"This place is layered with secrets. A single wrong step in many areas and everything here could be reduced to ashes."
"I've observed it at length myself, but I still can't determine what method is being used."
"Seniors, please follow my footsteps precisely. One misstep and the grand formation could be destroyed."
Before the crimson light pillar, Gao Fang's tone was earnest.
Li Yingling couldn't be bothered to respond. She glanced at the Second Junior Brother beside her.
Li Xingtian understood and answered coldly: "Just walk."
"Yes." Gao Fang nodded hastily, then began moving forward with slow, deliberate steps.
The crimson light pillar pulsed with intense spiritual energy fluctuations, and a peculiar sensation emanated from it ceaselessly.
Gao Fang walked at the front. His expression showed a trace of struggle.
Clearly, his earlier instinctive reaction had greatly offended this peerless beauty of a cultivator.
He knew perfectly well that the person before him was an evil cultivator — someone whose moral floor could match his own.
Gao Fang asked himself: if an ant a full major realm below him dared to offend him, and he currently needed the ant's help to accomplish something, once the task was done, that ant would at minimum be smashed into eight pieces.
It was true this body didn't matter.
But the soul-related techniques hidden within this ritual formation were absolutely what he needed.
If the job went wrong, losing the body was a minor matter. But losing the secret technique — that would be the end of everything.
Gao Fang knew well that his lifespan was nearly spent. The only solution was this ritual formation.
His beloved disciple Sun Zhong had already verified it for him behind his back. Heaven itself had given him a sign.
Only by deciphering the secrets within could he truly be reborn.
Gao Fang pondered this, and had wanted to discuss it further with Sun Zhong. His empty gaze drifted to the side, and he suddenly remembered — Sun Zhong had long since been refined into a dharma body by his own hand.
A strange feeling stirred in his chest.
Something felt wrong.
But he quickly abandoned the sensation — Sun Zhong had always been manipulated within his palm. Even the ritual to refine him into a dharma body had been walked into voluntarily.
That sense of absolute control made Gao Fang instinctively dismiss any thought that Sun Zhong could pose a threat.
Gao Fang's instincts as an evil cultivator still served as a reminder — if he did not continue demonstrating his usefulness, the moment he became useless, no amount of usefulness would matter.
Even if he served no purpose later, he needed to lay the groundwork now for future leverage.
Even if that leverage was built on lies and deception.
But as an evil cultivator, lying and deceit were second nature.
"Heavenly Demons have emerged. The Great Calamity descends." Gao Fang continued to slow his pace, buying time to formulate his words and continue speaking.
Gao Fang's voice was measured: "No matter how you look at it, the Eighteen Immortal Sects of Central Continent currently possess absolute power."
"And beyond the Eighteen Immortal Sects, the number of other immortal sects is too numerous to count."
"But if you actually compare the number of light pillars to the sects, the count may seem large, but it is pitifully small."
"If the Eighteen Immortal Sects decided to act in force, with Tribulation Transcendence cultivators running rampant, what pillar could remain standing in this world?"
"Let alone with Chu Xingchen, who carries the Heavenly Mandate, and Bai Xuanling, the only living True Immortal."
"With even these two, and the Eighteen Immortal Sects and countless righteous sects, these pillars keep rising, never ceasing."
"Seniors, do you know why?"
Li Yingling's lips curved into a faint smile. She naturally did not believe a Golden Core cultivator could possess any real insight.
Moreover, this man's babbling — as Chu Xingchen's eldest disciple with full intelligence access, she genuinely knew all the answers.
First, many of the light pillars were themselves ambushes. Approaching one was walking into a massive bomb.
Some pillars could even spawn a genuine — Tribulation Transcendence Great Perfection — Heavenly Demon.
Ordinary sects would naturally not dare to touch this bad luck.
And though the pillars seemed numerous, they were scattered across every direction, far apart and often concealed, some even shrouded in illusions to prevent mortal observation.
Beyond the external factors, internal pressures were also significant.
The Eighteen Immortal Sects had plenty of Tribulation Transcendence cultivators, but the truth was that many of them could not be deployed.
Many sects had little willingness to cooperate, and were reluctant to send their own Tribulation Transcendence cultivators to approach pillars that might spawn a Heavenly Demon.
Currently, the Eighteen Immortal Sects had only a handful of sects truly exerting themselves, and there were many other tasks demanding attention — severely limiting their options.
Furthermore, the evil cultivators, heretical sects, and demons had seized on the light pillars to spread their propaganda far and wide.
For profit, these fire-reaching-for-chestnuts types would defend the pillars, even paying a price to do so.
In the midst of great chaos, ordinary sects were obstructed by all of this.
Before the initial sect integration and deliberations concluded, these pillars would continue their rampage for some time.
Though discussing it all was rather frustrating.
When the Great Calamity loomed, some matters could only be settled through discussion.
But the most critical reason was this — there was a very high probability that these light pillars were not being used to construct a cross-realm teleportation formation.
If that was the case, then this entire matter was likely nothing more than a distraction — a deliberate ploy by the Heavenly Demons to split everyone's attention.
Li Yingling roughly understood what Gao Fang was driving at, so she personally posed the question:
"Oh? A insignificant Golden Core cultivator like you knows the full picture?"
Hearing Li Yingling speak, Gao Fang felt his odds of success had risen to at least fifty percent. He answered immediately:
"I naturally cannot understand everything, but I do know a portion of the truth."
"This ritual formation is absolutely not the teleportation formation the Heavenly Demons are rumored to be building to cross the Heavenly Demon Realm."
Gao Fang spoke these words while leading the group to the base of the ritual formation.
Crimson and writhing, strange runes combined into an intricate pattern. Supported by spiritual energy, it displayed an aura entirely different from anything in this world.
The sky-piercing light pillar flowed entirely through these runes and formations.
These runes displayed a line of thinking completely at odds with anything across the Five Continents.
An entirely different style of formation and ritual — proof that this came from a wholly separate school of thought.
Though Gao Fang could no longer see, he had memorized every rune's position and appearance. This might be his last chance to escape his current body.
"I studied it for a long time… though I can't comprehend its deeper mysteries, I've observed the direction these runes follow, the energy fluctuations they contain."
"Even though it's completely different from the formation knowledge we study now, energy always converges through different paths."
"This fluctuation is familiar to me…" Gao Fang's voice trembled. "This is a fluctuation related to the soul."
Gao Fang's expression suddenly turned manic, and he burst out:
"Sun Zhong! Sun Zhong! Did you see it?"
"Your master told you so! Your master's talent is extraordinary — my predictions are always correct!"
"Even though your talent far exceeded mine, you still lost! If only your talent could be mine… then I could comprehend everything."
"Beloved disciple Sun Zhong, won't you come help your master?"
Li Yingling's gaze sharpened as she watched Gao Fang, who had suddenly descended into a wildly different state.
The Xuanqing Tianzong Tribulation Transcendence cultivator's message arrived immediately:
"His soul is resonating with something unknown. His soul condition is in complete disarray — it seems as though it's been twisted."
Li Yingling nodded slightly at this. She regarded Gao Fang for a moment, considered, then spoke in a cold voice:
"Have you forgotten? Sun Zhong is dead!"
The previously manic Gao Fang froze. The twisted expression on his face dissolved into confusion.
Gao Fang's empty gaze swung back, his tone bewildered and alarmed:
"Dead?!"
"Then who was it that answered me?"