Slaying demons and eliminating evil, a martial saint among mortals.

Looking at the array patterns on the ground, Qin Lie couldn't help but ask a question.

"What is a sensor array?"

Gu Qianji squatted on the ground, his eyes fixed on the dark red patterns.

"Many years ago, a large number of outer formations were set up around Duanfeng Pass. These formations themselves were not very lethal; their main function was to monitor demonic energy and transmit messages. Whenever a large number of demons approached, or a powerful demon appeared, the formations would issue an early warning."

As he spoke, he gently traced the array patterns with his finger.

"Later, the main formation of Duanfeng Pass underwent several adjustments, and most of these outer formations were abandoned."

Zhao Tieshan looked at the black stone pillar.

"If it's already abandoned, why is it still running?"

"If someone comes to maintain it, as the person in charge of the nearest post station, I should know."

Gu Qianji raised his finger and pointed to the ground.

"You're half right; someone did indeed fix it."

As he spoke, he tapped one of the array patterns with his toe.

"These array patterns were originally damaged, and these dark red parts were all added later."

At this point, Gu Qianji's expression became noticeably more serious.

"However, the person who repaired the formation was not from the Great Qian Dynasty."

"Because the other side has incorporated demonic formations into the sensing array."

"The array that was originally used to sense demonic energy is now turning around and releasing demonic energy itself."

Upon hearing this, Qin Lie immediately thought of the demonized beasts outside the post station.

"So, the reason those wild beasts outside have become like this is also because of the demonic energy here?"

Gu Qianji stood up and dusted off his hands.

"There will be some impact, but it won't be significant."

"The true purpose of this formation is definitely not to turn a few wild beasts into demons."

Qin Lie frowned.

"So what exactly is it used for?"

Gu Qianji did not answer immediately, and her gaze slowly fell on Qin Lie.

Qin Lie's heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition instantly arose.

"Is this related to me again?"

Gu Qianji shrugged.

"Very likely."

"Otherwise, how do you explain that we just happened to be passing by, and then this place suddenly had a problem?"

After he finished speaking, he simply extended his hand.

"Take out the town seal and let me see it."

Qin Lie did not hesitate. With a thought, the Zhenguan Seal immediately appeared in his palm.

However, the moment the Zhenguan Seal appeared, the entire underground space trembled violently.

The next moment, all the array patterns around them lit up simultaneously.

The originally dark red patterns seemed to have been completely activated, and quickly spread in all directions.

The array patterns hidden in the rock walls and ground also emerged, and for a moment, the entire underground space was filled with flowing red light.

at the same time.

The black stone pillar also began to tremble violently.

"Buzz!"

A deep rumbling sound emanated continuously from inside the stone pillar.

Immediately afterwards, a powerful suction force suddenly erupted.

The Zhenguan Seal suddenly broke free from Qin Lie's palm and flew towards the stone pillar.

Qin Lie reacted extremely quickly.

Almost at the same time that the Zhen Guan Seal flew out, he reached out and grabbed it.

Even so, his body was still dragged forward several steps by that force.

The pebbles underfoot were constantly pushed aside, leaving two obvious marks on the ground.

"Quickly control the Zhenguan Seal with your mind!"

"What's the point of just holding it in your arms!"

Gu Qianji's voice suddenly rang out.

Qin Lie then realized that he and Zhen Guanyin had already established a connection.

next moment.

His thoughts immediately fell on the Zhenguan seal.

The Zhenguan Seal, which had been struggling violently, trembled slightly, then transformed back into a stream of light and returned to the Zhenyao Order.

However, although the Zhenguan Seal disappeared, the array patterns around it did not go out.

On the contrary, the dark red light grew brighter and brighter.

Gu Qianji also looked up at the black stone pillar, and his expression immediately changed.

"Damn it, the Zhenguan Seal has completely activated this formation."

"Previously, it could only release demonic energy nearby. Now, I can't even say what new effects it will have."

Qin Lie gripped the Snow-Shattering Blade with both hands, his gaze never leaving the black stone pillar.

"So what should we do now?"

Qin Lie knew absolutely nothing about formations.

In the current situation, he can only place his hopes on Gu Qianji, the master of formations.

Gu Qianji raised his hand and pointed forward.

"That black stone pillar is the core of the formation. As long as the core is destroyed, the formation will naturally stop."

Xu Qinghe immediately took a step forward, preparing to go directly over and destroy the stone pillar.

But as soon as she set off, Gu Qianji reached out and stopped her.

"Don't worry, there are other things around."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than footsteps came from behind the black stone pillar.

Immediately afterwards, a man dressed in a black robe slowly walked out.

He wore a black mask and held an array plate in his right hand. When he saw Qin Lie and the others, he showed no surprise.

"I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly. I thought I would have to wait at least two more days."

Qin Lie gripped the Snow-Shattering Blade tightly, his gaze fixed intently on his opponent.

"Who are you?"

The man in black robes did not answer, but simply glanced down at the array plate in his hand.

"The Zhen Guan Seal has indeed left Duanfeng Pass. It seems that things there are truly over."

Upon hearing this, Qin Lie immediately frowned.

The other party clearly knew about Duanfeng Pass all along, and even stayed here specifically to confirm whether the Zhenguan Seal had left.

Could it be that they've been plotting something all along, just waiting for Zhen Guanyin to leave Duanfeng Pass before making their move?

Gu Qianji also narrowed his eyes.

"You've been staying here all this time just to wait for the Zhenguan Seal?"

The man in black shook his head.

"What I've been waiting for is a result. Now, that result is in."

After he finished speaking, he suddenly clenched his five fingers and crushed the array plate in his hand.

The entire formation suddenly emitted a deep tremor, and the ground and the surrounding rock walls swayed slightly.

A dark red light suddenly appeared at the top of the black stone pillar, shooting upwards rapidly and disappearing into the rock layer above in the blink of an eye.

Gu Qianji's expression changed drastically upon seeing this scene.

"He's passing messages out! Stop him!"

Qin Lie pushed off with his feet and shot straight out.

The Snow-Shattering Blade was instantly drawn, its sharp blade aimed straight for the black-robed man's neck.

The man in black robes was clearly prepared, as he raised his hand and threw out two array stones.

The moment the array stone landed, a barrier formed from demonic energy rapidly rose up, blocking the black-robed man's path.

The Snow-Shattering Blade slammed heavily into the barrier.

With a muffled thud, numerous cracks immediately appeared on the surface of the barrier, but the attack was forcefully blocked, and Qin Lie's forward momentum came to a halt.

The barrier surface was already covered with cracks, and Qin Lie saw an opportunity.

He took another step forward, and the qi and blood in his body immediately began to circulate rapidly according to the route of the Zhenyue Tiangong.

The power that was originally scattered throughout his body quickly gathered in his right arm, and the Snowcrushing Blade followed up with a second strike.

With a crisp sound, the barrier formed by demonic energy shattered on the spot.

The man in black robes clearly hadn't expected Qin Lie to be so powerful; he had broken through the barrier Qin Lie had set up with just two strikes.

He had just prepared to step back when Xu Qinghe appeared on the other side.

The Soul Sealing Book flipped rapidly, and a grayish-white chain shot out from the pages, directly binding the black-robed man's right leg.

The man in black robes swayed violently, and before he could regain his balance, Qin Lie's blade was already upon him.

With a soft "poof".

The Snow-Shattering Blade slashed into his shoulder and stopped only when it reached his chest.

The man in black robes trembled violently a few times before collapsing to the ground.

Qin Lie stepped on his chest, pressing the Snow-Shattering Blade in his hand against his chest.

"Where has the message gone? Tell me quickly!"

Blood kept flowing from the corner of the black-robed man's mouth, but there was little fear of death in his eyes; instead, his face wore a clear mockery.

"Want to know? I won't tell you. Actually, the message was already out the moment the Zhen Guan Seal entered the formation. That commotion just now was just something I deliberately made."

Qin Lie raised the Snow-Shattering Blade, placed the blade against his neck, and increased the pressure on his feet.

"Who exactly was the message sent to?"

The man in black robes still did not answer.

The next moment, his body suddenly began to convulse violently, and black blood sacs bulged under his skin, looking as if they would burst open at any moment.

Xu Qinghe's expression changed.

"Get out of the way!"

Qin Lie reacted quickly, pushing off with his foot and immediately retreating.

The moment he stepped back, the black-robed man's body exploded.

Large amounts of black flesh and blood splattered in all directions, and a strong stench instantly filled the entire underground space.

However, before the flesh and blood could get close to Qin Lie and the others, they were blocked by the light barrier that Gu Qianji had set up earlier.

Black blood fell onto the light screen, making a series of soft sounds, and then slowly slid down the surface.

Xu Qinghe frowned slightly as she looked at the pieces of meat on the ground.

"His body has been modified by demonic blood. If it gets out of control, his flesh and blood will explode, and even his soul will be left behind."

Qin Lie sheathed his Shattered Snow Blade.

"Is it still possible to find out his identity?"

Xu Qinghe shook her head.

"No, his soul has completely dissipated."

Gu Qianji did not participate in the conversation between the two.

After the man in black robes fell, Gu Qianji's gaze remained fixed on that black stone pillar.

Soon, as if he had discovered something, his face immediately darkened.

"Back off immediately!"

Upon hearing Gu Qianji's words, Qin Lie did not hesitate at all. He reached out and grabbed Zhao Tieshan's shoulder, pulling him back a few steps.

Xu Qinghe also closed the Soul Sealing Book and quickly came to Gu Qianji's side.

"What did you find?"

Gu Qianji did not answer immediately.

He bent down and picked up a broken stone from the ground, then reached out and dabbed his hand with some of the blood left by the man in black.

The moment the drop of black blood touched the array stone, it immediately seeped into it.

Immediately afterwards, the array patterns on the ground lit up one after another.

A dark red light spread outward from the location where the black-robed man had self-destructed, and quickly followed the thickest array pattern all the way to the bottom of the black stone pillar.

Seeing this, Gu Qianji couldn't help but curse.

"That bastard never intended to leave alive from the very beginning."

Qin Lie didn't quite understand what he was hearing.

"What do you mean?"

Gu Qianji stood up and quickly scanned her surroundings.

"His blood was the final catalyst for this formation. If he hadn't died, the formation would have only operated slowly. Now that his blood has fallen onto the main formation runes, the entire formation has truly been activated."

Qin Lie frowned.

"It's just a large array used for transmitting messages, right? Even if it's fully activated, it'll just mean transmitting messages a few more times. There's no need to be so nervous, is there?"

Gu Qianji shook his head.

"Before it was stained with his blood, it was indeed just a large array for transmitting messages. Now that it's stained with his blood, the function of this array has changed."

Xu Qinghe glanced at the pieces of meat on the ground, then looked at the glowing main array pattern.

"So he deliberately had us kill him?"

Gu Qianji nodded.

"That's probably it. When you were fighting him just now, he seemed to be dodging, but he was actually moving towards the center of the formation with every step. The place where he finally fell was right on the main formation pattern."

Qin Lie glanced down.

Below the spot where the black-robed man self-destructed, there was indeed an array pattern several times thicker than the others.

But was the man in black really so sure that his body wouldn't destroy the formation when it exploded?

He looked up at the black stone pillar.

"So what do we do now? Should I go over there and chop that stone pillar down?"

Gu Qianji immediately raised her hand to stop him.

"Don't move it yet. That thing is too conspicuous. Normally, the more conspicuous something is, the less likely it is to be the real core of the formation."

Qin Lie turned to look at him.

"Didn't you just say it was the key point of the formation?"

Gu Qianji's face darkened.

"I only said it resembled the core of the formation, when did I say it definitely was?"

Qin Lie curled his lip.

"Aren't you a master of formations? How come you can't even see the key point of the formation?"

Gu Qianji turned around and glared at him.

"Array formations are things that need to be studied slowly. The other side spent who knows how long setting them up, and I've only glanced at them a few times. How can I possibly understand them all so quickly? I may be an array formation master, but I'm not an array formation god."

After he finished speaking, he couldn't be bothered to pay any more attention to Qin Lie.

He quickly threw more than a dozen array stones in all directions, each landing in a different location.

As the array stones lit up one after another, the dark red light that had been spreading around finally receded somewhat.

Before the group could even catch their breath, a slight scraping sound suddenly came from deep within the mine.

The sound was very soft, and it sounded like something was slowly scraping across the stone wall with its claws.

Not long after, the sound also rang out from other directions.

The same sound came from the front, the back, and the side passages on both sides.

Upon hearing the scraping sounds, Zhao Tieshan immediately gripped his machete tighter.

His face turned pale involuntarily, his gaze fixed on the darkness ahead.

The next moment, a pair of dark red eyes suddenly lit up.

Then came the second pair, and the third pair.

Within a few breaths, more than a dozen pairs of eyes appeared deep inside the mine.

Qin Lie gripped the Snow-Shattering Blade tightly and stood at the very front.

The first one to rush out was a mountain wolf.

It was almost twice the size of an ordinary mountain wolf, and its teeth had grown out of its mouth.

Large patches of fur fell off its body, revealing the dark red skin underneath.

After bursting out of the darkness, the mountain wolf pounced on Qin Lie without any hesitation.

Qin Lie took a step forward.

The Snow-Shattering Blade slashed downwards, its sharp blade cutting directly across the wolf's belly, sending it flying.

The wolf crashed heavily against the stone wall, its body twitched a few times, and then it fell silent.

"Try to avoid bloodshed."

Gu Qianji suddenly raised his head.

"If you really have to fight, use a blunt weapon."

Qin Lie was somewhat puzzled and turned to look at him.

Gu Qianji raised his hand and pointed to the corpse of the mountain wolf.

See for yourself.

Qin Lie looked in the direction he was pointing.

The wound on the wolf's abdomen was still bleeding, and the blood quickly seeped into the array patterns as soon as it hit the ground.

Immediately afterwards, a faint gray shadow rose from the wolf's corpse.

That is its demonic soul.

As soon as the demonic soul appeared, the black stone pillar emitted a strong suction force.

The gray shadow was being stretched and deformed, and it looked like it was about to be sucked into the stone pillar.

Xu Qinghe immediately opened the Soul Sealing Book.

The pages flipped rapidly, and a grayish-white chain flew out from within, directly binding the mountain wolf demon soul and forcibly dragging it back.

The moment the demon soul was collected into the Soul Sealing Book, the black stone pillar trembled violently.

Gu Qianji turned to look at Qin Lie.

"Do you understand now?"

"This formation is using blood and souls to enhance its power."

Qin Lie immediately realized what was happening.

"The more we kill, the stronger it becomes."

Gu Qianji nodded as he looked at the increasing number of demonic creatures ahead.

"This is the real troublesome part of this killing formation."

"It lured these monsters here so they could attack us. If we only wound them and don't kill them, we'll eventually be worn down. But the more we kill, the more power the formation will gain."

Qin Lie watched the red eyes that were constantly approaching.

"So what do we do now?"

Gu Qianji had already squatted down again.

"Control your strength and try to incapacitate them."

"If you really can't stop yourself and actually kill the demon, Xu girl, you must immediately put the demon's soul into the Soul Sealing Book, and don't let the formation take it away."

After giving his instructions, Gu Qianji lowered his head and continued to study the array patterns on the ground.

The second monster has already charged up.

This time it's a demonized wild boar.

Its two fangs were more than half a foot long, and its four hooves kicked up a lot of pebbles with each step.

It charged forward with its head down, crashing directly into Qin Lie's waist and abdomen.

Qin Lie did not draw his sword this time.

He sidestepped the two tusks, grabbed the wild boar's ear with his left hand, and used the force of its forward charge to flip it over to the ground.

Just as the wild boar tried to get up, Qin Lie stepped on its neck.

Immediately afterwards, he reversed the Snowcutter's Blade and slammed the back of the blade heavily onto the boar's foreleg.

A snap.

The front leg broke on the spot.

The wild boar let out a pitiful scream, its body still struggling desperately.

Qin Lie raised his leg and kicked it again, directly on the head, sending it flying to the side.

The force of that kick was perfectly controlled.

The wild boar fainted on the spot, but it wasn't fatal.

As time passed, more and more monsters gathered around.

Qin Lie was able to control his strength at first, but he gradually became overwhelmed by the constant surge of demons.

Another wolf demon pounced from the side.

Qin Lie had just kicked the wild boar in front of him away and hadn't even turned around when the wolf's claws landed on his chest.

With a ripping sound.

The clothes were torn open on the spot.

Three more bloody marks appeared on his chest.

Although the wound wasn't deep, the burning pain still made Qin Lie frown.

the other side.

Gu Qianji remained squatting on the ground.

His hands were constantly moving the array stones, and in front of him was an array plate the size of a palm.

The array plate was densely covered with fine lines, and whenever the killing array outside changed, those fine lines would also move slightly.

Gu Qianji's gaze never left the array plate.

He kept muttering to himself.

"Borrowing the earth's veins from the old formation..."

"Use demon blood to repair the formation..."

"Use the demon's soul to switch formations..."

"This guy's skill level isn't top-notch, but his mind is pretty dirty."

Zhao Tieshan stood to the side, watching for a long time but still couldn't figure out what was going on.

He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Have you found a solution?"

Gu Qianji didn't even look up.

"It'll be here soon."

"I'm breaking the formation, not dismantling the door, so it won't be that fast."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Tieshan said nothing more, but simply turned to look ahead.

At this moment, Qin Lie had been forced to retreat several steps, surrounded by the roars of demons.

The mine was already cramped, and with the increasing number of monsters, the space available for movement was being constantly compressed.

After watching for a while, Zhao Tieshan couldn't help but speak again.

"I'm not in a hurry."

"But that lord seems to be reaching his limit."

Gu Qianji then looked up and glanced at it.

Qin Lie had a chest injury and many scratches on his body, but his overall condition was relatively stable.

After reading it, he lowered his head again.

"It's alright, that kid's tough and resilient, he can hold out for a while. He won't die from a few hits."

Qin Lie overheard this, and he gritted his teeth and slashed the demon wolf in front of him away with his sword.

"Old man!"

"You'd better hurry!"

"Or I'll send a few monsters over to bite you later!"

Gu Qianji waved his hand.

"Okay, okay."

Although he said he didn't care, his hands moved noticeably faster.

Soon, he flung several array stones away.

After the array stones landed in front of Qin Lie, they immediately formed a semi-circular light screen.

The two monsters that had just pounced crashed into it and were instantly thrown away.

Qin Lie finally got a chance to catch his breath.

He glanced back.

"If you had something this good, why didn't you bring it out sooner?"

Gu Qianji rolled her eyes.

"Are the array stones free?"

"Every piece of this kind of space we use is one less available."

"What if we encounter even bigger trouble later?"

At this point, he added another sentence.

"Besides, can't you still hold on?"

Qin Lie didn't reply, but instead grabbed a wolf that pounced on him and flung it towards Gu Qianji.

The demon wolf let out a miserable howl in mid-air, and Gu Qianji was so frightened that he quickly dodged to the side.

"Are you serious, kid?"

"I knew I shouldn't have given you the array stones!"

Qin Lie grabbed the demon wolf by the hind leg and slammed it back into the demon horde.

"I just accidentally slipped, you need to break the formation quickly."

Gu Qianji was so angry that she cursed and muttered several words under her breath.

However, the situation was urgent, and he couldn't afford to dwell on it any longer. His gaze returned to the array plate.

After observing carefully for a moment, Gu Qianji suddenly reached out and pressed down hard on one of the thin lines, causing the constantly changing line to stop immediately.

Gu Qianji's eyes lit up.

"Found it."