Chapter 27: The Black Tortoise Stirs the Waters

The giant blue-gleaming axe was raised high by Nan Luo, its chilling blade slicing through the night, illuminating the entire realm of darkness. Under the radiant blue light, the night was relentlessly driven back, receding again and again. In the blink of an eye, the night was transformed into a blue sky.

A blue vortex, ten miles in radius, appeared out of thin air above the giant blue axe, ravenously devouring the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth. A pillar of blue light connected the vortex to the axe, pouring an endless stream of spiritual power into the weapon.

Though the Realm of Night possessed an array that could suppress and seize the spiritual energy within its bounds, its suppressive power was utterly incapable of resisting the devouring force of the blue giant axe. As for the realm’s own ability to consume spiritual energy—compared to the blue axe, it was as feeble as an ant before a carriage, overestimating itself without reason.

The spiritual energy across the entire domain, like a surging river, was being ceaselessly drawn into the blue vortex. Heidi, his face grave, watched the blue axe in Nan Luo’s grasp. Though he had anticipated this, he could not help but be awed by the weapon’s power, silently lamenting the might of those famed Three Axe Strikes. If this was only the opening move, how terrifying would the rest be?

Above Heidi’s head, the Blackwater Serpent Spear suddenly began to ravenously absorb the will and power of the Black Sky Serpent Spear. Within the Sea of Fortune, the Black Sky Serpent Spear was compelled to bestow even more of its will upon the Blackwater Spear.

Far to the north, in the Xuanming Waters of the Northern Sea, within the Xuanming Water Palace, a figure seated upon a massive black throne was stirred to attention. Opening calm, unfathomable black eyes, he gazed at the Black Sky Serpent Spear within the sea of fate, pondering why Heidi was absorbing so much of its will and power.

Serpent Killing Formation.

A black vortex slowly appeared above the Blackwater Spear, likewise greedily consuming the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Blue and black—the two vortices, each only ten miles across, were devouring the spiritual power of an entire million-mile domain.

The frenzied absorption by Nan Luo and Heidi instantly threw the Serpent Killing Formation into crisis.

“Damn it! At this rate, the Serpent Killing Formation will collapse on its own!” The Ninth Elder, struggling to maintain the great formation, turned anxiously to the Seventh Elder.

Though the Serpent Killing Formation was sustained by spiritual energy from both within and outside its bounds, it relied primarily on the energy within; that from outside served only as an auxiliary.

“We must compete with Nan Luo for the spiritual power within the formation, while also drawing from the outside. That way, we may yet sustain the Serpent Killing Formation,” said the Seventh Elder, his expression heavy.

The Ninth Elder, alarmed and uncertain, replied, “But if we do that, the formation will be fully exposed and easily shattered from without!”

A formation’s power was fundamentally derived from its internal energy; if it depended on the outside, its supply could be easily cut off, causing it to break without assault. This was exactly why the Ninth Elder was reluctant to draw in spiritual energy from beyond.

“Do we have any choice left?” The Seventh Elder’s voice was bleak as he gestured toward the blue and black vortices.

Indeed, there was no choice.

If they did not draw from outside, the spiritual power within would soon be consumed by those two vortices, causing the formation to collapse instantly. But if they did, at least they could barely sustain it, so long as the Grand Elder could defeat Nan Luo. Then all would be well.

But could the Grand Elder truly overcome Nan Luo? For the first time, the Ninth Elder doubted his strength, a sense of foreboding settling in his heart.

“We’ll do as you say,” the Ninth Elder conceded, his expression downcast.

The Seventh Elder sought to reassure him, “With the Kirin clan stationed outside, even if we draw on the external spiritual energy, nothing should go amiss.”

The Ninth Elder nodded, expressionless, and began manipulating the formation to draw in energy from without.

From the outside, the Serpent Killing Formation appeared as nothing but a vast domain of profound darkness. Yet a region of black night, stretching a million miles beneath the daylight, was far too conspicuous to escape notice.

The powerful of all the nearby races were naturally drawn by curiosity or hidden motives to this anomaly. Recognizing the signature of the Serpent Killing Formation, none dared break it lightly—except the Xuanwu clan.

Having warred with the Xuanming Black Serpents for hundreds of thousands of years, the Xuanwu’s champions, though unaware of who was trapped, harbored only the intent to destroy their enemy’s scheme by any means necessary.

Yet just as the Xuanwu prepared to act, the Eleventh Elder of the Xuanming Black Serpents emerged from the formation and proceeded directly to the Kirin encampment. Thereafter, the Kirin, overlords of the Central Wilderness, dispatched their army to surround the formation, preventing its destruction.

Thus the other races, especially the Xuanwu, were forced to restrain their destructive impulses, biding their time outside the array.

Fortune favors the patient fiend.

After waiting for half a day, the Xuanwu finally saw their chance, baring their fangs in secret, ready to sabotage the formation.

Suddenly, the night enshrouding the Serpent Killing Formation began to wildly absorb spiritual energy from the outside world. Countless motes of spiritual essence, like stars, sparkled beautifully as they flew into the darkness and vanished.

“The Serpent Killing Formation is absorbing energy from outside?” This was the first thought among the assembly of powerful beings. Their second, more alarming realization was, “A million-mile formation still needs to draw on external power? How formidable must the being trapped within be, if the formation is on the verge of collapse?”

Unlike the others, the Xuanwu warriors revealed ferocious, cold smiles, thinking to themselves: we’ll cut off the external spiritual energy and wait for the formation to fail on its own.

Seizing the moment, as all eyes were fixed on the formation, Xuanfeng, a Xuanwu God-King at the peak of his power, quietly slipped through the Kirin army’s barrier. Though the Kirin had set up a barrier to prevent intruders, their pride and the fact that this was merely a precaution against interference meant the barrier was haphazard at best—no true obstacle for someone of Xuanfeng’s caliber.

“Humph! Serpent Killing Formation? Break for me.” Xuanfeng drew forth a Chaos Pearl, capable of disrupting spiritual energy, and, thinking of his brother slain by the Xuanming Black Serpents, sneered coldly.

The Chaos Pearl turned into a streak of black light, silently flying toward the stream of energy being absorbed by the formation.