Before the sect gates.
Dark baleful light surged, ceaselessly swallowing the multicolored water and fire radiance on the Five-Element Mountain. At the same time, it entangled the [Geng-Martial Fire-Forging Cone], faintly resonating with the Heavenly Gang starlight above.
Liang Xilan stood before the sect gates, activating her immortal foundation to overpower Wei Yan through sheer cultivation. But another sudden change behind her forced her to stop.
A pitch-black Dharma Sword manifested from the nether light. Its slender blade was almost a long spike. It slipped past the formation and thrust out soundlessly, yin energy transforming into skeletal skulls, ox-headed and horse-faced figures that clustered around the sword.
Liang Xilan felt her soul seize. It was an exceedingly strange sensation, as though her entire self had been peeled away and she were viewing herself through someone else's eyes. Even her spiritual essence shuddered, and a man's questioning voice involuntarily rang through her mind:
"Liang Xilan?"
"Here."
She answered instinctively. The moment the words left her mouth, she knew something was wrong. Her soul had three parts, and its most important part, the living soul, was seized and drawn onto that ghostly sword. Following this connection, sword qi was about to flood into her spirit platform.
Years of battle experience prompted an almost instinctive response. She hid within the formation, shielding herself with baleful light while activating her immortal foundation. The inner scenery of [Clear Cosmic Expanse] manifested: peace reigned beneath heaven, and the stars took their appointed places to form orbital paths.
Thirty-six tiny stars appeared within thirty feet of Liang Xilan. Her figure flickered ceaselessly between them, evading the life-claiming sword qi.
This third-grade immortal foundation possessed only one mysterious manifestation, [Celestial Star Path]. Once manifested, it could establish at most thirty-six coordinates within thirty feet of her, allowing her