When Lin Mu opened the Spatial crack that lead into the Grand void, the entire cultivation world of the Great Zhou Empire was thrown into upheaval. From the top sects to the myriad of kingdoms, every cultivator that was at the nascent soul stage and above was able to sense it.
Sky precepts sect, Star catching peak.
A large pool of blood could be seen, within which hundreds of disciples were lying on the ground; their life or death unknown. The seven orifices of all the disciples could be seen bleeding profusely. The blood from all their bodies had accumulated to form the large blood pool. This place was the formation array of the star catching peak.
For the past two days, the disciples of the star catching peak had been trying to trace the location of the multiple spatial disturbance that had risen. The spatial disturbances had been increasing in frequency because of which the elders of the peak had called in more disciples to help operate the formation array.
But the elders did not know that their actions of calling more disciples would soon lead them to their deaths. Two black-robed elders could be seen standing at the head of the formation array. They too were bleeding from their seven orifices, but they were conscious and were currently gritting their teeth in anger.
"The Star catching peak can't bear such an enormous loss." The black-robed elder named Feng said to the other black-robed elder.
"We had no idea this would be happening Elder Feng. We only increased the number of disciples because we were ordered to do so. The sect patriarch will definitely understand." The other Black-robed elder replied.
"You haven't seen the patriarch when he gets desperate, Elder Geng. He will blame the peak for our inability to find out that a hidden cultivator was about to ascend." Elder Feng spoke with sorrow in his voice.
"But we don't know for sure that it was a cultivator that ascended, and not just another anomaly." Elder Geng replied.
"There is no other cause for a backlash as bad as this. The peak has old records which especially warn that the Star catching formation is to be shut down whenever a cultivator is about to ascend. The other warning stated that if that was not done, there be a loss of life due to the backlash, and even the formation array will be destroyed." Elder Feng Explained with cold eyes.
The other black-robed elder did not speak further and just held his silence in understanding. Elder Feng looked at Elder Geng who was staring in the distance and let out a sigh.
"Besides it's not just us who sensed it. The entire cultivation world will soon know that another cultivator from our world has ascended to become an immortal, after thousands of years." Elder Feng Said.
An hour ago,
In the grand palace of the Sky precepts sect, a meeting was currently underway. Tens of black-robed elders could be seen sitting on the chairs located along the hall. The sect patriarch was sitting on the head of the hall on a luxurious throne. The patriarch seemed to be lost in thought and was hearing the elders discuss the affairs of the sect.
"The arrangements for the trial grounds are complete and the disciples have been allocated their spots." An elder spoke after reading a scroll in his head.
"The emergency request for assistance that was issued by the Star catching peak has also been fulfilled." Head Elder Han spoke.
The sect patriarch raised his head upon hearing the report of Head Elder Han. He had been hearing a lot of reports from the star catching peak every day and had become interested in the whole situation involving the spatial disturbances.
"Did the Star catching peak have any success in narrowing down the location of the spatial rift?" A purple-robed elder that was sitting at the right side of the sect patriarch asked.
"Yes, first Supreme elder. They had been successful in narrowing the location down to three Northern Kingdoms; they are the Black Dawn kingdom, the Eastern Ming dynasty, and the Shuang Qian kingdom." Head elder Feng replied respectfully.
The purple-robed elder was the first Supreme elder of the sky precepts. He was one of the three Dao Treading realm experts of the sect, and his authority was second only to the sect patriarch.
"Any updates about the crown prince?" The sect patriarch asked.
Elder Han was just about to reply to the sect patriarch, when a wave of spatial energy spread over the entire Great Zhou Empire. Every person sitting in the hall became extremely alert and a grim expression could be seen on the faces of the sect patriarch and the first Supreme elder.
"Patriarch!" Elder Han exclaimed.
The sect patriarch stood up and a regal aura started emanating from his body. He waved his hand in the air, making a formation materialize in the air. The patriarch observed the formation on which the runes were jumping and changing every second.
"Seal the Sect and alert every disciple of the sect. A hidden expert is currently ascending, and there will be an upheaval in the Heavenly Dao. Order all elders to stop their seclusion. We will be having an emergency meeting." The Sect patriarch ordered.
"Also send help to the Star catching peak, they have suffered the backlash." The patriarch continued after pausing for a moment.
Horror could be seen in the eyes of Head elder Han once he realized the implications of the patriarch's words. He then hurried out of the hall and flew away towards the Star catching peak. Not a single sound could be heard in the hall as all the remaining elders were silent. Even the First supreme elder was lost in thought.
In the Rainbow pill sect,
In a large garden, there were millions of flowers blooming and swaying with the wind. In the sky, one could see clouds of spirit qi floating gently. In the center of the garden there existed a small pergola, within which an old man was currently sitting. The old man was holding a pill with his left hand and controlling a pill furnace with the right.
Suddenly a spatial wave covered the Rainbow pill sect and reacted with a formation. An extremely large formation array was revealed, which covered the entirety of the Rainbow pill sect. As soon as the formation array appeared, sounds of explosions could be heard coming from the many peaks of the sect.
The old man sitting in the enormous garden dropped what he was doing in a moment's notice and stood up before slamming his palm in the Ground.
"SUPPRESS!!!" the old man shouted, after which the formation array calmed down and the sounds of the explosions also stopped.
Tens of lights can be seen flying towards the large garden, before landing in front of the old man. The lights faded away and revealed the many elders of the sect that had just arrived. A man came forward from the group and was about to speak to the old man, but was interrupted.
"I already know. Don't waste time and start repairing the stabilization formation." The old man ordered.
"YES ANCESTOR." All the elders replied in unison, before flying away.
Situations similar to the Sky precepts sect and the Rainbow pill sect could be seen in all the top sects as well as the common sects of the Great Zhou Empire.
In the Tri-Cauldron Peony sect,
Thousands of disciples could be seen standing in a large field. They had been called to address the phenomena that had just occurred. A few men could be seen standing on the large platform in front of the field. All the disciples were facing the platform and were waiting for the announcement.
One of the persons standing on the platform came forward.
"Like you all must have seen, the security level of the sect was increased an hour ago. The reason for that is a unique phenomenon that was sensed by the elders of the sect. The phenomenon may be dangerous to all the disciples, thus everyone is ordered to stay within the confines of the sect, until further instructions are given." The man standing on the platform ordered.
Some sounds of protest could be heard coming from the disciples, but they were soon quelled after an elder standing on the platform exerted some pressure, silencing all the disciples.
Wu Lim City, The City Mayor's mansion,
Located deep below the mansion was a hidden cave. Only one person in the entire city knew that such a cave existed below the mansion, and that person was the city mayor. Expansive tunnels could be seen spreading from the cave, leading to unknown paths.
Within the cave, a large blood pool was situated. Multiple troughs connected to the blood pool, supplying more blood to the pool. If one looked at the roof of the cave, they would see thousands of inscriptions carved into the stone. The inscriptions spread from the roof all the way to the walls and finally submerged into the blood pool.
Inside the Blood pool, an emaciated man was currently sitting cross-legged with only his head exposed above the blood. An eerie aura was floating around the emaciated man. Suddenly the emaciated man showed a pained look and coughed out blood. The sound of the coughing echoed inside the cave and spread out in all the tunnels.
A man dressed in luxurious clothes soon appeared from one of the tunnels. The man had an anxious look on his face, upon hearing the coughing sound. He hurried towards the blood pool and looked at the face of the emaciated man.
"Elder brother!" The Luxuriously dressed man spoke.