If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

Zhou Yang's gaze fell on the map of light.

The map was crystal clear. The mountain ranges and the bends of the rivers were all outlined by delicate golden lines. It floated on the surface of the altar, as if it were not a physical entity, but a projection of another world.

Qin Shuang also came closer. Her breathing was still a little rapid, but her eyes had regained their clarity. She stared at the end of the map, at the flashing red dot.

"This is where the next fragment will be," she said, her voice tinged with weariness.

"Mm," Zhou Yang responded. He felt it was difficult to even utter another word. The battle just now had almost drained him of his last bit of strength. If the third fragment hadn't recognized him in time and replenished his life essence, he probably would have collapsed to the ground.

"It looks far," Qin Shuang added. Her finger traced the distance in the air, following the gold line on the map. "It spans three states."

Zhou Yang's lips twitched, wanting to laugh, but he didn't. Crossing three states was, in their current situation, no different from entering another world. The Heavenly Principle Sect's pursuers and Chen Qianhu's forces were like a net hanging over their heads. Taking the long way was tantamount to slowly dying in that net.

His gaze shifted from the map back to the altar itself. The ancient stone structure, now shattered by the guards, revealed more details. Besides the map, three strange grooves etched themselves into the smooth stone surface.

These three grooves are arranged in a triangle, surrounding the map in the middle. Their shape is unique, resembling some kind of irregular star.

Zhou Yang's heart skipped a beat.

He looked at his backpack. There, three fragments lay quietly. One was as cold as the deep sea, one as hot as lava, and the other, just fused into his brow, brought a warm yet violent sensation.

"Qin Shuang," Zhou Yang raised his still-movable hand and pointed to the three grooves, "look there."

Qin Shuang followed his finger. She immediately understood. As a commander of the Imperial Guard, she had seen all sorts of secret mechanisms and hidden chambers. She could tell at a glance that this corresponding groove was a keyhole.

"The fragments are the key," she whispered. This was not a question, but a certainty.

"Looks like we've found a save point," Zhou Yang said with a self-deprecating laugh. He struggled to stand up straight. His bones still throbbed with pain, but the force from the fragments allowed him to at least keep his balance.

He took the first fragment out of his backpack. The fragment, as cold as the deep sea, was piercingly cold to the touch. He walked to the first groove and slowly placed the fragment in it.

The shape fits perfectly.

He applied force gently.

Click.

With a soft click, the fragment fit perfectly into the groove, as if it were meant to be there.

The altar remained unresponsive. The map continued to glow, and the grooves remained unchanged.

Zhou Yang frowned. He took out a second fragment; its molten heat made his palms burn. He walked to the second groove and pressed it down as well.

Click.

Another soft sound.

The altar remained silent.

Qin Shuang frowned as well. She asked in a low voice, "Isn't that wrong?"

Zhou Yang shook his head. He felt something wasn't wrong. It was a kind of...waiting. Like a loaded gun, still needing to pull the trigger.

He took a deep breath.

The third fragment didn't require his intervention. The fragment that had already recognized its owner transformed into a stream of light under his will, flying out from between his brows and precisely striking the last groove.

The moment the light disappeared, the clicking sound rang out again.

But this time, it's different.

The three fragments lit up simultaneously. Not individually, but in a resonance.

The first fragment emitted a deep blue light. The second burst forth with a dazzling crimson. The third radiated a warm, milky white.

The three-colored rays converged at the center of the altar, but instead of merging, they intertwined and swirled, like three living giant pythons vying for some kind of dominance.

hum-

A deep humming sound arose.

The sound didn't come from the air; it penetrated directly into one's mind, like a heartbeat emanating from the depths of the earth.

Zhou Yang and Qin Shuang both felt a pang of heart palpitation.

Then, a sudden change occurred.

Three beams of light shot out from the grooves in the three fragments. One was a heavy yellow light representing the earth element, one was a sharp blue light representing the wind element, and the other was a violent purple light representing the lightning element.

Six colors—gold, blue, blood, green, black, and white—no, they were crimson, white, blue, yellow, cyan, and purple. These six colors converged above the altar, forming a rapidly rotating halo.

The halo wasn't large, only about the height of a person. But the energy fluctuations it emitted sent a chill down Zhou Yang's spine. This power far surpassed that of any martial artist he had ever seen. It was pure, ancient, and filled with the meaning of destruction and rebirth.

This is a battle formation.

"The formations are in perfect harmony," Qin Shuang murmured in disbelief. She was stunned by the sight before her. Ancient texts described Qimen Dunjia as capable of manipulating the power of heaven and earth, which she had always thought was an exaggeration. Only today had she witnessed it with her own eyes.

The six-colored halo spun faster and faster. The colors began to blur, eventually turning into a chaotic gray-white.

"Back off!" Zhou Yang shouted, grabbing Qin Shuang's hand and pulling her back sharply.

Before he finished speaking, the halo suddenly expanded outwards!

There was no loud explosion, no shockwave. It swept over silently. The light brushed against Zhou Yang's skin; there was no pain, only a strange warmth, like soaking in a hot spring on a winter's day.

The light swept across the ground; the grass did not wither, and the stones did not shatter. But their outlines became somewhat blurred after the light faded, as if seen through a layer of frosted glass.

The halo was moving at an incredible speed. It rushed down the mountain peak, swept across the entire valley, stopped at a radius of five miles, then curved upwards and closed up against the sky.

A huge arc of light closed in the sky.

An enormous hemispherical shield enveloped the mountaintop where they were located, along with the vast valley below.

The shield's surface wasn't smooth. Instead, it was covered with faint, crimson patterns. These patterns, like living vines, constantly intertwined and changed. Upon closer inspection, the patterns outlined enormous, phantom lotus flowers. One after another, layer upon layer, they covered the entire dome.

Blood Lotus Shield.

The world atop the mountain was instantly transformed.

The light dimmed, as if it were dusk. The air seemed different too.

Zhou Yang took a breath, and his chest tightened suddenly. The air became thick, like syrup diluted with water, and each breath required twice the effort of usual. The temperature was also rising; a humid, stifling heat quickly caused a thin layer of sweat to seep onto their skin.

"The air pressure... and the temperature are both abnormal." Qin Shuang's face was a little pale; she had clearly felt the change as well.

"This is just the beginning." Zhou Yang stared at the enormous blood lotus shield, his eyes solemn.

He looked at Qin Shuang and said, "Test your true energy and see if it can be transmitted."

Qin Shuang nodded. She raised her right hand, and a wisp of frost-like true energy rapidly condensed at her fingertips. This was her most skilled icy true energy, extremely refined.

She flicked her finger.

That wisp of white frost true energy transformed into a silver thread and flew towards the inner wall of the shield.

There was no collision, no sound.

The silver thread, about three feet away from the protective barrier, seemed to have struck an invisible wall. It shattered silently, turning into countless cold stars, then, like a film rewinding, it gathered again and fell back onto Qin Shuang's fingertips.

The whole process was extremely bizarre.

Qin Shuang's expression changed completely. "My true energy... can't get out."

"It's not just true qi." Zhou Yang closed his eyes and used his senses. "My divine sense can only extend to the edge of the shield. Beyond that, it's just a chaotic gray area. It's like being isolated."

This formation created an absolutely independent barrier—a massive cage with a radius of five miles.

Or rather, a huge refuge.

Zhou Yang looked at the altar again. The map of light was still there, but the six-colored halo had disappeared, transforming back into three fragments embedded in the stone. Everything returned to calm, as if the strange phenomenon had never happened.

But he knew the world was different now.

He walked to the altar, reached out, and touched the inner wall of the blood lotus shield. The texture was strange; it wasn't hard, nor was it soft. It had a kind of elasticity, like touching taut cowhide, warm yet resilient.

"Very good." Zhou Yang withdrew his hand, his face showing an expression that was hard to tell whether it was a cry or a laugh.

"A sturdy tortoise shell." He turned to Qin Shuang and said, "Things outside can't get in, and we can't get out either."

Qin Shuang didn't tease him like he did. Her gaze returned to the map in the center of the altar.

"The map is still there." She pointed to the mountain range made of light. "It showed us the way. This means that this formation wasn't just meant to trap us."

Zhou Yang looked in the direction she was pointing.

Yes, the map is still clear. The outlines of the mountains, the course of the rivers, and that red dot that is still slowly flashing at the far end.

It was like a lighthouse in the darkness, clearly telling them where to go next.

Zhou Yang fell silent.

He glanced at the massive blood lotus shield outside, then at the small, glowing map on the altar.

A huge protective shield, a precise compass.

What exactly did the creator of this ancient formation intend to do?

Is this giving newcomers a chance to catch their breath, or is it part of a larger game in itself?

He didn't understand.

All he knew now was that they were safe. At least for the time being, the Heavenly Principle Sect's pursuers and Commander Chen's assassins couldn't get in.

They were trapped in an absolutely safe cage.

Zhou Yang stretched, his bones cracking as he did so. An overwhelming sense of exhaustion washed over him once he was sure he was safe.

He plopped down on the stone steps beside the altar, looking up at the eerie sky above him, where blood-red lotus flowers flowed.

"Whatever he's up to," Zhou Yang said lazily, "we can finally get a good night's sleep."

Qin Shuang sat down beside him. She didn't speak, but simply stared quietly at the flashing red dot.

The wind on the mountaintop was completely blocked by the shield. In this world, there were only the two of them and an ancient altar.

So quiet that you could hear each other's heartbeats.