The Bell!

Heaven and earth lost their color; sun and moon gave no light.

The gray clouds rapidly darkened to lead-black, layer upon layer, heavy as a congealed sea of ink, like hundreds of millions of black iron mountains rising from the earth and hanging upside down above the nine heavens, swallowing every inch of daylight with unstoppable, tyrannical force.

Daylight was forcibly pressed into dusk.

The distant mountains were reduced to undulating, blurred silhouettes. Even the nearby trees had shed their vivid colors, leaving only their resilient outlines standing silent in the wind.

The wind became an invisible tidal surge.

It howled down from the cloud peaks with irresistible force, sweeping up dust and fallen leaves across the sky like countless invisible warhorses galloping over the plains.

The air was stagnant and heavy. It felt as though they stood at the bottom of the deep sea, with invisible pressure squeezing their chests from all directions.

True thunder brewed deep within the clouds. No longer was it a scattering of crackles, but an endless succession of low, majestic rolling thunder.

The sound was like a sleeping giant turning over, like countless enormous war drums beating at once beyond the nine heavens.

It was not an angry roar, but pure energy gathering strength before bursting forth—the most primal and magnificent rhythm between heaven and earth.

Every low rumble made the earth beneath their feet tremble faintly, as if the heart of the land resonated with it.

The sky above the Soaring Cloud Heavenly Palace changed in an instant.

The suffocating, vast pressure between heaven and earth struck terror into every disciple of the Heaven Sect.

The pressure of heaven and earth was abyssal as the sea. Violent wind and rain raged and howled, as though they would tear all things in the world to pieces.

A low hum rose from the mountain ranges and earth veins, like the heartbeat of an ancient colossal god—heavy and brimming with power.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Eighteen magnificent torrents of light, as though capable of piercing through the nine heavens, erupted violently and shot straight into the sky!

The eighteen beams that soared into the heavens were like the spine holding up heaven and earth, instantly tearing apart the heavy leaden clouds and the raging curtain of rain!

Their radiance was so dazzling that it turned the clouds filling the sky into a rolling sea of golden mist.

Rainwater was completely evaporated and driven away a hundred zhang from the beams, forming vast, rotating vacuums!

The raging storm twisted and collapsed around the beams, ultimately forcefully suppressed by that irresistible field of energy!

Upon reaching a certain spatial node, the beams intertwined and merged, instantly weaving themselves into an incomparably enormous and intricate three-dimensional golden network that covered the skies above the entire Heavenly Sect Mountains!

Every node of the network corresponded to a curved beam of light, and all the beams ultimately converged above the very center of the mountain range.

An incomparably vast, flawless hemispherical barrier suddenly descended!

The barrier bore a warm yet unyielding jade-gold hue. Hundreds of millions of fine, profound runes flowed across its surface, flickering and dimming like breaths.

Within the barrier, the wind ceased, the rain stopped, and the thunder retreated into the distance.

The violent pressure of heaven and earth was completely sealed outside, leaving behind only stable, pure, abundant spiritual energy.

The Profound Dao Celestial Sect's mountain-protecting grand formation—the Nine Heavens Divine Light Imperial Heaven Formation—had been completed!

Dong Lin had long since climbed onto a glazed roof tile high atop the Soaring Cloud Heavenly Palace.

Together with the many elders and disciples, he witnessed this heaven-shaking change.

"The Soaring Cloud Heavenly Palace already stands above the clouds in the high heavens. What kind of mighty power can summon wind and rain and block out the light of day amid the astral winds of the nine heavens?"

"What is that?!"

A disciple was the first to notice something amiss high in the sky.

Dong Lin looked upward.

He saw two figures flickering in and out of sight among the clouds, slowly flying toward the Heaven Sect's Heaven Hall.

To the naked eye, they seemed extremely slow.

Yet within only a few breaths, they had already arrived above the Heaven Hall formation barrier.

The two figures, as if bearing the weight of the entire empire, stepped into the heartland of this giant of the cultivation world.

Execution Pavilion Elder Hu Zhencai had a withered face, and eyes so sharp they seemed capable of piercing the soul.

He wore an ink-black official robe embroidered with ferocious Prison Tiger totems, radiating the icy, bone-piercing Killing Intent of the penal prisons that made souls tremble.

Standing there, he was like an eternal iceberg, freezing all life.

Civil Office Elder Zhao Ting was somewhat plump, fair-faced, and beardless, with even a seemingly amiable smile on his face.

Yet within those narrow eyes lay authority and calculation more profound than the abyss.

He wore a deep purple official robe embroidered with immortal cranes and auspicious clouds, representing the supreme order of the empire's bureaucratic system.

In his hands, he held a bright yellow scroll. It was no ordinary object; golden dragon aura flowed faintly over it, exuding a grand and righteous yet terrifying pressure that stood above all things—it was the Tianyan Sacred Scroll!

Though Zhao Ting's aura lacked Lai Zong's exposed sharpness, it was deeper and vaster, like a boundless ocean.

Merely standing there holding the imperial decree made him seem to embody the laws and principles of heaven, inspiring an irresistible sense of one's own insignificance.

This vast and majestic pressure carried the killing aura of clashing blades and iron cavalry, along with the unquestionable will of law. It actually triggered the formation's instinctive response, spiritual light flashing uncertainly across the formation wall as though it faced a great enemy.

Heaven Sect Master Xuan Sheng wore a plain white Daoist robe, his long beard drifting elegantly. He appeared immortal and otherworldly, yet the hands behind his back had quietly formed a hand seal, while his broad sleeves fluttered without wind.

Behind him, several inner sect elders wore grave expressions. Their auras were still and deep as an abyss, their gazes fixed tightly ahead.

"Li Huo."

Elder Hu's voice was not loud, yet it clearly pierced through the wind and the formation's hum. Every word was like a jade chime struck, carrying unquestionable authority.

"This official has come by sacred decree. The order is to apprehend the wanted criminal, Chen Jinzhi!!"

He raised his hand slightly. The token bearing the character "Edict" flashed faintly, and a vast power instantly spread out, making even the mountain-protecting formation's light screen ripple violently.

Xuan Sheng's expression did not change, but an extremely deep gloom flashed through his eyes.

He slowly spoke, his voice calm yet containing profound magical power that offset the other side's pressure:

"Without warning, you bring the Tianyan Sacred Scroll and unveil the Nine Abyss Lightning-Calling Heaven-Tilting Edict. Before my hall, you seek to seize my holy son?!"

Xuan Sheng gave a cold laugh.

"You two truly have no regard for my Heaven Sect at all!!!"

As Sect Master Xuan Sheng's voice fell, a terrifyingly ancient and desolate aura instantly spread through heaven and earth.

From deep within the silent Soaring Cloud Heavenly Palace below came no warning or furious shout. Instead, without any forewarning, a bell rang out!

This bell was unlike any mortal sound in the world!

It was not loud enough to deafen the ear. Instead, it carried a desolation and gravity that pierced through countless ages, as though it had traveled directly from the primal chaos at the beginning of creation.

The sound was not loud, yet it ignored the barriers of space and the jade dome's golden shield. Like a tangible, viscous current of time, it instantly filled the entire space high in the heavens!

Dong—

One sound! Only one sound!

Yet that single note seemed to contain the first trace of Dao sound that understood heaven and earth, and also the final sigh before the universe fell silent!

Buzz!

The unfathomable smile on Zhao Ting's face froze instantly!

The rounded, composed aura surrounding him was like a mirror-lake struck by a massive boulder, violently rippling!

The protective spiritual light that could ward off the astral winds of the nine heavens actually gave a strained sizzle the instant the bell reached it, as though eroded and flaking away beneath the force of invisible years!

He felt an irresistible heaviness rising from the depths of his soul, as though hundreds of millions of years had suddenly been placed upon his shoulders, making even his upright figure sway almost imperceptibly!

Clang!

Elder Hu's reaction was even more intense!

For the first time, a change appeared upon his withered, icy face—his pupils abruptly contracted to needlepoints!

The penal Killing Intent swirling around him like abyssal shadows gave off a piercing, teeth-grinding sound of dissolution the instant the bell reached it, like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun, its nemesis!

The sound resembled the shrieks of countless nether souls being purified!

His hands behind his back clenched abruptly, and his broad ink-black sleeves flapped violently without wind!

A dim light instantly wove into a net before him, attempting to block the assault of the invisible bell.

Yet upon touching those desolate ripples of bell sound, it erupted with dense, crisp crackles like exploding beans. The icy laws within it were forcibly neutralized and shattered by that ancient, boundless Dao resonance!

Elder Hu let out a muffled groan and staggered half a step back.

For the first time, alarm and gravity appeared in his hawk-like sharp eyes!