Chapter 1028: The Scheme

This time, the Spiritual Infant cultivators who entered the Inner Hall, aside from those qualified to participate in the trial, followed Lingzhuzi through the left gate of Seven-Kill Hall.

They passed through a long corridor until a faint light appeared ahead. An already opened stone gate came into view. Outside the gate stood a high platform, where fierce, icy winds howled with bone-chilling force.

What was surprising was that, despite it being merely a cold wind, every Spiritual Infant cultivator immediately activated their true essence or protective astra to ward it off, as though this yin wind was far from ordinary.

Lingzhuzi was the first to step outside. He stood at the edge of the platform, gazing into the distance while the others filed out one by one.

Even now, the divisions among the various factions remained clear. The righteous and devilish cultivators gathered respectively around Lingzhuzi and the Devil Lord.

The members of the three great merchant alliances stood together. The three alliance leaders pointed toward the depths of the inner hall, transmitting messages to one another in secret.

The other smaller factions grouped on their own, keeping a wary distance from the three major powers. They carefully observed the movements of the righteous and devilish sects as well as the merchant alliances, not daring to act rashly.

"After all these centuries, the inner hall still remains unchanged." Lingzhuzi stood with his hands behind his back, sighing softly.

The platform they were on had been built upon a sheer cliff face. The cliff was smooth as glass, and only this single cave and platform served as the entrance to the inner hall.

Below was an abyss of immeasurable depth. Darkness stretched endlessly, and yin wind surged upward like ghostly wails that made one’s heart quiver. Looking out, celestial barriers shimmered faintly in the air.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The view stretched across endless mountains and valleys, where flashes of mysterious light gleamed in certain places. They were ancient ruins of great power, yet equally filled with peril.

However, there was no beauty to be found here. The entire inner hall was cast in a dim, oppressive hue. The yin wind swept through every corner, howling with eerie cries. A faint layer of black mist drifted everywhere, resembling ghost qi.

Broken walls and shattered ruins lay scattered about. Riverbeds were dried, life was utterly absent. Some peaks had even collapsed entirely, filling the valleys below with rubble, a scene of utter desolation.

Combined with the ever-present hidden barriers, the whole inner hall resembled a ghostly realm. Anyone who entered would instinctively raise their guard to the utmost.

"Since the Four Saints discovered Seven-Kill Hall, this place has never changed. One day, I shall uncover all of Seven-Kill Hall’s secrets and find out what truly happened in the ancient cultivation world that caused the severing of our path to immortality." The Devil Lord’s eyebrows arched with defiance as his voice resounded powerfully.

Many of the Spiritual Infant cultivators present were stirred by his words, sighing in resonance.

For them to rise above the ruins of this broken era and reach the Spiritual Infant Realm meant that, in ancient times, they would have stood among the finest of immortal cultivators, their futures boundless.

Especially the Devil Lord and Lingzhuzi, both were great cultivators of their generation. Yet in this age, they could only watch as the path to immortality faded away. Even the Divine Transformation Realm was a distant dream, their lives hanging by a thread as they endured heavenly tribulation after heavenly tribulation. Was this existence any different from the bones buried in a tomb?

Leaving those words behind, the Devil Lord drifted away, his figure vanishing into the distance. The other Spiritual Infant cultivators soon regained their focus and began to act.

Lingzhuzi sighed softly and said, "Once the celestial barriers begin to fluctuate, it means the inner hall is about to close. Time is short. Fellow Daoists, if you have matters to attend to, move quickly."

With that, he too led his group away. In an instant, streaks of evasion light burst from the platform, flying in every direction. Among them, the three merchant alliances still did not part ways.

Led by their three alliance leaders, they did not head directly toward the depths of the inner hall. Instead, they flew to the left side of the platform and soon landed upon a mountain covered in decayed ruins.

Once the Spiritual Infant cultivators had all departed, faint ripples appeared atop the cliff where the celestial barrier shimmered. An old woman, concealed within the glowing mist of the barrier, swept her gaze across the retreating cultivators before turning to examine the surrounding barriers.

"The celestial barrier here is normal, and the barriers left by our ancestors haven’t changed either. So why did it activate ahead of time..." Her face was full of doubt. She tapped her staff lightly and vanished into the mist.

On the mountain, the cultivators of the three merchant alliances had just landed. Looking upward, they could only see the lower half of the mountain, while the peak was completely shrouded by the celestial barrier, its scenery hidden from view.

While the others waited quietly, the three alliance leaders silently approached the edge of the barrier.

The red-faced elder, the leader of the Beichen Alliance, set down a barrier to isolate sound and presence. Forming a hand seal, he paused briefly and said in a low voice, "No one’s nearby."

The Dongji Alliance's leader nodded and looked toward the mountaintop. "This is the true location of the trial realm, completely hidden within the celestial barrier. Once we set up the array, we’ll act according to plan. I’ll stay here to unseal the altar hidden inside the trial realm, while you two head to the other sites. We must release all the altars as quickly as possible. The timing cannot be missed, our success or failure depends on this moment."

The Beichen Alliance's leader gave a slight nod. The Xiyou Alliance's leader remained silent but did not object.

After a brief discussion, the three alliance leaders each retrieved precious treasures from their Mustard Seed Pouches and began to jointly set up a strange array.

The array's location was extremely well-hidden, and it emitted no discernible fluctuations. Its purpose was completely obscure, something that required the combined efforts of all three alliance leaders to complete.

"This place is in your hands, Daoist. Let’s go." The Beichen Alliance's leader called to the Xiyou Alliance's leader, and the two led their followers away from the mountain.

When everyone had gone, the Dongji Alliance's leader raised his head and stared at the celestial barrier for a long moment. Then he sat cross-legged upon the altar at the center of the array and closed his eyes in meditation.

No one knew how much time passed before his eyes suddenly opened again, gleaming with determination. Raising both hands, his fingers moved in rapid sequence, forming seals that struck different points of the array.

Hum...

The altar trembled faintly, yet the entire array remained eerily calm, with no obvious activity.

Even someone standing just beyond the mountain would find it nearly impossible to notice anything unusual. At last, the Dongji Alliance's leader fully activated the array.

In that instant, countless faint circular mirrors seemed to appear within it, dim and indistinct. Within the center of each mirror, a faint azure aura flickered, illusory and elusive.

Still, he did not stop. Chanting under his breath, he poured his full concentration into the spell.

The mirrors began to ripple more intensely. The strange aura within them surged restlessly like fish trapped in a pond, unable to escape the confines of the array, gradually converging toward the center.

As the spell neared its end, the aura transformed, becoming dozens of formless blades resembling swords without hilts, ethereal and translucent. The illusory blades all pointed upward, sharp and brimming with killing intent.

After completing this stage, the Dongji Alliance's leader paused to catch his breath. Feeling drained, he swallowed several spirit pills before resuming his incantation.

The sword-shaped lights changed once more. The faint azure hue faded until they became completely transparent, utterly invisible to the naked eye.

Phew!

The Dongji Alliance's leader exhaled deeply.

Opening his eyes, he looked around at the floating, invisible blades and allowed a faint smile to cross his face. Then he drew a command token from his Mustard Seed Pouch and held it tightly in one hand, remaining motionless.

The illusory blades hovered quietly beneath the barrier, unmoving. It seemed like the Dongji Alliance's leader was waiting for a particular moment to act.