"Forget it."
It was actually Dongfang Hansong who spoke up, adding:
"They no longer have the strength to resist. Spare their lives — they won't last much longer anyway."
"Sentimentality."
Though Baili Kongxu said this, he still withdrew the great divine saber from his hand.
But when Baili Kongxu opened his palm, two black bracelets drifted through the air toward Dongfang Hansong.
"Although you did inform me about those six planning to betray the Prison Sect and cooperate with Chu Feng — and that certainly kept the Prison Sect from falling into crisis..."
"I still do not trust you."
"Unless you stand on the same front as me, and we open the sacred artifact together."
Baili Kongxu said.
Dongfang Hansong smiled faintly and directly slipped both black bracelets onto his wrists.
"Let's go."
Then he turned and pushed open the hall doors.
Outside the great hall, the figures standing there were all close confidants of Baili Kongxu and Dongfang Hansong.
The doors had been left open — they could see what was happening inside, and they witnessed the wretched state of the six neutral faction elders.
But none of them showed the slightest surprise.
They had known about this long ago. They had even helped activate the Prison Infant Devouring Formation just now.
More than that, by participating in the formation — ostensibly to assist Baili Kongxu and Dongfang Hansong in devouring the power of the six neutral faction elders — they had actually gained some power for themselves.
As for Dongfang Hansong, he headed straight for the sacred artifact, with Baili Kongxu close behind.
Once near the sacred artifact, Dongfang Hansong began using the bracelets to open it.
The sacred artifact's backlash entered his body as well.
"Now, do you believe me?"
"I, Dongfang Hansong, may differ from you in our views, but my heart is loyal to the Prison Sect."
Dongfang Hansong said.
"Then what do you think should be done about Chu Feng?" Baili Kongxu asked.
"Chu Feng must die."
"But before that, he must be put to use for our Prison Sect." Dongfang Hansong said.
"Put to use for our Prison Sect?"
"How?"
Baili Kongxu asked.
"Those six may have gone senile in their old age, but they wouldn't lie about this."
"The fact that Chu Feng received the personal recognition of the Prison God proves that his Prison Infant is truly near-perfect."
"How could a Prison Infant like that not be useful for opening the sacred artifact?"
"I suggest we inform Jie Tianran and have him set up a formation to use the Prison Infant inside Chu Feng to help us open the sacred artifact."
"And then erase him afterward."
"If you think it's feasible, you can handle the communication with Jie Tianran. The two of you must have a way to send messages quickly, yes?"
Dongfang Hansong said.
After a brief moment of thought, Baili Kongxu replied:
"Leave this matter to me."
…
Meanwhile, Jie Tianran had arrived at the location of the Era of the Gods first, having traveled at breakneck speed without regard for cost.
He had gathered the forces of the Seven Realms Sacred Palace, originally intending to set up defenses and ambush Chu Feng in advance.
But after careful observation, he discovered that ambushing Chu Feng would be exceedingly difficult. Chu Feng possessed the Sword of the Key, and within a certain range, he could step directly into any of the three great gates of the Era of the Gods.
And that range was beyond the area where Jie Tianran could possibly set up an effective ambush.
Unless Chu Feng, upon emerging from the Era of the Gods, did not arrive at his point of entry but instead somewhere near the Era of the Gods itself.
But that was merely speculation — who could guarantee such a thing?
"Jie Tianran, are you not going in?"
The one inside Jie Tianran's body asked.
"Allow me to observe a bit longer."
Jie Tianran said.
What he was observing, however, was not the three great gates of the Era of the Gods.
He was using the observation formation to watch the phenomenon at the Bloodline Heavenly River.
No matter how powerful the observation formation, it could only capture rough details — but he could observe that phenomenon.