Immediately afterward, all the runes began to circulate rapidly around the stone platform, finally transforming into a doorway.
A downward-opening door had appeared upon the stone platform.
All the runes shattered, spinning rapidly inside the doorway where ripples of light undulated. Beyond the shattered radiance lay a patch of primal chaos where nothing could be seen, leaving it impossible to tell where it ultimately led.
The instant Old Man Star-Grasper hurled the streak of light, Yu Shanting abruptly detonated the power of his bronze bell. He shoved the qingluan aside and threw himself toward that door without looking back.
The qingluan had been preventing Yu Shanting from approaching Granny Jing. Caught off guard by Yu Shanting's abrupt change in direction, the qingluan failed to intercept him and was shaken off.
Around Old Man Star-Grasper, the fluctuations grew increasingly violent and terrifying. It seemed Old Man Star-Grasper himself could hardly bear the pressure brought on by the fracturing space; sweat poured down his forehead, and his body trembled like a man racked by ague.
The space around him grew more terrifying by the second, brewing an unimaginably dreadful, berserk power.
"Fall!" Old Man Star-Grasper bellowed.
Even making a sound had become immensely difficult for him.
His voice was hoarse beyond measure, virtually impossible to discern.
Stars shifted and the heavens turned. The river of stars easily crushed the bright moon before descending from the sky and returning to Old Man Star-Grasper's body.
All the stars connected into a single sheet, just like the silver robe they had seen at the very beginning.
With his magic treasure returned, Old Man Star-Grasper's expression relaxed slightly. Paying Granny Jing no mind, he made the exact same move as Yu Shanting, lunging toward that door with all his might.
Although his cultivation had skyrocketed, he was not much faster than Yu Shanting, for the pressure caused by the spatial collapse was simply too immense.
The silver robe, which bore the brunt of the pressure for him, already showed signs of coming apart, and the outermost stars were being obliterated at an alarming rate.
Even if Old Man Star-Grasper managed to escape with his life, this magic treasure would suffer catastrophic damage, likely requiring decades of nurturing to recover.
In less than a breath, space would swallow the silver robe, and Old Man Star-Grasper would certainly not be spared. Thus, he dared not make a single unnecessary movement.
He had only one thought: flee!
***
That door was the entrance they had used to come in!
A flash of realization struck Qin Sang's heart. Behind that door lay the path back to where they had entered.
Old Man Star-Grasper had shattered the chains and unleashed his cultivation precisely to open the restriction at the entrance.
They wanted to escape!
Seeing this scene, Qin Sang's expression changed.
Qin Sang had already recalled his ebony sword; the space around Old Man Star-Grasper was far too terrifying, and sending the ebony sword inside would only end with it being swallowed up.
He tried to switch targets and drive his sword to pursue and kill Yu Shanting, but it was already too late. They had clearly plotted this for a long time, timing it with absolute precision.
Even more terrifyingly, the spatial collapse triggered by Old Man Star-Grasper was rapidly spreading outward. Darkness flooded the void, concealing a vicious beast ready to swallow everything in its path.
In the blink of an eye, the entire square was about to be engulfed.
Just then, Qin Sang's vision suddenly brightened. The beam of moonlight shifted slightly, enveloping him within.
Granny Jing!
Qin Sang snapped his head up and saw that Granny Jing had stood up, hovering aloft like an otherworldly immortal as she looked down at Old Man Star-Grasper.
The space around her was also tainted by darkness and affected by the collapse, on the verge of swallowing her. Yet in the face of such a crisis, her expression remained calm as ever, without the slightest ripple in her eyes.
"Seeking your own death," Granny Jing said coldly.
Above her head hovered the Picture of Rivers, Mountains, and the Hidden Moon; at some point, the bright moon had returned into the scroll.
The scroll unfurled wide, seemingly containing a real world within.
Boundless rivers and mountains.
Rising winds and surging clouds.
A bright moon rising from a sea of clouds!
The bright moon absorbed the essence of the entire painting, causing all other things within the scroll to pale beneath its radiance. Then, an exceptionally gentle yet startlingly swift ray of moonlight shot forth from the painting.
This ray of moonlight seemed to teleport; the moment it burst out of the scroll, it descended upon Old Man Star-Grasper.
The door was mere inches away; a gentle leap was all it took to dive inside.
Yet that distance became an impassable chasm.
Old Man Star-Grasper was frozen in place by the moonlight, unable to move a muscle.
In the next instant, the qingluan trailed azure light and flew forward with magnificent grace. Disregarding the shattering space around Old Man Star-Grasper, it charged in fearlessly and wrapped him in an embrace.
The qingluan raised its head and cried out toward Granny Jing. Its cry was filled with sorrow, and endless grief welled in its eyes, as though a tear had fallen.
Unleashing power far surpassing that of an ordinary Demon Spirit stage spirit beast, it rammed Old Man Star-Grasper away.
"No—!"
Old Man Star-Grasper let out one final roar filled with boundless despair.
Qin Sang, who had been dazed by the qingluan's sacrifice, suddenly felt his whole body tighten. Wrapped up by Granny Jing using the Picture of Rivers, Mountains, and the Hidden Moon, he was swept straight into the door with her.
At the final moment, Qin Sang retrieved both flying swords without forgetting to scoop up the handsome youth abandoned by Old Man Star-Grasper and Yu Shanting.
After their figures vanished, the space across the entire square was swallowed by darkness.
A terrifying storm engulfed both the qingluan and Old Man Star-Grasper, raging with ever-increasing fury.
What lay behind the door?
Could an army of the Yuanshen Sect be waiting, or even Leng Yuntian himself on the other side?
Qin Sang did not know, but he had no choice other than to obey Granny Jing's orders. Old Man Star-Grasper was doomed to be swallowed by the spatial storm, but Yu Shanting had fled into the doorway; they certainly could not let him escape back to the Yuanshen Sect.
Qin Sang fully supported Granny Jing hunting Yu Shanting to the death. As for how things would ultimately end, they could only leave it to fate.
Chaotic forces churned inside the door, leaving Qin Sang dizzy and disoriented. Fortunately, the Picture of Rivers, Mountains, and the Hidden Moon kept him wrapped securely, preventing him from being separated from Granny Jing.
"Suppress your cultivation to the Qi Refinement stage..."
Qin Sang heard Granny Jing's voice. It was an odd command, but Qin Sang did not ask why, complying without hesitation and circulating the Spirit Concealment Art.
Just as he suppressed his cultivation, Qin Sang felt a chill on his chest. Granny Jing had reached out with a finger to tap his chest, planting a restriction upon him.
The restriction was not complicated, serving only to mask his cultivation fluctuations.
The next instant, the chaos abruptly vanished.
Qin Sang felt his feet sink as they touched solid ground. Hurriedly opening his eyes, he discovered that they were currently inside a vast grand hall. The hall was comparable in size to the square, surrounded by stone pillars that reached toward the heavens, though they were not made of roughly piled stones.
A stone platform rose from the smooth floor, right beneath their feet.
It was very similar to the stone platform in the square.
The grand hall was empty. Qin Sang swept his gaze across it and spotted only a single figure fleeing desperately toward the hall's exit.
"Yu Shanting!" Qin Sang cried in a low voice.
The Picture of Rivers, Mountains, and the Hidden Moon shot forth another ray of moonlight, striking Yu Shanting's back. Amid a wretched shriek, a bloody hole burst through his back, sending him crashing to the floor, though he quickly scrambled back to his feet.
Watching Yu Shanting rush out of the grand hall, Qin Sang grew anxious. "Senior, kill him quickly!"
At the same time, he prepared to summon his ebony sword to assist Granny Jing in the pursuit.
This seemed to be another secret realm similar to Heaven-Pointing Peak, which Qin Sang remembered Old Man Star-Grasper and the others referring to as the immortal abode.
The absence of a Yuanshen Sect army was good news, and Yu Shanting had to die.
Unexpectedly, Granny Jing did not pursue Yu Shanting. Instead, she put away the Picture of Rivers, Mountains, and the Hidden Moon and looked at Qin Sang. "No rush."
Chapter 472