When they returned to Kaoshan Village, night had fallen. Bonfires were lit in the village; rescued villagers, surrounded by family members, embraced and wept loudly, the relief of surviving mingled with uncertainty about the future filling every face. Chen Feng and Lin Wan had already set up simple warning formations around the village and distributed some pills to strengthen the foundation and boost energy to injured villagers.
Xiao Qi's arms were temporarily fixed by Mu Qingfeng using spiritual wood branches and bandages; taking healing pills internally, though his face was still pale, his aura was much more stabilized. He was arranged to rest in a relatively clean village house; Liu Yun and Mu Qingfeng, with that black jade slip found on the Iron Mask Enforcer, set up a soundproof barrier and began careful investigation.
The jade slip felt ice-cold to the touch, its material neither gold nor jade; its surface inscribed with dark gold snake-shaped patterns similar to those on Shadow Snake Pavilion clothing, just more complex and sinister. Mu Qingfeng attempted to probe with his spiritual sense; the jade slip surface immediately manifested a layer of black light, blocking his spiritual sense, a cold, violent aura rebounding, making his brow slightly frown.
"There is a very strong restriction; forcibly breaking it might damage the information within," Mu Qingfeng said in a deep voice.
Liu Yun extended her hand: "Let me try." She concentrated a strand of extremely condensed ice-cold sword energy at her fingertip, carefully approaching the jade slip. Sword energy and black light contacted, producing subtle hissing sounds, mutually annihilating. Liu Yun's forehead quickly beaded with fine sweat drops; this was not a clash of power, but a confrontation of energy control precise to the extreme.
Time passed bit by bit; just as Liu Yun's face turned slightly pale, her spiritual energy consumption huge, that layer of black light finally, like snow and ice melting, appeared a tiny gap.
"Now!" Liu Yun lowly shouted; her spiritual sense like a fine needle, instantly stabbing into the jade slip interior from that gap! A flood of information, like a breached dam's flood, poured into Liu Yun's mind. Her face instantly became extremely grave, even carrying a trace of unbelievable terror.
After a moment, she withdrew her spiritual sense; the jade slip surface's black light resealed, but that blocking force seemed weakened. She handed the jade slip to Mu Qingfeng, her voice carrying unprecedented heaviness: "Brother, you look too. The situation... is more serious than we imagined."
Mu Qingfeng took the jade slip; this time his spiritual sense entered smoothly. When he saw the content recorded in the jade slip, despite his steady temperament, he could not help but gasp, his face becoming extremely unpleasant.
The jade slip did not contain a complete technique or plan; it mainly consisted of two parts. The first part was an incomplete yet terrifying formation structure diagram. The formation's core area depicted a huge vortex seemingly able to devour everything; around the vortex connected countless fine, like blood vessels, energy channels; at the channel ends were fuzzy light spots representing living gathering places. Beside the formation diagram, in ancient demon script, the formation's name was marked **Myriad Soul Devouring Spirit Formation!** Just this name alone was enough to make one imagine horrific scenes of mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, myriad souls wailing.
The formation diagram, though incomplete, observing a small portion revealed the whole picture; one could see this formation's core used massive and yin evil aura as fuel, propelling that core vortex to erupt with world-destroying might. Its purpose was absolutely not simple killing, but more like... sacrifice and transformation.
The second part were some scattered information records. They explicitly mentioned "Holy Lord Revival," "Purifying Source," "Key" and other terms, confirming the earlier prisoners' testimony. More importantly, it recorded several locations seemingly for deploying the Myriad Soul Devouring Spirit Formation's sub-formations or collecting resources, with coordinates and brief information. One highlighted as the next target was located three thousand li away, a large marsh area named **Blackwater Marsh**! There the environment was harsh, yin energy converged, scattered with many tribes and wandering cultivators surviving on marsh resources; though the population was not dense, the area was extremely vast, if enveloped by the demon formation, the consequences would be unimaginable!
The information in the jade slip, like tearing open a corner of thick fog, allowed Shadow Snake Pavilion's enormous and evil conspiracy, for the first time, to present itself in a relatively clear yet even more terrifying form before them. This was not merely collecting materials and living beings, but deploying a demon formation! Its purpose directly aimed at that so-called Holy Lord's revival!
Mu Qingfeng slowly put down the jade slip, exchanging glances with Liu Yun; both saw deep shock and urgency in each other's eyes. "Myriad Soul Devouring Spirit Formation... records from ancient times described it as a forbidden demon formation, harming heaven and earth, long lost. I did not expect Shadow Snake Pavilion to obtain the deployment method, daring to defy all under heaven..." Mu Qingfeng's voice was somewhat dry.
"They have gone mad." Liu Yun's tone was ice-cold, "For that Holy Lord, they spare no countless living beings. Blackwater Marsh... we must immediately send the intelligence back to the sect and notify the Righteous Alliance! We absolutely cannot let their formation be successfully deployed!"
"And this jade slip," Mu Qingfeng pointed to the black jade slip, "its restriction is extraordinary; it is probably not just recording information simply, perhaps having positioning or communication functions. We may have alarmed them by breaking the restriction."
Just then, outside the soundproofed village house, Chen Feng's voice with a slight sense of urgency arrived: "Senior Brother Mu! Senior Sister Liu! During our patrol outside the village, we discovered some suspicious traces; it seems people of unidentified identity were watching from a distance; they moved extremely fast, we could not catch them!"
Liu Yun and Mu Qingfeng's faces changed again. "Looks like our movements did attract attention, or rather, the Iron Mask Enforcer's death made them aware." Liu Yun quickly made a decision, "We cannot stay here! Immediately gather everyone, evacuate tonight, return to the sect!"
"What about these villagers..." Mu Qingfeng looked at those shocked faces outside the window.
"Bring them along!" Liu Yun said decisively, "Shadow Snake Pavilion acts viciously; after we leave, they will likely vent their rage here, massacring the village. We cannot leave them to die."
Orders were quickly relayed. Villagers, though terrified and reluctant to leave their homeland, feared the man-eating demon lair and unknown dangers even more; organized by Clear Void Temple disciples, they hastily packed a few valuables, supporting the old and young, treading the night, embarking on the road to Clear Void Temple.
The group silently advanced through the night, the atmosphere oppressive. Xiao Qi was arranged to sit on a borrowed ox cart, his arms still aching, but his thoughts were entirely on the intelligence revealed by that jade slip. Myriad Soul Devouring Spirit Formation... Blackwater Marsh... Holy Lord Revival... These terms swirled in his mind. He touched the jade pendant in his chest, feeling the warm and peaceful purifying power within. This power seemed to be the key to Shadow Snake Pavilion's plan, the "Purifying Source" they craved and dreaded. He raised his head, gazing toward Clear Void Temple's direction, his gaze, after layers of tribulation, becoming infinitely resolute. No matter what plotting and storm lay ahead, he must become stronger, to protect those he wants to protect, to sever this spreading evil. This small jade slip, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, completely broke the temporary tranquility, pulling forward the curtain on a massive storm sweeping across the world.