Ten Women

Following his instructions, the group carefully placed the ten unconscious women on the altars surrounding the cavernous pit.

Just as they were waiting for the State Preceptor’s next command, the State Preceptor, who had been preparing to begin the sacrificial refinement, suddenly turned toward the entrance. Raising an eyebrow, he said with some surprise,

“To think a formation catalyst would deliver itself right to my door.”

The moment he finished speaking, everyone in the cavern saw a middle-aged, heavily bearded man appear at the entrance, his eyes bloodshot and his entire body drenched in sweat.

The sight of the newcomer left everyone in the cavern stunned.

Yuan Jinsheng—the Golden Core cultivator!

None of them were strangers to Yuan Jinsheng. He had once been one of the Zhao imperial clan’s followers, and in the past, he had caused no end of trouble for both the imperial court and the sects of that era.

Now that the current regime and royal family had come under attack, he had become even more active.

Most importantly, over the past few days, he had been relentlessly chasing them everywhere as if his life meant nothing!

And he was powerful. On several occasions, they had nearly been abandoned by the State Preceptor and fallen into his hands.

Thus, everyone present, including the State Preceptor himself, remembered him quite vividly.

Who would have thought he would pursue them all the way here? What a suicidal madman!

The State Preceptor curled his lips in a smile.

“Yuan Jinsheng, have you come here especially to ease this State Preceptor’s burdens?”

Yuan Jinsheng, deeply affected by the Jishi stones, ignored his nonsense. Leaning on the sword in his hand, he roared,

“You cur! Give me back my son!”

His gaze swept across the chamber, and he immediately spotted his own son lying unconscious upon one of the altars.

“Yingzi! Father’s here, Yingzi. Father came too late…”

Seeing Shen Yingzi lying there utterly motionless, Yuan Jinsheng—a towering, rugged man—let out a rare, choked sob.

Using his sword as a crutch, he struggled toward Shen Yingzi.

His being ignored made the State Preceptor’s eyes darken. Turning to those around him, he ordered,

“Tie him up and throw him into the pit.”

“Ah? B-but...”

This was Yuan Jinsheng!

How could a group of lowly Foundation Establishment cultivators possibly bind him?

Seeing them hesitate, with no one daring to step forward, the State Preceptor’s face twisted with anger.

“Are you all blind? Can’t you see that he’s weaker than a dog right now? Get moving! Anyone who disobeys will find out just how unpleasant I can be.”

Only then did the Jishi cultivators have no choice but to approach Yuan Jinsheng and attempt to attack him.

Yet the instant they drew near, Yuan Jinsheng’s face flushed crimson. As though he were pouring every ounce of strength he possessed into the effort, he swung his massive sword in a sweeping horizontal strike at them!

The greatsword rang out, unleashing a fierce aura of sword qi that was truly terrifying.

But in the next instant, most of the immense sword qi from Yuan Jinsheng’s all-out blow was abruptly devoured by the surrounding Jishi stones.

The remaining force barely managed to slice through their belts.

At once, their courage swelled. One of them stepped forward and kicked him squarely in the face, sending the already-unsteady Yuan Jinsheng crashing to the ground.

Another immediately stomped on the hand gripping his greatsword.

Then a third rushed up and savagely kicked him in the stomach...

“Hahaha! Yuan Jinsheng! So you have a day like this too!”

“Never thought I’d see the day Yuan Jinsheng would fall into our hands!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be so capable? Get up!”

“You kept chasing us! You hounded us around like dogs!”

“Go on, chase us! Fight us! Get up and fight us!”

...

Fists and feet pounded heavily into his body again and again. Yet Yuan Jinsheng seemed unable to feel any pain. He merely turned his head, his eyes fixed tightly on where his son lay.

Looking at his son’s young, sleeping face, he strained to reach toward him.

“Yingzi... Father’s here...”

Seeing that the group had vented enough of their resentment—and that any further beating might kill him—the State Preceptor finally spoke up to stop them.

“That’s enough. Stop. If you beat him to death, I’ll throw all of you down there to serve as formation catalysts.”

That was what he said, but compared with Yuan Jinsheng, these Foundation Establishment cultivators were truly worthless.

Even all of them together were not worth as much as the former sovereign’s soul in the pit.

No matter what, he had once been the sovereign. Having borne the national fortune for so long, he differed from ordinary people. He was the finest possible formation catalyst for the sacrificial refinement to Lord Jixian.

As for Yuan Jinsheng, while he had no connection to the national fortune, he was the Vice Sect Master of the Kongshan Sect. He carried at least some of the sect’s vital destiny, and could likewise be used as a formation catalyst.

Once the State Preceptor had spoken, the Jishi cultivators reluctantly stopped their kicking and punching.

Then, following his command, they dragged Yuan Jinsheng toward the enormous pit at the center.

At the mercy of others, Yuan Jinsheng looked toward his son in the distance as tears silently ran down both sides of his face.

He had been too overconfident.

He had assumed that, no matter how great the Jishi stones’ influence was, he would still be able to buy some time after entering.

But as he ventured deeper, he discovered that even walking had become an immense struggle.

Every single step consumed tremendous effort.

And now, with his son right before his eyes, he could do nothing.

He could only hope that his lord would find a solution quickly.

If there truly was no other way in the end...

Then he would have no choice but to self-detonate for his son and fight for a sliver of survival.

After Yuan Jinsheng was thrown into the pit, the State Preceptor had the Jishi cultivators withdraw from the grand formation. Then he sat cross-legged within it and began forming hand seals and chanting incantations.

As one spell after another took shape, dots of red light suddenly began to glow throughout the previously dim cavern.

This red light did not spread like the rosy clouds of sunset, pleasing to the eye.

It was twisted, eerie, and sharp, stabbing painfully at the eyes.

The watching Jishi cultivators could not help but avert their gazes.

Under the influence of the formation, the ten women lying on the altars slowly rose into the air and floated there.

Then, from each of their bodies, a thread of extremely fine red light suddenly emerged. Like blood, it drew the essence blood from within them, slowly guiding it out toward the central point enclosed by the circle of ten women.

Within the great pit below, both the former sovereign’s soul and Yuan Jinsheng began to have a certain kind of qi drawn from their bodies.

A kind of qi Yuan Jinsheng had never before noticed within himself.

The qi drawn from Yuan Jinsheng was azure, while the qi extracted from the former sovereign’s soul was bright yellow.

The two streams of differently colored qi intertwined as they slowly rose, winding their way toward the central point above.

Just as the ten crimson threads and the two streams of qi were about to meet, a thunderous shout suddenly rang out from outside.

“Stop!”

The cry jolted both the Jishi cultivators and the State Preceptor within the formation awake.

They turned to look, only to see that, at some point, a mass of azure light had appeared at the entrance.

Ten people stood crowded together within that azure glow.

They were no strangers to these people either.

They were all cultivators from the allied forces who had been pursuing them during this time!

Yet they looked nothing like Yuan Jinsheng had moments earlier. Every one of them was rosy-cheeked and brimming with energy!

At the sight, several Jishi cultivators closest to the entrance instinctively backed away, retreating behind the grand formation and hiding themselves behind its crimson glow.