Chapter 744: Hurricane

A deafening roar erupted as the storm descended.

The powerful winds immediately scattered the group, their protective divine light flickering precariously around them. As Qin Sang activated his Ebony Sword and rushed into the barrier, he felt a continuous barrage of chaotic, brutal forces striking his body, making him feel like duckweed tossed about in a downpour.

Everyone scrambled to stabilize themselves, barely managing to find their footing in the storm.

Qin Sang channeled more true essence into his Ebony Sword, activating a protective sword energy. Inside the storm, the world was cloaked in darkness. The hurricane was palpable, with visible streaks of gray wind raging across the sky and sea.

The sea was never calm; the hurricane whipped up the water, creating towering waves. No other sounds could be heard, only the howling of the hurricane and the crashing and reforming of the waves. The deafening roar made their very hearts tremble.

With a tremendous crash, a gigantic wave surged rapidly, reaching its peak in front of them, dozens of yards high, and slammed down fiercely.

The group's expressions changed slightly. The immense power carried by the wave filled them with dread, leaving no room for hesitation. They quickly ascended high into the air to evade it.

"Gather closer; don't break formation," Xiang Yi transmitted, rallying the group.

With Xiang Yi at the center, Qin Sang and the others huddled together, gazing with trepidation into the dark, seemingly endless depths of the storm. It was only when facing such immense natural power that cultivators truly understood their own insignificance.

"Let's go!"

Xiang Yi activated the enchantment on his jade pendant, indicating the direction, and led the group forward.

The wind and waves raged relentlessly, growing more terrifying the further they advanced. They moved up and down, left and right, dodging massive waves and struggling through the hurricane.

Qin Sang remained somewhat distracted, constantly looking around. Having trained for many years on the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, he was very familiar with the celestial phenomena caused by spirit tides. The more he observed the hurricane here, the more similar it felt, yet he found no traces of a spirit tide. Perhaps they hadn't delved deep enough. However, given their cultivation levels, attempting to penetrate the storm's depths would be nothing short of wishful thinking.

To withstand the storm, they had to continuously activate their protective artifacts, leading to a constant drain on their true essence. On the Ancient Immortal Battlefield, when celestial phenomena struck, one could seek refuge to rest and recover. Here, it was the vast, open sea, with no small islands in sight—nowhere to land and recuperate. Depletion of true essence meant certain death. Even over this relatively short distance, the rate at which their true essence was consumed began to make some uneasy.

"Daoist Friend Xiang, how much further until we reach the Seven Killings Palace?" asked Cui Ji, who had summoned his Purple Nether Pearl. It floated before his chest, emitting a purple protective divine light that cast an eerie glow on his pale, bloodless face.

Xiang Yi frowned slightly, glancing at Cui Ji. "With everyone's cultivation, persisting until the Seven Killings Palace opens will certainly not be an issue. Daoist Friend Cui, please calm yourself."

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

They had been flying for an unknown distance. By their internal calculations, it was less than half an hour until midnight, meaning the Great Shaman was likely close to beginning the array-breaking process. The group quickened their pace. Fortunately, they encountered no further setbacks along the way and reached the Seven Killings Palace relatively smoothly.

"We're here!" Xiang Yi exclaimed softly.

Everyone's eyes lit up. Following Xiang Yi's gaze, they gasped in astonishment, their faces filled with shock. In front of them was a wall of gray mist. Upon closer inspection, they realized this "wind wall" was merely a part of the hurricane's edge. This gray mist was the hurricane's power, concretized to its absolute limit. The hurricanes from all directions seemed to converge here, coiling around this spot, forming a swirling, dark-cloud-like mass of wind. They could only see a portion of it, unable to imagine its full extent.

Beneath the wind wall, a gigantic sea pit and vortex had formed, resembling a funnel in the ocean. The edges were marked by a curtain of water dozens of yards high as seawater poured back in, an endless stream being sucked into the vortex, yet it never filled. The hurricane and the vortex were seamlessly connected, forming a single entity.

Xiang Yi motioned for them to stop. Upon arriving, the hurricane had become even more violent due to the influence of the area. They had to exert their full strength to activate their artifacts just to avoid being scattered. Moving any further forward would be extremely dangerous; if they were swept into the hurricane or sucked into the underwater vortex, their fate would certainly not be good.

The group hovered in mid-air. Qin Sang recalled that before entering the Ziwei Palace, they could see layers of cloud sea and the Heavenly Gate of the Ziwei Palace. Here, there was nothing but an endless expanse of gray hurricane. He wondered if the Seven Killings Palace was hidden deep within the hurricane or beneath the sea vortex.

Qin Sang withdrew his gaze and looked around, noticing that other cultivators had already arrived. Some were lone figures, while others, like them, had come in groups. Everyone stood patiently outside, waiting for the Seven Killings Palace to open.

Qin Sang looked around, carefully observing the hurricane and the vortex, but he couldn't find the Witch Clan's Great Shaman or the Golden Core Ancestors who had arrived earlier. Their current position was merely on one side of the hurricane. According to Xiang Yi, the hurricane and vortex here were roughly circular. Cultivators holding the tokens, like them, simply needed to guard the edges and await the signal for the immortal array to open.

"This hurricane is terrifying beyond belief. Only a legendary immortal array could generate such a dreadful phenomenon, and there's no sign of it weakening in the slightest. Aside from the lack of spatial fissures, it feels no different from the eye of the storm surrounding the Ziwei Palace. I wonder if the immortal array inside is as fearsome and dangerous as the Ziwei Palace's. The Xiaohan Region only dared to venture in with the aid of the Small Northern Star Primordial Array, and that was when the Ziwei Palace manifested on its own… How does the Witch Clan's Great Shaman intend to forcibly break this array?"

Qin Sang was intent on exploring, hoping to find the Great Shaman and witness his array-breaking process firsthand. However, seeing that Xiang Yi had no such intention, he reluctantly gave up. Soon, Xiang Yi dispelled his doubts. "At this very moment, the Great Shaman and the Golden Core Ancestors have already entered the hurricane's depths and made contact with the immortal array. Regardless of where we stand, it's impossible for us to witness the array-breaking process. We must patiently await the signal. The moment to enter the array is fleeting, so everyone, remember not to get distracted, lest you miss something important…"

Before he finished speaking, the group suddenly sensed a formidable aura approaching at an astonishing speed. Before they could react, it had already swept past them in the blink of an eye, appearing in front of the wind wall and revealing an elderly man in a gray robe.

"That's Daoist Yunlai," the Liu couple murmured, recognizing the old man. "He's a very well-known rogue cultivator in the Inner Sea, with deep connections in both the righteous and demonic factions, commanding his own island. My wife and I were fortunate enough to meet him once."

Without a doubt, Daoist Yunlai was a Golden Core Ancestor. He paused briefly in front of the wind wall, then took out an iron brush made of profound iron. With a light stroke across the wind wall, a black light materialized in the void. Seemingly effortlessly, a gap was opened in the wind wall. The old man's figure vanished from the spot, and only then did the opening slowly close.