Chapter 1728: Immortal Capital's Great Array

Someone behind them brought out a large drum and began beating it with a rhythmic "dong, dong, dong."

When first revealed, the drum was only palm-sized, but as soon as it caught the wind, it expanded to be two sizes larger than a millstone. It looked sturdy and ancient, and the brownish leather of its drumhead had subtle, fine scale patterns.

The drumsticks were not ordinary wooden sticks but two long, forked horns.

This was one of the Heavenly Palace's most treasured artifacts: the Soul-Shaking Drum!

It was an ancient immortal treasure, made from Qilin hide, with drumsticks fashioned from a pair of Qilin horns. It had over a dozen beating methods, each corresponding to a different effect, but its most basic function was to shake and seize souls!

The muffled drumbeats echoed across Inverted Lake, a deep rumble that seemed to pound directly on everyone's chests, causing their blood and qi to surge, making them feel nauseous and faint. However, the calming banners on each ship quickly began to spin, their streamers fluttering, as a hazy green light enveloped the living people on board.

The water monsters, previously attacking with desperate fury, paused at the sound, their bodies beginning to tremble, their movements no longer as fluid as before. After a dozen more beats from the Soul-Shaking Drum, many water monsters stumbled and swayed as if drunk, before collapsing to the ground.

Wisps of gray souls flew out of their shells, poised to plunge into Inverted Lake.

At that moment, the drumbeats of the Soul-Shaking Drum suddenly grew rapid and dense, producing a sharp, deadly sound. Before the water ghouls could even escape their watery bodies, they were shattered into oblivion!

They were originally dead souls from the lakebed, having borrowed their watery forms from an unknown source. Their connection between soul and body was not as tight as that of living beings, which made them vulnerable to the Soul-Shaking Drum's beats, causing them to disintegrate with a single tremor.

Bai Ziqi already understood that the "Yaksha" emerging from the lake bottom were seemingly endless, capable of exhausting their forces indefinitely. Eliminating these creatures couldn't be achieved solely through brute force but required exploiting their weaknesses.

He had brought the Soul-Shaking Drum into the immortal's abode initially fearing that True Immortal Qianhuan's illusions might disorient the masses, in which case the drum could be used to instill deterrence. Unexpectedly, using it to repel the Yaksha also proved to be the perfect remedy.

The Yaksha that had boarded the ships collapsed and died one after another, soon dissolving into water and disappearing, leaving no corpses behind.

Witnessing a major battle about to erupt suddenly vanish in an instant, everyone let out a long sigh of relief. These water monsters weren't particularly strong, but their endless numbers meant no one had the stamina to resist indefinitely.

However, the last ship suddenly began swaying violently, rocking more than ninety degrees in the windless harbor, as if an invisible giant hand were powerfully tugging at it.

A bird demon quickly flew to report: "The Yaksha are drilling through the hull, trying to sink our ship!"

The Yaksha had learned their lesson; appearing above water would get them blasted away by the Soul-Seizing Drum, so they simply hid underwater to wreak havoc.

Sending anyone into the water at this point was unsuitable. Bai Shiqi pointed, and his lamp spirit shot into the water with a "whoosh."

Everyone could see that this lamp spirit had transformed into a shark before entering the water.

However, after the splash subsided, the lake water remained dark and murky, just as before.

Where was the light?

The lamp spirit always emitted a warm golden light; why did it disappear as soon as it entered the water?

"Nothing is visible in the water, and my lamp spirit is driving away the Yaksha at the bottom of the lake..." As Bai Shiqi spoke, he suddenly clutched his chest and cried out, "Something! Something underwater is tearing at my lamp spirit!"

Bai Ziqi immediately ordered, "Full speed to shore! The water isn't safe."

The other two Bai Guards also released their lamp spirits to assist underwater.

Just then, the other large ships also began to sway, indicating the Yaksha had targeted them as well.

The mages rushed to the ship's edge, enduring the rocking, and jointly unleashed a divine ability:

Tremor Thunder.

This was a weakened version of an ancient divine ability, originally used in wars between immortals and deities and aimed skyward. Now repurposed for underwater use, it proved just as effective. Seven or eight large thunderbolts exploded with a rumble only after submerging three zhang, blasting water two zhang high above the surface!

Its immense power was evident.

The Yaksha at the bottom of the lake, of course, suffered too, a large number of them stunned by the shockwave.

The sea vessels quickly steered towards the shore.

Bai Ziqi had already noticed earlier that the water monsters emerging from Inverted Lake were growing steadily larger, clearly adapting themselves.

True Immortal Qianhuan truly lived up to his name; even without appearing in person, he could conjure up so many tricks.

As soon as the large ships docked, the Heavenly Palace army eagerly leaped onto the rocky beach, which immediately became teeming with people.

Ah, it’s always most reassuring to have solid ground beneath one’s feet!

Even if the Yaksha attacked again, everyone would be able to respond with much more composure.

After landing, the first thing Bai Ziqi did was order his personal guards to retrieve the talismanic artifacts and begin setting up a formation.

This was also a spirit-gathering formation, called the "Immortal Capital Array." Unlike the Reversed Heavenly Dipper Array, it had only eleven formation points and a smaller range for gathering spiritual energy, covering only Silver Pearl Island.

However, its efficiency in absorbing spiritual energy in a short period was remarkably strong, many times greater than the Heavenly Dipper Array.

In fact, the Heavenly Palace also used it on nights when the Emperor's Edict Nectar flowed abundantly.

This array also had one major advantage: its portability. Comprising twelve ready-made talismanic artifacts, including the core and the formation points, it could be carried anywhere and activated instantly, requiring almost no additional calibration.

Bai Ziqi's team had to contend with an endless stream of enemies; they had neither the time nor the patience to calibrate the array.

He walked to the edge of the rocky beach, grabbed the array core, tossed it into the air, and shouted, "Rise!"

The array core, shaped like a flower vase, stabilized itself in mid-air. Its petals unfurled layer by layer, emitting a pink glow.

The other eleven array artifacts, as if summoned, also flew to surround the core, choosing their positions and unfurling automatically.

Yes, this Immortal Capital Array hovered three zhang above the ground, not touching it, so changes on the surface largely wouldn't affect it. Unless the Illusion Sect were to perform another Mountain Shifting and Relocation, creating a mountain here.

Even then, it wouldn't matter; Bai Ziqi could simply set up the array elsewhere. It would be a test of who could sustain greater consumption and higher costs.

Immediately afterward, the grand array activated automatically, frantically drawing spiritual energy from the surrounding environment!

The palace guards standing near the formation could even see the distant and nearby green qi being drawn in, feeding into the vortex stirred up by the array.

Spiritual energy, spiritual energy in the form of green mist!

It was truly a phenomenon of rapid spiritual convergence.

The main core of the Immortal Capital Array, located at the base of the petals, connected directly to a golden, bud-shaped container. The drawn spiritual energy transformed into a liquid essence here and was stored.

Though it appeared to be just a shallow, bud-like chamber, the vast spiritual energy poured into it was like a clay ox sinking into the sea—it wouldn't fill up anytime soon!

The Heavenly Palace had existed for a long time, having experienced countless cycles of spiritual energy resurgence. They possessed a complete set of insights and highly efficient magical artifacts for collecting the abundant Emperor's Edict Nectar.

They didn't need to gather countless containers to collect the Emperor's Edict Nectar, unlike He Lingchuan.

However, Inverted Lake's area was limited, and its total spiritual energy couldn't compare to the abundance outside when the Emperor's Edict Nectar flowed freely. With the "Immortal Capital Array" so vigorously draining it, it was uncertain when it would deplete.

Stripping the immortals of their roots—this was the core strategy of the Heavenly Palace and Bai Ziqi, turning the tables and shifting from passive defense to active offense.

The successful activation of the Immortal Capital Grand Array was met with cheers from the Heavenly Palace forces.

Based on past experience, this move was highly effective in other immortal cave-dwellings.