The instant they stepped beyond the edge of the depression, the invisible, mountainlike weight pressing down on their shoulders abruptly eased.
"It's lighter! Once we leave the deep pit's confines, the suppressive force really does weaken!" one team member said quietly, overjoyed.
"It seems this sunken pocket of space is what keeps it locked in place." Another man breathed heavily and hurried to regulate his internal energy.
Qin Zhenggang's brows remained tightly knitted, without a trace of the others' delight. He barked, "Do not get careless. Don't let appearances deceive you. This corpse is utterly uncanny; it cannot possibly be restrained so easily. Steady your minds and keep your true essence ready. Do not relax your guard."
His words were still echoing through the air when a violent tremor suddenly ran through the chain.
Crack, crack!
The very thing they feared had come to pass!
The aberrant corpse, which had been inching along, abruptly stopped and refused to move outward another fraction.
Everyone's heart clenched. They immediately circulated their true essence, pouring it into the Darksteel Chain without pause. Spiritual radiance blazed from the pitch-black chain once more, and it drew taut like a bow bent into a full moon. Yet no matter how hard the six of them pulled, the body suspended in midair seemed rooted to the spot, utterly motionless.
"Pull! Put more strength into it!" the cultivator leading the effort growled through gritted teeth. Spiritual power surged through his meridians, but every ounce of force that struck the aberrant corpse was dissolved by an invisible power, like a clay ox entering the sea, stirring not a single ripple.
The red mist slowly gathered toward the corpse. The long, blood-red hair covering its body gently rose and fell, as though a sleeping monster were slowly stretching its limbs.