The city square.
Ever since Lu Nanzhi revealed his demonic aura and trapped all the disciples from the aristocratic families, an uneasy atmosphere immediately filled the square.
On the upper level where the Jindan cultivator was, the center of the ice pillar was obscured by something and the situation could not be seen clearly. One could only see countless puppets constantly rushing out from the obscured area to block those who were approaching.
"There really is a demon cultivator! Is this someone from the Lu family?"
"Something's going to happen. It's definitely going to be serious. Let's get out of here!"
Those who feared for their lives fled in all directions, and the square was in chaos.
The people from the noble families and the sects couldn't believe it either, and Elder Lu immediately made an explanation.
"Lu Nanzhi is a disciple of Tianyan Sect. This must be a conspiracy of Tianyan Sect!"
Hearing this, everyone's eyes were directed towards where the Yuanying Zhenjuns of Tianyan Sect were. Li Jiuchuan and Zhao Fuyi were not there, and as Lu Nanzhi's master, Ling Guanghan stood up without fear.
“Lu Nanzhi is a member of the Lu clan and also a disciple of Ling Guanghan. There must be something hidden in this matter. Before we find out the truth, please...be careful with what you say!”
The last two words were squeezed out from between Ling Guanghan's teeth with a cold and sharp sword intent, full of deterrence.
Ling Guanghan is ranked third on the Nascent Soul Battle Ranking. He is aloof and arrogant, and would always resort to physical combat rather than verbal combat with others.
Kong clan leader Kong Huaizheng shouted, "Now is not the time to call for punishment. You should worry about the disciples of each clan! Quickly notify Fang clan leader to activate the city defense formation just in case."
The head of the Fang clan did not come to the square today. He was still in the Fang clan city, saying that he wanted to meet an old friend.
A Yuanying elder of the Fang clan worriedly said, "Too much earth energy has been consumed to maintain the secret realm. If we open the city defense formation again, the defense formations in the Kong and Fang clans will probably become ineffective!"
Kong Huaizheng looked righteous and asked the Fang elder in a cold voice, "Are the lives of the people in this city not important?"
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the Fang clan elder didn't dare to say that the lives of Fang clan members were more valuable than those of others. He could only bow and leave, and go find the Fang clan leader.
As soon as Lu Nanzhi revealed his demonic energy, Kong Huaizheng had already forcibly activated one of the central stone talismans that controlled the Boundary Breaking Pearl, trying to pull out everyone inside.
But he was horrified to find that the connection between the stone talisman and the Boundary-Breaking Pearl was blocked. Unless the person inside crushed the Boundary-Breaking Pearl himself or was eliminated normally, he would not be able to pull that person out.
It's obvious that all this was premeditated!
Kong Huaizheng's mind raced, and he dared not speak out for fear of causing unrest. He quickly thought about the causes and consequences, and how to deal with it.
Soon, everyone saw from the mirage that Fang Mingyi was in trouble. The elders and monks of the Fang family glared at the people of the Lu family in anger.
Everyone in the Lu family was in a state of panic, their hearts beating like drums.
"Why wasn't Fang Mingyi teleported out?"
Everyone then realized that Fang Mingyi in the mirage had disappeared, but did not appear in the square.
Snap!
Among the three stone pillars in the center of the square, the one with the demon totem on the top suddenly cracked.
The cracking sound was like a thunderclap that shook everyone's heart, making their scalps numb and breaking out in cold sweats.
"Oh no, someone is trying to destroy the secret realm!"
In the center of the stone pillar, the water vortex flickered and shrank, showing signs of collapsing and closing.
The situation became increasingly critical. Kong Huaizheng didn't care about anything else. He appeared under the stone pillar, mobilized all his spiritual energy, and tried his best to stabilize the entrance and exit of the secret realm to prevent the stone pillar from continuing to collapse.
Ling Guanghan and other Nascent Souls from various major sects also rushed over to assist Kong Huaizheng.
Maintaining the entire secret realm consumes a huge amount of energy. Each time the secret realm is opened, more than 60% of the spiritual energy in the underground vein of Kong Fang City is consumed.
"If you still want to save your own disciples, come and help. We must not let the secret realm collapse!"
In the Xuanming battlefield, not only were there people under the central ice pillar, but there were also quite a few disciples from aristocratic families and sects who had been attacked by the ice demon before and were scattered all over the Xuanming battlefield.
There are some on the lower level and there are some on the upper level.
All the Yuanying Zhenjun present at the scene no longer cared about the grudges between each other. For the sake of their own disciples and the descendants of various tribes, they appeared around the stone pillars, pressed their palms on the stone pillars, and tried their best.
The monks in the city who had not left were shocked and horrified at the scene, not knowing what to do.
Suddenly, the weather in the mirage changed, and the five-colored thunder suddenly shone brightly, engulfing the world and stealing everyone's sight.
However, the people inside disappeared and still haven't appeared outside.
The Yuanying Zhenjuns of the aristocratic families looked at each other, their hearts beating like drums.
If it were damaged like this, it would be a huge loss for every family.
Kong Huaizheng hurriedly said, "Don't worry, as long as the stone pillars don't collapse, even if the secret realm is broken, they will only be trapped for a while, and they will be able to get out when the secret realm recovers on its own."
As soon as he finished speaking, all Nascent Souls increased their spiritual energy output again to forcibly prevent the stone pillar from collapsing.
The cultivators in the city looked at the Mirage Secret Realm anxiously. They saw some disciples from the sect rush under the ice pillar and saw Jiang Yuebai suddenly poison everyone.
Just when everyone was confused, those sect disciples were successfully teleported out and fell outside the stone pillars one after another.
"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"
Amidst bursts of violent coughing, rays of light emanated from the stone pillar representing the human race and were injected into everyone's body, expelling the poison from them and repairing most of their injuries.
In the mirage, the entire Xuanming battlefield collapsed with the ice pillars, shattered into pieces, and a strong wind blew.
The secret realm collapsed into pieces of isolated islands with nowhere to rely on, floating in the dark void, and shattered into fragments of the original laws bit by bit from the edges.
Several more figures fell outside the stone pillar. They were the Jindan cultivators from the upper echelons of the hunting ground. They were all cultivators from the sects, and there were no people from aristocratic families.
There were also two masked female cultivators who immediately ran in different directions as soon as they came out. They were as fast as lightning and people could not react in time. Even the formation in the square could not stop them.
"The sect disciples were able to come out safely, but the aristocratic family disciples are all missing. This is a conspiracy against the aristocratic families!"
The Nascent Soul of some noble families shouted in anger, but the rubble on the stone pillars collapsed and broke faster and faster, so they hurriedly concentrated all their attention.
The rate at which the stone pillars were crumbling was greatly slowed down, and some places slowly began to recover.
The Yuanyings calmed down a little and gradually discovered something unusual. They felt that the person behind the scenes did not really want to destroy the secret realm.
A few people realized that something was wrong and tried to withdraw their hands, but immediately a frightening cracking sound came from the stone pillar, and it was about to break at one-third of the way!
At the critical moment, Zhao Fuyi came in mid-air, pulled off the cloth strap that bound his sleeves and threw it out.
The talisman light on the cloth belt flickered and formed into a chain, which quickly wrapped around the entire stone pillar and pulled tight to prevent the stone pillar from collapsing. A vast amount of spiritual energy was injected into it, and the stone pillar slowly recovered again.
"Jiuchuan has gone to look for the missing disciples, everyone please stay focused!" Zhao Fuyi shouted in a deep voice.
Kong Huaizheng also said, "I have informed my brother, he will be able to handle everything. Now only if we work together can we overcome the difficulties."
The Yuanyings looked at each other and left the solid stone pillar helplessly.
Outside the stone pillar, Xie Jingshan stared with wide eyes at the direction where the Jindan female cultivator had just disappeared. His nose moved slightly and he smelled a familiar scent.
That's... his mother
"Brother Zhuo, where is Sister Hua? And where are Sister Xu and Brother Xu?"
Zhao Kunling, who had been eliminated long ago, rushed from the crowd to Zhuo Qingfeng, and was so nervous that she almost cried.
Zhuo Qingfeng stood up and quickly searched the surroundings, and indeed did not see Hua Yingshi, Xu Qianjin and Xu Qiancheng.
The Xu siblings were separated from them early in the morning, and Hua Yingshi was not with them because of setting up the formation.
Zhuo Qingfeng's heart skipped a beat when he thought that they might still be in the secret realm.
"Senior Sister Tang, it seems that Senior Brother is still in there!"
He Wangchen nervously grabbed Tang Weimian and failed to find their Jindan senior brother Li Shenzhi.
"Senior Brother? Junior Sister!"
"Senior Brother Hui En didn't come out either!"
There was chaos in the square, and all the last people to come out were trying their best to find their lost fellow disciples.
"Where's Jiang Yuebai? Have you seen Jiang Yuebai?"
Zhuo Qingfeng ran to Xie Jingshan and asked nervously. Xie Jingshan came back to his senses and his heart sank.
"She seems to be in there too! Lu Nanzhi hasn't come out either!"
(End of this chapter)