The Stone Gate began to tremble. The spatial markings on its surface lit up with an eerie blue glow, and a vortex slowly formed.
Zhou Xuan did not move.
Not because he did not want to. Because he could not.
His spiritual energy had already bottomed out. The Taiyi Divine Power in his meridians was so thin he could barely sense it, and waves of spasming pain rose from deep within his dantian.
If he forced himself to attack again, a cut on his face would be the least of his worries. His sea of consciousness might shatter on the spot.
Li Qingyun stepped onto the edge of the vortex, the eerie blue glow beneath his feet casting a cold tint over his white robes.
He turned back and gave Zhou Xuan one last look.
"Next time we meet, I hope you're in one piece. Otherwise, it won't be any fun."
Zhou Xuan clenched his fists.
His nails dug into the wounds in his palms, and blood trickled between his fingers.
But he did not charge forward.
The vortex swallowed Li Qingyun's figure.
The light from the Stone Gate began to draw inward.
In the final breath before the spatial vortex closed completely, a dark golden gleam silently bloomed deep in the pupil of Zhou Xuan's right eye.
Supreme One Divine Eye.
He no longer had the strength to attack. But the Supreme One Divine Eye consumed only divine sense, not spiritual energy.
Half a breath.
The Supreme One Divine Eye locked firmly onto the residual patterns of fluctuating laws on the Fragmentary Scroll of the formation diagram Li Qingyun had tucked into his sleeve. Every curve, every node's frequency, was branded into the deepest reaches of Zhou Xuan's sea of consciousness.
The Stone Gate closed.
The eerie blue glow