In truth, the Seven Mansions Sector Sword Formation contained two Bi Mansions—one overt and one hidden; the overt was false, and the hidden was real.
The Daoist nun had entered the real Bi Mansion.
This was the hub of the Seven Mansions Sector Sword Formation.
If someone were controlling the formation, they would sit in command of Bi Mansion, and all the sword cultivators within the formation would obey their orders.
Placed here, the Star Pavilion was just as concealed as the immortal's cave in the Yang-Flame Divine Restriction.
The Daoist nun manifested before the Star Pavilion.
The Star Pavilion was not grand. It had only two stories, its structure slender and shaped like an upright sword. The upper level had no walls, offering an unobstructed view of its interior.
At each of the four corners of the upper level hung a sword.
Their blades were transparent, appearing as light-swords forged from starlight, but in essence they resembled the sword stars, holding sword intent of the utmost refinement and purity within.
Four strands of sword intent hung down, sealing the Star Pavilion.
The Daoist nun stood still, gazing past the pavilion to survey the stars of Bi Mansion.
If Qin Sang and the others could find a way into Bi Mansion at this moment, they would surely be overjoyed. More than half the stars of Bi Mansion had shifted out of alignment, their light flickering bright and dim. Upon seeing these stars, they would no longer need to exhaust themselves roaming the sea of stars; with a bit of thought, they stood a high chance of deducing a way to break the formation.
Such a sight had appeared because Bi Mansion, as the hub of the sword formation, bore the brunt of the impact.
When Zhu Wudao destroyed the Jade Pavilion, Bi Mansion had taken the initial blow. The internal Qi clashed and collided, and the resulting tremors rippled into the Five Elements Divine Restriction before echoing back, adding frost to snow.
With the hub in chaos, the Seven Mansions trembled. If adjustments were not made in time, the sword formation would gradually march toward destruction, potentially even triggering the collapse of the Five Elements Divine Restriction.
Starlight illuminated the upper half of the Daoist nun's face, while the lower half remained veiled in shadow, concealing all emotion.
Though fierce sword intent coiled around the Star Pavilion, the Daoist nun paid it no heed. Stepping forward two paces, she raised her right hand, reached straight through the sword intent, and casually pushed open the pavilion's door.
Much like the cave in the Yang-Flame Divine Restriction, the Star Pavilion's furnishings were exceedingly simple.
Inside stood a single sword dais.
The sword intent of the hanging swords from the upper level pierced directly into the chamber, forming four pillars of white light at the four corners of the dais.
Seated cross-legged upon the dais was a female cultivator.
She wore simple robes and bore no jewelry whatsoever. Across her knees rested a precious sword etched with the Seven Stars, which sparkled beneath the light pillars as though inlaid with seven gemstones.
Encircled by sword intent, the woman sat bolt upright, her spine straight and unbending, like a sharp sword thrusting into the heavens!
Yet the expression on her face was contorted with unmistakable agony. Even after all this time, one could still discern unyielding resolve in her eyes. Sitting so rigidly upright, she seemed to have been fighting against something.
Whether she had defeated her foe was impossible to know; the end result, in any case, was that she had perished here.
She was the sole person inside the pavilion.
The Daoist nun walked over to the sword dais and made a couple of grasping motions in the air. At her gesture, the dead woman's facial features shifted: the agonizing expression melted away, replaced by calm.
Unlike the cave in the Yang-Flame Divine Restriction, which had been scorched by heavenly fire, the pervasive sword intent here had merged into the woman's remains, serving as a support that kept her body preserved.
In reality, though her flesh appeared intact and her expression vivid, all life force had long since vanished.
Furthermore, from the woman's skeletal frame, the Daoist nun could sense a sword intent that was linked to the Qi of the hanging swords above, yet uniquely distinct—as if the cultivator had tempered her very self into a sword. That she had achieved extraordinary mastery in the sword Dao during her lifetime was surely another reason her body endured.
The Daoist nun had no intention of disturbing the skeleton, merely adjusting the expression so it looked a bit more pleasant. She then reached into the sword dais and retrieved the mustard-seed spatial treasure from the woman's person.
*Clatter!*
Treasures spilled across the floor.
Out of habit, the Daoist nun picked out what was edible and swallowed it down. But unlike in the Yang-Flame cave, she also picked up the other items and inspected them one by one, a pensive look in her eyes as she weighed what value these treasures would hold in the eyes of cultivators.
Before long, she departed from the Star Pavilion, leaping across the formation to the edge of the Seven Mansions Sector Sword Formation, where it bordered the Earth-phase Divine Restriction.
The sword formation was dim, sword stars hanging aloft.
The Earth-phase Divine Restriction was even gloomier than the sword formation. Dense mist drifted and flowed through the space, billowing like burning flames in alternating hues of gray-black and dark ochre. Devoid of any lightness, it imparted an intensely heavy sensation.
The sword formation and the dark mist—two completely different forces—converged here without clashing. Under the overarching governance of the Five Elements restriction, their Qi flowed unimpeded according to the principles of mutual generation.
Though the anomalies in the Seven Mansions Sector Sword Formation had some effect on the other divine restrictions, that influence required time to propagate and was not yet obvious here.
The Daoist nun cast a couple of glances at it, then raised her hand to grasp a wisp of mist. That familiar sensation returned; without sword intent hindering her, she could control the Earth-phase Divine Restriction to a certain degree.
Just as she was about to step into the dark mist to scavenge the relics within the Earth-phase Divine Restriction and increase her bargaining chips, she suddenly sensed something, and her brows knitted tight.
Matters were always slipping from her control.
Her targets were progressing faster than anticipated. The Daoist nun felt the pressure of time.
Within the sword formation.
The Poison King and Su Zinan's two groups had joined together. Having virtually no grievances between them, they conferred and decided to pool their intelligence, consolidating all their observations of the shifted stars.
This caused their progress to accelerate dramatically.
Moreover, with four great cultivators joining forces and dividing the labor, their speed in breaking the formation reached an entirely new level, outpacing Qin Sang by a wide margin.
As things stood, the Daoist nun had no choice but to rush back to the Star Pavilion and make her preparations.
She already had a plan in mind for what was to come.
Standing atop the Star Pavilion, the Daoist nun swept her gaze around and locked onto a patch of empty space in the distance. There lay a hidden star, the true hub of the entire great formation.
She could come and go through the sword formation at will, her perception of its Qi refined to the utmost subtlety, piercing straight to its essence. Anyone who possessed such perception, even if completely ignorant of sword arts, would be able to locate the formation's hub and manipulate it.
And so she did.
Her figure blurred, vanishing into the hidden star.
In an instant, the hidden star flared brilliantly, only to fade from sight once more.
Immediately following, a peculiar fluctuation radiated from the hidden star. The surrounding stars were all affected, their light pulsing bright and dim. When the ripples reached the Star Pavilion, this effect magnified abruptly.
Where the Star Pavilion stood, starlight blazed forth, dragging three neighboring sword stars into the upheaval as well.
Four stars shone in unison, growing as luminous as moons in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, Qin Sang, the Poison King, and the others in the other lunar mansions all sensed the change. They turned their gazes toward the horizon, where a faint glimmer of starlight had emerged at the edge of the star sea.
Compared to the myriad star-tracks across the sky, this speck of starlight was utterly inconspicuous, yet it was precisely what everyone had been searching for so desperately.
"Bi Mansion!"
Pinching their fingers in calculation and cross-referencing their star charts, they were instantly overjoyed.
During their time trapped in the sword formation, they had already deduced that the Bi Mansion visible to the naked eye was false. The true Bi Mansion was concealed, and was none other than the hub of the sword formation!
To break the formation, plainly speaking, was to locate its hub. That would inevitably be the place where the formation's fluctuations were most violent—the very source causing the stars to drift.
By taking control of the hub, they could find a way out!
As the sword formation turned, the lunar mansions constantly shifted position. They had had no choice but to find the misaligned stars and map out the formation's flow step by step to pin down Bi Mansion.
Bi Mansion had remained hidden deep within the sword formation all along.
Now, the sudden emergence of bright stars in Bi Mansion was nothing short of a guiding beacon.
Had bright stars appeared earlier, why would they have needed to go through all this trouble? They would only have needed to follow the stars straight to their destination.
None of them found the appearance of the bright stars surprising.
It was unexpected, yet entirely reasonable.
By their reasoning, as the sword formation deteriorated step by step, the unveiling of Bi Mansion was only a matter of time. It signaled that the clashing Qi within had reached a critical threshold.
With enough patience, if they simply stood their ground and the sword formation failed to adjust in time, it would eventually collapse on its own. But they could not afford to wait that long.
Still, with Bi Mansion revealing itself, all the exhausting deductions they had performed were rendered pointless, which was genuinely frustrating.
In the boundless starry sky, the bright stars appeared dim.
No sooner had they appeared than they were engulfed by dazzling star-tracks, submerged into the river of stars beyond the reach of the naked eye.
Having caught sight of the bright stars, how could anyone let them slip away? Everyone, Qin Sang included, displayed their own divine techniques to lock onto them, all flying together into the river of stars.
Freed from their tedious calculations, they finally noticed just how magnificent the celestial expanse was!
Even with cultivation as high as theirs, they could normally only look up at the vault of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars forever beyond reach.
Now, the bright stars drifted through the river of stars.
They chased after the bright stars, wandering through the stellar river and riding the void on the wind. With the stars seemingly within arm's reach, it gave rise to an unprecedented sensation.
Even though the stars were illusions.
Su Zinan and the other three also ceased talking, taking in the scenery to the fullest.
Naturally, they did not lose sight of their true objective.
Qin Sang kept his gaze locked onto the bright stars as he sped along, noticing that their positions were shifting rapidly without any discernible pattern. Unable to anticipate their trajectory, he could only push his speed higher, as did Su Zinan and the others.
They understood this was only normal. If Bi Mansion were so easy to enter, the sword formation would be a joke.
Qin Sang even suspected that this was not the full extent of the formation's variations.
If the sword stars were not composed of rigid sword intent, but rather individual sword cultivators, not only would its power multiply, but the hub might also shift continuously among the seven western mansions.
At its peak, the formation would truly hold infinite permutations.
Amid his wandering thoughts, Qin Sang drew closer and closer to the bright stars. He had not forgotten the bizarre enemy lurking in the dark, but the Fire Jade Centipede remained drowsy; that person seemed to have truly given up.
Trapped within the sword formation, Qin Sang had no idea how far he had pursued.
At last, the bright stars drew much nearer.
In the next moment, an inexplicable feeling arose within Qin Sang.
The surrounding stars were still there, their number unchanged, yet he knew he had entered a new realm—the true Bi Mansion, the hub of the sword formation!
"Finally in..."
Qin Sang's expression eased slightly, his eyes still fixed on the bright stars.
Having entered Bi Mansion, the scene before his eyes transformed dramatically. The once-dim bright stars suddenly flared with brilliant radiance.
Gazing for a moment, Qin Sang realized there were four bright stars in total, blazing in unison. No wonder they were so conspicuous; that had to be the place where the clashing Qi was most violent.
No longer hesitating, Qin Sang sped toward the bright stars.
Yet before he could reach them, an unexpected spectacle unfolded.
Behind the bright stars, a vast expanse of heavy mist abruptly surged forth, resembling a nebula in the cosmic void.
Yet the nebula was immense, spanning the expanse behind the starry sky with distinct boundaries, stretching out to both sides as far as the eye could see.
'Where did a nebula come from? No, wait!'
Doubt had barely surfaced in Qin Sang's mind before realization struck.
That was no nebula—it was the boundary of the sword formation! But beyond lay not an exit, but another Five Elements Divine Restriction. Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water; judging by its heavy, unyielding aura, it was in all likelihood the Earth-phase Divine Restriction.
The Five Elements Divine Restrictions were interconnected in breath, forming an organic whole.
Inside the sword formation, stars cycled without end, and the positions of the seven mansions shifted constantly. It was entirely possible that the moving Bi Mansion had carried them to the edge of the Earth-phase Divine Restriction.
Having wasted so much time inside the sword formation, Qin Sang certainly had no desire to enter the Earth-phase Divine Restriction, or he would have to start all over again.
He pulled back his gaze, his target remaining the bright stars.
Unexpectedly, what met his eyes next was an astonishing sight.
The Earth-phase Divine Restriction bordered the Seven Mansions Sector Sword Formation. Sword stars drifting past the edge of the Earth-phase Divine Restriction was an ordinary occurrence when the Five Elements Divine Restriction functioned normally.
Thus, even if a sword star brushed right up against the Earth-phase Divine Restriction, it would not collide with it or provoke a violent reaction; for countless years they had flowed ceaselessly without incident.
Yet because Zhu Wudao had smashed the Jade Pavilion, throwing the sword formation's Qi into turmoil, that harmony was now broken.
The sword stars of the other mansions had not shifted drastically enough to crash into the Earth-phase Divine Restriction.
Now, however, the true Bi Mansion—the hub of the sword formation—had drifted here. Bi Mansion was the origin of the formation's chaos, its sword stars severely misaligned. In particular, the four that had turned into bright stars were on the verge of straying from their original trajectories entirely.
Grazing past the Earth-phase Divine Restriction in such a state, how could an accident be avoided?
The Five Elements Divine Restriction was vast in scale. While an isolated mishap would not cause it to collapse outright, it could not withstand cumulative shocks, and for the sword stars themselves, it was fatal!
Qin Sang shifted his gaze back, watching the four bright stars trace an arc-shaped track through the void toward the Earth-phase Divine Restriction. Just as they were about to touch the "nebula," the arc began to curve back.
Yet precisely because the bright stars had drifted, they did not follow their designated trajectory. Under Qin Sang's astonished gaze, they crashed toward the "nebula"!
At the same moment, in another part of Bi Mansion, Su Zinan and his companions were even closer than Qin Sang, watching this unfold in sheer astonishment.
*Boom!*
The ring of light formed by the four bright stars slammed into the "nebula" first.
In an instant, the impact blasted a massive hole in the "nebula," but thick mist surged within the crater as an endless tide of vapor counterattacked.
Traveling together, the star closest to the nebula was the first to make contact, half of its luminous body submerging into the fog.
With good luck, provided it had not shifted too severely, the star might still have had a chance to return to its course.
To everyone's surprise, however, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
Upon touching the nebula, the bright star shook violently, then broke free of its trajectory entirely and plummeted straight into the depths of the nebula. The sudden twist happened faster than Qin Sang and the others could have ever anticipated.
'This is...'
Qin Sang's heart stirred.
"Nine Lands Metamagnetism!"
The Poison King identified the nebula's true nature in a solemn voice.
The mist interwoven of gray-black and dark ochre was formed from Nine Lands Metamagnetism. The Wuxiang Immortal Sect had actually channeled the Nine Lands Metamagnetism from deep subterranean depths into the strata to construct the Earth-phase Divine Restriction here!
The bright star had collided with the metamagnetic force and was dragged directly into the "nebula." Yet that was only the beginning of the catastrophe; the churning metamagnetic force simultaneously pulled the other three bright stars inward.
At that moment, unable to withstand the tearing pull of the metamagnetic force, the first bright star detonated abruptly. The shockwave swept outward, immediately detonating the star nearest to it, while the remaining two were scattered by the blast, escaping destruction.
At this moment, Qin Sang pushed his sight to the limit and finally saw clearly: that second bright star was no ordinary sword star, but a sword-shaped Star Pavilion!
*Boom!*
The Star Pavilion exploded!
Chapter 1658