As everyone entered, Hu Bayi lit a fire on the wall.
It was still a corpse oil lamp, as if mermaid corpse oil was everywhere.
As the flames were lit, the surrounding space gradually brightened.
A peculiar space appeared before everyone.
Inside the space, multiple enormous cauldrons were arranged.
As the cauldrons were arranged, the雏形 (chúxíng - embryo/rudimentary form) of a formation appeared.
As the formation appeared, Zhang Tian gradually became serious.
He hadn't expected the heart of the formation to be in this area.
However, once the heart of the formation was found, it would be easier to handle.
"Locking the Dragon Spine, combined with the Yin-Yang Bagua formation, this forms a Dragon Trapping formation."
"These alchemical cauldrons should be the key to breaking the formation."
Hu Bayi said repeatedly from the side.
His voice was not loud, but his gaze was exceptionally serious.
She had never seen such a formation, nor had she even heard of it, let alone how to break it.
Using cauldrons to set up a formation was a first.
"This must be the key to opening the last palace."
"However, I've never seen cauldrons like these before."
Zhang Tian murmured, his gaze sweeping around. Besides the cauldrons, there seemed to be nothing else.
"Boss, come quick, there are so many people in these cauldrons!"
Suddenly, Fatty's voice rang out.
Zhang Tian stopped and went directly to Fatty's location.
Indeed, in front of Fatty, inside a cauldron, dozens of corpses were piled up.
As the corpses were discovered, Shirley Yang's voice came from another direction.
"There are corresponding corpses in the cauldrons here too!"
"I have them here too."
As voices came one after another.
Zhang Tian's expression became complex.
The chains piercing through a mountain, these cauldron formations, and even the corpses within the cauldrons, all indicated that this was likely a powerful Dragon Trapping formation.
As the corpses were discovered, Zhang Tian also noticed something different about them.
The clothing of these corpses seemed to be uniform.
Either they were wearing iron armor or bamboo armor.
Judging by the attire of the soldiers, Zhang Tian estimated they belonged to Xian Wang's faction.
"These people have a uniform marking, it looks like a bull's emblem."
Hu Bayi said from the side.
"It should be Xian Wang's people. It seems the two sides didn't fully reconcile and another major battle broke out. This battle likely caused both sides to disappear from history."
Zhang Tian speculated.
Judging from Xian Wang's corpse, Zhang Tian estimated that he had entered his underground mausoleum after resolving the issues with Yaowang Valley.
"Then, if Xian Wang's corpse still exists, doesn't that mean Xian Wang won?"
Fatty said from the side.
"Not necessarily. We haven't found Yaowang's corpse yet, so we can't make a definitive judgment."
"However, this cauldron is something we need to break."
Zhang Tian shook his head.
After he spoke, everyone's gaze turned to the cauldrons not far away.
Each of these cauldrons contained dozens of corpses.
If one were to calculate, there were nearly dozens of cauldrons in this entire space.
Zhang Tian estimated that at least two to three hundred people were sacrificed here.
"I don't seem to feel any Yin Qi (negative energy) from within."
Hu Bayi spoke, and his words enlightened Zhang Tian.
Since entering, they truly hadn't felt any Yin Qi.
And with so many corpses, yet no Yin Qi leaking out, it was clearly impossible.
Unless the people who died here had no lingering resentment.
"How is that possible? Hundreds of people, and not a single one with resentment? Could it be that Yaowang had some unique method?"
Zhang Tian murmured, his mind racing.
"Boss, could it be because Yaowang was very benevolent?"
Fatty said from the side.
"No, if he were benevolent, there wouldn't be so many corpses here."
Zhang Tian shook his head decisively.
"Then what could it be? Oh no, Fatty's head hurts. Am I going to grow a brain?"
Fatty mumbled, and his head involuntarily began to ache.
This guy didn't use his brain often, and now that he was suddenly using it, his brain was overloaded.
Zhang Tian's mouth twitched. What kind of odd saying was that.
"Didn't Yaowang Valley have a lot of poisons? We encountered many when we came. Could it be because of those?"
Shirley Yang said from the side.
Shirley Yang's words made Zhang Tian think of something.
The most dangerous aspect of Yaowang Valley wasn't the mountains, but the pervasive poisonous gases.
If these people were already poisoned before they arrived, it might have been due to hallucinations caused by the poisonous gases, leading them into a dream state.
Perhaps they saw what they wished for in life, so they had no resentment after death.
"It seems that's possible. Let's examine this formation first and try to break it."
Zhang Tian nodded, and then he approached the cauldrons.
The entire cauldron was engraved with unique patterns.
The patterns were filled with carvings.
From the carvings, it appeared to be a dragon.
Ancient people were fond of carving dragons. Dragons were not only symbols of heaven but also symbols of supreme status.
Therefore, most important items would have dragons or phoenixes, symbolizing auspiciousness.
After Zhang Tian studied the cauldrons, he discovered that each cauldron had a groove on it.
And that groove corresponded to the dragon's eye.
The groove was not large, just big enough to fit a small stone.
"The size of this groove looks familiar."
Hu Bayi murmured, looking at the groove.
"This is the size of the crystal stones from before, isn't it?"
Zhang Tian immediately noticed something was amiss.
He quickly took out the crystal stones he had dug up from the ground.
The size and edges of the formation stones were exactly the same as the cauldrons before him.
Zhang Tian and Hu Bayi exchanged glances.
A flicker of understanding appeared in both their eyes.
Zhang Tian did not hesitate and directly inserted the crystal stone.
As the formation stone was placed into the dragon's eye on the cauldron, the previously dim cauldron suddenly emitted a faint blue light.
"What is that?"
Professor Li and Xiao Guang looked over.
Countless eyes also focused on them.
"My goodness, a cauldron emitting blue fire, could it be ghost fire?"
Fatty exclaimed, his eyes filled with curiosity.
"Could it be ghost fire?"
Professor Li was also a little worried.
Shirley Yang shook her head.
"It's not ghost fire. Ghost fire is very cold. This is likely ordinary luminescence."
Shirley Yang said, unsure what Zhang Tian and the others were doing.
As the cauldron emitted light.
Next, a line appeared before their eyes.
"This is a formation line!"
"Old Hu, it seems I've found a way to break the formation."
Zhang Tian said with a hint of surprise in his voice.
"I never expected the activation method of these cauldrons to be like this. No wonder no one could break the final formation back then."
Hu Bayi sighed.
Xian Wang was arrogant back then, how could he have paid attention to these blue crystal stones?
And later people wouldn't have noticed them either. Moreover, the formation was hidden very discreetly, and most people didn't know about the golden palace, which gave Zhang Tian an opportunity.
As the cauldrons flickered with light, Zhang Tian and Hu Bayi looked at each other, then they both began to install the collected formation stones.