Chen Wuya pressed both palms against the center of the rune formation, Misaligned Force pouring into the stone platform in wave after wave like a rising tide. He could feel every inch of true qi in his meridians flowing backward, as though countless fine needles were piercing back and forth through the seams of his bones. The wound on his right arm split deeper, blood dripping through his fingers onto the formation core, where the azure light instantly drank it dry.
Bai Zhi stood at the formation position to the left, her sword tip braced against the ground. A thread of blood slid from her palm, running down the blade and into a gap in the formation's runes. Her face was pale, but her breathing remained steady. Her gaze never left Chen Wuya's back; at a single command from him, she was ready to lend her strength.
Mo Feng crouched on the right, both hands rapidly turning the gears on the mechanism box as he counted under his breath. "Three, two, one—synchronize!"
Bzzzz!
The entire platform jolted violently. A ring of azure light lit up from the inside out among the runes, spreading like ripples. Several broken stone pillars in the distance flashed faintly in succession, and nodes that had lain dormant for ages began operating again one after another. A deep resonance rolled out from the depths of the secret realm, like some ancient machine restarting.
"It worked." Mo Feng collapsed onto the ground. A wisp of green smoke rose from the mechanism box, its gears jammed solid.
Bai Zhi withdrew her flexible sword, her fingers going weak as she nearly lost her grip on the hilt. Leaning against a stone pillar, she caught her breath and swept her gaze around. The runes, which had been twisting and flickering,