This time, it was more than just an accumulation of Spiritual Power.
A sliver of the Spatial Dao Charm from the Sky-Suppressing Kite, which had originally dissipated, was forcibly stripped away and coiled around Chu Bai’s nascent Dao Foundation.
’Just what is the Lord Envoy trying to do...?’
Watching this scene, the Land God’s hands slowed by half a beat, his old, clay-molded face etched with unspeakable horror.
’Devouring the Spiritual Power of the living to sustain a Divine Body...’
’Devouring the Divine Corpse of the dead to nourish himself...’
’Is he really going to break through here?!’
「Xiaoyuan County」
The sky-spanning Purple Qi receded like a tide, and the Ancient Bronze Mirror hovering in the center of the grand hall finally stopped trembling.
The ghastly patterns on the mirror’s surface, which had represented spatial rifts, were now filled with seamless golden threads, as if a shattered piece of porcelain had been perfectly repaired by a master craftsman using the art of Kintsugi.
Hee Wenyan slowly retracted the last wisp of her Spell. A look of relieved joy finally appeared on her formerly tense, jade-like face.
"It’s done."
She let out a breath of turbid air and looked at Shen Xuance beside her, her tone carrying the distinct confidence of a Purple Mansion Master:
"In this Cyan Nether Realm, all thirty-six Divine Dao Marks have been linked, and the Earth Vein array anchors have been set."
"In another quarter of an hour, this Wild Secret Realm will completely break away from the turbulent void, be guided back to the mortal world by the Celestial Dao, and be formally brought under the control of the Great Zhou."
This meant that the sudden incident, which had alarmed her superiors, was finally about to be concluded under her watch.
Although the process was perilous, even requiring the use of a Purple Mansion Divine Technique to obliterate a Divine Spirit from afar, the world had ultimately been saved.
After composing herself, Hee Wenyan thought of something else. Her gaze swept over to the Jade Pendant that recorded the number of living candidates, and she asked:
"This incident was so sudden... How many casualties were there among the candidates?"
Hearing this, Shen Xuance, who was standing to the side, did not answer immediately.
Spiritual Light flickered at his fingertips as he quickly performed a divination on the cracked Life Soul Jade Scroll. Only then did he speak thoughtfully:
"The casualties are under half."
Shen Xuance’s voice betrayed little emotion, only the absolute rationality of an examiner. "Ten thousand candidates entered. Currently, those whose Life Fire still burns number just over six thousand."
He paused, glanced at the countdown timer dwindling in the Ancient Mirror, and added, "Although this number is tragic compared to past Celestial Examinations, we were, after all, facing the calamity of a Divine Spirit’s revival."
"If these six thousand can survive this last quarter of an hour... then sacrificing three to four thousand Qi Cultivation Cultivators for a complete, resource-rich ancient Secret Realm is still a worthwhile trade for Dayuan Prefecture, and even for the Qingzhou Prefecture Vault."
In the eyes of those in power, anyone who had not reached Foundation Establishment was, in the end, just a number.
As long as the Secret Realm was secured, those who died were simply unlucky. The survivors would naturally be compensated and nurtured.
Upon hearing this, Hee Wenyan fell silent for a moment before letting out a soft sigh.
"It was a necessary evil, I suppose."
With a flick of her sleeve, she cast a sound-insulating Restriction, her tone growing serious. "After the quarter-hour is up and the passage opens, guide the survivors back and immediately order them to remain silent."
"Such horrifying matters as a Divine Spirit’s revival and Ancient Gods devouring one another must not be spread among the common people. The official story will be that the difficulty of the Secret Realm’s examination increased drastically. All casualties will be compensated. This is to avoid causing panic in Qingzhou."
"This subordinate understands," Shen Xuance replied with a cupped-fist salute.
Just as the two believed the situation was under control, only waiting for the last few moments to pass—
The unexpected happened.
Hee Wenyan, who had been maintaining the Array’s core and sensing the passage between the two realms, felt her relaxed brow suddenly twitch.
A strange sense of emptiness traveled up the Purple Qi Divine Chain connecting the two realms, appearing without any warning.
"Hm?"
Hee Wenyan’s expression shifted slightly as she subconsciously extended her Divine Thought back into the Ancient Mirror.
With this one probe, the Purple Mansion Master—who normally wouldn’t flinch even if Mount Tai collapsed before her—couldn’t help but cry out in alarm:
"What’s happening?!"
"Lord Hee, have the spatial barriers cracked again?" Shen Xuance asked hurriedly, his heart skipping a beat.
"No... The barriers are perfectly intact."
Hee Wenyan stared intently at the Ancient Mirror, her eyes filled with incredulous shock and confusion. "It’s the Spiritual Qi of that realm... It’s disappearing."
"My Earth Vein connection to the Cyan Nether Realm has suddenly weakened considerably! The feeling... it’s as if a bottomless pit is frantically draining the Origin from within that world!"
Shen Xuance was aghast. "Draining the Origin? Could it be those Divine Spirits...?"
"No! A Divine Spirit’s revival only borrows Spiritual Qi; it would never devour it so destructively! This is like draining the pond to catch the fish—they’re sucking the very marrow from that world’s bones!"
Watching the Spiritual Qi readings on the Array Disc plummet, Hee Wenyan’s voice grew strained.
"The Spiritual Mechanism of that world is in a freefall! At this rate, forget a quarter of an hour—in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, the Cyan Nether Realm will likely become a desolate Death Land, a wasteland devoid of any Spiritual Qi!"
"Who in the world is it?! Who could possibly have such a heaven-devouring, earth-consuming appetite?!"
Deep within the Underground Palace, the Divine Corpse of the Sky-Suppressing Kite, which had been forcibly drawn into the core of the Array, was undergoing a mysterious, qualitative change.
The fall of a Foundation Establishment expert is a Whale Fall, giving birth to myriad life.
According to the supreme principles of heaven and earth, when a Foundation Establishment being dies, their refined Dao Foundation and Cultivation will transform into the purest Spirit Rain, nourishing the world that nurtured them.
But the Cyan Nether Realm was already riddled with holes and on the verge of collapse; it had neither the strength nor the capacity to receive this immense gift.
Thus, this terrifying inheritance, which should have dissipated into the world, instead found its only outlet within the sealed shell of the Mountain God’s body—inside the Micro Level crucible known as the Guiyuan Technique—

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