Chapter 26: Why are you yelling so loudly?

Under the reminder from He Zhiqing, Liang Yi and the others also found the direction to observe.

After meticulously investigating, just as He Zhiqing said, the mana of Zhang Feng inside the room really showed no changes.

"This is not a real person." He Zhiqing came to a conclusion. After sensing that there were no patrols around, he took the lead, dashing into the courtyard where Zhang Feng was like a streak of ink-colored lightning, with Liang Yi and Su Youyi following closely behind.

After entering the courtyard, Su Youyi laid down trails of mana along the path they had come. If anyone approached, she would be able to sense it.

"Not bad, you've got the stance!" Liang Yi praised his junior sister upon observing her actions; he hadn't even reminded her, yet his junior sister had already thought of it and set it up.

"Hehe, all taught by the books." Su Youyi stuck out her tongue.

Liang Yi saw He Zhiqing squatting by the doorway and approached to ask:

"What's wrong, Senior Brother He? Is there an ambush?"

"No ambush. Just some small arrays that serve as an alert."

"Destroy them? Or?" Both Liang Yi and Su Youyi didn't understand arrays.

"No need, our Complete Heaven Sect has plenty of methods," He Zhiqing said confidently.

He stretched out his palm, and after circulating his mana, it gradually became blurred. After gently brushing it against the ground and stepping on it, the array did not activate!

"I used the Complete Heaven Sect's method of confounding the Heavenly Mechanism to disrupt this array, making it think that nothing has happened." He Zhiqing explained to the two surprised gazes behind him.

"It seems that this Zhang Feng is indeed not a real person."

The fact that a few people could cause such commotion outside his door without him coming out made the truth blatantly obvious.

Upon entering through the door, it was the same scene they had seen through the window.

However, upon closer observation, the three of them noticed some differences: this Zhang Feng seemed somewhat ethereal!

Liang Yi walked forward and saw a small purple sphere on the table in front of where Zhang Feng sat in meditation. After picking it up, Zhang Feng disappeared.

"The Illusion Spirit Pearl!" Su Youyi exclaimed the name of the sphere, and He Zhiqing nodded in agreement.

Liang Yi fiddled with the sphere in his hand; he recognized the object. In his previous life, when he would infiltrate, his favorite tactic was to use this thing to attract NPCs' attention, then deliver a righteous backstab!

[Illusion Spirit Pearl]: Purple quality. It can simulate an image stored within the Spiritual Pearl, and upon the input of Spiritual Power, it can release the illusion anytime, anywhere, with no lethal power.

The quality is purple, but just a light purple, barely scratching the edge of purple quality, far inferior to a Mirage Talisman. The difficulty of obtaining one wasn't very high; in the past life, those with some means could buy it.

"Looks like the imposter is probably not here anymore. Let's search for any secret passages," said Liang Yi as he put the Illusion Spirit Pearl back on the table to maintain the illusion, to prevent startling anyone if they noticed "Zhang Feng" had disappeared.

When Su Youyi was about to roll up her sleeves and prepare for the thrilling part of exploring secret passages, He Zhiqing already pointed at a row of bookshelves against the wall in the room and said:

"Right there!"

"Eh? You found it so quickly?" Su Youyi felt somewhat disappointed, having the feeling that the enemy had fallen before she even exerted any effort.

"Senior Brother He's Art of Divination isn't for show, huh? You'll have your chance to shine in a bit."

Liang Yi had noticed that He Zhiqing had just been making calculations; he went over and patted Su Youyi's head to comfort her.

"Okay!" Su Youyi was once again brimming with energy.

He Zhiqing was already searching for the mechanism on the bookshelf, a hint of amusement in his eyes from hearing the conversation behind him. Although his Art of Divination was far from his master's, it was still very easy to calculate where something was off in the room, since everything in the room was ordinary.

When he touched the seventh book, He Zhiqing keenly felt something off:

"It's this one!"

After taking it down from the bookshelf, the bookshelf began to move slowly to the left, revealing a dark hole beneath it, with stone steps winding down.

The three of them stood at the entrance and exchanged a glance.

"What should we do? Should we go down?" He Zhiqing specifically asked Liang Yi, as he and Su Youyi could protect themselves without concern, but he wasn't certain about Liang Yi.

"We've come this far, let's go down." Liang Yi uttered a four-character mantra. He had the Immaculate Sword Jade given by his master, and as long as there were no big shots above the Seventh Realm, he was in a stable position. What's more, he had observed that the tunnel wasn't very wide, unlikely to allow a large group of people to go down together.

Seeing the confident look on Liang Yi and the others, He Zhiqing knew that they must have some life-saving trump cards on them. Without further words, he led the way down.

After all three of them had entered the tunnel, the bookshelf slowly moved back to its original position. The room was silent, as if nothing had happened.

The tunnel wasn't pitch black as one couldn't see one's hands; every so often, Luminous Pearls were embedded in the wall, emitting a soft glow that illuminated the path underfoot.

The three of them cautiously controlled the sound of their footsteps, moving quickly downward.

The silent and repetitive path blurred their sense of time; roughly after the time it took an incense stick to burn, they finally reached the very bottom.

The space at the bottom was surprisingly spacious, like a square, with more than ten stone pillars poured in a row, their surfaces carved with strange patterns. The pillars were divided into two groups, at the end stood a structure resembling a sacrificial altar, with green light swirling around it, too vague to discern clearly.

Liang Yi and the others hid behind a thick pillar, sticking out their heads from top to bottom to observe the altar at the far end.

"It should be there." He Zhiqing transmitted his voice.

"I've just investigated the area other than the altar, and there are no signs of life." Su Youyi clutched Liang Yi's hand tightly, to keep herself from trembling, not out of fear, but out of excitement.

"If that is the case, then let's go take a look." Liang Yi decided. At the same time, he also devoted a part of his attention to the Immaculate Sword Jade in his backpack; if any strong enemy appeared, he would deal with them first.

··········

Yin Lu was currently lying on the sacrificial altar, doing his best to suppress the soul of Zhang Feng in his Sea of Consciousness.

Their Devouring Spirit Sect was originally capable of absorbing other souls to strengthen themselves, but later on, due to their arrogance, they disrupted the cycle of reincarnation and attracted divine retribution. This led to them being hunted and suppressed by all the forces on the continent, and now they were finally seeing a glimmer of revival.

The current Sect Hierarch was incredibly talented, creating a new use for Devouring Spirit, leading the Sect towards revival. In simple terms, they could now absorb a person's soul with a Secret Technique without actually devouring it, completely taking over the body and replacing the person.

If the Devouring Spirit Sect was previously likened to wild beasts without spiritual wisdom, knowing only crude devouring, under the leadership of the new Hierarch, they had entered a new phase, possessing wisdom.

This Secret Technique also had its side effects. After absorbing a soul now, they wouldn't absorb it all at once but would suppress the soul deep in the Sea of Consciousness and torment it daily to slowly absorb its memories and powers.

But this would cause fierce soul resistance. If the resistance succeeded, the person using the Devouring Spirit Secret Technique would end up enriching someone else with their own cultivation. Thus, the risk of using this secret method was extremely high.

Right now, the Zhang Feng deep within Yin Lu's Sea of Consciousness was resisting fiercely. If he succeeded in suppressing this assault, he would be able to absorb all the memories and powers of Zhang Feng and become a second "Zhang Feng."

The intensity of Zhang Feng's last-ditch resistance surpassed Yin Hao's expectations. The brain-splitting pain even forced a scream out of him.

"Zhang Feng!! You should die!!"

"Liang Yi! You wait! You're next aahhh!!!"

"Anyone who dares to ruin our Sect's grand plan!!!! Must die aahhh!!!!"

With a consciousness that was starting to blur, Yin Hao wasn't clear about what he was shouting; he was simply venting.

However, an unexpected reply put a stop to his intense pain for a moment.

"Why are you yelling so loudly?"

Lying on the stone bed, Yin Hao's vision was covered by three shadows, and a stranger's voice reached his ears.

"Bro! I think you need some treatment!"