"Hehe, Brother Jiang, actually, if three Foundation Establishment cultivators tried to forcibly break this 'Melting Cave' without a special method, it would take quite a bit of effort. The three Daoists you saw on your way here were using the method of brute force. It's obvious that it's also their first time in the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. Although they know that the 'Melting Cave' requires three Foundation Establishment cultivators to break, they were not prepared and used immortal arts to blast the restriction." As he said this, Cheng Wenming slapped his waist, and a golden light flew out from his storage bag. He caught it in his hand. When the golden light dissipated, a Gold Talisman appeared in his hand, densely engraved with ancient script. These characters flowed slowly and continuously on the talisman paper, giving one a sense of mystery at a glance.
Looking at the Gold Talisman in his hand, Cheng Wenming felt a pang of heartache. This Gold Talisman had cost the three of them a full one thousand five hundred Spirit Stones. It was just that he was the one keeping it.
'This kid is getting a free ride. But none of us is a formation master. Apart from forcibly breaking the 'Melting Cave' restriction, there is no other way. That would consume too much magic power, and once we enter the 'Melting Cave,' it can't be recovered in a short time. We had to buy this talisman.' He still maintained a smile on his face, but he was complaining endlessly in his heart. If they didn't get the "Snow Sprite Lord" demonic core this time, the three of them would suffer a great loss on this trip.
Li Yan looked at the Gold Talisman. It should be a gold-type Talisman. Against yin and cold things, fire, thunder, lightning, and gold were all first-rate counters. But yin and cold things also had a counter-effect on these arts. It all depended on which was more powerful. Cheng Wenming's Gold Talisman was clearly not an ordinary item. Although Li Yan was not a master of artifact refining or talisman making, his eye for things was not what it used to be. He understood that this Gold Talisman must have cost Cheng Wenming and the others a lot of Spirit Stones. He cupped his fists at Cheng Wenming but said nothing.
Seeing Li Yan acknowledge his gesture, Cheng Wenming also turned to face the wall. Ye Xiuwen, not far from him, glanced at Li Yan standing at the back and immediately sent a voice transmission, "Are we really not going to let that kid help out? It would be a good idea just to make him consume some of his magic power."
Cheng Wenming, however, still had a smile on his face. He did not specifically look at Ye Xiuwen but replied via voice transmission, "No need. It's better for him to save his magic power!" But he chuckled aloud and said to Ye Xiuwen and the other, "Then let's start quickly!" Then he threw the Gold Talisman in his hand towards the snow cave entrance. The Gold Talisman grew with the wind, instantly expanding to the height of a person. Ten thousand golden lights burst from the talisman, illuminating the surrounding ten li in a crimson-gold color, plating the originally dreamlike long wall of ice and snow with a layer of golden light.
At the same time, a sharp glint flashed in the eyes of Cheng Wenming, Ye Xiuwen, and Tan Zeshan. They each formed hand seals and cast spells at the Gold Talisman floating at the cave entrance. Cheng Wenming had one hand behind his back, while the other's fingers flicked continuously, appearing somewhat relaxed and free. One after another, red glows shot towards the golden Talisman. Although he was stout, for a moment he appeared quite imposing. Ye Xiuwen and Tan Zeshan, on the other hand, looked as if they were from the same sect. Both held an Iron Scroll Cinnabar Book. It was just that Ye Xiuwen's was blackish-green, as if he were holding a piece of refined steel, while Tan Zeshan's was dark purple, resembling a book of red sandalwood.
All three of them were holding magical treasures. According to the realms in the cultivation world, it was truly rare for every Foundation Establishment cultivator to have a magical treasure. But now, Li Yan found it normal. Since he started training alone, the people he met were all veteran Foundation Establishment cultivators, such as Zhuo Lingfeng, Bloodhand Flying Sickle, and others. Their magical treasures were good or bad, but they all possessed one. Their identities were either the vice-master of a sect or a former prodigy.
And the three people before him were all capable of entering the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. They either had a powerful force behind them or possessed immense wealth, so it was starting to seem common for Foundation Establishment cultivators to have magical treasures. All this could only be said to be that the people Li Yan met all had their own backgrounds. Even the He Brothers were giants of the Demonic Path.
Both Ye Xiuwen and the other held their books in one hand and pressed the other on the cinnabar scroll. Streams of Spirit Power shot from the gaps between their five fingers, from the surface of the Iron Scroll Cinnabar Book towards the golden Talisman, like sharp arrows speeding away.
Ye Xiuwen's rain of spiritual power arrows was a brilliant green, while Tan Zeshan's were like black arrows. One of them was a wood-type Foundation Establishment expert, and the other a water-type Foundation Establishment expert. Li Yan had learned this over the past half-day when they were attacking demonic beasts. But the three of them had always thought Li Yan was a fire-type cultivator, possibly with a three- or four-type spirit root, because the fire-type divine abilities Li Yan had shown did not feel particularly powerful to the three of them.
The golden Talisman, struck by the overwhelming spiritual power, began to become more and more restless. Floating in the air, it began to twist and undulate like a golden banner waving in the wind, emitting a "hua, hua, hua" sound. Then, on the back of the golden Talisman, the side facing the snow cave entrance, one golden script character after another, as if struck with full force from the front, was forcibly peeled off the Talisman and shot out. Each golden character, like a nail, made a "xiu, xiu, xiu" sound as it shot into the snow cave entrance. But the moment these golden characters entered the cave, streams of bone-chillingly cold wind would blow out from within, directly hitting the golden script. These golden characters would immediately freeze in the air, as if pinched by invisible fingers.
After being stimulated by the bone-chilling wind, the golden script, the moment it was blocked, would turn into brilliant starlight, making the already golden light even more dazzling. While emitting a scorching glow, the starlight at the edges of each character grew brighter and larger, expanding outwards. Finally, the edges of these characters, frozen at the cave entrance by the bone-chilling wind, began to connect with each other, slowly forming a large golden net. The light grew even more intense, but the bone-chilling winds could not form a sheet. Many of the yin winds shot straight through the mesh of the net, some hitting the back of the Talisman, stirring up more golden script to fall off the back of the Gold Talisman and float, directly melting the yin wind. Some of the yin winds blew from both sides of the Gold Talisman at the cave entrance towards the distance.
Li Yan only felt waves of yin wind, as if blowing from the Nine Hells, coming towards his face. Although it was still tens of zhang away, it made his skin crawl and ache faintly.
'The restriction at the entrance of the 'Melting Cave' is indeed refined from so-called Vicious Souls. Even the attacks carry a resentful aura. If a mortal were to be touched by it, their soul would dissolve in a moment, and their bones would turn into a pool of blood. Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would find it extremely difficult to resist for long.' A layer of flame suddenly ignited on the surface of Li Yan's body, and the chill on his body immediately dissipated a lot. But in his mind, dozens of twisted and ferocious faces appeared, some with blood dripping from their eye sockets, some with several black holes on their faces, their eyes deathly pale, and other terrifying visages, making one fearful at the sight.
Li Yan's powerful Divine Sense turned into balls of raging fire and swept towards the dozens of faces that had infiltrated his mind without any politeness. A series of shrill screams echoed in his mind. There were extremely vicious curses, and ferocious faces rushing towards Li Yan. Immediately after, they were all annihilated in the raging fire of his Divine Sense, and Li Yan's mind became peaceful.
Li Yan frowned. He hadn't expected the restriction here to be so powerful. He had only been affected by some of the triggered restriction's aftereffects. These yin winds not only attacked the body but also launched a devastating attack on the mind. If a low-level cultivator were here, even if they weren't frozen stiff by the bone-piercing yin wind, their mind would be invaded in a moment, and they might even directly become a walking corpse. Thinking of this, Li Yan couldn't help but retreat a little further, and his Spirit Power shield also increased severalfold.
All of this was seen by Cheng Wenming and the other two. They couldn't help but sneer in their hearts. In fact, the yin wind that had leaked from both sides of the Gold Talisman just now was deliberately done by them. They just wanted Li Yan to suffer a small loss, to let him know how much effort the three of them were putting in. With their experience of entering the Melting Cave several times, they could freely control the power of a Gold Talisman. Even if there were minor omissions, they wouldn't let so much blow out, because in that situation, the three of them would also have to consume Spirit Power to defend against the attacks of the leaked Vicious Souls.
Li Yan, of course, did not know this. This was his first time here. He thought the restriction at the entrance of the Melting Cave was extremely powerful, and it was only natural for there to be some aftereffects.
Just like that, after another half an incense stick's worth of time, the large net woven by the Gold Talisman finally moved to the top of the cave entrance, then slowly fell towards the Melting Cave entrance. Finally, as if the dust had settled, it covered the cave entrance. At the same time, the Gold Talisman floating in the air finally became a smooth golden sheet of paper, with not a single script character remaining, and its golden light was also rapidly dimming.
Then came a loud explosion. The golden net rolled up a sky full of flying snow and burst open. The Talisman that had lost its golden script and was floating at the cave entrance also turned into specks of golden light at the same time and quickly dissipated into the sky.
Only then did the three of them let out a long breath. Their faces were somewhat pale. It was clear that in this half an incense stick's worth of time, although they had the help of the Talisman, their magic power consumption was also quite huge.
After Cheng Wenming regulated his breath for a moment, he turned to look at Li Yan. "Brother Jiang, it's done!"
Li Yan flew over from a distance. Looking at the cave entrance, from which smoke was still faintly rising, he couldn't help but praise in his heart, 'This talisman is truly powerful. Those three Daoists over there are still breaking the restriction. It seems it will still take a lot of time.' In Li Yan's Divine Sense, the three Daoists he had met before were still forcibly breaking the restriction together. They were completely unaware of Li Yan's Divine Sense probe.
"Fellow Daoist Cheng, your methods are truly impressive. You broke it in just half an incense stick's time." Li Yan said this, but in his heart, the idea of finding another Melting Cave entrance to try the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief arose, but he immediately dismissed it. Although the three people before him might have impure intentions, with Li Yan's current cultivation, he naturally didn't care. If the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief had no effect on the restriction formed by the Vicious Souls, wouldn't he have to find someone else to team up with to enter the Melting Cave? Going back and forth like that would waste too much time.
...
The four of them flew slowly through the cave. After entering, Li Yan discovered that the scene inside was completely different from what he had seen from the outside. The space inside was still very large. Even if ten people flew side by side, it would still feel more than spacious enough.
Inside the cave, whether it was the ground, the walls, or the ceiling, all were covered with a thick layer of ice and snow. This ice and snow was very peculiar; it could emit a faint blue light, illuminating the entire cave, making it quiet and profound. As the cave twisted and turned ahead, from the deeper, dark blue depths, a cold wind would blow from time to time, bringing with it a "woo-woo" whistling sound.