"What is that?!" a disciple exclaimed in shock. The remaining clansmen all looked up and stared. The slowly shifting formation suddenly slowed down and stopped. The steward shouted angrily to stabilize the formation, but everyone's attention was firmly held by the ancient umbrella in the sky.
Shangguan Wan'er stared intently at the sky, a chill surging in her heart. This umbrella had no domineering or murderous aura, but it shared the same origin as the second star spot of the Gongpiluo Huang. The twelve umbrella ribs corresponded to the Twelve Beast Huangs and the twelve principles of beginning and end. The umbrella cloth contained the unformed world and the uncertain years. In its silent and suspended state, it locked away all life in the entire airspace.
Just as everyone was filled with doubt and their minds were tense, Gongpiluo Huang in the distance slowly raised his gray-white forepaw, which was about an inch in size. His slender claws were as clear as jade, without any trace of the original storm. He simply pointed at the human race's great formation.
The ancient umbrella trembled gently high in the sky. With a soft rustling sound, the first rib slowly unfolded, followed by the second and third ribs, as the gray-white canopy gradually spread along the seams of the ribs, expanding and enlarging the originally closed canopy infinitely.
Ten zhang, a hundred zhang, a thousand zhang, ten thousand zhang—the ancient umbrella expanded at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, its twelve ribs transforming into an ancient mountain range spanning the sky, its gray-white canopy spreading out to form a vast sky curtain.
The moment the umbrella fully unfolded, countless ancient scenes slowly appeared: unborn stars hung in the sky, newly born mountains and rivers stood silently in chaos, ancient ox-shaped beasts carrying the earth lay dormant among them, and endless rivers of time flowed across the land, all representing the primordial chaos before this world was formed.
"Everyone, hold your positions! Guard your core and do not look up!" Shangguan Wan'er was greatly alarmed. She shouted the order to the entire formation, pressed her palms down on the main formation eye, and poured out the remaining Eternal Silence Core to stabilize the formation base.
But the world had already turned upside down. The ancient umbrella blocked out the light, and the gray-white shadows spread outward from the center of the formation, gradually engulfing the entire battlefield. First, it locked the central formation area, then covered the damaged formation positions in the southeast, and finally encompassed the entire northwest shifting formation line.
The light of day faded, and all things lost their color. Thousands of members of the Shangguan Lineage were shrouded in an endless canopy of shadows. The surrounding air currents stagnated, the laws of nature were sealed, and even the flow of their Fate Soul essence became increasingly sluggish and difficult. Several elders stood frozen in the formation, their faces deathly still, speechless. Thousands of disciples held their breath and focused their minds, clenching their teeth to maintain the Fate Soul array patterns, and no one dared to make the slightest move.
High in the sky, the last rib of the umbrella fully unfolded, and the ancient umbrella, ten thousand feet long, steadily hovered above the human race's great formation. The twelve primordial patterns slowly rotated, and the umbrella's shadow was deep and imposing, locking down all directions.
In the distant void, Gongpiluo Huang retracted its slender claws, its posture as indifferent as ever. Its left eye concealed the Beginningless Abyss, while its right eye suppressed the Endless void. The twin star-like spots of the back rat and the ox shone brightly, reflecting each other. The faint cold arc at the corner of its lips never faded, and its gray-white long tail shifted between reality and illusion, endlessly repeating.
The mountains and fields were deathly silent, and all beasts lay dormant. On the Blue-Gray Mountain Plain, a broken array hung alone in a desperate situation. Thousands of Shangguan clansmen were firmly covered by the ancient umbrella, their path forward cut off and their retreat impossible. The entire world was left with only the oppressive weight of the ancient times and the silent arrival of their Ultimate destiny.
Above the bluish-gray mountain plains, the colossal gray-white umbrella that had covered tens of thousands of miles of sky had been fully unfurled. The twelve ancient umbrella ribs resembled endless mountain ranges stretching between heaven and earth, and the gray-white umbrella surface spread out layer by layer, blocking out all the sunlight that originally illuminated the mountain plains. Deep within the umbrella fabric, the primordial mountains and rivers, ancient star seas, and the shadows of the Twelve Beast Huangs slowly flowed, each pattern exuding an ancient aura that stirred the Fate Soul.
The Shangguan Lineage's dilapidated formation was shrouded in the center of the umbrella shadow. Thousands of surviving disciples guarded their positions. The once magnificent and vast Fate Soul light screen was now reduced to only a few weak defenses. The river of light, which was previously formed by thousands of primordial divine weapons, was still slowly surging in the center of the formation, continuously filling the cracks eroded by the ancient charm of the Beginningless and Endless Ancient Rhyme.
Shangguan Wan'er and Elder White Brow Mei stood side by side in front of the main formation, their robes stained with blood. Behind them, several elders and deacons also looked up at the giant umbrella, their faces growing increasingly solemn.
Just then, a very faint sound suddenly came from deep within the gray-white umbrella surface, a rustling sound... a rustling sound...
The sound descended slowly from the sky, spreading outwards along the twelve ribs of the umbrella. Immediately afterwards, a tiny gray-white water droplet quietly condensed from the center of the umbrella surface.
The water droplet was round and transparent, but its interior lacked any of the luster that ordinary water should have. Only a wisp of extremely faint grayish-white primordial energy slowly rotated. Upon closer inspection, the outlines of unformed mountains and the phantom images of stars could be seen constantly emerging in the depths of that primordial energy, before returning to silence as the water droplet trembled gently.
It slowly fell from the sky without making a sound, and there was no obvious fluctuation in the surrounding space. Finally, it gently landed on the outermost primordial light screen of the Shangguan Lineage's grand formation.
A very soft dripping sound rang out.
The originally resilient Fate Soul light barrier quietly developed a gray-white spot where the water droplet touched. The spot was only the size of a fingernail, and the surrounding array patterns were still bright, but the Fate Soul essence in the center of the spot had begun to lose its original luster. Strands of pure Dao charm dissipated along the edge of the water droplet. The array wall, which was originally maintained by thousands of disciples, was eroded by this small gray-white raindrop, creating a tiny gap.
Shangguan Wan'er's brow furrowed suddenly. "Those raindrops are strange!!" No sooner had she spoken than a dense rustling sound came again from the greyish-white umbrella in the sky.
The second, third, and fourth grayish-white water droplets condensed one after another. Then, more and more water droplets emerged from the depths of the umbrella. In the blink of an eye, the entire sky was filled with dense grayish-white raindrops. Each raindrop was wrapped with extremely faint primordial energy. Tens of thousands of water droplets were suspended under the giant umbrella and then slowly fell in different directions.
Whoosh! A primordial rain that covered the entire Shangguan Lineage's defensive array finally descended.
The raindrops brought no chill, nor did they create any violent impact, but when they fell one after another on the Fate Soul Light Screen, the entire formation began to undergo unprecedented changes.
The primordial light chains that were originally flowing quickly lost their condensed form after being touched by the gray-white raindrops. Array patterns dimmed from the point where the raindrops fell, and hundreds of tiny gaps appeared one after another. The originally thick light screen was eroded and riddled with holes. Some raindrops even seeped into the second layer of defense along the cracks that had been torn open by the Beginningless Ancient Rhyme time, and then continued to fall deeper.
Crack! A section of the array suddenly split open. Immediately afterward, large patches of gray and white marks appeared on another section of the defense.
"Quickly! Inject your essence into the array patterns on the east side!" a deacon shouted sternly, and dozens of disciples behind him immediately activated their Fate Soul essence, attempting to fill the gaps eroded by the raindrops.
But as soon as they sent the primordial light into the array pattern, they were horrified to find that the grayish-white water droplets could continue to penetrate deeper along the direction of the primordial flow. The pure Fate Soul was gradually worn away by the primordial energy within the raindrops as soon as it came into contact with them. The originally bright array pattern quickly became dim, and even the disciples who were maintaining the array pattern felt a fine stinging pain from the depths of their Fate Soul.
"Ah!!" A True Annihilation Realm disciple suddenly clutched his head, his knees slamming heavily onto the rocky ground. His Innate Martial Soul Fate Soul violently, and its once clear outline was slowly covered by a layer of grayish-white watermarks.
His companions hurriedly grabbed his shoulders, trying to pull him away from the formation, but the disciple's Fate Soul essence had already been eroded. His eyes gradually lost their luster, his body convulsed violently, and he finally collapsed in the horrified gazes of everyone.
Further away, several deacons were simultaneously corroded by the raindrops. The moment one of them raised his primordial spear, several cracks appeared on the shaft due to the corrosion of the grayish-white water droplets, and the True Annihilation Dao Aura contained within it quickly dissipated;
Another deacon attempted to activate his protective ancient seal, but gray and white spots appeared on its surface one after another. His originally intact Fate Soul defense collapsed instantly. Raindrops fell on his shoulder along the shattered light barrier. His robes were undamaged, but a tearing pain suddenly came from the depths of his Fate Soul. The deacon's face turned pale, and he staggered backward, blood gushing from his mouth.
"Don't let the raindrops touch the essence of your Fate Soul!" Shangguan Wan'er shouted sharply, thrusting her palms forward. A deep purple Fate Soul halo unfolded behind her, and thousands of purple Dao patterns rapidly intertwined along the top of the great formation, attempting to block the continuously falling Primordial Rain.
However, the primordial light barrier she had just condensed was continuously eroded by the gray-white raindrops, the purple Dao patterns dimmed one by one, and even the edges of the originally complete light wheel showed fine gray-white marks. Her expression suddenly changed, and she hurriedly withdrew part of her primordial energy. A sharp pain came from her chest, and the injuries left by forcibly activating the clan's divine power earlier were aggravated again, and a trickle of blood involuntarily spilled from her lips.
Seeing this, Elder White Brow suddenly stepped forward, his ancient bronze staff slamming heavily into the ground. The remaining dark gold ancient seal on the staff head suddenly bloomed, and the powerful and Eternal Silence source surged towards the sky along the array patterns.
"Wan'er, we can't let it continue to erode us like this!" He looked up at the giant gray-white umbrella, his aged eyes filled with obvious anxiety. "This Primordial Rain will continue to penetrate deeper into the very essence of our Fate Souls. The more the formation tries to replenish its essence, the faster the raindrops will erode us. If we don't break that giant umbrella, the entire formation will be torn apart bit by bit sooner or later!"
Shangguan Wan'er pursed her lips tightly, her gaze quickly sweeping across her surroundings. She saw that the several layers of defensive light barriers that had previously been able to hold were now covered with dense, grayish-white marks.
Some of the array patterns broke completely after being eroded by the raindrops, and the primordial light river formed by thousands of divine weapons was also constantly being consumed, and the radiance of the array's core had dimmed considerably. The surrounding disciples were filled with terror, and several deacons had begun to move their fellow disciples whose Fate Souls were injured to the center. The entire array swayed precariously under the gray-white rain curtain.
She took a slow breath, a resolute glint in her eyes. "Senior brother, let's quickly join forces and unleash our divine power!"
Elder White Brow suddenly turned his head. Shangguan Wan'er raised her right hand, and the deep purple Fate Soul halo re-condensed behind her. Although there were still slight cracks on the edge of the halo, the eternal Stillness Dao charm contained within it was still powerful.
Her gaze was fixed on the giant gray-white umbrella high in the sky, and she said in a deep voice, "The formation won't hold for much longer. Since this Primordial Rain originated from the umbrella, let's tear a gap in its surface first. As long as we can break through the envelopment above, we'll have a chance to lead our people out!"
Elder White Brow was silent for a moment, then nodded emphatically. "Alright! Wan'er Sister Wan'er, let's shatter this broken umbrella together!" The two of them simultaneously took to the air.