189: Chapter 189: The Battle Begins

Everyone understood—at this moment, it was not just about the life and death of the Disciples, but the future survival of the entire Southern Region cultivation world!

Emperor Wu Tianba was the first to step into the air!

His black iron boots shattered the air currents, and his burly figure soared like a hawk, carrying an unyielding determination as he landed with a boom on the Western White Tiger star position!

Emperor flicked his sleeves, and the Daoist pure Qi surrounding him flowed like a Dragon, carrying him gracefully toward the Eastern Azure Dragon position. Faint spiritual light lingered in his hair, making him look like an immortal descended to earth!

Even Elder Yanling, who had just barely managed to stand with the support of his Disciples, gritted his teeth tightly!

He let the scorching spiritual power within his body rush through every Meridian like magma; his face was ashen, like a red-hot branding iron, as he laboriously moved step by step toward the dimly lit auxiliary star position in the corner—

With every step he took, the bluestone tiles beneath his feet were scorched with faint burn marks, emitting a harsh "sizzling" sound, as if the earth itself were mourning for his humiliation!

When the last Elder stepped into their respective star position—Boom!!!

The entire Formation map suddenly lit up with thousands of tiny points of light, like a sea of stars awakening, like the first ray of dawn tearing through the darkness of an eternal night!

Patriarch Tian Yuanzi stood tall at the Sun star position in the very center of the Formation. The sun, moon, and star patterns embroidered on his golden Daoist robe seemed to ignite instantly, flickering and flowing with his breath, each pulse resonating with the heartbeat of heaven and earth!

His gaze was like lightning as he swept across every tense face in the square, finally fixing on the depths of the Void Realm—he parted his lips slightly, and the two words he uttered rolled across the firmament like thunder, exploding deep within everyone's Divine Soul: "Activate the Formation."

Boom—!!! Before the words had even faded, a myriad of golden rays burst forth from Patriarch Tian Yuanzi's body!

A colossal pillar of light, several zhang in diameter, shot into the sky with him at its center, piercing through the clouds and dyeing the entire sky a magnificent gold!

The entire Formation let out a low rumble, like a beast that had slept for an eternity finally waking up, opening its Chaos-filled eyes and letting out a roar that shook the universe!

Hum, hum, hum—!!! The next second—beams of starlight as thick as water buckets shot from each star position toward the firmament!

Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple—the seven-colored divine light intertwined and connected frantically in the air, instantly weaving into a vast star chart covering a thousand miles of the sky!

The handle of the Big Dipper stretched across the horizon, the outline of the Southern Dipper shone brightly, and even the usually hidden Ziwei Emperor Star bloomed with a majestic light that ruled the world at the center of the chart!

The brilliant starlight surged like a tide, forcefully dispersing the thick clouds that shrouded heaven and earth!

The rare spectacle of stars appearing in broad daylight shook the Divine Soul of everyone present; even their breath was stolen away by this celestial phenomenon!

The vast power of the stars was forcibly summoned by the Formation, pouring down like a waterfall from the Nine Heavens, turning into billions of brilliant streams of light that crashed into the Formation!

The patterns on the Formation map became increasingly clear and dazzling; one could even see tiny stardust flowing through the runes, emitting a dense humming sound like Sanskrit chanting, as if all the gods and Buddhas were reciting scriptures for this Formation!

Colossal energy flowed and gathered frantically within the Formation, each collision triggering a deafening explosion, as if the stars themselves were roaring, howling, and burning their last life away!

Finally—all the power condensed to the extreme at the center of the Formation eye, turning into a beam of starlight refined to the pinnacle!

The pillar of light was over a hundred zhang in diameter, its surface entwined with countless ancient runes, and the pressure it emitted made the entire world tremble!

It was like the first divine axe from the beginning of creation, carrying the supreme power to cut through Chaos and recreate the heavens and earth, crashing down toward the empty Void Realm at the end of the square—

Crack—!!! A crisp yet Soul-shattering sound of breaking rang out, as if the entire firmament had been split open by an axe!

That part of the Void Realm began to twist and shake violently; the originally flat space was like silk crumpled by an invisible giant hand—then, it was suddenly torn open, creating a massive rift that spanned heaven and earth!

Gray Chaos Qi flowed along the edges of the rift, every wisp containing the terrifying power to tear apart mountains, causing the surrounding space to constantly collapse and regenerate!

And behind the rift—it was not the void darkness they had expected! Instead, it was a hazy, twisted, and strange world!

In it, mountains and rivers constantly changed forms, sometimes turning into surging seas of lava, sometimes freezing into dead, icy plains; furthermore, an ancient, savage aura permeated from within, mixed with the roars of ancient beasts, the chants of ancestral sacrifices, and the decay and vitality accumulated over time...

It was heart-shaking and Soul-stirring, as if, through the rift, one could glimpse the true face of the primordial era from billions of years ago!

The power of the Formation—it could actually forcibly pierce through the spatial barrier that separated the two worlds!

Patriarch Tian Yuanzi took a step forward, standing in the air before the rift. His robes danced wildly under the impact of the Chaos Qi, but his figure remained as immovable as an eternal mountain!

He pressed his fingers together like a sword and pointed sharply at the core of the Formation, his voice filled with unprecedented solemnity and determination: "Formation, activate!!!"

Boom!!! This roar was far greater than any before!

The entire Formation was running to its absolute limit; the star chart on the Formation map burst forth with a brilliant light that could blind one's eyes. Billions of streams of starlight, as if summoned, gathered simultaneously at Patriarch Tian Yuanzi's fingertips!

An invisible yet unimaginably colossal ripple of intent rose from the Formation—that ripple fused the prayers of the Disciples of ten thousand sects, the Luck of every major School, and the unbreakable threads of Karma between countless people and the Secret Realm, eventually turning into a bridge to the sky woven from starlight and faith—it plunged violently into the endless, deep turbulent Void Realm!

The "bridge" shuttled violently through the raging turbulence, avoiding the nirvana black holes capable of swallowing stars, bypassing the space fragments that constantly collided and annihilated—unwaveringly, it pursued the already vanished Eternal Graveyard Secret Realm!

On the square, everyone held their breath, their fists clenched until their knuckles turned white, their eyes locked tightly onto that bridge of faith spanning the Void Realm!

Some were so nervous that their fingernails dug deep into their palms, blood dripping through their fingers without them even noticing; some had lips that trembled uncontrollably, silently chanting prayers for blessings; even the most composed Emperor Wu Tianba was clenching his fists, his eyes burning with flames of anxiety and anticipation!

Everyone's heart hung by a thread, their breath nearly stopped! They were waiting—waiting for that glimmer of hope to send a faint echo back from the depths of the Void Realm—even if it were just a wisp of familiar spiritual fluctuation, or a blurry whisper for help!

Success or failure rested on this single move! This was not only about the survival of countless Disciples in the Eternal Graveyard, but would also determine the fate of the entire Southern Region cultivation world for the next thousand years!

The entire Tianyuan Square felt as if its heart had been gripped by an invisible giant hand; even the last trace of a breeze had completely frozen.

Time lost its meaning at this moment, and space turned into thick amber—only that bridge of stars spanning heaven and earth continued to burn.

The starlight flowing along the bridge was like a waterfall from the Milky Way, yet it silently devoured all the light and shadow around it, dragging the entire square into a suffocating abyss of silence.

The dead silence—was violently broken by two Soul-tearing sounds!

The roar of the Formation's operation seeped out from deep within the underground eye, low like the breathing of an ancient beast; each vibration made the runes on the ground flicker uncertainly, as if the earth were struggling to pulse!

And the Chaos hiss coming from the rift in the Void Realm was as sharp as the wailing of billions of vengeful spirits, carrying not a trace of living warmth, only the purest desire for Chaos and destruction!

These two sounds intertwined and wrapped around each other, weaving a dense web of fear in everyone's ears, choking them until they couldn't breathe!

Patriarch Tian Yuanzi stood at the core of the Formation eye in the center of the square; his usually meticulous beard and hair were now standing on end, like golden wheat waves raised by a gale.

The sweat-soaked golden Daoist robe clung tightly to his trembling body—this was not caused by fear, but because the price of maintaining the bridge of stars was too tragic!

Every flicker of starlight was frantically draining his Soul essence, which was as vast as a sea! His Dao foundation emitted faint cracking sounds amidst high-frequency vibrations, as if it were about to collapse completely at any moment!

Yet the light in his eyes was terrifyingly scorching! His pitch-black pupils reflected the entire bridge of stars, sharp as a sacred sword just unsheathed, locked tightly onto that path paved with starlight!

There was not a shred of hesitation in his gaze, only the determination to burn his bridges, like a needle that stabilizes the sea standing immovable in an angry ocean, propping up everyone's last hope!

Suddenly—!!! This bridge of faith, spanning billions of Void Realm, vibrated violently without any warning!

This vibration did not come from the other end of the bridge—there, it was still a chaotic darkness, with no signs of any response! It originated from the Void Realm turbulence itself!

A shockwave carrying extreme malice, like a giant beast dormant in the abyss suddenly waking up and opening its blood-red eyes—launched a violent collision toward the star bridge!

Rumble—!!! Heaven and earth seemed to be torn apart at this moment! The originally violent and unstable Void Realm turbulence instantly turned into a world-destroying tsunami that had been completely enraged, suddenly raising black giant waves tens of thousands of zhang high!

Twisted space fragments rolled on the crests of the waves, every inch exuding a terrifying aura that annihilated all things! Countless space fragments that had been relatively stable were crushed by this power, as if struck hard by an invisible giant hammer—instantly bursting into billions of razor-sharp black blades!

The edges of the blades flashed with a chilling eerie light, sweeping across the sky toward the bridge of starlight—to slaughter it!