Yun Xi broke into a cold sweat. This array was designed to erase every trace, a complete extermination with no survivors left behind.
She retracted the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff and gripped a mid-grade spirit stone in each hand, rapidly replenishing her dwindling spiritual power.
Even in that moment, she found time to glance at Qin Tongshuang and Zhang Yan beside her. Both were late-stage Qi Refining cultivators. She wasn't sure if they could hold on.
Qin Tongshuang had sealed herself within thousand-year ice, halting the loss of her spiritual energy. But Zhang Yan didn't have such treasures. He had already collapsed to the ground, his body slowly disintegrating.
"Zhang Yan!"
The red string around Mu Ningzhu's wrist recoiled on its own, a silent sign that the person on the other end had perished.
Mu Ningzhu's eyes turned red. She could only clench the spirit stone in her hand to avoid following the same fate.
Yun Xi fixed her gaze on the nine arrays overhead, her mind racing for a solution. She didn't notice the faint glow of the floral mark between her brows. It shimmered and faded, silently resisting the array's pull on her soul.
"Fellow cultivators," a voice echoed from above. "Li humbly thanks all of you for remaining here to attend my Dao companion ceremony. I also appreciate your sacrifice. Thanks to you, my Qiu Shui will return."
A figure in white appeared above the Ninefold Sacrificial Array. As he spoke, he waved his sleeve, releasing a crystal coffin that descended to the array's core. All the spiritual power gathered by the array began to flow into that coffin.
"Li Zhēnrén, what are you trying to do?"
"Li Cangyuan, you twisted cultivator!"
"Does City Lord Li even know what you're doing? Just for one dead woman, you're sacrificing an entire city's worth of people. Are you not afraid your Dao heart will collapse?"
"Spare us, Li Zhēnrén! Please, let us go!"
"Stop this madness!"
The crowd erupted. When life was at stake, no one stayed quiet.
"Hmph! It was all of you who killed my Qiu Shui. You must pay for it with your lives!"
Li Cangyuan's voice was commanding and frenzied.
"Spouting nonsense!" someone immediately retorted. "This is the first time we've even entered Shuangshan City. We've never seen the person you're talking about. How could we have killed her?"
Yun Xi, however, noticed something different. The cultivators who had been inexplicably pulled into this space wore uneasy expressions. Clearly, they were not so innocent.
"Haha! So what if that's true?" Li Cangyuan sneered. "You entered the city with the real culprits. That's reason enough."
He was clearly on the edge of madness. It was obvious he had waited a long time for this day.
Yun Xi nearly rolled her eyes. This man was delusional. If he wanted revenge, he should have hunted down those truly responsible. Why drag innocent bystanders into it?
"As long as I sacrifice you all, Qiu Shui will come back to life!"
Li Cangyuan's expression turned savage. He had spent years setting this up, seizing the moment his father entered deep seclusion to ensure no one could stop him. Now that the array was active, success was within reach.
The spirit stones in Yun Xi's hands crumbled into powder. She took out two more mid-grade stones and shouted up at him:
"Your beloved is dead. The dead cannot return to life. Are you certain this wicked formation will call back her true soul? If you love her so much, why not give up your own flesh and cultivate the ghost path, then go join her in death?"
Li Cangyuan's gaze locked on Yun Xi. Upon seeing it was just a young girl, he gave a chilling laugh.
"I will bring Qiu Shui back to my side. We will ascend to the Spirit Realm together, even to the Immortal Realm. You insects are only worthy of becoming offerings. It is your honor to die for her return."
Yun Xi almost laughed from sheer outrage. Just because their cultivation was weaker, they deserved to be crushed underfoot like ants?
Even as they argued, more cultivators were turning to ash. The ones barely holding on now saw just how dangerous things had become. The more people died, the more stable the array became.
"Zhu Daoyou, have you found the array's weakness?"
Someone called out to the formation expert who had spoken earlier.
Zhu Lin was shielded by a formation disk, blocking the suction from the Ninefold Sacrificial Array. While calculating with a compass, he looked up and said:
"This formation can only be destroyed by a Nascent Soul cultivator. And it must be attacked from both the inside and outside at the same time, or by striking the array's core. Otherwise, no one's getting out of here."
As he finished, he glanced at the crystal coffin above—the heart of the array.
Everyone's face darkened. This was clearly impossible. None of them had reached Nascent Soul stage. They couldn't even get close to the coffin.
Just as Yun Xi was considering whether to retreat into her own pocket space, Dian Dian's voice echoed in her mind.
"Master, what's going on? Dian Dian's spiritual energy is vanishing!"
Yun Xi suddenly remembered that Dian Dian was still curled up in her arms. She replied through voice transmission:
"Dian Dian, we're trapped in a Ninefold Sacrificial Array. It's draining the spiritual power of everyone caught inside. Once that runs out, death follows."
Dian Dian twitched its little paw and whimpered.
"But Master, Dian Dian was just about to break through to Tier Two. I was this close! Now I wake up just to die?"
Yun Xi's thoughts moved quickly. She asked:
"Will your advancement trigger heavenly tribulation?"
"Yes!" Dian Dian replied. "The heavens are fair. Cultivators face tribulation to break through. So do we spirit beasts."
"If you had enough spiritual power, could you try to ascend and bring the lightning?"
"I think so?"
Dian Dian's answer wasn't completely confident.
Yun Xi knew this space had been isolated from the outside world. She didn't know whether the tribulation lightning could be summoned here. Even if it could, Dian Dian might not survive it. With so many cultivators nearby, the lightning would be massive.
But she also knew heavenly tribulation targeted all evil. Especially those summoned during a breakthrough. If anything could shatter a wicked array, it would be thunder from the heavens.
No more hesitation.
She placed Dian Dian into her inner space and told it to cultivate with the Xianling Grass, pushing toward the edge of advancement. If she waited too long, she might not survive long enough to try.
When the Xianling Grass saw the little black-eared mouse appear suddenly, it was startled. Then Yun Xi's instructions arrived. Though the herb was clearly a bit disdainful of Dian Dian, it didn't stop the effort. It shook its leaves gently and released a soft green glow that bathed Dian Dian's body.
Dian Dian could sense its master's danger. It immediately began frantically absorbing spiritual energy. It would save its master no matter what.
Meanwhile, half the cultivators caught in the array had already perished. The ones left were mostly Golden Core and late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Zuo Die'er and Ming Ya were cowering inside a bell-shaped spiritual treasure, panic etched into their faces. They deeply regretted following Zhou Langchen. Romantic feelings didn't matter when your life was on the line.
Li Cangyuan's eyes glowed with increasing brilliance. He muttered to himself:
"Qiu Shui… soon. You're coming back soon…"
Suddenly, a beam of golden light struck Li Cangyuan square in the back. His body, hovering over the array, jolted violently and plummeted toward the crystal coffin.
A voice rang out, hoarse with age.
"Cangyuan, stop this at once! What you're doing is no different from a evil cultivator!"
Everyone craned their necks to look into the sky, trying to find the speaker. But no figure appeared. Still, someone recognized the voice and cried out:
"It's City Lord Li! He's emerged from seclusion!"
"City Lord Li, save us!"
Cries for help surged from every corner.
But Li Cangyuan didn't move. He sprawled over the crystal coffin, madly absorbing the spiritual power within the array's core. His own cultivation was steadily climbing, fed by the stolen lives of hundreds.