410: Targeting the vitals, cutting off the fuel supply

The night was as dark as ink.

Myriad Laws Daoist hurried to Shen Yuanmo's quiet room with a solemn expression.

He had just finished the follow-up work for the first step of the plan.

Mobilizing the Sect's massive resources and manpower had already left him feeling exhausted.

But at the thought of Daoist Xinghe's fanatical gaze and Shen Yuanmo's unfathomable back, he dared not slacken in the slightest.

“Elder Shen, you were looking for me?” Myriad Laws Daoist bowed in greeting.

Shen Yuanmo did not turn around, still keeping his back to him, looking at a huge map of the Eastern Region.

With a casual wave of his hand, a Jade Slip shimmering with an eerie light flew silently before Myriad Laws Daoist.

“The second step can begin.”

Shen Yuanmo's tone was flat, revealing no emotion, yet it made Myriad Laws Daoist feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

He took a deep breath and sent his Divine Sense into the Jade Slip.

The next moment, Myriad Laws Daoist was as if struck by lightning, his entire body freezing in place.

His eyes were wide, filled with horror.

The color drained from his face, and his lips trembled, but he couldn't say a single word.

After a full dozen breaths, as if someone were strangling him, he managed to squeeze out a few words.

“Qianyuan Spiritual Vein, Kunxuan Spiritual Vein?!”

Myriad Laws Daoist's voice was trembling.

These were the Taiyi Sword Sect's guardian Rank Seven Spiritual Veins, the lifeblood upon which their entire Sect relied for operation.

Their importance was equivalent to the Wanfa Immortal Sect's Sky City!

The Wanfa Immortal Sect and Taiyi Sword Sect had been fighting for hundreds of thousands of years, and they had dreamed of finding the specific locations of these two Spiritual Veins to destroy them.

But the Taiyi Sword Sect had hidden them too deeply and defended them like an iron barrel.

The Wanfa Immortal Sect had spent countless resources and only obtained some vague, speculative information.

But now, what was recorded in this Jade Slip?

It wasn't just the outrageously precise coordinates of the two Spiritual Veins.

Even the distribution of the Formation cores of the defensive arrays around the Spiritual Veins, the energy cycles, and the patterns of the guard rotations.

Even the specific time the patrol teams passed every single rock was clearly marked.

It was as if the Sect Master of the Taiyi Sword Sect had personally handed over their own defensive blueprints with both hands.

“Elder Shen...” Myriad Laws Daoist felt his mouth go dry, chilled to the bone with shock.

“How did you obtain such secret intelligence?”

He looked at Shen Yuanmo's back, his eyes filled with unconcealable terror.

At this moment, he even suspected that this Elder Shen before him...

Was the Reincarnation of some ancient great expert; otherwise, how could he possess such heaven-defying means?

Shen Yuanmo slowly turned around, his deep gaze falling upon Myriad Laws Daoist.

“The Sect Master does not need to know how I obtained this intelligence.”

“The intelligence is accurate. If we act according to this plan, we will surely sever their Spiritual Veins.”

Being watched by those eyes, Myriad Laws Daoist felt as if his Divine Soul were about to be frozen.

He instantly broke into a cold sweat and quickly lowered his head, no longer daring to have the slightest curiosity.

“Alright, Elder Shen, I will go make the arrangements immediately!”

At this moment, he completely cast aside his dignity as a Sect Master and humbled himself to the lowest possible posture... Three days later.

Taiyi Sword Sect, deep within a desolate mountain range where the Qianyuan Spiritual Vein was located.

Space distorted, and a team of five black-clad Cultivators silently emerged.

Each of them had completely restrained their aura, appearing like ghosts blending into the night.

Leading them was a Late Void Returning Stage Grand Elder of the Wanfa Immortal Sect, Xuanguang Immortal Master.

He glanced at the specially made compass in his hand, which was constantly flickering with a faint light.

He then cross-referenced it with the map provided by Shen Yuanmo, his expression grave to the extreme.

“This is the place,” he said in a low voice.

“Everyone, stay sharp! According to Elder Shen's instructions, on the surface, there are only three Rank Six illusion Formations here.”

“But in the shadows, there are nine interlocking killing Formations. One wrong step, and we will be doomed eternally!”

“Yes!” the other four responded in unison, their eyes filled with tension.

“Go!”

Xuanguang Immortal Master pinched a strange hand seal; this was a special secret technique Shen Yuanmo had taught them.

A layer of water-like ripples appeared on the surface of his body.

Then, he actually led the entire team and crashed headfirst into the seemingly rock-hard mountain wall before them.

There was no earth-shattering noise, nor any energy fluctuations.

The figures of the five of them were like ink drops in water, silently merging into the mountain and disappearing.

Inside the mountain wall was a different sight.

Countless brilliant Formation patterns were densely packed like spiderwebs, emitting a heart-palpitating and terrifying pressure.

Streaks of sharp Sword Qi shuttled between the Formation nodes, enough to easily strangle any intruding Void Returning Great Expert.

But Xuanguang Immortal Master and his group seemed to be walking in their own back garden.

Following the guidance of the compass, they turned left at times, right at others, sometimes sneaking close to the ground, and sometimes passing through walls.

Every step was precisely placed on the only gaps in the operation of those terrifying killing Formations.

Several times, a destructive torrent of Sword Qi almost grazed the tips of their noses as it swept past.

The resulting strong winds made their robes flutter and flap, leaving them in a cold sweat.

“Heavens... My god... This... this is simply dancing on the tip of a blade!”

An Elder couldn't help but send a voice transmission, his voice trembling.

“Shut up! Trust Elder Shen!” Xuanguang Immortal Master barked in a low voice.

His heart was also in turmoil, and his awe of Shen Yuanmo had climbed to its peak.

To be able to study the Taiyi Sword Sect's mountain-protecting Formation to such an extent could no longer be described by the word calculation; it was simply a miracle.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

They safely passed through the multiple killing Formations and arrived at a massive underground cavern.

In the center of the cavern, a massive Dragon-shaped Spiritual Vein, ten thousand feet long and emitting a seven-colored glow, lay quietly.

The Spiritual Qi, so dense it had become substantial, made them feel as if their cultivation Bottlenecks were showing signs of loosening with just one breath.

“So this is... a Rank Seven Spiritual Vein!” A hint of greed flashed in everyone's eyes, but it was quickly replaced by gravity.

Xuanguang Immortal Master dared not delay and immediately took out a sphere from his storage ring, the size of a human head, pitch-black, and covered in strange demonic patterns.

This was the core of the Formation personally refined by Shen Yuanmo, the Origin-Reversing Spirit-Devouring Formation.

“Do it!”

The five of them stood in positions they had rehearsed countless times, simultaneously pouring their magic power into the black sphere.

Buzz—!

The black sphere emitted a low hum, and the demonic patterns on its surface instantly lit up.

They turned into countless black tentacles, piercing into the Dragon body of the Rank Seven Spiritual Vein like lightning!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, and not even a trace of energy fluctuation leaked out.

But the light of that originally dazzling seven-colored Spiritual Vein dimmed rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Spiritual Qi surging within it began to become chaotic and turbid, as if poisonous ink had been dripped into a pot of clear spring water... Inside the guardian hall above the Spiritual Vein.

An Elder of the Taiyi Sword Sect who was meditating with closed eyes suddenly snapped them open and spat out a large mouthful of blood with a "poof"!

“What happened?!” He discovered to his horror that the Spiritual Qi he had inhaled into his body...

Actually contained a trace of violent, destructive aura that was frantically destroying his Meridians.

“Spiritual Qi! There's a problem with the Spiritual Qi!”

He scrambled out of the hall, and his Divine Sense swept toward the underground Spiritual Vein, instantly making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

“No—! The Spiritual Vein... the Spiritual Vein is withering!”

At the same time, the same strange thing happened to the Taiyi Sword Sect's other lifeblood, the Kunxuan Spiritual Vein.

Just as the Taiyi Sword Sect was in a state of Chaos because of the Spiritual Vein matter...

Above Black Wind City on the border, Qing Xuzi stood on auspicious clouds, looking high-spiritedly at the city below engulfed in flames, and laughed loudly.

“Hahaha! Attack! Don't hold back! Treat it as a grand gift for the Taiyi Sword Sect!”

Taiyi Sword Sect, Sword God Mountain.

“Report—!”

“Sect Master! The Qianyuan Spiritual Vein and Kunxuan Spiritual Vein have undergone simultaneous abnormalities! The quality of Spiritual Qi has dropped sharply, and the output has plummeted by ninety percent! The Spiritual Vein Origin is heading toward exhaustion!”

“Report—!”

“Sect Master! Black Wind City is under heavy attack by the main forces of the Wanfa Immortal Sect! Qing Xuzi is personally leading the team! The city's defensive array has been breached, requesting urgent reinforcement!”

The two successive urgent reports were like two heavy hammers smashing into Jian Wuya's chest.

His vision went dark, and he almost fell to the ground.

“Pfft—!”

Jian Wuya could no longer suppress it, and he spat out a mouthful of heart's blood, staining the ground before him a bright crimson.

“Wanfa Immortal Sect! Shen Yuanmo!”

He let out a beast-like roar, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins and madness.

He finally understood!

Border frictions, internal conflicts—they were all just smoke screens.

The opponent's true target was the Spiritual Veins of his Taiyi Sword Sect.

“This is too much! Too much!”

Jian Wuya, looking like a madman, suddenly looked at a white-haired old man in the hall who was resting with his eyes closed, his aura as deep as the ocean.

“Junior Martial Uncle Jian Xuanji! I implore you to act immediately! Go to the Qianyuan Spiritual Vein and without fail! Without fail, find out the cause and protect our Sect's lifeblood!”

The Hedao Realm Old Ancestor named Jian Xuanji slowly opened his eyes, a flash of impatience in them.

“Such a trivial matter requires my personal intervention? Are all the Void Return Elders the Sect supports useless?”

That being said, he also knew that the Spiritual Veins were of great importance, so he eventually gave a cold snort and stood up.

“Fine, it's just as well; I haven't stretched my muscles in a long time. I'd like to see which death-seeking thing dares to touch the Foundation of my Taiyi Sword Sect!”

Before his voice had even faded, his figure flashed, turning into an unparalleled Sword Qi light that tore through the sky and instantly disappeared over the horizon.

Deep within the distant Void Realm.

Shen Yuanmo floated quietly, a three-dimensional star map made of light points before him.

He watched one of the light points representing Jian Xuanji, which was moving at extreme speed...

Flying along a preset route; his face remained calm, but a cold glint flickered in his eyes.

He turned his head and said softly to the empty Void Realm beside him:

“Zixiao, go and get ready.”

“The guest is coming.”

A faint, almost imperceptible purple electric arc flashed across his shoulder.

Shen Yuanmo slowly raised his hand, and a ferocious set of armor, dark all over with a miniature Chaos vortex slowly rotating at the heart...

Appeared out of thin air and covered his body.

The great evolution immortal slaying sword also appeared in his hand.

“It's about time I go meet this so-called... Hedao Realm.”