Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97

"Wu shi!"

The three of them clasped their fists to greet the other party.

"What is the current situation here?" Zhang Xuan got straight to the point.

"Half a month ago, the seal suddenly became unstable. Even so, with the forces that we have, we were still able to stabilize it easily. But two days ago, the seal suddenly began shaking intensely, threatening to collapse at any moment. Despite devoting all of our men to stabilizing the seal, we are barely hanging on at the moment. At this rate, it won't be long before the situation exceeds our control!" Wu shi glanced at the hemispherical depression with a worried frown.

"Exceeds our control?"

"Indeed." Wu shi nodded. Just as he was about to explain the matter, a deep rumbling reminiscent of thunder suddenly reverberated from the ground below. Like the cry of a behemoth or the roar of a massive dragon prowling beneath the mountain range, it seemed like a fearsome being would suddenly come to life and massacre everyone present.

"What is that?" The faces of Zhang Xuan and the others warped in astonishment.

That deep rumbling sounded like the source of a devastating calamity of some kind. Before such overwhelming force, the strength of humans felt pitifully insignificant in comparison. It felt like no amount of effort would stop the destruction from crashing down on them, devouring them all.

"We've looked into the matter, and it seems like that sound originates from the other side of the seal. There is no way for us to find out for sure what is going on within at the moment, but at this rate, it won't be long before the entire seal collapses. Once that happens, be it the ancient domain or Firesource City, they will be reduced to ashes!" Wu shi said worriedly.

If the seal was destroyed, it could very well result in the rampaging energies within the volcano running amok, thus inducing a massive explosion. The Swallow Embracing Mountain was only three hundred kilometers away from Firesource City. At such a short distance away, there was no doubt that Firesource City would be devastated by the massive explosion as well, killing even Saint realm experts that stood in its path.

Far too much energy had gathered beneath the volcano over the years, to the point where no human could withstand it!

Hong long long!

While they were speaking, the rumbling grew louder and louder. The ground began shaking violently, and a scorching burst of air gushed up from the depths of the seal. In an instant, over half of the formation flags that had just been planted a moment ago were jolted out of the ground.

The students of the Formation Master School, who were sitting before the hemispherical depression to stabilize the seal, instantly looked weakened, and a few hundred of them were abruptly sent flying from the spot. Huge mouthfuls of blood spewed from their mouths.

A new group of students hurried forward to fill the gaps left behind by the casualties. Exerting the full extent of their cultivation, they tried their best to stabilize the seal, preventing it from collapsing.

"What an incredible force" Upon seeing this sight, Zhang Xuan's face paled.

The might gushing out from beneath was far beyond his expectations. Even the collaboration of multiple Saint 5-dan experts might not be able to suppress it.

Even with so many students of the Hongyuan Master Teacher Academy infusing their power into it, they were still barely holding on.

Before such immense power, putting aside entering the ancient domain, he would be reduced to dust by the powerful force before he could even get close to the seal!

Before, he had been thinking that no matter how dangerous the ancient domain was, as long as he were to rely on his Eye of Insight and Library of Heaven's Path to assess the situation ahead of him, he would be able to avert danger with relative ease. But from the looks of it now, his thoughts had been too naive!

Even the dangers lurking outside the ancient domain were far greater than he had expected. The slightest mistake could easily result in death!

At this moment, a loud bellow was heard throughout the area.

" Team A, guard the Gen. Team B, guard the Xun. Team C, guard the Qian. 1 As for the other teams, remain where you are and continue infusing your zhenqi into the seal!"

Following that, an elder flew into the sky and stood above everyone else. A massive compass floated before him, which he used to make calculations as he continued issuing orders here and there.

Hearing his instructions, the students beneath hurriedly moved in the teams they had formed before and carried out the instructions demanded of them. Following which, innumerable surges of zhenqi poured forth, converging at the very center of the depression. In that moment, it looked as if someone had set off a massive firework.

Under the influx of zhenqi, the fortified seal slowly calmed down. At the same time, the rumbling beneath the ground also gradually quietened down, as if being forcefully suppressed.

After studying the situation for a moment longer, Zhang Xuan suddenly noticed something, and a deep frown arched between his brows. "Wait a moment If the seal is fortified in such a manner, how can it be opened later?"

This method of reinforcing the formation was indeed effective in coping with the assault of the fearsome force from below, bringing safety back to the area. However there was a major problem with this solution!

The fortification of the seal meant that it would become harder for them to open the seal and enter the ancient domain. In fact, if this continued, it might become entirely impossible to do so!

According to their previous estimates, the seal was likely to open within two to three days. However, if they were to continue reinforcing the seal in such a manner, putting aside three days, the seal might not even open within the next three years!

"Indeed, but there's nothing we can do about this situation. If we leave the seal be, the volcano will explode without a shred of doubt. Not only will the ancient domain be destroyed, the entire area, including Firesource City, will be devastated as well."

If they had a choice, they obviously wouldn't fortify the seal. But if they didn't do so, the ancient domain would be completely destroyed, making it impossible for them to enter!

Besides, considering how volatile the immense energies that had accumulated beneath the volcano were, who would dare enter even if it was possible to do so? After all, there was no one who could guarantee that the volcano wouldn't act up while they were within! Once that happened, they could very well be torn to shreds by that overwhelming force!

"Is there really no alternative solution other than to fortify the formation?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

"There is, but it simply isn't feasible!" Wu shi shook his head.

Zhang Xuan turned his gaze to Wu shi and said, "Tell me about it."

The situation was already as bad as it could get. At this point, they had to try everything that they could.

"The seal is similar to a cover that suppresses the violent energies raging beneath the volcano. Using a metaphor, the current situation is similar to that of a balloon. Initially, when the energies attempting to burst out from beneath weren't too great, the seal was still able to keep them in through its elasticity," Wu shi explained.

"However, as more and more energies accumulated, the seal rapidly found itself coming to its limit, putting it under threat of exploding altogether! Through reinforcing the seal, we are effectively bringing the breaking point of the seal higher, allowing the seal to withstand the rampaging energies by a greater degree.

"However, no matter how much we fortify the seal, as long as the energies beneath the ground continue to accumulate, the seal will eventually reach its limit. In a sense, we are only pushing back the inevitable. Unless we resolve the root of the problem, the accumulation of energies below, there will come a day when the seal exceeds its breaking point and bursts!"

Hearing the other party's explanation, Zhang Xuan nodded in agreement.

The metaphor the other party used was a fitting description of the current situation they were in.

The root of the problem was still the accumulation of energies beneath the ground. The fortification of the formation only served to rein the rampaging energies in for the time being; it wasn't a long-term measure. In fact, the longer the energies were suppressed, the greater the accumulation of energies, resulting in the eventual explosion being more devastating than it already was.

To make an analogy, it was similar to constructing a dam to prevent a flood.

The more water it kept at bay, the higher the water level would be, and the greater the pressure the dam would be put under. When the dam eventually collapsed, the flood would come crashing down with far greater momentum than it originally would.

If something similar were to happen here as well, it would spell a great calamity.

"The other solution we have thought of is to dispel the energies accumulated below directly. It would solve the root of the problem, but before the seal is opened, there is no way we can venture below to identify the cause of the accumulation of energies and resolve the issue. On the other hand, the moment the seal is opened, the accumulated energies will surely burst forth, resulting in a catastrophic explosion." Wu shi shook his head with a bitter smile.

This was a paradox. To dispel the energies, they would have to break open the seal and enter the other side. But the moment this was done, an explosion would burst forth, annihilating everything in the area.

"This" Zhang Xuan and Mu shi glanced at one another and shook their heads helplessly.

Wu shi was right; this was indeed an irresolvable problem. Despite knowing the dangers of fortifying the seal continuously, they had no choice but to do it.

At this point, Zhang Xuan suddenly thought of something and asked, "I heard from a master teacher stationed in the Master Teacher Pavilion that just before this problem occurred, Otherworldly Demons were spotted to be lurking around the vicinity. Is this true?"

"That's right!" Wu shi nodded. "The Otherworldly Demons didn't remain in the area for long before fleeing. We have no idea what they did in the short period of time that they were here, but the seal suddenly grew unstable. It was still rather manageable at the start, and we were able to easily suppress it with just a couple of us in the area. However, as time ticked by, the instability worsened, and eventually as you can see, even with the combined might of twenty thousand students, we are barely holding on!"

"They didn't remain in the area for long before fleeing?" Zhang Xuan repeated Wu shi's words contemplatively and fell into a moment of thought. A moment later, he asked, "Who was the one who spotted the Otherworldly Demons?"

"It was an ordinary 4-star master teacher. He was stationed as a sentry in the area when it happened," Wu shi replied.

"An ordinary 4-star master teacher would only possess a cultivation of Transcendent Mortal 4-dan, and yet he noticed the movements of the Otherworldly Demons?" Zhang Xuan remarked with a tinge of bewilderment in his tone.

He had encountered many Otherworldly Demons who had passed through the seal for the ancient domain, and even the weakest of them was a Saint 1-dan.

How could an ordinary 4-star master teacher, a Transcendent Mortal 4-dan cultivator, notice them but still remain alive at this point?

Given the vast disparity in cultivation, it was inconceivable to think that the Otherworldly Demons hadn't noticed the presence of the 4-star master teacher.

"Don't worry, that master teacher is definitely trustworthy. There is no way he could have betrayed mankind," Wu shi hurriedly added.

"I am not suspecting that 4-star master teacher of colluding with the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe" Zhang Xuan shook his head. Halfway through his words, the ground suddenly began to rumble once more.

"Initially, the energies would only act up once every four to six hours. However, the intervals between each surge has been decreasing swiftly, and at this point, it is less than ten minutes," Wu shi said.

Two days ago, due to the lower frequency of the rampaging energies acting up, their forces were still able handle it with relative ease. However, with an assault coming once every ten minutes, everyone was already on the brink of collapse!

"My students won't be able to hold on for too long at this rate," Zhang Xuan said with a livid face.

Twenty thousand of his students were currently standing atop the Swallow Embracing Mountain, and a significant proportion of them were from the Xuanxuan Faction as well. An assault once every few hours was still within their means, but one that occurred every ten minutes They would be pushing themselves to the limits! At this rate, they might very well end up pushing themselves too far and incur permanent damage to their foundations, resulting in a steep decline in their cultivation.

"I know, but there is no better solution at the moment." Wu shi sighed in frustration.

At this point, Luo Ruoxin suddenly spoke up. "Since it is just a matter of time before the energies burst forth, why don't you just create an opening to guide the rampaging energies out instead? This way, you should be able to resolve the root of the problem as well."

"Create an opening? It is not that we haven't considered such a solution before, but given the overwhelming energies that have accumulated at the moment, if we create an opening at the wrong location, it could end up becoming a trigger for an explosion instead. The seal would be torn apart, and in the worst-case scenario we could all die!" Wu shi said.

Using the same balloon analogy, a balloon that expanded continuously would burst eventually. To prevent such a situation from happening, one could poke an opening in it to release the accumulated air gradually. However, this was easier said than done. If one were to create an opening at the wrong location, it could very well become a trigger that would cause the balloon to explode instantaneously.

All of the master teachers that were currently standing atop the Swallow Embracing Mountain would be reduced to ashes.

As such, how many openings to create and where the openings should be made were very important questions to consider. A mistake made in either of the two could spell their demise. Even with 7-star master teachers and 7-star formation masters among them, they weren't confident enough to take such a risky action.

"So, we just have to find the most suitable locations to release the built-up energies?"

Hearing the conversation between the two, Zhang Xuan's eyes suddenly lit up. With a look of excitement, he said, "Regarding that matter perhaps I can give it a try!"