Void Storm

After devouring countless yin souls, the Soul-Gathering Dipper condensed into a solid form. Old Demon Ye watched Jade Bone's actions, well aware that this demon was recalcitrant by nature and would never heed his counsel, so he simply held his tongue. Crack! A sudden thunderclap erupted out of nowhere, shaking Ziwei Palace inside and out. The Scarlet Altar was disturbed, its crimson glow flickering erratically. Ever since the anomalies had begun in Ziwei Palace, this was the first time the Scarlet Altar had experienced such violent fluctuations. Old Demon Ye gave a slight start and snapped his head up. The ghost mist hung thick and heavy, concealing whatever was unfolding inside the Inner Hall. Yet at the far reaches of the sky-piercing crimson light, the heavens seemed to be torn asunder. The void collapsed, and a gray storm blotted out the sky, far more terrifying than the depths of the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. Beholding this apocalyptic spectacle, Old Demon Ye felt his heart palpitate. His breathing turned ragged and his expression shifted unpredictably. When he looked back at the Scarlet Altar, his eyes held a complex swirl of fervent yearning and deep dread. Jade Bone drew his gaze away from the Soul-Gathering Dipper, glanced in the direction of the Inner Hall, and let out an eerie chuckle. Shifting his eyes, he too fixed them upon the Scarlet Altar and barked coldly, "Unite!" Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... Threads of bloody silk shot back from every direction. One blood infant after another was recalled. After circling the two of them several times, they lunged ferociously toward the Scarlet Altar and dissolved into the ancient scarlet restrictions until their physical forms could scarcely be distinguished. Jade Bone flicked his fingers repeatedly, casting rune after rune toward the altar in a flurry of motion. Boom! A violent gale abruptly arose! Countless mysterious, unimaginably intricate runes surfaced on the altar, blazing with sudden brilliance. A fluctuation never seen before erupted from the altar, surging straight into the clouds! The crimson light was shredded by the shockwaves, and the space around the altar was inundated with tempestuous, violent power. Jolted by the impact, Old Demon Ye let out a muffled grunt and hurriedly circulated his true essence to forcibly steady himself. Witnessing the astonishing phenomenon unleashed by the altar, a trace of horror showed in his eyes. He and Jade Bone hovered in the upper section of the altar, enclosed by the storm. The epicenter of the tempest was the altar's summit. A faint sheen of azure light emerged there, projecting ancient runes into the void to form an ethereal phantom. Slowly rotating, it resembled some ancient array diagram. The altar shuddered uncontrollably. Jade Bone halted his hand seals and stared intently at the altar. Sensing the fluctuations radiating from within, he nodded in satisfaction. "How much longer?" Old Demon Ye licked his lips, his voice raspy and his tone urgent. "That depends on when the anomalies in Ziwei Palace come to an end," Jade Bone replied indifferently, casting a glance toward the Inner Hall. Before his voice had even faded, he seized the Soul-Gathering Dipper, stepped forward, and vanished from Old Demon Ye's sight in a single flicker. Old Demon Ye remained rooted to the spot. A flash of displeasure crossed his eyes, only to be promptly suppressed. *** Neither of them noticed that, not far from the Scarlet Altar, amid the countless yin souls and wraiths, a figure stood motionless. Unshielded by any cover, he stood there in plain view. Not only had Jade Bone and Old Demon Ye failed to spot him, but even the yin souls drifting past and the rolling blood clouds were completely oblivious to his presence. His entire body was suffused with deathly aura, blending seamlessly into the ghost mist in flawless concealment. This person was none other than Bai! Just as Qin Sang had expected, the ghost mist and blood clouds posed no hindrance to him whatsoever. Within the ghost mist, his strength across all fronts had actually heightened, rendering him even more formidable than outside. Yet Bai had not returned to find Qin Sang. He had remained standing here, gazing upward—looking neither at Old Demon Ye nor at Jade Bone, but at the physical Scarlet Altar itself and the mysterious ancient scarlet restrictions. Bai's eyes were an ashen gray, devoid of pupils and utterly unmoving, appearing profoundly vacant. A look of bewilderment surfaced on his face, his brow tightly furrowed into deep vertical creases as he struggled to ponder and recall something. When he saw the phenomenon erupt from the altar, Bai's eyes finally shifted. The confusion on his face gradually cleared, replaced by shock. His eyes shone brighter and brighter as his gaze darted back and forth between the altar and Jade Bone. In the end, Bai cast a deep, lingering look at the Scarlet Altar and slowly retreated. In the next instant, his figure paused slightly, and he turned his head to look to his side. *** Inside the Inner Hall of Ziwei Palace. The land fragments that had once drifted about the outer perimeter were now nowhere to be found, long since pulverized into dust and scattered by the five-colored immortal wind, leaving a vast abyss between the inner sanctuary and the Outer Hall. The Inner Hall had grown even more chaotic than when Qin Sang had first departed, teetering on the brink of total collapse. The void storm Old Demon Ye had witnessed was merely the tip of the iceberg; the Inner Hall was the true epicenter. The sky was murky and dark, with leaden clouds hanging low. The five-colored immortal wind was far more than a simple gale; laced with heavenly thunder, its terrifying momentum swept across the Inner Hall like spatial turbulence. The entire hall rattled continuously, feeling as though it might be overturned by the gale at any moment. Even so, the scenery of the Inner Hall possessed a peculiar beauty. It glowed with vibrant, multi-hued radiance, as all the immortal restrictions had their power provoked by the five-colored immortal wind, laying the grand vista of the immortal palace bare before the world. Fragmented though it was, it remained magnificent and dazzling. Unfortunately, scarcely anyone was in the mood to appreciate this masterpiece of the ancient cultivators. Several figures were fleeing for their lives. Blindly ambitious, they had lingered in the Inner Hall for too long. By the time they realized something was amiss, the anomalies had already escalated to a perilous degree, and only then did they think to run. They strained every nerve to weave between the ancient restrictions. Amid the boundless five-colored immortal wind, their escaping lights were as minuscule as ants, appearing frail and insignificant. Suddenly, one of the escaping lights snuffed out. Immediately afterward, a plume of eerie blue radiance shot skyward from where the light had vanished. Another immortal restriction had erupted, and that unfortunate cultivator had crashed straight into it. A long time passed, yet the escaping light never reappeared. His fate was grim. *** Within the ghost mist. After capturing the blood infant, the cultivators cast secret techniques one after another to analyze the evil array through it. The blood infants were linked to the evil array. More precisely, they were an integral part of the evil array itself. Though they had made new discoveries, they possessed only a single blood infant after all, so unraveling the evil array would be no simple matter. By now, their party had grown larger still. Another band of cultivators had detected the commotion from Qin Sang's clash with the blood infants and proactively converged to join them. Their numbers were even greater than Qin Sang's group. What brought even greater delight was that Daoist Canghong was among them. With three top experts gathered together, they at least no longer needed to worry about their immediate survival. "If nothing goes awry, Fellow Daoist Tongyou should be in that direction. Fellow Daoist Leng and his companions were scattered first, so Pindao couldn't discern their movements either..." Daoist Canghong said, raising a hand to point to the left. Great minds thought alike. His thoughts aligned with Daoist Zhenyi's: gather more allies first—at least enough to form the battle array—before advancing on the Scarlet Altar to confront Old Demon Ye. Otherwise, it would be no different from throwing their lives away. His luck had been slightly better; when he was separated, several companions were already by his side, enabling him to gather quite a few people during this period. After conferring, the crowd resolved to rendezvous with Demon Monarch Tongyou first. As before, Qin Sang and the Nascent Soul talisman puppet led the vanguard. The resistance they encountered grew increasingly fierce, yet their speed was faster than before. After charging forward for some distance, Qin Sang, who was wielding his ebony sword to slay yin souls, sensed something, and his expression shifted slightly.