They crisscross and coil within the curtain, like beams and pillars, supporting this sealed-off area.
Above their heads was a massive magic seal forming a dome, and below lay an endless abyss of electric arcs, where all energy flowed and eventually disappeared into the darkness.
Amidst the crisscrossing purple lightning, one figure stood out as exceptionally imposing.
He sat quietly in the center of the sea of lightning, his body completely suspended above the abyss of electric arcs. The seal above his head constantly emitted a binding power, forcing him to be extra careful in dealing with it.
As the purple lightning flashed, Xu Long glimpsed that the thick purple lightning bolts, like iron chains, actually pierced through that majestic body.
The countless arcs of electricity generated raged inside the figure's body, and the crackling sounds all came from within its body.
The purple lightning constantly ravaged the figure's body, preventing him from recovering his energy even for a moment.
As the arc of electricity beneath him began to twist, the towering figure gradually turned to face Xu Long.
A colossal figure gradually appeared in Xu Long's eyes.
He had a long head and long eyes, tortoise-like teeth and dragon-like lips, white hair on his eyebrows, and hair that hung down to the ground. With a snake's body and a human head, Xu Long could tell at a glance that this appearance was undoubtedly a symbol of a totem.
When he looked again with focused attention, beneath this enormous figure, there was a human body that looked like an ordinary cultivator.
He had a full forehead, a broad and fair Heavenly Court, and an ancient and dignified appearance. His long hair was casually tied up at the back of his head and loosely bound with a straw.
He wore a plain-colored Daoist robe, over which he wore a thin blue gauze garment. The two garments were connected at the chest by a gold clasp, making them indistinguishable.
Although he was sitting cross-legged, Xu Long, who had seen countless people, knew that his frame must be much larger than others.
He remained motionless while hovering above the Arc Abyss, as if meditating normally. However, the aura emanating from his body was exceptionally long and mysterious, far more so than the darkness of the abyss beneath him.
When the electric arc condenses, it can only wreak havoc on the totem. The image of the person sitting cross-legged below is independent of heaven and earth, as if his noble body is not attached to the mortal world, making him appear exceptionally otherworldly.
Xu Long knew that this was the true form of the Ancestral Spirit, just like the true form of a cultivator.
When he saw the Ancestral Spirit turn its face, his gaze involuntarily wanted to meet itss. When their eyes met for a moment in the sea of lightning, the energy at the sealed point became slightly disordered.
A slightly smiling face was reflected in Xu Long's eyes.
His heart skipped a beat, and then he slightly raised his head. The two looked at each other through the curtain of lightning, and the Ancestral Spirit within the seal seemed to have been waiting there for a long time.
Only then did Xu Long truly see the Ancestral Spirit in person. In the Ancestral Spirit's eyes flowed star patterns and the path to immortality. Countless stars rose in the depths of his eyes and then disappeared in his pupils.
Countless laws and rules manifested within, then vanished. The face bore the majesty of a superior and the gravitas of an elder, and the eyes held boundless composure and profound wisdom.
When Xu Long looked into his eyes, he felt as if he were caught in a vortex, drawn into that profound scene.
At this moment, he felt that he was no longer facing a cultivator, but the myriad realms of the heavens, the endless wilderness, the unity of all laws, the emergence of wisdom, the order of civilization, and the inheritance of the flame...
The Ancestral Spirit's gaze was no longer a simple golden light, but an entire vast and boundless world!
Xu Long then learned what Ancestral Spirit and Saint were. When he, with profound wisdom and fearless courage, opened up an era for cultivators in the myriad worlds, he was undoubtedly the supreme "king"!
Ancestral Spirit, Feng Fuxi!
Before Xu Long and Ancestral Spirit's eyes could meet for long, the golden light in his left eye flashed and disappeared.
Xu Long subconsciously looked up at the enormous Heaven Patroler Dharma Seal. He saw that the binding power flowing on it was incredibly powerful, as if it were pulling the entire Land of Exile along with it. It was the only place in the Center that was sealed off, imprisoning the exiled for countless years.
Xu Long stared at the enormous magic seal, his gaze suddenly sharpening, and the energy that had been accumulating within him surged forth, rapidly circulating through his meridians.
The purple lightning beneath the seal seemed to sense Xu Long's intention, and in an instant, it leaped up and lashed out at Xu Long.
The long bolt of lightning, like a chain, lashed through the air, its flashes appearing and disappearing, and arrived in the blink of an eye.
The long bolt of lightning seemed to have swept in from beyond the sky, carrying an extremely violent energy, appearing particularly ferocious under the purple lightning.
As the two purple lightning bolts shot out from under the magic seal, Xu Long felt a strong sense of alarm.
But his body seemed to be bound by something, standing motionless outside the lightning curtain, only able to watch the two bolts of lightning streak towards him.
The lightning in front of him filled his pupils; if he didn't dodge soon, it seemed he would be pierced through by the lightning in the next instant.
But Xu Long remained motionless, staring intently at the scene behind the purple lightning.
His pupils contracted sharply, and a look of shock appeared on his face.
Purple lightning flashed across Xu Long's face, obscuring his face, which was now illuminated by light, into shadow.
Xu Long's figure trembled slightly in the sea of lightning, as if an extremely tiny shadow had been flashed out.
Behind the purple lightning, however, a strange change occurred: the spatial barrier at a certain location in the Center began to blur.
Then came a tremendous distortion, as if a pair of giant hands were violently kneading this isolated space, showing no regard for the safety of those within.
Xu Long looked at the blurry spatial barrier, which had been distorted to its extreme, and a hint of urgency appeared in his eyes. He wanted to turn around and leave, but his whole body was already trapped by a binding force.
As the distorted spatial barrier was suddenly torn open, a small crack appeared, and wisps of gray gas seeped into the Center.
The deep, dark scene was reflected in Xu Long's eyes, and the opening was constantly expanding due to the gray gas.
Like an ugly scalpel, it peeled away layer by layer from the Center, causing the tiny incision to swell to tens of feet in an instant.
The entire desolate scene was revealed to Xu Long, and a desolate atmosphere emanated from outside the spatial barrier.
Xu Long's expression of shock intensified. He was extremely familiar with the scene beyond the crack in the spatial barrier—it was a Space-Time travel passage!
A moment later, the deep scene was filled with a thick gray gas, from which a strong stench emanated, spreading rapidly in the Center despite the lightning in the sea of thunder.
Xu Long felt nauseous at the smell, but he also felt that the gray aura was somewhat familiar, as if he had sensed it somewhere before. He had some understanding of its energy, and Xu Long's gaze immediately sharpened.
After entering the Center, the gray gas rose and fell in the air, appearing quite scattered, but in just a moment, it transformed into a massive gray hurricane.
A gray hurricane suddenly rose up in the sea of lightning. Although it was enormous, it was exceptionally agile in its transformation. What was just a wisp of gas had now condensed into a single entity.
As the scattered gray mist took shape, the approaching purple lightning remained completely unaware of anything unusual behind it.
The violent energy within the lightning was about to erupt in front of Xu Long, and a tremendous sense of crisis rose in Xu Long's heart.
He watched as the gray hurricane grew larger and larger in the sea of lightning, eventually forming a circle in the air as it approached him, its crushing force instilling a strong sense of oppression in him.
Although the purple lightning was blocking his way, for some reason, Xu Long felt a chill run down his spine when he looked at the circular gray hurricane in the sky, and a cold sweat suddenly rose up from his back.
This is the aura of death, a deathly aura forged from endless resentment and malevolent energy!
Boom!
Two bolts of purple lightning exploded in front of Xu Long in an instant.
The loud noise lasted only a moment, then it was as if it had been sealed off by a closed container, and not even the faintest sound could be heard again.
The violent energy did not erupt in front of Xu Long, but was instead captured by a suction force as the lightning exploded.
Purple lightning illuminated Xu Long's face. Unlike the previous intermittent appearance, the purple lightning now resembled two large lanterns, illuminating the entire sea of lightning.
Xu Long's expression changed drastically, showing shock and panic. He had never been so flustered since entering the Land of Exile.
The lightning bolt had vanished before him, and in the instant it disappeared, he retreated rapidly.
As if trying to escape this area, the gray hurricane in the field had become a creature even more terrifying than Thunder God.
Hehehehehe...
A voice that sounded like both crying and laughing echoed through the sea of thunder.
The circular gray hurricane in the air paid no attention to Xu Long's movements. It seemed not to see Xu Long fleeing, but simply rotated slowly in the air and swept towards the direction Xu Long had fled in an instant.
As it completely rotated its circular form, the purple lightning in front of Xu Long shone brightly, and reflected in Xu Long's fiercely struggling eyes...
A giant gray skull!
Hehehehehe...
The voice, which sounded like both crying and laughing, continued to emanate, and the skull formed from the gray hurricane gave Xu Long a human-like smile.
Within his empty eye sockets, two streaks of purple lightning were now burning. The two purple lightning bolts that had attacked Xu Long earlier had been suddenly absorbed by the gray hurricane and had now become the "eyeballs" of the skull.
"Quack quack quack..."
A cacophony of noise emanated from within the skull, sounding like the cawing of countless owls, disturbing and unsettling the mind.
Xu Long had only seen his back before; now that he had turned around completely, he could see his full face.
This is a skull made up of countless gray crows, surrounded by a thick aura of death, filling the gaps in the skull perfectly.
When the skull is about to grin, the gray crows change formation; when they are about to move, countless gray crows flap their wings in unison.
No wonder he seemed so agile just now; with these numerous gray crows, he was truly more invisible than tangible in the world.
But when this skull came into Xu Long, it stirred up a huge wave in his heart.
Putting aside the sheer number of gray crows, just the dense aura of death made Xu Long realize the source of his inexplicable sense of familiarity.
This strong aura can be found on the old fox in Mount Yunmeng and on the mysterious tree stump in Mount Emei; it is the deathly aura carried by Gray Crow.
Xu Long had some suspicions when he encountered this deathly aura before, but when he saw it with his own eyes this time, he was still incredibly shocked.
From the dense aura of death to that unique sound of crying and laughing, after experiencing it multiple times, it seems that only one cultivator possesses these characteristics.
He already knew who the visitor was.
The Heavenly Palace Grand Master – Shankui!
"Alas! I traversed beyond the heavens in one breath, but I still arrived a step too late!"
"Tsk tsk tsk... It's actually you, little brat, who's received the talisman... If those old fogies knew, I wonder what kind of interesting expressions they'd have! Hehehehehe..."
"You old codger! You old codger! Caw caw caw caw..."
The gray skull looked at Xu Long's figure, shook its head in an anthropomorphic manner in the air, and opened its hideous mouth as if it were lamenting to itself.
He then glanced at the Heaven Beyond Heaven, muttered something to himself, and then the jarring sound of crying and laughing rang out.
After he finished speaking, the gray crows outside his head seemed to be babbling along with him, making random "cawing" noises.
The enormous skull seemed to thoroughly enjoy the cawing of the gray crows, shaking its massive head in the air.
A dense aura of death was released, filling the sea of lightning with a putrid, stench.
This scene seemed rather comical at first glance, but Xu Long felt no amusement whatsoever.
Has the news of his receiving the Immortal Register spread so quickly? The Shankui said he came from beyond the heavens; what level of cultivation does he possess?
Why did he want to find a cultivator who had received Immortal Register? Had he already been drawn into the vortex of conflict?
Seeing him break through the barrier at the Center with such ease, Xu Long was greatly shocked. He had only ever seen such White Eyebrows from Xu Long, who was possessed by the Haotian Mirror.
When Shankui used such methods, he did so with ease. He said that he had come from beyond the heavens, meaning that he had broken through many barriers.
One can imagine that Shankui was extremely eager when he felt he had been granted the Immortal Register, so much so that he didn't have time to break through some of the barriers, and even directly crossed over them.
Xu Long didn't stay in the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram for very long, but in just a few dozen breaths, Shankui had already traversed countless worlds and arrived right in front of him.
This is an ability that ordinary cultivators do not possess; it is already considered a heaven-defying skill!
Although he didn't know why the other party would go to such lengths to find a cultivator who had received the Immortal Register, Xu Long had never liked the Heavenly Palace. He and Wang Yan had even fought several times, and the grudges between them were hard to explain in words.