Eternal Life: My Talents Can Refresh

Chapter 370 - 181: Holding the Line

Since it was clear that Zou Huiqing and Song Li were in cahoots, having already killed Song Li, Chu Ning would never let him leave so easily.

Raising his left hand, he shot the Double Fire Ring Sub-Ring towards Zou Huiqing.

This Double Fire Ring, Chu Ning had almost never used it against an Early Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator before.

The three members of the Song Family, whether it was Song Li, Song Ye, or Song Cheng, were all Middle Stage Foundation Establishment cultivators or higher.

And as core members of the Song Family, each of them had some decent life-saving treasures.

So despite its considerable power, they could still barely resist it.

But at this moment, as Zou Huiqing faced the incoming Double Fire Ring, his pupils shrank rapidly.

He repeatedly took out multiple magical artifacts and talismans from his storage bag to activate.

Forming multiple layers of defensive shields around his body.

Yet these shields, under the attack of the Double Fire Sub-Ring, shattered like paper.

The Fiery Flame Ring struck Zou Huiqing, this cultivator who was only a step away from Middle Stage Foundation Establishment, had no power to resist.

The flames engulfed him, and Zou Huiqing was instantly killed by Chu Ning’s blow.

Chu Ning retracted the Double Fire Ring, gathering a fireball in his hand, intending to deal with Chen Xinming, the unfortunate so-called genius of the Chen Family.

Thinking for a moment, he paused.

"Since I formed a team with the other nine people, the other members of the Thousand Islands Alliance would surely know.

If Song Li had chased me outside the array, the other few might have already been killed by him inside the array.

If all nine were missing and I showed up, it would cause big trouble."

Moreover, Chu Ning had just noticed many people had already landed on the island and should soon reach the perimeter of the ancient array.

After pondering, Chu Ning looked at the Restriction Jade Token in his hand and soon had an idea.

He searched Chen Xinming and didn’t find a storage bag, guessing it might have been taken by Zou Huiqing and Song Li.

But neither of them appeared to have any extra storage bags.

Neither Chen Xinming’s nor the others’ storage bags were found by Chu Ning.

Chu Ning wasn’t really after the items on these people; he was examining Chen Xinming’s corpse.

"It’s strange, like those from the Yin Demon Sect who took a Blood Evil Pill, depleting a lot of their essence blood."

Chu Ning looked surprised.

"Could it be that Chen Xinming used some secret technique while fighting Song Li?"

Shaking his head, Chu Ning decided not to delve further.

He continued toward the depths of the Iron Meteorite Forest, while attempting to manipulate the ancient array of the Stone Forest with the Jade Token.

In just a short time, he had roughly figured it out.

Immediately, the defensive restrictions of the ancient array were mostly disabled, greatly reducing the array’s defensive power.

Meanwhile, the complexity of the array was far inferior to before.

After doing all this, Chu Ning continued deeper into the Stone Forest and casually sat on a meteorite iron.

"If nothing unexpected happens, Wen Linghua or Chen Xinming likely sent out a message just now.

The people coming from outside are most likely from the Thousand Islands Alliance.

Now that I have weakened the restrictions of the ancient array, if someone from the Cen Family who understands arrays appears, they will surely be able to undo it."

Despite having a plan, Chu Ning wasn’t careless.

Taking this time, Chu Ning took out the Reincarnation Ancient Disc from the storage bag, once again gathering and storing the Reincarnation Divine Light.

Then, he took and swallowed two pills.

"I’m running low on Nourishing Spirit Pills; it might be time to refine a batch when I get out."

He murmured to himself, sitting cross-legged to restore his magical power and spiritual sense.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Pinghu Island, Foundation Establishment cultivators were arriving one after another.

And at the spot where Chu Ning originally killed Song Li, nine people were now walking in two rows.

Four in front and five behind.

If Chu Ning saw them now, he would recognize the people at the back.

For among them were the very five middle stage Foundation Establishment cultivators who had sat atop the high platform during the Thousand Islands competition, except for Song Cheng.

However, none of these people were leading.

In the lead were four elders of a similar age to Song Li.

The aura of these people indicated that they were all late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

They were naturally the patriarchs of the Liu, Huo, Chen, and Bai families.

Among the six great clans of the Thousand Islands Alliance, the Cen Family patriarch had passed away, and Song Li was killed by Chu Ning.

Only a few late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators remained.

"There seemed to be a battle here just now."

A blue-robed elder slowly spoke.

"Brother Liu’s cultivation technique is extremely perceptive to the fluctuations of spiritual qi; did you sense anything more specific?"

Asked another elder with black hair and a mole on his face.

From his words, it was clear that the blue-robed elder was the Liu Family Patriarch, Liu Yishan.

Liu Yishan shook his head and replied to the other:

"The spiritual qi here has basically returned to normal, so I can’t perceive much more.

Brother Chen, now that you’ve received your clan member’s message, can you sense where they are?"

Being addressed as Brother Chen by Liu Yishan, in the Thousand Lakes and Thousand Islands, could only refer to the Chen Family Patriarch, Chen Chengzong.

With a mole on his face, Chen Chengzong nodded, a hint of worry showing.

"I received a message from my clan using a secret technique; the one on this island is my family’s Xinming. From the position, it appears to be ahead.

Let’s move quickly to prevent any accidents..."

Saying this, Chen Chengzong continued to fly rapidly forward.

And the others also followed suit.

However, Liu Yishan and a gray-robed elder exchanged a glance, seemingly unintentionally.

A group of nine proceeded forward and soon arrived outside this Iron Meteorite Forest.

"Hmm, there’s actually an array restriction set up here?"

Four elders stopped, and a tall, thin, long-faced elder spoke doubtfully.

Then, he turned his head towards Cen Wenquan at the back and said:

"Nephew Cen, come and see what this array restriction is all about."

Cen Wenquan stepped forward while saying:

"Junior Martial Uncle Bai, it’s truly strange. Our Cen Family had come to explore and study this Iron Meteorite Forest before.

It was deduced that there should be some kind of array here before, but the exact location wasn’t discovered."

This long-faced elder was the patriarch of the Bai Family, Bai Heng.

And the gray-clad elder who had just exchanged glances with Liu Yishan was naturally the patriarch of the Huo Family, Huo Zhenshan.

Chen Chengzong watched Cen Wenquan step forward and moved slightly to the side.

Once Cen Wenquan was parallel to him, he turned his head and said:

"Wenquan, now that the array has surfaced, it shouldn’t be too hard for you."

"I’ll give it a try." Cen Wenquan nodded.

He casually took out a Jade Talisman, activated it, and directly threw it into the array.

The Jade Talisman was directly thrown into the array restriction.

After a few breaths, it returned to Cen Wenquan’s hand.

Then, Cen Wenquan smiled and said:

"Although this array is an ancient one, many of the restrictions within have not been activated.

It seems to be a damaged array. Given a stick of incense’s time, I should be able to break it."

Saying this, Cen Wenquan began to break the array.

At this moment, within the array, Chu Ning, who held the Jade Token controlling the array,

was naturally well aware of the situation of the array.

Just as Cen Wenquan started to break the array, Chu Ning already sensed it.

"They’ve finally come, and they can break the array—there must be someone from the Cen Family."

Thinking this, Chu Ning didn’t mind and continued focusing on restoring his Divine Sense and Magical Power.

After a stick of incense’s time, Chu Ning opened his eyes again.

"The array is broken! I just wonder when they’ll find me."

Chu Ning smiled slightly, casting several spells onto the Jade Token in his hand.

The restrictions surrounding the array were broken, but due to Chu Ning’s actions, those entering the array would still occasionally trigger restrictions.

It would probably take at least half a day to truly find him.

At this moment, outside the array, Cen Wenquan smiled broadly and said:

"The restrictions around the array are broken; we can enter now."

Saying this, he was the first to enter the array.

As soon as he entered, Cen Wenquan’s face changed drastically.

Seeing Cen Wenquan like this, the people behind all secretly became cautious.

Chen Chengzong, following behind, asked:

"Wenquan, what’s the matter? Is something wrong?"

Hearing the question, Cen Wenquan opened his mouth but didn’t speak.

Chen Chengzong followed his gaze, and in the next moment...

"Xinming!"

A low cry filled with grief and anger came from Chen Chengzong’s mouth.

Hearing this, a middle-aged man at the rear quickly flashed into the array.

Seeing the shriveled and decapitated body of Chen Xinming, his face turned equally pale and flushed.

Both of them nearly simultaneously moved to Chen Xinming’s body.

Chen Chengzong’s eyes turned blood red as he roared:

"Song Li, you old bastard, I’ll skin you alive!"

By now, other members of the Thousand Islands Alliance from various families had also entered the array.

Seeing the situation, they looked at each other in disbelief.

Everyone’s expression was different, and the atmosphere became extraordinarily eerie.

Despite his grief, Chen Chengzong composed himself quickly, having weathered many storms before.

He turned and said:

"Song Li is likely still within this array, but we must guard against him escaping.

Brother Liu, Brother Bai, can you join Wenquan and me in searching the array?

Brother Huo, could you and my son Jiasheng stand guard outside the array?"

No one objected to Chen Chengzong’s arrangement.

Immediately, they split up to take action.

The current patriarch of the Chen Family, Chen Jiasheng, carried Chen Xinming’s body out of the array.

The Late Stage Cultivator Huo Zhenshan also exited the array along with the current patriarchs of the Huo and Liu Families, both Middle Stage Cultivators.

Chen Chengzong, meanwhile, began searching within the array along with Liu Yishan, Bai Heng, Cen Wenquan, and others.

As the search continued, the bodies of Wen Linghua and others were gradually found at different locations.

This made Chen Chengzong’s expression grow increasingly grim.

Chu Ning, holding the Jade Token, carefully observed everyone’s movements.

Until at one point, sitting in the northeast of the Iron Meteorite Forest, Chu Ning’s expression changed as he looked to his left.

"Here they come, quite a few of them, but I wonder who they are."