With no time for regret, she immediately hammered her chest and coughed up a glob of blood flickering with fire.
The blood, mingled with pure spirit vigor, seeped into the array flag. It immediately began to stabilize, and the spiritual light that had been pulsing wildly gradually settled.
The situation had improved, but her face showed not the slightest relief. Though she had made the mistake, given the positions of the array flags, the one who would actually suffer was at the northwestern corner—where her seventh brother stood.
Cough, cough... Fortunately, it isn't too late to mend the pen after losing a sheep. Once the five positions are aligned and the six yang forces secure the cauldron, we can knead these two round or flatten them however we please.
The old woman wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. Though this act had consumed half the cultivation within her immortal foundation, she felt no reluctance, only secret relief.
Yet she could not stop wondering why she had bungled the connection when everything had been fine a moment before. The Six-Yang Black Eagle Array had been passed down through her family. Since taking charge of it, she had practiced hundreds, even thousands of times, and prided herself on never making a wrong move even with her eyes closed. Today, however, she seemed possessed; her head had inexplicably begun to swim.
What she feared came to pass. The next instant, a thunderous boom shook the heavens.
The old woman's heart immediately skipped a beat. She seized the array flag and frantically probed through it, but all that answered her was the crack, crack of shattering glass, frightening her three souls and seven spirits clean out of her body.
"Plague take it! The Black Stratagem is damaged! The spirit array is...