Thirteen warriors emerged, clad in battered silver armor. They held fourteen-foot spears, their tips stained with dried, blackened blood. Skin clung to bone, and eerie green soulfire burned in their sunken eye sockets.
No breathing, no heartbeat. Thirteen dead men, yet the power radiating from them was enough to shatter the laws of the Wilds.
Ji Chen's gaze swept over the emblems on their breastplates-a damaged totem encircled by twin stars.
"My master, be careful." Ji Chen stepped forward, his voice low and his words rapid. "That's the Starherd Legion. Once the sharpest spear under the Supreme One Divine Court's direct command. Rumor has it they were wiped out in the Era War, their true spirits scattered."
He stared at those eerie green soulfires, his expression chilling.
"The Divine Court dug up their corpses and refined them into puppets with Heretical Sorcery."
The thirteen silver-armored warriors ignored Ji Chen. They spread out, their auras linking beneath their feet as they drained every last trace of killing intent lingering at the bottom of the Heavenly Abyss.
The Silver Lockdown Formation took shape in midair, cutting off all retreat.
The silver-armored warrior at their head stood over ten feet tall and wore the most elaborate armor. He raised his head, his eerie green soulfire fixing on the ancient black-and-gold blade in Zhou Xuan's hand.
"Thief of laws."
The voice reverberated from all thirteen men's Seas of Consciousness, dry and cold.
"Surrender the Supreme One Beacon. Kneel and receive divine punishment."
The Starherders stamped their spears down. The silver formation churned, turning the killing intent filling the air into tangible shackles that descended over Zhou Xuan's head.
Standing amid the ruins of the terrace, Zhou Xuan glanced at the formation pressing down overhead, then at the blade in his hand.
"They won't even