Deep within the Demon Suppressing Tower, inside the "Core Containment Zone" that resembled a well shaft, True Spirit Yuanling and True Spirit Qianji were inspecting the condition of the various facilities with grave expressions. Yu Sheng and the others entered just then, pushing open the door and seeing two old men busy at work.
"I came to check on the situation and bring Sect Master Yuan Hao over," Yu Sheng told Yuanling. "How are things here?"
"As you can see, everything's a mess." True Spirit Yuanling sighed and pointed into the shaft. "This is probably the biggest accident the Demon Suppressing Tower has suffered since its construction. Fortunately, we managed to bring it under control in time."
Yu Sheng looked in the direction True Spirit Yuanling had pointed.
They were currently in the middle section of the shaft, on a semicircular platform extending from its inner wall. Beyond the platform, they could see that many of the mechanical bridges installed along the walls had been destroyed. Numerous Artifact Forging Sect disciples from the Spirit Mountains were flying through the air, inspecting the condition of the connecting bridges. Many containment chambers distributed along the walls had collapsed or were belching smoke, while the personnel stationed at the Demon Suppressing Tower were clearing the collapsed areas with the assistance of massive mechanical constructs.
But compared to the collapsed and damaged containment chambers, what was even more horrifying was a crack that ran almost from top to bottom through the entire shaft. The extraordinarily sturdy shaft wall, built from some unknown material, looked as if it had been ripped open by brute force. The astonishing fissure twisted and stretched upward into the murky, boundless heights, while downward it vanished into the bottom of the shaft. At its widest point, the crack was possibly