Hidden Moth-Chapter 501 - 284: A Universe in the Jar, Hustle Within

Chapter 501: Chapter 284: A Universe in the Jar, Hustle Within

This is a set of exquisite Four Seasons Flower Screens, but they are also a complete set of array artifacts, forming a guardian array. All the flying swords were blocked, and even the Formless Wind Arrows hidden within couldn’t penetrate.

The Magic Sect has several magical treasures passed down by ancestral masters, each either mighty or marvelously mystical, but Guo Qianhuai returned them when he retired into seclusion. He himself is an artifact refining master, and this set of Four Seasons Screens is his proud creation made by his own hands.

Then Jiang Daozhen casually extended a hand with his palm facing forward, resembling a traffic officer signaling a stop, yet he remained seated on his small stool.

A scene of light and shadow appeared ahead, as if an invisible curtain rose in the void, and upon closer inspection, the pattern on the curtain turned out to be his enlarged palm print. The disorderly swords struck the light curtain and instantly vanished, transformed by mana and then dissipated by mana.

That palm print actually began to change, transforming with intersecting lines into a chessboard pattern. Black and white chess pieces vaguely emerged on the board, their positions seemingly ever-changing, akin to a chess notation of fierce battle.

The opposite Guo Qianhuai laughed and said, "Xiaojiang, you sure can put on a show!"

Jiang Daozhen replied, "Just a little skill, excuse my display!"

Jiang Daozhen did not use any magical artifacts, relying solely on his self-created technique to confront the enemy. His technique evolved from a secret transmission of the Lingxi Sect combined with the array concepts of the Heart Plate Sect, named Showmanship.

He has set up a chess stall for decades, with a chessboard usually displaying Chinese chess, but when flipped, it becomes Go.

Though Master Dan Qiu and his disciple’s offensive was fierce, this technique alone couldn’t overcome these two experts, at least not in a short time, but they had other plans.

They continuously waved folding fans, with unending attacks, while their figures leapt towards the direction of the Ancestral Hall at high speed. Their actions were merely to hinder the enemy; Master Dan Qiu’s real intention was to charge into the Ancestral Hall to seize control of the array core.

Elder Jiang’s previous words also made sense; relying only on Tier Five Cultivation Geng Yanxin alone, he couldn’t truly control the array core. Even if he could use the core to cast spells from afar, he might not be able to stably suppress Guo Qianhuai and Jiang Daozhen.

But if replaced by him, a Tier Six Alchemist, to control the Immortal Pot Grotto Heaven, it would be foolproof.

Originally, they were only a hundred or so zhang away from the Ancestral Hall. At their speed, they could reach it in an instant. How could the two old men fail to notice their intention, yet they still remained in position, attacking without defending?

On the other side, Master Dan Qiu shouted loudly, "Geng Yanxin!"

He had already acted. It stands to reason that Geng Yanxin should use the array core to perform long-distance spellcasting to assist, possibly saving effort and subduing the two old men more easily. Why hadn’t he responded yet?

This shout was indeed effective. Suddenly, a voice carrying a strong wind roared from above: "Shut your damn mouth..."

The scene was too bizarre; who has ever seen a staff that could curse? It was a long staff that looked like peeled tree vine, two meters three long, with one end thick and the other thin.

The vine staff cursed while striking from above, sounding like Elder Gu’s accent?

The two old men present burst into laughter. Jiang Daozhen chuckled, "Want to play sneak attack with us? Look, this is a real sneak attack!"

This was just too sudden. Fortunately, Master Dan Qiu was an expert, noticing something was amiss as the long staff flew. He commanded his disciple with Divine Thought to cooperate, both Yin Yang Wind and Fire Fans swinging vigorously, seeming to unleash dragons of black and white spiraling out.

The flying staff struck the dragons, causing them to cry and shatter, dust rising from the ground with scattered debris. When the dust settled, master and disciple were found standing back to back, feet sunk into the soil.

If Master Dan Qiu hadn’t protected his disciple, that strike might have claimed the young man’s life.

The long staff stood not far ahead, like a person blocking between Master Dan Qiu and disciple and the Ancestral Hall, surrounding them along with the other two experts in a triangle formation.

The long staff made a single strike and withdrew, clearly intending to negotiate, likely to persuade them to surrender. However, master and disciple steadied their formation but suddenly showed savage expressions, resolutely wielding their fans to forcefully charge towards the Ancestral Hall.

They also recognized the key point, something must have gone wrong with Geng Yanxin, and the urgent task was to seize the array core to gain control.

When they moved, the long staff flew again, leading to a major battle just before the Ancestral Hall gates... smoke and dust rose again, dissipating mana bursting outward, even Divine Sense was in chaos.

In the swirling smoke, black and white energy flames circled, wavering yet unable to break through the Eight-direction Staff Shadow.

Guo Qianhuai and Jiang Daozhen did not engage, merely standing far to the rear flanking the array, casting spells to contain the sweeping waves, limiting the damage area to within a hundred zhang, meanwhile still exchanging thoughts.

Guo Qianhuai: "Are we just standing here watching the show?"

Jiang Daozhen: "We indeed aren’t skilled at fighting, mostly focusing on flanking the array to prevent their desperate breakout. Although they can’t escape, it’s not good to cause widespread damage in the Grotto Heaven."

Guo Qianhuai: "Do they have other aces up their sleeve left unused?"

Jiang Daozhen: "Since they dared to come and continue fighting in this situation, they certainly have some reliance."

Guo Qianhuai sighed inwardly: "Records of internal chaos from a millennium ago are severely lacking, even we don’t know which treasures have scattered abroad... The ones they’re using now should be those two Yin Yang Wind and Fire Fans."

Yin Yang Wind and Fire Fan, a treasure crafted by the ancestral master of the Alchemy Sect, is a set of very special magical artifacts comprising eight fans. They can be used separately, whether two fans, three fans... all can form an array.

If all eight Yin Yang Wind and Fire Fans are assembled with eight experts simultaneously wielding them, it becomes the powerful Eight Gates Wind and Fire Array. In the internal chaos of the Magic Sect a millennium ago, two fans were lost, and the remaining six are now stored in the Alchemy Sect’s treasury.

At this moment, Master Dan Qiu and his disciple each holding a fan performed the twin fan version of the Yin Yang Wind and Fire Array.

The true Eight Gates Wind and Fire Array could be both powerfully strong and subtly delicate. Its actual ancient use was to fan the flame for alchemy furnaces.

That was the Sect’s Sacred Artifact—the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace, rumored to have infinite mystical uses with an inherent Eight Gates Wind and Fire Array. The ancestral master crafted a set of fans based on its array principles.

Unfortunately, not only were two Yin Yang Wind and Fire Fans lost, but even the Eight Trigrams Purple Gold Furnace’s whereabouts became unknown a millennium ago.

Jiang Daozhen: "At least today, we can retrieve these two Wind and Fire Fans."

Guo Qianhuai looked towards the distant battlefield: "Their cultivation isn’t weak; if I were to face them, I couldn’t win... But what kind of dance are they doing, twisting like that?"

Jiang Daozhen: "Looks like street dance."

The two were certainly not dancing; they aimed to break through the blockade of the Eight Wind Staff and enter the Ancestral Hall, still coordinating the Yin Yang Wind and Fire Array in magical combat, causing their figures to continually twist... 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Gu Qianhuai frowned: "The best way to perform the Yin Yang Wind and Fire Array is for a man and woman pairing. Why does their dance seem neither masculine nor feminine?"

Jiang Daozhen: "Hearing you, I truly can’t discern their orientation; I’ve heard there are over ninety kinds there..."

The two elders chatted enthusiastically but Master Dan Qiu and his disciple were alarmed. The mysterious adversary, unseen, leveraged the array core to cast spells from afar, suppressing their Yin Yang Wind and Fire Array.

Master Dan Qiu indeed wanted to break through and leave, but if the Grotto Heaven Gate was closed, no matter where they fled, they’d be within this Grotto Heaven, where the opponent’s technique could reach instantly.

Finally unable to hold back, he cast a spell and shouted, "Who are you?"

The long staff emitted a wave-like sound: "I am Gu Chun!"

Master Dan Qiu was shocked: "Gu Chun, Elder Gu Chun of the Heart Plate Sect, this can’t be!"

The young man who hadn’t spoken all along finally exclaimed: "Aren’t you at Mount Everest?"

Gu Chun: "What’s it to you where I am!"

Master Dan Qiu: "How can you control the Alchemy Sect’s Grotto Heaven Array Core?"

This was the true doubt, the reason Master Dan Qiu couldn’t believe it. Upon hearing, Gu Chun laughed heartily: "Ignorant! Over fifty years ago, I was a disciple of the Alchemy Sect."

**