As the others continued to attack the formation surrounding the palace, the two Immortal Form Sect Elders were having a secret discussion.

The junior woman sent a voice transmission to Lady Mu with a worried tone, “Senior Martial Sister, must we truly aid them in breaking the formation. Elder Xiang mentioned that the palace was connected with the Elder Devil Ancestor’s seal! And how was the Eight Spirit Ruler discovered here?!”

“Don’t worry, Junior Martial Sister,” Lady Mu quickly calmed, “This isn’t the place where the devil is sealed or the Dragon Call Crest would’ve reacted by now. As for the reason why we must break this formation, it isn’t solely for the ruler. We must reach the ninth floor of the Devil Suppressing Pagoda to restrengthen the seal as it has the core of the formation. However, there is no opening to the next floor, leaving the palace as the only place it could be. I should've explained sooner.”

“So it was like that. I was wondering why Senior Martial Sister had dragged me here. But the ruler...”

Lady Mu interrupted, “The Eight Spirit Ruler is a treasure that the ancestors of our sect had left behind. It is only proper for us to acquire it.”

“That is true, but I fear it would be difficult for us to fight for it.” The beautiful woman glanced at the cultivators and the demons around them and wore a hesitant expression.

“Perhaps, but don’t forget that you have the Four Skies Ruler, a replica of that very Divine Spirit Treasure. When the fight for the ruler occurs, activate it and see if it has any impact. Even if it isn’t effective, Elder Xiang could come at any moment, and they will be forced to hand it over to him. He has a deep relationship with our sect. If we plead with him, he will be certain to give us some benefits even if he doesn’t directly hand the Eight Spirit Ruler over to us.” A cunning glint shone from Lady Mu’s eyes.

“That’s also true,” The beautiful woman then paused in thought and worriedly asked, “But what about that black formation from the room that we came from? Could it be that is where the Elder Devil is sealed? It is unfortunate that it had lost its effect, or we could’ve taken a look at it first.”

“It’s possible. Our sect records don’t mention any specific information on the Elder Devil’s seal.”

As the two were continuing their secret conversation, the Elder Devil Sacred Ancestor was attempting to break free of its constraints in a hidden space nearby.

The black mirror, the jade lotus, the ring, the authority token and the small black bottle was floating above the huge two-headed wolf, each releasing a black beam of light down below into its body. This produced a layer of eerie devilish light, pushing the talismans and chains a foot off the wolf’s hide.

The restraints twinkled with light, activating their restrictions in response to this.

But the most notable of these was the yellow mirrors that surrounded it. They all simultaneously let out a drone, and the bright beams of light had been strengthened, turning them several times thicker.

The two-headed and four-armed Elder Devil was currently floating in the air and striking the five devilish artifacts with spell seals. His two faces wore grave expressions as they stared at the silver wolf in the air.

The black teleportation formation below them was covered in a shroud of grey light, causing temporary disruption and prevent any others from barging in.

At the moment, the black wolf head assumed a completely devilish appearance. Not only was its horn several times larger but black lightning also flashed from its surface, occasionally releasing pangs of thunder. The wolf’s eyes were lit with a purple devil flame and began to incinerate the nearby talismans through merely glancinging at them.

After the infusion of devilish Qi from the five artifacts, the Sacred Ancestor’s soul fragment had accumulated enough Qi and finally began to break free of its constraints.

As time slowly ticked by, the wolf head eventually destroyed all of the nearby talismans and let out a series of howls. Black light began to sway across its body and it grew even larger as if turning into a world-rending god.

The net of yellow light beams managed to barely suppress for a short while, but the wolf’s tyrannical expansion had soon broken through, causing all of the mirrors to simultaneously burst into specks of starlight.

The originally unremarkable Heavenly Star Chains, however, brightly glowed and expanded, remaining tightly wrapped around the huge wolf without even a second’s pause. Furthermore, the chains had white flame ignite across its length.

The smell of scorched flesh instantly filled the air as the holy inferno burned through the wolf’s pelt, disregarding the devilish light that surrounded it. 

The wolf head grimaced in agony as it felt the white flames burn it and a trace of fear even appeared on its face. She quickly muttered, “Pure Yang Bonefire! I didn’t think that those cultivators were actually capable of fusing this demonic flame with the chains. This will be troublesome.”

Then, the black wolf head suddenly raised its head and deafeningly howled. Black lightning surged from its horn, releasing a ball of lightning to the sky, only for it to burst into countless arcs of black to rain down on the chains.

In the blink of an eye, white flames and black lightning raged against one another as if they were two pythons coiled on chains like and let out strange muffled sounds.

The head hadn’t stopped there. With purple flame surging from its eyes, it let out a soft incantation and opened its mouth again, this time spitting out a mist of inky light all around it, engulfing the world in a wave of black. Deafening crashes could be heard as it wiped away the dense number of restrictions in the distance.

Joy appeared on the Elder Devil’s face when he saw this.

Although the devil ancestor’s soul fragment was trapped for countless years, its abilities hadn’t suffered in the least.

...

Outside Kunwu Mountain’s as the opening to the seal, there were a few hundred cultivators gathered around, less than half the number that had gathered there earlier.

However, Master Sable still remained sitting at the opening and wore a solemn expression.

This was due to the dozen Nascent Soul cultivators that were heads of the crowd.

If it weren’t for the fame of the High Zenith Sect and his high cultivation, he suspected they would’ve impatiently head inside already.

But even so, he couldn't afford to block them for much longer. Many of the Nascent Soul cultivators present actually belonged to a few great sects. Even the High Zenith Sect wasn’t willing to provoke them.

Eventually, a mid-Nascent Soul old man with a face glowing red emerged from the crowd, “Master Sable, what are you planning? I didn’t come here to waste my time.”

Master Sable sighed and opened his eyes from meditation. With an even tone, he replied, “Fellow Daoist Luo, didn’t I already tell you? The opening is in no shape for people to pass through. I am only blocking you because I don’t wish for your lives to be spent in vain.”

The old man Luo annoyedly retorted, “Then why did I hear that the Yin Sifting Sect and Immortal Form Sect cultivators have already entered?”

Master Sable calmly replied, “That was because Lady Mu had the Sun Moon Shuttle and Brother Xu had the Keen Spirit Peacock to brave the danger. If Brother Luo also has one of the three great spirit shuttles, I won’t block you any further. But you can wait a few more days— the passage will stabilize.”

“A few more days!? Then all the treasures will be long taken!” Another unhappy voice sounded out, coming from a silhouette shrouded in green light. He floated from the crowd and walked forward.

“So it was the Jadewisp Horizon’s Fellow Daoist Yu. You’ve also come,” when Master Sable saw this person, he unconsciously frowned. Although he wasn’t someone from the great sects, his poison techniques were well-known in the Great Jin. Even he didn’t want to provoke such a difficult enemy.

In truth, he didn’t actually care about them. He wouldn’t bat an eye if they all lost their lives to the unstable opening.

But he had previously acquired a secret report that the breach in the seal was the doing of the Ye Clan. Just as he was pondering about the nature of the Ye Clan’s plans, he immediately received an order from his sect, requiring him to only enter with the assistance of the Heavenly Devil Sect’s Daoist Sevenwonders and to prevent anyone else from entering.

The one who had given him the order was a peculiar existence in their sect, one who even he didn’t dare to disobey. Why else would he exert himself for such a troublesome affair.

But since the order called for two late-Nascent Soul cultivators, the matter can’t be simple.

As he had expected, he soon acquired a jade slip not long after he was guarding the opening, detailing the information of what lay inside. When the old man read through it, he felt greatly startled and couldn't help but regret ever allowing Old Devil Qian and the others to enter first.

But now that matters have reached this stage, he didn’t dare to have any more enter the seal as well.

If this number of people all entered, who knew what problems they could stir. If the sealed entity was released, nobody in the mortal world could hope to stand against it. Furthermore, there were Divine Spirit Treasures that couldn't be allowed to fall into the hands of others.