Chapter 1240 Let's Go In

As dawn broke and the streets of Burning Sky City were still not fully awake, Liu Yang, along with Li Qingyue and Bai Jingjing, left the inn. The three continued to disguise themselves as rogue cultivators, avoiding the spies on the city walls, and hurried towards the Meteorite Forbidden Land in the west of the city. Morning mist shrouded the forbidden area, and pale green miasma flowed slowly across the ground. The occasional low growls of demonic beasts echoed in the distance, adding to the eeriness of the place.

"Fellow Daoist, is the breach in the outer layer of the restriction still there?" Bai Jingjing gazed at the pale red light screen ahead, her fox ears twitching slightly as she carefully probed the surrounding activity with her spiritual sense. Since Liu Yang left last night, she had been studying the records of ancient restrictions in the fox clan's ancient books, hoping to provide assistance in breaking the inner layer of restrictions.

Liu Yang didn't answer immediately, but instead probed the light screen with his spiritual sense. The gap he had broken through last night was still there, but the runes on the light screen were more active than last night, indicating that the restriction was slowly recovering. He condensed a wisp of ice and fire spiritual power at his fingertips, and with a gentle flick, the spiritual power landed on the runes at the edge of the gap. The runes instantly dimmed, and the gap not only didn't shrink, but actually widened a bit.

"The restriction is automatically recovering, but as long as the core of the array is suppressed with ice and fire spiritual power, the gap can be maintained," Liu Yang explained, before taking the lead and stepping into the gap. Li Qingyue and Bai Jingjing followed closely behind. As soon as they entered the forbidden area, a spiritual power mixed with ice and fire elements rushed towards them. The miasma in the air was even denser than in the outer area, and inhaling it made their throats feel tight.

Li Qingyue was prepared. She took out three pale green pills from her medicine box and handed them to Liu Yang and Bai Jingjing: "These are 'Clearing Miasma Pills,' which can temporarily resist the erosion of miasma, and their effects can last for an hour."

The two took the pills, and a cool spiritual energy immediately surged from their dantian, flowing through their meridians to their mouths and noses, instantly dispelling the discomfort caused by the miasma. Liu Yang spread his spiritual sense, covering a radius of a hundred feet. Many first- and second-tier demonic beasts lurked in the cracks in the ground, mostly "Miasma Snakes" and "Rock Lizards" adapted to the forbidden terrain, posing no threat to the three.

“The inner layer of the restriction is three miles ahead, where the spiritual energy fluctuations are the most complex.” Liu Yang looked ahead and could vaguely see a pale purple light screen in the morning mist. The runes on the light screen were intertwined and were even more obscure than the outer Burning Heaven Flame Array.

The three quickened their pace, heading towards the inner layer of the barrier. The demonic beasts they encountered along the way, seeing their stable auras and the faint pressure of high-level cultivators, all lay hidden in the cracks, daring not to attack rashly. Half an hour later, the three finally arrived at the inner layer of the barrier—a pale purple light screen about ten zhang high and twenty zhang wide. The runes on the screen were divided into red and blue; the red runes emitted a scorching aura, while the blue runes carried a bone-chilling cold. The two types of runes intertwined and flowed, forming an "Ice and Fire Linked Array."

"This is an ancient Ice and Fire Linked Array!" Bai Jingjing looked at the runes on the light screen, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. "According to the ancient books of the Fox Clan, this array requires the simultaneous manipulation of both ice and fire elemental energies, injecting them into the array's core according to a specific pattern in order to break it. If only a single elemental energy is injected, not only will it fail to break the array, but it will also trigger a counterattack, releasing attacks from both ice and fire elements."

Li Qingyue leaned closer to the light screen, carefully observing the flow of the runes. She frowned slightly: "The red runes and blue runes flow at different speeds. The red runes are fast, and the blue runes are slow. They converge once every ten breaths. The point of convergence should be the array eye. However, there are three array eyes, which require the simultaneous injection of spiritual power, making it extremely difficult."

Liu Yang nodded; he had already grasped the key to the formation. The three key points of this Ice-Fire Linked Formation were located in the upper left, lower right, and center of the light barrier. Only by simultaneously injecting equal amounts of ice and fire spiritual energy into all three points could the red and blue runes be unbalanced, thus breaking the formation. If only one point was attacked, or if the injected spiritual energy was uneven, the formation would immediately retaliate, unleashing a combined ice and fire attack powerful enough to severely injure a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

"I will take the lead in injecting spiritual power, and you two help me lock onto the location of the array's core," Liu Yang said to the two. He then activated the "Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Technique," and the ice and fire spiritual power in his dantian began to circulate rapidly, condensing into a pale purple ball of spiritual power in his palm—this was the perfect fusion of ice and fire spiritual power, capable of separating into pure fire spiritual power as well as pure ice spiritual power.

Li Qingyue and Bai Jingjing nodded, standing on either side of the light screen, their spiritual senses locked onto the upper left and lower right array eyes. Bai Jingjing also took out a specially made "locating talisman" from the fox clan and affixed it to the light screen. The talisman emitted a faint light, accurately marking the positions of the two array eyes. The central array eye was personally locked by Liu Yang. His spiritual sense was more acute than the two of them, and he could clearly capture the moment when the runes intersected.

"Ten breaths later, the runes will converge, which will be the best time to infuse spiritual power." Bai Jingjing looked at the runes flowing on the light screen and said in a deep voice, "Three, two, one!"

Just as the red and blue runes were about to converge at the three array points, Liu Yang suddenly split the pale purple spiritual energy ball in his palm—three strands of spiritual energy shot towards the three array points respectively. Two of them were pure fire spiritual energy, which was injected into the upper left and lower right array points, and the other strand was pure ice spiritual energy, which was injected into the central array point.

"Om-"

The moment spiritual energy was injected into the array's core, the light screen trembled violently. The red and blue runes churned like boiling water, and the pale purple light screen began to become transparent. Li Qingyue and Bai Jingjing stared nervously at the light screen, fearing an unexpected accident.

However, just as the light screen was about to completely dissipate, the blue runes in the central array eye suddenly surged, and a bone-chilling coldness erupted from the array eye, attempting to reflect back the ice-type spiritual power that Liu Yang had injected.

"The formation is resisting!" Li Qingyue exclaimed, wanting to help, but Liu Yang stopped her.

A look of understanding flashed in Liu Yang's eyes. This Ice-Fire Chain Array was more complex than he had imagined. The ice-elemental runes at the central array eye automatically repelled external ice-elemental spiritual energy. He did not panic. Instead, he activated the "Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Technique," fusing the ice-elemental spiritual energy injected into the central array eye with his own fire-elemental spiritual energy, forming a pale purple thread of spiritual energy. Following the flow of the ice-elemental runes, he forcefully penetrated deep into the array eye.

"Click——"

With a crisp sound, the blue runes in the central array eye instantly dimmed, and the red runes in the upper left and lower right array eyes also lost their luster. The pale purple light curtain shattered like broken glass, then completely dissipated, revealing the inner layer of the forbidden area.

After breaking the restriction, Liu Yang breathed a slight sigh of relief. Forcibly penetrating the array's core had consumed a lot of his spiritual energy. Li Qingyue quickly stepped forward, took out a "Qi Gathering Pill," and handed it to Liu Yang: "Fellow Daoist, quickly take this pill to restore your spiritual energy. The demonic beasts in the inner area are definitely stronger."

Liu Yang took the pill and swallowed it. The pill melted instantly in his mouth, and a surge of pure spiritual energy flowed into his dantian, quickly replenishing his depleted spiritual energy. Bai Jingjing, on the other hand, curiously examined the inner area. She saw that the ground inside was no longer cracked rock, but covered with a layer of pale blue ice crystals. Beneath the ice crystals, flowing magma could be vaguely seen. The spiritual energies of ice and fire intertwined here, creating a unique environment.

"The ice and fire spiritual energy here is so rich. If I could cultivate here, my cultivation level would definitely improve rapidly," Bai Jingjing exclaimed, her fox tail swaying gently, a look of longing on her face.

Liu Yang nodded. He could sense that the ice and fire spiritual energy here was dozens of times more concentrated and extremely pure than outside, making it an excellent place to cultivate the "Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Technique." However, he did not linger. He spread his spiritual sense and explored the core area of ​​the forbidden land—at the deepest part of the forbidden land, he sensed a powerful aura of a demonic beast, as well as an ancient spiritual energy fluctuation similar to that of the Meteorite Immortal Crystal.

“There are demonic beasts blocking the core area. They are very strong, at least at the fourth level,” Liu Yang said in a deep voice. He then took the lead and walked towards the core area. “Let’s be careful and try to avoid the demonic beasts. If we really can’t avoid them, then we can kill them.”

Li Qingyue and Bai Jingjing nodded and followed closely behind. The environment in the inner area was more complex than the outer area. They would sometimes encounter erupting columns of lava, and sometimes frozen ice spikes. The two had to be constantly vigilant to avoid being harmed by the environment. Liu Yang, on the other hand, walked with great ease. He could accurately predict when the lava and ice spikes would appear and easily avoid all dangers.

After walking for about half an hour, the ice crystals and lava ahead suddenly disappeared, replaced by a wide open space. In the center of the open space, a huge monster was resting on the ground—the monster had two heads, the left head was covered with red scales and emitted a scorching aura, and the right head was covered with blue scales and carried a bone-chilling cold. It was the fourth-tier monster, the "Ice and Fire Two-Headed Python".

The Ice-Fire Two-Headed Python was over ten zhang long, its body as thick as a water bucket, and its tail was coiled around a black rock, from which faint spiritual energy fluctuations emanated, clearly indicating it was its lair. Its two heads would occasionally spew out pillars of fire and ice spikes, fusing the surrounding ice crystals and magma to form a unique territory.

“It’s the Ice and Fire Two-Headed Python!” Bai Jingjing’s expression changed slightly. “According to the ancient books of the Fox Clan, this kind of monster’s two heads control fire and ice spiritual power respectively. It is extremely powerful, and even a cultivator in the late Golden Core stage may not be its match.”

Li Qingyue also tensed up, gripping the pills in her medicine box, ready to heal Liu Yang at any moment. Liu Yang, on the other hand, calmly looked at the Ice-Fire Two-Headed Python. He could sense that this demonic beast was indeed very strong, equivalent to a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, but it posed no threat to him at present.

Just then, the Ice-Fire Two-Headed Python seemed to sense the presence of the three. Both heads rose simultaneously; the red head spewed out a pillar of fire, while the blue head unleashed an ice spike, attacking the three. The fire pillar was scorching hot, while the ice spike gleamed coldly. The two intertwined, forming a combined attack of ice and fire that blocked all of the three's escape routes.

"Watch out!" Li Qingyue exclaimed, trying to cast a defensive spell, but Liu Yang stopped her.

Liu Yang did not retreat, but instead raised his hand and took out the Ice Lightning Token and the Fire Lightning Token. The two tokens emitted a dazzling light in his hand. The Ice Lightning Token released light blue lightning, and the Fire Lightning Token released light red flames. The two merged in his palm to form a spiritual energy slash that intertwined ice, fire and lightning.

"Ice, Fire, and Lightning Fusion Slash!"

Liu Yang let out a low shout and swung his spiritual energy slash at the Ice-Fire Twin-Headed Python's attack. The moment the spiritual energy slash collided with the fire pillar and ice spikes, it produced a deafening sound. The fire pillar and ice spikes were instantly shattered, but the spiritual energy slash continued its momentum towards the Ice-Fire Twin-Headed Python.

A flicker of terror flashed in the eyes of the Ice-Fire Two-Headed Python. It could sense the terrifying power of the spiritual energy slash, but it was too late to dodge. It could only raise its two heads in front of it and simultaneously release a shield of ice and fire spiritual energy to try and withstand the attack.

"Click——"

The spiritual energy slash instantly pierced through the Ice-Fire Two-Headed Python's spiritual energy shield, then sliced ​​across its two heads. Blood gushed out, and the Ice-Fire Two-Headed Python's two heads fell to the ground simultaneously. Its massive body crashed to the ground, twitched a few times, and then died.

After slaying the Ice-Fire Twin-Headed Python, Liu Yang stepped forward and took out a two-colored inner core from its body—half of the inner core was red and half was blue, containing pure fire and ice spiritual power respectively, making it an excellent material to aid in breaking through cultivation.

"Fellow Daoist, you are amazing!" Bai Jingjing ran to Liu Yang's side, her eyes full of admiration. "That was a fourth-tier demonic beast, and you killed it with a single blow!"

Li Qingyue breathed a sigh of relief, a gratified smile appearing on her face: "Fellow Daoist's strength has improved again. With you here, we will definitely be able to find the inheritance at the core of the forbidden area smoothly."

Liu Yang smiled slightly, put the two-colored inner core into his storage bag, and then pointed to a palace behind the open space and said, "The core of the forbidden area should be there. Let's go there quickly."

The three walked towards the palace, and the closer they got, the stronger the ancient spiritual energy fluctuations became. The palace gate was made of black rock, and it was covered with ancient runes. The style of the runes was exactly the same as the "Ascension Inheritance" runes that Bai Jingjing had seen in the ancient books of the fox clan.

"This is the Meteor Palace!" Bai Jingjing exclaimed excitedly. "According to the ancient records of the Fox Clan, the Meteor Palace was formed when a meteor fell in ancient times. It contains the inheritance of ascension. As long as you can obtain the inheritance, you can break through to the Immortal Rank!"

Liu Yang nodded. He could sense that the spiritual energy fluctuations behind the palace door were coming from the Meteorite Immortal Crystal. He raised his hand, condensed a wisp of spiritual energy, and injected it into the runes on the palace door. The runes instantly lit up, emitting a pale purple light. As the runes circulated, the palace door slowly opened, and a rich stream of immortal energy surged out from within, instantly enveloping the three of them.

"Such rich immortal energy!" Li Qingyue exclaimed. She could feel that this immortal energy was purer than any spiritual energy she had ever seen. After taking a breath, the spiritual energy in her dantian began to circulate rapidly.

Liu Yang took a deep breath, his immortal power surging into his body. The golden core within his dantian began to tremble slightly, as if yearning for the nourishment of immortal power. He knew that the inheritance within the Meteorite Palace was the key to his breakthrough to the Immortal Rank.

"Let's go in," Liu Yang said, taking the lead into the Meteor Palace. Li Qingyue and Bai Jingjing followed closely behind. The palace doors slowly closed after the three entered, isolating them from the outside world.