Chapter 1014: Wind Nails

The grand witch priest tapped her foot, transforming into a streak of evasion light that soared upward. Old Devil Fang and the other cultivators followed closely behind.

Before long, they arrived at a mysterious valley. The valley was utterly silent, not a soul in sight.

Sweeping her gaze across the area, the grand witch priest flashed forward into the deepest part of the valley, where she stopped before an ancient barrier between two towering cliff faces. The interior of the valley was pitch-black, like the mouth of a void.

That black glow was formed by countless thin filaments, extensions of the ancient barrier embedded within the cliffs. The threads crisscrossed densely, sealing off the entire valley entrance. They were fine as hair, insubstantial, yet deadly.

Human cultivators turned pale at their sight, not daring to approach a single strand. This place had already claimed the lives of many. Fortunately, the barrier remained dormant unless one intruded upon it.

"The Sky Tower is clearly the ruin of an ancient human sword sect. Why would a relic of the witch race be hidden here?" Standing before the barrier, Old Devil Fang still harbored doubts.

The grand witch priest fixed her gaze on the depths of the barrier and said calmly, "Who can say whether the humans and our witch race were enemies or allies in the ancient era? Within Seven-Kill Hall, there are not only remnants of human cultivators, traces of the witch and demon races also remain. The fact that we can cultivate human arts already proves something. And while the humans cannot decipher these barriers, our witch race might."

As she spoke, the grand witch priest turned her palm over and produced two black, nail-shaped treasures.

Infusing them with her true essence, the nails began to glow faintly azure from within, revealing intricate azure runes. At the sharp ends of the nails, tiny whirlwinds began to form, spinning faster until they turned a clear azure.

"The last time I came here was fraught with peril, and I gained nothing. That was because I couldn’t shake off Lingzhuzi. With him lurking nearby, I couldn’t bring out these two Wind Nails and had to resort to other means. Yet this treasure is the perfect key as it can restrain the barrier here better than anything else."

The grand witch priest flicked her finger. "Go!"

Bang! Bang!

The two nails shot forward, embedding themselves deep into the cliffs on either side.

The stone walls trembled violently. The black light inside churned like thick black water on the verge of bursting out. A violent gale suddenly erupted from the valley, its epicenter where the two Wind Nails had landed.

The grand witch priest formed hand seals, pouring all her power into activating the treasures.

Gradually, the black light along the cliffs calmed. Many of the crisscrossing threads dimmed and vanished completely. In an instant, the dense web of black lines thinned dramatically. Though still dangerous, they no longer posed a threat to cultivators of their level. Even so, the grand witch priest, despite her vast cultivation, felt somewhat drained.

She turned toward two elderly witch cultivators behind her. "Elder Feng, Elder Yue, stay here. Do not let the human cultivators take the Wind Nails."

The elders said solemnly. "Rest assured, Grand Witch Priest. We will defend this place with our lives if we must."

She gave a soft chuckle. "No need to die pointlessly. If humans approach before our return, conceal yourselves with the nails. Wait until they leave before coming back."

"Yes!"

One elder sat cross-legged on the ground, while the other flashed out of the valley to keep watch.

After making all the arrangements, the grand witch priest nodded to Old Devil Fang and led the rest into the barrier.

The black threads within remained chaotic and perilous. The group moved cautiously, weaving through the narrow gaps between them as they ventured deeper.

The valley extended far beyond their expectations. Beneath their feet lay bare rock, and above them stretched an unseen height. They seemed to be walking within an enormous gorge. Aside from the black threads, nothing else existed.

The grand witch priest and Old Devil Fang took the lead while the others followed silently behind, spaced wide apart to avoid triggering the barrier by mistake.

After some distance, the grand witch priest suddenly stopped. She glanced around, then brushed her hand across her waist and drew out a pitch-black stone disk engraved with a few simple symbols.

Raising it with one hand, she began chanting an obscure incantation. Intricate tattoos shimmered to life across her pale wrist, which was delicate yet filled with power.

No one was surprised. Those tattoos represented divine patterns, the true source of the witch race’s strength, alongside their life-bound insect gu.

Unfortunately, the divine pattern path had long reached its limit, no greater than the human Qi Refining Realm. Every witch cultivator present had once studied the path of divine patterns, yet none had succeeded.

By contrast, the life-bound insect gu held promise. Some had even glimpsed a new Great Dao through it. At that thought, several witch cultivators instinctively looked toward Old Devil Fang.

He had abandoned his human body, merging with an insect gu to transcend his limits. This was a shocking act even among the witch race. But if that granted a greater chance to reach the Spiritual Infant Realm, many would have made the same choice.

After that, Old Devil Fang grew increasingly reclusive, cultivating in the Spiritual Cicada Cave, taking no disciples and sharing none of his secrets. No one knew whether he would pass on his forbidden techniques to future generations after his death.

Old Devil Fang himself remained silent, simply watching the grand witch priest’s actions.

Ding!

The stone disk quivered in her hand.

As she invoked the power of her divine patterns, countless threads of rain fell around her, veiling the air in a hazy shimmer. It looked beautiful like a maiden dancing in the rain, but it was happening in the heart of a deadly ancient barrier.

The raindrops brushed past the black threads, missing them by the thinnest margin. Her control was exquisite, precise to the point of perfection.

Drip... Drip...

The falling rain gathered within the stone disk. The strange symbols etched upon it began to glow and shift, as if coming alive. Within the disk, waves surged like a stormy sea.

The grand witch priest extended a finger and lightly stirred the waters. The waves rolled toward one edge of the disk, crashing against its rim, trying to spill outward but unable to break through.

Seeing this, the grand witch priest raised her head, her eyes gleaming. "It’s there!"

The group moved at once. The grand witch priest led the way, stone disk in hand. Old Devil Fang ranged around them as a lookout, ready to prevent any mishap that might disturb the grand witch priest.

They walked like this for a long time. They found nothing, and just as impatience began to set in, an unexpected sight appeared. Ahead of them, the black threads formed by the barrier vanished into thin air, revealing a circular stone hall with no plaque and not a trace of writing.

Weathered and mottled, the hall exuded an ancient aura, clearly not a thing of the present age. After a brief survey, they found the entrance. It was a massive, oblong slab of stone.

Like a giant stele, it stood upright before them as the door to the hall. At the very center of the slab was a circular recess. Everyone realized something at once, and their gazes shifted to the stone disk in the grand witch priest’s hand. The recess and the disk were the same size.

The grand witch priest hesitated for a moment, took a step forward, and did not immediately set the disk into place. Instead, she extended a hand and lightly touched the stone stele with her fingertip, carefully sensing the barrier within the stone hall.