Blood Moon Opens the Formation

"Look, quick! What is that!" Midnight was approaching. Just as the crowd wondered why the immortal formation showed no sign of movement, someone noticed an anomaly and cried out, pointing toward the center of the hurricane. Behind the gray wind wall, an ember of blood-red light had ignited at some point unnoticed. Judging by its position, it was clearly situated in the deepest depths of the hurricane. Yet those standing outside could see it distinctly—and it was glaringly vivid! Qin Sang's gaze narrowed slightly. Knowing that an anomaly had manifested, he realized they might have already begun breaching the formation inside. "Take out your jade pendants. With them, you can receive protection; otherwise, we won't be able to advance even half a step inside the immortal formation." Following Xiang Yi's order, everyone took out their respective jade pendants. Just then, Xiang Yi suddenly produced a spirit talisman. With a flick of his finger, the talisman ignited without fire, shooting forth a cluster of transparent threads that settled upon the jade pendants in the others' hands. The cultivators grew alert, but were powerless to stop the threads. "Fellow Daoist Xiang, what is the meaning of this?" The youth cradling the sword darkened his expression and demanded coldly. Xiang Yi smiled faintly. "Calm yourselves, everyone. Xiang is merely worried that you might encounter an unexpected mishap while braving the formation and end up separated. We all know time is of the essence; surely no one wishes to expend immense effort searching for one another once inside? One must realize the Hall of Seven Kills is vast beyond measure. Once separated, regrouping won't be easy. Xiang will naturally dispel the spirit talisman later on." Qin Sang frowned secretly, channeling his spiritual sense to inspect the thread, yet he could not discern what kind of power it was. This mission was said to be related to the alliance leader of the Eastern Pole Alliance. Unless one intended to fall out with the Eastern Pole Alliance immediately upon leaving the Hall of Seven Kills, probably none of the seven people present would dare go back on their word. A colossus like the Eastern Pole Alliance had influence spread across the world, and its alliance leader was likewise an apex expert. Neither the righteous nor demonic paths, nor any of the other merchant alliances, minded doing the alliance leader a favor. Angering him meant one would find it nearly impossible to take a single step in either the Inner Sea or the Demon Sea. However, there was no guaranteeing that someone wouldn't be audacious enough to seize the opportunity of braving the formation to make an escape. The jade pendants were extremely fragile and would shatter at a touch. If Xiang Yi had wanted to tamper with them secretly, nothing could have been simpler. Releasing the threads openly was likely meant as a warning to them. As long as it did not interfere with his search for the ancient teleportation array, Qin Sang had no desire to risk angering the Eastern Pole Alliance, so he paid the threads little heed. Although the others were dissatisfied, they held their tempers as well. After this brief episode, the group noticed that the ball of blood-red light had slowly risen from the center of the hurricane. Like a crimson moon hung high in mid-sky, it faced directly toward the hurricane. Just at that moment, without the slightest warning, the blood moon abruptly shattered. Countless fragments of the crimson moon burst outward. In an instant, a dazzling surge of blood light erupted, plunging from the heavens and hurtling straight toward the center of the hurricane. A peculiar, invisible ripple abruptly erupted in the heart of the hurricane, sweeping across the eight directions in a flash. Struck by the impact of this ripple, the cultivators' minds shook violently. They stared fixedly at the hurricane without blinking. "The blood moon opens the formation," Qin Sang murmured under his breath, recalling the scene from years ago when the Lesser Beichen Star Element Formation breached the immortal formation. Regrettably, the grand spectacle of the blood light crashing into the immortal formation was blocked by the hurricane; the interior remained a blur of chaos where nothing could be clearly seen. The peculiar ripples continued to erupt. Though devoid of earth-shattering clamor, they were deeply unnerving. "The wind wall has cracked! The formation is breached, move quickly!" someone suddenly shouted. Qin Sang fixed his eyes on it. The gray wind wall, originally a seamless whole, had split open with a fissure at some unknown moment. The turbulence propagated outward from the hurricane's center. Once that first fissure appeared, the entire wind wall suddenly fragmented into pieces, crisscrossed by fissures large and small. The hurricane showed signs of imminent collapse. The whirlpool on the seabed churned violently as well. At this moment, the surrounding wind force actually diminished considerably, even yielding a fleeting instant of calm. Xiang Yi was no slower than anyone else. Seeing the fissures, he immediately ordered them to charge inside. Qin Sang and the others followed close behind. Flashing forward a few times, they appeared before the wind wall, selected one of the narrower fissures, and plunged in without hesitation. After entering the fissure, their vision narrowed even further. Gray mist was everywhere, with nothing else visible; as for the immortal formation of the Hall of Seven Kills, they could not even tell which direction it lay in. However, the jade pendants would point the way for them. Qin Sang and the others obeyed Xiang Yi's instructions, staying pressed close together alongside him. Not long after entering, the restriction within the jade pendants activated on its own, seemingly establishing a connection with something in the center of the hurricane. Immediately, eight streaks of blood-red light shot forth from up ahead, instantly enveloping each of them. 'Light of the blood moon... it seems this is the spirit array's power Xiang Yi spoke of, providing us protection,' Qin Sang noted inwardly with a nod. Once enveloped by the blood light, the dreadful feeling of oppression vanished, the light shielding them from the hurricane's corrosion. They continued forward. The scenery before them remained unchanging, a uniform hazy gray, but the blood light grew increasingly dense. Clearly, unknown changes were occurring outside. The blood light became ever more glaring, until the naked eye could hardly see anything outside. In a place like this, none dared release their spiritual sense to probe around recklessly. They had no choice but to follow the jade pendants' guidance and advance in silence. *Boom!* Ahead, a terrifying surge of energy suddenly appeared, slamming viciously into them. The blood light shuddered, rippling violently. Enclosed inside the blood light, they felt utterly powerless. Unable to do anything except worry, they could only watch with trepidation, dreading that the light might shatter. Fortunately, the surge came swiftly and went just as quickly, allowing the blood light to regain its calm. Yet their relief was short-lived. Soon, a new surge arrived—stronger than before, an unending succession of waves following one after another. Pounded incessantly by impacts, the blood light appeared somewhat thinner, allowing Qin Sang to finally catch faint glimpses of the scenery outside. To his surprise, what battered them appeared to be water currents. These spirit stones had been well spent. Without the jade pendant, crossing the immortal formation by his own strength alone would have been utterly impossible. Though it looked fragile, the blood light remained remarkably solid, safeguarding them so thoroughly that their formation never broke. Gradually, the crowd eased their minds. 'We should be about to cross through the immortal formation.' Qin Sang had been silently calculating the time all along, cross-referencing it with the information he had gathered earlier, estimating that they were nearly there. 'The Hall of Seven Kills and Ziwei Palace—what is the connection between them? Is the ancient teleportation array truly inside Heaven Tower? After waiting fifty years, I've finally entered. I hope I can uncover something useful...' Overcome with emotion, thoughts raced through Qin Sang's mind. Then, his head suddenly snapped down, his eyes locking onto the Qianjun Ring on his hand, an expression of profound astonishment overtaking his face. Just now, an abnormal pulse had emanated from inside the Qianjun Ring. Sweeping his spiritual sense inside, he discovered that it was actually the two fused sections of the bone flute glittering with light, pointing toward his left. After the bone flute had fused, no matter how Qin Sang prodded or experimented on it, it had shown no reaction at all, never once displaying such an anomaly. Such a clear, distinct guidance was utterly unprecedented. "It's calling out!" Qin Sang was utterly stunned. 'Is it another section of the bone flute, or something else? Why was there no such reaction when I encountered the second section back then?'