Chapter 1658: Star Sea Drift

The Seven Mansions Sword Array actually contains two Ox Mansions: one visible, one hidden. The visible one is an illusion, while the hidden one is genuine.

The female cultivator entered the true Ox Mansion.

This place served as the central hub of the Seven Mansions Sword Array. If someone were to control the array, they would be stationed in the Ox Mansion, and all sword cultivators within the array would obey their commands.

The Star Pavilion was placed here, hidden as effectively as the cave dwelling in the Yangyan Divine Prohibition.

The female cultivator appeared before the Star Pavilion.

The Star Pavilion was not grand; it had only two levels, upper and lower, and its structure was slender like a sword. The upper level was open, allowing a direct view inside.

At each of the four corners of the upper level, a sword was suspended. The swords were transparent, appearing to be light-swords composed of starlight. However, their essence was similar to that of the sword-stars, containing pure and refined sword intent. Four streams of sword intent cascaded downwards, sealing off the Star Pavilion.

The female cultivator stood still, her gaze sweeping past the Star Pavilion to observe all the stars in the Ox Mansion. At this moment, if Qin Sang and the others had found a way to enter the Ox Mansion, they would have been greatly surprised. This was because more than half of its stars had shifted, and their starlight flickered erratically. Observing these stars would have saved them the arduous task of traversing the entire star sea and expending considerable effort, as they would likely have been able to deduce a method to break the array.

This phenomenon occurred because the Ox Mansion, as the array's core, was directly bearing the brunt of the impact. When Zhun Wudao destroyed the Jade Pavilion, the Ox Mansion bore the initial impact, leading to internal energy conflicts and collisions. The effects subsequently spread to the Five Elements Divine Prohibition and then propagated back, exacerbating the situation. With the core in disarray, the Seven Mansions trembled. If not adjusted promptly, the sword array would gradually be destroyed, potentially even causing the Five Elements Divine Prohibition to collapse.

Starlight illuminated the upper half of the female cultivator's face, while the lower half remained hidden in shadow, making it impossible to discern her emotions. Sharp sword intent encircled the Star Pavilion, but the female cultivator disregarded it. She took two steps forward, raised her right hand, passed it through the sword intent, and easily pushed open the Star Pavilion's door.

Similar to the cave dwelling in the Yangyan Divine Prohibition, the Star Pavilion's furnishings were very simple. Inside the pavilion, there was a single sword platform. The suspended swords on the upper level projected their sword intent directly into the pavilion, forming four white pillars of light at the four corners of the sword platform.

On the sword platform, a female cultivator sat cross-legged. The female cultivator was dressed simply, without any ornaments. A precious sword lay flat across her lap, engraved with seven stars that glittered brightly against the light pillars, as if inlaid with seven gems. Surrounded by sword intent, the female cultivator sat upright, her spine unbent, as straight as a sharp sword piercing the heavens!

However, the female cultivator's face was distorted with an expression of clear pain. Even after a long time, a firm will could still be seen in her eyes, and she sat ramrod straight, as if resisting something. Whether she defeated her opponent is unknown, but the outcome was that the female cultivator perished here. There was only the female cultivator within the pavilion.

The female cultivator walked to the sword platform, raised her hand, and made two grasping motions. The female cultivator's features surprisingly changed, her painful expression vanishing, replaced by serenity. Unlike the cave dwelling in the Yangyan Divine Prohibition, which was scorched by heavenly fire, the pervasive sword intent here integrated into the female cultivator's remains, surprisingly becoming a form of support that preserved them. In fact, although the female cultivator's body appeared intact and her expression vivid, her life force had long since vanished. Additionally, the female cultivator sensed a unique sword intent emanating from the remains, connected to the energy of the suspended swords in the Star Pavilion, yet remarkably distinct. It was as if the female cultivator had refined herself into a sword, which suggested extraordinary accomplishments in the way of the sword during her lifetime.

The female cultivator had no intention of disturbing the remains; she merely adjusted the female cultivator's expression slightly to make it more pleasing to the eye. Then, she reached directly into the sword platform and retrieved the storage treasures from the female cultivator's person.

Clatter!

Treasures spread across the ground. The female cultivator habitually picked out anything edible and consumed it. However, unlike her actions in the cave dwelling of the Yangyan Divine Prohibition, she then picked up and examined other items one by one, her eyes showing contemplation as she assessed their value to cultivators.

Not long after, the female cultivator left the Star Pavilion again, teleporting to the edge of the Seven Mansions Sword Array, at the boundary with the Earth Element Divine Prohibition.

The sword array was dim, with sword-stars suspended in the air. The Earth Element Divine Prohibition, however, was even darker than the sword array. Thick, heavy mist floated and flowed through this space, pulsing like burning flames. It displayed alternating colors of grey-black and mysterious yellow, and completely lacked any lightness, giving a very heavy sensation. The sword array and the mysterious mist, two entirely different forces, converged here without conflict. Under the dominion of the Five Elements Restrictions, their energies flowed smoothly according to the cycle of mutual generation of the Five Elements, unimpeded.

Although the Seven Mansions Sword Array exhibited abnormalities, other divine prohibitions were also affected. However, this process required time, and at present, the effects were not yet obvious. The female cultivator glanced around, then raised her hand and grasped a wisp of mist. The familiar sensation returned; without the impedance of sword intent, she could, to some extent, control the Earth Element Divine Prohibition. She was about to step into the mysterious mist to plunder the relics within the Earth Element Divine Prohibition, thereby increasing her leverage, when she suddenly sensed something, and her brows furrowed deeply.

Matters always seemed to slip out of control. Her progress towards the target was faster than anticipated, and the female cultivator felt the urgency of time.

Within the sword array.

Poison King and Su Zinan's two groups merged. With hardly any enmity between them, they exchanged information and decided to share intelligence, integrating their observations of the shifting stars. This immediately led to a significant increase in their progress. Moreover, with four grand cultivators working together and cooperating through a division of labor, the speed at which they broke the array was incomparable, far surpassing Qin Sang's progress.

As things stood, the female cultivator could only quickly return to the Star Pavilion and make her arrangements. She already had a well-conceived plan for what was to come. Standing above the Star Pavilion, the female cultivator scanned her surroundings, locking onto a distant void. This was a hidden star, also serving as the central hub of the entire grand array. She could move freely within the sword array, her perception of its energy so exquisite that she could grasp its essence directly. Anyone capable of such perception, even without understanding sword arts, would be able to locate the sword array's core and act upon it. The female cultivator was precisely such a person.

Her figure flickered and merged into the hidden star. In an instant, the hidden star suddenly flared brightly, but then quickly faded from sight again. Immediately after, a strange fluctuation emanated from the hidden star, affecting all surrounding stars and causing their light to flicker. When this influence reached the Star Pavilion, the effect suddenly amplified. The area where the Star Pavilion was located became brilliantly illuminated, and the three adjacent sword-stars were also affected. The four stars shone together, instantly becoming as bright as the moon.

At this moment, Qin Sang, Poison King, and others located in other Mansions all sensed it, turning their gazes towards the horizon where a faint glimmer of starlight could vaguely be seen at the edge of the star sea. Compared to the myriad star trails across the sky, this faint starlight was too inconspicuous, yet it was precisely what everyone had been desperately searching for.

"The Ox Mansion!"

Everyone quickly performed calculations and referenced the star map, immediately filling with great joy. During the time they were trapped in the sword array, they had already deduced that the Ox Mansion visible to the naked eye was an illusion, and that the true Ox Mansion, the array's core, was hidden. To break the array, simply put, meant finding its core. That place was undoubtedly where the array's fluctuations were most intense and the source of the shifting stars. Entering the core would reveal the way out!

With the sword array operating and the Mansions constantly shifting positions, they could only locate the Ox Mansion step by step by identifying shifting stars and discerning the array's structure. The Ox Mansion had always been hidden deep within the sword array. Now, the sudden appearance of bright stars in the Ox Mansion was nothing short of a guiding beacon. If the bright stars had appeared earlier, they wouldn't have needed so much trouble; they could have simply followed them to find the way.

No one found the appearance of the bright stars strange. It was unexpected, yet entirely within reason. According to their deductions, as the sword array gradually moved towards collapse, the manifestation of the Ox Mansion was only a matter of time, indicating that the internal energy conflicts within the sword array had reached a severe level. If they had enough patience and simply waited, the sword array would have collapsed on its own if it couldn't adjust in time. However, they couldn't afford to wait that long. Nonetheless, with the Ox Mansion now appearing, all the deductions they had previously made with so much effort were rendered useless, which was truly frustrating.

In the boundless starry sky, the bright stars appeared dim. Immediately upon appearing, they were swept up by dazzling star trails, submerged within the star river, and invisible to the naked eye. Since they had seen the bright stars, no one, including Qin Sang, would allow them to escape their sight. They all displayed their unique abilities, locked onto the bright stars, and simultaneously flew into the star river.

With their minds freed from tedious calculations, they finally noticed how magnificent the starry sky truly was! Even with their high cultivation, they could still only gaze up at the heavens, with the sun, moon, and stars remaining out of reach. Now, the bright stars drifted in the star river. They chased the bright stars, wandering through the star river, soaring through the void on the wind. With the stars seemingly within reach, it brought an unprecedented sensation. Even though the stars were illusions.

Su Zinan and the other three also stopped communicating, fully enjoying the scenery. Of course, they didn't forget their main task. Qin Sang firmly locked onto the bright stars and flew continuously, noticing that their positions were also moving rapidly with no obvious pattern, making it impossible to predict their trajectory. He could only accelerate, and Su Zinan and the others did likewise. They understood this was normal; if the Ox Mansion were so easy to enter, the sword array would be a joke. Moreover, Qin Sang suspected this wasn't the full extent of the sword array's transformations. If the sword-stars were not rigid sword intent but individual sword cultivators, not only would their power greatly increase, but the sword array's core might also constantly shift among the Western Seven Mansions. When the array evolved to its extreme, its variations would truly be endless.

As his thoughts wandered, Qin Sang got closer and closer to the bright stars. He hadn't forgotten the strange enemy lurking in the shadows, but the Fire Jade Centipede was drowsy, suggesting that person seemed to have truly given up. While in the sword array, Qin Sang didn't know how far he had pursued. Finally, the bright stars grew closer. The next moment, Qin Sang had an inexplicable feeling. The surrounding stars were still there, their number unchanged, yet he knew he had entered a new realm: the true Ox Mansion, the sword array's core!

"We're finally in..."

Qin Sang's expression softened, but he still intently watched the bright stars. Upon entering the Ox Mansion, the scene before him changed dramatically; the originally dim bright stars transformed, emitting brilliant light. After gazing for a moment, Qin Sang realized there were actually four bright stars, all shining together. No wonder they were so conspicuous; that place must be where the energy conflicts were most intense.

Qin Sang no longer hesitated, quickly moving closer to the bright stars. However, before Qin Sang could get close to the bright stars, an unexpected scene unfolded. Behind the bright stars, a large expanse of thick, heavy mist suddenly surged out, resembling a nebula in the starry sky. But the nebula's scope was too vast, stretching across the back of the starry sky with clear boundaries, extending outwards to both sides, seemingly without end.

"Where did this nebula come from? No, that's not right!" As Qin Sang's doubts arose, he immediately understood. That wasn't a nebula, but the boundary of the sword array. However, the other side wasn't the array's exit, but another Five Elements Divine Prohibition. Observing its aura, which was heavy rather than light (in line with Earth generating Metal and Metal generating Water in the Five Elements cycle), it was highly likely the Earth Element Divine Prohibition. The Five Elements Divine Prohibitions' energies were interconnected, forming a seamless whole.

Inside the sword array, stars flowed continuously, the positions of the Seven Mansions shifted constantly, and the Ox Mansion moved non-stop. It was entirely possible that it had brought them to the edge of the Earth Element Divine Prohibition. After spending so long in the sword array, Qin Sang naturally couldn't enter the Earth Element Divine Prohibition, otherwise he would have to start from scratch. He withdrew his gaze, his target still the bright stars.

Unexpectedly, what he saw with this glance was an astonishing sight. The Earth Element Divine Prohibition was connected to the Seven Mansions Sword Array, and sword-stars constantly drifted past the edge of the Earth Element Divine Prohibition. This was common when the Five Elements Divine Prohibitions were operating normally. Thus, even if sword-stars were extremely close to the Earth Element Divine Prohibition, they wouldn't collide with it or trigger a violent reaction. They had flowed continuously for countless years without a single accident. But because Zhun Wudao shattered the Jade Pavilion, causing energy conflicts within the sword array, this harmony was broken. The sword-stars in other Mansions had not shifted significantly and had not yet collided with the Earth Element Divine Prohibition. But now it was different. The array's core, the true Ox Mansion, had drifted over. The Ox Mansion was the beginning of the array's chaos, and its sword-stars were largely displaced, especially these four that had become bright stars; they were almost completely off their original trajectories. If they were to graze past the Earth Element Divine Prohibition like this, how could an accident not occur? The Five Elements Divine Prohibitions were vast in scale; although such an accident wouldn't directly cause them to collapse, it couldn't withstand repeated accumulation, and it was fatal to the sword-stars themselves!

Qin Sang turned his gaze back, seeing the four bright stars tracing an arc-shaped star trail in the void, drifting towards the Earth Element Divine Prohibition. Just as they were about to touch the 'nebula,' the arc began to curve back. But precisely because the bright stars had shifted, they did not follow their predetermined orbits exactly. To Qin Sang's astonishment, they collided with the 'nebula'!

At the same moment, at another location in the Ox Mansion, Su Zinan and the others, who were even closer than Qin Sang, also watched this scene unfold with stunned expressions.

Boom!

The ring of light formed by the four bright stars was the first to collide with the 'nebula.' In an instant, the impact tore a large hole in the 'nebula,' but thick mist surged within the void, and endless mist surged back like a great tide. The four stars moved together, and the one closest to the nebula made first contact, nearly half of the bright star submerging. With good luck, if the deviation wasn't too severe, this bright star still had a chance to return. Unexpectedly, a surprising scene unfolded. That bright star, upon touching the nebula, suddenly trembled, then completely deviated from its orbit, plummeting directly into the depths of the nebula. The speed of this change was something Qin Sang and the others had not anticipated.

"This is..."

Qin Sang's heart stirred.

"The Nine Terrestrial Magnetic Forces!" Poison King gravely revealed the true nature of the 'nebula.' The grey-black and mysterious-yellow interwoven mist was formed from the Nine Terrestrial Magnetic Forces. The Formless Immortal Sect had actually drawn these forces from underground into the strata to constitute the Earth Element Divine Prohibition here! The bright star collided with the magnetic force and was directly dragged into the 'nebula,' but this was just the beginning of the changes. The magnetic force stirred, simultaneously pulling in the other three bright stars.

At this point, the first bright star could not withstand the tearing force of the magnetic power and suddenly exploded. Its aftermath swept across, instantly igniting the nearest one, while the other two were scattered by the explosion's aftermath, thus escaping disaster.

At this moment.

Qin Sang focused his vision and finally saw clearly that the second bright star was surprisingly not a regular sword-star, but a sword-shaped Star Pavilion.

Boom!