He could see that the thick, tangled Causal Line of the Human Emperor Hall had spawned countless Branch Lines, and the Anchor Points at the ends of those branches were seated at key points throughout the formation. Now, they had begun to move.
They were likely preparing to fully activate the formation and use that mysterious fluctuation from earlier to pinpoint his exact location.
Tan Lin did not need to think about it. Given the peculiar nature of this formation, it had most likely originated from those people in the Restricted Areas who had divided up his Origin and blood essence all those years ago, specifically created to detect him.
Only those people had the time and energy to study something so useless in other fields, such as combat.
And for beings like them, this small expenditure of effort was undoubtedly worthwhile.
Because if they could capture him, there was a good chance they might uncover an alternative "Immortal Ascension Road"!
They had all stood supreme in their respective eras, invincible throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. Naturally, none of them were fools.
Nearly a million years had passed, yet those who had once hunted him had not truly perished. Combined with the faint traces of a great secret they had glimpsed within him back then, those people could already infer one or two fragments of the truth.
Buzz...
Within [All-Cause Vision].
Tan Lin silently watched as the lines connected to the Sea of Reincarnation, the Ancient Mine of Primordial Beginning, and even distant Mars in the Outer Domain all flared from dim to bright at the same time!
It was as though certain sleeping beings had shown the faintest signs of awakening.
Especially in the direction of the Sea of Reincarnation, where the black line connected to Heavenly Venerable Xiaoyao fluctuated most noticeably.
"Have they more or less confirmed that I'm still alive?"
Thoughts raced through Tan Lin's mind, but his emotions did not stir in the slightest.
He had known from the start that this was a trap.
But if he wanted his remnant soul to recover and be reborn through reincarnation, he had no choice but to jump in. It was merely a question of sooner or later.
Those people in the Restricted Areas might have only casually left behind this arrangement over the long years because of a sliver of possibility and suspicion, but that unintentional move had indeed struck directly at his fatal weakness.
However, no matter how carefully those beings calculated, they could never have predicted what changes the Soul Pearl had undergone.
Buzz...
Suddenly, the Deep Crimson Light Point in Tan Lin's palm blazed brilliantly.
Yet after a single instant, its radiance began to weaken as it was continuously consumed at an almost imperceptible rate.
[Inverted All-Causes Vision]!
Crimson mist completely wrapped around and permeated him.
At this moment, he was crimson, and crimson was him!
Whoosh...
The next instant, his entire remnant soul vanished completely from the divine consciousness of the deity within the painting, as though he had evaporated from the world.
"Why... did I suddenly awaken? Was it because the restrictions between this Drill Tower and the outside world were broken?"
Within the painting, the deity in the form of a woman suddenly revealed a trace of confusion.
She had already forgotten every moment of encountering Tan Lin's remnant soul. She had even forgotten the fragment of his true soul that had accompanied her for nearly a million years.
Yet in reality, Tan Lin was still standing before her, seriously considering whether he should take her away.
He felt that it was perhaps time to begin preparing for his rebirth in the next life.
Once he reincarnated, everything would begin anew. Resources and secret treasures would be part of what allowed him to swiftly return to his peak in the next life.
"So you still took the bait?"
Outside the tower.
Within the formation eye of the Profound Firmament Nine Truths Soul-Slaying Formation, the master of the Human Emperor Hall opened his eyes.
Feeling the disturbance in the formation, his expression was extremely complicated, though buried deep within it was a trace of disappointment.
After all, no matter how one looked at it,
that man had once led the long-weakened Human Race of the Big Dipper, and even the Ancient Road, during the Archaic Era. He had struck heavily at the Primordial Race and nearly reforged the former glory of the Human Race.
The Human Emperor Hall, which had protected him during his early rapid rise at the end of the Archaic Era, had also been founded by his own hand.
He had made no small contribution to the Human Race.
It was precisely because of this that the man, who had always called himself the "Human King," was bestowed the title of "Human Emperor" after breaking through to the Quasi-Emperor Realm by his soldiers and generals, as well as the living beings of the many Human Race Life Lands along the Ancient Road!
"From here on, I suppose you are doomed, aren't you? Human Emperor..."
Gong Xuan slowly rose from the core of the formation eye and let out a sigh.
He, too, was Human Race...
But with several Restricted-Area Supremes, including Heavenly Venerable Xiaoyao, pressing down upon him, he had never been able to act of his own will.
Especially after witnessing a Dark Turmoil, he had not dared to defy a Supreme's decree!
One had to know that even the Human Emperor had fallen at the hands of a Supreme. There was no shame in becoming a Supreme's dog just to survive!
Splash!
Within the Sea of Reincarnation, a gray-robed Daoist holding a jade bottle was driven by his true body. Before he had even left the Restricted Area, his brows had already furrowed tightly in uncertainty.
The Profound Firmament Nine Truths Soul-Slaying Formation had been created by him, and he held its master array disk.
But judging from the fluctuations transmitted by the secondary disk, that mysterious disturbance from earlier seemed to have been nothing more than a fleeting flash.
If the traces of the formation's disturbance were not undeniable, he would have nearly begun doubting his own craftsmanship.
"What exactly is going on?"
Amid his uncertainty, he took one step forward. A million miles of mountains and rivers shrank to inches beneath his feet, and after only a few steps, he had arrived beside Gong Xuan, master of the Human Emperor Hall.
At the formation eye, Gong Xuan's vision blurred. Once he saw who had arrived, his heart and liver trembled, and his knees inexplicably went weak.
"Y-You came personally?!"
But he was, after all, a Great Saint Peak expert with one foot already in the Quasi-Emperor Realm. Though he remained far from a match for the person before him, so long as it was not a Supreme in person, he would not kneel.
At the same time.
Within Undying Mountain, the Faith Body of the Undying Heavenly Emperor wore a similar expression.
His true body was undergoing Nirvana on the Ancient Star of Mars, leaving only this body to act in his stead.
Yet he had not expected that someone who should have died nearly a million years ago could make him feel so troubled.
Half a quarter-hour earlier.
Outside the Yin-Yang Stone Forest on the first level of the Drill Tower.
Li Qingjue had fallen into an unprecedented desperate situation.
The Divine Bridge Realm beast from earlier had already died beneath her sudden enlightenment, but that seemed to have lit the fuse.
Deep within the stone forest, massive boulders glowing with strange light burst apart one after another.
Within the billowing dust, pairs of crimson-red and dark-blue eyes lit up in succession, while low roars rose and fell.
In only a few breaths, seventy or eighty bizarre beasts, each giving off the aura of the Divine Bridge Realm, closed in on her from every direction, sealing off every route of retreat!
Among them were even five beast leaders at Peak Other Shore.
These beasts lounged atop the huge rocks of the stone forest, looking down at Li Qingjue's petite figure with mocking amusement.
Given their status and strength, they only needed to watch that human with merely Life Spring cultivation collapse under the siege, then wait for their subordinates to offer up her flesh and blood. There was no need for them to enter the fight personally.
Roar!
A beast shaped like a fierce tiger, with icy spikes growing from its back, was the first to break from the pack and pounce at Li Qingjue.
Boom...
On the other side, a giant crimson serpent with a single horn on its head swung its long tail. As divine power erupted, lava-like heat lashed toward her in an instant.
Li Qingjue coughed up blood where she stood.
Having crossed a minor realm to kill that beast earlier had already cost her dearly. Now, she was at the end of her strength.
She had been on the path of cultivation for less than a year, and her Mortal Body had only transformed once. Being able to kill an enemy above her level was already no easy feat.
Faced with this siege, she truly could not see the slightest hope of surviving this desperate predicament.
Bang!
Her petite body flew backward, but she used the opportunity to evade the surging attacks of several other beasts.
In this desperate fight to the death, Li Qingjue's injuries grew increasingly severe.
The intense pain, the dried-up divine power in her Sea of Bitterness, and the excessive loss of blood gradually muddled her consciousness. An inexplicable bitterness and shame rose in her heart.
"I've only been in these Weapon-Refining Grounds for less than half a day, and I'm already about to die... I'm truly useless, disgracing Master like this..."
What she did not know was that the first level of these Weapon-Refining Grounds had originally been meant for the lowest-ranking Sea of Suffering Realm soldiers of the Archaic Era to form battle formations and temper themselves. It was a many-against-many trial.
She had only recently entered the Life Spring Realm, yet she was facing so many beasts alone. The fact that she had not yet died was already a blessing from heaven.
Crack... crack...
The Yin-Yang Mill above Li Qingjue's head rotated, drawing upon the lunar and solar power of this place to form a Divine Mark barrier that had helped her endure until now.
But now, amid the siege, the barrier shattered.
Bang...
Taking advantage of her weakness, a beast lunged forward and swung its claws, sending a spray of blood from her right arm.
Crack!
Dozens of Divine Bridge beasts attacked at once, and the Yin-Yang Mill shattered directly beneath the onslaught.
"Pfft..."
Li Qingjue immediately suffered backlash and spat out a mouthful of blood.
But her talent was truly terrifying. At this moment, she gained further insight into the "Yin-Yang Mill Scripture," and her cultivation advanced.
Buzz...
A soft hum rang out from within her Sea of Bitterness, and a fresh surge of divine power emerged from her Life Spring.
Under grievous injury, she reassembled the Divine Marks at her limit. The Yin-Yang Millstone reappeared, and its aura doubled in strength!
However, given the current situation, this was merely a drop in the bucket.
More attacks followed one after another from all sides. All five Other Shore beasts had entered the battle personally, and the Divine Marks of Li Qingjue's millstone shook violently, on the verge of shattering again.
She coughed blood repeatedly, her face pale as gold paper.
At the critical moment.
Wooo...
A clear leopard's roar pierced through the clouds of this level.
Bang!
Bang... bang...
Under the might of a Half-Saint, over a hundred beasts were reduced to dust.
Immediately afterward, petals drifted down from the sky, and Dao sounds lingered through the air.
A white figure shot forth like lightning. It was the Cloud Leopard, with its "master" still riding upon its back.
On the Cloud Leopard's back, Goddess Gu still wore a light veil over her face. Yet even so, her breathtakingly beautiful, hazy features brightened this dim world.
Her black hair flowed like a waterfall, her eyes resembled autumn water, and the teardrop mole at the corner of her eye added several shades of mournful beauty.
"It's been a long time since I've seen such an exceptionally gifted little girl..."
At this moment, her shimmering gaze fell upon Li Qingjue's blood-soaked body, and a trace of emotion flashed through her beautiful eyes.
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