209: Chapter 209 Stone Gate Mural, Calamity Peering Through the Gate!

Immediately after, more Heaven and Earth Gate Cultivators began to lose control.

Some clutched their heads and roared.

Some tore open their own Dao robes.

Some smashed medicine bottles toward the Shen Family Formation Flag.

And at the very edge, several Heaven and Earth Gate elders rushed up, pinning down those corrupted fellow disciples with all their might.

One of them, half of whose face was covered in black patterns, still used their last ounce of strength to push the Formation Plate back to the Shen Family Formation eye.

Xu Chen watched, stunned.

"The Heaven and Earth Gate isn't entirely rotten?"

Shen Qingyue's voice was cold.

"Some betrayed us."

"And some died at their posts guarding the gate."

After she finished speaking, her fingertips traced over those Heaven and Earth Gate elders in the mural who had died trying to repair the Formation.

Her tone was not soft, but it held a hint of complexity.

"But the branch that survived chose to alter the truth."

"They used the names of those who died in battle to gild their own faces!"

Chu Wanqing's fists clenched as she listened.

"That's what's disgusting."

"They do the bad deeds themselves, yet want the good reputation for themselves as well."

Xu Chen immediately chimed in.

"It's the ultimate display of hypocrisy!"

Lin Yi did not engage in the banter.

His gaze fell upon the third layer of the mural.

It was covered by a large patch of black ash, the edges of which were still writhing like a layer of dried scab.

The god-slaying sword hummed lightly in his palm.

Lin Yi raised his sword, the blade slicing across the mural.

"Swoosh!"

The black ash was severed by his Sword Intent, and the scene inside suddenly lit up.

The True Dragon Lineage had made their move!

In the painting, several Dragon shadows lunged toward the stone gate simultaneously; they did not attack the black calamity behind the gate, nor did they help the Shen Family repair the Formation.

They were gnawing at the Seal Dao Patterns on both sides of the stone gate.

Those Dragon claws dug deeply into the door frame, attempting to pry the stone gate open by force.

The Shen Family gatekeepers turned to stop them.

The Heaven and Earth Gate traitors seized the opportunity to attack from behind.

At this moment, the Formation line that had barely been holding on completely collapsed.

Shen Qingyue watched her clansmen being attacked from both sides in the painting, her throat feeling as if it were blocked.

Her fingertips were icy, and the Primordial Hundun Qi behind her swirled even more fiercely.

Lin Yi stepped to her side, blocking for her, the blade of the god-slaying sword hanging low.

"So much Karma."

"In the future, we will settle them one by one!"

Shen Qingyue looked up at him, the suppressed pain in her eyes steadied by those words.

"Yes!"

"Not a single one can be missed!"

Su Yuxi stepped forward, raised her hand to press against the edge of the mural, and silver-white Dao light rippled outward in circles.

The scene at the very depths was drawn out by her.

This time, no one in the underground palace spoke.

Because her past life appeared in the scene.

Empress Daoxi!

She stood before the stone gate, her white robes stained with blood, the Imperial Sword in her hand only a broken half.

Behind her were rows of fallen Shen Family gatekeepers.

And a few Heaven and Earth Gate Cultivators who had not betrayed them.

Those people used their broken bodies to prop up the Formation eye, and even though their chests were pierced, they did not let go of the Formation Flags in their hands.

The shadows of the True Dragon Lineage writhed high above.

They were backlashed by the black mist behind the gate, their scales rotting in large patches, yet they refused to back away.

And deep within the cracks of the gate, a black shadow writhed against the edge of the world.

Its form was unclear; one could only see that wherever it passed, mountains and rivers changed color, and Dao Patterns twisted.

Someone had just called out their companion's name, and the next instant, they forgot who they themselves were.

A Formation that was sealing the gate one moment would have its Dao Patterns turn against its own people the next.

Xu Chen's face turned green as he watched.

"Big Brother, this thing is not to be trifled with."

"It directly changes the rules!"

Chu Wanqing glanced at him and said in a low voice:

"Xu Chen, your analysis is quite thorough."

"I understood."

Lin Yi stared at that black shadow, the chill in his eyes intensifying.

No matter how strong a traditional enemy is, they have flesh and blood, a Divine Soul, and flaws.

But this thing was more like a form of contamination.

It doesn't need to defeat you.

It only needs to make everything around you start to rot.

Dao Heart collapses.

Allies betray.

Formations turn against you.

In the end, even the rules of Heaven and Earth break down along with it.

This is the most troublesome part.

The god-slaying sword suddenly vibrated.

A black sword mark appeared on the blade, as if responding to the aura behind the gate.

The immortal burial coffin also emitted a muffled sound from afar.

The Dao Patterns of the immortal burial coffin lit up on their own, suppressing those eerie creatures outside from across the layers of the underground palace.

Su Yuxi looked at herself in the mural, her voice low.

"In my past life, I once fought it here."

"In that battle, the Shen Family used the Bloodline of their entire clan to block the gate."

"The Heaven and Earth Gate Cultivators who did not betray used Taisu Origin to repair the Formation."

"And I shattered a portion of my Dao Fruit."

"It was only by paying a tremendous price that I managed to close this stone gate again!"

As she spoke, she paused and lightly traced her fingertips over the mural.

The Empress of her past life in the painting was pressing a silver-white Dao Fruit into the core of the Seal.

"I left the Dao Fruit in the Ancient Hall."

"Waiting for my return in this life."

"If someone in the future could still reach this place, it meant that the thing behind the gate had still not settled down."

Chu Wanqing's eyes felt a little warm as she listened.

She hugged the imperial zither tighter, her voice dropping a few degrees.

"Sister Yu Xi, your past life was too bitter."

Su Yuxi turned to look at her.

On that cold, exquisitely beautiful face, there was a touch of softness that only existed in this life.

"There was no other way."

"If it hadn't been bitter then, those who came after would have had no path to walk."

Xu Chen sniffled, then quickly straightened his back.

"Don't worry, Sister Yu Xi."

"Big Brother is here this time."

"If that thing behind the gate really dares to come out, Big Brother will definitely arrange it clearly!"

Lin Yi glanced at him.

"You have to go up too."

Xu Chen's expression stiffened.

"Me?"

"Big Brother, my role in the atmosphere team is also quite important, right?"

Chu Wanqing couldn't help but laugh.

"Aren't you the worker who is never absent?"

Xu Chen coughed twice.

"I'm certainly not absent."

"It's just… can you not seat me at the main table?"

The tense atmosphere in the underground palace was dissipated a little by his words.

But the next moment, no one could laugh anymore.

At the very bottom of the giant mural, there were originally only two ancient characters for Calamity Heaven.

At this moment, a line of small blood-red characters emerged next to the ancient characters.

The characters appeared stroke by stroke.

"The Stone Gate opens, Calamity Heaven appears!"

The moment the six characters were formed, the temperature of the entire underground palace plummeted.

The Dao Patterns on the stone gate lit up one by one, then dimmed one by one.

It was as if something had opened its eyes behind the gate.

The imperial zither in Chu Wanqing's arms suddenly tightened, its strings emitting a harsh, trembling sound on their own.

The Hundun Qi within Shen Qingyue began to surge, as if she had been targeted by some kind of cold, sinister power.

Xu Chen instinctively took half a step back.

"It's not actually looking over here, is it?"

Su Yuxi's expression changed.

She spun around, and silver-white Dao light erupted from her palms.

"Retreat quickly!"

"It's looking over!"

Lin Yi reacted the fastest.

He grabbed Su Yuxi's wrist, and with his other hand, he flung out Hongmeng Chaos Qi, wrapping up Shen Qingyue, Chu Wanqing, and Xu Chen together.

He held the god-slaying sword horizontally in front of him, the blade pointed at the stone gate.

"Boom!"

A dull, resounding boom came from deep within the gray stone gate.

All the lights in the underground palace extinguished for an instant.

The moment the darkness pressed down, Xu Chen almost lost control of the ancient desolate hall.

The next instant, the two characters for Calamity Heaven on the mural suddenly cracked.

A wisp of pitch-black Qi crawled out from the cracks in the characters, lunging straight for the space between everyone's eyebrows.

Lin Yi snorted coldly.

He slashed out with the god-slaying sword.

The sword light lit up in the underground palace, severing that wisp of Qi on the spot.

But the severed black Qi did not completely dissipate.

It scattered into finer threads, clinging to the walls, the ground, and the Dao Patterns of the stone gate, slithering in all directions.

Su Yuxi raised her hand to form a Seal, and the Empress's Dao light spread out.

"Don't let it touch the murals."

"Those paintings contain memories from back then."

"It wants to drag us in!"