270: Chapter 270 Blood Restriction Broken, Swords Drawn to Engage

The shaking of the underground space lasted for nearly ten breaths—then it stopped.

At the moment it stopped—the cold-light Spirit Stones on the altar dome flashed simultaneously—the light jumped from the warm, dark-gold color temperature back to ice blue—but it only lasted for less than half a breath—before being swallowed by dark gold once again.

The speed of this swallowing was nearly twice as fast as before—like some force that had been suppressed for thousands of years finally no longer needed to be suppressed—from the dome to the floor—from the stone walls to the Array Pattern—the light in the entire altar space turned from ice blue to dark gold in less than three breaths.

Then—the dark-gold pillar of light in the direction of the vestibule—that core spiritual light pillar of the Seal that ran straight down from the dome—extinguished.

The process of extinguishing was extremely fast—it went from fully bright to pitch black in an instant—with no transition in between.

At the same time the light pillar extinguished—a deep, muffled cracking sound came from the direction of the vestibule—something extremely thick and hard had been forcibly smashed from the outside—the cracking sound penetrated the at least several-mile-long passage—reverberating repeatedly off the passage walls—each time it rebounded—the remnants of the ancient Sword Cultivator's Sword Intent on the stone walls would ring out once.

The frequency of the ringing became denser and denser—from once every breath initially to later forming a continuous sound—the stone walls of the entire passage were humming.

In the secret chamber of the side hall—the deepest and most complete sword technique diagram—the cyan spiritual light inside the carvings flashed when the cracking sound arrived—then it began to flicker at an extremely fast frequency—like a sword buried for thousands of years responding to the movement outside the door.

Leng Feng's observation lens—the lens could no longer be used. He moved the lens tube away from his eyes—there were at least a dozen cracks on the lens—the edges of each crack reflecting a faint dark-gold light.

The Spiritual Pressure reading inside the lens tube jumped to a value he had never seen before—then the Spiritual Pressure sensing Array Pattern inside the tube could not withstand it—the circuit burned deep inside the tube with a very light, thin sizzling sound—a wisp of faint blue smoke emerged from the end of the tube—then the reading returned to zero.

"My Lord—in the direction of the vestibule—at least three Golden Core Stage Spiritual Pressures—"

He did not finish his sentence—the second wave of shaking arrived.

This time it was an impact—different from the earthquake-like shaking—smashing down—rebounding—smashing again—rebounding again. Once—less than half a breath apart—a second time—another less than half a breath apart—a third time.

Three impacts—the force of each one caused the cold-light Spirit Stones on the altar dome, which had remained motionless for thousands of years, to flash simultaneously—the light jumped from dark gold to a very brief white—then rebounded to dark gold.

The rhythm of the impacts was extremely uniform—like three hearts contracting at the same frequency—each time they contracted—a shockwave pushed from the vestibule along the passage toward the center of the altar—by the time it reached the altar, the remaining force of the shockwave was still enough to make the soles of the feet of those standing on the stone platform go numb.

Then—a deep, muffled cracking sound came from the direction of the vestibule.

The Trapping Array light wall—that ancient Trapping Array base that had remained in the vestibule for thousands of years—shattered.

It shattered from the center outward. The fragments of the light wall traced trails of dark-gold light in the air—flying from the vestibule toward the altar—the speed of flight was extremely fast—each fragment dragged a very long dark-gold afterimage behind it—like meteors flying in reverse.

The fragments struck the stone walls on both sides of the passage—every time one struck—a fist-sized pit was smashed into the stone wall—the edges of the pit glowing with faint dark-gold burn marks.

Leng Feng's narrow-bladed straight sword was already drawn. The tip pointed to the ground—the spiritual light on the sword blade traced a very short, bright ripple on the layer of dark-gold light.

From the direction of the vestibule—they surged in.

The first to rush into the altar space were three Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beasts. Their size was so massive that the moment they rushed into the altar, they blocked nearly one-third of the cold-light Spirit Stone illumination from the dome—casting three long, wide shadows onto the floor of the altar center.

The surface of each one's bone armor was covered with a deep-sea dark-copper deposit layer several inches thick—the deposit layer shimmered with a ghostly green cold light under the relic's cold-light Spirit Stones—like three moving deep-sea reefs.

The dark-copper deposit layer on the bone armor was stacked in layers—each layer's color was less than half a shade darker than the one above it—the outermost layer was ghostly green—the layer inward was dark green—and further inward was an ink-green that was nearly black. This was a layered structure that could only be formed by hundreds or even thousands of years of continuous deposition and compression in the deep sea.

The bone spikes of the three Golden Core Abyssal Beasts—each one was nearly twice as long as those of a Late Foundation Establishment Stage Abyssal Beast—the tips of the bone spikes were embedded with dark-gold crystal fragments—the fragments were embedded in the bone—absorbing light in the dark-gold spiritual light layer—and then releasing it—the released light was nearly twice as bright as what was absorbed—the tip of every bone spike looked as if it were burning.

Leading them was the largest Golden Core Middle Stage Abyssal Beast—its bone armor was at least thirty percent thicker than the other two—the wear marks on the edges of its armor plates were at least several times more than the others—the dark-copper deposit layer at the worn spots had been ground away—revealing the ink-green bone underneath—the bone itself was covered in dense, old scars—the patterns of some scars faintly matched the sword technique diagrams of ancient Sword Cultivators.

As it rushed into the altar—it opened its mouth—a terrifying roar squeezed out from the depths of its throat—the roar was amplified several times in the spacious altar area—hitting the dome—rebounding—reverberating back and forth between the stone walls—each time it rebounded—the Sword Intent fragments on the stone walls would ring out simultaneously.

Behind the three Golden Core Abyssal Beasts—Late Foundation Establishment Stage Abyssal Beast elites surged in like a black tide. There were at least several hundred.

Their bone armor reflected dense ink-green light spots in the dark-gold spiritual light layer—the light spots moved in a uniform direction—advancing from the vestibule toward the center of the altar—the speed of the advance was extremely fast—the front row of the bone shield formation was already set—the gap between the shields was less than half a foot—the tips of bone spears protruded from the gaps—the dark-blue crystal fragments embedded in the spear tips glowed with an extremely cold blue light in the dark-gold light.

The core area—panic exploded.

Shopkeeper Qian was the first to move. His back had been pressed against the stone wall—at the moment the Golden Core Abyssal Beast's roar hit the dome—his knees buckled—his legs went weak—his kneecaps struck the stone floor—making a very light, muffled sound.

His dharma robe dragged on the ground in the dark-gold spiritual light layer—the torn left sleeve brushed against the stone wall as he retreated—the protruding segments of the ancient Array Pattern on the stone wall caught his cuff—tearing a new hole nearly half an inch long. He did not stop—he retreated all the way to the base of the stone wall—his back hit the stone wall—the back of his head knocked against the stone wall—knocking out a very light, muffled sound.

The Gold-Rank Enforcer of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance retreated even faster than Shopkeeper Qian. His dark-copper heavy war sword lay horizontally in front of him—the dozen or so Spirit Stones on the sword blade were still dark—under the Spiritual Pressure of the Golden Core Abyssal Beasts, his Peak Foundation Establishment strength couldn't even muster the courage to raise the sword.

His back hit the stone wall—a protruding half-section of the ancient Array Pattern on the stone wall pressed against his shoulder blades—pressing painfully—but he did not move forward—one step forward meant being one step closer to the Golden Core Abyssal Beasts.

Those Loose Cultivators who had signed the Heavenly Dao oath—some were trying to squeeze into the side passages. The side passages connected to the intersection of the outer escape routes—but the direction of the passages had already been blocked by the bone shield formation after the Golden Core Abyssal Beasts surged in—over a dozen Late Foundation Establishment Stage bone shield bearers had lined up in three rows at the passage entrance—the gap between the shields was less than three inches—the tips of the bone spears protruding from the gaps glowed with an extremely cold blue light in the dark-gold light.

Those who tried to squeeze into the sides hit the bone shield formation—and retreated back—halfway back—Abyssal Beasts surged into the other side passage as well—Late Foundation Establishment Stage bone spear bearers filed out from the side passages—spreading outward on the perimeter of the altar—the speed of spreading was extremely fast—within less than ten breaths, all exits on the perimeter of the altar were completely sealed.

There was no way out.

Some people began to cry. The sound of crying was almost inaudible amidst the roars of the Golden Core Abyssal Beasts—but it could be seen—a young Peak Qi Refining Stage Loose Cultivator crouched at the base of the stone wall—mouth open—tears streaming down from the corners of his eyes—glistening with a faint watery light in the dark-gold spiritual light layer.

His hands were fumbling for the Storage Pouch at his waist—he touched it—then let go—touched it—then let go—repeating this at least four or five times—as if even the strength to flee had been drained from him.

Leng Feng stood on the side of the stone platform—the narrow-bladed straight sword was already drawn in his hand—the sword tip pointed to the ground—his spine straight. His gaze swept from the retreating crowd to the center of the altar—swept to the tide of Abyssal Beasts surging in from the vestibule—and then landed on Lu Changyuan.

Lu Changyuan did not retreat.

The speed at which he stood up from the stone platform was not fast—the same speed as usual—his knees relaxed from the cross-legged position—left foot planted first—right foot followed—the hem of his gray cloth dharma robe dragged off the surface of the stone platform—a very light friction sound emitted between the fabric and the stone surface.

He pressed the black crystal tight against his palm again—the crystal in his palm—extremely cold—extremely heavy—still—the pulsation had not returned—but the dark-gold radial fine lines on the bottom of the crystal—were all glowing—each one extending toward the center of the altar at an extremely slow speed.

He took a step forward. The direction—the center of the altar—against the retreating crowd.

Shadow One and Shadow Two followed three steps behind him. Both their short swords were already drawn—sword tips pointed to the ground—the hems of their waterproof cloaks dragged across the ground—dragging through the dark-gold spiritual light layer—tracing two very short, very narrow ripples on the spiritual light layer.

Their breathing frequency had been adjusted to be completely synchronized—each inhalation was completed within the same quarter of a breath—each exhalation ended within the same quarter of a breath.

Shadow One retracted her left foot by less than half an inch—Shadow Two's right pinky finger had hooked the counterweight ball of the sword hilt upward by less than half a millimeter—the pre-activation state of their combined attack stance.

Lu Changyuan passed through the retreating crowd. The crowd was pushed apart in front of him—the layer of Spiritual Pressure expanding outward around his body—pushed the people on both sides so that their backs hit the people next to them—layer pushing layer—within less than two breaths, a path was cleared from the stone platform directly to the center of the altar.

He walked from the stone platform to the center of the altar—walking nearly thirty steps—each step stepping on the dark-copper alloy floor—the ancient Array Pattern on the floor flashed under his feet—then dimmed—the frequency of the alternation between bright and dark was nearly twice as fast as before—as if the altar was responding to his footsteps.

The three Golden Core Abyssal Beasts had rushed through the vestibule—heading straight for the altar core. The leading Abyssal Beast rushed at the very front—its mouth opened again—amidst the roar—the dark-copper deposit layer on its bone armor rubbed together during the high-speed movement—the sound produced by the friction was extremely deep and muffled—like deep-sea reefs squeezing against each other at the bottom of the water—the sound spread from the surface of its bone armor—overpowering the cries of all the retreating people—overpowering the advancing sound of the Late Foundation Establishment Stage Abyssal Beast bone shield formation—overpowering the ringing of the Sword Intent fragments on the stone walls.

Then, inside Lu Changyuan—that False Core stage spiritual power, which had been cleansed by spiritual marrow for months—washed through his Meridians by three-hundred-year-old Jade Sea Liquid—suppressed by the Spirit-Restricting Array in layers of his Dantian—and repeatedly tempered to the limit by days of extreme sparring with Shadow One and Shadow Two—exploded with a boom.

The explosion surged upward—welling up from the depths of his Dantian—spreading from his Meridians to his limbs and bones. The False Core stage Spiritual Pressure surged out from the depths of his Dantian—spreading along his Meridians to his limbs and bones—the speed of spreading was extremely fast—so fast that the hem of his gray cloth dharma robe was puffed up by the Spiritual Pressure—floating in the air less than half a foot off the ground—the ancient Array Pattern on the dark-copper alloy floor, at the moment the Spiritual Pressure swept over it—turned from dark gold to a nearly white bright gold—then dimmed—then was swept over again by the next wave of Spiritual Pressure—brightened again—the frequency of brightening and dimming was so fast it was impossible to count—the entire floor of the altar center seemed to be repeatedly ignited and extinguished by his Spiritual Pressure.

The black crystal in his hand—moved with him.

The dark-gold radial fine lines on the bottom of the crystal all lit up—radiating outward explosively—completely different from the slow extension before. Each fine line projected a line of spiritual power in the air—the lines started from the bottom of the crystal—passed through the gaps in Lu Changyuan's fingers—passed through the propulsion of the False Core stage Spiritual Pressure—and extended all the way to the array core at the center of the altar.

The array core was embedded behind the dark-gold light wall revealed after the Seal chains at the center of the altar broke—the light wall had become translucent after the Seal chains broke ring by ring—the humanoid silhouette behind the light wall, nearly twice as tall as a normal person—moved the moment the crystal lines touched the array core.

That thing which had been wrapped in layers of Seal chains for thousands of years—its right hand—five fingers—were moving—the joints of each finger were bending—the speed of bending was extremely slow—like joints that hadn't moved for thousands of years were moving again for the first time—each time a joint bent—a deep, muffled sound of spiritual power bursting emitted from the joint—the sound came from behind the light wall—penetrated the translucent light wall—and rippled through the altar space.

Then, from the crack in the array core—a hand reached out.

A dark-gold, translucent arm—five fingers spread open—reached out from the crack in the array core—the speed of reaching out was not fast—but extremely steady—with every inch it extended—the outline of the fingers became clearer—the skin was dark gold—translucent—one could see the dense spiritual power lines inside the arm—the pattern of the lines was exactly the same as the radial fine lines on the bottom of the black crystal—each line was swallowing and spitting out a very faint dark-gold spiritual light at an extremely slow speed.

The hand pressed onto the stone slab at the edge of the altar.

The moment it was pressed down—the spot on the stone slab where the palm made contact—instantly sprouted a dense web of dark golden cracks.

The cracks spread outward from the palm—at an extreme speed—covering the nearly three-foot-square surface of the stone slab in less than a single breath.

Every crack followed the path of the internal spiritual energy lines within the slab—severing the fragments of the ancient Array Pattern—and where they were severed, the spiritual light shifted from dark gold to a very pale gold—before dissipating.

That Spiritual Pressure—from the moment the palm pressed down—swept clearly across the physical space of this world for the first time.

The range swept by the Spiritual Pressure—from the center of the altar outward—brushed past Lu Changyuan—past Leng Feng—past Shadow One and Shadow Two—past Shopkeeper Qian—past the Gold-Rank Enforcer—past everyone cowering at the base of the stone walls—and then continued to spread outward—sweeping over the tide of Abyssal Beasts pouring in from the foyer—sweeping over the three Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beasts—sweeping over the fragments of the Death-Stilling Formation at the junction of the outer escape route—sweeping over every corner of the entire underground space.

Wherever the Spiritual Pressure swept—Abyssal Beasts below the Foundation Establishment Rank—knelt on the spot.

Not a single one could remain standing.

The front row of the bone shield formation—shields slammed onto the floor—the shield-bearers' forelimbs buckled—their knees struck the dark copper alloy floor—the collision between the bone armor and the metal floor plates produced a dense, heavy thudding sound—like hundreds of giant boulders being dropped from a height simultaneously.

Abyssal Beasts above the Foundation Establishment Rank—saw their movements slow by nearly half—the speed at which their bone spears thrust out from the shield gaps changed from instantaneous to a visibly slow push—like throwing a punch underwater—every inch forward required overcoming water pressure at least twice as great as usual.

The three Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beasts—when the Spiritual Pressure swept over them—stopped simultaneously.

The lead Abyssal Beast—its mouth still open—the roar still in its throat—but it could not roar.

The dark copper deposits on its bone armor began to vibrate with extreme, dense tremors under the Spiritual Pressure—the tremors transmitted from the surface of the deposits inward—conducting to the bone structure itself—the bone structure was trembling—the frequency of the trembling perfectly matched the throughput frequency of the spiritual energy lines inside the arm.

It stopped less than thirty zhang from the center of the altar—all four legs nailed to the spot—the dark golden crystal shards at the tips of its bone spurs brightened to their maximum—then dimmed—then brightened again—the frequency of brightening and dimming was forcibly twisted by some more powerful force into the same rhythm as the arm's energy lines.

The other two Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beasts stopped behind it—one veered less than half a zhang to the left—one veered less than half a zhang to the right—the stopping positions of the three Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beasts—after being swept by the Spiritual Pressure—formed a perfectly uniform arc—the center of the arc was exactly the hand pressed onto the stone slab in the center of the altar.

Then—a voice emanated from the depths of the array core.

The voice resonated directly in the depths of everyone's Divine Sense—it did not travel through the air—it did not require understanding any language—the arrangement of syllables and the rise and fall of spiritual energy fluctuations naturally carried meaning—the meaning was automatically translated within the Divine Sense—everyone who heard it could understand it directly on the same level in their minds—as if the voice had been carved directly into the Divine Sense level using spiritual energy vibrations.

"Thousands of years."

The voice rippled through the Divine Sense—the pauses between each syllable were drawn out extremely long—so long that it seemed to take nearly five breaths to say these three words—every word echoed repeatedly in the pauses—the frequency of the echoes perfectly matched the throughput frequency of the spiritual energy lines inside the arm.

"Finally, someone—has brought the key."

The voice paused for a moment.

The duration of the pause was nearly half as short as the previous sentence.

"Who are you—young man."

Lu Changyuan stood in the center of the altar—less than three zhang from that dark golden, semi-transparent palm pressed onto the stone slab.

The False Core stage Spiritual Pressure continued to spread outward from his body—the hem of his gray cloth robe still floated less than half a foot off the ground—the black crystal in his palm—was no longer still—its pulsation had returned—the frequency of the pulsation and the throughput frequency of the spiritual energy lines inside the arm—were perfectly synchronized.

"Blue Moon Island—Lu Changyuan."

He used his real name.

Concealing his identity in front of the Loose Cultivators who had signed the Heavenly Dao oath was one thing—but in front of the Guardian Spirit—it was unnecessary—and impossible to hide.

The Guardian Spirit's voice rippled through the Divine Sense again—this time only two words—but the spiritual energy vibration frequency of the two words was completely different from before—a degree lower—a layer deeper—as if confirming something.

"Key."

The black crystal began to vibrate in Lu Changyuan's palm.

The frequency of the vibration changed from a pulsation to a continuous low-frequency hum—the dark golden fine lines on the bottom of the crystal all radiated outward—the radiated lines connected in the air with the lines of the altar's array core—at the junction—the spiritual light exploded into a circle of extremely bright and narrow dark golden light—the light ring spread outward from the array core—within less than half a breath it spread to the entire altar—the light ring swept past everyone—every Abyssal Beast—every stone wall—every fragment of the ancient Array Pattern.

Then the light ring retracted—retracting to the array core—retracting to the black crystal—retracting to that dark golden, semi-transparent hand pressed onto the stone slab.

The hand—lifted less than half an inch—and then pressed down again.

The force of the press was nearly twice as heavy as the first time—the position on the stone slab where the palm was pressed—those dark golden cracks began to spread deeper—the direction of the spread was from the edge of the altar toward the dome—toward the floor—toward the four walls—every crack was extending—the speed of extension was not fast—but for every inch it extended—the dark golden spiritual light inside the crack brightened by a degree.

"Thousands of years—" the Guardian Spirit's voice sounded again in the Divine Sense—this time the pause for each word was nearly half as short—as if the joints were no longer stiff—"I have been waiting—for someone who could bring the key in."

Its voice dropped a degree—the tone was declarative—each word landed very flatly—containing no hint of a threat.

"The Haiyuan Clan—has been pouring blood outside for months—what they broke through was only the outer layer.

The inner layer—only the key can open it from the inside."

Lu Changyuan held the black crystal up to his eyes.

The dark golden fine lines on the bottom of the crystal had all lit up—every one of them was flickering at an extremely fast frequency—the rhythm of the flickering was identical to the spiritual energy lines of the altar's array core—identical to the spiritual energy lines inside the Guardian Spirit's arm—and identical to the throughput rhythm of the ancient Array Pattern of the entire altar space.

He flipped the crystal over in his palm—the side of the crystal in contact with his palm—was cool—a slight coolness less than half a degree lower than body temperature—completely different from the extremely cold touch before—and also different from usual.

"What do you want—"

The Guardian Spirit's voice was interrupted by the sound of bone armor colliding.

The lead Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beast—its four legs—moved.

It pushed upward—its knees lifted from a crouching posture—its body forcibly rose against the suppression of the Guardian Spirit's Spiritual Pressure.

Its body, under the suppression of the Guardian Spirit's Spiritual Pressure—was forcibly lifted from the crouching posture—for every inch it lifted—the dark copper deposits on its bone armor emitted a dense and ear-piercing friction sound—the deposits squeezed against each other under the suppression of the Spiritual Pressure—the force of the squeezing was so great that it squeezed dense, tiny cracks into the outermost layer of dark green deposits.

Its mouth opened—this time—a roar exploded from the depths of its throat—amidst the roar—its four legs exerted force simultaneously—its body catapulted from its original spot—direction—center of the altar—target—Lu Changyuan.

The Guardian Spirit's voice sounded again in the Divine Sense—this time—there was an extra layer of extremely faint and thin fluctuation in the voice—it was impossible to distinguish whether it was anger or disappointment.

"Survive this wave first—then we shall talk."

Lu Changyuan drew his sword.

The speed at which the sword was drawn from the scabbard at his waist was not fast—but it was extremely steady.

When the sword body left the scabbard—the friction sound between the blade and the inner wall of the scabbard was amplified several times in the empty space of the altar—an extremely light and crisp metallic scraping sound—and the deep, heavy thud when the Seal chains broke—were the same rhythm.

"Leng Feng—left flank."

Leng Feng stepped out from the side of the stone platform—a narrow-bladed straight sword already drawn in his hand—the tip of the sword pointing to the ground—his footsteps were nearly twice as fast as usual.

His gaze locked onto the Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beast on the left—that Abyssal Beast's size was nearly two circles smaller than the lead one—the dark copper deposits on its bone armor were only the outermost layer—the deposits were still vibrating at an extremely fast frequency under the suppression of the Guardian Spirit's Spiritual Pressure—but its four legs had already begun to move forward—the speed of the movement was not fast—but for every inch it moved—the dark blue crystal shards at the tips of its bone spurs brightened by a degree.

"Shadow One, Shadow Two—right flank combined attack."

Shadow One and Shadow Two stepped forward simultaneously—two steps—and then stopped.

The two's short swords—Shadow One's sword tip pointing half an inch to the left—Shadow Two's sword tip pointing half an inch to the right—the distance between their arms was exactly the same as before entering the ruins—the spacing for the combined attack opening stance—in the dark golden spiritual light layer—the air between the two began to show extremely subtle distortions—what was distorted was spiritual energy—two streams of Late Foundation Establishment Stage spiritual energy converged toward the middle from two directions—the spiritual energy density at the convergence point jumped to a Peak value approaching the Golden Core threshold in less than a breath.

"The one in the middle—I will handle."

After Lu Changyuan said these four words—he stepped forward—False Core stage spiritual energy was infused from the soles of his feet into the dark copper alloy floor—the ancient Array Pattern on the floor, at the moment he took that step—all lit up—brightened to the maximum—then dimmed—then the entire altar's dark golden spiritual light layer—at his feet—jumped upward—jumped nearly half a foot—then fell back down—the height of the spiritual light layer after falling back—was less than half an inch higher than before—but the light intensity of the spiritual light layer—was nearly twice as bright as before.

The lead Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beast was less than twenty zhang away from him.

Twenty zhang—at the sprinting speed of a Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beast—would collide with him in less than three breaths.

Its bloody mouth was already open—the inner wall of its mouth was embedded with dark blue crystal shards—the shards were embedded in the bone structure—arranged in a ring—in the center of the ring structure—a fist-sized dark blue crystal was flickering at an extremely fast frequency—the frequency of the flickering was synchronized with the crystal shards at the tips of its bone spurs—every time it flickered—the bone structure on the inner wall of the mouth released a circle of extremely faint and thin spiritual energy ripples—the ripples spread into the air—the temperature in the air dropped by at least a few degrees the moment the ripples swept across.

Lu Changyuan's sword—the tip lifted from pointing to the ground—raised to shoulder height—the sword tip aimed at that dark blue crystal in the center of the Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beast's mouth.

The black crystal was in his left palm—it no longer vibrated—the frequency was too high—too high for a human hand to perceive the vibration—he could only perceive a very uniform and continuous slight heat—the heat traveled upward from his palm—passed through his wrist—passed through his forearm—reached his Dantian—in the depths of his Dantian—that False Core stage spiritual energy, refined to the extreme by the spiritual marrow—at the moment the heat arrived—jumped up another less than half a notch.

The hand the Guardian Spirit had pressed onto the stone slab—the five fingers curled inward.

The five fingers retracted from an extended posture—the speed of retraction was not fast—but when each finger curled, the spiritual energy lines at the joints brightened by a degree—the brightness shifted from dark gold toward a near-white bright gold—the speed of the shift was perfectly consistent with the pulsation frequency of the crystal in Lu Changyuan's palm.

The five fingers retracted halfway—and stopped—stopping in a suspended gripping posture—as if this hand was gripping something invisible.

The rift in the array core at the center of the altar—at the same time the fingers curled—expanded outward by less than half an inch.

On the stone slab at the edge of the rift—those dark golden cracks expanded outward by another circle—the direction of the newly expanded cracks was different from the old cracks—the old cracks were radial—the new cracks were circular—spreading outward from the array core circle by circle—the spacing of each circle was perfectly consistent—and the radial fine lines on the bottom of the black crystal—one spreading outward—one retracting inward—formed a superposition of two sets of patterns on the stone slab that were opposite in direction but perfectly synchronized in frequency.

The distance between Lu Changyuan's sword—and the dark blue crystal in the center of the Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beast's mouth—was shrinking at a speed of nearly seven zhang per breath.

Behind him—Shadow One and Shadow Two's short swords had already crossed in the air—the intersection point—the spiritual energy density had already crossed the Golden Core threshold—in the dark golden spiritual light layer—the air at the intersection point was compressed by the spiritual energy density to a visibly distorted state—the shape of the distortion was an extremely narrow and long rift—the length of the rift was identical to the length of the short swords—the interior of the rift—was an extremely bright and white spiritual energy light—forming a stark contrast with the dark golden spiritual light layer.

Leng Feng's narrow-bladed straight sword was already raised—the sword tip pointed to the bone armor seam of the Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beast on the left—the seam between the left shoulder armor and the chest armor—the dark copper deposits at the seam were at least half as thin as in other locations—the result of hundreds of years of wear—inside the bone armor seam—was the dark green bone structure itself—the structure had no protection from deposits—the bone was at least one Rank softer than the armor plates.

Lu Changyuan's toe pushed off the dark copper alloy floor—his body surged forward—the sword tip pressed down less than half a degree from shoulder height—pressing onto the direct line of aim of the dark blue crystal in the center of the Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beast's mouth—the slight heat emitted by the crystal in his left palm—at this moment of pushing off the ground—turned from slight heat to scorching hot.

The dark golden spiritual light of the entire altar—at the moment he pushed off the ground—surged from the soles of his feet to the height of his calves—surged to his waist—surged to his chest—surged past the sword tip—dying the sword tip into an extremely bright and tiny dark golden dot of light.

The Golden Core Stage Abyssal Beast—was less than ten zhang away from him.