Chapter 75: Breaking Through the Barriers
The firelight illuminated the young man's face, making it appear bright, but his eyes were filled with a ruthless intensity - completely unlike what a youth his age should possess. "This place already has a barrier. Didn't you notice?" As if reading the older man's thoughts, Mu Lichuan turned his head and explained.
Only then did Mi Shen realize that, despite the two severed heads and the blood on the ground disappearing at a visible rate, the hospital rooms in the corridor and even the windows showed no signs of burning. "This..."
"The seal burns away their essence - the dark energy within them. As for physical objects, there's little effect." Mu Lichuan said again, "Let's go, to the next floor."
He wasn't sure if this would alert their enemies, but since the other party had set up barriers, it proved they wouldn't interfere with each other.
The "heads" they had passed were only on the second floor, meaning they needed to clear each level one by one before finally taking the elevator down. The question was - what exactly lay beneath the elevator?
As they climbed the stairs, in another location flames suddenly shot into the sky. A masked man frowned. "Someone has broken into the hospital."
"Master, then..." The man beside the masked figure was middle-aged, his face full of anxiety. With only six months left until success, if everything was ruined now, wouldn't all his efforts over the years be wasted?
The masked man's voice was hoarse. "The second floor's formation has been destroyed. Let's observe the situation first." He didn't know what kind of opponent they were dealing with. Everything had been perfectly concealed before - there shouldn't have been any problems.
Normally, hospitals having traces of yin energy wasn't unusual, and no one would investigate casually. After all, those Taoist priests valued their lives too much, knowing they were powerless against such matters and would simply hide away.
The middle-aged man had a bad feeling, but he didn't dare offend the Master. If the Master refused to help him, the losses would outweigh the gains.
He didn't even know what the Master looked like. He had "offered souls" to serve the Master, hence establishing this hospital. The Master had promised to extract the national fortune energy from his elder brother and transfer it to him.
When Mu Lichuan and Mi Shen reached the third floor, they saw countless feet - just feet, nothing else, densely packed and blocking the stairway. If they couldn't destroy these feet, they wouldn't be able to advance and might even be killed.
"First heads, now feet? What kind of formation is this?" Mu Lichuan couldn't figure it out at all. Seeing so many feet made his scalp tingle.
Mi Shen kicked at the feet, but they seemed to bounce back. His martial skills were completely useless here.
"Come here!" Mu Lichuan couldn't keep throwing talismans endlessly. No matter how many he had, they wouldn't last at this rate. If he ended up in another world without any, it would be troublesome.
Mi Shen approached, and Mu Lichuan bit his finger, then drew something on Mi Shen's palm. "Attack with this, and you can completely destroy these feet."
These feet weren't physical bodies but condensed yin energy. Ordinary human techniques were ineffective - only blood-seals could break the yin energy and prevent it from reforming.
"You..." Mi Shen was about to speak when he noticed the youth drawing an unfamiliar but righteous sigil in front of them at incredible speed.
Mu Lichuan realized the third floor was completely different from the second. Clearly, their enemy knew he had destroyed the heads on the second floor. If not for his caution, they might have fallen into a trap.
Most people would only notice the yin-infested feet, completely missing the spatial trap beneath their feet. Stepping into it could transport them to who-knows-where. Though small-scale, such spatial arrays could be deadly to ordinary people.
Mi Shen's skills were formidable. The bloody mark on his palm faded quickly as the yin-energy feet diminished... "You..." Mu Lichuan was shocked at how fast this bearer of national fortune could deplete his blood-seal - barely half a minute.
"Boss, at this rate I won't have enough blood left for you to consume." Mu Lichuan summoned soul energy and instantly annihilated the remaining yin feet.
Mi Shen pressed his lips together silently. Some things were beyond his control, and he didn't understand these "intangible matters" well enough to grasp what the youth meant.
After clearing this, Mu Lichuan felt nearly one-third of his spiritual energy was gone. Clearly, their enemy aimed to exhaust his power - not a good sign.
The hospital had six floors (kept low to prevent accidents). Having only reached the third floor while expending one-third of his energy, yet already alerting their enemies, retreat wasn't an option. If it came to it, he'd just take a spirit-energy pill.
"Take this sword." Mu Lichuan produced a Qi Refining stage sword from his spatial storage (keeping his Foundation Establishment stage one), not caring if the man could wield it. This would conserve their stamina and spiritual energy.
Mi Shen took the sword, sensing layers of comforting energy radiating from it, though he couldn't identify it. As for the sword's sudden appearance - everyone had secrets best left unasked.
He knew the youth's nighttime hospital investigation probably related to him. The timing was too precise - the boy must have discerned something from him.
Despite his harsh attitude and claims of indifference, Mu Lichuan wasn't truly cold-hearted. From saving him that first time, even when misunderstood, he'd sealed that evil-talking artifact.
Their pace slowed considerably now. Neither knew what awaited on the fourth floor - rushing would risk falling into traps.
"Another broken..." The masked man sounded shocked. With five checkpoints plus the hidden basement level making six total, two were already destroyed. Repairing them would be difficult.
Hearing this, the middle-aged man's face wrinkled like a bun. "Master, didn't you say no one in the capital could rival you?" After twenty years of preparation, would everything collapse at the final moment?
"You doubt me?" The masked man's glare left the other trembling and speechless.
"Master..." The middle-aged man finally exhaled in relief.
"Nothing is absolute in this world. If fate decrees you cannot seize the national fortune, so be it," the masked man repeated. "They've only cleared two levels. Let's see how they proceed."
If they destroyed all formations, it would prove they were no ordinary foes. There'd be no point confronting them - Heaven's Law would notice and eliminate him.
"A cliff? Illusion?" Mu Lichuan and Mi Shen stopped before towering mountains where one misstep meant plummeting into an abyss.
Had Mi Shen not known this was his uncle's hospital, he might have believed the vista real. Turning around, everything vanished.
"Our enemy has prepared quite the welcome." Mu Lichuan frowned. "My magic isn't strong enough for this." Not wanting to die here, he'd need the older man's help.
He looked at Mi Shen. "Summon all Taoists in the capital to storm this place together. Otherwise... this could become catastrophic."
Between the stolen life energy, the nurtured evil entities, and excessive yin energy - plus the "energy" missing from Mi Shen - it was dire.
"Your father would be greatly affected too." He couldn't explain further - he wasn't some supreme master capable of altering fate.
Mi Shen asked, "You're saying this building steals dragon energy?"
"That's one way to put it. As for who's behind it - we can guess, but they must have a formidable dark practitioner assisting them." Mu Lichuan said gravely.
"To break this illusion, we need your blood. I'm not proficient in this, and I'm just a beginner." Without ceremony, he took Mi Shen's hand, cut his finger, and began complex hand seals as crimson blood flowed.
"Pfft—" The masked man, preparing to spatially relocate and kill the intruders, never expected them to have a national fortune bearer.
Neither righteous nor dark practitioners dared provoke such individuals. Stealing "national fortune energy" transferred all karma to others - this direct backlash wounded him severely.
"Master?" Mi Rong's face filled with panic.
The masked man shook his head. "Your nephew must have discovered everything. This is his gift to you. Before they emerge, make worldly preparations to immobilize them - get the media involved!"
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