While Chu Feng and the others were still making their way toward the entrance of the Nine Heavens Secret Ground and had yet to step inside, the Prison Sect had already received word from Jie Tianran.
Inside a grand hall of the Prison Sect.
Seated at the deepest reaches of the hall, six elders sat side by side. They were…
A hunched old man standing one and a half meters tall — Cang Li.
A burly elder towering ten meters high — Lie Shan.
The remaining four were of similar build, all sporting long beards, and every strand of hair and beard — indeed, anything on their bodies that could be called fur or hair — had long since turned snow-white.
These four were named Ting Yun, Lang Kun, Qiu Feng, and Hao Lei.
They were the six figures of the Prison Sect's neutral faction.
Among them, Ting Yun had shown kindness to the other five, and so he held the most weight of voice among the six of the neutral faction. More often than not, he could speak on behalf of the entire neutral faction.
"Jie Tianran has sent word, saying that the anomaly is connected to Chu Feng and that we are to spare no effort in sealing off the anomaly and ambushing Chu Feng."
"What are your thoughts on this matter?"
Ting Yun looked down toward the others.
Every person below was a Prison Commander-level figure, but since Dongfang Hansong was absent, in truth only Baili Xukong could sit on equal footing with them. Yet in practice, whether it was Baili Xukong or Dongfang Hansong, both had always treated the six of them with the utmost respect.
"My lords, the Prison Sect and Chu Feng are irreconcilable enemies. The Seven Realms Sacred Palace are our allies — Jie Tianran would never deceive us. I see nothing to deliberate. We should commit everything to the ambush against Chu Feng."
Baili Xukong said.
"I hear you've already dispatched troops to set up formations?" Cang Li asked abruptly.
His complexion was still rather pale; his body had not yet recovered.
"Lord Cang Li, though I don't know where Jie Tianran obtained his information, regarding something this important, he wouldn't have sent the message carelessly. If this turns out to be true, then with Chu Feng's bizarre methods, I fear that if we delay, he will have already entered the anomaly. I acted in the Prison Sect's best interest by sending people to seal the area. What is the problem with that?" Baili Xukong shot back.
Cang Li had always contradicted him, and now Baili Xukong had grown rather displeased with him — he was no longer as deferential as before.
"Normally speaking, there would indeed be no problem."
"But the current problem — you should be well aware of it, yes?"
As Ting Yun spoke, he rolled back his sleeve to reveal a black bracelet around his wrist. At that moment, the black bracelet had sprouted vine-like growths that had already burrowed into the flesh of the elder's wrist, fusing with his body.
At the sight of this, every person who had participated in using the black bracelet to awaken the sacred artifact — with the exception of Baili Xukong — wore a complicated expression. They all knew that this thing had not merely invaded their flesh; it had already breached their souls.
"My lord, didn't we already know from the beginning that using this item to awaken the sacred artifact would bring a backlash?" Baili Xukong said.
"But the current backlash has far exceeded our expectations. And this thing — it appears to have entered the body, but in truth it has already infiltrated the soul. Rather than calling it a backlash, it would be more accurate to call it an invasion. Don't you find something wrong with that?" Ting Yun countered.
Over these past days, they had been using the black bracelet to awaken the sacred artifact. Although they had indeed achieved some results, the changes in the bracelet had begun to unsettle them. On top of that, Cang Li had been saying all along that Jie Tianran could not be trusted. All of them had begun to harbor doubts.
"My lord, the power of this bracelet has indeed entered our bodies, but we can sever it completely. The only reason we haven't is that once severed, the bracelet would no longer function, and we would suffer a true backlash. That is why we have not cut it off."