Qiao Tong looked at the row of bookshelves and said, "It seems like it was right around there when the presence suddenly disappeared."
Chen Mo got up and went to the bookshelf, his eyes shimmering with purple and gold light.
But even after observing carefully with his Golden Eyes of Truth for a long time, he didn’t find anything unusual.
He casually pulled out a few books, discovering that every book showed traces of being read, and even the level of dust was quite similar.
There are hundreds of books here, mostly miscellaneous notes and historical books, and he didn’t believe Chu Heng was that studious; it was clearly hiding something.
"The presence suddenly disappeared, and there was no Primordial Qi fluctuation; it could likely be Mechanical Techniques..."
"Thus, the crucial point might not be the content of the books, but the material and arrangement?"
Chen Mo pondered slightly, his fingertips emitting a wisp of flame that spread across the bookshelf.
Under his precise control, the temperature remained at the burning threshold, and the pages slowly curled from the heat.
When the flames reached a thread-bound book called "Great Yuan Natural History," Chen Mo paused, sensing a slight difference in how this book burned compared to the others.
He pulled out the book and flipped through it.
Apart from the cover material being somewhat special, there seemed to be no other anomaly.
"Doesn’t this book seem miscategorized?"
On the third level among the shelf of miscellaneous scholarly historical material, there was exactly a gap left.
He inserted the "Great Yuan Natural History" into it, and suddenly there was a soft clicking sound.
Then the bookshelf slid open to both sides, revealing a snow-white wall behind.
Chen Mo activated his Golden Eyes of Truth, and complex dark patterns emerged in his vision.
"As I thought, using Mechanical Techniques to conceal the array; forcibly dismantling the bookshelf would lead to the array’s self-destruction..."
With the Great Change Formation Solution’s support, Chen Mo was like the formation path expert Wang Yu Yan.
In just the time of a stick of incense, he dismantled three interlocking arrays.
"Not using Primordial Qi, but instead triggered by Qi Blood; they certainly are cautious."
Chen Mo activated his Qi Blood Power and infused it into the array, making the wall ripple like a water curtain.
Crossing through to the inside, he found himself in a dim, cramped secret chamber.
Luminous Pearls embedded in the ceiling emitted a faint glow, barely illuminating the surroundings. In the center of the chamber lay a stone bed surrounded by ten wooden stakes, two of which were empty; the other eight held withered figures bound to them.
Their hair was grey, and their wrinkled aged skin clung tightly to the bones, almost losing all human shape, identifiable only by the insignias on their robes.
These were the recently missing sect disciples.
"Quickly, save them!"
Yu Hongyin and Qiao Tong followed inside and exclaimed upon seeing the scene.
They hurried forward, cut the chains, released the people from the stakes, and continuously injected Primordial Qi into their bodies.
But ultimately, it was too late.
The martial cultivators who went missing first had all perished, their entire bodies drained of blood.
Among the two Netherworld Sect disciples, one had already lost breath, and the other still had a weak presence, flickering like a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish at any moment.
"Junior Brother!"
Yu Hongyin’s eyes were slightly red.
Qiao Tong cried tears pattering down onto the ground.
As direct disciples of the Netherworld Sect, they learned from the same teacher, sharing deep emotional bonds; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so desperate to find them.
Chen Mo flicked a Vitality Essence into the Netherworld Sect disciple’s body, and his lifeless face regained a touch of color, with breathing slightly stabilizing, though his body remained withered like dry wood.
"His essence blood has been fully drained, harming his foundation; I can only keep him alive temporarily, but for full recovery..."
Chen Mo hesitated to speak.
"Hmm? What’s this..."
He looked down and saw a tiger-shaped phantom emerge from his body, opening its bloody maw to vigorously inhale!
Scarlet light spots floated above the blood pool, being continually swallowed into its mouth!
At the same time, prompts appeared one after another:
[Absorbing Blood Evil Qi, Soldier Control Seal·Refining Body (140/1000)]
[Absorbing Blood Evil Qi, Soldier Control Seal·Refining Body (430/1000)]
[Absorbing Blood Evil Qi, Soldier Control Seal·Refining Body (520/1000)]
[Absorbing Blood Evil Qi...]
Until the progress reached (810/1000), all floating light spots were completely swallowed.
The tiger phantom smacked its lips and contentedly returned to Chen Mo’s chest.
As the evil qi was absorbed, the cold atmosphere in the chamber dissipated slightly.
Meanwhile, Yu Hongyin and Qiao Tong remained entirely unaware of the process.
"So the Soldier Control Seal requires Blood Evil Qi to progress? No wonder it hadn’t responded before."
Only in places where earth veins intersect, accumulating grievances and remnants, can Blood Evil be gradually formed; merely killing people is useless.
Thus, despite the Sky Scale Guard’s massacre in the front yard, the Soldier Control Seal showed no reaction...
"Chu Heng isn’t just absorbing essence blood; he’s gathering Blood Evil as well. What is he trying to accomplish?"
"Hold on..."
Chen Mo suddenly remembered something.
He’s been in the Prince Mansion for so long; where is Prince Yu?

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