# — The Broken Battlefield
# Lower Underground Abyss — Ancient Sealing Formation
Silence remained after the battlefield projection disappeared.
Heavy silence.
The kind that settled after witnessing something the mind could not fully process.
---
Broken stars.
Falling heavens.
Ancient figures carrying silver and black swords.
The images lasted less than a second—
yet nobody inside the abyss could forget them now.
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Several cultivators still stared blankly toward empty space.
Even Zhao Tianhe’s expression remained shaken slightly.
Because what they just witnessed exceeded the understanding of their current world completely.
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Meanwhile—
the massive eye beneath the endless crack slowly closed halfway again.
Its ancient pressure weakened slightly afterward.
Almost tired.
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Then the voice echoed upward once more.
> “The war never ended.”
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Xu Yuan quietly frowned.
“What war?”
The eye remained silent briefly.
Then answered:
> “The war against the things beyond the gate.”
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The atmosphere throughout the abyss became colder afterward.
---
Lin Hao slowly looked around.
“…Why does every answer create ten more problems?”
Xu Yuan calmly answered:
“That appears to be tradition.”
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Even Xia Yu quietly exhaled beside him.
Because nothing underground today resembled ordinary cultivation history anymore.
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Then suddenly—
CRAAAAACK!
Another section of the sealing formation shattered below.
Silver spiritual rivers destabilized violently afterward while countless ancient symbols flickered across the abyss.
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One formation elder immediately turned pale.
“The seal cannot maintain balance much longer!”
---
The giant eye beneath the crack slowly opened wider again.
Not aggressively.
Naturally.
Like the weakening formation could no longer suppress it fully.
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At the same time—
countless faint whispers began echoing from beneath the abyss.
Ancient voices.
Broken voices.
Endless voices.
---
Several weaker cultivators instantly covered their ears painfully.
One guard nearly lost consciousness.
---
The system screen flickered rapidly before Xu Yuan.
> External soul interference detected
>
> Purification active
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Xu Yuan’s mind stabilized immediately afterward.
Beside him—
Xia Yu’s blessing also protected her naturally from the whispers.
Silver light faintly circulated around her soul quietly.
---
Then unexpectedly—
the silver sword floating beside Xia Yu descended slightly lower.
As if responding to the unstable seal.
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SHIIIIING!
A massive wave of sword intent exploded downward into the abyss.
The whispers weakened instantly afterward.
---
The giant eye below observed silently.
Then the ancient voice echoed again.
> “That sword still remembers its purpose.”
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Xia Yu quietly asked:
“What purpose?”
The abyss became silent again briefly.
Then:
> “To sever the path beyond the gate.”
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Xu Yuan immediately noticed something afterward.
The giant eye never showed hostility toward Xia Yu or the silver sword.
Only caution.
---
Meanwhile—
the black soul sword beside Xu Yuan remained silent as always.
Cold.
Unreadable.
Ancient.
---
Then suddenly—
the floating platforms throughout the abyss began moving.
Massive stone structures slowly shifted through darkness while ancient mechanisms awakened below the seal.
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BOOOOOOM!
The underground world trembled violently once more.
And from the darkness beneath the endless crack—
something gigantic slowly began rising upward.
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Not the eye.
Something else.
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At first—
only broken black armor became visible.
Then a massive shoulder.
Then part of a giant humanoid figure covered entirely in ancient chains.
---
Every cultivator instantly felt overwhelming pressure.
Because the thing rising beneath the abyss—
was carrying a sword larger than entire buildings.