Fairy, return my flying sword to me

Chapter 185 Defense Switch
As the flying boat sped along, many disciples' hearts beat faster and faster.

Most of the disciples who came to guard the area were already graduates, and these disciples were naturally "old hands" who had been here at least once before.

But things are different now; the strength of Tianyuan now is incomparable to what it used to be.

One is normal mode and the other is berserk mode, how can they be the same?

Not to mention that both the previous sect's garrison and the battle reports from the other two sects this time indicate that this garrison is extraordinary.

The team leader repeatedly told them to be mentally prepared, saying that it would be nonsense to say they weren't afraid.

But as they got closer to their destination, the boundless fear of the unknown seemed to have subsided considerably.

Through the woods, one could already see that extreme gray hue appearing on the horizon...

From dozens of miles away, a gray line that stretches to the sky can be seen.

The so-called Heavenly Abyss Rift is like a hideous crack stretching across the horizon.

Twisted black lightning could be vaguely seen in the grayish-purple clouds, but as the flying boat drew closer, not a single rumble of thunder could be heard.

A heavy sense of oppressive silence weighed on the hearts of every cultivator.

As they drew closer, Lin Jian noticed that the flow of true energy within his body became somewhat sluggish, as if being drawn by an invisible force into the dark abyss.

The captain had already reminded us of this on the way here.

The more anxious and fearful one is, the more sluggish the flow of true energy will feel under the suppression of the Heavenly Abyss Demon Rift.

A lack of self-confidence and a sense of weakness can amplify this perception, making it normal for one's cultivation level to drop by 30% or 40%.

Even though Lin Jian had been warned in advance and was on guard, he still felt that his internal energy was at least 10% weaker than before under this influence.

Within a radius of ten miles around the Demon Rift, nothing grows; the ground is covered with pitch-black cracks, and white bones can be seen everywhere within them.

Some were enormous and clearly belonged to demonic beasts, while the rest... were the remains of human ancestors.

Even though these white bones have long since lost their vitality, they still emit a faint golden glow.

The ancestors of humanity sacrificed their blood and marrow to extend the responsibility of fighting against the Heavenly Demons for ten thousand years after their deaths.

This earth covered with white bones was actually the formation used by the human race to blockade Tianyuan!

The airship landed far away, unable to get too close.

There were some simple stone houses where they were the permanent staff of the four sects who were responsible for guarding the outer perimeter of the Heavenly Abyss Demon Rift.

Their responsibility is to open and close the Demon Rift Array, and in case of crisis, to directly contact the four sects, or even the Pure Yang Sword Sect or the Holy Land through special magical artifacts.

As the Zhengyang Sect's flying boat arrived, cultivators from the stone house came out to greet it.

He made no attempt to conceal his Nascent Soul stage cultivation, releasing a powerful aura from afar.

The cultivators' gazes swept over the Zheng Yang Sect disciples, including Lin Jian, their expressions showing a hint of relief. "Are all the people who came this time skilled?"

The captain of the Zhengyang Sect smirked, "The situation is getting more and more serious. Who dares to slack off? If the Tianyuan Demon Rift is lost, who knows how many people will lose their heads?"
Let alone ordinary people, even among cultivators, how many of them could escape when faced with the demons sweeping across the land?
"Hurry up, those two sects are about to give out." The Nascent Soul cultivator stationed there led the way, guiding the group of cultivators quickly toward the gray line that seemed to connect heaven and earth.

Only when the cultivators stood firmly on the ground could they more deeply and directly feel the real oppressive feeling brought by the gray crack that stretched infinitely to the sky in front of them.

Its edges are winding and twisted, like a spatial wound torn open by brute force.

Thick, almost tangible demonic energy surged within the pitch-black edges, occasionally flickering with a dark red light, like the breath of a lurking beast.

I followed the group through the forest, my feet treading on crystallized soil and rocks.

Amidst the cracking sounds, the soil and rocks emitted a crisp, crunching noise.

Getting closer, you can see a stone wall built of many basalt stones a hundred paces away from the gray line, covered with runes that suppress demons.

Countless broken swords are scattered around the stone fortress, each sword bearing a clear fighting spirit. These are the sword monuments left behind by each generation of guardians.

It is both their indomitable fighting spirit and the nail that stabilizes the magic array.

There are gaps at intervals in the stone wall, and bronze-colored cauldrons are placed at the gaps.

The exorcising incense burning in the cauldron turned into blue smoke, which tugged and intertwined with the demonic energy that occasionally drifted out from the crack in the air, forever entangled.

As the Nascent Soul stage cultivators stationed here stopped, and the captain gestured, the disciples and cultivators all came to a halt.

The Pingding Sect's team arrived almost simultaneously with the Zhengyang Sect's. Through the hazy gray crack, disciples from both sects could vaguely see the Pingding Sect disciples on the other side through the rising demonic energy.

The two cases are pending.

The key to the so-called Heavenly Abyss Demon Gap lies in the Demon Gap itself.

That was a boundary that separated Tianyuan from the cultivation world, a buffer zone for both.

The buffer zone is located in what appears to be a thin layer of crack right in front of the disciples of the two sects.

From the outside, it appears to be only a narrow strip of land, but in reality, there is much more to it than meets the eye.

The disciples of the Immortal One Sect and the Spirit Cloud Sect, who have not yet appeared, are currently trapped inside. They must wait for the resident cultivators responsible for controlling the formation here to open the formation using a special method before the people from the two sects can escape from the unfolded gray lines, which are also known as the demonic rifts, and return to the cultivation world they are currently in.

Without further ado, the guiding cultivators stationed there negotiated with the captains and elders of the Zheng Yang Sect and the Ping Ding Sect, and then began to communicate with the stone fortification array using a special method.

His profound cultivation at the Nascent Soul stage was on full display at this moment, and his powerful true energy was injected into the absolute defense line made of basalt stone.

Ancient runes began to glow with golden light, and the broken swords and stone tablets left by the guardians of past generations trembled and resonated. The exorcising incense in the bronze cauldron was also shaped by the incantation, forming a kind of dragon-like spirit beast.

The exorcising fragrance, now in the form of a spirit beast, became even more ferocious, completely suppressing the demonic energy that constantly emanated from the demonic rift.

After these preliminary preparations were completed, the edges of the crack, which had been slowly creeping, began to move as if alive. Accompanied by a series of muffled rumbling sounds, both ends of the gray line began to extend outwards simultaneously.

Countless honeycomb-shaped hexagonal barriers were pieced together to form a passage, and from each grid, one could see the blood-stained figures of fellow cultivators staggering outwards.

Some even went so far as to fly out on their swords, unable to wait any longer...

(End of this chapter)