Following the cave entrance, Qin Yang entered a passageway. He descended a flight of stairs that seemed to lead deeper into the earth.
As Qin Yang progressed, the magical lamps lining the corridor lit up one by one in his wake.
The air grew increasingly cold and damp the further he ventured.
Finally, he arrived at a bronze door, marking the end of the passageway.
The door stood ten meters tall and twelve meters wide, its ancient surface etched with mysterious patterns.
Copy: Earth-grade Formation - Door Sealing Formation
Qin Yang's eyebrows rose. The door was actually protected by a restriction formation!
"Interesting!" Qin Yang raised his guard.
Door Sealing Formations varied in power. They were commonly found on the gates of noble clans and treasure vaults.
Even a Zongshi Realm cultivator at the peak of their power might struggle to break through an Earth-grade Door Sealing Formation. Attempting to force it open would trigger a backlash and activate other formations.
What truly concerned Qin Yang was that while the Door Sealing Formation's lines covered only a small portion of the bronze door, the entire surface was etched with intricate formation patterns!
Qin Yang traced his fingers over the formations, but his ability to copy them failed.
This meant the other formations' power exceeded his current capabilities!
The bronze door was completely beyond Qin Yang's current destructive capacity. Even the Earth-grade Door Sealing Formation alone might prove insurmountable.
This bronze door could withstand even a Stellar Realm expert!
Qin Yang chuckled, channeling frost power. An ice block materialized in his hand, shifting shapes until it resembled a token.
This was Qin Yang's "key" forged from the door's sealing array. With this token, the bronze door would open effortlessly.
The words "Shadow" materialized on the token's surface.
"Shadow?" Qin Yang didn't ponder long, pressing the token against the blank intersection of the sealing array's lines.
The massive bronze door creaked open.
Beyond stood a group of cultivators, chains shimmering in their hands.
As the door parted, they hurled their enchanted chains at Qin Yang.
"Huh? These are just like the beast-trapping chains in the secret realm!" Qin Yang made no attempt to evade, instantly bound by the chains.
"So you're just a student?" A black-robed middle-aged man stepped forward from the crowd, his voice dripping with disdain. "Decent strength, but utterly delusional!" He paced around Qin Yang, nodding. "Your bloodline must be exceptional!"
"Take him to the altar!" The group hoisted Qin Yang onto their shoulders.
Qin Yang seized the moment to ask, "I've killed many of your people, and your leader is likely near death. Don't you want revenge?"
The black-robed middle-aged man replied nonchalantly, "Dead subordinates can be replaced, and if the leader dies, we just find another."
His words made it clear that this black-robed man was the true leader.
"Earlier, you captured one of my classmates," Qin Yang said. "Can I see her?"
The black-robed man frowned but ignored the question, instead asking his subordinate, "What's taking so long? The Celestial Academy people are already here. Where are they?"
The subordinate hurried to respond, "We've already sent people to find her, but they haven't returned."
"They're not here?" Qin Yang frowned. The Guiyan Gang headquarters in Fanxing City had no trace of her, and this local base was empty too. Where could she have gone?
Soon, Qin Yang was carried to an altar covered with strange markings.
Copy: Earth-Grade Formation - Heaven-Stealing Life-Transferring Array
Qin Yang froze momentarily before erupting in fury. Now he understood why this organization had been abducting talented young women across the land!
This Heaven-Stealing Life-Transferring Array was an utterly vile and sinister formation! It could forcibly transfer a person's bloodline and innate talent to another individual!
The best choice was the unborn child!
With this array, they could transfer the bloodline and talent of a genius girl to the infant in her womb, leaving her herself forever ordinary!
This was just one method. Another was to make a talented young man and girl marry, so their child would inherit both parents' bloodline and talent!
The genius girl would become ordinary, but the young man would be directly crippled, left with only a few days to live.
"It seems you're quite discreet. The world still thinks you only kidnap young, talented girls." Qin Yang's eyes brimmed with killing intent.
This organization was even more despicable than human traffickers!
The middle-aged man chuckled, "We have to avoid drawing attention. But you've delivered yourself to our door - how laughable!"
"Aren't you afraid of offending Celestial Academy?" Qin Yang narrowed his eyes.
The middle-aged man didn't answer. He simply ordered his subordinate, "Don't wait for that Celestial Academy girl anymore. Bring Guiyan here - the one who returned a few days ago!"
The subordinate left immediately to carry out the order.
Soon, they brought in a young woman with a blank expression.
Qin Yang scanned her with divine sense - she was actually a Zongshi Realm cultivator?
"Prepare to activate the array. Have them ready," the middle-aged man ordered.
The woman knew what was coming. Her face twisted in a struggle before settling into resignation.
One of the men approached Qin Yang with a sneer. "Want to taste some last-minute beauty before you die? How's that sound?"
The woman had already undressed, but Qin Yang roared, "Stop!"
She shuddered, looking at Qin Yang with pity in her eyes.
"If you're so strong, why did you surrender?" Qin Yang demanded.
The woman took a deep breath, her hands continuing to work as clothes fell to the ground.
The middle-aged man laughed. "Because her child's in our hands!"
The woman spoke, pleading, "I'll do anything you want. Please, let me see my child..."
The man sneered. "See your child? He's living like a top family's heir now. You want him to know his mother's a... someone like you?"
The woman trembled, shaking her head. "No, no! Just a glimpse from afar. He must never know..."
Qin Yang watched the woman's helpless pleading, his fury already at its peak. The chains binding him suddenly turned crimson, as if forged in raging flames.
"Ah!" One of the subordinates reached out to touch them, his hand instantly charred black.
"Hm? Still daring to resist?" The middle-aged man's eyes glinted sharply as he delivered a vicious kick.
Copy: Dark Water Art. Technique 2/10.
Copy: Wave-Splitting Leg. Proficiency automatically set to peak mastery. Martial Technique 2/10.
A divine light flashed in Qin Yang's eyes as the chains binding him suddenly glowed with icy blue radiance.
The black-robed man's leg shot forward, but a sudden surge of intense danger erupted in his mind.
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out. Qin Yang remained motionless, but every magical chain on his body shattered into fragments!
The black-robed man's eyes widened. "When did I become so powerful? How could I shatter these magical chains?"
Before he could comprehend what had happened, he burst into laughter. "Perfect! I'll cripple you first! I only need your bloodline's innate talent anyway!"
He swung his leg again, but this time his kick met empty air.
All subordinates, including the young woman, were stunned. The young woman's body remained clad only in a dudou, her hands frozen mid-action as she undid the sash.
The smile on the black-robed man's face remained unchanged, but his entire body had frozen into an ice sculpture.
"Run!" someone shouted. Everyone scattered in all directions.
Qin Yang's body kept flickering. With each appearance, he severed another person's head from their body.
In the span of a few breaths, Qin Yang had slaughtered every person present, leaving none alive.
As the last head rolled to a stop, the entire scene fell silent.
Suddenly, the young woman crouched down and began to weep. Her sobs grew louder, becoming heart-wrenching cries of anguish.
Qin Yang didn't know what to say. The woman suddenly lifted her head and met his gaze.
What kind of expression was that?
Resentment? Relief? Humiliation? Grief...
Qin Yang opened his mouth, but no words came out. The woman lowered her head again, clenched her fists, and suddenly slapped her own forehead.
"You?" Qin Yang didn't have time to stop her. He could only watch as the woman's body slowly collapsed.
Qin Yang took a deep breath and sighed heavily. He walked up to the ice sculpture and freed the black-robed man trapped within.