South of Qingqiu Mountain.
The Grade-A Demon Suppressing Needle, level with the mountain, had shattered and collapsed, taking down more than half of the nearby cliffs and mountainside with it.
Chen Mu stood atop a Flying Kite, holding a palm-sized Yellow Gourd as he softly chanted the Demon Sealing Curse.
A mass of gray-white mist flew from the gourd's mouth and transformed into a massive smoky hand dozens of meters across. It scooped up huge amounts of rubble and mountain debris, then tossed them into the nearby Prison of Essence Valley.
More than a dozen other Qi Refining cultivators worked much like him. With everyone busy in an orderly fashion, it took only half a day to clear away the Demon Suppressing Needle's remains and the collapsed mountainside.
At noon, Chen Mu rested with the others beneath the shade of the Peach Grove.
"I heard the demons tampered with the Heaven-Bearing Magic Restriction, which was how they got around the Star Constellation Array. The Qianji Sect toppled the Demon Suppressing Needle to destroy the restriction's foundation."
"That can't be true, can it? Demons can manipulate the Heaven-Bearing Magic Restriction too?"
"Have you forgotten how strange that Green Worm Gu is?"
"Now that you put it that way, it really isn't impossible for them to manipulate the Heaven-Bearing Magic Restriction..."
Everyone traded all manner of rumors.
Chen Mu listened closely while turning the Yellow Gourd over in his hands.
The gourd was called the Universe One Qi Gourd, a magical artifact temporarily issued to Taoshan Temple disciples.
Like the mining picks of Prison of Essence Valley and the grindstones of Grinding Stone Workshop, it could amplify Sealing Magic Power.
The smoke it expelled could easily split mountains and shatter rocks. Even hard Demonic Energy Stone was no challenge for it.
"If