No one spoke for a long time.
Nie Wushang's expression was very calm. She was mentally prepared.
Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo, on the other hand, looked defeated. They lowered their heads and said nothing.
After a long time, Yong Ruyu said in a hoarse voice, "Fellow Daoist Qin, aren't you … being too presumptuous?"
Mo Tiange said slowly, "First of all, all Core Formation cultivators who passed through Descending Starfall City were invited to the City Lord's Mansion.
I remember that Elder Liang said that none of the people he invited rejected him.
How unusual is this situation?
How many Core Formation cultivators don't have powerful backgrounds?
Why would everyone rush to this so-called ancient mystic land and wait here?
This is the first point of doubt. "
Yong Ruyu's expression changed for a long time. Eventually, she sighed and said, "Although what Fellow Daoist Qin said isn't certain, it's not unreasonable."
Mo Tiange said, "You're right. It's not that City Lord Mei detained Core Formation cultivators who didn't agree, but it's more or less suspicious."
"What about the second point?" Qiu Chengruo stared at her and asked.
"Later, we agreed to City Lord Mei's request, but he didn't want us to get to know each other at all. He even reminded us, intentionally or unintentionally, that other people might try to kill us in the secret land."
"Yes," Nie Wushang said.
"At that time, I felt it was a bit strange. Although we Core Formation cultivators didn't know each other, wouldn't it be easier to pass if someone was willing to join hands?
Even if we had a falling out in the end, it would be between us and not them.
It could be said that letting us Core Formation cultivators get to know each other and find allies was beneficial to City Lord Mei.
But he didn't. From the beginning to the end, he didn't want us to get to know each other. If Fellow Daoists didn't come to visit, Fellow Daoist Qin and I would probably still be companions. "
Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo's expressions darkened. After a moment of hesitation, Qiu Chengruo said, "In fact, before Senior Martial Brother and I looked for allies, Elder Liang advised us to go with trustworthy people instead of temporary allies.
However, after Senior Martial Brother and I considered it, we felt it would be difficult to pass with our strength, so we didn't listen to him … "
Mo Tiange sighed softly. It had nothing to do with him. Wasn't he being too kind by reminding her like this? Especially when it involved the interests of Starfall City. No matter how she thought about it, she found it suspicious.
"The third point, however, is a lot of details."
Mo Tiange continued, "The Mystifying Trace Fog, the way they covered the secret place, the loss of spiritual aura, and so on … If the first two points were merely points of doubt, these details are enough to prove that this secret place isn't an ancient secret place at all."
"…" There was dead silence. No one said anything else.
Everyone was silently thinking about what to do next.
Since he had doubts, of course he had to go out. But how?
Among them, Mo Tiange was the only one who understood formations, but it wasn't enough to break them. Besides, no matter how strong they were, they couldn't compare to Nascent Soul cultivators.
"Not good!"
Nie Wushang suddenly thought of something. Her expression changed greatly, and she took out the small wooden puppet from her Qiankun Bag. "This thing …"
Upon seeing this thing, the other three people's expressions also changed, especially Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo.
Although City Lord Mei said from the beginning that she'd prepare the things everyone needed for the trip to the secret place, giving everyone one magic weapon was too cautious. In particular, the miasma wasn't too serious, so there was simply no need to do so.
Mo Tiange also took out the wooden puppet and examined it carefully. She also used her divine sense to explore it, but she found that there was a layer of barrier inside that prevented her divine sense from penetrating it.
This was the method of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
She was even more certain that there was definitely something wrong with this thing.
"What should we do?" Nie Wushang asked her.
Mo Tiange thought for a moment then turned to ask Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo, "Fellow Daoists, it seems you two don't major in the fire element?"
"En." Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo obviously used the same cultivation technique. At that moment, both of them shook their heads.
Mo Tiange wasn't surprised. She threw the wooden puppet in her hand to the ground, opened a spiritual beast bag, summoned Xiaohuo, and said, "Xiaohuo, burn it with fire."
Xiaohuo hadn't come out for a long time. Upon seeing her, it shook its head and wanted to come over to rub against her. In the end, Mo Tiange slapped it down. "I have business to attend to!"
Xiaohuo squeaked discontentedly. Seeing that she wasn't moved, it could only obediently turn around and spit Sun Real Fire at the small wooden puppet on the ground.
Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo were a bit surprised to see Xiaohuo.
Spiritual beasts weren't rare, but Core Formation cultivators with fifth rank or higher spiritual beasts were rare. In particular, this spiritual beast didn't look ordinary at first glance because it could actually spit Sun Real Fire.
Under the Sun Real Fire, the wooden puppet persisted for a long time before it finally began to melt slowly. The four people watched as the ordinary outer shell slowly disappeared, revealing the thing inside — it was actually a black crystal flowing with a mysterious aura.
"Devil crystal!" Upon seeing this object, Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo simultaneously exclaimed, their faces pale.
Then they untied the wooden puppet they wore on their bodies and threw it away as if it was the plague.
"Devil crystal?" Mo Tiange stared at the two of them. "Do the two of you recognize this object?"
Qiu Chengruo's lips trembled, but he couldn't say anything. Although Yong Ruyu's expression was unsightly, in any case, he still had some self-control. At this moment, he reluctantly answered, "There's no cultivator in Yunzhong who doesn't know about this object. Speaking of this object, we have to talk about a secret technique of Yunzhong's devil cultivators — the Corpse Soul Technique!"
Once they heard this name, they knew it wasn't a good thing. Mo Tiange and Nie Wushang glanced at each other then asked, "What's this technique like?"
Yong Ruyu calmed down a bit and said, "This secret technique is just like its name — it's a mysterious technique that turns people into corpses while they're still alive and turns them into puppets."
He stopped and took a deep breath, but he still hadn't recovered from his shock. "The Corpse Soul Technique not only takes people's lives, but it also controls their souls. It's extremely vicious.
Between us cultivators, although we'll fight or even take people's lives if we don't agree, refining people into puppets like this and making them unable to reincarnate for eternity is a taboo.
Therefore, although this Corpse Soul Technique is also a strange technique, there aren't many devil cultivators who know its content, and there are even fewer who dare to use it openly. Not only us cultivators on the Righteous Path, but even cultivators on the Devil Path are also very afraid of it. "
When she heard that, Nie Wushang muttered, "So this City Lord Mei tricked us here to cast the Corpse Soul Technique on us?"
"It's most likely so …" Cold sweat dripped down Qiu Chengruo's forehead, but he didn't wipe it off. She said, "This devil crystal is an important object for casting the Corpse Soul Technique. This object can absorb people's spiritual essence, slowly turning us into monsters that are neither human nor devil!"
At this point, both Mo Tiange and Nie Wushang's expressions changed. "Will it work if we carry it with us like this?"
Yong Ruyu nodded, then she shook her head and explained, "Fellow Daoists, you put this devil crystal in your Qiankun Bag just now, so it's naturally useless, but my junior martial sister and I … After this object is restricted by a high level cultivator, it'll absorb spiritual essence nearby. My junior martial sister and I have been carrying it for a long time."
"Then you …"
Yong Ruyu's complexion alternated between green and white. Soon, she clenched her teeth and seemed to have made up her mind. "It's not too late to realize it. We'll just lose some spiritual essence …"
Essence Qi, in other words, was the Qi of the Soul. For cultivators, a person was made up of the body and the Primordial Spirit. They usually did not care about the soul, because the soul was something that people were born with. It was there at birth and would disappear at death. It was the same for mortals and cultivators.
Moreover, the soul wasn't like the primordial spirit, which couldn't be seen or touched. It wouldn't be a problem for cultivators to cultivate or fight with.
Spiritual essence was the vitality of the soul. If it lost its spiritual essence, the soul would slowly solidify, lose its vitality, and eventually die.
However, according to Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo, there should be some kind of strange technique attached to this devil crystal, causing the person whose spiritual essence was absorbed to enter a state that was neither dead nor alive.
Mo Tiange looked at the devil crystal on the ground then looked at the other three puppets.
These puppets were carved very meticulously, and their every movement was lifelike. However, her current state of mind was different, so when she looked at them, they looked ferocious as if they were mocking her.
She thought for a moment then asked, "Since we've already discovered it, how can we destroy it?"
Yong Ruyu's complexion was still pale. She said woodenly, "I don't know. We only know a little about this secret technique. It's been a long time since I've heard of anyone in Yunzhong using the Corpse Soul Technique."
"Let's burn it and see."
Nie Wushang, who had been observing them, said, "Every Devil Path technique will weaken in front of a fire spell."
Mo Tiange nodded. She couldn't compare to Nie Wushang in terms of proficiency in Devil Path techniques. Since she said she could try, she might as well try.
She continued to order Xiaohuo to burn the three small puppets. Soon, the three puppets turned into three pieces of devil crystal, lying quietly on the ground.
After doing all this, Mo Tiange patted Xiaohuo's head and rewarded it with a medicinal pill. She then asked Nie Wushang, "What about now?"
Nie Wushang didn't answer immediately. Instead, she looked at Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo. "Fellow Daoists, do you want these devil crystals?"
Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo immediately shook their heads.
They just suffered a loss and knew very little about this thing, so they didn't dare to take risks.
Nie Wushang thought for a moment then took out a handkerchief from her robe. She picked up the four devil crystals with her gloved hand, wrapped them in the handkerchief, and stuffed them into her Qiankun Bag.
"… Fellow Daoist Tiancan?" Mo Tiange was puzzled.
Nie Wushang said, "If I can escape, I'll study it."
"Oh …" Mo Tiange didn't say anything else.
Nie Wushang had a deep relationship with the Devil Path, so maybe this thing would be helpful to her.
"Fellow Daoists!"
Yong Ruyu looked at them with a frown. "Since you know we've fallen into a trap, why aren't you worried at all?" They were actually still in the mood to collect devil crystals here!
Mo Tiange's gaze shifted to him and she smiled. "What's the use of being worried?
We still don't know what's going on with this trap. Being anxious will only mess things up. "
"En."
Nie Wushang nodded then muttered, "Our opponent is a Nascent Soul cultivator — there's no doubt about that. Moreover, we've also fallen into their trap and are in a passive position.
Our only advantage now is that maybe they still don't know we've discovered this trap. If we can figure out their plan in time, maybe we can escape with our lives. "
Yong Ruyu and Qiu Chengruo couldn't help but nod. Their two companions were very calm, so they gradually calmed down.
"Then according to Fellow Daoists, what should we do now?"
Mo Tiange and Nie Wushang glanced at each other then shifted their gazes to the two of them.
Mo Tiange said, "I'll have to ask you. You're both Yunzhong cultivators and disciples of a big cultivation group, so you must know a lot. Think about it carefully — do you have any countermeasures?"