If Elder White Brow hadn't used his own Dao weapon to forcefully block the crimson-black lock pattern in time, Shangguan Lingxiao would have perished in that ruin back then.
Thinking of this, Elder White Brow's breathing suddenly quickened, and he abruptly raised his head, his voice trembling noticeably. "Wan'er! Quickly activate the Purple Firmament Primordial Life-Protecting Ring to its Ultimate! Have all the elders guard the disciples' Fate Soul foundation; we absolutely cannot allow that vertical-pupil ancient aura to invade the formation!"
Shangguan Wan'er's expression changed drastically. She immediately clasped her hands together, and the nine layers of purple and white light wheels spun rapidly along the dark gold bell screen. Several surviving elders also activated the Primordial Dao Supreme Treasures at the Elder White Brow Bai Mei.
The Azure Mirror, the Dark Gold Ancient Seal, and the Pale Azure Ancient Diagram simultaneously emitted dazzling light, and layers of primordial patterns rapidly intertwined above the heads of thousands of surviving disciples, firmly protecting their already damaged Fate Soul essence.
At the same time, high in the sky, the gray-gold vertical pupil in the center of the chest of the Eternal Prison Skeleton Ancient Scion finally opened completely, and a very deep ancient sound suddenly spread throughout the world.
Deep within the gray-gold vertical pupils, there were no ordinary pupils, only a crimson-black ancient prison that stretched inwards. Within the ancient prison lay hundreds of millions of enormous skeletons, each skeleton with a tiny bone imprint nailed to its brow, the surface of which was engraved with the incomplete true name of its Fate Soul.
The true names intertwined and extended along the depths of the ancient prison, eventually converging into an ancient skeletal figure seated cross-legged in the center of the boundless sea of bones. The skeletal figure had no complete face; twelve dark red crescent moons floated above its head, countless gray-gold chains were wrapped around its chest and abdomen, and each of its hands held a crimson-black ancient seal formed from shattered Fate Souls.
The Eternal Prison Skeleton Ancient Scion slowly opened his arms, and six crimson bone wings suddenly spread outwards. The Ancient Prison Undying Body had already collapsed by more than half, completely disintegrated at this moment. The twelve layers of crimson and Black Bone armor turned into thick blood mist one after another, and rushed wildly into the gray-gold vertical pupils on his chest.
The ancient skeletal figure, seated cross-legged in the center of the sea of corpses, slowly raised its head, and twelve crimson waning moons lit up simultaneously, dyeing the entire sky of the Blue-Gray Mountain Plain a deep, dark red.
"Myriad Souls Burying Cause!" Rumble--!
With a roar that shook the heavens and the earth, the ancient blood prison deep within the gray-gold vertical pupil suddenly unfolded outwards. Hundreds of millions of skeletons opened their huge mouths at the same time, the bone imprint between their eyebrows shattered one after another, and countless fragmented true names transformed into a long river of crimson and black, rushing wildly along the void.
Twelve crimson waning moons slowly rotated in the depths of the sky. Beneath each waning moon emerged a vast ancient burial ground, within which lay countless powerful beings who had perished. Their remnants of Fate Souls were forcibly awakened by the crimson-black ancient aura, rising continuously along the depths of the burial ground, eventually condensing into twelve enormous torrents of skeletal souls.
Instead of crashing directly onto Gongpiluo Huang's physical body, the torrents spread rapidly along the twelve beast-like auras surrounding it, attempting to bypass the gray-white primordial shadows and directly invade the foundation of Gongpiluo Huang's Fate Soul.
The crimson and black true names kept appearing in the void, each true name transforming into a sharp bone imprint. The bone imprints echoed each other, forming an ancient net of burial causes that spanned hundreds of thousands of miles. Any Dao pattern touched by that net of burial causes would be forcibly traced back to the causal relationship of the Fate Soul it once carried, and then continuously collapse along the depths of that causal relationship.
Crack! Crack! Crack--! The twelve gray-white beast-like images that were originally slowly flowing around Gongpiluo Huang began to tremble slightly under the impact of the crimson-black net of burial causes. Dozens of primordial patterns that had not yet truly manifested were forcibly torn apart, and large crimson-black cracks appeared on the edges of the originally complete gray-white ring.
Upon seeing this, the Eternal Prison Skeleton Ancient Scion suddenly threw his head back and laughed wildly. A massive, crimson-black pillar of light shot out from his gray-gold vertical pupil on his chest once again. Inside the pillar, hundreds of millions of fragmented true names rotated simultaneously, eventually transforming into a gray-gold bone cone that spanned the heavens and the earth. The tip of the bone cone had no sharpness, only an ancient skeletal pupil that kept opening and closing, with countless Cause Splitting flowing deep within the pupil.
As the bone cone slowly advanced, a large area of primordial patterns around the Gongpiluo Huang was forcibly pulled outward along the red and black net of burial causes.
"Haha! I'll see if your Beginningless, Endless can withstand the Myriad Souls Burying Cause!" The Eternal Prison Skeleton Ancient Scion suddenly swung down his right arm.
Boom!! The gray-gold bone cone suddenly pierced into the center of the Primordial Chaos Ring, and twelve dark red crescent moons fell simultaneously. The terrifying crimson-black burial power surged wildly along the bone cone, and the originally flowing gray-white Primordial Chaos was forcibly torn open with a huge rift. The twelve Beastly Radiance Aspects trembled one after another, and even the palm-sized gray-white body of Gongpiluo Huang began to show fine crimson-black patterns.
Below, Elder White Brow's eyes widened suddenly, his chest heaving violently. "It's this move!" His aged voice was filled with undisguised fear, "Back then, Clan Chief Lingxiao was severely injured by this Burial Force, and even his own Fate Soul's true name was almost forcibly torn apart by it!"
Shangguan Wan'er looked up and saw that the crimson-black net of burial cause had covered a large part of the sky. Twelve dark red crescent moons slowly rotated around the Gongpiluo Huang. Hundreds of millions of incomplete true names kept appearing in the void. The terrifying ancient prison origin caused the causal patterns of the entire world to tremble continuously.
Her heart tightened suddenly, and she immediately activated the Purple Firmament Primordial Life-Protecting Ring, drawing the nine layers of purple and white light wheels inward again, fearing that the ancient aura of burial would invade the Fate Soul foundation of the disciples in the formation along the aftershocks of the high sky.
However, as Gongpiluo Huang watched the approaching gray-gold bone cone, his previously calm gaze slowly changed. The Beginningless Abyss in his left eye gently contracted, and the Endless Ancient Rhyme in his right eye gradually subsided.
The twelve beastly auras ceased expanding outwards and instead slowly converged towards its palm-sized body. The gray-white primordial chaos that had permeated the surroundings gradually dissipated at this moment, leaving only a wisp of extremely fine gray-white pattern floating quietly in front of its brow.
Gongpiluo Huang slowly raised his head, his gaze piercing through layers of crimson and black burial nets, landing on the fully opened gray-gold vertical pupil in the center of the Eternal Prison Skeleton Ancient Scion's chest, a very faint smile appearing on his lips.
"The Myriad Souls Burying Cause..." it uttered these four words softly, its voice calm and distant, "Eternal Prison Skeleton Ancient Scion, your supernatural power is quite interesting, but unfortunately, you still need to first generate a thought before you can bring ten thousand souls to their final resting place!"
As the words fell, Gongpiluo Huang slowly raised a small forepaw and gently touched the grayish-white mark between his brows. "Myriad Thoughts Not Yet Stirred!"
Buzz! The grayish-white pattern vanished abruptly.
In that instant, the entire Blue-Gray Mountain Plain underwent an extremely strange change. The twelve torrents of skeletal souls that had been surging wildly still swept across the sky, and the crimson-black net of burial cause still covered a large area of the world around Gongpiluo Huang. The gray-gold bone cone had even pierced into the center of the Primordial Chaos Shadow, but suddenly a very subtle gap appeared in the ancient prison will that was driving the divine power deep in the chest of the Eternal Prison Skeleton Ancient Scion.
The void had no form, no sound. Even the Eternal Prison Skeleton Ancient Scion was unaware of it at the very beginning. It only suddenly realized that the thought of continuing to activate the Gray Gold Bone Cone could not truly arise for a long time.
Clearly, the vast ancient prison origin was still contained within its gray-gold vertical pupils on its chest; clearly, the twelve dark red crescent moons still hovered in the high sky; clearly, the Myriad Souls Burying Cause had been unleashed to its Ultimate. Yet, when it attempted to mobilize those origins once more, an extremely brief blank appeared deep within its Fate Soul.
The Eternal Prison Skeleton Ancient Scion's dark golden pupils suddenly contracted. "Hmm?!"
It immediately activated its ancient prison will, attempting to forcefully fill the void. However, just as a new thought was about to arise, a faint gray-white ancient charm suddenly appeared at the place where the thought first sprouted, gently severing the thought that had not yet taken shape.
Swoosh! The ancient skeletal eye at the tip of the gray-gold bone cone trembled suddenly. The crimson-black burial power that had been advancing continuously suddenly froze in mid-air.
Gongpiluo Huang gazed at it quietly, the Beginningless Abyss deep within its left eye slowly expanding, the unborn lines of time gently undulating between its gray-white fur, the rat-shaped star-like spots on its back suddenly lighting up, and the twelve beastly manifestations that had been dormant at this moment also reappeared.
However, this time they did not release any immense power outwards, but simply slowly rotated around the Gongpiluo Huang, sending wisps of extremely subtle gray-white ancient charm into the world.
Those ancient charms continued to penetrate deeper along the supernatural powers already displayed by the Eternal Prison Skeleton Ancient Scion, eventually bypassing the Crimson-Black Burial Net and the twelve dark red waning moons, directly touching the ancient prison intent that was constantly sprouting deep within its Fate Soul.
"The Subtlety of Myriad Thoughts..." Gongpiluo Huang spoke softly, "Before a thought arises, how can all phenomena arise?" Buzz--! The gray-gold vertical pupil in the center of the chest of the Eternal Prison Skeleton Ancient Scion suddenly trembled violently.