"Succeed, and we’ll seize a sliver of hope in this chaotic world; fail, and we’ll walk the Yellow Springs together!"
His words sent the crowd into an uproar.
This act of handing over one’s entire cultivation for another’s gain, and placing one’s very life in their hands, was a major taboo in the Cultivation Realm. But as the thunderous crash of the Iron Mace fell once more, all doubt dissolved into grim resolve.
"Fuck it, we’re dead either way! Daoist Chu, I’ll put my faith in you this one time!"
"Count me in! It’s just Spiritual Power. As long as I’m alive, I can always cultivate it back!"
"Take it! Take it all!"
Led by Xia Xing, several hundred cultivators, as if they’d found their pillar of strength, rushed madly toward the altar.
Ignoring the blood on the ground, they sat and pressed their hands firmly against the altar’s foundation. The immense Spiritual Power that had been rampaging within them like a caged beast was channeled without reservation, flowing along the Stone Palace’s long-dry Array Patterns and surging into Chu Bai at the very center.
An absolutely terrifying torrent of Spiritual Power, converged from over a thousand Qi Cultivation Perfect Cultivators, instantly materialized within the Underground Palace as tangible, multicolored lines of light.
Standing at the center of the altar, Chu Bai felt as if he were in the middle of a volcanic lake about to erupt.
The rampaging Spiritual Qi instantly shredded his azure robes and strained his meridians to their breaking point. Had he not possessed the Nourishing and Exquisite Fate Chart and the protection of the Iron Bone Casting Body Technique, he likely would have exploded and died in that very instant.
"Land God, activate the array!"
Veins bulged on Chu Bai’s forehead as he let out a near-bestial roar.
The Profound Yellow Earth Essence erupted, merging as one with the torrent of Spiritual Power from the thousand-plus cultivators.
In the last instant before the great doors shattered, the entire Underground Palace erupted with a crushing pressure, so immense it brought the two True Gods outside to a standstill.
A towering, hundred-zhang-tall phantom composed of dark gold rock and pure Spiritual Light rose slowly from the depths of Lingma Mountain’s Earth Vein, shaking the very ground.
Dayuan Prefecture, Examination Department Inner Sanctum.
Though the cracks on the Ancient Bronze Mirror were still numerous, the image it displayed had shifted from chaotic blackness to a heavy, dark gold.
Hee Wenyan stood at the core of the Array, Purple Qi swirling around her like a miniature purple sun.
Her fingers danced like phantoms, weaving strands of Spiritual Power across the void to connect the scattered Divine Fire Marks within the Secret Realm one by one.
"It’s done. It’s finally stabilized."
Hee Wenyan let out a long breath, fine beads of sweat visible on her forehead.
By stabilizing these Divine Fire Nodes, the Cyan Nether Secret Realm was now anchored as if by countless invisible chains. It no longer plummeted into the bottomless void, but floated steadily at the edge of the Great Zhou Celestial Dao.
In a few more moments, once the Earth Vein’s qi completely stabilized, the Celestial Observatory could employ its heaven-defying techniques to fully incorporate the realm into Great Zhou’s territory, transforming it into a new Spirit Realm Treasure Land.
However, just as stability was within reach, the unexpected happened.
KREEE—!!!
A piercing shriek tore through the void barrier and rang out directly within the great hall.
Within the Ancient Mirror, the Sky-Suppressing Kite—its wings broken, its Divine Soul on the verge of collapse—was driven by a mad obsession. It burned the last wisp of its Divine Dao Origin, transforming once more into a devastating blade of wind that smashed violently against the newly stabilized spatial wall.
CRACK! The breach they had worked so hard to seal was torn open once more, a hideous gash in the fabric of space.
"Vile creature! Utterly unrepentant!"
Hee Wenyan’s eyes turned sharp. Previously, with the Secret Realm unstable, her hands had been tied—she had been afraid of causing more damage and dared not unleash her full power.
But now, with the Divine Fire anchored, the terrifying power she held as a Purple Mansion Master was finally unleashed.
"Perish!"
Hee Wenyan formed a sword-finger and pointed across the void.
An impossibly fine yet utterly condensed beam of purple divine radiance shot out. Following the Array’s connection, it instantly traversed thousands of miles of empty space and descended upon the highest heavens of the Cyan Nether Realm.
The violet light moved faster than perception, and before the Sky-Suppressing Kite could strike again, it had already passed effortlessly through the center of its brow.
There was no earth-shaking explosion, only the absolute annihilation that came from a being of a higher order.
The Foundation Establishment True God—a being that could drive countless Qi Cultivation Cultivators to despair—had its Divine Soul instantly turn to a wisp of smoke under the Purple Mansion Master’s Divine Technique, utterly annihilated in the void.
Its massive Divine Body, now devoid of support, fell like a lifeless meteorite, sinking silently toward the edge of darkness.
Lowering her hand, Hee Wenyan’s aura wavered slightly.
"Casualties... are already over thirty percent."
Beside her, Shen Xuance had been staring intently at the Jade Token that tracked the number of survivors. His brow was furrowed, his eyes filled with an unconcealable gravity.
Over three thousand Qi Cultivation Perfect Cultivators, buried just like that in a Secret Realm anomaly that should never have been so catastrophic.
These were the very flower of Qingzhou’s younger generation. The death of each one was an immense loss to their respective prefectures and counties.
"Lord Shen, we can’t wait any longer."
Hee Wenyan turned to Shen Xuance, her voice laced with urgency. "The Secret Realm’s barrier is already connected to the Great Zhou Celestial Dao. The Celestial Ladder passage... can’t it be opened ahead of schedule? Even just opening a crack to guide out some of the surviving promising talents would mean fewer of the Court’s chosen are lost."
Shen Xuance stared at the chaos in the Ancient Mirror for a long moment before shaking his head in resignation.
"Lord Hee, the rules of the Celestial Examination are iron laws set down by the first emperor. The Celestial Ladder’s hub was sealed by the Lord Governor himself. It is beyond the control of a mere Examination Supervisor like myself."

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