194: Chapter 194 Void Exile, Eternal Suppression of the Southern Territory

The cheers of victory did not last long.

Just as the Star Track Pavilion Master was holding the unconscious Lin Yue, preparing to return to the Sect, a sudden change occurred.

Buzz—!!!

Above the Burial Dragon Abyss, the hundred-zhang rift that had already begun to slowly shrink suddenly came to a standstill.

Immediately following that...

Deep within the rift, at the remains of the Thousand-Legged Humanoid Commander that had long been completely annihilated by Lin Yue, a deeply hidden dark-red rune suddenly lit up!

The rune throbbed like a heart, and with every beat, it emitted a ripple of eerie blood-colored waves.

The ripples swept across the battlefield.

The scattered and chaotic army of magical creatures, as if receiving some supreme command, stopped in their tracks in unison, their crimson pupils simultaneously igniting with a frantic light.

Then...

They performed an act that made all the Human Race Cultivators' hair stand on end—self-detonation!

Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof—!!!

It was like lighting an infinite ocean of firecrackers.

Starting from the area closest to the rift, a hundred thousand magical creatures, whether at the Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, or Nascent Soul stage, regardless of their form or species, all...

Detonated their own demon cores without the slightest hesitation!

A dark-red blood mist rose into the sky like a tsunami, instantly submerging a hundred-mile radius!

The blood mist did not disperse; instead, pulled by some force, it surged frantically toward that hundred-zhang rift!

The rift was like a thirsty giant beast, greedily swallowing the vast evil energy produced by the blood sacrifice of these hundred thousand magical creatures.

The original trend of healing was instantly reversed!

At the edge of the rift, countless dark-red sprouts of flesh grew and intertwined frantically, beginning to... solidify!

"Is this... a Sacrificial Great Array?!"

The Star Track Pavilion Master's pupils shrank sharply, his voice changing pitch due to horror: "It used its own fall as the trigger and the blood sacrifice of a hundred thousand magical creatures as the foundation to forcibly turn this rift... into a permanent passage!"

A permanent passage!

This meant that even if the three great commanders were dead, and even if the army of magical creatures was wiped out, this rift connecting the two worlds would not disappear.

It would forever span across the sky of the South, becoming a wound that would never heal.

The Spirit Devouring Clan could use it to continuously send armies for invasion.

And the Human Race would never have a day of peace!

"Stop it!"

Sword Origin Master shouted sternly, slashing a sword toward the rift.

But the Sword Qi vanished into the blood mist like a clay ox entering the sea, failing to stir even a single ripple.

Ancestor Chi Yang's Heaven-Burning Sea of Fire and Xuan Mingzi's Xuan Ming Heavy Water bombarded the rift, similarly returning without success.

The Sacrificial Great Array was already complete; the blood-soul evil energy of a hundred thousand magical creatures had already fused into one with the rift itself.

At this moment, the rift was no longer a simple "spatial wound."

It was an Evil Path Monument, using a hundred thousand living beings as sacrifices and the remnant soul of a commander as the formation eye, forcibly anchoring the two worlds!

An Evil Path Monument!

Unbreakable by anything less than the power of Void Refining!

"It's over."

Immortal Master Qingluan's face was ashen.

The joy of just experiencing a reversal from the brink of death was instantly swallowed by a deeper despair.

Once the permanent passage took shape, the South would forever fall into the demon Realm, and the Human Race...

...would never have a day of recovery.

And just then.

"Cough, cough."

Lin Yue, in the Star Track Pavilion Master's arms, slowly opened his eyes.

His face was still pale, but his eyes had regained their clarity.

"Pavilion Master... put me down."

"Little friend Lin, your body..."

"It is no matter."

Lin Yue steadied his stance and looked up at the rift that was frantically solidifying and expanding.

His gaze pierced through layers of blood mist, seeing deep within the rift that dark-red rune throbbing like a heart, and at the center of the rune...

...a wisp of the commander's remnant thoughts, imperceptible yet stubbornly unextinguished.

"Using death as a sacrifice, and blood as a monument. Such ruthless methods."

Lin Yue murmured to himself, the light of Chaos swirling in his eyes.

He turned his head to look at the Star Track Pavilion Master, Sword Origin Master, and the others: "There is still a way."

"What way?"

"Since it cannot be destroyed, then... exile it."

"Exile?"

"Yes." Lin Yue nodded. "Using the Void Seed as a spatial coordinate and the five Laws as power, we will activate the ultimate form of the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array. Not to suppress, not to Seal, but to exile the entire hundred-mile area of the Burial Dragon Abyss, along with this rift, into the 'Space-Time Interlayer'."

Space-Time Interlayer?

Everyone was at a loss.

"That is a chaotic zone where time and space intersect, and the flow of time is completely different from the outside world."

Lin Yue explained quickly: "If the rift is exiled there, while one year passes outside, only a single day might pass within the interlayer. Even if the Spirit Devouring Clan wants to invade through the rift, they would have to pay a ten-thousand-fold price in time."

"Moreover, the environment of the Space-Time Interlayer is extremely chaotic. Without coordinates to guide them, it is almost impossible for them to find a path back to the present world."

"This means that, theoretically, this rift will be... eternally exiled."

Eternal exile!

Everyone's breath hitched.

This plan sounded more thorough than destruction.

But...

"What is the price?" the Star Track Pavilion Master asked in a heavy voice.

Such a Heaven-Defying act could not possibly come without a price.

Lin Yue was silent for a moment before slowly uttering a list of requirements: "First, we need to burn all the spatial Origin of the Void Seed to serve as the exile coordinates."

"Second, we need to drain all the Spiritual Veins in the Burial Dragon Abyss region of the South to serve as the activation energy."

"Third, we need at least three Spirit Transformation stage Cultivators to use their own Dao Foundations as triggers to maintain the stability of the exile passage."

"Fourth."

He paused, his voice low: "We need a Cultivator proficient in Formations to stay at the center of the exile zone, using their own Divine Soul as an anchor to ensure the exile coordinates do not shift."

"And this person... will be exiled to the Space-Time Interlayer along with the Burial Dragon Abyss."

"For all eternity... never to return."

Dead silence.

Everyone understood.

This plan was to trade the Spiritual Veins of an entire region of the South, the Dao Foundations of several Soul Transformation experts, and the eternal imprisonment of a Formation Master... for a chance for the Human Race to breathe.

"In the Burial Dragon Abyss region, there are a total of seven large Spiritual Veins, nineteen medium ones, and over a hundred small ones."

The Star Track Pavilion Master's voice was dry: "If they are all drained, the Spiritual Qi in the South will permanently drop by thirty percent. This place... will become a barren wasteland for a hundred years."

"My Dao Foundation can be sacrificed," Sword Origin Master said calmly. "If it can trade for a hundred years of peace for the Human Race, it is worth it."

"Count me in," Ancestor Chi Yang snorted. "I've lived for nearly two thousand years; I've long lived enough."

Xuan Mingzi nodded: "Xuantian Sect is also willing to contribute."

Of the three Soul Transformation experts, not one retreated.

But that last condition...

"Proficient in Formations, Divine Soul as an anchor."

Everyone's gaze, by common consent, turned toward... Heavenly Craftsman, who was still lying unconscious on a temporary stretcher nearby.

He was currently the only fifth-rank Peak Formation Master and the only one capable of controlling such a massive exile Formation.

But in his current state, if he were to forcibly use his Divine Soul as an anchor, he would likely suffer Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering the moment the exile was completed.

"Senior."

Little Star knelt beside Heavenly Craftsman, his face covered in tears.

Although he and Heavenly Craftsman only had the status of master and disciple, he had received his full teachings, and their bond was already as deep as that of a real master and disciple.

Just then.

Heavenly Craftsman... opened his eyes.

Those originally cloudy old eyes were now exceptionally clear.

He slowly turned his head to look at Lin Yue, his lips curving into a difficult smile: "Little... friend Lin. I... heard you."

"This anchor... I will be it."

"Senior!" Lin Yue's eyes grew hot.

"Don't... don't talk nonsense."

Heavenly Craftsman struggled to sit up, and Little Star quickly supported him.

He looked at the frantically solidifying rift, a look of determination flashing in his eyes: "I... have lived for one thousand three hundred and twenty-seven years. It is enough."

"When I was young... I was afraid of death. I lived a life of ignoble ease."

"Now that I'm old... instead... I want to be a hero for once."

He laboriously raised a thin, withered hand and pressed it on Little Star's head, his voice weak yet firm: "Little Star... Master... has nothing left to give you."

"Only one sentence."

"The path of Formations... is not for slaughter. It is for... protection."

"For Master... protect... this land and its rivers well."

As his voice fell.

All around Heavenly Craftsman, brilliant starlight suddenly erupted!

That was not spiritual power, but... the final light exchanged for burning his Divine Soul, burning his Dao Foundation, burning all his life's Origin!

"With my remnant soul... as the Formation's anchor!"

"With my Dao Foundation... I lead the stars to their positions!"

"Zhou Tian Xing Dou—Ultimate Permission. Open!"

Boom—!!!

A hundred miles away, the hub of the long-damaged Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array actually lit up again at this moment!

Countless beams of starlight fell from the void, intertwining with the light of Heavenly Craftsman's burning soul, turning into three hundred and sixty thick starlight chains that pierced fiercely into the Burial Dragon Abyss earth veins!

The Spiritual Veins within the earth veins were forcibly extracted and ignited!

The vast Spiritual Qi turned into fuel, injected into the core of the Great Array.

And at the core, the Void Seed floated up, the silver-gray spatial ripples on its surface fluctuating frantically as it began to record the current "spatial coordinates."

"Now is the time!"

Lin Yue roared, his hands forming Seals.

Within his Grotto-Heaven, five Origins—Star, Dragon Soul, Earth, Space, and Time—were simultaneously extracted, turning into a five-colored torrent that crashed into the Great Array!

"Senior Sword Origin! Senior Chi Yang! Senior Xuan Ming!"

"Help me!"

"We're coming!"

The three Spirit Transformation Ancestors acted simultaneously, their Soul Transformation Dao Foundations burning, turning into three pillars of light that reached the heavens and fused into the Great Array.

The four forces combined into one.

In the center of the Great Array, a silver-gray vortex with a diameter of over a thousand zhang... slowly took shape!

The vortex rotated slowly, emitting a terrifying suction force that swallowed everything.

In the hundred-mile area of the Burial Dragon Abyss, the earth began to crack and rise.

Mountains were uprooted, rivers flowed backward, and all matter and energy were forcibly sucked into that vortex!

Including... that hundred-zhang rift!

"No—!!!"

Deep within the rift, that commander rune let out an unwilling shriek, struggling frantically.

But it was to no avail.

Before the ultimate Formation that gathered the Spiritual Veins of a region, the Dao Foundations of three Soul Transformation experts, the five Origins of a Grotto-Heaven, and the entire life of a fifth-rank Formation Master, its resistance... was pale and powerless.

The vortex expanded, completely swallowing the entire Burial Dragon Abyss region along with that rift!

Buzz—!!!

Silver-gray light illuminated the entire sky.

In the next moment.

The light dissipated.

The vortex vanished.

In its place, only a massive sinkhole remained, a hundred miles in diameter and bottomless.

The Burial Dragon Abyss, along with the rift, along with the evil energy of the hundred thousand magical creatures' blood sacrifice, along with Heavenly Craftsman's final Divine Soul.

All... had vanished.

Exiled to the eternal Space-Time Interlayer.

On the battlefield, there was dead silence.

Only the sound of the wind blowing across the edge of the sinkhole whimpered, like a weeping song.

The Star Track Pavilion Master slowly knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his old face.

Sword Origin Master and the other two staggered back, the price of burning their Dao Foundations beginning to manifest; their auras dropped sharply, and their cultivation permanently fell by a minor Realm.

Little Star slumped on the ground, looking at the center of the sinkhole, weeping silently.

And Lin Yue.

He stood in place, looking at that empty sinkhole, looking at this South region that had forever lost its Spiritual Veins and become a dead land.

For a long time.

He slowly raised his hand and bowed deeply toward the sinkhole.

"Senior... have a safe journey."

"Your sacrifice... the Human Race... will never forget for all eternity."

He straightened his body and looked behind him.

The casualties of the allied Cultivators exceeded seventy percent; every survivor was injured, their eyes filled with the daze and grief of having survived a catastrophe.

The South had lost nearly thirty percent of its Spiritual Veins, and the Burial Dragon Abyss region would become a barren land for a hundred years.

But.

The Spirit Devouring Clan army had been eternally exiled.

The three great commanders had all been executed.

The catastrophe of the South... had come to a temporary close.

"We... won."

Lin Yue's voice was very soft, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.

There were no cheers, no celebrations.

Only a suppressed, heavy silence.

The price of this victory was too great.

So great that it made one... unable to smile.

But in any case.

They were still alive.

The mountains and rivers remained, and the Legacy was not broken.

Hope... was still there.

Lin Yue turned and looked toward the east.

There, the morning sun was slowly rising, its golden light piercing through the morning mist and spilling onto this land that was covered in scars yet ultimately defended.

A new day had begun.

And the road belonging to him...

...was still very long.