After the 10,000-meter- Lock Domain was completely closed, the expressions of the first few Chi Lineage disciples who tried to break through changed drastically one after another. One of them tore his hands apart with all his might, and the True Annihilation Origin poured wildly into the void through his ten fingers; the immense power that would normally be enough to Realm Splitting fell, but the void in front of him did not even show a crack.
The other person immediately activated his own causal Dao trace, intending to trace back to the Chi Lineage land by following the life trace left when he entered the Azure Wood Divine Forest. However, the causal line that had just stretched out only a few feet before silently collapsing in this dim void.
Immediately afterwards, several disciples simultaneously took out their patrol jade tablets, their palms glowing with Fate Soul light as they forcefully poured out messages of distress. Ancient Dao patterns unique to the Chi Lineage appeared on the surface of the jade tablets, but the light had only just begun to emerge from their surface when...
The surrounding silence suddenly collapsed, all information froze in mid-air, and then dissipated inch by inch. The leading disciple saw this scene, his facial muscles tightened slightly, and he realized that all the paths between them and the outside world had been sealed off by that "Silent Abyss Last Speaker".
"Stop wasting your Fate Soul essence!"
He turned abruptly, his gaze sweeping quickly over the surviving members of the Chi Lineage. His voice was heavy yet resolute. "We cannot escape this spatial barrier, our causal connections are broken, and even Yu Jian cannot send a message. Everyone, gather together and form the Chi Lineage's 'Ten Thousand Lives Return to the Wall - Ancient Fortress of Immortality Formation'!"
Upon hearing the name of this formation, everyone acted without the slightest hesitation, clang!
More than ten divine weapons simultaneously pierced the earth. The disciples of the Chi Lineage quickly changed positions, their figures, originally scattered within a few hundred meters, rushed back from all directions. However, they did not gather into a dense cluster that could be easily annihilated in one strike. Instead, they positioned the leading disciple as the central figurehead of the formation.
Three interlocking ring formations were set up on the outer perimeter. The outermost disciples knelt on one knee, pressing their five fingers together into the forest soil; several people in the middle layer formed hand seals, channeling their Fate Soul essence along the earth's veins to connect and link it to both sides.
The innermost layer is specifically responsible for stabilizing the life-linking ties that connect everyone. Chi Qingyue landed in the eastern part of the inner ring. The moment her palm pressed down, a wisp of pale golden life-link spread rapidly along the ground, interlocking with the life-links of the others.
Buzz--!!!
Within the sealed-off area of Azure Wood Divine Forest, the first violent tremor finally erupted. Ancient Dao patterns burst forth from the ground beneath everyone's feet. These patterns did not spread outwards; instead, they intertwined and climbed upwards.
The first layer of semi-transparent barrier was constructed; the second layer of ancient Fate Soul patterns pressed up from the inside; and the third layer was formed by the combined power of everyone's essence. After the three layers of barriers were completed, a thick and desolate ancient city wall phantom slowly emerged at the outer edge of the array.
The city walls had no gates or windows; they were completely sealed off on all sides.
One after another, towering pale golden pillars rose from the edge of the formation. The pillars were engraved with the Fate Soul traces left by the powerful members of the Chi Lineage throughout the ages. Each trace was connected to the Fate Soul of a disciple within the formation.
The Fate Soul essence of more than ten people merged and became a complete whole. Whenever an attack hit any person in the formation, the power would first be received by the outer ancient barrier, and then dispersed and flowed throughout the entire formation, shared by everyone.
The true power of the "Return of Ten Thousand Lives to the Wall - Ancient Fortress of Immortality" lies in the word "return." All lives return to the wall, and all paths are guarded together.
As long as one person in the formation can maintain a conscious Fate Soul, the ancient fortress will still have a foundation to support its continued existence. "Formation activated!" The leading disciple suddenly clasped his hands together.
Boom!!!
The final pale gold barrier crashed shut, enveloping more than ten Chi Lineage disciples within the formation. The surging red mist outside collided with the ancient fortress wall and immediately split off to both sides along the wall.
The colossal "Silent Abyss Last Speaker" in the distance remained motionless, its two giant wings suspended in the darkness, their purple and blue starlight slowly burning, and the crisscrossing star trails inside its chest shifting between light and shadow. Its dark face, devoid of clear features, silently faced the people in the formation.
The silence surrounding Him began to change. The previous silence was merely the annihilation of sound. But now, this stillness slowly condensed into a tangible form that could be seen with the naked eye.
A layer of grayish-white color slowly spread from the feet of the Silent Abyss Last Speaker. At first, it was just a thin line like gauze, but in an instant it became thicker and thicker, eventually turning into a White Frost mist that stretched along the ground.
"The Dharma-Ending Desolate Current". Without any earth-shattering momentum, the Silent Abyss Last Speaker did not even lift a limb, yet the gray-white desolate flow slowly pushed outward and swirled.
Whoosh--
The first layer of the desolate stream flowed past a towering ancient tree nearby. The tree had not broken, nor had its crown collapsed. However, the natural Dao patterns on the trunk, symbolizing endless life, were the first to dim, one after another losing their luster.
The legal bonds that kept the branches and leaves outstretched, the roots spreading, and the life continuing to exist gradually loosened, and the thousands of branches and leaves in the canopy stagnated in mid-air, with fine dust of light seeping out from the edges. The veins of the leaves dissolved and disintegrated, and the life patterns inside the branches and trunks crumbled step by step. The entire ancient tree, starting from its most complex life structure, slowly disintegrated from top to bottom.
The desolate current continued its advance, and wherever it passed, the outer defenses set up by the Chi Lineage underwent continuous changes, humming...
The once gleaming protective patterns faded rapidly. One, ten, a hundred. Those ancient runes, which had endured countless ages, did not suffer any external impact, but began to turn grayish-white from their outer edges. The tightly interlocking legal connections between the runes gradually disintegrated, and large areas of the restrictions gradually faded into darkness.
Finally—the gray-white wasteland collided with the "Return of Ten Thousand Lives - Ancient Fortress of Immortality Formation".
There was no deafening roar, not even a violent tremor. Yet, the leading disciple's expression suddenly darkened in the very first breath. The outermost pale golden array pattern of the ancient fortress faded. Then came the second, the third, and more and more array patterns that lost their original dazzling luster.
"Stabilize the formation!" the leading disciple shouted sternly.
Everyone activated their Fate Soul essence, and more than ten streams of power poured into the outer perimeter of the great formation. The pale gold city wall had just regained its faint light when the gray-white wasteland had already penetrated the surface patterns of the first layer of the barrier, beginning to peel away the fundamental principles that maintained the existence of the entire formation.
Click...
A faint, unusual sound reached everyone's senses. Everyone looked up and saw a thin crack quietly appearing above the ancient fortress.
Then—clack clack clack!
The cracks spread and multiplied rapidly, and large areas of the outer ancient fortress turned white and lost their color. On the surface of the pillars forged by the Fate Soul traces inherited from the Chi Lineage, the ancient marks slowly faded away, and even the Fate Soul patterns that connected the disciples within the formation showed signs of discontinuity.
The outermost disciple of the Chi Lineage trembled violently. He looked down at his right hand, and the original radiance protecting his palm peeled away layer by layer; the first layer of Fate Soul protection dissipated, and the second layer followed suit, dimming. Fine white dust seeped out from under the skin of the back of his hand.
"My Fate Soul is being dismantled!" His voice, for the first time, was filled with deep fear. "The formation must not be broken!" The leading disciple turned sharply and shouted, "No one is allowed to withdraw their own source!"
Everyone gritted their teeth. Boom!!! More than ten streams of Fate Soul essence surged into the great formation once again. Chi Qingyue formed hand seals with both hands, and the power in her body surged outward along the array patterns under her feet. She could clearly sense that the "Dharma-Ending Desolate Current" was peeling away the array layer by layer. First, it peeled away the array patterns, then it broke the array principles, and then it would touch every living person who made up the great formation.
This is the most suffocating and terrifying aspect. The opponent did not deliver a heavy blow, nor did they violently tear apart the ancient fortress. The entire "Ten Thousand Lives Return to the Wall - Eternal Life Ancient Fortress Formation" was losing its original foundation that allowed it to "exist as a formation".
In the second breath, most of the outer ancient fortress had turned gray and white. In the third breath, the Chi Lineage's life pattern on the first pillar was completely Annihilation. The two disciples in the formation groaned at the same time, blood trickling from the corners of their lips.
Before the fourth breath had fully arrived, more and more fine dust particles drifted out from the shoulders, arms, and hair of the group. One young disciple clenched his teeth tightly, his arms trembling uncontrollably; another had veins bulging on his forehead, his face pale and bloodless, yet he still fiercely pressed all his Fate Soul essence into the array patterns beneath his feet.
No one dared to let go. Everyone knew that if even one person withdrew their power first, the complete bond of the Return of All Lives would be torn open, and the gray-white wasteland would rush in through the gap. At that time, what awaited them would not be the collapse of the formation, but the gradual dissolution of their own existence.
In the distance, the "Silent Abyss Last Speaker" still stood silently in place, without taking a single step forward. Two black wings that blotted out the sky covered the entire ten-thousand-meter domain, purple and blue star flames burned Ji Ran, and gray-white "Dharma-Ending Desolate Current" pushed outward wave after wave from its body.
The vibrant colors of the Dao patterns faded across a large area of Azure Wood Divine Forest, and the complex life texture was dismantled layer by layer. The entire 10,000-meter-long sealed space became increasingly dark and gloomy.
Inside the formation, the leading disciple still managed to maintain a semblance of composure, but his hands, hanging by his sides, were trembling slightly. He could clearly sense the Life Soul Realm: some had already developed fine cracks in their very essence, while others were rapidly losing the power to maintain their positions within the formation.
He already knew how long the ancient fortress could hold out, but he absolutely could not say it aloud. If even he showed despair, the entire formation would immediately collapse.
He abruptly raised his head, his eyes fixed on the fading array wall ahead, veins bulging on his forehead, and pressed his palms down heavily on the center of the array again, shouting, "Hold on!!!" Boom!!!
More than ten disciples of the Chi Lineage poured all their Fate Soul essence into the formation, causing the remaining pale golden light to surge once more. At the same moment, the gray-white desolate tide also pressed down fiercely. On one side was the golden ancient fortress whose foundation of law was constantly being eroded, and on the other side was the gray-white desolate tide that silently dissolved all things.
There was no earth-shattering collision between the two; only a boundary line that grew thinner and dimmer. Everyone in the formation could only watch helplessly as that boundary line approached them inch by inch.