The second barrier opened like a luminous wound.
It did not collapse completely. A fracture descended from the top of the veil and crossed the air until it touched the central terrace. On either side, the formation still resisted, but a narrow corridor had been created through which cultivators could pass two at a time.
The masked figure did not advance.
Heishan Rong did.
He raised his black saber and sent his men toward the opening. Behind them, auxiliary disciples from Grey Cloud prepared wind techniques to widen it. The objective was obvious: saturate the passage, break the defenders' coordination, and force Mu Qingxue to spend the remaining resources sealing a point whose location they now knew.
—Do not close the fracture —Lin Yuan ordered through the general plate.
A formation assistant answered in alarm.
—Founder, they will enter!
—That is what they believe.
Mu Qingxue understood at once. She moved two plates and deliberately extinguished the symbols around the corridor. The opening widened by the width of a hand.
The attackers shouted, convinced that the defense was failing.
The first ten crossed.
They did not find an unprotected terrace. They found a circular courtyard that had not been there minutes earlier.
The mountain could not create buildings, but a displacement formation could make one path end in another space. Mu Qingxue had used the last stable fragment of the ancient network to fold the entrance toward the old training courtyard. The doors of that courtyard closed behind the attackers.
Han Yue was waiting inside.
—Welcome —he said, turning his spear—. The exit costs blood.
Combat erupted between reinforced walls. The Heishan men tried to retreat, but every new group passing through blocked those before it. Han Yue and eight inner disciples did not seek to destroy them immediately. They pushed, broke formations, and forced the attackers to obstruct one another.
Outside, the masked figure tilted its head.
—Interesting formations for a lower realm.
Mu Qingxue heard the words from the control room. Her fingers did not stop moving.
—They were not built to impress you —she whispered.
The enemy raised the staff again. The carved eyes pointed toward the base of the mountain instead of the fracture. A red thread entered the ground.
Gu Tian, connected to the buried heart, opened his eyes.
—It is not trying to break the barrier —he said—. It is searching for the blood conduit.
—Which one? —Bai Lian asked from the infirmary.
—The one left by the infiltrator.
Yu Sen.
Lin Yuan understood too late that the young man had not merely been a tool for planting the first stake. The seal in his soul remained connected to the enemy. As long as Yu Sen stayed inside the mountain, the masked figure possessed a living needle passing through the defenses.
—Bai Lian, move Yu Sen —he ordered.
—Where?
—To the hall without formation meridians. Mu Qingxue, cut every route around the infirmary.
Bai Lian ran to the isolated room. Su Wan accompanied her. Yu Sen lay unconscious on a low bed, three wooden needles in his neck and paper seals across his arms and legs. The red line had returned, brighter than before.
—It is draining the barrier through him —Su Wan said.
Bai Lian tried to lift the young man. His body arched, and a red wave threw her against the wall.
Su Wan spread ice across the ground to slow the seal's expansion.
—We cannot move him like this.
—Then we move the room.
—What?
Bai Lian tore down the curtains, overturned a table, and searched for the auxiliary plates installed in the corners. She was not a formation expert, but she had watched Mu Qingxue work for weeks.
—These plates connect the room to the main network. If we remove them at the same time, it will become isolated.
—We will also lose heat, light, and spiritual support.
—We have braziers and hands.
Su Wan positioned herself before two plates.
—On three.
They removed them together.
The entire room trembled. The lamps went dark. The hum of the mountain vanished, replaced by absolute silence.
On the terrace, the red thread from the enemy's staff snapped.
The masked figure turned toward the infirmary.
—The piece is awake —it said.
A chill crossed Lin Yuan. It did not speak of Yu Sen as a person.
The woman in green appeared among the attackers and gave a signal. Six cultivators emerged from the eastern forest carrying the cages Jian Mu had seen. They were not empty. Inside were small deformed creatures whose bodies were covered in talismans.
Gu Tian recognized the method.
—Formation-breaking beasts. They were fed corrupted qi so they would explode near formations.
The men released the first.
The creature ran toward a defensive column, shrieking with a voice that sounded too human.
Jian Mu descended from the western path and cut it before it reached the target. Its body divided, but the talismans continued to shine.
—Back! —he shouted.
The explosion lifted earth and red fire. Jian Mu was thrown several steps. His robe burned along one side.
Han Yue tried to leave the folded courtyard to help, but enemies still surrounded him.
—Close that cursed corridor! —he roared.
—Not yet —Mu Qingxue replied.
—They are throwing explosive animals at us!
—If I close it now, the masked figure will use the discharge to break the formation from outside.
—Then give me another exit.
Mu Qingxue studied the map. The courtyard had an abandoned lower conduit, too narrow for a troop but wide enough for one person.
—Beneath the southern post. Break the third tile.
Han Yue struck the ground with his spear, found the hollow, and descended without farewell. He left the inner disciples under Deng Rui's command, even though Deng Rui still had a broken arrow bandaged to his arm.
—Keep those fools occupied —Han Yue ordered.
—How long?
—Until their grandchildren return to look for them.
Han Yue emerged near Jian Mu just as the second beast was released. His spear entered the earth before the creature and raised a wall of fire. The beast exploded too early, knocking down two of its own handlers.
—You were late —Jian Mu said, rising.
—I was receiving guests.
—You smell like burned hair.
Han Yue touched a scorched section of his tied hair.
—When this ends, I am fighting you.
—Good.
The remaining four beasts were released together.
Su Wan felt the explosions from the isolated room. Yu Sen began convulsing more violently. Bai Lian pressed the needles, but one broke.
—The seal is trying to open him from within —she said.
—Can you stop it?
—Not without touching his soul.
Su Wan looked at the red line around the young man's neck. All her life, others had looked at her physique as a vessel, a calamity, or a tool. Now she saw the same fate imposed upon Yu Sen.
—Use my qi —she said.
Bai Lian raised her head.
—Your cold may freeze his circulation.
—Not if you filter it through your needles.
—We have never done that.
—He never chose to be used either.
Bai Lian hesitated for only one breath.
—Place your hand over his chest. Do not release everything. Follow my count.
They worked together. Bai Lian created a route with wooden needles, and Su Wan sent a minimal thread of freezing qi along it. The cold surrounded the red seal without touching the main meridians. Yu Sen stopped convulsing.
For an instant, he opened his eyes.
—The man with the rings —he whispered.
Bai Lian leaned closer.
—What?
—He... gave me the false name.
The red line tried to close again. Su Wan increased the cold. The seal cracked enough to reveal an image: the ringed elder from Four Stones Pass placing a hand over Yu Sen's forehead.
—Now we know who controls him —Bai Lian said.
She transmitted the information to Lin Yuan.
Mo Qian was near the southern flank when he received the name.
—The ringed elder is not on the visible line —he reported—. That means he is directing this from another position.
Lin Yuan studied the field. The masked figure was the strongest threat, Heishan Rong directed the assault, and the woman in green controlled the beasts. But the true local link remained hidden.
—Find him —he ordered.
—This time I need company.
—Take two protectors.
—No. I will take the only man no one notices when he looks asleep.
Gu Tian heard the words from the buried heart.
—Do not even think about it.
—Old man, I need you to recognize his methods.
—I am holding half the mountain together.
Mu Qingxue intervened.
—I can maintain the heart for thirty breaths without you.
—Twenty-two.
—Thirty if you stop arguing.
Gu Tian released a series of insults, slowly removed his hands from the column, and allowed Mu Qingxue to take the flow. His face turned even paler, but he followed Mo Qian through a side tunnel.
On the central terrace, Lin Yuan finally faced Heishan Rong.
The lesser patriarch crossed the fracture with his saber wrapped in black qi.
—All your tricks end here.
Lin Yuan took a low stance. His meridians hurt, the formation was damaged, and the superior enemy had still not attacked directly. He had no room for a long fight.
—You said that last time.
Heishan Rong roared and brought down the saber.
The impact split three steps.
Lin Yuan barely avoided it, entered the man's guard, and struck the side of the armor with concentrated qi. The plate held. Heishan Rong answered with his shoulder and threw Lin Yuan into the railing.
Mu Qingxue's seal over his meridians cracked.
The masked figure watched.
It did not interfere because it wanted to see him exhausted.
Lin Yuan wiped blood from his mouth.
—Was that all? —Heishan Rong taunted.
Lin Yuan felt the system mark several disciples in critical danger. He could retreat and focus on the map. He could use stored resources. He could attempt to activate a locked reward.
He did none of those things.
He looked at Han Yue and Jian Mu facing the formation beasts. At Bai Lian and Su Wan protecting a young man who might have been sent to betray them. At Mu Qingxue holding a network built from broken pieces. At Gu Tian and Mo Qian searching for the hidden hand.
The war would not be won by proving that the founder was invincible.
It would be won by proving that the sect could continue fighting even while he bled.
Lin Yuan raised his hands again.
—No —he answered—. I was only measuring how long you need to fall.