Swoosh… 

From time to time, rays of qi light illuminated the horizon. The sound of machinery under extreme burden was already cracking through the air. A vortex of spiritual light covered space, even more dazzling than two hours ago.

Hum… 

Several hundred meters of spiritual light shot down from the eyes of the White Tiger Hall, overturning earth and asphalt roads, and carving out a several-meter-deep chasm. The stronghold was already much more gorgeous than it was two hours prior. Magnificent runes enveloped the sky, and the White Tiger Hall, no less than several thousand meters in size, thundered. With a turn of its hand, a swath of cultivators were doomed to perish.

Multicolored radiance illuminated the Xingtian Legion’s territory. Compared to that land of deep waters and scorching fires beyond, their side was an oddly quiet stretch. In silent meditation, each person firmly grasped each minute to heal up. From their fight just now, they already knew that war was abrupt to arrive. It was a mystery when the next major battle would come.

Xu Yangyi was also meditating, but he didn’t cycle any heart art. Although the Eternal Alchemy Canon had yet to form the great furnace phase, he still cultivated himself now. However, he didn’t need to meditate painstakingly.

He was using Innersight on the Spirit Ascending Bamboo in his storage ring as well as the cocoon inside his qi sea.

After the bamboo had eaten the Spirit Parasite, the bloody marks on its body had vanished. Followingly, though, it had entered a kind of dormant state again. Xu Yangyi’s spiritual sense was unable to approach.

As for that strange cocoon, after it had been dyed with a tinge of red, it moved no more. Its bloodline Elysial Bestowment had previously saved his life. In any case, he couldn’t sense a thing.

The sole thing he could confirm was that this was a demonbeast.

Only demonbeasts possessed bloodline Elysial Bestowments. Humans did not have this ability.

“You don’t seem to be meditating?” A voice made itself known at Xu Yangyi’s ear side. The demon slayer opened his eyes. Fang Cheng was standing in front of him.

“My arcane effort is pretty special,” he laughed.

Fang Cheng nodded and sat down at his side. Their position in the plaza was facing the cracked space of endless vibrant qi that was ten thousand meters away. Even where they were, they could sense ground tremors.

“Finally, we can properly meditate.” Fang Cheng stretched his waist and sat down cross-legged. “At least we protected our command plate.”

Xu Yangyi laughed, but didn’t speak.

Protected?

Far from it!

Currently, their situation appeared stable, but in fact… this was only the first wave. An even greater tsunami was still awaiting them later!

Three clans were laying siege on the Linghu Clan. Once the Nalan Clan fell, only one clan could definitely seize the command plate! In that case… the remaining two clans still had two and a half days. What would they do? Would they resign themselves to only having one command plate?

Were it not for the Xingtian Legion, they would’ve been bound to resignation. But now that the Xingtian Legion was here, they would be absolutely unwilling to let the matter stand!

After all… this stage was the best to take a command plate!

“Junior Brother? Junior Brother?” Fang Cheng’s voice pulled him back out of his thoughts. “What’s up?”

“Nothing.” Xu Yangyi laughed dimly and eyed Fang Cheng somewhat enviously. It was fine that his senior brother didn’t think so much.

“Help me out with something.” His smile vanished, and he looked at Fang Cheng solemnly. “A very important matter.”

Upon seeing Xu Yangyi’s expression, Fang Cheng also grew serious and nodded, “Please speak, Junior Brother.”

Xu Yangyi seriously formed a couple hand seals. “Memorized it?”

“This is yours?” Fang Cheng found it a little baffling.

“The thing I placed underground is called the Demonheart Seed Magik. It is very dangerous. There's no question that its power transcends your imagination,” Xu Yangyi said slowly. “Senior Brother, here in this place, I trust you, Chu Zhaonan, Mao Ba’er, and Li Zongyuan the most. The last two people’s realms are too low. I’m worried they’ll get things wrong. Brother Chu is the Hidden Dragon Legion’s commander. Only you can do it. You’re the most suited.”

Fang Cheng nodded. “Junior Brother, say no more. I’ve always been positive about you—except from when you kicked me inside the livyatan.”

“What I just used was the Demonheart Seed Magik’s unsealing seals. Remember, once you unseal it you absolutely must not stray. Stay within twenty meters of it, it’s the safest. As for when to undo the seal…” Xu Yangyi mused, “Our spiritual senses can be temporarily linked.”

“No problem.”

“Go now,” Xu Yangyi said seriously. “If there’s any unusual changes, you have to tell me at once.”

Fang Cheng left, and the Featherwood Guard entered total silence. Eight hours later, the Hidden Dragon Legion swapped guard with the Xingtian Legion. One power kept watch for eight hours. The entire base was like a smoothly running machine.

Time passed by the minute and second. After an unknown period of time, Xu Yangyi’s eyes snapped open.

The sky was dark as before. The clock on the wall… it was midnight of the second day.

Fifteen to sixteen hours had passed… No, time wasn’t to be looked at now!

Just moments ago… he felt in his spiritual sense that Fang Cheng’s spiritual sense had disappeared!

It wasn’t a simple vanish or disappearance, but rather a total extermination!

“How could something like this happen?!” Xu Yangyi violently slammed the ground, and a loud noise boomed. He stood up and sprinted outside!

Peony was at his door. He banged the door open just as she spoke out, “Com—” 

Xu Yangyi suddenly flew past her without a moment's delay!

Impossible… This can’t be real…

 Apart from the anxiety in his heart was moreover stabbing pain. Fang Cheng could be considered one of his few friends. His fellow apprentice wasn’t in the slightest danger underground, so how could he have died all of a sudden? 

It’s definitely a problem with my senses… It has to be that…

He stiffly grinded his teeth and raced down from several levels to the side of the Transference Formation below in almost less than ten seconds.

“Activate the formation,” his voice hissed out from between his teeth.

Three Zhao Clan cultivators standing guard beside the formation were stunned. One cultivator said respectfully, “Fellow Daoist Xu… you said yourself that in order to activate the Transference Formation, you, Clan Elder, and…”

“I said…” Xu Yangyi clenched his fists. “Activate the formation!”

His mood was terrible… The three cultivators shared a glance, all of them skeptical. In their impressions, this branch master hadn’t even been stirred by the Reincarnation Puppet. What was going on now… 

They did not know that enemies and emotion were two completely different things.

The three cultivators dared not say more and immediately opened the formation. Just as Xu Yangyi was about to step in and rush, he came to a sudden halt.

“That’s not right…” he gnashed his teeth, his hands drawn deathly tight, yet he forcibly endured it.

“Senior Brother’s power… is strong, very strong. Not much different than myself when I was at the middle stage.” He forced himself to breathe deeply, stab after stab of pain aching in his heart. “In a situation where only Qi Condensation can act, so long as it wasn’t a peak late-stage Qi Condensation genius from the four clans, he would be able to deal with things. But just now… his spiritual sense suddenly collapsed…”

“There’s only one kind of explanation… The strength of the person, or maybe the thing that came far exceeds the late stage! Half-step Foundation Establishment? No, half-step wouldn’t be able to leave Senior Brother speechless. His and my spiritual sense are linked. All he needs to do is activate his spiritual sense and call for me to save him… but he didn’t.”

“Senior Brother was killed in a state where he couldn’t sense anything at all…” The nails of his clenched fist dug out bloody marks on his palm, yet he forced himself to stay beside the formation. “And I rushed over in less than ten seconds. In other words…”

“That thing… might still be down there! Right under my feet!”

Xu Yangyi was none the wiser, at this moment below, a lump of squirming black water was trembling as it creeped beside someone’s foot. Eventually that person’s voice dimly floated down to the ball of water.

“I heard him… He’s next to the formation. He rushed over… but he stopped.”

“Worthy of being one capable of leaving Danixa Temple,” the voice paused and drifted far away in the air, “Go, he won’t come down for the time being. Each second of my time is precious.”

“S-Senior…” the black water shuddered as it said, “J-Junior will go the p-previous place and wait for summons?”

“If not there… where do you wish to go?” the voice contained an unspeakable anguish. “Hell?”

The water had not expected at all that there was actually something so horrific inside this tunnel!

Although it had been seized of its pre-celestial-gathered Heavy-Profound Nether Water, its body itself was made from diluted heavy water. Nonetheless, in the face of this person, the elysial divine ability that it was intensely proud of actually hadn’t been able to get within ten meters of the other’s body!

Too terrible… This person transcended its meager knowledge concerning all definitions of cultivators! The other had left it no choice but to crawl here and submit itself to fate. 

Up above, Xu Yangyi was calmly sitting beside the black formation. The three Zhao Clan cultivators glanced at each other. None of them dared to speak out of turn.

One hour passed, two hours passed. Xu Yangyi finally released a spirit ape-puppet into the formation. After five seconds of cautious detection, he barged in.

Swoosh!

 From vagueness, his vision transformed into clarity. The first thing to greet his view was Fang Cheng leaning up against the wall. Blood had vomited out of Fang Cheng’s mouth, and his expression was overcome by shock.

And yet… the other was without a trace of vitality.

His spiritual sense had been annihilated… 

Xu Yangyi painfully shut his eyes, his teeth loudly grinding. He only opened his eyes several seconds later, walked over, and gently shuttered Fang Cheng’s wide-open eyes.

Who the hell was it?!

His senior brother… had truly died.

Unlike Zhao Ziqi’s false death, but rather a destruction of divine sense… There was no longer any chance to live.

“Senior Brother…” his voice was somewhat gravely, and he grasped the other’s hand. “Rest in peace.”

He didn’t finish speaking because Fang Cheng’s fist was stiffly clenched. He had originally wanted to help arrange his senior brother in a position of rest, yet he was unable to!

Xu Yangyi’s gaze flashed. This time, he used spiritual force to pry open Fang Cheng’s fingers.

Inside Fang Cheng’s hand was shockingly a character!

RUN!!!

[1]

Xu Yangyi stared hard at the character. Fang Cheng had used his fingernails to carve this character into his hand, line after line, dripping with blood. While his murder had been abrupt, he seized the moment to carve this word!

“Wrong!” At his moment, a burst of searing heat flared in his heart. “Wrong… Wrong!”

“If it was an enemy that Senior Brother couldn’t sense, how could he have made this character?!” His gaze reddened as he fixated on the character for run, and he mumbled to himself, “This… is something that Senior Brother carved as he was about to die. But!”

“He couldn’t possibly forget that our spiritual senses are temporarily linked. With the effort he spent to carve this word, he could’ve told me about everything that happened here!”

1. This is the specific Chinese character: 走.

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