The group encircled the thick, ancient tree trunk.
Xia Jue rose into the air alone, rapidly forming hand seals as the hem of his robes fluttered without a breeze.
Before long, nine light orbs formed at his fingertips.
Eight flew in different directions, vanishing from everyone's sight in an instant, while the one before them settled onto the talisman in front of them.
The talisman ignited the instant it touched the light orb. Though it was only a tiny slip, it burned for a long time. Breezes occasionally passed around it, rustling the leaves.
Even so, the talisman continued to burn fiercely, seemingly unaffected.
Before they knew it, half a quarter-hour had passed, and the talisman finally burned down to its end.
Yet just as it did, the short red cord suddenly released an intensely concentrated burst of spiritual qi that began spreading in every direction.
Almost immediately, they sensed that the demon spirits around them had been reduced by nearly half.
At the same time, the red cord erupted with a brilliant golden-red light. Within a few breaths, it illuminated a vast area around them. Even the miasma could not withstand such spiritual qi and surged away, avoiding the red cord's radiance as much as possible.
Gradually, the red cord's light began to fade, and they felt violent tremors beneath their feet.
"Is this an earthquake!?"
Only Yun Huanling could have blurted out something like that so readily.
To keep their balance, everyone summoned their flying swords and rose into the air.
Only after mounting their flying swords and steadying themselves did they realize that it was not merely the ground shaking, but the entire space.
Now that they hovered in midair, they could feel it far more clearly.
Su Jiu noticed that as this space shook violently, the