Xu Xiaoxiao's Immortal Cultivation Life (Transmigration)

Chapter 187 The True Face of the Treasure

Jiang Jingzhi and his three companions stood below the stone platform, gazing up at the treasure floating on it, their hearts surging with excitement and anticipation.

The treasure emitted a soft yet mysterious light, which seemed to contain boundless power, as if it were beckoning them.

However, having experienced the terrifying baptism of lightning before, they knew that this treasure was by no means easy to obtain. What could attract such powerful lightning to protect it must be a rare treasure in the world, and there was probably an even more terrifying guardian beast lurking around it.

They carefully observed everything around the stone platform, not daring to be careless in the slightest.

Xu Xiaoxiao gripped the longsword tightly in her hand, her knuckles turning white from the force. Her eyes never left the treasure, her heart filled with longing, yet suppressed by a deep fear.

Lan Ji frowned slightly, constantly sensing the fluctuations of spiritual energy around her, trying to find a flaw in it, but apart from the powerful force emanating from the treasure, she could not detect anything.

Mu Zhusheng stroked his chin, his expression solemn. He knew that the seemingly calm stone platform was actually fraught with danger, and if they were not careful, they would be doomed.

Just as they were filled with hesitation and unsure of what to do, suddenly, a deafening dragon roar came from behind them.

The dragon's roar seemed to contain boundless majesty and power, like an invisible storm that instantly swept across the entire valley.

Xu Xiaoxiao, Lan Ji, and Mu Zhusheng had no time to react before they were blown away by the powerful dragon's might and crashed heavily into the valley wall.

"Pfft!" Xu Xiaoxiao spat out a mouthful of blood, her face full of pain. She struggled to stand up, but found her body limp and powerless.

Lan Ji and Mu Zhusheng were in no better condition. They leaned against the wall, their faces pale and their eyes filled with shock and fear.

Only Jiang Jingzhi, the instant the dragon's might struck, immediately activated his spiritual power to form a solid defensive barrier. He stood firmly on the ground, his hair flying wildly in the wind, his eyes fixed resolutely on the direction from which the dragon's roar came.

A black dragon shadow slowly emerged. It was enormous, its scales shimmering with a cold light, and its two eyes, like bells, emitted a deep, eerie light as it stared intently at Jiang Jingzhi.

"Well done! A young man can actually withstand my dragon's might, not bad!" the black dragon said, his voice deep and imposing. "Let's have a match!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Jingzhi felt a flash of light before his eyes and was pulled into a strange space by the black dragon.

The space was completely dark, filled with a thick black mist that flickered with an eerie light.

Jiang Jingzhi cautiously looked around, holding his longsword, ready to deal with the black dragon's attack at any moment.

"Boy, prepare to die!" The black dragon roared, opened its blood-red maw, and spewed a black flame at Jiang Jingzhi. The flame was extremely fast and arrived in front of Jiang Jingzhi in an instant.

Jiang Jingzhi quickly held the Star Stone in front of him. The Star Stone shone brightly, forming a shield that blocked the black flames.

The black flames relentlessly pounded against the shield, making a hissing sound, and the light on the shield began to flicker erratically.

Jiang Jingzhi gritted his teeth and exerted all his strength to activate the power of the Star Stone. He knew that the black dragon's strength was far above his own, and if he was not careful, he would lose his life here.

"Hmph, you've got some skill!" The black dragon was surprised when it saw that the black flames had failed. Then, it flashed and transformed into a black lightning bolt, rushing towards Jiang Jingzhi.

Jiang Jingzhi had no time to dodge and could only grit his teeth and meet the attack head-on. He brandished his longsword and engaged in a fierce battle with the black dragon.

The black dragon's attacks were swift and fierce, each strike carrying immense power, leaving Jiang Jingzhi somewhat overwhelmed.

Jiang Jingzhi could only barely withstand the black dragon's attacks by relying on his agile movements and superb swordsmanship.

During the battle, Jiang Jingzhi gradually discovered that although the black dragon was powerful, its attack methods were somewhat simplistic, always relying on brute force to launch attacks.

Jiang Jingzhi had an idea. He decided to change his tactics. He no longer confronted the black dragon head-on. Instead, he began to circle around the black dragon, looking for its weaknesses. Whenever the black dragon launched an attack, he would skillfully dodge and then seize the opportunity to counterattack.

"Boy, do you think you can dodge my attack like this?" The black dragon seemed to have seen through Jiang Jingzhi's intention. It roared angrily and then muttered incantations.

Suddenly, the surrounding black mist began to rapidly condense, forming countless black blades that shot towards Jiang Jingzhi.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Jingzhi's expression changed drastically. He quickly unleashed the power of the Star Stone to its fullest extent, causing the shield to expand once more, completely enveloping him. The black blades continuously struck the shield, producing a dense series of sounds, and cracks appeared on the shield.

"This is bad, the shield won't last long if this continues!" Jiang Jingzhi thought anxiously, knowing he had to come up with a solution as soon as possible.

Just then, he suddenly remembered that when he used his divine sense to explore in the Spirit Abyss Secret Realm, the Star Stone had helped him resolve a crisis. He was overjoyed and quickly concentrated his mind, injecting his divine sense into the Star Stone.

As the Star Stone sensed Jiang Jingzhi's divine sense, its light shone brightly once more, and a mysterious power surged from the Star Stone, merging with Jiang Jingzhi's spiritual power.

Jiang Jingzhi felt his strength increase several times in an instant, and his eyes became even more determined.

"Black Dragon, prepare to die!" Jiang Jingzhi roared, the longsword in his hand shining brightly. He unleashed his strongest sword technique and attacked the Black Dragon.

This time, his attack was powerful and unstoppable, moving even the black dragon.

The black dragon hurriedly swung its claws to defend against Jiang Jingzhi's attack. However, Jiang Jingzhi's attack was too fierce, and the black dragon gradually became unable to withstand it. Wounds began to appear on its body, and blood flowed out continuously.

"No, this is impossible!" the black dragon cried out in horror. It never expected that a mere human cultivator could contend with it on its territory and even gain the upper hand.

“Nothing is impossible!” Jiang Jingzhi said coldly. “Today is your death day!” With that, he unleashed another full-force attack, his longsword flashing with a dazzling light as it pierced towards the black dragon’s heart.

The black dragon tried to dodge, but found that its body was locked by Jiang Jingzhi's attack and it could not move at all. It could only watch helplessly as Jiang Jingzhi's longsword pierced its heart.

"Ah!" The black dragon let out a shrill scream, and then its body began to dissipate rapidly. As the black dragon disappeared, the mysterious space also began to collapse. Jiang Jingzhi hurriedly circulated his spiritual power to find an exit.

Finally, before the space completely collapsed, Jiang Jingzhi found an exit and returned to the real world.

At this moment, Xu Xiaoxiao, Lan Ji, and Mu Zhusheng were struggling to climb up from the wall. When they saw Jiang Jingzhi return, their faces lit up with joy.

"Senior Brother, are you alright?" Xu Xiaoxiao rushed to Jiang Jingzhi's side and asked with concern.

Jiang Jingzhi smiled slightly and said, "I'm fine." Although his face was a little pale, his eyes revealed a hint of triumphant joy.

"That's great!" Xu Xiaoxiao jumped up happily, then she remembered the treasure on the stone platform, "Senior Brother, that treasure..."

Jiang Jingzhi looked up at the stone platform and said, "Now that I have dealt with the black dragon, this treasure should be ours." After saying that, he led everyone toward the stone platform.

When they reached the top of the stone platform, ready to take the treasure, they discovered that the restrictions around the treasure were still in place.

Jiang Jingzhi frowned. He knew that retrieving the treasure would likely require some effort...

This restriction, like a transparent film, surrounds the treasure, emitting a faint silver light. It appears gentle, but in reality, it contains powerful energy.

As Jiang Jingzhi tried to approach, an invisible resistance rushed towards him, making his steps extremely heavy, as if each step forward required bearing immense force.

“This restriction is quite strange.” Mu Zhusheng frowned and said with a solemn expression. He stepped forward and gently touched the restriction. Instantly, a current ran through his arm and spread throughout his body. He quickly withdrew his hand, and a look of pain appeared on his face.

Seeing this, Xu Xiaoxiao was extremely anxious. She gripped her long sword tightly and shouted, "Senior Brother, why don't I just use my sword to cut through this restriction!" As she spoke, she was about to swing her sword.

Jiang Jingzhi quickly stopped her, saying, "Don't be reckless. Since this restriction can withstand our approach, it must be extraordinary. Attacking rashly may trigger an even stronger backlash."

Lan Ji closed her eyes and carefully sensed the surrounding spiritual energy fluctuations once again. She discovered that the spiritual energy of this restriction was not chaotic, but rather followed a specific pattern, like an ancient and mysterious rune that was constantly circulating.

“I think I’ve noticed some clues.” Lan Ji opened her eyes, a hint of excitement flashing in them. “The spiritual energy fluctuations of this restriction seem to be related to some kind of ancient rune. Perhaps we can start by cracking the rune.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jingzhi's heart stirred. He immediately circulated his spiritual power and activated his spiritual sense to carefully observe the flow of spiritual power on the restriction.

Sure enough, within that layer of restriction, one could vaguely see some shimmering rune lines, which intertwined to form a complex pattern.

“This should be an ancient defensive rune array. To break it, we must find the key nodes of the runes,” Jiang Jingzhi said, pointing to the barrier.

Upon hearing this, everyone focused their attention, trying to find the key point. However, the rune array was too complex, and despite observing it for a long time, they still had no clue.

Just when everyone was feeling a bit frustrated, Jiang Jingzhi suddenly remembered the records about runes that he had seen in ancient books.

He remembered an ancient method that allowed one to find key points by resonating with runes through special spiritual energy fluctuations.

Jiang Jingzhi shared his idea with everyone, and they all thought it was feasible. So, Jiang Jingzhi took out the Star Stone from his pocket and poured his spiritual power into it. The Star Stone immediately shone brightly. He controlled the light of the Star Stone to make it form a special spiritual power fluctuation, which slowly approached the restriction.

When the spiritual energy fluctuations of the starstone came into contact with the restriction, something strange happened. The originally calm restriction began to tremble slightly, and the shimmering rune lines became even brighter, as if resonating with the spiritual energy of the starstone.

"It's working!" Xu Xiaoxiao exclaimed excitedly.

Jiang Jingzhi dared not relax for a moment. He concentrated all his energy and carefully observed the changes in the runes. Finally, he discovered that at a node of a rune, the fluctuation of spiritual energy showed an abnormality.

“This is it!” Jiang Jingzhi said, pointing to the node.

Mu Zhusheng immediately understood. He unleashed his spiritual power, transforming it into a thin thread of spiritual energy that shot towards the node. The thread of spiritual energy accurately struck the node, and instantly, the entire rune array trembled violently.

The other rune lines began to flicker erratically, as if engaged in a fierce struggle.

Seeing this, Jiang Jingzhi quickly increased the spiritual power output of the Star Stone. Xu Xiaoxiao and Lan Ji also joined in, each casting spells to inject spiritual power into the restriction.

Under the combined attack of everyone, the power of the rune array was gradually weakened. Finally, with a crisp sound, a crack appeared on the rune array. The crack grew larger and larger, and finally, the entire restriction shattered.

As the restriction shattered, a powerful force was released from the treasure, enveloping the entire valley. Everyone saw a flash of light before their eyes, and the true appearance of the treasure was finally revealed.

It was a five-colored bead, inside which seemed to contain a vast universe, with countless stars twinkling and flowing within. The surface of the bead emitted a soft light, and within that light was an endless mysterious power.

"This...this could be the legendary Stone for mending the heavens?" Mu Zhusheng exclaimed in surprise.

Jiang Jingzhi looked at the bead in front of him, his heart filled with excitement. Legend has it that the Heaven-Mending Stone is five-colored and can borrow the power of the Heavenly Dao, absorbing the natural power of all things in heaven and earth.

"Great! We finally found it!" Xu Xiaoxiao jumped up with joy.

However, before they could celebrate for long, suddenly, dark clouds filled the sky, and thick bolts of lightning flashed through the clouds once again.

These lightning bolts were even more intense than before, as if declaring to everyone that they were protecting the treasure.

"Oh no, the lightning has reappeared!" Lan Ji's expression changed drastically.

Jiang Jingzhi stared intently at the sky. He knew that this was the last line of defense for the Sky-Mending Stone. If they could not withstand these lightning bolts, all their previous efforts would be in vain.

"Don't panic, everyone! Let's think of a solution together!" Jiang Jingzhi shouted.

He raised the Star Stone again, and its light echoed the light of the Sky-Mending Stone, forming a powerful defensive force. Xu Xiaoxiao, Lan Ji, and Mu Zhusheng also cast spells, which combined with Jiang Jingzhi's power.

Lightning bolts struck down relentlessly, constantly assaulting their defenses. Each impact sent a powerful tremor through them, but they gritted their teeth and refused to back down.

During the fierce battle, Jiang Jingzhi discovered that the light of the Sky-Mending Stone seemed to follow a special pattern: whenever lightning was about to strike them, the light of the Sky-Mending Stone would flash briefly.

A thought struck him, and he immediately shouted, "Everyone, follow the rhythm of the Sky-Mending Stone's light and adjust your defensive power!"

Following Jiang Jingzhi's instructions, everyone rhythmically adjusted their spiritual energy output as the light from the Sky-Mending Stone flickered.

Sure enough, this made their defenses more solid, and the impact of the lightning was no longer as difficult to withstand as before.

After a fierce battle, the lightning in the sky gradually dissipated, the dark clouds slowly dispersed, and the sunlight once again shone into the valley. The Sky-Mending Stone quietly floated in front of everyone, emitting a soft and mysterious light.

Jiang Jingzhi carefully reached out and grasped the Sky-Mending Stone in his hand. In an instant, a powerful force surged into his body. He felt his spiritual power instantly increase dramatically, as if he had established some kind of connection with the entire universe.

"Now there's hope for repairing the barrier, Senior Brother! We're one step closer to success!" Xu Xiaoxiao looked at the Sky-Mending Stone with great joy. This trip to the secret realm had not been in vain.