The warm current bestowed by the Marrow-Cleansing Spirit Liquid still coursed through every limb and bone. Within my dantian, an indigo spirit core spun like a galaxy, and with each breath I could feel the spiritual energy of heaven and earth rushing hungrily into my body.

"Fellow Daoist Ethan, keep up." Everett Li's voice drifted back from ahead. His azure robe billowed and snapped as he transformed into a streak of light, piercing clean through the cloud layer. I drew a deep breath, circulated the Tide Saint Body Art, and urged the Battle-Wave Saber forward with my sword-riding technique, racing after him. The speed at which spiritual power moved through me in the late Foundation Establishment stage far surpassed anything I had known before — barely enough to keep pace with a Core Formation cultivator in full flight.

The outline of the Xuanmen Bureau's headquarters emerged through the clouds below, half-hidden and half-revealed: an immense complex of buildings stretching as far as the eye could see. Vermillion palace walls soared into the sky; ridge-beasts crouched at the eaves and glinted with a metallic sheen in the sunlight. The air was thick with spiritual energy, dense almost to the point of stickiness — ten times richer, at the very least, than what I had known at the Eastern Sea Branch.

"This is the Spirit-Gathering Veil," Everett Li said, touching down just outside the palace wall. He pointed to a faintly luminous membrane shimmering before us. "A minor formation Director Honry Ho laid down on a whim. It accelerates a Foundation Establishment cultivator's spiritual circulation by thirty percent."

I extended my hand. The instant my fingertip made contact with the membrane, a torrent of gentle yet boundless spiritual power surged into my meridians. A full circuit that would normally take one complete cycle now completed in almost a third less time. The shock that moved through my heart was profound. This was the idle handiwork of a Nascent Soul cultivator? A single barrier, raised without a second thought, and it exerted this magnitude of influence on a Foundation Establishment practitioner.

"Go on in. The Director is waiting for you in the main hall." Everett Li pushed open the heavy palace gates. Beyond them lay a corridor paved entirely with ink-black jade. Stone pillars dense with carved talismans stood sentinel on either side, and with every step I took, I could feel faint ripples of spiritual energy rising through the soles of my feet.

The dome of the main hall soared dozens of zhang overhead, its surface painted with the patterns of sun, moon, and stars. At its centre, a massive Spirit-Gathering Formation turned in a slow, ceaseless rotation, blue-green spiritual energy cascading from it like a waterfall. Director Honry Ho sat in the seat of honour, robed in black daoist vestments. His complexion was ruddier than when I had last seen him, and the authority of his Nascent Soul cultivation drifted through the hall like an unseen presence, enough to press down on even me — a late Foundation Establishment cultivator — with a subtle, suffocating weight.

"Ethan Lu, you're here." Director Honry Ho raised a hand in greeting, and the glow of the Spirit-Gathering Formation in the hall dimmed slightly. "Take a look at this."

On the jade table before him, an enormous water-mirror flared to life, displaying the sea surrounding Black Reef Island. The waters that should have been a vivid blue were now smothered beneath a grey-black fog, and through that fog one could dimly make out countless writhing, tentacle-like shapes churning in the murk — as though innumerable vengeful spirits howled and wailed within.

"This is the latest satellite image," Director Honry Ho said, pointing to a set of coordinates pulsing with red light inside the water-mirror. "That is the core node of the Ten-Thousand Fiend Soul-Devouring Formation."

I leaned in to look, and my heart seized. In my mind, a system alert rang out: Ding! Detected energy signature. Positional overlap with the third fragment: 100%!

"Director," I said, voice low, "my two fragments are responding to the third. It's right beneath that core node."

A gleam flashed through Director Honry Ho's eyes. "As I suspected. This Ten-Thousand Fiend Soul-Devouring Formation is a vile and insidious construct — it uses ten thousand condemned souls as kindling and can devour the spirit root of any cultivator who enters it, converting it into wicked, corrupted energy. The Heretic Cultivator Alliance did not lay down a formation of this scale merely for defence. They intend to use its power to nourish that fragment."

I clenched my fist. The Alliance's methods were ruthless beyond measure — no wonder the Director had treated this matter with such gravity. If the third fragment truly became tainted by that malevolent energy, fusing with it later would be all but impossible.

"I propose," I said, drawing a slow breath, "breaking the formation with the Dao Ancestor Sword Intent. The Battle-Wave Saber shares the same origin as the three fragments. It may be possible to locate the formation's weak point."

At those words, a look of approval surfaced in Director Honry Ho's eyes. "Dao Ancestor Sword Intent? How confident are you?"

"Thirty percent, at least," I answered honestly. "With the cooperation of a Core Formation cultivator, the odds should climb to fifty."

It was at that very moment — as Director Honry Ho raised his hand and opened his mouth to speak — that a jade bead slipped silently from his sleeve. Carved upon it in ancient seal script was the character for "Suppress": the strokes archaic and vigorous, utterly identical to the "Suppress" character carved into Old Master Wang's counterweight.

My pupils contracted sharply. I looked instinctively at Director Honry Ho. He had clearly not expected the bead to fall, and for a fleeting instant surprise crossed his face — then, without betraying a trace of further reaction, he bent down and returned the bead to his sleeve.

End of Chapter 76: The Warmth Beneath the Jade Seal