Meanwhile, on Baili Xukong's side.
He was leading the new sect's army of the Prison Sect, as well as the ancient army commanded by Dongfang Hansong.
Everyone knelt on one knee in perfect formation before a massive black gate that stood a hundred thousand meters tall.
That was the sacred artifact of the Prison Sect.
With the aid of the black bracelet, majestic power surged from the palms of every Prison Sect member and converged upon the sacred gate in unison.
The sacred gate had been pulled open halfway by this tremendous force.
Yet every single person was gritting their teeth, their faces strained with effort—even Baili Xukong was no exception.
For if they failed to open the sacred artifact completely, all their efforts would be wasted.
But opening the sacred artifact demanded a tremendous toll of energy from them all.
"Hold on, victory is just before us."
But these words from Baili Xukong had no effect whatsoever.
Not only did the gate of the sacred artifact fail to open wider — it actually shrank a little.
This was because Baili Xukong had already said things like this many times before.
At the start, the group could still rally themselves, grit their teeth, and push through.
But now they were completely spent.
"Why… is the sacred artifact so difficult to open?"
Truthfully, Baili Xukong himself was feeling discouraged as well.
When he had used the incomplete black bracelet before, the gate of the sacred artifact had opened even wider than it was now.
So, after experiencing the full power of that black bracelet,
Only then did Baili Xukong feel that the opening of the sacred artifact was within reach.
Yet the power of the black bracelet had clearly grown stronger. But the intensity they encountered while trying to open the sacred artifact was even greater.
In fact, the degree to which the gate of the sacred artifact opened this time was even less than before.
"Foolish."
However, at that very moment, a voice that seemed to emanate from the depths of hell rang out from within the sacred artifact.
Upon hearing that voice, the Hell Eggs within everyone's bodies reacted violently.
It was a voice they had never heard before, but the moment they heard it, it was as if they had received a summons.
Boom—
And while everyone was still stunned, the gate of the sacred artifact slammed shut with tremendous force.
The army of the Hell Sect was thrown into complete disarray.
They had failed.
But the people present had no mind to pay attention to such things.
"My Lord, I just heard voices from inside the sacred artifact cursing us."
Jimo Qianzhou said to Baili Xukong.
"I heard it too."
Wuma Hanshuang immediately responded.
"Father, I heard it too."
Baili Zilin also said.
Right after that, everyone present began speaking up one after another — they had all heard it.
Upon seeing this, Baili Xukong, who had thought it was merely his own hallucination, was overjoyed.
Since everyone had heard it, that meant the Sacred Artifact was responding. Even if it was cursing at them, it was still an absolutely good thing.
"Fellow citizens, do not be discouraged."
"This is the first time the Sacred Artifact has responded to us. It seems we are truly only one step away from opening the Sacred Artifact."
However, the moment Baili Xukong finished speaking, a piercing roar erupted from the Sacred Artifact.
It was no ordinary roar — it was more like an angry bellow, and as it roared, the entire starry expanse trembled violently.
The powerful shockwave, though it did not cause them any harm, sent everyone stumbling, unable to keep their footing.
Even Baili Xukong was sent tumbling helplessly through midair.
And right at that moment, the blood-red energy flames wreathing the gate of the Sacred Artifact began to condense upon its surface, forming into large characters one after another.
The massive characters appeared in succession, making Baili Xukong and the others' eyes light up with excitement.
Though the full message had yet to be revealed, they could already make something of it.
The Sacred Artifact was giving them a clue.
And the content that had appeared was:
The Sacred Artifact appeared because of the Soul Infant Summoning Altar…
Upon seeing this, Baili Xukong was already beside himself with joy, and he looked proudly at his son, Baili Zilin.
He had already guessed the gist of it. Since the Sacred Artifact appeared in relation to the Soul Infant Summoning Altar, then the key to opening it must be the one who had successfully awakened the Soul Infant Summoning Altar.
That was his son.
But what Baili Xukong thought of, the others also thought of, and Baili Zilin himself thought of it too.
Facing the gazes of desire and hopeful anticipation cast upon him by everyone.
Baili Zilin felt a twinge of guilt.
After all, he knew perfectly well.
It was not him who awakened the Prison Infant Altar, but Chu Feng.
However, the prompt from the holy relic gate did not cease.
Only the person who awakened the altar could open the relic…
This was the descendant of the last prison lord.
The message ended there, with no new content appearing.
Yet, gazing at the large, blood-red characters blazing atop the holy relic, Baili Xukong was stunned.
Something was wrong.
Baili Zilin was his son.
The prison lord had departed so many years ago; when he left, Baili Zilin had not even been born.
Baili Zilin could not possibly be the prison lord's offspring—he was his own flesh and blood.
It was absolutely true.
But then why did the Sacred Treasure's warning say… that the one who awakened the Sacred Altar was the prison lord's descendant?
How could the Sacred Treasure be wrong?
At that moment, Baili Zilin looked as though he had received a devastating shock. His face was pale, sweat poured down like rain, his eyes were wide and round, veins of blood spreading across his eyeballs.
He was no fool. By now, he had already understood everything.
"Father!!!"
And so, Baili Zilin dropped to his knees before Baili Xu Kong with a thud.
"Zilin, what are you doing?"
Seeing this, Baili Xu Kong was completely thrown into a panic.
Even now, all he could think was—could it be that Baili Zilin truly wasn't his own flesh and blood? That for some reason, Baili Zilin was connected to the prison lord?
"Father, I was wrong."
"The person who awakened the Sacred Altar that day wasn't me at all."