Chapter 187: Petrification

"Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox!"

Watching the colossal white fox figure materialize above the Tang Gu crater, the faces of the cultivators gathered at Qianmen Bao shifted in alarm.

As more cultivators flocked here, Qianmen Bao had long been placed under martial law; the ramparts were lined with Demon-Suppressing Guards ready to engage at any moment, projecting an aura that anyone attempting to breach the pass would be killed without mercy.

No one dared to force their way into Qianmen Bao, nor did anyone dare to confront the Demon-Suppressing Guards head-on.

Unable to enter Tang Gu, they naturally could not investigate what was happening inside, yet no one chose to leave.

First, the Soul Star above Qianmen Bao had ignited; even gathering near the fortress allowed one's divine soul to be nourished by the soul force radiating from it.

For cultivators, naturally, the stronger the divine soul, the better.

Second, most cultivators were concerned about the situation within Tang Gu. Half a month ago, a black pillar of demonic qi resembling a tornado had suddenly appeared at the Tang Gu crater, formed by leaking demonic energy.

Everyone could guess that demon clansmen who had infiltrated Tang Gu had destroyed the array eye.

Nowadays, the demonic qi pillar showed signs of growing larger; once the demonic energy spiraled out of control, it would likely spread from the Palace of the Sage of Artifacts into the mortal world.

Regarding this, the cultivators present were deeply worried, after all, the place where everyone would primarily live and cultivate in the future was still the mortal world.

Furthermore, witnessing the progression of events firsthand at Qianmen Bao was certainly more accurate than hearing secondhand information from others later on.

On the Demon-Suppressing Army's side, Chu Junyi frowned tightly as he watched Liu Chengxiong on the ramparts. As the supreme commander of the Demon-Suppressing Guards at Qianmen Bao, with demon clansmen having infiltrated the center of the array eye to sabotage it, he should have rushed over immediately to stop them, not stood on the wall seemingly guarding Qianmen Bao while actually doing nothing.

Seeing his grave expression, Lieutenant General Sheng Pengyun spoke up: "General, do not worry. People from Xiangguo Temple, the Celestial Master's Mansion, the Palace of the Three Purities, and the Palace of Great Simplicity have all arrived; they must have already transmitted news of this place outward."

"If the demonic qi truly spreads to the mortal world, it will surely be contained in time. Even if containment is delayed, it should not cause too much impact; after all, that pillar of demonic qi is not large and cannot leak that much demonic energy."

Chu Junyi's brows did not relax in the slightest: "The prison confining ferocious beasts and demon clansmen, do you know why it is not called the Demon Prison, but the Demon-Monster Prison?"

Sheng Pengyun and the others standing beside him indeed did not know this matter and all shook their heads.

Chu Junyi explained: "Since the establishment of the Demon-Monster Prison, the ferocious beasts and great demons confined within have all been cruel and vicious fellows. After being locked into the Demon-Monster Prison, their hearts were filled with murderous aura, hatred, and killing intent. By the time these ferocious beasts and great demons sat in meditation until death, this violent qi had grown to a terrifying degree. Any cultivator with an unsteady mind who comes into contact with even a trace of it will give rise to various evil thoughts, thereby being influenced or even controlled."

"Therefore, what leaks from the Demon-Monster Prison is not merely demonic qi, but demon-monster qi mixed with a vast amount of violent aura."

"If demon-monster qi spreads to the mortal world, needless to say ordinary people, even the vast majority of cultivators cannot withstand it. Once influenced by the violent aura, it will absolutely cause unimaginable turmoil."

"The violent thoughts spawned by demon-monster qi cause harm no less than the evil desires nurtured by the black flames of the Divine Lamp."

Hearing this, the faces of all the Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers turned serious.

"What are the Demon-Suppressing Guards of Qianmen Bao good for, allowing demon clansmen to infiltrate the center of the array eye?"

"The demon clansmen must have entered from the Soul-Breaking Mountain side."

Looking at the massive crater behind Qianmen Bao, Sheng Pengyun asked in confusion: "The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox has nine tails; why do I only see eight?"

Chu Junyi's eyes flashed: "There must be someone in Tang Gu resisting the demon clansmen and guarding the array eye." He paused briefly, "Most likely, it is someone from the Palace of the Sage of Artifacts."

Sheng Pengyun: "But the Palace of the Sage of Artifacts has had no news in the mortal world all along; how did they suddenly appear?"

Chu Junyi: "It is not that there is no news; they simply did not wish for us to notice them. They have always been there."

Sheng Pengyun: "The Demon-Suppressing Army, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Eastern Depot have all been watching the Artifact Refining Workshop, yet none discovered the location of the Palace of the Sage of Artifacts; they are indeed hidden quite deeply."

"If you ask me, there is actually no need to be so secretive and hiding; it would be better to openly recruit cultivators just like the Hall of Ling Guang. If one wishes to expand and strengthen the Palace of the Sage of Artifacts, ultimately it relies on people. By hiding and concealing, how many cultivators can be recruited?"

"Although the Palace of the Sage of Artifacts holds the orthodox lineage of artifact refining and need not fear a lack of followers, now is precisely when the recovery of spiritual qi has just begun; it is the time to snatch people and territory. If one falls behind during this stage, it will be difficult to catch up in the future."

Sheng Pengyun paused, then looked at Chu Junyi: "Speaking of Sacred Lands, the other three Sacred Lands also seem to have made no significant moves. General, you say that even I can figure this out clearly; the successors of the Sacred Lands should not fail to realize it. Watching other powers recruit cultivators everywhere, how can they sit so calmly?"

Chu Junyi shook his head: "Many matters depend on timing; perhaps the time has not yet arrived."

Just as everyone was worrying about the situation in Tang Gu, the colossal white fox above the Tang Gu crater transformed into a beam of white light and flew directly into Tang Gu.

Moments later, the white fox transformed into a stunning woman dressed in white, appearing on the Boundary Stone Platform at the very center of Tang Gu.

At this moment, on the Boundary Stone Platform, a hammer emitting red light hovered at the exact center. Beside the hammer, three people were engaged in fierce combat; two of them sought to seize the hammer, while the third blocked them.

Further out from the three, eighteen human-shaped stone statues sat cross-legged. These stone statues formed a circle, protecting the hammer in the middle.

One of the human-shaped stone statues had already been mostly shattered and lay toppled on the platform.

Due to this stone statue shattering and falling, a crack was revealed at the spot where it had previously been sitting.

At this moment, churning and boiling black gas was continuously leaking from the crack. As the black gas dispersed into the air, it immediately formed a vortex pillar resembling a tornado.

In the distance from the black qi pillar, four people were engaged in fierce combat; three of them were precisely Baili Changfeng and his two disciples.

As soon as the white fox appeared, she urgently ordered her three subordinates: "Forget about the Divine Hammer; devote all efforts to destroying the array eye."

That there were experts guarding the bottom of Tang Gu completely exceeded her expectations.

At this moment, the white fox deeply regretted her actions; she should not have been greedy. After detecting a treasure at the bottom of Tang Gu, she had forgotten that the purpose of infiltrating Tang Gu was to destroy the array eye, intending instead to seize that treasure.

The treasure was guarded by experts, and her intervention seemed to have awakened the experts at the bottom of Tang Gu.

After speaking to her subordinates, the white fox charged directly at one of the human-shaped stone statues. The other three demon clan attendants also ceased entangling with Baili Changfeng and the four others, all launching attacks against the human-shaped stone statues.

"Sinful beast, stop!"

Simultaneously, at the bottom of Tang Gu, Hua Changxi looked at the massive fox tail that had fallen down, her brows knitting together. Recalling that the demon clansmen had infiltrated Tang Gu to destroy the array eye, she stored the Shennong Cauldron and the fox tail, glanced at the rift connecting to the Divine Wood Space, and quickly swam upward toward the top of Tang Gu.

When Hua Changxi flew out of Tang Gu, she heard Xia Xue's piercing cry.

"Master, no~"

Hua Changxi's expression changed slightly; she rode a cloud flying toward the direction the sound came from. Soon, she saw a massive gray stone platform.

On the stone platform, a woman in white smashed a human-shaped stone statue, revealing an opening. In an instant, a massive amount of grim and terrifying black gas surged out from the opening.

As the black gas gushed out, it directly formed a black tornado-like qi pillar, shooting up from the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Seeing the black qi pillar, Baili Changfeng threw himself forward, sitting cross-legged atop the opening. The outflow of black gas was blocked, and the black qi pillar slowly dissipated; however, Baili Changfeng began to turn to stone at a speed visible to the naked eye.