Sword light rained down, blazing intensely, sweeping in all directions.
The area was devastated, with terrifying energy destroying everything around, tearing apart all structures.
The elders were petrified, unleashing all their life-saving techniques to protect themselves.
But how could they defend against it? The brilliant sword light was simply too terrifying, easily slicing through defensive treasures, armor, and the like into fragments, and then piercing their bodies.
Fortunately, this was the heartland of the Tongtian Sect, cultivated for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, with countless guardian formations and restrictions laid down. They ultimately managed to neutralize the energy unleashed by the pulsating runes.
The scene was a mess, with large areas reduced to ruins and extremely heavy losses.
The elders were riddled with holes, barely resembling humans.
However, as cultivators of the Immortal God Realm, their life essence had undergone a qualitative leap. As long as their true spirits remained intact, they were difficult to kill, hence they were still breathing.
They activated their divine abilities, swallowed various elixirs, and surged with immense vital energy, beginning to repair their damaged bodies.
It took a full several hours for them to recover their original state, but their auras were incredibly weak, and their bodies were almost drained.
The group exchanged glances, still shaken.
"What happened? That cluster of runes that just appeared, it seems to be the imperial decree we sent to frame someone."
"It seems like it, but not quite. There's a clear difference."
"Could it be that our skills are lacking, and the decree we condensed had a flaw, thus causing a backlash?"
These elders discussed, their expressions extremely solemn.
The methods they used to create the decree were derived from the patterns on the sect's Holy Sword.
Besides two characters on the sword body that they had never been able to fully comprehend, the Holy Sword was covered in innate formation patterns.
Over the years, through countless generations of study, the Tongtian Sect had grasped some superficial aspects of these formation patterns, yielding astonishing results.
But they had never encountered such a变故 (biàn gù - unforeseen event), so for a time, they were unsure of what exactly had happened.
"This is truly bizarre. It's impossible that someone altered the runes to harm us, right?"
One of the elders cursed, feeling extremely indignant.
They had intended to frame others, but ended up falling victim themselves; it was truly absurd.
Another elder shook his head: "How is that possible? Besides our Tongtian Sect, who understands such profound and mysterious unique formation patterns? It's likely that when we jointly created the decree, we triggered more advanced applications of the formation patterns, leading to this outcome."
The group pondered, finding this explanation plausible and reasonable.
Subsequently, they became incredibly excited.
They had witnessed and personally experienced the power unleashed by that cluster of runes just moments ago.
If they could master this power, who else would be a match for their Tongtian Sect? Unifying the Immortal Spirit Realm would be a simple matter.
Rumble...
Just then, the ground shook violently.
An incredibly brilliant sword light ignited, shooting straight into the sky.
The sky, like a mirror, was instantly torn open with a rift spanning ten thousand miles, the firmament almost split in two.
The elders were dumbfounded on the spot!
The power of this sword strike was truly terrifying. Fortunately, it was aimed at the sky. If it had struck the earth, would the Tongtian Sect cease to exist?
"That's the aura of our sect's Holy Sword. What's going on? Has the Holy Sword awakened?"
They were overjoyed and rushed towards the sacred land where the Holy Sword was kept.
It was known that the founding ancestor of their Tongtian Sect was merely an ordinary shepherd boy who, blessed by destiny, found half a stone sword that fell from the heavens.
Unexpectedly, he rose to prominence from then on, astonishing everyone, and eventually founded the Tongtian Sect.
Although the Tongtian Sect obtained the Holy Sword, they had never truly possessed it; no one had ever been able to unleash the true power of that half stone sword from beginning to end.
Now that the Holy Sword had suddenly displayed its might, could it signify an opportunity, that it might be willing to recognize a master?
Apart from the elders, other disciples of the Tongtian Sect also realized this, and all rushed towards the sacred land, eager to be the lucky ones.
...
On Ji Mo's side, there was also a commotion.
The captives widened their eyes, waiting to see Ji Mo die on the spot.
But the result?
Under the bombardment of destructive power, Ji Mo was unharmed, not a scratch.
Murong Guan cursed inwardly, lamenting the Tongtian Sect's useless framing tactics.
Seemingly grand and possessing world-destroying power, they couldn't even touch a single hair on Ji Mo.
Mo Lun had already collapsed to the ground, it was over, his three legs were probably lost.
Ying Menglong couldn't help but stomp her foot, feeling annoyed: "That damned bean sprout, making me worry for nothing. This scoundrel, what cultivation level does he have? He's hiding it so deeply."
She stared at Ji Mo, finding him increasingly mysterious and wanting to understand him thoroughly.
The expression in the eyes of the Nether Clan Empress towards Ji Mo completely changed.
She had the highest cultivation in the field and was most aware of the power contained within that imperial decree. She also understood how miraculous Ji Mo's method of subduing the decree and turning it to his own use was.
This was definitely within the domain of a Divine Array Master!
"Him? He's a Divine Array Master?"
The Nether Clan Empress looked at Ji Mo, but no matter how she looked at him, this lecherous fellow didn't seem like someone of that caliber, lacking any air of a master, acting like a simpleton.
She quickly walked up to Ji Mo and asked eagerly, "What did you just do? Tell me, quickly."
"It's very simple, first like this, then like that, and it's done."
Ji Mo explained briefly. In his eyes, it was nothing, as simple as drinking water, with no difficulty.
But the Nether Clan Empress listened as if she were lost in a fog. Their understanding of array formations and runes was simply not on the same level.
She was eager to learn and felt the need for deeper communication. Without any hesitation, she took Ji Mo's hand and impatiently pulled him towards the nearby woods.
Discussing such supreme mysteries naturally couldn't be known to outsiders; they needed to find a quiet, secluded place.
The Fourth General beside them was dumbfounded and exclaimed, "Your Majesty, you women are so insincere. You just said you wouldn't be proactive or throw yourself at someone, but now you're eagerly pulling Mr. Ji into the woods. Your Majesty, you are the Emperor of our Nether Clan, and it concerns our race's dignity. When you should be reserved, you must be reserved!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire scene fell silent.
The phrase "pulling into the woods" was too suggestive.
Moreover, in reality, the Nether Clan Empress was indeed forcibly dragging Ji Mo into the woods, looking very eager, which made people unable to help but overthink.
At this moment, the Nether Clan Empress wished she could slap the Fourth General to death.
What "pulling into the woods"? Can your dog mouth spit out ivory?
"Behave yourself, please behave yourself. I am truly not a casual man."
Ji Mo quickly broke free, not allowing her to succeed.
Honestly, in broad daylight, under the eyes of everyone, she dared to force herself.
If it were a dark and windy night with no one around, wouldn't she be pushed down on the spot?
The Nether Clan Empress's fair, tender face turned dark with anger. Now, it was truly impossible to explain. Her pure reputation had been ruined by these two damned scoundrels.