"Whether it dissipates or not, there's only one way to find out." Now that it had come to this, they had to try every possible option, no matter how slim the chance.
Fan Xun and the others set to work again, layering restriction after restriction onto the grand formation. Another two days passed before everything was finally in place.
Just as before, Yang Kai stepped into the formation. Fan Xun shifted his hand seals, and the Sealing Formation activated.
Yang Kai channeled the Purifying Light, letting it flood the interior of the formation and settle within.
Watching that pristine, flawless radiance, Fan Xun and the others felt stabs of heartache and self-reproach. Over the past several months, their repeated failed experiments had already wasted a considerable amount of the Purifying Light. It was beginning to erode their confidence, making them doubt everything they had learned over the years.
Before the Sealing Formation had been activated, the two Spatial Formations had already been inspected and confirmed to be functioning perfectly.
Now that the formation was up, Yang Kai stood upon one Spatial Formation and attempted to teleport — and sure enough, he failed. Just as Fan Xun had said, they had invested tremendous effort into this Sealing Formation, and it had successfully severed all connection between the interior and exterior. In other words, the space within the Sealing Formation was completely cut off from the outside world. Forget the two Spatial Formations — even if Yang Kai tried to use spatial shifting, without breaking the formation first, there was no way to escape from within.
"Yang Kai, are you ready?" Fan Xun called out loudly.
Yang Kai replied, "Ready. Go ahead, Martial Uncle Fan."
Fan Xun gave a slight nod and changed the seals in his hands. The formation flags trembled, and the grand formation seemed to undergo some subtle shifts. Outside the formation, everyone watched with their full attention, not blinking for a single instant.
The next moment, an unmistakable ripple of spatial force emanated from within the formation. Everyone knew that Yang Kai had activated the Spatial Formation's power. They quickly turned to look to the side, and sure enough, Yang Kai's figure appeared abruptly upon the other Spatial Formation.
But along with his appearance, some of the pure white light had clearly come with him, swirling briefly around his body before fading away.
That white light was, without question, the Purifying Light that had originally been sealed within the formation.
The instant the two Spatial Formations connected, not only had Yang Kai's figure been relocated, but the Purifying Light had also escaped through the channel established between the formations.
Fan Xun's brows knotted tightly. This outcome was both unexpected and, in a way, entirely predictable — a combination that left him feeling thoroughly helpless.
Yang Kai let out a soft sigh. If even the Spatial Formations couldn't solve the problem at hand, he had no idea what would.
This failure dealt Yang Kai a small blow, because the stakes were considerable. If they couldn't resolve this, the waste of the Purifying Light was only part of it — his own situation going forward would be far from ideal.
He was about to offer some words of comfort to Fan Xun and the others, encouraging them to keep thinking of solutions, when Feng Ying suddenly spoke: "Martial Uncle Dongguo!"
Everyone looked at her. She was bowing toward a spot in the sky. Following her gaze, they saw a tall, broad-shouldered middle-aged man hovering in midair, gazing down at them in silence.
Fan Xun and the others quickly bowed in greeting. Yang Kai followed suit.
He did not recognize the man. During his last visit to the council hall, he had met most of Biluo Pass's Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivators, but a handful had not been present. Feng Ying had explained at the time that Zhong Liang couldn't possibly recall every Eighth-Order for the meeting — someone still had to hold the line on the battlefield.
This Martial Uncle Dongguo had clearly been one of those who remained behind.
That said, even though Yang Kai didn't know him by name, he had seen the man several times over the past few days. Each time, this Martial Uncle Dongguo had been leading a group of people overhead, moving with great urgency, looking very much occupied.
On more than one occasion, Yang Kai had noticed him curiously glancing down, but the man had presumably been too pressed for duty to stop and investigate.
This time he had apparently found a moment to spare. No one was sure how long he had been watching. Everyone had been so focused on testing the Spatial Formation that they hadn't noticed his arrival at all.
Martial Uncle Dongguo descended step by step, as if invisible stairs lay beneath his feet. He turned his head to regard the Sealing Formation, then looked Yang Kai up and down before offering a nod and a smile.
Yang Kai didn't recognize him, but he certainly recognized Yang Kai. He knew that someone capable of purifying and dispelling the Ink Force had been stationed on this drill ground, and that over the past several months this person had helped resolve crises for countless members of their race. Many of his own disciples had benefited as well.
So every time he passed by this area, he made it a point to check in.
Feng Ying knew Yang Kai was unfamiliar with Biluo Pass and wouldn't recognize the man before them, so she took the initiative to explain: "This is Martial Uncle Dongguo Anping of the Divine Cauldron Heaven."
Divine Cauldron Heaven. Yang Kai's eyebrows rose as he recalled that chubby little fellow, Xu Zhen.
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen the chubby youth since they parted ways in the Grand Ruins Space. But Xu Zhen was, after all, a Core Disciple of the Divine Cauldron Heaven. Having undergone trials in the Grand Ruins Space and earned the favor of one of the Sacred Spirits, he had grown considerably. Yang Kai had heard some time ago that the young man had successfully advanced to the Sixth-Order realm.