Destruction

*Whoosh!* Within the secret passage, where crimson flame aura and glowing wardings flared against one another, that lightning-fast streak of escape light still shone with brilliant radiance. As he flew, Qin Sang could clearly sense the formidable auras behind him closing in at terrifying speed. The fastest among them was undoubtedly Old Man Hunmo. *So fast!* The thought leaped into Qin Sang's mind. He had heard it said before that because the Deity Transformation bottleneck was exceedingly difficult to breach, noticeable disparities in strength existed even among great cultivators. Old Man Hunmo clearly did not belong among the weak. A paragon standing at the very pinnacle of the cultivation world possessed, over his vast lifespan, ample time and means to remedy his weaknesses, leaving no obvious shortcomings in any aspect. What puzzled Qin Sang was where the ghost fiend that Hunmo had used to ambush Valley Master Mu had gone. Though Qin Sang had never made direct contact with it, a single glance had conveyed a malice so profound that it was certainly a dreadful demon. The Nascent Soul talisman puppet had originally been meant to counter that very ghost fiend. Had Old Man Hunmo unleashed it, Qin Sang knew things would not have gone smoothly. Managing to snatch the pure pearl and the blessed vajra pestle would have been a fortunate outcome in itself, leaving him no opportunity to contest the seven-tiered stupa—unless he had been willing to take even greater risks. *Perhaps that ghost fiend is bound by some restriction,* Qin Sang mused. Amid these swirling thoughts, Qin Sang reached the edge of the crater once more. *Boom! Boom!* Dull thuds echoed from deep within the mountain. The walls of the secret passage bulged outward. The ancient seals and Buddhist restrictions flared with blinding light, yet it was already the last radiance of a dying candle. Cracks through the seals split and spread at a pace visible to the naked eye. Bound within was a wild, terrifying power on the verge of breaking free! One could easily imagine that once this power erupted, not only this mountain and this secret tunnel, but the entirety of the Jinghai Sect would be leveled to the ground, wiped completely from the world. Sensing the sheer force held within the seals made Qin Sang's scalp tingle. He dared not hesitate for a second. *Whoosh!* He skimmed past along the far wall. At the same time, he gave his sleeves a vigorous shake, once more unleashing the Nine Nether Demonic Fire that enveloped him. Yet the target of his demonic fire was not the pursuer behind him—it was the seal! The seal had not immediately collapsed after the Golden Peak's Buddhist restrictions were breached. That had given Qin Sang a chance to flee the tunnel, and now it could be turned against his pursuer to drive him back! When passing through earlier, Qin Sang had already identified the weakest point of the seal and mentally rehearsed this very strike. The demonic fire condensed to its absolute limit, crashing thunderously against the fissure. Already stretched to the breaking point, the seal could no longer hold under this external assault! At the point of impact, a crack swelled wide, gaping like an abyssal maw. Crimson flame aura, so concentrated it was nearly silver-white and flowed like liquid, poured out from the rift, setting off a chain reaction. Wherever it passed, walls vanished in an instant and both layers of wardings dissolved. The swastika runes dimmed immediately. The ancient seals were far more powerful, yet having already suffered heavy damage, they collapsed almost in unison with the Buddhist restrictions. "Not good!" Old Man Hunmo tore into the passage, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks. Even now, he had not caught sight of his opponent. The last image in his field of vision was demonic fire slamming into the seal. In a flash, Hunmo understood the intruder's intent: this secret passage actually ran past the seal! The next instant, the entire passage was engulfed in blinding light. It was as though an extra sun had burst into existence. Hunmo's heart gave a violent lurch. Cursing foully with no time to formulate a better plan, he immediately reversed course, throwing himself backward while planting the Hunmo Token before his chest without the slightest hesitation. *** Qin Sang felt his ears ring violently, deafening him on the spot. His eyes could no longer discern the outlines of the tunnel; his vision held nothing but searing, piercing light. *I overplayed my hand...* The thought flashed through his mind in a split second. The destructive power of the erupting crimson flame aura was far more terrifying than he had anticipated. Fortunately, this was trouble of his own making, and he had prepared a contingency plan well in advance. Even as he fled at top speed, he immediately summoned the Nascent Soul talisman puppet to shield his back. Instantly, a colossal force struck. *Bang!* A wave of sharp pain racked Qin Sang, wrenching a muffled grunt from his throat as the talisman puppet slammed hard against him. The tremendous impact shoved him forward in a stumbling flight. He felt scorched by blazing flames, as though he were about to be reduced to ashes. With no time to inspect the puppet's condition, he hastily recalled it. Clenching his teeth, he channeled his protective divine gang with all his might to steady his posture, finally bursting into the meditation hall and catching sight of the exit. Tan Hao had already withdrawn from the Jinghai Sect beforehand. Without a moment's hesitation, Qin Sang plunged straight through, instantly greeted by a refreshing chill—he was back in the seabed outside the Jinghai Sect. "Brother Qin, are you all right?" Tan Hao had only just exited as well. Turning to see Qin Sang's battered figure, his face shifted from joy to sheer alarm. "Move!" Qin Sang barked harshly, grabbing Tan Hao and lunging forward with all his strength. Immediately afterward, a torrential wave of searing heat vented from the secret passage and surged into the ocean. Carrying staggering force, it slapped them both outward into the open water! *** Inside the Jinghai Sect. Among the newly arrived Nascent Soul cultivators, some had been drawn toward the herb garden, while others were still hesitating over where to go. Before the stupa, Realized Master Chijie and his companions were on the verge of breaking the structure's restrictions when they were startled by Old Man Hunmo's furious roar. They turned toward the Golden Peak hall in shock and bewilderment, unsure of what had transpired. The instant the seal collapsed, every Nascent Soul cultivator felt an inexplicable pang of dread. In unison, their gazes snapped toward the crater. *Crack!* The mountain suddenly ruptured from its core, spewing a jet of searing flame like a sharp arrow, dazzling the eyes of all who looked upon it. Almost at the same moment, two figures burst frantically from the Golden Peak hall—none other than the incensed Old Man Hunmo and Primordial Lady Yuyi. Immediately after came a deafening *boom!* The hall atop the Golden Peak was overturned by a torrent of flame, disintegrating on the spot. No sooner had the Buddha statue and stone likeness seen the light of day once more than they were swallowed by the fiery surge. "The seal has collapsed!" Everyone grasped the truth in an instant. Before they could react, a rumbling like muffled thunder rolled up from deep beneath the earth. The entirety of the Jinghai Sect shuddered violently, the ground seeming to heave upward. At the mouth of the crater, the slowly revolving swastika golden talisman froze, then shattered into pieces. The crimson flame aura was finally shorn of all restraint. A colossal pillar of flame shot straight toward the heavens. *** Outside the Jinghai Sect. The strange phenomena had never faded, though their intensity had waned considerably compared to the beginning. Nascent Soul Patriarchs, normally rarely seen in the outside world, had arrived one after another and stepped into the formation. The remaining low-tier cultivators dared not enter, yet they could not suppress their curiosity. Yearning for a stroke of fortune, they lingered in the surrounding waters, loath to leave. Confident in their abilities, several Core Formation cultivators descended into the oceanic trench, probing around the edges of the spirit formation and waiting for an opportunity to slip inside. "What's that sound?" Someone voiced a sudden question, tone laced with doubt. The crowd halted their movements, their eyes snapping toward the spirit formation in unison. *Rumble...* The seawater began to boil without warning. From within, they sensed a terrifying disturbance—a power far beyond their imagination, teetering on the verge of eruption. What in the world had those Nascent Soul Patriarchs done inside? "Run!" Their faces turned deathly pale in an instant. Gripped by sheer terror and panic, they fled toward the mouth of the oceanic trench without ever looking back.