Chapter 744: Chapter 744

The storm had descended.

Everyone was instantly blown apart in all directions, their protective divine light flickering wildly.

Qin Sang activated his ebony sword and dashed into the screen. The moment he crossed over, it felt as though he had been struck by waves of chaotic, violent force. It was like being a floating reed caught in the rain.

In a flurry, the group struggled to stabilize themselves, barely managing to find footing within the storm.

Qin Sang channeled more true essence into the ebony sword, summoning its sword qi to form a protective shield around him. Enveloped by the storm, the world had plunged into darkness. The hurricane took on a tangible form, streaks of gray wind rampaging across heaven and earth, clearly visible to the naked eye.

Not a single moment passed calmly. The sea churned endlessly, massive waves surging sky-high under the force of the wind.

No other sound could be heard. The howling gale, crashing waves, and the thunderous roar of the sea blended into an overwhelming din that rattled their very hearts.

A colossal wave surged toward them, swelling to its peak just ahead. It towered dozens of zhang high before crashing down with terrifying force.

Everyone’s expressions changed slightly. The crushing pressure of the wave made their hearts race in dread. Not daring to hesitate, they all flew upward to evade it.

"Stay together. Don’t break formation," Xiang Yi transmitted his voice to the group.

Qin Sang and the others gathered around him, their eyes tinged with lingering fear as they stared into the depths of the storm, that gray, seemingly endless abyss.

It was in the face of such might of heaven and earth that cultivators could truly grasp how insignificant they were.

Xiang Yi activated the barrier inscribed within the jade pendant, pointed the way forward, and led the group ahead.

The wind and waves showed no sign of relenting. The further they advanced, the more terrifying the storm became. They had to weave left and right, up and down, dodging the colossal waves, inching forward through the hurricane with great difficulty.

Qin Sang’s thoughts wandered. He kept glancing around.

Having spent years tempering himself on the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, he was intimately familiar with the phenomena triggered by Spirit Tides. The more he observed this hurricane, the more it resembled those anomalies. And yet, he could not detect any trace of a Spirit Tide here.

Perhaps they simply hadn’t ventured deep enough yet.

But with their current cultivation, to delve into the heart of the storm would be sheer folly.

To withstand the hurricane, they had to constantly activate their protective astras. Their true essence was being drained at a steady, relentless pace.

On the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, whenever such phenomena struck, they could at least find refuge to recover. But here, amidst this vast ocean, not even a single island was in sight. There was nowhere to land, nowhere to rest. If their true essence ran dry, it would spell certain death.

Even over this relatively short distance, the rate of consumption had already made some feel uneasy.

"Daoist Xiang, how much farther until we reach Seven-Kill Hall?" Cui Ji asked. He had summoned the Purple Nether Orb, which hovered before his chest, releasing a purple glow that shielded his body. Reflected upon his pale, bloodless face, it made him look somewhat eerie.

Xiang Yi furrowed his brows and glanced at Cui Ji. "With everyone’s cultivation level, reaching Seven-Kill Hall before it opens will not be a problem. Please be patient, Daoist Cui."

The others could only suppress their unease and follow silently behind Xiang Yi.

They had no idea how far they had traveled. Judging by the time, there was less than half an hour left until midnight. The grand witch priest was likely already preparing to break the array.

The group picked up their pace. Fortunately, they encountered no further obstacles along the way and arrived at Seven-Kill Hall without incident.

"We’re here!" Xiang Yi called softly.

Everyone’s eyes lit up. Following his gaze, they cried out in astonishment, their faces filled with awe.

Before them stood a wall of wind made entirely of gray qi.

On closer inspection, they realized this wind wall was only a portion of the hurricane’s outer edge.

This gray qi was hurricane force condensed to its extreme. From all directions, winds appeared to be converging here, coiling into a mass like storm clouds, forming a tremendous hurricane.

They could only see part of it. Its full extent was unimaginable.

Beneath the wall of wind, a massive sea pit and whirlpool had formed, like a funnel in the ocean. At the edges rose water curtains dozens of zhang high. Seawater poured in, and yet, no matter how much was drawn in, the vortex remained unfilled.

The hurricane and the whirlpool were fused together, forming a seamless whole.

Xiang Yi signaled them to halt.

For upon reaching this place, the storm grew even more violent under the influence of the wind wall.

They had to pour all their strength into their astras just to barely hold their formation. If they advanced any farther and were caught by the storm or sucked into the whirlpool below, the consequences would be dire.

Suspended mid-air, the group stood silently.

Qin Sang recalled that before entering Ziwei Palace, he had still been able to see the layered sea of clouds and the heavenly gate of the palace. But here, nothing was visible except endless gray hurricanes as far as the eye could see.

It was unclear whether Seven-Kill Hall was hidden deep within the storm or concealed inside the whirlpool beneath the sea.

Withdrawing his gaze, Qin Sang looked around and noticed that other cultivators had already arrived. Some came alone, while others had arrived in groups just like them.

Everyone stood quietly outside, waiting for Seven-Kill Hall to open.

Qin Sang glanced about, carefully examining the hurricane and the vortex, but saw no sign of the grand witch priest of the witch race, nor the Spiritual Infant grandmasters who had arrived earlier.

The spot they currently occupied was only one side of the storm.

According to Xiang Yi, the hurricane and whirlpool here formed a roughly circular shape. Cultivators holding tokens, like themselves, stood near the perimeter and waited for the signal that would mark the opening of the celestial array.

"This hurricane is terrifying. Only a legendary celestial array could create such a dreadful phenomenon. There isn’t the slightest sign of it weakening. Apart from the absence of spatial rifts, it feels almost identical to the eye of the storm on the outskirts of Ziwei Palace. I wonder if what lies within is as dangerous and fearsome as the celestial array there. The Small Cold Domain only dared to enter Ziwei Palace by relying on the Small Polaris Array, and even then it was because the palace emerged on its own... So how does the grand witch priest plan to forcibly break the array?"

Qin Sang had wanted to walk around to see if he could locate the grand witch priest and witness how he would break the array with his own eyes.

But seeing that Xiang Yi had no such intention, he had no choice but to give up the idea. Chapters fırst released on NoveI[F]ire.net

Soon enough, Xiang Yi explained everything to him. "Right now, the grand witch priest and those Spiritual Infant grandmasters have already entered the depths of the hurricane and made contact with the celestial array. No matter where we stand, we won’t be able to witness the process of breaking the array. Just stay where we are and wait patiently for the signal. The window for entering the formation will be extremely brief. Do not get distracted, or you may miss the opportunity and ruin everything..."

Before he had even finished speaking, everyone suddenly sensed a powerful aura approaching at incredible speed. Before they could react, the figure had already flashed past them and appeared in front of the wind wall, revealing the image of an old man in a gray robe.

The Liu couple recognized him and spoke softly, "He’s a well-known rogue cultivator in the Inner Sea. He has strong ties to both the righteous and devilish factions and commands an entire island by himself. We had the honor of meeting him once."

There was no doubt that Ascetic Yunlai was a Spiritual Infant grandmaster.

He paused briefly in front of the wall of wind, then pulled out an iron brush crafted from black iron and gently traced it across the surface. A streak of black light shimmered in the air.

He seemed to expend no effort at all, yet a gap was torn open in the wind wall.

The old man vanished on the spot, and only then did the opening slowly begin to close.