In this ten-thousand-word manifesto, the cultivator Gu Xinghan exposed the true face of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation to the world.
*Using a formation to replace the heavens, usurping their supreme authority.*
*Trailing like a shadow, surveilling all under heaven.*
*Draining cultivation to offer up to Heavenly Profound.*
*Treating living beings like cattle and beasts, leaving no path forward on the Great Dao.*
...
The manifesto recounted the evils of the Spirit-Locking Formation in full and pointed out that the true body of the formation was in fact the former crowning treasure of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals—the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
In order to attain the Dao and achieve transcendence, the Heavenly Profound Mirror sought to use all the cultivators of the world as sacrificial offerings.
Gu Xinghan called upon cultivators to unite, shatter the Spirit-Locking Formation, and restore clarity and light to the Xuanhuang Realm.
Although the Heavenly Alliance immediately issued a refutation, denied the claims, and published a Heavenly Execution Order against Gu Xinghan, the myriad strange and unsettling transformations that had occurred across the realm since the spread of the Spirit-Locking Formation over the past century were plain for all to see.
The Heavenly Alliance's desperate denials could not stop the mouths of the world's cultivators.
For a time, cultivator outrage surged.
Yet the Heavenly Alliance had ruled the Xuanhuang Realm for thousands of years, and its accumulated might remained formidable.
Those who answered Gu Xinghan's call and actually dared to stand up in open rebellion were few and far between.
They were mere scattered sparks, quickly suppressed by the Heavenly Sorcerers dispatched by the Heavenly Alliance.
Only Gu Xinghan himself remained uncaught.
His efforts were not entirely in vain.
The seeds of suspicion had been sown.
Cultivators grew far more guarded toward both the Heavenly Profound Mirror and the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation.
Across the Xuanhuang Realm, cultivators began secretly researching methods to evade the Heavenly Profound Mirror's prying gaze.
Signs of division also began to emerge within the Heavenly Alliance itself.
Word continually leaked out of cultivators serving within the Heavenly Alliance privately voicing dissatisfaction with the Spirit-Locking Formation, only to be arrested and severely punished as a warning to others.
In Anchor Year 268, an image was projected across the green vault of the Xuanhuang Realm's sky.
Though it was quickly blocked, making subsequent details impossible to see, the brief moment it appeared before the masses was enough to ignite a sweeping wave of rebellion among cultivators.
It was a wall of unknown location, towering straight into the clouds.
Countless cultivators were sealed and slumbering inside the wall.
Only their faces were exposed on the wall's surface, eyes shut tight and bearing bizarre, eerie smiles.
"Fellow Daoists, this is the Eternal Immortal Wall. The cultivators who have gone missing over the past century have all been imprisoned here by the Heavenly Alliance..."
The slightly hurried voice-over cut off abruptly.
Though it had been merely a fleeting glimpse, the densely packed faces covering the Eternal Immortal Wall were enough to freeze the blood of every surviving cultivator under heaven.
Trapped in illusions and suppressed for eternity—how was that any different from death?
The Heavenly Alliance's actions were far too shocking and appalling, crossing the line of what any cultivator could endure.
All at once, cries to overthrow the Heavenly Alliance and shatter the Spirit-Locking Formation rose everywhere across the Xuanhuang Realm.
Within the Heavenly Alliance, the opposition factions that had remained dormant since the formation's introduction also made their move.
The flames of war instantly swept across the Xuanhuang Realm.
Xiao Heng's Immortal Restoration was among the many resistance organizations.
Han Wuyou joined Xiao Heng, Su Xiaomei, and their other old companions from the Li Realm, embarking on war against the Heavenly Alliance.
The combined might of the vast majority of the world's cultivators could hardly be considered weak.
Yet the sheer number of Heavenly Sorcerers in the Heavenly Alliance far exceeded anyone's imagination.
The great war raged for three whole years.
The cultivators suffered continuous casualties, while the ranks of the Heavenly Sorcerers never seemed to dwindle.
Had the Heavenly Sorcerers not held back in an effort to capture cultivators alive, the cultivator coalition might have fallen long before.
With defeat looming and no glimmer of victory in sight, the cultivators steadily collapsed.
The war gradually devolved into a one-sided hunt.
In Anchor Year 273, the Heavenly Sorcerers discovered Immortal Restoration's stronghold.
Zhang Haobo and Su Xiaomei fought valiantly and died a tragic death to cover everyone's retreat.
Even so, they could not prevent Immortal Restoration's destruction.
At the critical moment, Su Changyu made a breakthrough on the battlefield and perished together with the Heavenly Sorcerers who had come to capture them.
Only then did Xiao Heng, Han Wuyou, and a few others manage to escape with their lives.
In Anchor Year 274, Xiao Heng succumbed to severe injuries and died.
Before his death, he passed the mantle of Immortal Restoration to Han Wuyou.
Han Wuyou accepted through tears.
Relying on Covering the Sky with One Hand and the Myriad Forms Furnace Technique, Han Wuyou fled and hid, consistently eluding capture.
By Anchor Year 290, few surviving cultivators remained across the realm.
The Heavenly Alliance's pursuit gradually slackened.
In Anchor Year 304, the Heavenly Alliance issued a general amnesty: any cultivator in the realm willing to return to the Heavenly Alliance and practice the Mending the Heavens Record according to their assigned quota each year would have all past transgressions forgiven.
One after another, cultivators returned to the Heavenly Alliance from the wilderness.
By Anchor Year 315, seeing that those who had returned faced no danger to their lives, more cultivators chose to come back.
In Anchor Year 324, the Heavenly Alliance launched construction projects of unknown purpose across every province. Colossal golden obelisks rose from the ground, standing tall at the center of each province.
In Anchor Year 369, Han Wuyou broke through to the late Nascent Soul stage. Taking the alias He Buyou, he returned to the Heavenly Alliance and slipped back into hiding within its ranks.
Han Wuyou discovered that the personnel managing affairs in the Heavenly Alliance had by now entirely become Heavenly Sorcerers.
To cultivators who surrendered, the Heavenly Alliance still provided corresponding cultivation resources.
The price, however, was cultivating the Mending the Heavens Record even more extensively.
In Anchor Year 370, Han Wuyou paused his own personal cultivation and devoted himself to studying the Mending the Heavens Record.
In Anchor Year 393, having cultivated the Mending the Heavens Record without distraction for over twenty uninterrupted years and contributed a massive amount of Heavenly Dew Points, Han Wuyou was commended by the Heavenly Alliance.
He was granted the status of Rank 4 Heavenly Sorcerer and appointed to the post of Imperial Immortal Officer, responsible for managing and supervising the "mending the heavens" work of over a thousand cultivators.
In Anchor Year 404, massive beams of light erupted from the tops of the obelisks across the Xuanhuang Realm, shooting straight into the firmament.
The earth and sky trembled.
The eruption of energy from the obelisks lasted for seven full days.
In Anchor Year 412, after nearly forty years of research and combining the array insights he had gleaned from the Formation-Breaking Jade Platter, Han Wuyou finally comprehended the true purpose of the Mending the Heavens Record.
The Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation usurped the authority of heaven in an attempt to take its place.
Yet the core of the formation—the Heavenly Profound Mirror—had overestimated its own capacity.
Only under a state of severe overload could it barely maintain the normal operation of all the Spirit-Locking Formations.
Thus, it required outside help to share a portion of the burden.
Only cultivators could establish an interchange with heaven and earth.
This was why the Heavenly Alliance needed cultivators to practice the Mending the Heavens Record, while Heavenly Sorcerers could not do so.
Han Wuyou caught a faint glimpse of hope for overthrowing the Spirit-Locking Formation.
At the same time, a sense of worry lingered.
For if the Heavenly Profound Mirror achieved transcendence and completed its metamorphosis, it would no longer have any need for cultivators to practice the Mending the Heavens Record.
Without breathing a word to anyone, Han Wuyou kept the revelation locked in his heart, continuing to bide his time in silence.
In Anchor Year 434, Han Wuyou received orders to accompany a team of Heavenly Sorcerers to Tianpan Province to handle an anomaly incident.
In casual conversation, Han Wuyou learned that in recent years, anomalies across the world had shown a steady trend of spreading.
In Anchor Year 459, the obelisks once again blasted pillars of light outward.
From high in the heavens, rumble after rumble reverberated without cease.
Chapter 416