Chapter 386: Chill

As Jing Zhengyang endured his torment, several streams of light came tearing through the air at the far edge of the sky.

Among these people, besides three Void-Piercing Realm cultivators, was Mo You, a Void-Refining Realm peak master. Yet even with this Void-Refining Realm peak master present, the group still seemed to be led by a single Void-Piercing Realm cultivator.

This Void-Piercing cultivator was none other than young sect master Lang Ya, the direct disciple of Zong Wenxian and the one the sect leader was grooming as the future lord of the southern domain. He had rushed over from the northern domain.

"Family Head Jing, how is the situation? Have the Yin Lunar Sect fiendish cultivators who invaded the Southern Capital been subjugated?" Lang Ya said, then added at once, "I was traveling in the northern domain when I heard the southern domain was in trouble, and I mustered men to come to its aid the moment I could."

Jing Zhengyang glanced at the young sect master. Aid? It's more like coming to take over the territory.

Once Yaoguang died, the southern domain would surely return under the sect master's control.

Wu Changfeng's performance had clearly fallen short as of late, so there was no chance the southern domain would be left in his hands to govern. The sect master's direct disciple, who was only a hair's breadth from the Void-Refining Realm, would likely take charge of the southern domain on his behalf.

It would let him grow familiar with the role of the southern domain's lord ahead of time.

But that was if everything went smoothly. The present situation was...

"I don't know the precise state of things inside the Southern Capital either. Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang seems to have had someone modify the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array. Now the array completely cuts the Southern Capital off from the outside. No word can get out, and no word can get in," Jing Zhengyang said.

"Cut off from the outside..." Lang Ya said in a low voice. "Is it possible that the Southern Capital has already fallen, that the Yin Lunar Sect's fiendish cultivators are now finding a way to seize control of the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array, meaning to use the Southern Capital as a base to swallow up the entire southern domain, seizing these forty-nine states from our sect?"

Jing Zhengyang started, faintly guessing at something. "Then what does Young Sect Master Lang Ya plan to do?"

"We force the grand array open from the outside! We cannot let the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array fall into the Yin Lunar Sect's hands! Otherwise, with the power of two Void-Shattering experts and five fiendish cultivators, plus the power of this array, the Southern Capital will become a grave threat to our sect!" Lang Ya spoke with ringing certainty. "Supreme Elder Jing Yuntian, Supreme Elder Chi Yun, and Supreme Elder Gu Li have all come. And Supreme Elder Zhen Xuanyuan has already gathered men and is ready to act..."

He paused at this. "The teleportation array linking the sect to the Southern Capital malfunctioned, and the supreme elders went to the border first, which is why it has come to this. But once we enter the Southern Capital and recalibrate the Southern Capital's teleportation array, the sect's experts will be able to come directly through the teleportation array and answer this enormous crisis of the Yin Lunar Sect massing troops at the border."

Malfunction, indeed. Jing Zhengyang naturally knew what that was about. Most likely it was not only the teleportation array that had "malfunctioned." The Recording Stones in that area had probably "broken" at just the right moment too.

That way, when the time came, nothing at all could be traced. But he naturally would not say any of this aloud. He merely nodded firmly. "Then we'll do as you say."

"Good. I'll gather the supreme elders at once and use the array sigils left by the Dao Lord to force the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array open." Lang Ya quickly began sending word.

His pretext was high-sounding. But Jing Zhengyang knew what was really going on.

The Yin Lunar Sect using the Southern Capital as a foothold to invade the southern domain? It was obviously only an excuse.

The array had held for half a month, and the most likely outcome was that Yaoguang's lineage had not lost. They might even hold the upper hand. Under such circumstances, forcing the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array open was the most advantageous choice for Lang Ya.

If Yaoguang and the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord and the others were locked in a stalemate, then their arrival to slay the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord would count as a great merit, and that merit would be theirs.

If there was someone behind Yaoguang who had trapped the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord and was now exterminating these fiendish cultivators, then opening the array would let them pluck the ripe fruit just as smoothly, while also erasing certain information that ought to be erased.

Either way, it was better than standing idly by.

"I'll gather men at once to meet the coming battle," Jing Zhengyang said quickly.

"No need. The three of us are more than enough to deal with these Yin Lunar Sect fiendish cultivators." A psychic thought came at that moment.

Then a flying-vessel-type void Dao Artifact came shooting in like a stream of light. When it halted, the three supreme elders, Jing Yuntian, Chi Yun, and Gu Li, appeared at once.

Of the three, both Jing Yuntian and Gu Li were Void-Shattering experts on good terms with Zong Wenxian.

"The Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array has yet to close. With the power Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang commands, there's no way he could hold out against the Yin Lunar Sect's Eight Desolations and Dark Fiend Lords for so long. There's a high chance the Southern Capital has already fallen. To keep the crisis from spreading to the whole southern domain, I'll use the backup sigils and force the grand array open!" The moment Jing Yuntian arrived, he made his decision.

"Wait. Let's try to contact Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang inside the array first. If Deputy Sect Master Yaoguang is at the critical moment of using the array to slay the Eight Desolations and Dark Fiend Lords, and you suddenly force the array open and let those two Void-Shattering fiendish cultivators seize the chance to escape, what then?" Chi Yun objected.

The deputy sect master he backed was Shen Junyan, who did not follow the same line as sect master Zong Wenxian.

"No one knows what's actually happening inside the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array right now. Rashly making contact could easily alert the enemy. We do as Supreme Jing Yuntian says and force the array open. As for the two Void-Shattering fiendish cultivators escaping? With the three of us here, are we afraid we can't stop them?" Gu Li said in turn.

"But..." Chi Yun still had more to say.

But Jing Yuntian, who held the backup sigils for the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array, had already moved to the topmost point of the array, the position corresponding to the domain lord's residence.

He abruptly roused the sigils in his hand and struck down at the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array. As ring after ring of ripples spread from the point of impact, the entire Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array churned violently.

"On guard!" Jing Yuntian shouted.

At the same time, he secretly gave Jing Zhengyang a look. Noticing it, Jing Zhengyang nodded quietly and immediately struck a posture as if facing a powerful foe.

Struck by the sigils that controlled the array, the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array shook for a moment, but the array did not open. It still maintained its seal, keeping the inside from the outside.

This result left Jing Yuntian slightly stunned. "How can this be?"

He looked at the backup sigils he had driven into the array, wondering if he had brought the wrong thing. Fortunately, this state lasted only a moment before the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array opened again.

Brilliant streams of light rippled out in all directions, opening a small gap in the array. Through this gap, those at the topmost point of the array could finally see the scene unfolding within the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array.

And what first met their eyes was a grotto-heaven stretching over a thousand kilometers across.

Within that vast grotto-heaven, a heavenly fiend origin, formidable beyond measure in essence yet incredibly weakened, was churning ceaselessly, trying to escape. But it was subjugated by the grotto-heaven and could not break free in the slightest.

Not far off, two Void-Refining fiendish cultivators had already been subjugated by the Dao Artifact Heaven-Sealing Stele.

Two more Void-Refining fiendish cultivators were resisting, but they were being set upon by Wu Changfeng, Qi Sha, Ling Ruogu, Chi Yu, and the others, their lives likewise hanging by a thread.

This scene left everyone slightly stunned. But the moment they sensed the identity of the owner of the heavenly fiend origin being refined by that grotto-heaven, everyone drew a sharp breath, whether it was the Void-Piercing and Void-Refining cultivators like Lang Ya, Mo You, and Jing Zhengyang, or the three Void-Shattering supreme elders Jing Yuntian, Chi Yun, and Gu Li.

"That's... the Dark Fiend Lord?! The Dark Fiend Lord's heavenly fiend origin?!"

"The Dark Fiend Lord's fiendish body has been shattered?"

"Is this Yaoguang's grotto-heaven?! Is he refining the heavenly fiend origin of the Dark Fiend Lord, a Void-Shattering fiendish cultivator?!"

Only a moment after being shaken by the sight of the Dark Fiend Lord's heavenly fiend origin being refined, they were struck by an even more crucial question.

"And the other Void-Shattering fiendish cultivator?"

"The other one is the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord, isn't he? Where has the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord gone? I don't sense his aura anywhere in the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array!"

"Can someone tell me what on earth happened inside this array over a mere half month?"

The Eight Desolations Fiend Lord had vanished without a trace. The Dark Fiend Lord was being refined. Two Void-Refining Realm fiendish cultivators were subjugated. And two more Void-Refining fiendish cultivators were being hunted down, clearly about to give out.

All of it seemed to lay bare a terrible truth before the world. They had lost! The Yin Lunar Sect had attacked, sending both their Void-Shattering fiendish cultivators and five Void-Refining fiendish cultivators to charge into the Southern Capital, and the result was a crushing defeat!

Not only had two of the Void-Refining fiendish cultivators been subjugated, but the Dark Fiend Lord, a Void-Shattering expert, was in the very midst of being refined.

As for the vanished Eight Desolations Fiend Lord... Thinking of that Yin Lunar Sect supreme elder, who had been the one to launch this campaign of revenge, everyone, even the three Void-Shattering supreme elders Jing Yuntian, Chi Yun, and Gu Li, felt an uncontainable chill.

"So you've finally seen fit to come." Just then, Yaoguang's psychic thought came out from within the array. "Though the manner of it wasn't very friendly. Forcing the array open? Someone who didn't know better might think you were trying to open a passage for the Yin Lunar Sect's fiendish cultivators to escape."

Jing Yuntian could not spare a thought for any of that and asked quickly, "Yaoguang, where is the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord? And in your grotto-heaven, is that..."

"The Dark Fiend Lord, of course. As a Void-Shattering supreme elder, surely you can recognize the heavenly fiend origin of one of our sect's greatest enemies." Facing the Void-Shattering Realm supreme elder, Yaoguang answered calmly. "As for the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord... He dared to lead a force to attack my Southern Capital, so he naturally had to pay the price for his actions. Two days ago, his heavenly fiend origin was fully refined by me."

Even though they had already had their guesses, in that instant Jing Yuntian, Gu Li, Jing Zhengyang, Lang Ya, and the others still could not help widening their eyes. The hidden agents of the various sects watching in secret could not help drawing sharp breaths either.

"How is that possible?"

The two Void-Refining fiendish cultivators caught in the hunt suddenly erupted with forbidden techniques, seemingly trying to break out of the encirclement of Qi Sha, Wu Changfeng, and the others and make a desperate run for their lives while the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array was open.

But before they could even break out of the array's range, the power of Yaoguang's grotto-heaven erupted and drew them both inside.

"As you can all see, the battle isn't over yet. Forgive me for being unable to receive you properly." As Yaoguang spoke, the Heavenly Dragon-Slaying Array, which had been opened, shook and began to close once more.

Seeing this, Jing Yuntian was about to make a move and force his way into the array. But at that moment, Yaoguang's psychic thought came again. "By the way, fiendish cultivators are ferocious, so don't any of you enter the array lightly. Otherwise, once trapped inside and caught at an opening by a Void-Shattering fiendish cultivator, even you supreme elders, at the Void-Shattering Realm as you are, would likely be in mortal danger. Wouldn't you?"

These words, carrying a hidden threat, made the supreme elders Jing Yuntian and Gu Li freeze in their tracks.

At the thought of the Eight Desolations Fiend Lord, already fully refined, and the Dark Fiend Lord, being refined and on the verge of death, the two supremes felt as if they had plunged into an ice pit.

They watched helplessly as Yaoguang vanished into the array, no longer daring to advance.