Gateway of Immortality

Qin Sang's eyes widened, and sure enough, he saw it.

Floating in front of both Huang Tian and Wuji Sect's leader was the exact same object.

It was a strange array formed from countless fragments of Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood. While none of the fragments were as large as the one refined into his ebony sword, the combined number in the two arrays was substantial.

Altogether, they amounted to at least half an Infinite Blood Mulberry Tree.

The moment the array activated, it violently extracted every last trace of Blood Defilement Divine Light from each fragment, compressing it into a blinding sphere of blood-red light.

The process was completed in an instant. Even though the others saw it happen, there was no time to react or interfere.

This brutal method came at a heavy price. Once the Blood Defilement Divine Light had been completely drained, the fragments quickly turned pale before cracking apart.

One after another, they shattered.

Their origin had been destroyed, and they were reduced to ordinary wood.

In just a few breaths, all of the Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood fragments were ruined.

This was no different from draining a lake to catch a few fish.

It was an act of utter waste.

Qin Sang's eyes burned with fury as he screamed inwardly.

Watching this unfold felt like watching his heart bleed.

If those fragments had been given to him, he might not have been able to raise his ebony sword to the level of a top-grade astra, but crafting a high-grade astra would have been entirely possible.

He would never have to worry about enhancing the ebony sword again.

But no one paid any attention to what Qin Sang might have wanted.

At the moment the blood-red light flared, Daoist Zhenyi immediately understood what the red-haired grandmaster had been warning about. The others also saw that something was clearly wrong with the two men.

Up ahead, the aura of Sin Abyss surged with menace.

Wuji Sect's leader and Huang Tian had been bought off by the Sin Abyss.

The Small Polaris Array could only withstand part of the divine wind within the celestial array. All the Spiritual Infant cultivators had to summon their own astras as an extra layer of defense.

Because they were also protecting their disciples, nearly everyone chose their strongest astras, most of which were life-bound astras.

If the Blood Defilement Divine Light were released now, those astras would be tainted. Losing their power was secondary; there would be no time to summon other astras.

The Sin Abyss clearly had no intention of giving them a chance to respond.

The Small Polaris Array was not designed for combat. If their astras were disabled and they were left exposed to the ever-present winds, escape would be impossible. Death would be their only outcome.

If the leadership of both domains were annihilated here, the Sin Abyss would be able to take control of the three domains without lifting another finger.

It was a vicious and calculated trap.

The Spiritual Infant cultivators of the Tianxing Alliance were horrified. Meanwhile, Huang Tian and Wuji Sect's leader wore crazed smiles.

"Detonate."

The two of them had already prepared their escape routes. With a loud shout, they prepared to detonate the blood spheres.

However, at that critical moment, Wuji Sect's leader's smile froze on his face. Reflected in his pupils were countless streaks of light from astras. Terror spread across his expression.

"You..."

Wuji Sect's leader could never have imagined that, after receiving Daoist Master Chongyi's warning, the red-haired grandmaster and the others had already taken precautions against him.

They had believed Wuji Sect's leader was only colluding with the Tianxing Alliance. None of them had guessed he had already been bought off by the Sin Abyss and would make his move inside the celestial array.

Even so, their reaction was far faster than that of the Tianxing Alliance.

In the blink of an eye, a barrage of powerful strikes from numerous astras overwhelmed Wuji Sect's leader.

With so many Spiritual Infant cultivators attacking together, and a flood of multicolored brilliance lighting up the surroundings, Wuji Sect's leader was unable to mount any defense. His life-bound spiritual sword was shattered instantly.

Boom!

A thunderous explosion followed. Wuji Sect's leader, along with the few Golden Core cultivators he had brought to protect, was completely obliterated.

For this mission, Wuji Sect's leader had only brought one disciple who was near the end of his lifespan. The rest were either disciples from sects affiliated with Wuji Sect or rogue cultivators. It was clear that he had brought them to be sacrificed.

Now, they were reduced to dust along with him.

As the wave of astra strikes began to fade, a damaged Spiritual Infant suddenly darted out through a gap in the attack. It looked like a miniature version of Wuji Sect's leader, his face filled with panic and desperation.

But with so many Spiritual Infant cultivators surrounding him, Wuji Sect's leader had no chance to flee. The moment he appeared, a sword light that had been held in reserve pierced through him. The one who struck was Dongyang Bo.

In a single breath, Wuji Sect's leader was slain, body and soul both destroyed.

Unfortunately, although they had managed to kill Wuji Sect's leader , they had still failed to stop the Blood Defilement Divine Light from erupting.

The move had come far too unexpectedly. No one had imagined that the Sin Abyss would use Infinite Blood Mulberry Wood against them.

Fortunately, they had already been guarding against Wuji Sect's leader. Their response had been swift and decisive. With a single thunderous strike, they eliminated him and simultaneously scrambled to maneuver their astra to evade the explosion, buying themselves a few precious seconds.

However, the people standing closest to Wuji Sect's leader were not so lucky.

The first to suffer was Leng Yuntian.

He had been standing nearest to Wuji Sect's leader and had also been focused on maintaining the Small Polaris Array.

Above his head floated a dark iron tower.

The tower had nine levels. A gourd-shaped carving sat at its summit, giving off a faint golden glow. Each level of the tower was divided into eight sides, each with a window. The lowest level had a door, all of which were shut tight.

The ancient characters "Fivefold Tower" were etched into the side.

The tower itself was only the size of a palm, radiating a soft black light that enveloped Leng Yuntian and his disciples. On the surface, it looked entirely unremarkable, quietly unassuming.

Yet, just moments ago when they were attacking Wuji Sect's leader, the tower had released a powerful image that shone brilliantly.

It played a crucial role in crushing Wuji Sect's leader's life-bound spiritual sword, not even allowing him the chance to catch his breath.

Unfortunately, even something as powerful as the Fivefold Tower was not spared when it was engulfed by the Blood Defilement Divine Light.

The divine light was so dense it resembled a basin of fresh blood splashed across the sky.

The moment it flooded over the tower, the black light vanished, and both the golden glow from the gourd-shaped carving and the tower's aura were completely extinguished. What was once an already dark tower now looked like a dull, charred lump. It tilted suddenly and dropped from Leng Yuntian's head.

At the very least, it would take him several months of nurturing to restore the tower's power.

"My Fivefold Tower!" Leng Yuntian cried out in pain, clutching the tower in his arms. He tried to activate it, but it had grown sluggish and unresponsive. Within Ziwei Palace, it was completely useless. The grief in his voice was overwhelming.

He was not the only one who suffered. Grandmaster Bing Han of Xuling Sect was also affected. Her outer robe, originally a protective astra, had been defiled and turned into nothing more than rough cloth and thorns.

Bing Han shook her head. Her heart ached, but she did not lose her composure like Leng Yuntian.

Aside from them, one demonic cultivator also had poor luck. The rest, however, had managed to barely operate their astras in time to flee from the eruption. Though splashed with some of the divine light, their losses were within acceptable limits.

Chenyan had flashed forward to shield Qin Sang and the others, using one of her own astras as a sacrifice to protect them. If she hadn't, the five-elemental beast seal might have been severely damaged as well.

The Blood Defilement Divine Light burst out quickly and faded just as fast.

Overall, the Small Cold Domain had suffered minimal losses in terms of strength.

But the Tianxing Alliance was not so fortunate. Their response had been too slow. Not only had Huang Tian managed to detonate his Blood Defilement Divine Light, he had also broken through their encirclement and escaped.

Their astras, to varying degrees, had been tainted by the divine light.