The base trembled faster and faster, blue light seeping from its cracks and rippling through the air like water. Chen Wuya's hand was still pressed to the ground, his fingertips numb as the lingering force of the Misaligned Resonance Domain swirled through his meridians, on the verge of dispersing. He gritted his teeth and held on, not daring to let go.
Bai Zhi stood at his side, her gaze locked tightly on the cauldron's base. She had just watched the mechanism network erupt in golden light and the Cult Leader collapse, thinking it was over. Yet the shaking had not stopped. Instead, it was growing stronger.
"Something's wrong," she said softly.
The moment the words left her mouth, the blue light surged. Space seemed to tear open, twisting into rings of ripples. The air rippled, and the outlines of the distant rock walls began to waver, as though seen through a layer of heat haze.
The Cult Leader lay prone on the ground, his arms wrapped airtight in threads, his chest rising and falling faintly. His eyes had been closed, but the instant space distorted, they flew open. Blood vessels webbed the whites of his eyes, while his pupils shrank to pinpoints.
His fingers twitched, and the remnants of demonic energy drew back along the threads. The golden-red cords of the net shuddered violently, giving off a deep hum.
Chen Wuya sensed it and immediately mobilized the last strand of Misaligned Force within him, ready to suppress it. But before he could act, the Cult Leader borrowed the rebounding force of the threads to jerk himself up and hurl his entire body toward the distorted space.
"He's running!" Bai Zhi drew her sword, but before it was even halfway out of its sheath, an invisible force shoved it back. Her