At that moment, inside the grand array, the Demonic Path disciples remained utterly unaware of the approaching danger.
They were stationed at the array nodes Li Ling had previously detected, using ingenious secret arts to guide the yin wind past them and artificially create windless zones where they could shelter.
While guarding this place, they enjoyed considerable freedom, except that they could not abandon their posts or wander about at will.
With nothing else to do, they could attend to their own cultivation and even, at designated times, follow the artificially created passages to where the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals had fallen to collect some spoils.
But just then, heaven and earth shifted within the void.
Like mountain winds and thunderstorms on a June day, a mysterious force arrived without warning. The yin wind swiftly scattered it, silently spreading it throughout the surroundings.
This mysterious force was also a divine ability operating at the level of laws, and the person controlling it was naturally Li Ling.
Before the altar, Li Ling sat cross-legged facing west, floating in midair. Streams of dharma power shot skyward like rays of light, merging into this world's boundless heavens.
Guided by this world's Heavenly Dao, they descended into the array out of thin air, transforming into invisible gusts of yin wind that hunted souls and claimed lives.
The array guards, who had been bored out of their minds only moments earlier, suddenly sensed something wrong.
"Have you noticed that it suddenly got colder?"
"Now that you mention it, it is a little cold..."
"This is bad! We've all cultivated to Core Formation and are immune to heat and cold. Why would we feel cold for no reason? Yin wind has clearly gotten in and is eroding our divine souls!"
Once they realized this, the others