Crack! Crack!
Amid the sudden sounds of shattering, Yang Qingxuan saw the air around him abruptly solidify. Countless fine cracks spread like a spiderweb, enclosing him at their center with astonishing speed.
A violent explosion rang out the next instant. The air shattered into countless fragments, and Yang Qingxuan bore the brunt of it. His protective astral qi shook, and the eight spirit apertures within his body swayed together like candle flames in the wind.
His absorption of numinous energy was immediately disrupted.
Pieces of "mirror" swept past his eyes. Focusing his gaze, Yang Qingxuan immediately saw a man in blue standing at the center of the Sacred Altar, calmly meeting his eyes.
"Who are you?"
Yang Qingxuan's gaze darkened.
He had long since seen through Shi Yan, Bao Zhuang, and the others' so-called "Slay the Mystic Emperor" plan, but he had planted no agents among them.
Not because he could not, but because he had no need to.
Yang Qingxuan had never considered Shi Yan and the others opponents, only pawns to share the force of the backlash.
Once, Huang Longshi alone had been worthy of his wariness.
Later, Huang Longshi had departed through molting, his true nature escaping. Across the vast world and all eight reaches of the universe, there should have been no one left who could match him. Who could have expected a Night King to emerge in Western Luo?
It was precisely this suddenly emerging Night King who had robbed Yang Qingxuan of his leisure and prompted him to undertake "Dragon Devouring" ahead of schedule. Otherwise, he could easily have waited several more years, even a decade or more, by which time the "instinctive" backlash of numinous energy would have weakened further.
Yet now, as Yang Qingxuan stared at Hong Yuan, he vaguely sensed another