Looking down from high above, the wall of yellow tempest had already transformed into a rolling yellow curtain that blanketed the entire desert beneath it.
Xiao Ming sat cross-legged in the distance, his eyes slowly closing as his hands maintained their seal, silently driving the scroll before him to activate.
Inside the golden tower, the scene displayed on the light screen had likewise dissolved into a haze of yellow sand and wind, rendering every detail within the desert completely invisible.
The woman draped in a five-colored, shimmering robe furrowed her brow at the sight and finally spoke: "Brother Yu, what Fellow Daoist Xiao Ming is employing—that is the Blood Bone Sect's guardian treasure, the Yellow Wind Chart, is it not? I have long heard that among the Profound Heavenly Treasures of the Spirit Realm, this artifact holds no low ranking. Now that it has been deployed, it has even shut out the Heaven-Gazing Mirror entirely. Its reputation is well earned indeed. However, is it not a touch premature to use it so soon? Fellow Daoist Xiao Ming is perhaps being overly cautious."
"Heh heh, what Brother Xiao holds is indeed the famous Yellow Wind Chart. Normally it is enshrined within the Blood Bone Sect's Ancestral Hall and is only brought forth—by the joint authority of several Elders—when a formidable enemy appears, then entrusted to a single person for battle. In truth, this treasure was already in place beforehand; the desert where that fiend is situated was conjured by this very scroll. What is happening now is simply its formal activation. As for whether Brother Xiao is being too cautious—I personally believe that activating the chart so decisively is a prudent measure. After all, that fiend's abilities are far from ordinary. With the Heaven-Earth Grand Formation and the Yellow Wind Chart both trapping him simultaneously, I would say things are now truly airtight. What do you think, Brother Bi? Oh? Brother Bi, your complexion looks rather poor—could something be troubling you?"
The hawk-eyed man in the blood-colored robe offered this explanation, then suddenly turned toward Bi Ying with a curious expression.
At that moment, Bi Ying's gaze was fixed unblinkingly on the light screen before him, his face an unsettling shade of pale. Only after hearing the hawk-eyed man's words did he tear his eyes away and manage a strained smile.
"It's nothing. I simply don't know why, but the moment I saw that fiend's true face just now, I felt my heart racing with a sense of foreboding."
"Oh? Such a thing? At our level of cultivation, one may indeed receive premonitions of certain dangers. Fellow Daoist He, Madam Lingyun—did either of you share the same instinct?" The hawk-eyed elder's expression shifted at this, and he asked the other two with sudden gravity.
"I did not."
"Nor did I sense anything of the sort. Perhaps Brother Bi's instinct was simply mistaken?" The man in the scholar's robe glanced at Bi Ying and offered a faint smile.
"Hmph—whether the instinct is mistaken or not, I have no intention of remaining here any longer. I am departing at once. Regardless of how this battle ultimately concludes, Brother Yu, simply send our alliance a message when the time comes." To the great surprise of the other three, the muscles on Bi Ying's face twitched once, and he abruptly delivered his farewell.
This left the others momentarily stunned.
"Ha ha ha—Brother Bi, aren't you being a bit too anxious? If any true danger were to descend, what harm could befall us four while we're all here together? Why not wait until after this battle concludes and then—"
The hawk-eyed elder laughed and was about to offer further persuasion when, at that very instant, the scene within the light screen ahead suddenly blazed with blinding brilliance. Countless piercing golden rays shot through the yellow curtain, dyeing the entire screen a searing gold.
"This is—"
"No! The Heaven-Gazing Mirror is about to shatter!"
After a collective jolt of alarm, the hawk-eyed elder cried out involuntarily.
The light screen trembled, then burst apart into a ball of golden light that detonated outward. A shockwave immediately radiated in all directions.
The four Mahayana cultivators either flicked their sleeves or summoned a shimmering barrier of light before them, sweeping the incoming shockwave aside with ease.
But as they stared at the place where the screen had exploded, nothing remained but a cracked and incomplete ancient mirror—and their faces all darkened accordingly.
"What happened? How could the Heaven-Gazing Mirror have shattered like this? Brother Yu, this treasure was refined by you—you should know full well the reason behind it." Madam Lingyun's expression shifted several times before she spoke.
"To be able to affect the Heaven-Gazing Mirror from such a distance and cause it to self-destruct... it appears something truly grave has occurred over there." The hawk-eyed elder stared at the broken mirror, his expression alternating between shadow and light, his answer only tangentially related to the question.
This treasure had cost him no small amount of resources to obtain—a truly invaluable artifact that allowed one to observe a distant location across hundreds of millions of miles. He had never imagined it could be so easily destroyed today, and the pain of that loss was keen.
"Judging by the scene just before the mirror was destroyed, it appeared that a force far beyond the Yellow Wind Chart's tolerance had erupted from within it, causing this to happen. Could it be that Fellow Daoist Bi Ying's premonition was actually true?" Master He's brow furrowed deeply.
"The Yellow Wind Chart is a Profound Heavenly Treasure, supplemented by the Heaven-Earth Grand Formation and twelve Mahayana cultivators in support—and it still cannot control the situation over there? What manner of divine ability has that fiend deployed to achieve such a thing?" Madam Lingyun murmured under her breath.
Bi Ying stood rooted in place, his face a grim, ashen mask, utterly silent.
"It's fine. I'll send a message over first and ask Fellow Daoist Xiao Ming exactly what has happened." The hawk-eyed elder finally thought of a course of action and said, his expression easing slightly.
As soon as the words left his lips, he flipped one hand over, and a snow-white, jade-like formation plate appeared in his grasp. His finger tapped rapidly upon its surface several times, and a string of faint silver text flickered into existence before blurring and vanishing.
Then the hawk-eyed elder fixed his eyes unblinkingly on the formation plate.