The second exploding fire talisman detonated, this time with a slightly larger blast radius, the fireball about the size of a washbasin in diameter.
Just then, the third fire talisman arrived, its explosion pushing the range forward by another two meters, detonating once more!
Thus, one after another, the exploding fire talismans were unleashed like a barrage, continuously exploding, their power being eroded by the Yin Sha.
Yet, these explosions also carved out a passage from the Yin Sha!
Daoist Master Hu was still casting his spell, continuously controlling the Yin Sha to attack the light barrier where Ling Tian was located. His mind was not sharp enough to anticipate Ling Tian's approach.
At this moment, Ling Tian had already unleashed all twenty-odd fire talismans in his hand.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of copper coins, each connected by a red thread.
Ling Tian injected all his remaining true essence into this pile of copper coins, which instantly stood upright, transforming into a short sword about half a meter long.
This was a Taoist magical artifact, the Money Sword! It was used to capture ghosts and subdue demons, and could also be hung at the door to ward off evil and block malevolent influences.
The Money Sword in Ling Tian's hand was no ordinary item; it was crafted during the Jia Zi year of the sixty-year cycle, specifically during the Noon month, Noon day, Noon hour, and also during the Shen, You, Xu, Hai years and months and days.
A Money Sword crafted at this moment possessed greatly amplified magical power, and the materials used in its creation were all of superior quality.
This sword was also personally crafted by Ling Tian's eldest master, Celestial Master Dao Yuan, who treasured it dearly.
"Evil spirits, be annihilated! Haste!"
Ling Tian raised his hand, and the Money Sword instantly transformed into a streak of red light, shooting out through the narrow passage formed by the explosions of the fire talismans, directly striking the chest of Hu Daochang's vengeful spirit.
A red light emanated from the Money Sword, enveloping Hu Daochang's vengeful spirit. In the next instant, violent explosions erupted from within the spirit.
With each explosion, the spirit's body dimmed a little, and its form shrank slightly.
After a barrage of explosions, Hu Daochang's vengeful spirit let out a mournful cry and finally vanished, leaving behind only a string of dull, lusterless copper coins that fell to the ground!
As Hu Daochang's vengeful spirit turned to dust, the Yin Sha that had been continuously attacking Ling Tian lost its control and slowly retreated, eventually disappearing back into the pillars.
The entire basement returned to a deathly silence, as if nothing had happened.
A few seconds later, the light emanating from the demon-subduing pestle also vanished.
Ling Tian slumped to the ground, panting heavily. He felt a sense of lingering fear; the Buddhist power stored in the demon-subduing pestle had been completely depleted. Had he acted any later, he would have lost the pestle's protection and been severely injured by the Yin Sha.
Moreover, unleashing so many fire talismans and the Money Sword in one go had almost completely exhausted his true essence.
Ling Tian quickly opened his backpack, took out a porcelain bottle, poured out a grape-sized pill, and popped it into his mouth, swallowing it in one gulp.
Instantly, a warm current from the pill dissolved, flowing through his meridians, seeping into his internal organs, and finally returning to his dantian, transforming into wisps of true essence.
Ling Tian couldn't help but exclaim at how good the Huiyuan Pill was, capable of rapidly restoring depleted true essence. It was formulated by his third master.
The cost of the medicinal materials for a single pill was hundreds of thousands of yuan.
It wasn't that Ling Tian was being extravagant, but in a place like this, running out of true essence was extremely dangerous. If more powerful vengeful spirits were to appear, he would truly be defenseless.
With the miraculous elixir in his stomach, his true essence rapidly recovered. Ling Tian then stood up and retrieved the demon-subduing pestle from the ground.
At this moment, the surface of the demon-subduing pestle was dull and lusterless, leaving only a piece of cold, inert metal.
Ling Tian gave a helpless wry smile. The Buddhist power on the demon-subduing pestle had been depleted. Although it could recover automatically, the recovery speed was incredibly slow.
To accelerate its recovery, he would likely have to send it back to his second master for daily chanting and devout blessings before the Buddha to help the demon-subduing pestle regain its Buddhist power quickly.
He took a few more steps and picked up the Money Sword, which lay limply on the ground.
At this moment, all the copper coins on the Money Sword were also dull and lusterless, their energy completely expended.
This Money Sword was essentially ruined. To restore its function, it would have to be dismantled and reassembled into a new one.
Ling Tian was very unhappy. For this house, he had suffered a huge loss this time. All the treasures his masters had given him were used up. He had only been down the mountain for a few days, and he had already been so wasteful.
After searching the basement and finding no new dangers for the moment, Ling Tian breathed a sigh of relief.
He took out a notebook and used a pen to sketch the positions of the concrete pillars in the basement.
He then used lines to connect these recorded points.
As Ling Tian had predicted, the formation formed by these pillars was indeed a Yin Gathering Array.
However, this Yin Gathering Array was much more complex than the ones he had seen in ancient texts, meaning its functions were also far more intricate than ordinary Yin Gathering Arrays.
To completely resolve the problem of the haunted house, the first step was to deal with this Yin Gathering Array.
Of course, such an array could not simply be destroyed. If it were forcibly broken, it could very well trigger an explosion of the Yin Sha and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathered within the array, which would have severe consequences.
The only feasible solution was to first adjust the array and release all the energy stored within it.
Ling Tian walked to one of the pillars and observed it carefully. The exterior of the pillar was adorned with wooden carvings. He crouched down to examine the carvings and discovered that the panels at the bottom could be removed. After removing a panel, he could see a section of the pillar that differed in color from the surrounding concrete.
Ling Tian reached out and pulled outwards. Piece by piece, round jade tablets, each the size of a palm, were pulled out.
At that very moment, Ling Tian could feel a disturbance in the flow of spiritual energy around him!
A look of joy appeared on Ling Tian's face. The problem indeed lay with these pillars, and these jade tablets were the eyes of the Yin Gathering Array!
Once these jade tablets were removed, the pillar would simply be an ordinary concrete pillar.
Ling Tian took out his notebook again and pondered over it repeatedly. Finally, he determined a solution!
Next, Ling Tian found several pillars within the array, removed the panels at their bases, and then sequentially pulled out the jade tablets from these pillars!
When he pulled out the last jade tablet, the array, which had been like a vortex continuously absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy, seemed to have been abruptly paused.