Black Tortoise Treads the Mountain

The blood-red phantom beast behind Black Crow took shape again.

Dark crimson blood energy streamed from the edges of its outline, as though a savage beast imprisoned for centuries had finally broken its shackles and was slowly crawling out of the void.

This time, the phantom was more solid than before. Its body seemed to have flesh and bone.

The beast raised its head slightly, its blood-red eyes fixed on the far end of the long street.

Countless martial artists tried to interrupt the attack as it gathered power, but after only a few steps, a force of blood energy drove them back.

The Heaven Overturning Cult's formation did more than seal off the outside world. It also raised a protective barrier around the Formation Eye.

While Black Crow gathered power for his Gathering Essence attack, the righteous martial artists could barely get close.

Each time they nearly reached him, that dark crimson energy knocked them back several steps, leaving blood seeping from their mouths and their True Essence in disarray.

A few martial artists had already given up resisting. They looked around frantically for a way out.

But where could they run?

Blood-red curtains of light sealed them in on every side.

In the streets and alleys not far behind them, ordinary townspeople had come out of their homes.

Many roofs had been torn away. In the worst cases, entire houses had collapsed.

They stood beside the street, by their doorsteps... behind the stalls that earned their families a living, staring blankly at the enormous dark crimson beast at the far end of the street.

Children cried in their arms. Old people sighed in silence.

Some crouched on the ground, covering their ears and squeezing their eyes shut... as if closing their eyes could shut out everything before them.