42: Chapter 42 Jade Shattering to Detoxify

His consciousness felt like it was submerged in warm water, flickering between light and darkness.

Lin Yue struggled to open his eyes; the first thing he saw was the green gauze of the bed canopy.

The crisp scent of spirit radiance stone and the warm fragrance of dragon pattern jade lingered at the tip of his nose, the two scents intertwining.

They were slowly seeping into his Meridians, dispelling the burning pain in his Dantian.

"You're awake?"

Lin Cang's voice sounded by the bedside; the old Clan Chief was carefully pricking his fingertip with a silver needle.

As soon as the needle tip touched the skin, a thin wisp of black Qi emerged.

"The toxicity of the heart-eroding sand is more intense than expected. If not for the 'Clear Spirit Powder' sent by Elder Liu, this arm of yours would likely have been ruined."

Lin Yue moved his fingers, feeling only a pervasive soreness and weakness; the circulation of his Spiritual Qi was as sluggish as a rusted iron axle.

He struggled to sit up but was held down by Lin Cang.

"Stay lying down. The poison has just been suppressed; don't move around recklessly."

"Mysterious Water..."

Lin Yue's voice was hoarse and dry.

"Don't worry, Zhao Meng has already led men to surround the Ink Stone Inn."

Lin Cang placed a fragment of dragon pattern jade into his palm.

"Elder Liu said this jade can neutralize the sinister evil of the heart-eroding sand. Hold onto it, and you'll recover faster."

As soon as the jade fragment touched his palm, a wave of cool warmth spread through the Meridians of his arm to his entire body, and the burning pain in his Dantian indeed lessened significantly.

Lin Yue stared at the canopy, the scenes of last night's scouting of the enemy camp replaying in his mind—

Mysterious Water's sinister laughter, the screeching of the Spirit Devourer bugs, the vines of the Spirit Locking Formation... especially the greed in the other party's voice when mentioning the 'dragon jade and Mineral Vein' made his heart sink repeatedly.

"Where is Elder Liu?" he asked.

"He's downstairs discussing matters with Zhao Meng."

Lin Cang sighed.

"The Green Wood Sect had their plans disrupted by us last night; they certainly won't let it go at that.

Elder Liu said that old bastard Mysterious Water likely has a more complete map of the Mineral Vein in his hands; otherwise, he wouldn't be so obsessed with the spirit radiance stone Mineral Vein."

Lin Yue's fingertips rubbed the dragon pattern jade fragment, and he suddenly remembered that tortoise shell of Liu Chengfeng's engraved with a star map.

The resonance between the tortoise shell and the dragon jade, the connection between the star map and the Mineral Vein... these clues were like scattered beads that seemed to only need a single thread to be strung together.

Just as he was about to think deeper, Liu Chengfeng's voice came from outside the door:

"Is our little friend awake? This old man has brought something good."

Liu Chengfeng pushed the door open and entered, holding an ebony box, with Zhao Meng following behind him.

Zhao Meng's face carried an apologetic look:

"Clan Leader Lin, it was my oversight. I didn't expect Mysterious Water would use heart-eroding sand to plot against you."

"It's not Captain Zhao's fault."

Lin Yue shook his head.

"I was too impulsive."

Liu Chengfeng opened the ebony box, inside was a palm-sized transparent crystal.

Embedded in the heart of the stone was a wisp of silver light, like frozen lightning.

"This is a 'Spirit Condensing Crystal,' it can speed up the recovery of Spiritual Qi. Use it for now."

He placed the crystal by Lin Yue's pillow.

"After you escaped last night, Mysterious Water was so furious he smashed half the courtyard; it's said he even shattered that star marrow stone.

The heart-eroding sand inside spilled everywhere, poisoning two Disciples who didn't manage to hide in time."

"He indeed knew the star marrow stone had been tampered with."

A sharp light flashed in Lin Yue's eyes.

"Shattering the star marrow stone was to cover up the purpose of the heart-eroding sand, making us think he really fell for it."

"Exactly."

Zhao Meng added,

"I sent people to check outside the inn; besides the heart-eroding sand in the broken stones, there were also some very fine silver threads, looking like leftovers of some formation pattern."

"formation pattern?"

Lin Yue abruptly sat up, ignoring Lin Cang's attempt to stop him.

"What kind of formation pattern?"

Zhao Meng pulled a rubbing out from his robe; on it were some blurry silver patterns, chaotic and disorganized,

yet one could vaguely see a few similarities with the natural patterns of the spirit radiance stone Mineral Vein.

"It's like this. I had some rubbings made; Elder Liu said it looks like a variation of the Yin Gathering Formation."

Lin Yue's gaze fell on the bottom right corner of the rubbing—

There was a fragmented symbol that was exactly the same as the mark he had seen on Mysterious Yin Master's Bronze Coffin!

"It's the Green Wood Sect's sect-guarding grand formation!"

He said in a heavy voice,

"Mysterious Yin Master used this formation back then to distort the Mineral Vein's Spiritual Qi; Mysterious Water wants to repeat those old mistakes now!"

Liu Chengfeng picked up the rubbing, his fingertip tracing those silver lines:

"The Yin Gathering Formation needs an object of extreme Yin to serve as the formation eye. Could they want to use the dragon jade?"

"More than that."

Lin Yue thought of the World Tree in the grotto-heaven, and of the leaves that unfurled after absorbing evil energy.

"They need the Dragon Soul power of the dragon jade to stabilize the formation base, then use the pure Spiritual Qi of the spirit radiance stone Mineral Vein as 'nourishment' to turn the entire Black Stone City into a breeding ground for evil cultivators!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent.

Zhao Meng's face turned pale:

"Then... then what do we do? If the spirit radiance stone Mineral Vein is contaminated, Sunset Town is finished, and Black Stone City won't escape either!"

"The key to breaking the formation lies in the formation eye."

Lin Yue gripped the dragon pattern jade fragment in his palm.

"The formation eye of the Yin Gathering Formation must use an object of extreme Yin, while the dragon jade is a spirit of extreme Yang; the two are in conflict.

As long as we can find the formation eye before they set up the formation and use the dragon jade to destroy it..."

"But we don't know where the formation eye is."

Liu Chengfeng frowned.

"Mysterious Water must have hidden the formation eye extremely deep."

Lin Yue looked at the tortoise shell Liu Chengfeng had brought:

"Elder Liu's star map tortoise shell might be able to find a clue. The dragon jade can resonate with the tortoise shell,

which means the star map on the tortoise shell marks not only the dragon jade fragments but also the location of the Yin Gathering Formation's formation eye."

Liu Chengfeng's eyes lit up, and he immediately had someone bring the tortoise shell. Lin Yue placed the dragon pattern jade fragment in the center of the tortoise shell.

The jade fragment instantly erupted with golden radiance, and the star map on the tortoise shell lit up accordingly, with silver lines flowing.

Finally, they converged into a clear dot in a certain corner—

The location of the dot was exactly that century-old Bell Tower in the center of Black Stone City!

"It's the Bell Tower!"

Zhao Meng shouted out in shock.

"Beneath that Bell Tower is an abandoned underground palace, said to house the coffin of the first city lord of Black Stone City. The Green Wood Sect people surrounded the Bell Tower a few days ago under the pretext of 'renovations'!"

"So that's how it is."

Lin Yue threw back the covers and got out of bed; although his Spiritual Qi hadn't fully recovered, his gaze had already become sharp.

"We can't wait any longer; we're going to the Bell Tower right now."

Liu Chengfeng held him back:

"Your body is still weak. I'll take the Disciples to scout the situation first; you follow after."

He looked at Zhao Meng.

"Captain Zhao, please mobilize your men to blockade the area around the Bell Tower. Don't let the Green Wood Sect people escape."

"No problem!"

Zhao Meng walked out with vigorous strides.

"I'll go gather the Guard Team right now!"

Lin Cang pulled a small porcelain bottle from his robe, containing several Medicinal Pills glowing with silver light:

"These are 'solidifying origin pills' refined from spirit radiance stone powder and dragon pattern jade shavings; they can temporarily suppress the poison. Take them with you."

Lin Yue took the porcelain bottle and spoke solemnly to the two:

"Thank you, Elder; thank you, Elder Liu."

Liu Chengfeng patted his shoulder:

"Kid, remember, it's not just for Sunset Town, but also for Black Stone City.

We people who guard this land can't let evil spirits take it away."

Half an hour later, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed on the streets of Black Stone City.

Zhao Meng led the Guard Team to blockade the intersections around the Bell Tower, while Liu Chengfeng led the Disciples of the Artifact Refining Workshop.

Carrying giant axes quenched with spirit radiance stone powder, they walked toward the Bell Tower's main gate.

Lin Yue changed into clean clothes, hid the dragon pattern jade fragment close to his body, and followed the team toward the Bell Tower with his spirit radiance stone longsword in hand.

Sunlight spilled through the clouds onto the street, casting long shadows of the crowd.

The silver glow of the spirit radiance stone and the golden radiance of the dragon pattern jade intertwined in the air, as if plating a layer of hopeful light over this impending final battle.

The silhouette of the Bell Tower grew clearer and clearer ahead; on the walls of that century-old building,

one could already vaguely see wisps of wandering black Qi, like countless small snakes, burrowing into the underground palace through the cracks in the masonry.