novelsky Chapter 856.10: Entering the Formation!
Chapter 856.10: Entering the Formation!
..."Her Eminence Hua Jin, you are the Leader of the Kunlun Immortal Palace. The Kunlun Immortal Palace still needs you to preside over it. Let the younger generation have this opportunity." Bi Yue Wu stared coldly at Hua Jin the True One. Even with only his True Spirit descended, his immortal power could suppress Hua Jin as easily as crushing a mosquito.
Hua Jin the True One could not go down to take the risk. She was still useful, and she was also Patriarch Bixi the True One's subordinate. If she died, finding a replacement wouldn't be easy, and it would be hard to explain to that sinister old man Bixi.
But for these Ascenders other than Hua Jin, it didn't matter.
Rather than letting them live and waste Spiritual Energy, it was better to use them as stepping stones.
Of course, if they were lucky enough to survive the rampaging earth energy, it would be considered their own Fortune.
The commands of Immortals, whether they were favors or death warrants, could not be disobeyed. Otherwise, it would mean utter disaster.
Hua Jin the True One did not want Zhang Yibai and the others to fall into danger, especially Wang Shouyi.
Zhang Yibai and Gu Changsheng might still have a chance of survival if they entered the formation.
But if Wang Shouyi entered the formation, he would undoubtedly die.
However, her mouth had been sealed by Bi Yue Wu. Even if her eyes were red with anxiety, she couldn't utter a single word.
Just then, a series of footsteps sounded behind the group.
Bi Yue Wu and Tu Fu Xing were the first to react, looking towards the direction of the newcomer. They saw the newcomer dressed in snow-white robes, holding a black-sheathed flying sword, his appearance heroic yet not leaking the slightest aura. A flicker of surprise couldn't help but flash in their eyes.
Looking more closely.
This person's aura was now clearly revealed—he was an Ascender of the Feathered Transformation Realm.
Although his strength was still below Hua Jin's, Bi Yue Wu had a feeling this person was not simple. Perhaps even Hua Jin might not necessarily be his match.
What's more, the other party had approached within a hundred meters before he and Tu Fu Xing noticed.
They were Immortals, after all.
Even if they were only True Spirits descended to the mortal realm.
"Halt!" Tu Fu Xing's eyes darkened, a surge of immortal power pressing down like Mount Tai.
Boom—!
The ground sank violently, fierce winds howled.
But that person didn't seem to be greatly affected.
The earth around him shattered inch by inch, rock fragments flying, yet he remained as calm as a gentle breeze on still water. Only the corners of his plain white robes billowed slightly faster in the gale.
"Two Immortal Elders, I am Chen Huaian, an Elder of the Kunlun Immortal Palace."
Chen Huaian stood still before the two Immortals' True Spirits and cupped his hands in salute.
"Just now, I heard the Immortal Elders say there is an Opportunity and Fortune within that Great Formation. I feel these juniors are not yet capable of bearing such an Opportunity...
Why not give the chance to me instead?
Otherwise, wouldn't that Opportunity be wasted?"
Bi Yue Wu and Tu Fu Xing exchanged a glance.
Neither was foolish.
They knew this Kunlun Immortal Palace Elder before them, who called himself Chen Huaian, was voluntarily coming to take the blame.
They hadn't expected there to still be such a righteous and loyal Ascender in the current world, and one with considerable strength at that. It was indeed rare.
But they were Immortals. There was a distinction between Immortal and mortal; they stood above mortals. How could they retract their previous words just because of a few sentences from a mere mortal?
Bi Yue Wu sneered coldly, "You've come just in time. Then enter together with these juniors of yours. If the Opportunity and Fortune truly fall upon you, these juniors won't be able to take it away. What is yours will remain yours."
There was another sentence Bi Yue Wu didn't say.
If there was no Opportunity or Fortune, they would still die inside.
Chen Huaian sighed inwardly.
His original intention was to replace Zhang Yibai, Gu Changsheng, and Wang Shouyi.
But these two Immortals weren't acting human; there was simply no room for negotiation.
So be it.
Him going in together would ultimately provide a bit more security. He would just do his best to get Zhang Yibai and the others out.
Seeing Chen Huaian say no more, Bi Yue Wu took it as him accepting his fate and paid no further attention to this minor interlude.
He took a deep breath, his expression solemn as he raised that bronze compass.
The ancient runes on the compass lit up one after another, gradually erupting with a pale golden radiance, as if he held a miniature sun in his hands.
"Nine Heavens Profound Mechanism, heed my command!"
"Refining Profound Great Formation, open—!"
He uttered a low chant, each syllable rolling off his tongue vibrating the air.
The pointer at the center of the compass spun wildly, finally coming to a stop.
The runes on the compass were projected onto the ground, forming a ring that lit up sequentially across a thousand-mile radius.
In an instant, with Bi Yue Wu at the center, the land for a thousand miles was covered with golden runes.
The runes surged like waves, with obscure light within them ready to burst forth.
Finally, they condensed into a pillar of light that shot into the sky, piercing straight through the Nine Heavens.
Boom—!
Above the Nine Heavens, the starry river trembled.
The light of countless stars became flickering and unstable at this moment. The originally orderly star tracks were forcibly disturbed and twisted by this external force, as if an invisible celestial net was being violently tugged.
Dark golden ripples spread rapidly across the deep canopy of the sky with the light pillar as the center. Wherever they passed, the stars lost their luster, and even the high-hanging blazing sun dimmed momentarily.
...
Upper Realm, within Lingxiao Palace.
"What's happening?!"
"Why is the star track in chaos?!"
"Such intense fluctuations coming from the Lower Realm... who is disturbing the cosmos?"
The assembled Immortals all felt a pang of unease. Their Divine Senses involuntarily turned towards the direction of the fluctuations, their faces showing varying degrees of shock and doubt.
This kind of power that directly interfered with the star tracks was definitely not something Lower Realm cultivators could possess. Even ordinary Immortals and deities would find it difficult to achieve.
Upon the imperial throne, that expanse of dark golden divine light rippled slightly.
The calm voice of Heavenly Emperor Hao Tian rang out, instantly soothing the commotion within the hall.
"It is nothing. It is merely the sign of Bi Yue Wu activating the Nine Heavens Refining Profound Array. Return to your positions. Do not engage in idle speculation."
Upon hearing this, though doubts still lingered in their hearts, the Immortals dared not say more.
Only, beneath their lowered eyelids, their gazes flickered uncertainly, clearly filled with apprehension towards this "Nine Heavens Refining Profound Array" and what it suppressed beneath.
...
Lower Realm, at the location where the light pillar pierced through.
Rumble—!
The earth emitted a deeper roar than when Tu Fu Xing had moved the Demon Sealing Pagoda earlier.
"What's happening? Is the ground splitting?!" Wang Shouyi supported himself against a rock, staring with horror at the gradually widening crack at his feet.
"It's not the ground splitting. The entire area is sinking." Zhang Yibai's expression was grave.
In such a situation, it was best to take to the air.
But a strange force was acting upon him. His legs felt as if they had sunk into the earth, firmly hooked in place, unable to move.
Fortunately, no cracks appeared beneath his feet. Those cracks went around him, leaving him just enough space to stand.
The rock layers and soil that originally covered the surface were torn apart as if by a giant hand, sliding and collapsing towards the surroundings, revealing the scene buried tens of thousands of feet underground:
A massive Underground Palace was breaking through the earth and emerging!
The first part to appear was the dome, not the glazed tiles common to palaces, but constructed from some kind of pitch-black giant stones, carrying an ancient, primal aura.
As the earth's crust peeled away, more parts were revealed.
The walls towered like cliffs, carved with giant murals that had long since become blurred.
Faintly visible were some indescribable ancient creatures and scenes of an ancient battlefield.
Just looking at these murals, one could feel a desolate, deathly, and majestic pressure, overwhelmingly oppressive.
This did not seem like a palace. It was more like a... tomb.
A giant burial mound interring some unimaginable existence.
With just the tip of the iceberg revealed to the world, the aura of decay and the oppressive might that spread forth had already turned Hua Jin the True One's face deathly pale, made Wang Shouyi almost suffocate, and even caused Zhang Yibai and Gu Changsheng to rein in their curiosity, their expressions turning solemn.
Chen Huaian's pupils contracted slightly.
He could feel that the dormant Sword Intent within his body, at the moment this Underground Palace appeared,
spontaneously produced an extremely faint resonance and... a tremor.
The ground continued to rise, and the group sank into the depths of the earth along with this area.
The surrounding light rapidly dimmed, as if they had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
Only the faint light emitted by the compass in Bi Yue Wu's hand and the night pearls at the corners of the Underground Palace's eaves provided some illumination.
A sense of oppressive might lingered in everyone's hearts.
Forget moving, even breathing became difficult, and thoughts seemed about to freeze.
After an unknown length of time, the heart-palpitating tremors and sense of weightlessness finally stopped.
The surroundings fell into absolute silence.
Only a single door stood before the group.
The door was a hundred zhang tall, seemingly cast entirely from bronze, covered in mottled traces, its age unknowable.
Chen Huaian even had a premonition.
If Earth Star had been undergoing cycles of reincarnation all along, then this Underground Palace seemed never to have entered the cycle.
Because standing before this bronze door, he had a strange feeling.
He had already arrived at a space independent of Earth.
Looking up at the sky, though they had sunk underground from the surface, they could no longer see the sky above, only a deep darkness like the throat of a giant beast.
The seams of the bronze door were tight, perfectly fitted, as if it had never been opened since time immemorial.
No one knew what lay behind the door.
Not even Bi Yue Wu and Tu Fu Xing knew.
This was also their first time entering the interior of the Nine Heavens Refining Profound Array.
Now, looking at this giant door, Bi Yue Wu and Tu Fu Xing's eyes were also filled with caution and fear.
"The Refining Profound Array has been entered, the door has appeared." Bi Yue Wu's voice echoed in the deathly silence, seemingly calm but actually somewhat hollow. "Her Eminence Hua Jin stays. The rest of you, enter. See if you have a connection with the Opportunity within."
...