Chapter 367

"Both masters, activate the formation immediately. Sister Qin, you excel at concealment techniques—go and assess the battle situation, and keep me informed at all times." Chen Tianxing gave his orders without hesitation.

Upon hearing this, the white-robed girl said nothing but swiftly formed a hand seal, murmured incantations, and her figure rapidly blurred and turned translucent, vanishing from the stone chamber in an instant.

The two formation masters on the stone platform responded with a nod, tense and careful, swapping their ritual implements and rapidly pointing at the spirit runes inscribed on the five transmission shafts.

The others wore grim expressions, occasionally glancing upward, their spiritual senses and mental probes darting chaotically above, all eager to know what was happening overhead.

Unfortunately, though the surface was not far above, invisible barriers surrounded the chamber, and their Foundation Establishment-level spiritual senses could not pierce through—they could not "see" anything occurring on the surface.

They could only feel the thunderous roars growing louder and the tremors from above intensifying.

Only Wang Yu, his pupils glinting with crystalline light, had activated his overdrive mode; leveraging his terrifying spiritual sense, far surpassing his peers, a single thread of his spiritual awareness suddenly burst forth with a "puff," forcibly piercing the invisible barrier enveloping the chamber and barely reaching the surface, where he "saw" everything above.

Above the oasis, the entire sky had split into two distinct colors: black and gold.

The black was an endless, rolling tide of dark mist, occasionally emitting eerie wails like ghosts crying and wolves howling, within which faintly hovered a colossal, pitch-black centipede phantom, now visible, now gone.

The gold was a swirling orb, blazing like a solar flare, at its center a faintly discernible golden cauldron.

Where the golden light passed, countless golden threads whipped and danced wildly, forcing the black mist to retreat and scatter—but more black mist rolled in endlessly, locking horns with the golden light in a stalemate.

Only one demonic cultivator had arrived.

Wang Yu "saw" this, his heart eased slightly; he swept his spiritual thread across the surroundings but found no trace of the white-robed girl.

Clearly, this "Sister Qin's" concealment technique was truly extraordinary—no wonder Chen Tianxing had immediately dispatched her to observe the battle.

At that moment, a cold voice emanated from Chen Tianxing within the chamber:

"One has arrived—a Golden Core elder of the Black Soul Sect. Elder Jin has already engaged him. To be safe, we must evacuate immediately."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the chamber—except Wang Yu—grew tense.

Fortunately, at this moment, the green-robed elder finally spoke: "The formation is ready."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the entire stone platform hummed, all white spirit runes glowing brightly; the five green transmission shafts flared outward like giant claws, and streams of spatial energy emerged, filling the entire transmission formation.

"Both masters, plan has changed—you evacuate immediately. Sister Qin, escort these two masters out now."

"The rest, teleport out at once. This formation can be used only once—once activated, it cannot be shut down, and only one person may ascend per activation. Everyone must leave in one continuous burst. Those with lower cultivation ascend first. I will hold the rear." Chen Tianxing ordered the group, then raised a white formation disc and spoke into it.

Upon hearing this, the two elder masters nodded; one of them released a deep-yellow spiritual boat.

Both leapt onto it.

Immediately beside them, a ripple appeared—the white-robed girl materialized silently, her voice cold as she uttered, "Go."

"Boom."

The spiritual boat, wrapped in a burst of yellow light, smashed straight through the side stone wall and plunged deep underground.

"Sister Tianhe, your cultivation is low—you go first," Zhuo Fan said to the Tianhe Princess beside him.

"Very well, then I'll go ahead," the Tianhe Princess replied, glancing at Wang Yu, hesitating slightly before stepping onto the stone platform first.

The next instant, the transmission formation roared to life; a flash of white light swept over her, and she vanished.

"Amitabha, Yuantong, you go next," Master Zhi Ming intoned a Buddhist chant, then spoke to the monk beside him.

Yuantong responded with a nod, his figure flickering as he stepped onto the stone platform.

A flash of white light, and the young monk vanished as well.

"Wang Dizi, it's your turn," Yun Caishang, having witnessed all this, turned and said coolly to Wang Yu beside her.

"Yes."

Wang Yu did not hesitate; he nodded and stepped onto the stone platform.

The five green transmission shafts began to tremble slightly; white spiritual rune shadows surged beneath his feet, and streams of spatial energy curled around his body.

At that moment, Wang Yu's expression suddenly changed—he moved instantly, trying to leap off the platform.

But it was too late.

"Boom!"

A bolt of black lightning, as thick as a bowl's mouth, pierced through the stone ceiling, flashed once, and struck precisely the bright expanse of white light at the center of the transmission formation.

A muffled thud.

The entire stone platform disintegrated amid flickering black electrical threads, leaving behind in the chamber a sudden, pitch-black pit two zhang in diameter.

Wang Yu and the transmission formation had both vanished.

Beside him, Chen Tianxing's face turned pale for the first time.

Yun Caishang and the others were startled, retreating several steps—some formed hand seals and chanted protective spells, others released ritual implements to shield themselves, while their spiritual senses swept upward.

The invisible barrier surrounding the chamber had, under the force of that black lightning strike, completely collapsed.

Above, in the empty air, a colossal peach tree—emitting a strange fragrance—had suddenly appeared, towering like a pillar of emerald green, its crown bearing a single peach the size of a house, upon which stood an old woman clad in a flowery robe.

Her face was wrinkled, her body thin and bent, yet her hair was glossy black; expressionless, she slowly retracted the pitch-black cane she had pointed downward.

"You, You San Niang—your Heaven-Accessing Demon Cult has also intervened!" From the golden orb locked in combat with the black mist, a figure flickered into view atop the golden cauldron—an imposing man who shouted in shock and fury at the new arrival.

"Heh, my Demon Lord has ordered: destroy the seven sects of Tianhe Great Ming within three months, and wipe out the entire Wu Kingdom's cultivation world within three years," the flower-robed old woman replied coldly from atop the giant peach tree.

At these words, the Golden Cauldron Elder's face paled, his heart sinking.

…

Half a month later.

On a mighty river surging with rolling waters, a fishing boat ten feet long carried two young fishermen—a man and a woman—who together cast a large net toward the river's center.

After waiting a while, they slowly began hauling the net back.

Their strained expressions clearly indicated the net was unusually heavy.

But as they pulled up more than half the net, the woman—whose skin was slightly darkened—suddenly cried out in shock, as if discovering an unexpected catch.

When they finally hauled the entire net aboard, they lifted from it a charred human-shaped body and laboriously dragged it into the boat's cabin.

Moments later, the fishing boat swiftly rowed toward shore, where faintly visible lay a cluster of low, dilapidated wooden huts—clearly a small fishing village.