Chapter 293 - Unexpected Allies and the Final Connection

Chapter 293: Chapter 293 - Unexpected Allies and the Final Connection

Su Bai recovered from his surprise quickly.

His spiritual sense swept through the enormous space once more, searching specifically for anything that could help with the crisis outside.

There were far more treasures than he had expected.

Ancient formation components filled several sections of the ring, all preserved beneath individual restrictions. Bundles of spirit-conducting materials remained untouched by age, while refined ores and crystals had been separated according to properties Su Bai could only recognize because of what he had learned from the Court.

What surprised him even more were the Boundary Pillars.

He had already recovered seven from the outposts inside Fallen-Star Sanctuary, yet several more stood inside this ring. Their surfaces were pristine and their inscriptions were completely intact.

There were also large quantities of sealing materials. They had been organized with the kind of care expected from someone who might need to establish a powerful seal without warning.

Su Bai wanted to examine all of it.

Instead, his attention settled on a formation plate stored separately from the others.

It was much larger than an ordinary array plate. Countless tiny beast-shaped inscriptions covered its surface so densely that they almost blended together when viewed from a distance.

Su Bai’s eyes narrowed.

He recognized it.

Among the formation arts left behind by the immortals was a method for creating something almost identical.

The Ten-Thousand Beast Dominion Plate.

Su Bai carefully took it out.

Lu Canghai, who had already been watching him ever since he opened the storage ring, immediately shifted his attention toward the object in his disciple’s hands.

Su Bai barely noticed.

His spiritual sense was already moving across the formation plate.

Creating something like this was extraordinarily difficult. The formation itself was Sect-Scale, yet someone had compressed the entire structure into a portable plate that could be activated almost anywhere.

The most troublesome part of its construction was not even the formation.

It required an enormous number of beast cores.

Each core had to be refined without destroying the remnant characteristics left behind by the beast, after which thousands of them had to be integrated into the same formation structure without allowing their conflicting properties to destabilize the plate.

Once activated, the formation would use those remnants to manifest beast projections under the control of whoever operated it.

The price for such convenience was obvious.

The formation plate could only be used once.

Once the stored structure completely unfolded and exhausted the beast cores supporting it, there would be nothing left to recover.

Su Bai examined it more carefully.

A slightly strange expression appeared on his face.

It was only Low-Grade.

That did not mean the formation itself was weak. More likely, the beast cores used to create this particular plate had been considered relatively poor by whoever manufactured it.

Su Bai found that distinction strangely comforting.

Apparently, there were people who could look at a Sect-Scale formation capable of releasing thousands upon thousands of beast projections and still decide that the materials used were disappointing.

Lu Canghai finally spoke.

"My Disciple, are you planning to explain what you are holding?"

Su Bai looked toward him and handed the plate over.

Lu Canghai’s expression immediately became more serious once his spiritual sense touched it.

"This is a formation?"

"A Sect-Scale one."

Lu Canghai looked at him again.

Su Bai could almost see the question forming, so he continued before his master could ask it.

"It is compressed into the plate, which is why it can only be activated once. There are beast cores integrated throughout the formation. Once enough energy is supplied, it should manifest their projections across the formation’s range for a limited time."

Lu Canghai slowly lowered his gaze toward the plate.

He had lived long enough to see countless treasures and strange techniques, but carrying a Sect-Scale formation around in one’s storage ring was apparently still capable of surprising him.

"How much energy does it need?"

"A lot."

Lu Canghai’s eyes moved toward him.

Su Bai smiled awkwardly.

"It can be powered with Spirit Stones. Someone with enough cultivation can also support the activation directly, but using only personal Qi would be wasteful unless there was no other choice."

Lu Canghai nodded.

That was enough information.

He immediately contacted the others while Su Bai returned his attention to the storage ring.

After a short discussion, the Ten-Thousand Beast Dominion Plate was handed to Jian Wushuang.

Among the senior figures still available, he was the safest person to activate and control something of that scale while remaining capable of fighting afterward.

Su Bai watched the plate leave his hands without objection.

His attention had already returned to something else.

Deep inside the storage ring were several sealed containers holding stones that were unlike any Spirit Stones he had ever possessed.

Even through the restrictions protecting them, Su Bai could sense the difference.

The energy inside was denser, purer, and carried a quality that ordinary spiritual energy simply did not possess.

Immortal Stones.

Su Bai swallowed.

He had spent a considerable amount of time wondering what he would eventually do when his ten Dantians and increasingly unreasonable cultivation required more energy than ordinary resources could provide.

Now the answer was sitting quietly inside a dead Immortal’s storage ring.

His first instinct was to take one out and examine it properly.

His second instinct was considerably smarter.

Su Bai left them where they were.

If the energy inside really contained Immortal Qi, releasing it in the middle of a battlefield filled with Void-Shattering cultivators would be an excellent way to turn an already terrible situation into something much worse.

The Ten-Thousand Beast Dominion Plate could be activated with Spirit Stones.

They would use Spirit Stones.

Su Bai had absolutely no intention of announcing that Radiant Sky Sect suddenly possessed Immortal resources unless the situation became desperate enough to justify the consequences.

He continued scanning the ring for a short while.

Several other formation plates were stored inside, though none seemed as immediately useful as the Ten-Thousand Beast Dominion Plate. Some appeared defensive while others were related to sealing or concealment, but understanding their exact functions would require time.

The storage ring was less like someone’s personal belongings and more like a mobile reserve prepared for emergencies.

Su Bai would need days just to catalog it properly.

The battlefield gave him no such luxury.

He raised his head.

Something had changed.

The five demonic cultivators were no longer attacking Li Xuanzong with the same aggression.

Their earlier frustration had disappeared.

The black-robed cultivator connected to Su Bai’s Mark suddenly stopped advancing, and the others reacted almost immediately.

The encirclement remained, but they no longer allowed Li Xuanzong to guide their movement.

Su Bai narrowed his eyes.

They had realized what he was doing.

Five Void-Shattering cultivators might have been angry, but none of them were foolish.

Li Xuanzong had yielded ground too consistently. Every exchange had brought them gradually closer to Radiant Sky Sect, and although he had concealed his intention well, the pattern eventually became impossible to ignore.

The demonic cultivators immediately adjusted their formation, no longer giving Li Xuanzong the openings he had been exploiting.

When he advanced, they gave ground instead of meeting him. When he shifted toward another angle, they repositioned with him but refused to be drawn any closer to Radiant Sky Sect.

For a short while, the pursuit simply stopped, leaving both sides watching each other across the sky without committing to another serious exchange.

Li Xuanzong’s expression remained calm, but Su Bai noticed the slight change in his gaze.

The Sect Master had realized something as well.

While he had been buying time for Radiant Sky Sect, the other side had also been buying time.

The answer appeared moments later.

Three new auras erupted from beyond the horizon.

The pressure reached Radiant Sky Sect before the newcomers themselves became visible.

Every one of those auras carried the authority of the Void-Shattering Realm.

The expressions of several formation elders changed.

Three more demonic cultivators approached the battlefield.

The five had never intended to finish everything alone.

They had been waiting for reinforcements.

Eight Void-Shattering cultivators now stood on the demonic side.

Even Lu Canghai’s expression became more serious.

But then—

Another disturbance appeared from a completely different direction.

A pale radiance spread across the distant sky.

Lotus-shaped light appeared within the clouds before a powerful figure emerged from within it.

The Glass-Lotus Holy See had arrived.

A second Void-Shattering authority followed soon afterward.

Spatial ripples spread through the air as an expert from the Zhuge Clan approached from another direction.

They were followed by a sword intent so sharp that Su Bai could sense it even from within Radiant Sky Sect.

The Myriad Swords Sect had sent someone as well.

The final aura was considerably hotter.

Golden-red spiritual energy illuminated the horizon as a cultivator from Scorching Sun Valley appeared, His presence immediately dispersed part of the gloomy pressure produced by the demonic cultivators.

Su Bai stared at the gathering forces.

Some of those arrivals were expected, while others surprised Su Bai enough to make him look twice.

Still, they had appeared much faster than he imagined.

Apparently, unreliable communication talismans had not stopped news from spreading when enough Void-Shattering cultivators began moving.

The four newcomers did not hesitate.

They moved directly toward Li Xuanzong.

At the same time, Jian Wushuang left Radiant Sky Sect.

The Ten-Thousand Beast Dominion Plate remained in his possession as he crossed the distance between the sect and the battlefield.

When he reached Li Xuanzong, the two men looked at one another.

No words were exchanged.

None were necessary.

Six Void-Shattering cultivators now stood on the righteous side.

Eight faced them from the demonic side.

The atmosphere changed completely.

Fourteen cultivators at the peak of the current cultivation world had gathered within one region.

The Nascent Soul elders waiting inside the mortal city became silent.

Even the formation elders working throughout Radiant Sky Sect could feel the pressure gathering beyond the mountains.

The woman from the Glass-Lotus Holy See looked across the opposing group.

"You seem unusually eager to visit Radiant Sky Sect."

A demonic cultivator smiled coldly.

"Yet all of you came running the moment we arrived."

The Zhuge Clan expert glanced between them.

"You brought eight Void-Shattering cultivators to another sect’s doorstep. It would be stranger if nobody came to see what you wanted."

No one answered after that.

There was nothing useful left to say.

Both sides understood why they were standing there.

Far behind Li Xuanzong, the last circulation route beneath Radiant Sky Sect finally connected.

A deep mechanical sound traveled through the mountains.

Click.

The sound was not loud, yet it carried strangely well through the surrounding spiritual energy.

Huo Yan stared down at the command node before him.

Every formation line connected to it had stabilized.

The final gap was gone.

After several days of uninterrupted work, the Sect-Scale Formation was complete.

Most of the people gathered beyond Radiant Sky Sect had no idea what the sound meant.

Li Xuanzong and Jian Wushuang did.

Their expressions remained perfectly calm.

The two sides moved almost at the same time.

The sky erupted.