The long plume spontaneously ignited without fire.
From afar, it resembled a phoenix undergoing nirvana, reborn from the flames.
Nine Phoenix King flapped her wings and flew toward the immortal restriction, casting the long plume downward.
Fire cascaded from the heavens.
Like the setting sun at dusk, it sank into the mist and rosy clouds.
The long plume collided with the immortal restriction, immediately triggering a violent counterattack.
*Boom!*
A single stone tossed into a lake, churning up a thousand waves.
Raging flames clashed with the glowing haze, releasing a massive surge of shockwaves in an instant. The roiling clouds shook violently, striving to keep the long plume at bay, and even the earth trembled beneath the impact.
Qin Sang steadied himself, watching the astonishing spectacle within the immortal restriction in sheer disbelief. Nine Phoenix King was truly attacking the immortal restriction!
Whatever that long plume was, it had not been annihilated by the immortal restriction's backlash. It blazed as bright as ever, like a scorching sun slowly cleaving through the haze and pressing deeper and deeper.
Nine Phoenix King moved with increasing swiftness, churning out countless runes in a flowing stream to drive the long plume farther into the clouds.
The immortal restriction's retaliation grew fiercer, battering not only the long plume but also the Phoenix Banner Array.
The array sealed this stretch of space to suppress the celestial anomaly. It had been easy at first, but as the collision between the plume and the restriction intensified, signs of instability began to show.
Ripples spread across the void. The phoenix phantoms that had faded earlier flickered back into sight, fraying and tending toward collapse wherever the shockwaves struck most directly. It was impossible to say how much longer the Phoenix Banner Array could hold out.
And from the looks of it, the clash between the long plume and the immortal restriction would not end anytime soon.
The long plume vanished into the depths of the haze.
From the outside, only a faint glow of fire remained visible.
Qin Sang secretly roused the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. Only through its sight could he discern the long plume slowly descending amidst the layered clouds. The plume's physical form was gone, but the phoenix silhouette on its surface grew more and more solid. The space around the alluring phoenix silhouette stirred with bizarre ripples that slipped effortlessly through the immortal restriction, traveling within it in a wondrous display.
Just then, the immortal restriction—having failed to halt the plume's advance—seemed to recognize Nine Phoenix King as its master. The haze surged into tempestuous waves, transforming into streaks of aurora that erupted outward.
Standing nearest the restriction, Nine Phoenix King bore the brunt of the assault.
Her expression shifted slightly. Throwing her head back, she let out a sharp, urgent cry, and her aura surged violently.
At the same time, the long plume erupted with roaring flames, scattering the auroral light in the nick of time and forming a barrier of fire that suppressed the immortal restriction's backlash.
Had it not been for the Phoenix Banner Array, such a massive commotion would have alerted the cultivators throughout the Hall of Seven Kills long ago.
Even so, aftershocks from the collision still spilled outward.
Nine Phoenix King dodged and weaved through the fallout, but the Phoenix Banner Array had to absorb the brunt directly.
Rumbling booms echoed continuously.
The Phoenix Banners shuddered and swayed violently, teetering on the verge of collapse.
Without waiting for Nine Phoenix King's orders, Caiyi Xianzi and the other demons knew it was time to act. They pressed both hands onto the banners and poured their full strength into secret arts to stabilize the formation.
Qin Sang did the same, though he held back rather than exerting himself to the utmost.
He was waiting.
If there was any chance the anomaly would break free and alert Nascent Soul stage cultivators, he would strike without hesitation.
Yet such timing was exceedingly difficult to catch.
The Nascent Soul cultivators were not nearby. By the time they noticed the anomaly and rushed over, Qin Sang would have long since perished at the hands of the demons. Even if Nine Phoenix King were ultimately hunted down and killed, it would bring him no benefit whatsoever.
Bolstered by the demons, the Phoenix Banner Array appeared precarious, but in truth, it was considerably sturdier than before.
Sensing the situation had stabilized, Nine Phoenix King kept her focus entirely on manipulating the long plume without looking back.
By now, the plume had sunk deep into the haze, plunging the interior of the immortal restriction into total chaos. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly could see nothing more, so Qin Sang had no choice but to have it withdraw its divine ability.
Losing sight of what was happening inside made it even harder for Qin Sang to gauge the timing. Anxiety mounted within him; above all, not knowing Nine Phoenix King's true objective left him unable to make a move.
As time passed, the long plume continued to breach the immortal restriction.
The restriction's counterattacks were razor-sharp, yet they remained suppressed by the plume. The demons marvelled in astonishment, wondering what kind of treasure the plume was to overpower even an immortal restriction.
Before long, Nine Phoenix King suddenly altered her hand seals. Opening her mouth, she spat a ray of crimson haze that merged into the long plume. Glaring furiously at the immortal restriction, she let out a thunderous shout.
"Break!"
*Rumble!*
The haze erupted into wild, roiling waves, and the force of the rebound blasted Nine Phoenix King backward in an instant. Her plumage shattered and scorched as though burned by fire, leaving her in a wretched state.
Paying no heed to her injuries, she kept her eyes fixed unwaveringly on the immortal restriction.
At that moment, the flames upon the long plume burned out entirely. Having successfully breached the restriction, it dropped into a mysterious region cloaked in darkness below.
Like the fading glow of a setting sun, the plume plummeted swiftly into the abyss, shedding all its radiance and vanishing from sight in an instant.
Outside the immortal restriction.
Unable to endure the restriction's counterattack any longer, the Phoenix Banner Array finally gave way. The banners that no one was stabilizing snapped under the strain, drained of spiritual energy, and dissolved into powder amidst the shockwaves in the blink of an eye.
Seeing that the formation was about to collapse and could no longer suppress the celestial anomaly, Nine Phoenix King finally snapped back to reality. Her hand seals shifted rapidly, detonating the Phoenix Banners one after another to wring out the array's last dregs of power before she barked in a low voice, "Retreat!"
"We're leaving just like that?"
Caiyi Xianzi and the other demons were thoroughly stunned.
They had assumed Nine Phoenix King breached the immortal restriction to enter the Inner Hall or retrieve some treasure, never expecting that after sending the plume inside, she would simply pull out.
None of them could fathom her intentions.
Nine Phoenix King brooked no argument with her command, withdrawing without hesitation.
Meanwhile, a chain reaction seemed to have been set off within the immortal restriction. Shockwaves surged one after another, even disturbing distant immortal restrictions.
A terrifying fluctuation washed over them, sending chills down their spines.
None of the demons dared linger. Scrambling to retreat, they followed Nine Phoenix King away from the area.
Before they had traveled far, a tremendous crash erupted behind them.
The demons looked back in fright, only to see a beam of iridescent light tear through the Phoenix Banner Array and shoot straight into the heavens. This pillar of light was visible from anywhere in the Hall of Seven Kills.
Far from stopping, the celestial anomaly only intensified.
In the distance, silhouettes emerged among the mountain peaks, gazing toward the pillar of light in bewilderment, unsure of what had transpired.
Immediately after, several streaks of light carrying formidable auras burst from the depths of the mountains, hurtling in this direction at astonishing speed. The Nascent Soul Patriarchs had indeed been alerted.
Facing so many Nascent Soul cultivators, Nine Phoenix King wore a solemn expression, daring not show the slightest carelessness. Resuming her human form, she waved her hand to conceal the figures and auras of all the demons, skirting the path of the incoming streaks of light as they slipped through the mountains.
"Ninth Aunt, where are we going now?" Caiyi Xianzi could not help asking.
"Leaving the Hall of Seven Kills!" Nine Phoenix King replied indifferently.
Hearing this, the demons were utterly perplexed.
Nine Phoenix King had gone to such great lengths to come all this way, just to inspect an abandoned cave dwelling and send a single long plume into the Inner Hall?
She offered no explanation, and the demons dared not pester her. They followed silently behind Nine Phoenix King, making their way back toward Flower Immortal Lake.
Nine Phoenix King possessed no jade talisman, and the higher a cultivator's cultivation, the stronger the backlash suffered when passing through an immortal formation. Qin Sang and the others could not lend their talismans to Nine Phoenix King, meaning she had no choice but to depart the Hall of Seven Kills using the same method she had used to enter.
Chapter 969