The hours that followed were a testament to this newfound unity. The rhythmic, earth-shaking BOOM of the Hegemon and Overlord beasts crashing against the Myriad Mountains Guardian Array became the new heartbeat of the pass. It was a constant, terrifying reminder of the overwhelming power that waited outside, but it was also a measure of their own resilience.
Within the emerald-green dome of light, the camp was a hive of grim, purposeful activity. Feng Xuan and Tie Gang, their personal rivalries now a distant memory, worked together, their authority unquestioned as they organized the exhausted disciples into new, more efficient defensive units.
They moved through the camp, their voices a constant reassuring presence, their own unyielding resolve a source of strength for the younger, more frightened disciples. Su Ling, with the disciples of the First Elder's lineage, worked alongside the alchemists of the Crimson Cauldron Sect, their combined knowledge used to create vast quantities of healing salves and Qi-restoring pills. Many have burned through their entire supply in the battle before.
Even the demonic sects had integrated into this new, fragile ecosystem of survival. The silent grey-robed disciples of the White Bone Sect moved through the battlefield like ghosts, their skeletal puppets gathering the corpses of the fallen beasts and arranging them into a new, gruesome line of defense at the base of the barrier, a wall of bones to meet the coming tide of flesh. The scholarly members of the Myriad Graves Sect sat in deep meditation, their Yin-aspected Qi a calming, cooling presence that seemed to soothe the frayed nerves of the entire encampment.
Li Yu stood with his three friends near the central array, watching the hundred formation masters work. They were the true heroes of this fragile peace. They sat in a complex, circular pattern, their faces pale and slick with sweat. A constant river of their own spiritual energy flowing from them and into the glowing runes at their feet.
Disciples would constantly bring them high-grade spirit stones, which they would crush in their hands, absorbing the raw energy to replenish their own, a desperate, losing battle against the array's insatiable hunger.
"It cannot last," Brother Kai murmured, his voice a low, grim whisper. "I have studied formations slightly. An array of this magnitude, under a constant assault from 6 and 7 beasts… they have three days, at most. Probably less. If the beast kings decide to attack as well.. Then all hope is lost..."
"Then we die in three days," Hu Jian said, his voice a low growl. He looked at the pale determined faces of the formation masters and a new, profound respect dawned in his eyes. "They are buying us time with their very lives. We will not waste it."
"But what can we do?" Lin Tao asked, his gaze turning to the four shadowy forms on the horizon. "The Beast Kings are just… waiting. They are not even attacking the formation. They are letting their army wear us down. When the array fails and our masters are exhausted from their own battle, it will be over."
Li Yu was silent, his gaze distant. He had been watching the four Beast Kings. He could feel their immense power, their unshakeable confidence in their own victory. They were kings and they would not deign to smash the turtle's shell themselves. They would simply wait for the turtle to starve.
It was a good strategy when one didn't care about their subordinates. And it was a strategy that he knew he had to break.
"I need to meditate," he said to his friends. "Stay here. Keep watch."
He found a quiet secluded spot on a high cliff overlooking the entire pass. He sat down there to think. To any observer, he was just another disciple trying to find a moment of peace in the midst of a coming apocalypse.
But his mind was a world away. He sank his consciousness deep into his Koi's Sanctuary, the tranquil, lake-sized dimension a stark contrast to the grim reality outside. He approached the obsidian ledge where the miniature, galaxy-shelled crab rested.
"You could defeat them?" Li Yu asked, his voice low.
"'Defeat is a term for a contest between equals," Khaos replied. "I would… consume them."
"Then help me," Li Yu stated, his will a pillar of hard resolve. "Help me kill them all."
There was another long, silent pause. A feeling of deep, ancient, and utterly terrifying amusement washed over him. "You wish for me to be your assassin? To clean up the insects that have infested your garden?" There was a long pause.
"I will help you but I will one day demand something from you and you will need to pay for it. It wouldn't be anything you couldn't do, it could just be a rare item you stumble upon, this is after all an easy ordeal for me." Khaos finished.
Li Yu readily agreed to it, he didn't know what the price would be but he trusted Khaos wouldn't harm him.
"Very well, little host. I have been bored. This game might provide some entertainment for me and let me test some of my new strengths. I will help you."
Li Yu withdrew his consciousness from the sanctuary. He opened his eyes. The sun had set and the pass was now illuminated only by the eerie, emerald-green glow of the Myriad Mountains Guardian Array. The rhythmic, earth-shaking BOOM of the beasts crashing against the shield was a constant, deafening drumbeat, a countdown to their own annihilation.
He looked at the strained, exhausted faces of the formation masters, at the dwindling piles of spirit stones. He knew that waiting was a losing strategy. The only variable, the only piece on the board that was not locked in place, was him, well Khaos. He was just a means to get Khaos there.
He did not say goodbye to anyone. He did not announce his plan. He simply took a deep breath and activated the «Abyssal Dragon's Shadow» to its absolute limit.
High above on the command warship, Elder Ning and the Sect Master watched the battlefield with grim expressions. Suddenly, the Sect Master's eyes narrowed. "Ning," he said, his voice a low whisper. "Look."
He gestured towards the cliff where Li Yu was meditating. They watched as the boy stood up. They saw his form simply… dissolved. He became one with the shadows, a whisper in the wind, a ghost that slipped past the watchful eyes of every disciple.
"His concealment art..." Elder Ning breathed in deeply. "It is even more profound than I imagined."
They watched as his nearly undetectable form moved towards the shimmering, emerald-green wall of the great array. He reached the barrier, a wall of power that could stop an army and for a moment he paused. Then, he simply… passed through it.
He was outside. He was in the heart of the enemy's territory, a single silent shadow in a sea of enraged monsters.
"What is he doing?" the Sect Master whispered, his voice tight. "He is going after the kings?"
"We should stop him," Elder Ning said, her protective instincts flaring. "It is suicide!"
"No," the Sect Master said, placing a calming hand on her shoulder. He looked at her, his ancient eyes filled with trust. "We trusted him in the Blackwood Forest. We trusted him to build a new division from nothing. He has never failed us. It seems like he has a plan. He has chosen to gamble. Our role is not to stop him, but to trust him. Besides, his luck is at another level as we both know." He said with a chuckle.
Elder Ning smiled at his comment but quickly had a stern face again. She looked at the distant, almost invisible figure of her disciple moving through the sea of monsters, a solitary ghost on a mission of absolute madness.
Li Yu, unaware that he was being watched by the two most powerful people in his life had passed through the formation, his void-aspected Qi; along with Khaos's help allowed him to pass through the formation without issues. It was meant to keep those on the outside from getting in, so it was much weaker against those inside looking to go out.
He continued his silent journey. He looked at the four colossal, shadowy forms on the distant horizon, and he began to move, his form a silent, deadly current in a river of death.