Behind the Shang Camp.
The Ten Ultimate Formation had been erected once again.
Only this time, no killing intent surged into the sky.
Nor did it possess the terrifying momentum it had displayed against the Twelve Golden Immortals.
All ten formations reined in their power.
Nine formations surrounded the Soul-Sundering Formation.
Yao Bin presided over the center.
A black soul banner hung above his head.
Zhao Gongming sat outside the formation.
Yao Bin carefully channeled a wisp of soul aura drawn from him into the Soul-Sundering Formation.
"Begin."
Lin Yuan stood on the central formation platform.
He held the linked formation flag, which had become quite familiar to him.
Qin Wan and the others channeled their magical power simultaneously.
Boom!
The auras of all ten formations linked together.
This time, the other nine formations were not responsible for supplying destructive power.
They all did just one thing.
Expand the Soul-Sundering Formation's perception.
The black banner behind Yao Bin abruptly rose higher.
An almost invisible ripple spread out from the Shang Camp in every direction.
Ten li.
A hundred li.
A thousand li...
Watching the scene before him, Lin Yuan suddenly felt something quite extraordinary.
The Ten Ultimate Formation had originally been a death trap for the Ten Heavenly Lords.
To save them, he had linked the ten great formations that had each fought independently.
And now—
This formation, which should have buried the Ten Heavenly Lords.
Was actually helping him find Zhao Gongming's deadly tribulation.
Without those earlier changes.
Qin Wan might already have died.
Yao Bin might also have ended up on the list.
And the Ten Ultimate Formation certainly could not have operated under Lin Yuan's direction as it did now.
In that case, even knowing Lu Ya intended to strike from the shadows, he might not have found a way to save Zhao Gongming in time.
The people he had saved before.
Were truly beginning to become a new source of strength.
"Northwest!"
Yao Bin suddenly spoke.
Everyone's spirits lifted.
"You've confirmed the direction?"
Lin Yuan asked.
"Only roughly."
Yao Bin's eyes were tightly shut.
Sweat had already appeared on his forehead.
"It's very far away."
"And there's a powerful layer of concealment there."
"When my soul perception approaches, it's as though something swallows it."
Lin Yuan looked at Qin Wan.
"Senior brother."
"Add another five percent!"
"All right."
Qin Wan and the others increased their magical power together.
The Ten Ultimate Linked Formation shuddered slightly.
The soul banner above Yao Bin's head thrashed wildly.
The range of perception expanded again.
Northwest.
It grew clearer and clearer.
At the same time.
Zhao Gongming's face suddenly paled.
He had been resting with his eyes closed, regulating his breathing, but now his eyes snapped open.
An intense wave of drowsiness struck without warning.
Even his Daluo Realm Primordial Spirit became dazed for a moment.
"Martial Uncle Zhao!"
Lin Yuan's expression changed.
"I'm all right."
Zhao Gongming raised a hand to reassure him.
Yet his voice was noticeably weaker than before.
"Just now, it felt as though something tugged at my soul."
Yao Bin opened his eyes at the same moment.
"They've started again!"
"What?"
"That pulling force suddenly grew stronger."
Yao Bin's expression was grim.
"If my judgment is correct."
"Someone over there is actively casting a spell right now."
Lin Yuan's gaze turned cold.
Perfect timing.
Normally, your aura is buried deep.
But by actively casting a spell.
You're amplifying the signal yourself.
"Follow it!"
"Senior Brother Yao."
"Trace the aura while it's active!"
The Ten Ultimate Formation's power concentrated on the Soul-Sundering Formation once more.
Yao Bin gritted his teeth.
His spiritual sense extended farther and farther along that faint, elusive soul connection.
Three thousand li.
Five thousand li.
Eight thousand li.
The farther it reached.
The stronger the concealment became.
Just as he was almost unable to continue.
Lin Yuan's Innate Spiritual Perception suddenly caught an exceedingly faint trace of malice.
It was not directed at him.
Its direction matched the location Yao Bin had locked onto exactly.
His Battlefield Killing Intent Perception also began to respond.
Lin Yuan's eyes lit up.
Found you.
"Adjust three degrees farther north!"
Yao Bin adjusted his course as instructed.
The next instant.
The black soul banner suddenly pulled taut.
As though an invisible hand had seized it in a death grip.
Yao Bin's eyes snapped open.
"I've locked on!"
"It's roughly twelve thousand li away."
"North-northwest."
"There's a mountain!"
"And an altar in the mountain, concealed by a formation!"
Everyone stood up at once.
Li Xingba was already pulling out his magical treasures.
"Let's go!"
Qin Wan, however, remained calmer.
"Don't rush."
"We still don't know who's there."
"Lu Ya's cultivation is formidable."
"Even if he really is alone, we might not be able to subdue him."
Lin Yuan understood that, of course.
Their goal was not to kill Lu Ya, either.
"It doesn't matter if we can't subdue him."
"The altar must be destroyed."
"As long as we break the curse."
"Martial Uncle Zhao will be halfway to safety."
By then, Zhao Gongming had walked into the formation from outside.
Though his face looked weary.
His gaze was frighteningly cold.
"I'm going too."
Lin Yuan's first instinct was to stop him.
But then he reconsidered.
Zhao Gongming himself had to be there.
In the original chapter outline, he had seen the altar with his own eyes and erupted in fury.
Besides, as long as the curse had not reached its final, lethal stage, he was still the strongest fighter here.
"Can you still fight, martial uncle?"
"I'm merely a little mentally fatigued."
Zhao Gongming sneered.
"I haven't reached the point where anyone can butcher me at will."
"Just as well."
"I'd like to see for myself."
"Who's coveting my life behind my back."
Wen Zhong had already begun making arrangements.
Wang Mo and his three companions would all go.
The Ten Heavenly Lords had no intention of staying behind either.
Lin Yuan looked at the gathering.
Suddenly, he felt a little like laughing.
Lu Ya probably could never have imagined, even in his dreams.
In the original course of fate.
Zhao Gongming would have been alone, slowly cursed to death by the Nail-Head Seven-Arrows Book without knowing what was happening.
But now—
The Four Sages of Nine-Dragon Island were here.
The Ten Heavenly Lords were here.
Wen Zhong was here.
He himself was here, too.
A group of people who should have been all but wiped out.
Now they were all ready to go tear down his altar.
This was the most tangible result of saving lives until the effects snowballed.
"Let's go."
At Zhao Gongming's command.
More than a dozen streaks of escape light shot into the sky at once.
Lin Yuan pushed his Wind-Thunder Escape to its limit.
Yet Wen Zhong still casually swept him into his lightning.
There was no helping it.
He was only a Profound Immortal now.
His speed over short distances was already impressive.
But over long distances, he still couldn't compare with these veteran Immortals.
They followed the aura Yao Bin kept sensing along the way.
Several hours later.
A desolate mountain range finally appeared ahead.
On the surface.
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Even the spiritual energy was far from abundant.
Yet as Zhao Gongming drew closer, his expression abruptly darkened.
"I can feel it."
"What?"
Wang Mo asked.
"A pull on my soul."
Zhao Gongming stared into the depths of the mountains.
"It's in there."
Yao Bin also pointed toward a valley.
"There."
At the same time, Lin Yuan's Innate Spiritual Perception sent him a fierce warning.
That's right.
This is the place.
But from outside.
The valley looked completely empty.
There was no altar at all.
"A formation is concealing it."
Qin Wan spotted the problem at a glance.
The Ten Heavenly Lords knew formations inside out.
Finding a flaw took them hardly any time.
The Golden Light Holy Mother raised her hand and sent out a ray of golden light.
It shone over the valley.
Ripples immediately spread through the previously tranquil space.
The concealment formation was exposed.
Killing intent instantly surged in Zhao Gongming's eyes.
"Break."
One word.
The Twenty-Four Sea-Calming Pearls had already risen into the air.
Boom!
No probing.
No studying.
The most straightforward way for a Daluo Golden Immortal to break a formation—
Smash it head-on.
The first Sea-Calming Pearl fell.
The formation shook violently.
The second.
Cracks appeared.
When the third fell.
The entire concealment formation collapsed with a thunderous crash!
The valley's true appearance was finally revealed.
An altar.
Lamps.
Talisman paper.
And at the very center—
A straw effigy.
On the effigy's chest.
Three large characters were plainly written.
Zhao Gongming.
The instant Zhao Gongming saw his own name.
His entire face darkened.
"Good."
"Very good."
Meanwhile, before the altar.
A Daoist who had been holding a talisman and performing a ritual stopped what he was doing.
Lu Ya slowly turned around.
He looked at the dense crowd of Jie Sect Immortals standing outside.
For once, he fell silent for a moment.
Lin Yuan walked to the front.
He glanced at the talisman in Lu Ya's hand.
Then at the altar.
"Senior Lu Ya."
"Why did you stop?"
"Go on."
"We've all come to watch the ceremony."
Before you continue