Chapter 1822: Turning Point

However, as they passed another glowing meteorite crater, the meteorites inside suddenly transformed into enormous fleas with incredible jumping power. Though not large, they moved too fast to be seen clearly by the naked eye, and Elder Xue, who happened to be flying overhead, was caught off guard.

Meanwhile, the sand table display in front of Bai Ziqi showed that most of the meteorites in the Divine Fire Great Formation had stopped rotating, and their light gradually dimmed.

He murmured, "The Divine Fire Great Formation has changed."

This formation could no longer be called a "great formation." However, not all meteorites had ceased glowing; five of them continued to emit light and heat.

Three of these formed a triangle, enclosing Kidney Lake in the center, while the other two were positioned on the outer edges of the diagonals.

This was another transformation of the Divine Fire Great Formation, but it still resembled a smaller eye shape.

Formations, in the hands of a Great Heavenly Demon and a True Immortal, had more than just one or two uses. Miaozhantian also knew how to exploit the "variables" within formations, just like in the Reversal Celestial Dipper Formation.

At this point, He Lingchuan's mind was also racing.

With Kidney Lake completely occupied by Miaozhantian and the strange formation, what other schemes did this Great Heavenly Demon have?

Miaozhantian suddenly said, "For thousands of years, your True Immortals have grown more proficient in cultivation, yet your Spirit Mountains have become increasingly weak, unable to recruit followers, gather faith, or expand your influence. Do you know why?"

The Wind God did not answer.

"It's because you've over-calculated everything, thinking yourselves clever!" Miaozhantian forced the Wind God back with a single move, then smirked provocatively at him, that smile exuding a chilling killing intent.

"You've fallen into my trap!"

With that, True Monarch Zangxi transformed into a ball of golden light and violently plunged into Kidney Lake.

At his speed, who could stop him?

Viewed through the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, it looked like a small sun falling into the lake. Its immense speed created colossal waves on the surface, and immediately afterward, Kidney Lake began to steam with white vapor due to the intense heat, resembling a volcano about to erupt.

The light from the enormous fire sphere not only did not dim, but instead reached its peak brightness upon entering the water.

From a top-down view through the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, it appeared as if ten suns were shining brightly together at the bottom of Kidney Lake, the lake water offering no obstruction whatsoever.

In the blink of an eye, the golden light violently slammed into the lakebed.

The entire world suddenly shook violently, as if in great pain from the impact.

The Wind God in the sky changed expression and rushed down along with the other avatars. The black cymbals shattered, and Qianhuan's Wind-Thunder Beast avatar also burst forth.

It was evident that True Monarch Zangxi had gone all out, even lacking the strength to contain it any longer.

He Lingchuan frowned.

What was Miaozhantian trying to do? Was he attempting to directly break open the passage between the two realms?

Since he couldn't occupy Inverted Lake, was he settling for less and trying Kidney Lake instead?

He was desperate anyway.

However, even if Kidney Lake was the weakest link between the two realms, could he really brute-force his way through? The world created by Qianhuan should have incredibly stable laws.

He Lingchuan also recalled Bai Ziqi's repeated observations of the sand table. Was he plotting something with his master?

The Inverted Sea suddenly shook violently twice more, as the golden light repeatedly slammed into the lakebed.

It had indeed encountered an obstacle.

Both Miaozhantian and True Monarch Zangxi had expended too much energy in the Inverted Sea today, so much so that their full-power strike failed to achieve its intended effect!

The subsequent two collisions were not as powerful as the first strike.

Bai Ziqi stared intently at the sand table, his fists clenched.

If the passage couldn't be broken through, his plan would fail, and the Divine Venerable might very well suffer a crushing defeat in the Inverted Sea!

Just before Qianhuan's three avatars reached the lakebed, the golden light flared intensely once more. True Monarch Zangxi seemed to gather all his remaining strength for one last, mighty smash towards the lakebed!

And just an instant before this collision, a red light suddenly flashed across the surface of the Haoyuan Golden Mirror.

It was very faint, just a single flash, so quick it seemed like an illusion, as the sky was changing too rapidly, and the mirror's reflection would shift accordingly.

If He Lingchuan hadn't been the mirror's owner, he might have overlooked this inconspicuous tremor.

Something had quietly happened.

It wasn't earth-shattering, and no one knew about it, yet it seemed to have stirred the strings of fate for everyone present.

Then, True Monarch Zangxi struck the lakebed once more, and the great fire sphere flared for the last time before vanishing.

Had it gone out, or had it broken through?

Before the mirror and the sand table, everyone's hearts were in their throats.

Qianhuan's three great avatars also entered the lakebed, with the giant python leading the way, only to smash directly into the lakebed!

Seeing this scene, the people before the mirror all let out a collective gasp of surprise, before remembering that the Kidney Lake area had already been taken by Miaozhantian, and now even Qianhuan itself could not freely open the passage between the two realms.

To be blocked by one's own door in one's own home was an utter humiliation for Qianhuan.

The other two avatars, however, no longer made futile attempts, and immediately turned to rise from the water and fly out of the Kidney Lake area.

The observers realized that Miaozhantian had indeed succeeded!

The only question was whether Miaozhantian had returned to the illusionary realm above or had broken through the illusion and gone to confront Qianhuan's true form.

Either way, he was no longer in this realm.

Madam Zhu murmured, "How was this accomplished?"

He Lingchuan, however, was staring at the Haoyuan Golden Mirror.

That tremor just now felt very familiar. Had the Grand Square Pot made a move, helping, or rather, giving Miaozhantian a push?

Before the audience could utter exclamations of awe, something even stranger occurred:

Above Kidney Lake, a colossal, golden-glowing barrier suddenly appeared.

Qianhuan's three avatars crashed straight into it, only to be bounced back!

"Eh?" The people before the mirror exclaimed in unison, and He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow.

In the distance, Bai Ziqi, seeing this scene on the sand table, forcefully pumped his fist, unable to hide his excitement:

"It's done!"

His plan had succeeded!

Qianhuan's avatars naturally disbelieved it and crashed into it several more times, only to be bounced back again.

Among them, the Wind God avatar attempted to summon the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, but failed.

This wasn't because the Haoyuan Golden Mirror was being uncooperative; it was because within that barrier, the mirror was also ineffective.

Qianhuan's avatars were trapped.

This golden barrier actually had six anchor points. Five of them were the Divine Fire meteorites surrounding Kidney Lake, still emitting heat and rotating!

The sixth was at the bottom of Kidney Lake.

The Haoyuan Golden Mirror automatically focused on the lakebed, zooming in instantly, and everyone saw the true nature of this anchor point:

True Monarch Zangxi's Iron Lotus Lantern!

Originally, it had been a budding lotus, but now it was a fully bloomed lotus, its petals fully unfurled.

It appeared to be encased within a large block of transparent crystal, shining with golden light.

Each time the barrier above Kidney Lake was violently struck by Qianhuan's avatars, causing the golden light to ripple, a single petal would slowly fall from the lotus lantern.

Given the large number of petals, it might take some time for them all to fall.

The Illusion Sect elders were also stunned by this turn of events, unexpecting such a dramatic shift. Xiao Wencheng was the first to regain his composure and quickly ordered, "Dig out those meteorites, quickly!"

As long as they dug out the formation's anchors, the Divine Venerable's avatars would be freed.

The immortals of the Illusion Sect rose into the sky on clouds to execute their Sect Master's command.