High above, the duel between Sect Master Xuan Xuan Zhenren and the ghost-masked elder tugged at everyone's heartstrings. Each shockwave from their collisions struck like a hammer against the chests of every Qingxu Temple disciple below. The sight of the Sect Master clearly losing ground and struggling to hold on cast a heavy pall over the morale that had briefly lifted when Third Senior Sister and the Eldest Senior Brother arrived with reinforcements.
Yet, even more imminent than the Sect Master's personal victory or defeat was the survival of the sect-protecting grand formation that shrouded the entire sect – the **Qingxu Profound Light Shield**!
Leaning on the Crimson Flame Sword, Tang Xiaoqi endured the tide of excruciating pain and weakness that surged from every part of his body, threatening to drown his consciousness. Yet his gaze did not remain fixed solely on the high-altitude duel. An intuition, born from the **Purification Source** and exceptionally sensitive to energy flow, made him feel an extremely ominous tremor rising from the earth beneath his feet and from the flickering, unstable light shield above – like the final gasps of a dying patient.
The energy of the sect-protecting grand formation was failing at an unprecedented rate! The web-like cracks spreading across the shield's surface were growing and deepening at a visible pace!
"No… the grand formation can't hold much longer!" Xiao Qi whispered hoarsely, a tremble in his voice that he himself did not notice. He jerked his head up, his gaze shooting like an arrow toward the back mountain of Qingxu Temple.
There, in a hidden valley at the junction of the main peak and an auxiliary peak – the **Spirit Pivot Valley** – lay one of the three core array eyes of the Qingxu Profound Light Shield: the **Earth Vein Spirit Pivot**! It was the most important foundation through which the grand formation drew earth vein power to maintain its operation.
At this moment, a wave of chaotic, violent, destruction-filled energy fluctuations was emanating unceasingly from that direction! It even drowned out the clamor of the main battlefield at the mountain gate!
"Spirit Pivot Valley… the array eye in Spirit Pivot Valley!" Eldest Senior Brother Mu Qingfeng had clearly also sensed the anomaly. He had just finished directing the fresh troops to stabilize a defensive line. His face changed dramatically, his voice filled with alarm. "Uncle Xuan Shi is personally guarding it, and thirty-six inner sect elite disciples are protecting it with the '**Earth Support Formation**.' How could it be…?"
Before he could finish, as if to confirm his fears –
*Hum… CRACK!!!*
A muffled, deep groan, as if from the very bowels of the earth, mixed with the sound of glazed jade shattering under unbearable strain, suddenly came from the direction of Spirit Pivot Valley!
Immediately after, everyone clearly saw the Qingxu Profound Light Shield flicker violently. Its light dimmed by at least thirty percent in an instant! The section of the shield corresponding to Spirit Pivot Valley turned nearly transparent, and cracks multiplied and joined frantically, as if it would shatter completely the next second!
The entire grand formation's operation suffered a fatal lag and disorder! The attack pressure that had been evenly distributed across the shield instantly lost balance and surged madly toward the remaining intact areas!
"Oh no! The array eye in Spirit Pivot Valley has been severely damaged!" Third Senior Sister Liu Yun's usually cool face showed panic for the first time. She repelled a demonic cultivator in front of her with a sword strike and shouted sharply, "If the array eye breaks, the grand formation will collapse in an instant!"
Everyone understood what that meant!
Once the sect-protecting grand formation completely collapsed, the tide of demonic cultivator main forces outside, along with the high-ranking Shadow Snake Pavilion cultivators circling in the sky, would have no further obstacles. They would pour straight in! What awaited Qingxu Temple then would be true slaughter and annihilation! No one would be spared!
"We must hold Spirit Pivot Valley!" The Sect Master's voice, filled with urgency and determination, boomed like thunder from the high sky, temporarily even drowning out the sounds of his battle with the ghost-masked elder. But the ghost-masked elder had him tightly entangled, unable to break free.
"Heh heh heh… Xuan Xuan, you old fool, it seems your turtle shell will be the first to crumble!" The ghost-masked elder cackled gleefully, his attacks becoming even more ferocious, firmly tying down the Sect Master.
At the main mountain gate, the demonic cultivators and demon beasts seemed to have received some signal. Their assault instantly turned more frenzied and reckless, clearly aiming to pin down Qingxu Temple's remaining effective forces and prevent them from reinforcing Spirit Pivot Valley.
The aura of despair spread like a plague.
**Spirit Pivot Valley** had become the final support point determining life or death for Qingxu Temple! It was like the last load-bearing wall propping up a collapsing house. Once it fell, there would be no redemption!
"Eldest Senior Brother! Third Senior Sister!" Xiao Qi whipped his head around, his crimson eyes fixed intently on Mu Qingfeng and Liu Yun, his voice shrill with urgency. "Hold things here! I'm going to Spirit Pivot Valley!"
"No!" The Eldest Senior Brother and Third Senior Sister objected almost in unison.
"In your current state, you'd be going to your death!" Liu Yun's tone was urgent and brooked no argument.
Mu Qingfeng was even more direct: "I'll go! You stay and stabilize the defense line!"
"No time to argue!" Xiao Qi cut them off with a hoarse shout. He raised a trembling hand toward Spirit Pivot Valley, from which the sense of energy dissipation grew ever stronger. "I'm sensitive to energy. I can find the problem quickly. And… my 'power' might help repair the array eye!"
He was referring to the **Purification Source** – not yet fully under his control, yet which had worked miracles several times. He didn't know exactly how to use it, but it was the only slim hope for now!
The Eldest Senior Brother and Third Senior Sister looked at his face – pale as paper but with eyes utterly determined – at the wounds still seeping blood on his body, and at the Crimson Flame Sword stuck in the ground, its flames already flickering unsteadily. Their eyes were filled with struggle and pain.
They knew Xiao Qi was telling the truth. When it came to perceiving the essence of energy and wielding that mysterious purification power, no one in Qingxu Temple could match him. Moreover, judging from the fluctuations coming from Spirit Pivot Valley, the problem might not be just an external attack; there was likely internal damage as well! Xiao Qi's purification power might truly be the only chance.
But sending him in this state… was tantamount to sending him to his death!
"Trust me!" Xiao Qi's gaze was like burning flames, carrying an unshakable resolve and pleading. "Qingxu Temple… is our home!"
He practically roared the last words.
Mu Qingfeng and Liu Yun shuddered. They looked at Xiao Qi, then at their fellow disciples around them – faces full of despair yet still fighting to the death – and at the Sect Master struggling high above. Finally, they nodded heavily.
"Be careful!" Liu Yun said only two words, but her voice was choked.
Mu Qingfeng quickly slapped his storage bag, took out a jade bottle, and thrust it into Xiao Qi's hand. "This is an '**Origin Recovery Pill**.' It can temporarily stimulate your potential, but the aftereffects are severe… only use it as a last resort!"
Xiao Qi took the jade bottle, shoved it into his robes without looking, and took a deep breath, as if drawing the blood and despair permeating the air into his lungs to transform them into strength.
He pulled the Crimson Flame Sword from the ground. The crimson flames surged again, not as fierce as before, but carrying an unhesitating, death-defying resolve.
Without another moment's hesitation, without looking back at the worried eyes of his comrades behind him, he turned and charged – toward Spirit Pivot Valley, from which ominous waves emanated, the place that would decide the sect's final fate.
His figure staggered across the plaza littered with corpses and rubble. Every step felt like treading on knife edges, yet it was exceptionally firm.
Everyone's gaze involuntarily followed that small figure – carrying the last hope – toward the back mountain, toward the final support point that would determine life or death.