The waiting in the depths of Burying Gods Depression was oppressively suffocating. Time seemed to congeal; only that dark red rune network continued to pulse like a heart, emitting unsettling demonic might. Tang Xiaoqi gripped his fists tightly, his knuckles white from the force. His body's remaining spiritual power circulated slowly, repairing damaged meridians while also accumulating even the tiniest bit of strength for that upcoming moment. Mu Qingfeng sat with closed eyes in concentration, his aura almost merging with the surrounding dark environment. Liu Yun was like a bow drawn to its absolute limit, her cold killing intent held back but ready to release. Aunt Su's gaze beneath the silver mask constantly swept the surroundings, alert to any movement.
The hour of Zi (11 PM - 1 AM) was approaching minute by minute.
Just as their nerves were stretched to the breaking point—
"Woo—Om—!!!"
A low, long horn sound as if from the nine hells' depths suddenly came from the distant outer regions, penetrating the dense five-colored poisonous miasma, clearly echoing over Burying Gods Depression!
This horn sound wasn't solitary. Immediately after, from different directions, similar alarm sounds rang out one after another—some sharp and piercing, some muffled like thunder. Amidst them were faintly audible explosions and battle cries!
Almost simultaneously, the dark red runes on the distorted spatial demonic seal before everyone abruptly brightened, their light flashing urgently as if transmitting emergency information.
"It's begun!" Aunt Su said urgently, her voice carrying a trace of relief and determination.
Mu Qingfeng's eyes snapped open, a flash of divine light passing instantly. Liu Yun's fingers on her sword hilt tightened slightly.
Xiaoqi's heart also gave a heavy beat! It was Falcon and Iron Wall! The Shadow-Breaking Alliance's feint attack had begun!
The "coordinated attack inside and out" in the plan—the outer "beacon fires" had been ignited!
This sudden, multi-directional attack clearly caught the Shadow Snake Pavilion off guard. The originally silent Ten Thousand Souls Hall outer perimeter instantly stirred like a kicked hornet's nest!
Through that fluctuating distorted entrance "water membrane," Xiaoqi and the others could vaguely sense that the several guard spiritual presences beyond the seal, originally stable as rock, now showed obvious disorder and movement. Powerful auras were rapidly moving away from the entrance, speeding toward the directions where the alarms originated!
One could even hear some blurred, angry shouts and mobilization orders coming from beyond the seal:
"What's happening?! Bone-Rotting Forest is under attack!"
"Thousand Weeping Pond has enemies too! Significant numbers!"
"Patrol teams three and five, immediately go support! Activate outer perimeter defensive formation!"
"Watch for bait tactics! Entrance guards must not leave their posts... Damn it, the western resource point is also sending distress signals!"
Chaos! The sudden multi-front attacks caused brief confusion and misjudgment in the Shadow Snake Pavilion's defensive system. Though higher-ups might realize this could be a feint, outer outposts being attacked, resource points being destroyed, patrol squads being intercepted—these were real losses they couldn't ignore!
For a time, large numbers of demonic cultivator forces originally deployed near the Ten Thousand Souls Hall entrance and outer perimeter were urgently dispatched to various attack points. Xiaoqi, with his keen perception, could clearly detect that the powerful auras locked onto the entrance had been reduced by at least two-thirds! The remaining guards, though still elite, were clearly distracted by the outer chaos.
"Now!" Aunt Su spoke rapidly, "The entrance is about to manifest, and the outer chaos has bought us precious time! Prepare!"
Almost as her words fell, midnight arrived!
The distorted space in the depression's center suddenly trembled, like a calm water surface struck by a giant stone, intense spatial ripples spreading outward. That invisible "water membrane" became clearly visible, its color shifting from transparent to dark purple. The dark red demonic seal runes upon it seemed activated to the extreme, flashing and circulating frantically, forming a constantly rotating, dark vortex about one zhang in diameter!
The Ten Thousand Souls Hall entrance opened as scheduled!
Meanwhile, due to the outer attacks, the guard forces near the entrance were at their minimum. Only two remaining Foundation Establishment Late Stage demonic cultivators and several Foundation Establishment Middle Stage guards, though still staring fixedly at the entrance, had expressions inevitably carrying traces of alarm and uncertainty from the outer upheaval.
The opportunity must not be lost, and would not come again!
"Xiaoqi!" Mu Qingfeng called urgently.
Without needing words, Xiaoqi was already ready! He sprang from the rock shadows like lightning, heading straight for that dark rotating entrance vortex! Mu Qingfeng, Liu Yun, and Aunt Su followed closely, like three arrows leaving the string!
Their appearance instantly alerted the remaining guards!
"Enemy attack! At the entrance!!" A Foundation Establishment Late Stage demonic cultivator roared furiously, reacting extremely fast. A magic saber blazing with black flames was already unsheathed, carrying a shrill whistle as it slashed toward Xiaoqi at the forefront! Several other guards also brought out their artifacts, demonic energy crisscrossing, attempting to intercept.
"Get out of the way!" Liu Yun's phoenix eyes held murderous intent; she had waited too long for this moment! The longsword on her back let out a clear dragon cry, suddenly unsheathing! There was no brilliant sword light, only a white line, condensed to the extreme, cold to the extreme, like cutting through space, arriving after being launched, instantly passing over that saber-wielding demonic cultivator's body!
The demonic cultivator's forward momentum abruptly stopped, his ferocious expression freezing. He looked down in disbelief to see his magic saber along with his protective demonic light, and his body, all bisected by that seemingly thin white sword line! He didn't even have time to scream before his two halves crashed to the ground, demonic blood spraying!
Such was the power of one sword strike—terrifying to this extent!
Liu Yun's ferocious attack instantly intimidated the other guards, their movements involuntarily slowing by half a beat.
And in this brief gap, Xiaoqi had already rushed before the entrance vortex! His hands wove like butterflies through flowers, the Xu family bloodline boiling within him, the jade pendant at his heart transmitting a faint but firm resonance. Following the technique Aunt Su had taught, he struck out seal after seal containing unique rhythm and his own bloodline aura, merging into that rotating dark vortex!
"With blood as guide, with thought as bridge, open the netherworld, welcome the return!"
Om—!
The entrance vortex suddenly trembled, its rotation speed rapidly increasing, dark light blazing. A powerful suction force emanated from within, precisely enveloping Xiaoqi, and closely following him—Mu Qingfeng, Liu Yun, and Aunt Su!
"Stop them!" Another Foundation Establishment Late Stage demonic cultivator's eyes were about to split as he frantically activated a skull artifact, spewing ghostly fire. But Mu Qingfeng, waving his hand, deployed a water-blue light screen that steadily blocked it.
The next moment, the suction force reached its peak!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Four figures, as if grabbed by invisible hands, instantly merged into that dark rotating entrance vortex, vanishing from sight!
The entrance vortex, after Xiaoqi and the others entered, rapidly dimmed, its rotation slowing, gradually returning to the previous state of a fluctuating water membrane. However, the demonic seal runes upon it, due to this abnormal "key" opening, appeared somewhat disordered, their light flickering unsteadily.
That surviving Foundation Establishment Late Stage demonic cultivator rushed to the entrance, looking at the now-calm but rune-disordered opening, his face iron-gray with both shock and rage. He immediately took out a transmission jade talisman, frantically inputting information:
"Emergency military situation! Invaders have forcibly opened the entrance using unknown methods and infiltrated Ten Thousand Souls Hall! Suspected to possess methods countering the seal! Four people, cultivation unknown, among them one sword cultivator extremely formidable! Requesting immediate interception inside the hall!!!"
The coordinated attack inside and out had succeeded!
The beacon fires ignited by the Shadow-Breaking Alliance at the cost of lives outside had successfully attracted most guards, creating that fleeting moment for Xiaoqi's elite spearhead team to enter! The flames of revenge had finally burned into the Shadow Snake Pavilion's core demonic lair! However, what awaited them would be a dragon's pool and tiger's den far more dangerous than outside, and that demon-controlled father along with the terrifying demonic entity's soul fragment! The true test was only just beginning!