Chapter Seventy-Three: Ming Wang Lake

  The talismans fell like rain, and at that moment when the petrified moon was about to fall, Ding Yan waved his right hand and put them into his sleeve.

  The Ninth Grade Rune is the foundation of spatial array methods, and this rune can only be inscribed by a Grandmaster-level array expert. With Ding Yan's current attainments in array methods, it is almost impossible to inscribe the Ninth Grade Rune, so this rune is no less than a top-grade artifact for him.

  Above the void, after the bright moon fell, a huge hole was exposed, and the surrounding runes were constantly crawling, apparently self-repairing the formation. If another hundred years pass, this formation may be restored to its original state, this is the power of a master-level formation, able to self-repair.

  Ding Yan's body flashed and flew out.

  After flying out of the Array Formation space, a strange power swept over Ding Yan's body. With each step he took, his body would expand a little more, and by the time he finally walked out, Ding Yan found that he had returned to normal human size.

  Looking back, it is still that vast expanse of open space, with a few blades of grass swaying gently in the middle, without any change at all.

  "Being able to trap a master-level formation within a single blade of grass, this kind of skill is already on par with the legendary mustard seed...". After observing for a short while, Ding Yan withdrew his gaze and turned to leave the place.

  The withered forest remains as it was.

  Leaves fall and scatter, death energy pervades everywhere.

  Ding Yan waved his hand casually, and the yuan force transformed into several talismans that rotated around him before disappearing.

  After months of comprehension, Ding Yan's formation cultivation had barely reached the level of great completion. Deploying this isolation array was still extremely easy for him. After the formation appeared, the aura on Ding Yan's body was gradually isolated, until it finally became as silent as the surrounding yin wood, returning to deathly stillness.

  Conceal one's own breath and blend into the withered forest, can isolate the sneak attack of the demon wood, this point Ding Yan is also just thought of not long ago.

  After walking for a long time, Ding Yan found himself back where he started.

  Looking up, in front of me is still that empty land, with small grass as before.

  "No wonder I unknowingly walked into this place and got trapped in the formation." Ding Yan said solemnly.

  Inside the withered forest, it's as if there's a strange power that bewilders people's perception. Anyone who walks into the withered forest will be affected by this power, and unknowingly walk to this place. Ting Yan stopped in the distance, pondered for a moment, then looked at the dead silence on the surrounding withered trees again, seemingly deep in thought.

  With a wave of his right hand, a low-level rune materialized and disappeared into the ground.

  After doing all this, Ding Yan turned around and plunged into the withered forest again. Every few steps along the way, Ding Yan would cast a spell. With the power of the spell, Ding Yan spent half a day's time and finally walked out of that treacherous forest.

  At the end of the forest, there is a lake, which covers an extremely large area. From afar, it looks like a huge mirror.

  "The black lake water." Ding Yan's eyes flashed.

  The lake water is as black as ink, and on the opposite side of the lake, there is a small stream that extends far away, with no end in sight. The black water from the stream constantly flows into the lake. What's strange is that no matter how much black water flows out of the stream, the water level of the lake doesn't change at all, as if it has been swallowed up by the lake.

  Dispersing the immortal consciousness, I found a stone tablet at the edge of the lake.

  "Ming Wang Lake, so this is Ming Wang Lake......" After seeing the ancient characters on the stone tablet, Ding Yan took out a torn map from his sleeve.

  According to the records of the residual map, there is no danger around Mingwang Lake. However, after experiencing the encounter in the withered forest, Ding Yan naturally would not easily believe the contents of the residual map. After a moment's thought, he separated a strand of yuan force, condensed it in his palm, and swung out one hand, transforming the yuan force into a crescent-shaped blade that swept across horizontally.

  *gulp*

  A withered branch nearby was cut off at the waist, and the upper half was easily taken into Ding Yan's hand.

  Withered wood in his right hand, yin and yang revolve and open.

  After a brief moment, the withered wood trembled and then let out a crisp sound. Two sturdy branches emerged from its tip, resembling two legs, as a strange aura spread out and escaped from Ding Yan's palm, standing on the ground. Then, another two withered twigs grew out of the branch section, transforming into arms. On the middle branch, a yin-yang primordial energy rotated in a circle, forming a simple face.

  Yin-yang Puppetry, a top-level technique, requires the prior mastery of the Qiankun Dao Jing.

  Before that, the Qiankun Dao Jing could not be cultivated, and many of Ding Yan's methods could not be used. However, after entering Wangsi City, this situation no longer existed.

  "It seems that after going out, the first thing is to solve the problem of cultivation methods." Ding Yan sank into thought.

  With his state of mind, as long as he solved the problem of Gongfa, he could completely rely on the power of Dan medicine to frantically improve his cultivation.

  This is also why, after Ding Yan's rebirth, the first thing he did was leave Lianhua Valley to find the reason for the Earth Fire Refining Dan. As long as he had enough elixirs, Ding Yan's cultivation speed could completely surpass those small realms and directly enter the promotion of the great realm.

  This is accumulation, it's precipitation.

  No one can compare with him/her.

  The withered wooden puppet under Ding Yan's control swayed and walked towards the Ming Wang Lake. This puppet was only temporarily made, and its main material was still the withered tree wood. It was estimated that apart from exploring the road, it had no other use. Moreover, the existence time of this puppet was also extremely short, and it was estimated that at most, it would last for a cup of tea's time. If it lasted any longer, the puppet would automatically disintegrate.

  The puppet walks at an extremely slow pace, occasionally making creaking sounds, as if it might collapse at any moment.

  After about half a cup of tea's worth of time had passed, the puppet finally arrived at the lake.

  Under Ding Yan's control, it swayed and fell into the lake.

  Hmmm...

  A wisp of smoke rose from the puppet's feet and transformed into withered branches that were eroded by the black lake water, dissipating at a visible speed.

  "What a terrible poison!"

  The puppet melted away, and just as it was about to completely disappear, the calm lake surface suddenly rippled with a wave of ripples. A fierce aura burst out of the lake surface, forming a black light pillar. The appearance time of the light pillar was extremely short, only about two breaths, after the light pillar dissipated, the originally opened ripples rapidly contracted, and a huge whirlpool appeared on the lake surface.

  Crack!!

  The remaining part of the puppet was directly swallowed by the whirlpool, making a crisp sound, as if it had been swallowed up by something.

  Ding Yan saw this and his complexion changed slightly.

  As he looked at the remaining map in his hand, a hint of contemplation appeared on his face.

  After a long time, the whirlpool gradually faded away, and the lake surface restored its calmness. The dark water in the small stream slowly flowed into the lake, without making any sound.

  Ding Yan gathered his mind and spirit, hid his breath, and then used talismans to set up two isolation arrays around him. After making sure everything was safe, he carefully made his way around the lake, following the inky black stream, and headed forward.

  According to the map, walking along the stream, you can see a wall. Inside it is the place where Huang Quan Old Immortal sat in meditation until his death.