A killing chill hung over the secret chamber.
The formation patterns of the Origin-Returning Purification Formation already covered the entire floor, their arcane lines flowing with a faint radiance like a sleeping river of stars.
Zhou Xuan sat cross-legged at the very center of the formation. The World-Origin Fragment he had retrieved from the Ten Thousand Fallen Pit hovered quietly before him, each pulse sending ripples through the air throughout the chamber.
The Alliance Leader, Emperor Jiang Wu, Old Ancestor Cangwu, and Old Ancestor Xuanming—four Longevity Realm experts who had lived for untold tens of thousands of years—occupied the formation's eastern, southern, western, and northern corners, their expressions graver than ever before.
"Let's begin."
Zhou Xuan's voice was calm. Though still weak, it carried the reassuring steadiness of someone with the entire situation in hand.
The four exchanged glances and hesitated no longer.
Boom!
Four utterly different yet equally vast and mighty streams of Origin Source power surged skyward from the four Longevity Realm experts, pouring precisely into the formation's four core nodes.
The Alliance Leader's purple-gold Origin Source, the peerlessly domineering crimson-gold power of national destiny, the vibrant blue-green power, and the chilling, bone-piercing Dark Nether cold energy.
The instant these four powers poured in, the entire Origin-Returning Purification Formation blazed to life!
Humm—
A low hum reverberated through the chamber. The river of stars on the floor began to surge and flow, and endless runes emerged from the formation patterns, spinning rapidly around Zhou Xuan at the center.
With his eyes tightly shut, Zhou Xuan activated the World-Origin Fragment before him.
The translucent fragment burst with light. A force of creation, pure to the utmost, poured out and merged into the great formation, becoming its core driving force.
"Rise!"
Zhou Xuan gave a low shout.
His right arm,