairs with barely concealed excitement.
He then took out the scroll painting with the sparkling red light and fiddled with it.
He pondered for a moment while he looked at it before putting it away and climbing down the stairs. Crooked Soul closely followed after him.
The tunnel was rather deep. After a quarter hour, Han Li finally reached the bottom.
Their eyes brightened upon seeing a large hall that spanned over seventy meters appear before them. The hall's roof was embedded with fist-sized luminescent pearls causing the hall to shine with milky-white light. As the walls were sparkling with bits of light, this exceptionally beautiful sight appeared to be caused by magic techniques.
In addition, there were two semi-circle doors to the side of the hall's entrance that led to an unknown location.
Hu Yue and the others stood motionlessly at the center of the hall. They were all staring in the same direction and occasionally whispered to each other as if they were studying something.
Han Li walked towards them in large strides with great curiosity.
"What's that?" Han Li revealed astonishment after catching sight of what they were staring at.
There was a flawlessly white skeleton that was reclined at the side of a small pond. An emerald-green, foot-long arrow penetrated its skull and nailed it to the ground, appearing quite strange.
But that had only caught their initial gaze. Afterwards, their focus had been excitedly drawn towards the three-colored lotus floating at the center of the pond's surface.
Although the colorful lotus had yet to bloom and was still just a bud, it was the size of a bowl and glowed with a tri-colored radiance of azure, red, and yellow.
But what was most inconceivable about it was the exquisite rainbow that appeared several inches above it. Its glistening light was extremely entrancing.
Additionally, the pond water wasn't ordinary water; it was a dense white paste that strongly emitted a strange fragrance.
"A Sevenglow Lotus! It has to be. I thought that this only existed in legend. That water… is it the legendary thousand year stone milk?" Hu Yue muttered to himself with widened eyes.
"No wonder there were so many formation spell restrictions placed down along with the Spirit Sealing Pillar. With these two items, setting down another dozen layers of restrictions wouldn't be excessive." Shi Die stated while mesmerized by the colorful lotus.
Jin Qing woke from his surprise and turned to look at the skeleton. He bafflingly asked, "But what about this skeleton? Could it have been the cave residence's master?"
"Why does it matter? We've struck it rich! Although this Sevenglow Lotus only shines with three colors, it will still sell for an exorbitant price at auction." Cultivator Jian directly changed the subject with greed filling his eyes.