Abyss of the Dark Vein

Southern Ling Province, Nether Abyss Valley.

Five streaks of Evasion Light swept over the mountains to the north and landed at the valley entrance.

The demonic qi in the valley had grown thicker since three days ago. Dark purple mist surged up from the valley floor, carrying a corrosive aura. Two Nascent Soul Cultivators from the Tianyue Sect guarded the entrance, neither looking well.

"The demonic qi is leaking out faster."

The Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator on the left said, "Three more breaches have appeared in the second layer of the seal. We repaired two, but the last one can't be fixed. The Spirit Pattern foundation has shattered."

Li Yuan nodded. Without another word, he descended into the valley.

His passive perception spread across eighteen hundred zhang.

The operation of the Six-Point Resonant Sealing Array appeared in his mind. The Abyss-Sealing Resonance Permanent Affix relayed the load on each of the six Array Eye Spirit Stones. All six Spatial Folding chains were pulled taut, their strain nearing seventy percent of their limit. It had been barely over fifty percent when he left three days ago—a rise of almost twenty percent in just a few days.

The rift walls were thinning too. Comparing them with a record from three days ago through Myriad Image Retrospection showed another ten percent gone. At this rate, his previous estimate of two months before the seal gave way would have to be cut short.

Across the rift, two Spirit Transformation-level fluctuations of demonic qi were unmistakable. Both the heavy one and the violent one remained. Their fluctuations came more frequently than before, as though they were taking turns battering the rift's edges and testing the seal.

Li Yuan committed the latest findings to memory, then continued down the valley wall without stopping.

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