2030 The Eighth Sword Deity Strikes Again! (3)
"No!"
Soon, Xu Xiaoshou sensed that something was amiss.
The energy unleashed by the Demonic Emperor Black Dragon's attack was too terrifying, even more so than the early-stage Ancestral Origin Emperor Tribulation.
If this kind of energy was not absorbed by the individual transcending the tribulation, storing a portion of it in the Fallen Abyss, only to be later swallowed by a spatial crack, but instead, if it were to be devoured on the spot...
What did it mean?
Xu Xiaoshou recalled the forgotten first objective of Bazhun'an:
Set open the Inner Island of the Abyss Island!
"Is this even possible?"
Xu Xiaoshou became excited at this thought, his whole body tensed, his toes gripping the dragon's head to stabilize himself, and his hands tightly clutching the dragon's horn, almost breaking it in his fervor.
"Roar!"
The Demonic Emperor Black Dragon did not feel pain in its horn, but it sensed a disturbance as if something had cut its head, prompting it to let out a mournful cry.
What had just happened?
Its crimson eyes lost their intensity, and the Demonic Emperor Black Dragon was puzzled by its earlier decision to endanger Abyss Island.
Why had it, the Holy Emperor, made that choice?
"Buzz!"
Before it could contemplate further, the Abyss Island trembled and then violently shook.
It was as if an invisible ancient behemoth, after accumulating enough energy, had awakened from its slumber.
"What... what is happening again?"
At the same time, everyone on Abyss Island felt an uncontrollable palpitation—a fear of unknown origin!
On the Fallen Abyss, Yu Lingdi stared at the spatial crack, his eyes shifting down to the secondary plane door in his hand.
He seemed to have realized something and hastily grabbed the thumb-sized door-like sculpture, nearly dropping it in his haste.
"Bazhun'an..."
"So, this is what you wanted!"
Above, Yan Wuse also had an enlightenment, his pupils beginning to tremble.
He remembered the time he had drawn circles and lines on the Fallen Abyss to analyze the situation of Abyss Island.
His initial guess about the first objective of Bazhun'an was to unravel the "Si Wu Formation" and release all the ghost beasts on the Inner Island of the Abyss Island.
But he had thwarted that plan!
He had disrupted the energy accumulation in the Fallen Abyss and repositioned the Nine Cores and the three hundred and sixty-five Void Suppression Steles.
The Si Wu Formation was extremely stable and unbreakable.
Naturally, the first thought was dismissed.
Yan Wuse's second conjecture about the Bazhun'an's objective was that he intended to lure him and Number Two out to kill the two high-end combatants of the Holy Divine Palace.
At first, this idea seemed absurd.
At this point in the battle, Number Two was gone, and Yan Wuse had almost perished as well.
So deep down, he had always been wary of this idea, fearing that he might fall for an impossible ploy by Bazhun'an.
But he had not anticipated...
At this point in the battle, he was willing to give his all.
Bazhun'an had swung the pendulum!
"Perhaps, in his world, having only me left is more important than breaking the Si Wu Formation and releasing the Inner Island of the Abyss Island?"
Yan Wuse was instantly enlightened.
However, he still had doubts. After all, he had completely secured the Si Wu Formation!
The spatial crack created by Bazhun'an's "A Sword from the East" was indeed adjacent to the Fallen Abyss and the spatial passageway leading to the Inner Island and the Shengshen Continent.
But the Si Wu Formation remained intact, and this spatial crack should not have been able to break the seal no matter how much energy it absorbed...
"Uh?"
As his memory was retrieved, Yan Wuse's train of thought was interrupted, leaving his mind blank.
He remembered...
On the site of the First Hall of Sins, he was sent flying by Xu Xiaoshou's punch, which seemed to carry the inheritance of supreme divinity, and he crashed through the First Hall of Sins, heading toward the outskirts.
In that moment, he shattered mountains, rivers, and forests...
But none of these seemed to offer any resistance.
Yet, he vaguely remembered that, in the final moments before losing consciousness, the reason why his body was completely shattered, causing Xu Xiaoshou's punch to erupt with full force, was because he had struck something very hard.
Yan Wuse retraced the scenes that followed that punch and discovered what it was:
The Void Suppression Stele!
After Xu Xiaoshou's punch, he knocked one of the Void Suppression Steles from its rightful place, sending it flying from its position.
Naturally, the Si Wu Formation had been inadvertently unraveled!
Naturally, this laid the foundation for breaking the seal on the Inner Island.
But...
Yan Wuse felt an inexplicable panic, and he raised his head to search all around, but he could not find what he was looking for.
"Why?"
How did Bazhun'an know all of this? He had even forgotten such minor details!
Had Bazhun'an been watching all along?
Had he been observing the entire battle?
If so, why had he not sensed his surveillance?
Where were his eyes?
Yan Wuse abruptly looked up at the sky.
He felt the world spinning, and everything was evolving.
The Abyss Island had become a prison, or perhaps an immensely vast chessboard.
He found himself within it, initially intending to force Bazhun'an to reveal himself and engage in a game of wits.
But little did he know that the other side had always been the player, constantly observing from the heavens, and manipulating him like a puppet.
