Dao Qi Wu Zang Guan Guan: I became a Daoist Master in the 1990s

Chapter 182 Sealed Artifact

underwater.

Qi Yun was engulfed in raging flames, forcefully pushing aside the heavy black water and chilling cold, and rapidly descended.

He had already opened his Dharma Eyes, but all he could see was a dense, viscous, and inky aura of deathly darkness, a chaotic mess that made it difficult to see into the distance. He could only barely make out a few meters around him.

Since entering the tomb, this Dharma Eye has been in this state, making it difficult to exert its effects.

However, Qi Yun still chose to continuously deplete his true qi to maintain his Dharma Eye, while striving to descend.

Wherever it passed, the water ghosts fled in terror, and those who were even slightly slowed down were instantly reduced to ashes upon colliding with the Crimson Hunting Fire.

About three minutes later, my feet felt solid and I touched the bottom of the pool.

The bottom was not silt, but hard rock, crisscrossed with countless thick, rusty black metal chains, which must have been components supporting or driving some giant mechanisms in the tomb.

With time running out, Qi Yun quickly moved to search.

Two minutes later, in the chaotic darkness of his vision, a few extremely faint but stubbornly flickering red lights finally appeared.

That is a sign that the life force of living beings has not yet been completely extinguished!
Qi Yun's spirits lifted, and he immediately swam swiftly toward the red light.

The red light became clearer and clearer, gradually outlining a blurry shape.

Upon closer inspection, Qi Yun realized that it was a square, sealed tomb chamber entirely cast from some kind of dark blue-green metal, firmly bound and suspended in the center of the pool by several huge chains extending from the bottom of the pool!

Just an inch outside the tomb chamber, a thin but resilient blue light barrier enveloped the area. Countless mysterious runes on the barrier flickered and flowed like water, stubbornly keeping out the countless water puppets that were trying to swarm in from the outside.

The water golems frantically clawed and pounded at the light barrier, causing it to ripple and flicker with light and shadow, clearly on the verge of collapse.

Within the barrier of light lies the source of those faint traces of vital energy!
Without hesitation, Qi Yun accelerated and rushed towards the blue light barrier.

He tapped the barrier with one finger.

With a low hum, a powerful yet gentle recoil suddenly surged forth, pushing him backward several meters.

Qi Yun steadied himself, stepped forward again, and swiftly flicked his fingers, rhythmically and gently tapping three times on the blue light barrier—tap, tap tap.

Then, "Ding!"

A faint yet clear sound of a jade chime emanated from within, and the precarious blue light barrier dissipated in response, vanishing instantly like a punctured bubble!

"Woo!"

The moment the light barrier disappeared, countless water golems, now free from obstruction, let out a silent yet earth-shattering howl of greed, surging wildly from all directions like a black tide bursting its banks towards the unprotected metal tomb!
But Qi Yun was even faster!

At the very instant the light barrier disappeared, he moved like lightning, shooting to the front of the tomb wall. The Chengyun Sword in his hand unleashed a dazzling crimson-gold sword aura, mercilessly slashing against the hard metal wall!
"Qiang!"

A piercing tearing sound rang out, and the seemingly indestructible metal wall was cleaved open by the sword energy enhanced by the Crimson Hunting Fire, leaving a huge gap!

The icy black water, carrying countless menacing water puppets, rushed in frantically in an instant!

Qi Yun ducked down and followed the current into the tomb!

The scene before me made my heart tighten.

The interior of the tomb was not large, but it was quickly filled with cold, black water.

Liu Lan collapsed in the center of the tomb chamber, her face as pale as paper, her whole body exhibiting an eerie, semi-transparent state, radiating a faint blue halo.

The light was most intense at her lower abdomen, where a palm-sized, ancient and exquisite cyan jade chime phantom was suspended, slowly rotating and emitting a final light barrier, barely protecting her and the several figures lying on the ground behind her in the center.

Most of the people lying on the ground were already lifeless, their faces were bluish-purple, and their bodies were swollen, clearly having drowned for some time.

Only three people had extremely faint rises and falls in their chests, and one of them was Song Wan!

Her eyes were closed, her lips were bluish-black, and her life was hanging by a thread, like a candle flickering in the wind.

But Song Dingqian was nowhere to be found.

Qi Yun's intrusion, along with the torrent of water and the frantic surge of water puppets, instantly transformed this last refuge into a battlefield of carnage.

But Qi Yun reacted even faster. The moment he rushed in, the Crimson Hunting Flames around him suddenly burst out in all directions!
"boom!"

A crimson-gold wave of fire erupted from him, instantly filling the entire tomb!
The newly arrived water golems couldn't even struggle before letting out mournful cries in the crimson flames, turning into ashes in droves.

Taking advantage of the brief moment, Qi Yun glanced at the three survivors and moved with lightning speed, quickly untying the alloy rope around his waist and tightly binding Song Wan and the other two team members who still had faint heartbeats together.

At the same time, he grabbed Liu Lan's cold, stiff arm and felt the power of the jade chime in her body rapidly dissipating, becoming increasingly intertwined with her already weak breath.

There was no time to lose! Qi Yun yanked the rope sharply, signaling to the shore. He then grabbed the three bound men with one arm and dragged Liu Lan with the other. Flames surged around him again, propelling him upwards like a rocket!

On the shore, Zhang Guisheng kept his eyes glued to the rope and the timer.

"It's moving! Boss! The abbot's signal!" Lei Bao, who had been holding the other end of the rope, immediately felt the enormous upward pulling force.

"Pull!!" Zhang Guisheng roared.

The four of them exerted their strength simultaneously, frantically pulling together the alloy rope! In just a moment, with a loud "boom," a huge splash of water erupted from the surface of the pool, and a ball of blazing humanoid flames enveloping five figures burst out of the water and landed heavily on the rocks on the shore!
The flames suddenly subsided, revealing Qi Yun's figure and the four people he had brought back.

"Quick! Save them!" Qi Yun shouted in a low voice, his breathing slightly rapid, clearly indicating that the underwater rescue had taken a heavy toll.

The crowd had been preparing for a long time and immediately swarmed forward.

Lin Wei and Lei Bao quickly checked on the three team members and injected them with a large amount of emergency medication.

Liu Lan's situation is the most bizarre and dangerous.

Although she was brought back, she remained unconscious. Her semi-transparent state did not improve, and the jade chime phantom on her lower abdomen became clearer and clearer, even beginning to vibrate slightly and emit a low hum, from which a cold and evil aura was constantly emanating.

"Oh no! The sealed artifact has become too deeply assimilated; it's about to go out of control!"

Zhang Guisheng's expression changed drastically. He suddenly drew his dagger and roared at Lin Wei, "Prepare to stop the bleeding and stitch it up! We have to dig it out!"

Before he finished speaking, he didn't hesitate at all and slashed Liu Lan's abdomen with a knife!

The sharp blade sliced ​​through the flesh, and blood gushed out.

But strangely, when Zhang Guisheng reached out to grab the jade chime, he grasped nothing!
This thing has completely vanished!

"No! It can't be taken out!" Veins bulged on Zhang Guisheng's forehead, and a look of despair and regret flashed in his eyes.

"Assimilation is complete... Soon... she will become a vessel for that thing..."

He suddenly looked up at the dark pool, a fierce glint in his eyes, "We can't let that thing wake up here!"

We must...we must sink her back down now! Perhaps the waters of this dark pool can temporarily suppress her..."

As he spoke, he actually tried to drag Liu Lan away!

"Wait a minute!"

Qi Yun stopped him again.

He crouched down, staring at the strange jade chime phantom on Liu Lan's lower abdomen, and stretched out his palm, the crimson-gold Crimson Hunting Flame covering it once again, attempting to grab it.

However, the palm still passed through without any resistance, as if the object was not affected by the force.

Qi Yun frowned, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly closed his eyes.

His mind instantly sank into the illusory image of the causal furnace within his body.

As the golden threads floated and sank inside the furnace, he quickly spotted the thin thread of cause and effect that was connected to Liu Lan, now trembling violently and fading into darkness.

Using his divine sense as a guide, he carefully peeled this thread of cause and effect from the furnace and wrapped it around his fingertips.

Then, he extended his finger again, this time with a barely perceptible force of cause and effect swirling around his fingertip, and slowly pointed it at the illusory image of the jade chime.

Something amazing happened.

The jade chime, which was originally weak and unable to withstand force, actually rippled with a tangible force when touched by his fingertips!
Qi Yun clenched his fingers abruptly, and a solid, icy sensation instantly washed over him!

"Come out!"

Qi Yun let out a low shout, exerted force with his wrist, and pulled outwards sharply!
"Buzz!"

A sound, as if from a distant void, rang out!

The illusory image of the jade chime trembled violently, and he actually pulled it out of Liu Lan's lower abdomen. In an instant, it turned from illusory into real, palm-sized, simple and unadorned jade chime that emitted a faint blue light!
The instant the jade chime left her body, Liu Lan's translucent body rapidly regained its solidity at a speed visible to the naked eye, her blood-red color returned, and the eerie light completely disappeared.

But her eyes remained closed, and her breathing and heartbeat... stopped at the same time!
"Captain Liu!" Lin Wei exclaimed and immediately rushed over to perform CPR.

Zhang Guisheng, however, breathed a sigh of relief and said urgently, "Quick! Inject adrenaline!"
"Give them a cardiac stimulant, triple the dose, and combine it with electric shock! There's still a chance!"

Lin Wei and Lei Bao immediately did their best to save her.

After a tense CPR and electric shock, accompanied by a violent jerk of her body, Liu Lan let out a very slight gasp, and her heart, which had stopped, began to beat weakly again!

"He's alive! His heartbeat has returned!" Lin Wei was almost exhausted, collapsing to the ground and wiping the sweat from her forehead.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, their eyes filled with unbelievable gratitude and awe as they looked at Qi Yun.

With a mere flick of the wrist, he was able to forcibly strip away the fused seal from the level of rules—this was simply divine skill!

Zhang Guisheng's voice trembled with excitement: "Abbot Qi! I cannot thank you enough! On behalf of Liu Lan and Bureau 749, I will remember your great kindness!"

Qi Yun shook his head slightly, but his gaze turned to Song Wan, who was still receiving emergency treatment, and the other two team members. He said in a deep voice, "In the underwater tomb, the rest of the team members... have unfortunately perished. Only these three are still alive."

His gaze finally settled on Song Wan's pale face, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"As for where Captain Song Dingqian is..." He paused, his voice lowering, "I'm afraid we'll have to wait until she wakes up to find out."

Everyone's gaze turned to the unconscious Song Wan, and their hearts grew heavy once again.

(End of this chapter)