Each of the nine dragon maidens possesses extraordinary abilities.

"What's wrong?" Yunhai asked.

Yun Gui remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "This is a formation."

"what?"

"This is a grand formation constructed using a divine artifact of a certain god and the earth veins of the Central Plains," Yun Gui said. "The core of this grand formation is at the very bottom, which is why we haven't discovered it until now."

"And now..."

Yun Gui raised her head and looked at the sky, which was firmly covered by the tide of spiritual energy, with a sense of despair.

"We're trapped here."

Chapter 43: The Grave of Loyalty

That was during the simulation phase.

When Lu Yueyuan first entered the earth veins of Wuming Peak, he witnessed the broken sword of the Holy Emperor and was amazed by its magnificence.

His gaze pierced through the darkness and landed on the towering sword: "The Eternal Annihilation Saint Emperor? The name sounds much more imposing than the Four Gods."

"Is He still alive?" Lu Yueyuan asked.

The system said, "He was exiled, or you could say he was sealed away."

"It sounds like a sad story."

"There are many legends about Him. It must have happened in the Twilight Era. The Heavenly Dao collapsed, and the gods were likely to be replaced by humans. The Holy Emperor of Eternal Annihilation was the first to raise his sword against the gods. Like many others, He participated in that great war. But no one knows what the final outcome was. All that is known is that only the Four Gods and the descendants of the Dragon God have survived."

“You told me that His followers are crazy,” Lu Yueyuan said.

"Yes, the Holy Emperor of Eternal Annihilation is different from other gods. Anyone can believe in Him, and His blessings are very generous. As long as one is human, one can receive blessings. Therefore, His followers have always claimed that He is the god who loves humankind the most."

"What about reality?" Lu Yueyuan asked, "If I also believe in Him, can I get His help to find the truth?"

"The reality is, you should never take this step unless absolutely necessary. The Eternal Annihilation Holy Emperor has stayed in the Nether Sea for too long. Gods are inherently extreme, and the Holy Emperor, having remained in such a place for so long, has long since become indescribable. Moreover, most importantly, the encirclement and suppression of the Holy Emperor back then was actually unsuccessful, because in the end, He was only sealed and exiled." The system said, "His power might even be more powerful than the current Four Gods, and it will never be extinguished."

"What power is indestructible?"

"Eternal? Great? Hmm... I'm not quite sure. Abdication, virtue, ancient sage kings. Their stories have been passed down to this day, their achievements seem indelible, right? But think about it, where is Yao's capital now? Who can play Shun's Shao music again? Yu the Great controlled the floods, and the Nine Tripods have long since disappeared. On a grander timescale, even they themselves have become vague legends, that is 'erasure'. But the power of the sage emperor and His own existence have not been erased, He has always remained in the Void Sea."

"Then how come His broken sword is left here?"

The system said, "Currently, the most credible version is that the Eternal Annihilation Holy Emperor was betrayed. His sword gained sentience, and upon learning of the betrayal, the enraged blade swore to destroy the Four Gods, but was ultimately wounded by them. Before its destruction, the blade used its last strength to embed itself into the earth's veins. From then on, the core of the Nine Provinces' earth veins was severely damaged, and the originally even distribution of spiritual energy became uneven." The system paused and said, "This is the loyal soul's revenge against the betrayer."

Time, now.

Perhaps because of the close proximity, Yun Gui sensed the surging energy of the earth's veins below.

Yunhai had already released the power of her natal magic weapon. She found her physical body in the other half and they merged back into one. After confirming that the disciples inside the glass bottle were unharmed, Yunhai returned to reunite with Yungui. The spiritual energy above was too dense; the terrifying tide of spiritual energy could even tear apart the immortal ship, so they couldn't leave for the time being.

“If we can’t go up, let’s go down,” Yun Gui said. “No matter who set up the array, as long as it’s a spirit array, there’s a way to break it.”

“But I’m not good at formations,” Yunhai said.

“I know a little,” Yun Gui said. “You protect the glass bottle, I’ll go down and take a look.”

"Then let me amplify it for you." Yunhai wanted to leave again.

“No need. The situation here is unclear. You can’t leave your main body here. I’ll just go down and take a look. I’ll be right back,” Yun Gui said. “I’m a top-tier fighter from the Huai Zai lineage, so don’t worry about me.”

She leaped down from above, using her natal magic weapon as she fell.

The jade hairpin in her hair suddenly transformed into a black jade ruler about 1.3 feet long. She reached out and grasped the ruler, concentrating her spiritual energy at a certain point. The next second, her figure disappeared on the spot and arrived at the deepest part of the earth.

The terrifying earth vein energy and spiritual energy gathered together, washing over her body, but were avoided because of her natal magic weapon.

My natal magic weapon, the Measuring Ruler.

She lit the talisman and looked up to see the giant sword up close. The broken blade extended down from the darkness some unknown height above, deeply embedded in the core of the earth's veins, like a guillotine descending as divine punishment. The sword was riddled with nicks, and spiritual energy and the earth's vein energy continuously carved out furrows.

It stood there silently, broken, lonely, and arrogant.

Yun Gui then used the talisman to illuminate other areas, revealing that the surrounding stone walls were densely covered with characters. Not only the stone walls, but when she looked down, the ground beneath her feet was also covered, as was the dome above her head. Even the roots of the sword where it had penetrated the earth's veins, the exposed rock strata, and every flat surface that could leave a mark were covered with characters.

"My lord is not dead."

"As long as the Holy Emperor exists, we will not disperse."

"With my broken body, I await my lord's return."

"Those who betray must pay the price."

"The four gods are to be killed, but we must never forget them."

"It is the same as a day for a thousand years, and it is the same as a day for ten thousand years."

"If future generations see this, they will know that he raised his sword for the common people."

"The sword may break, but the soul will not perish; the bones may decay, but the will will not waver."

"Blood may flow, heads may be severed, but my heart will never regret it."

"The day the Holy Emperor returns will be the day the Four Gods perish."

"We have no regrets."

"We have no regrets."

"We are still here."

Yun Gui's gaze followed the writing all the way forward, until she could still faintly see the engravings reflecting light in the darkness at the edge of her vision. Throughout the entire underground space, no matter which direction she looked, she saw only these words.

"Just how many people have been here..." Yun Gui felt a chill run down her spine.

The more I looked, the more numerous and denser it became. It was probably left by people from different times, because there were almost no gaps between the characters, one layer upon another, as if it were making an endless outpouring, to this silent broken sword, to this cold earth vein, to the Heavenly Dao that had long since nowhere to extend.

Unknown people left words of anger here.

"Are you still there? Are you still alive?" Yunhai's voice came through the communication talisman.

“Alive.” Yun Gui replied, stroking the words.

"Have you found anything?" Yunhai asked.

“Yes, at least I know who this god is.” Yun Gui touched the words “Holy Emperor”.

She followed the words and walked inside. There were many tunnels that had been dug by humans, and flames dispelled the darkness.

“Unbelievable,” Yun Gui said.

"What? What did you see?" Yunhai asked.

"Records of refining divine artifacts," Yun Gui replied.

Chapter 44: The Rhythm of God

The passageway was piled high with countless white bones.

It seems many people have come here, only to willingly die here in the end.

The most prominent skeleton sits at the very top, and unlike the indignant comments at the front, it left behind a record of refining the broken sword.

"A rather complex method of refining artifacts; this person actually attempted to refine a divine artifact," Yun Gui said.

"That sounds crazy," Yunhai said. "Be careful."

"rest assured."

The map is divided into seven layers, each building upon the previous one. The top layer is a huge sword-shaped outline with thousands of nodes marked on it. Each node is connected by a thin line and has dense annotations indicating terms such as "feasible," "impractical," and "backlash."

The man left behind only four words: "The rhythm of God."

"Do you know how to forge weapons?" Yun Gui asked telepathically.

"Weren't we supposed to be looking at formations? How did we end up refining weapons?" Yunhai asked back.

“I’ve made a great discovery here,” Yun Gui said. “This might be an opportunity for our Huai Zai lineage. By the way, have you contacted the boss yet?”

"No, the spiritual energy tide above has formed, and the talisman can't get out. You need to break the formation quickly."

"Wait a minute, I need to write these down." Yun Gui took out a new talisman.

The new talisman swept across the stone wall and quickly recorded and saved its contents. Yun Gui put the talisman away with satisfaction, but at that moment, she suddenly felt the heavens and earth tremble.

What's going on? Has the spiritual energy erupted again? She took a few steps back, stepped on the skull, and felt liquid running down her nose. It was nosebleed. The heavens and earth didn't shake; something was wrong with her body.

Click click click.

Yun Gui suddenly raised her head.

That wasn't a sound coming from her body.

The ground is covered with white bones, skeletons, and countless dead who have been silent for thousands of years, and they are now awakening.

"Waaaaaah!!!" Yunhai's scream suddenly came from the talisman: "Something is grabbing my arm, Yun, Yun Gui, something is coming out of the crack in the rock!"

The skeleton leaning against the weapon-refining record suddenly sprang up.

Its speed was extremely fast, but Yun Gui's reaction was not slow either. This place was rich in spiritual energy, not to mention that she was holding her natal magic weapon. She retreated to avoid the skeleton's attack and chopped down the measuring ruler in her hand from above.

boom.

"Yun Gui, how are you?" Yun Hai's voice asked.

"I'm fine, just be careful over there," Yun Gui said.

Her voice suddenly stopped because the sound transmission talisman had burned out. Whose voice was that just now?

The skeleton in the distance rose up, creaking and making a sound like the sea of ​​clouds: "How are you? How are you?" It was imitating the sound of the sea of ​​clouds.

Yun Gui grew increasingly terrified and swung the Measuring Ruler in his hand again, this time unleashing even stronger spiritual energy, which formed a crescent-shaped attack.

boom!

Large numbers of skeletons were annihilated by spiritual energy.

Yun Gui took out a new communication talisman: "Yun Hai, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. You suddenly went silent just now, which startled me!" Yunhai said. "I've dealt with the things that popped up. Something's not right here. Have you found the array's core? If not, I'll come down and help you."

"Don't come down," Yun Gui said. "No matter what happens, stay up there. It's your responsibility to protect the disciples of our lineage."

"Yunhai, no matter what, one of us must survive. The big plan is about to begin, and the master cannot be left alone."

A deafening roar shook the earth; this time it wasn't Yun Gui's imagination, the entire underground space was trembling violently. The rock layers overhead, unmoved for millennia, groaned deeply, and debris rained down. The sound of gears turning filled the air, and the broken sword seemed to come alive.

"The sword is moving!?" Yun Gui wondered if he was hallucinating. "What's going on? Is the earth's energy about to cause it to collapse? Or is it...?"

The surrounding skeletons were moving, rising one by one from the ground. A mournful wail echoed through the earth, as if some being was weeping.

Yun Gui was determined to break the formation as soon as possible, so he flew up on his sword, holding the Measuring Ruler in his hand.

With her natal magic weapon, she quickly understood the structure of the great formation. The center point was right there, she could see it clearly. The formation eye was in the center of the sword, and all she had to do was destroy that.

"I'm about to break the formation," Yun Gui said. "Yun Hai, fly upwards."

"how about you?"

Spiritual energy intertwined with the earth's vein energy, causing it to erupt.

Buzz!

The storm formed by spiritual energy and earth veins stretched to the heavens and the earth; from a distance, only a beam of light could be seen.

Ming Huaiwei, who was talking to Lu Yueyuan, suddenly looked up in that direction.

“That’s where Yunhai and Yungui disappeared,” she said.

“Now that we’ve decided, let’s go,” Lu Yueyuan said. “I’ll go with you.”

"Okay." Ming Huai nodded slightly.

Just as the two were about to set off, a long horn sounded throughout the entire Jiuyi Sect.

woo-

This was the voice summoning the nine guardians; clearly, others had also noticed the anomaly at Wuming Peak.

However, only the sect leader can use this horn, which means that the investigation on the other side has ended and Su Zhaoran has become the sect leader.

"The clarion call of the sect leader's lineage." Ming Huaiwei's face was grim. "Su Zhaoran has already become the sect leader? That's impossible, the grand ceremony hasn't even been held yet."

Lu Yueyuan also looked in the direction of the horn.