Wu Tao then formed a hand seal, and a powerful spiritual energy erupted. The runes within the three-colored ban-breaking talisman flickered, transforming into more than a dozen formation flags that floated and moved.
Moments later, these materialized formation flags arranged themselves into a strange and mysterious formation. It appeared chaotic yet seemed to hold profound secrets.
However, just then, Wu Tao's low, obscure incantations continuously emanated from his lips. Immediately after, he cast over a dozen hand seals, each accurately striking the formation flags.
With a tremor, the formation flags pulsed with three-colored light. Strands of light shot out from the main flag, connecting the numerous flags into a peculiar and profound magic formation.
Zhao Leiyun, the Yun brothers, and the others frowned upon witnessing this.
They sensed that the three-colored ban-breaking talisman was incredibly mystical and possessed untapped potential. Yet, due to its extreme rarity, they had never truly seen it in action, and they began to ponder, trying to glean some understanding from it.
But Wu Tao seemed unwilling to let others scrutinize the intricacies of the three-colored ban-breaking talisman. With a low shout, his entire body suddenly emitted dazzling golden light.
Those who were concentrating on the profoundness of the three-colored ban-breaking talisman were caught off guard and immediately closed their eyes.
...
However, in the next second, they were startled and instinctively injected spiritual energy into their eyes, reopening them.
To their surprise, they were all astonished.
The formation flags, transformed from the three-colored ban-breaking talisman, had somehow seamlessly embedded themselves into the wall full of restriction runes, as if they had grown there originally.
At this, Zhao Leiyun and the Yun brothers exchanged glances, their faces beaming with joy, their confidence in Wu Tao significantly boosted!
In the following moment, as if in response, the formation embedded in the wall erupted with three-colored radiant light from its center. This light grew increasingly dazzling, gradually filling the entire wall, creating a spectacle of brilliant beauty.
Wu Tao then unhesitatingly cast several more complex hand seals towards the three-colored ban-breaking talisman. The formation and the restriction runes within the wall began to flicker intermittently, almost in unison, as they contracted and expanded.
Their rhythm shifted from initial disarray to all the radiant lights illuminating and contracting simultaneously, appearing as one.
"Break!"
Wu Tao, without even looking at the surrounding three-colored radiance, lowered his head and uttered the word "Break" in a deep voice.
As the word was spoken, the three-colored radiance surged, emitting a piercing hum.
Then, with a thunderous roar, the radiance dissipated, and the entire wall, once filled with restriction runes, became utterly dim.
Zhao Leiyun and the others then noticed that the restriction runes on the wall at the front of the great hall had vanished without a trace. In their place was an ordinary wall made of the refined flame ore.
And embedded within one of the refined flame ore walls was a stone door, approximately ten to fifteen feet high and five to seven feet wide.
"I never imagined the three-colored ban-breaking talisman would be so powerful, actually breaking through the restrictions in this great hall! Haha! Haha! Excellent, we shall honor our word and not withhold any of the treasures promised to fellow Daoist Wu." Zhao Leiyun said with visible excitement.
The Yun brothers, upon seeing the stone door, also wore smiles and their eyes gleamed with eagerness.
"Brother Zhao Leiyun, let's not bother with that for now. Let's go in and see what treasures lie within!" Xue Yan urged impatiently, his excitement palpable.
"Alright, I see everyone is eager." Zhao Leiyun nodded, a smile on his face.
He said no more, striding forward. With a gentle sweep of his sleeve towards the grand hall's entrance, the door easily swung inward.
Seeing this, the last vestiges of worry in others' hearts vanished, and they followed Zhao Leiyun into the chamber.
...
"What is this? What's happening?" Xue Yan exclaimed in astonishment as soon as he got a clear view of the scene beyond the hall's entrance.
It wasn't just him; everyone who had just entered wore expressions of bewilderment.
...
The seven figures strolled through the vast hall. Wu Tao, as he walked, surveyed his surroundings.
It was not the desolate, dim, dust-filled, and tomb-like desolation one might expect from something sealed for tens of thousands of years. Instead, it was bright and warm, akin to a spring meadow in the countryside.
Nearby, waterfalls flowed, and cicadas chirped amidst quiet woods. In the distance, majestic peaks rose, and birdsong echoed from secluded valleys. Below, grass grew knee-high, with rabbits and mice scurrying within.
The rustling sounds were pleasant, and within the forest, soft light dazzled, bathing everything in a warmth that induced drowsiness.
A gentle breeze stirred, creating waves of movement in the mountains and forests, revealing countless beautiful scenes.
To an ordinary mortal's eyes, this would undoubtedly appear as a scene from paradise, a place to be lost in and never wish to leave.
Yet, to the seven cultivators, it was all an illusion.
The flowing waterfalls were false, the towering mountains were fabricated, the chirping cicadas and birdsong were phantoms, and the forest underfoot was a mere spectral image.
If this were tens of thousands of years ago, such a sophisticated illusionary formation would have been impossible for a group of Qi Refining stage cultivators to see through. However, millennia of wind and frost had stripped away its former brilliance.
Having operated continuously for tens of thousands of years without maintenance or repair, yet still maintaining its current level of illusion, this alone attested to the power of the illusionary array in ancient times.
In their eyes, only the bright lights overhead were real.
The seven looked up, seeing the sky above filled with brilliance as dazzling as the sun. Yet, these lights did not originate from the sun itself but from countless, densely packed, fist-sized, crystal-clear stones of blue and red, arranged like stars.
"Star Brilliance Sun Moon Stones!"
The ice-elemental female cultivator whispered the name of these translucent blue and red crystals.
"Precisely, Star Brilliance Sun Moon Stones!" Wu Tao, leading the way, stopped and looked up.
"How many Star Brilliance Sun Moon Stones are there here?" Xue Yan's Adam's apple bobbed as he spoke, a glint of greed flashing in his eyes.
"At least several dozen." The Yun brothers exchanged a smile and drew a large circle with their hands, as if encompassing everything around them.
All seven felt a surge of emotion, gaining some understanding of the opulence and wealth of ancient cultivators at this moment.
While Star Brilliance Sun Moon Stones were not absent in the current era of cultivation, and their numbers were not insignificant, their price was considerable compared to other illumination stones in the cultivation world, as they could provide effects equivalent to sunlight and moonlight.
A single Star Brilliance Sun Moon Stone could fetch between eight and twelve spirit stones in the current cultivation market. For the seven of them, acquiring such a quantity would require them to exhaust their fortunes and pool every resource.
It was a common practice for most cultivators to habitually cultivate spiritual herbs and medicines around their dwellings, a tradition established in the Tai Ancient, Desolate Ancient, and High Ancient eras, continuing into the present cultivation world.
Cultivators typically cultivated these herbs and medicines within their cave dwellings, spiritual lands, or near spiritual springs – places rich in ambient spiritual energy. Moreover, they required a high degree of sunlight and moonlight.
This deep-sea cave dwelling possessed spiritual veins and springs migrated from ancient times, hence the abundance of ambient spiritual energy.
The abundance of ambient spiritual energy was crucial for cultivators.
It facilitated their own cultivation and the growth of spiritual herbs and medicines.
However, for spiritual herbs and medicines to grow continuously, besides spiritual energy, a certain amount of sun and moon radiance was also indispensable.
This is where the Star Brilliance Sun Moon Stones played an irreplaceable role.
The most remarkable characteristic of these crystals was their ability to emit light identical to ordinary sunlight when activated. With specific magical techniques, they could even be controlled to emit moonlight at designated times, making them an essential item for cultivating spiritual medicines and herbs.
However, it was regrettable that numerous restriction runes still remained above this great hall. The group of seven was unwilling to expend excessive effort, nor did they possess the ability to forcibly break them.
While Star Brilliance Sun Moon Stones were valuable, they were not unobtainable, and their price was not enough to drive them to madness. Especially for them, currently in the Qi Refining stage, their utility was not particularly significant.
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