Each of the five stone statues was in the late stage of the Foundation Building realm.
Mo Tiange glanced at them and quickly analyzed the situation in her mind.
Since the door was already closed, this was a secret room. Aside from defeating these stone statues, there was no other way.
They already knew the stone statues' weaknesses, but how to crack their sword aura was still a problem.
Each of these five stone statues had extraordinary strength. When they brandished their swords, their sword aura was overbearing, interweaving into a sword net. Even if they were slow, her Shuttle of Flying Apsara couldn't break them.
Moreover, these stone statues didn't have consciousness, so even a hallucinatory item like the Enchanting Lantern couldn't affect them.
Should I defeat them one by one?
Mo Tiange looked at Daoist Fangzheng and said, "Fellow Daoist, I'll deal with four; you deal with one."
Daoist Fangzheng immediately nodded. "Alright!" If it was one-on-one, even if their cultivation levels were slightly lower, it wouldn't be too difficult to kill them if they knew their weaknesses.
After reaching an agreement with Daoist Fangzheng, Mo Tiange stood in midair, took out a talisman from her Qiankun Bag and sighed.
As the advanced inner disciple of a Nascent Soul cultivator, how could she not have any treasures?
All these years, although Lord Daoist Jinghe didn't teach her about cultivation, he didn't hesitate to give her other things. This time, when she left the mountain, he even gave her several life-saving treasures.
However, she thought it was best to handle things she could handle by herself. Relying too much on other things wouldn't be good for her growth.
However, it was difficult for her to even keep herself alive now, so she naturally had to use whatever methods she had. Otherwise, if she lost her life, it would be a huge loss.
Mo Tiange took the talisman then closed her eyes and started to chant.
Along with the chant, her whole body emitted a white spiritual light like mist.
This spiritual light was a symbol of spiritual aura gathering.
The spiritual aura became denser and the spiritual light became brighter and brighter. When she finished chanting, she opened her eyes and shouted, "Go!"
The talisman was ignited, turning into four flames that instantly swept towards the four stone statues.
The stone statues brandished their swords as if they wanted to cut them like before.
But this time, it was useless. The four flames didn't move at all. They directly penetrated the sword aura and enveloped the four stone statues.
The four stone statues stopped moving, maintaining their posture of raising their swords.
Mo Tiange shouted, "Daoist Fangzheng, quickly!
I can only maintain it for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn! "
Once she used this move, the whole stone room was shrouded in spiritual aura. Daoist Fangzheng was dumbfounded, but once he heard her shout, he seemed to have woken up from a dream. He hastily pounced on the only remaining stone sculpture.
Daoist Fangzheng waved his hand, causing a talisman to fly out of his hand. It was the earth element magic art — Thick Soil Carrying the Earth. The ground under the stone sculpture's feet instantly turned into yellow soil. The soil directly spread and trapped the sculpture.
The stone statue brandished its sword in a daze, but how could it cut through the soil beneath its feet?
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Daoist Fangzheng raised his horsetail whisk. Countless strands of whisk flew towards the stone statue.
This time, the stone statue brandished its sword to block. It finally managed to block the attack.
Daoist Fangzheng immediately retrieved the whisk thread then threw several talismans.
Foundation Building realm talismans were different from Aura Refining realm talismans. Even if you had the money, it would still be very difficult to buy them. This time, Daoist Fangzheng really put in a lot of effort.
Under the attack of several high-level talismans, the stone statue gradually became unable to wield its sword.
Countless whisk threads were once again thrown out. Two of them drilled into the stone statue's ears. With two "chi chi" sounds, the stone statue finally stopped moving.
Mo Tiange heaved a sigh of relief. She once again took out another talisman and chanted the incantation, trapping the four stone statues just like before.
Needless to say, Fangzheng flung his horsetail whisk and pierced it into the stone statues' ears.
The four stone statues fell one by one. Mo Tiange heaved a long sigh. She couldn't hold on any longer, so she fell to the ground. Her legs went soft, so she sat down.
These two talismans weren't talismans used by ordinary Foundation Building cultivators; they were top-grade talismans.
In fact, top-grade talismans were like magic weapons — they didn't belong to any rank.
Only Core Formation cultivators and above could draw these talismans. Part of the power of magic weapons was sealed inside them, so their power was extraordinary, just like real magic weapons.
It was common knowledge that Aura Refining and Foundation Building cultivators could also use magic weapons. However, in their hands, they could only display one percent or even one thousandth of the power of magic weapons; they simply couldn't compare to the magic weapons of Core Formation cultivators or Nascent Soul cultivators.
However, this kind of talisman was different. It sealed the power of real magic weapons. Although it couldn't compare to a Nascent Soul cultivator's, it wasn't inferior to a Core Formation cultivator's attack!
However, this kind of talisman could only be used once.
Even so, activating these two talismans consumed a lot of spiritual aura, so Mo Tiange felt exhausted for a while.
Nevertheless, there was someone else next to her, so she didn't dare to rest too much. She swallowed several Restorative Panaceas, adjusted her breathing, then stood up.
"Fellow Daoist Fangzheng, how is it?"
Daoist Fangzheng also rested for a bit before he stood up to examine the surroundings. Right now, he was carefully examining the things behind the stone statues.
Daoist Fangzheng didn't stop examining them. He just turned his body slightly and said, "Fellow Daoist Ye, quickly come and take a look!"
Judging from his tone, he seemed to have discovered something.
Mo Tiange stood up and walked towards him.
Daoist Fangzheng pointed at the stone wall. "Fellow Daoist Ye, look carefully."
Mo Tiange moved closer, but she was stunned.
She saw that the stone wall was densely engraved with fine murals.
These murals were carved meticulously, but their contents were messy. It was as if someone carved something on the wall whenever they thought of it.
Some were people, some were flowers, plants, strange beasts, and some were spells.
Mo Tiange looked at the murals one by one, but she was pleasantly surprised.
The master of this place was indeed a genius. There were some secret techniques she'd never heard of before!
For example, there was a kind of Teleportation Technique called Flash of Wind and Thunder, which could allow the user to retreat several hundred feet away in an instant. If one cultivated it to a higher level, it wouldn't be a problem for them to move several hundred feet away.
After all, the so-called Teleportation Technique had been passed down to the present day, but most of it didn't live up to its name. It merely relied on its extremely fast speed to make it look like teleportation.
True Teleportation Techniques were rarely passed down; they were usually passed down as secret techniques in big cultivation groups.
Xuanqing School also had one, but only Core Formation cultivators could practice their Teleportation Technique.
There were also some carelessly written spells that were incomplete, which made Mo Tiange quite disappointed.
She hoped to find some records of mechanisms, but unfortunately, there was none.
In the end, Mo Tiange found a paragraph of text in the corner.
My name is Xu Zhiwei, a disciple of Venerable Swordsman Xuansu of Gujian Sect.
I formed my Gold Core at a hundred years old, entered the Nascent Soul realm at three hundred years old, betrayed Gujian Sect at four hundred years old, lived in seclusion in the Wind Breath Valley of Mount Jiuling in Jin Country, called myself Wanderer Ziwei.
I've lived here in seclusion for a thousand years, never taking even half a step into Kunwu. Every time I think about the first half of my life, I'm filled with pain and regret.
I couldn't see Zilan one last time before I passed away. My thousand-year regret …
The engravings at the end were messy. Mo Tiange carefully examined them and found that they were the two words "Zilan" written over and over again.
Zilan — this was obviously a name, and it sounded like it belonged to a woman.
Wanderer Ziwei didn't mention this name in the other murals, but in this monologue, he repeatedly mentioned it.
Judging from his tone, he seemed to miss this person very much, but he didn't dare to mention it. It wasn't until he passed away that he couldn't help but write it down.
After reading this paragraph, Mo Tiange couldn't help but feel puzzled.
This Wanderer Ziwei … Since he was a disciple of Gujian Sect and he formed his Nascent Soul at such a young age, why did he betray the sect?
For a big cultivation group like Gujian Sect, betraying the sect was a very serious matter. Even if there was a conflict, since he was already in the Nascent Soul realm, he could've left the mountain and become an elder in name. There was no need for him to betray the sect.
Moreover, after he betrayed the sect, he lived in seclusion in the secular world. It seemed like he didn't want anything, so it didn't seem like he had a conflict of interest.
But if there was no conflict of interest, why did he betray the sect?
Later, he said that every time he thought about the first half of his life, he was filled with pain and regret.
A cultivator from a big cultivation group formed his Nascent Soul at such a young age — what pain could he have experienced in the first half of his life?
What could make him regret to the point of death?
If these matters were connected, betraying the sect because of regret, living in seclusion in the secular world because of regret … How serious was this matter?
Finally, there was that Zilan.
For a Nascent Soul cultivator, was there anything they couldn't see if they wanted to see someone?
Unless that person had disappeared or he didn't dare to see her.
But here came the problem. Disappearing was fine, but what matter was so serious that he didn't dare to see her?
Was it related to the matter he regretted?
Mo Tiange felt the matter in front of her was confusing and couldn't be explained at all.
Daoist Fangzheng also came over to read this passage. He said with astonishment, "Gujian Sect?
The master of this place is actually a senior from Gujian Sect, but why is he so proficient in the Illusory Formation and the Art of Mechanisms? This doesn't seem like the work of a sword cultivator! "
Mo Tiange was stunned.
Yes, this should be the biggest doubt. Gujian Sect was a sect of sword cultivators, so this Wanderer Ziwei should also be a sword cultivator. However, his actions didn't seem like a sword cultivator's.
When they first entered the valley, they encountered the gales and miasma caused by a formation. Later, they entered an Illusory Formation. Who could lay this kind of formation unless they were a grandmaster?
Moreover, the flying Five Elements Platform almost made people think it was a senior from Tianliang School.
Finally, there was this stone room, the peak-stage Foundation Building puppet, and the Art of Mechanisms!
In the cultivation world, the most traditional and most populous cultivators were Dharma cultivators.
This kind of cultivators followed the prescribed order on their cultivation path and mainly relied on spells, magic weapons, and medicinal pills.
Sword cultivators, talisman cultivators, medical cultivators, martial cultivators, and so on were all unorthodox Daos. Among them, because sword cultivators were extremely strong in fights of magical powers, they were the most populous group. However, compared to Dharma cultivators, their total number was only one in a hundred.
The reason why Dharma cultivators were the most populous was because their studies were orthodox. They could dabble in any kind of unorthodox Daos and had a high chance of making realm-breakthroughs.
Sword cultivators were strong in fights of magical powers, but they spent their entire lives nurturing their swords, so their chances of making realm-breakthroughs were rather low. Therefore, generally, sword cultivators only concentrated on cultivating their swords and rarely learned other things.
However, everything laid out here subverted this convention.
A sword cultivator who was proficient in formations, the Art of Mechanisms, and extremely knowledgeable … was simply too frightening!
Mo Tiange was 100% sure that the master of this place was definitely a rare genius.
"Fellow Daoist Ye, let's not talk about other things first. Let's take the Sunstone first." Daoist Fangzheng was actually thinking about this object after he finished looking at the mural.
Right, this object was the most valuable thing here.
Mo Tiange didn't oppose him. "Alright, I agreed to Fellow Daoist's request earlier. Now, Fellow Daoist can choose first. Fellow Daoist can take an extra portion."
Daoist Fangzheng was beside himself with joy. He immediately flew up and was about to take the Sunstone hanging above him.
"Rumble!" A burst of spiritual aura came out of nowhere and struck Daoist Fangzheng down.