Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments

Chapter 322 - 178: Artifact Spirit: You’re Not Here for the Inheritance?

In front of the main mausoleum of the Yellow Springs Traveling Palace.

Beneath a colossal Bronze Gate, six black-robed figures stood, obscuring the view into the mausoleum.

Billowing Demonic Qi swirled before them, occasionally morphing into the shapes of ferocious beasts or outlining various weapons like axes and hooks.

Over a dozen people lay strewn across the ground, all of them Cultivators who had tried to storm the mausoleum.

But whether they were Loose Cultivators or Sect Disciples, Demon-slaying Guards from the Lingyuan Sect or True Disciples from the Cyan Cloud Sect, all of them had fallen before the gate without exception.

Over seventy Foundation Establishment Cultivators had the area completely surrounded, yet none dared to press the attack.

With their advantage in numbers, they could have easily worn down the six Demon Cultivators; if every person cast just one Magic, it would have been enough to finish them.

But the six were hiding behind the Bronze Gate, and under the protection of the Demonic Qi, long-range attacks simply lacked the power to threaten them.

And the Bronze Gate was narrow, only allowing five people to pass through at once.

Moreover, the six Demon Cultivators wielded Demon Soldiers. Under these disadvantageous conditions, even a Cultivator at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment was no match for them.

The slightest mistake would cost them their head.

Someone had tried to organize a war of attrition, sending in waves of attackers, but the debate over who would go in the first few waves to wear down the enemy never ceased.

Some Cultivators had also tried to organize five top experts to charge in at once, but they found they didn’t have enough people.

The Divine Fire Sect had planned this out clearly. They hadn’t intercepted the top-tier Foundation Establishment Cultivators who arrived in the first two days.

Instead, they sealed the mausoleum entrance on the third day after the Traveling Palace opened.

This meant that among the Orthodox Cultivators who arrived late, while their total numbers were greater, very few possessed outstanding individual strength.

On top of that, some Cultivators discovered that the side halls also contained Magical Artifacts or Secret Manuals.

So they simply left to go treasure hunting in the side halls on their own.

Gradually, nearly half the Cultivators departed. Two Great Perfection Foundation Establishment Cultivators also lost patience and followed them to the side halls, further weakening the assembled forces of the Righteous Dao.

Thus, the standoff had already lasted for two full days.

Yet the entrance to the main mausoleum remained firmly in the Divine Fire Sect’s grasp.

More and more Cultivators began to waver, debating whether to give up on the main mausoleum and try their luck elsewhere.

After all, so much time had passed, and it didn’t look like any new Cultivators would be arriving.

However, just as more Cultivators were about to leave, they saw a large group approaching from behind, walking abreast.

There were nearly a hundred of them.

Leading the group was a young man who looked to be in his twenties. A closer look revealed it was none other than Xiao Chen.

"Xiao?"

Yao Dehai almost thought his eyes were deceiving him. "It really is you! And Yang is here too. This is wonderful!"

"I thought you two would have been inside the mausoleum long ago."

Because he had spent time in the labyrinth looking after other Cultivators he encountered, he had emerged two days late and missed the earlier window of opportunity.

As a result, he’d been stuck here ever since.

During that time, he had tried to organize the others, but was never able to get them to cooperate.

The Cultivators from the nearby Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers and the Cyan Cloud Sect’s territory were unwilling to fully trust his arrangements.

Now, as Xiao Chen’s group approached, a cluster of female Cultivators in the distance also turned to look.

They were almost all from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers, and their leader seemed to be a True Disciple who had also arrived late.

After seeing the fate of the Cyan Cloud Sect’s True Disciple, she refused to participate in any assault, choosing instead to stay put and wait for the situation to change.

Yao Dehai had been very anxious. After all, most of the stronger Cultivators had already gone inside.

If they didn’t take a chance now, all the good things inside might be gone.

That was why he was so shocked to see Xiao Chen. ’With his abilities, how could he have arrived so late?’

His line of thinking wasn’t wrong.

In fact, if Xiao Chen had arrived on the first day, he would indeed have been inside the mausoleum long ago.

But it didn’t matter. Arriving now wasn’t too late.

After all, collecting Evil Qi was extremely time-consuming. Even if one arrived early, they couldn’t take it away immediately and would still have to gather it slowly.

The two parties exchanged a few simple pleasantries before Yao Dehai gave a concise summary of the current situation.

"Xiao, Yang, you two should rest for a bit."

"Later, we’ll coordinate with Mr. Huo and Xu and try to charge in together."

The Mr. Huo and Xu that Yao Dehai mentioned were two Loose Cultivators from Li State and the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers, respectively, both at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment.

Including himself, that made exactly five people.

"No need to rest. I’m not tired."

Xiao Chen waved his hand, rejecting the suggestion. "So it’s just those six blocking the entrance?"

"They’re just a few rats hiding in the Demonic Qi, too scared to come out. Leave them all to me."

Yao Dehai heard this and was about to try and persuade him otherwise, but then he saw that Yang Huai’an remained perfectly still.

He found it strange. ’What’s going on here?’

"Xiao, hello, I’m..."

The True Disciple from the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers saw Xiao Chen approaching and also wanted to offer a word of caution, but halfway through her sentence, she saw him walk straight forward.

He entered the billowing Demonic Qi without a backward glance.

The six Demon Cultivators inside had naturally heard his recent assessment of them.

Seeing Xiao Chen approach, they immediately activated a Secret Technique to guide the Demonic Qi and suppress him.

Compared to the Demon Cultivators in the labyrinth, their use of Demonic Qi was clearly more skillful and advanced.

The Demonic Qi gathered in layer after layer, condensing as if it were a solid substance.

In the end, it wrapped tightly around Xiao Chen like a cocoon.

Under these circumstances, the power of any Magic used would be suppressed to less than thirty percent of its original strength.