When she saw Zu An rushing to save her without any hesitation despite the danger, Qiu Honglei’s eyes turned red as she cried, “Ah Zu!”

Zu An didn’t have any time to reply. He immediately used Grandgale to move quickly. Unfortunately, perhaps because of the great formation, the distance he could move was greatly reduced, and he could only move within its range. Whenever he appeared again, he was pulled back by the vortex’s terrifying suction force. Even using Grandgale several times only brought him a tiny distance away, and he couldn't cover any more distance than that.

The Grandgale skill had a cooldown period. With his cultivation, using it several times in succession like that was already his limit. Even though the interval between each use wasn’t that long, the situation was extremely critical. That bit of time was already enough for him to be dragged back toward the vortex several times over.

Unfortunately, once he ran out of Grandgale uses, he was almost instantly pulled back. He didn’t hesitate to use the ‘Steps of Rising Lotus’. Lotuses appeared beneath his feet one after another. He slowly walked out, as if he were braving the most difficult of howling winds and torrential rains.

The Steps of Rising Lotus was an extremely mysterious technique, even capable of escaping some seals. Unfortunately, the formation was something the libationer had exhausted decades to create, and it even borrowed the nearly endless power of the Violet Mountain Range. The spatial collapse itself had already taken form. Even someone as powerful as Zhao Han and the libationer had been sucked in, so using these Steps of Rising Lotus was nothing more than a futile struggle.

Zu An struggled to take many steps, but then he discovered that he couldn't advance anymore, and had even been dragged back a bit. He immediately felt dejected. In a hurry, he could only take out the Tai’e Sword and stab it into the ground. It was barely able to remain in place, but the two of them ended up like fluttering flags blowing in the wind.

Qiu Honglei began to weep, saying, “Ah Zu, I was the one who dragged you down. You shouldn’t have saved me…”

Zu An held her waist tightly. He was at his wits’ end now. When he heard that, he replied with a sigh, “How can I just watch as you fall into danger without doing anything?”

His expression turned resolute as he used all of his strength to fling her outward, yelling “Catch!”

With his full-powered throw, backed by his high cultivation, Qiu Honglei flew away from the vortex like an artillery shell. However, Zu An himself could no longer hold on because of the recoil. The ground the Tai’e Sword had been planted into completely collapsed, while he also began to spiral toward the depths.

Qiu Honglei screamed in alarm. How could she not understand that this was a situation of absolute despair and that he had chosen to save her instead? She didn’t even have time to wipe her tears. With a fling of her wrist, a pink band shot out and wrapped around his waist. At the same time, a white silk band also wrapped around her hand.

As it turned out, Yan Xuehen hadn’t let the opportunity slip past. She and Yun Jianyue had incredibly powerful cultivation, and they were already outside of the vortex’s effects. Between that and the fact that the great formation was withdrawing further and further into the ground, the effects on the outside world were growing weaker and weaker, and the two had barely managed to stabilize themselves after saving Xie Daoyun. Afterward, they just happened to see Zu An save Qiu Honglei and fling her out.

“That brat doesn’t even care about his life anymore when he’s chasing after women!” Yan Xuehen remarked, but she didn’t have time to complain too much as she instinctively threw out her waistband to catch Qiu Honglei.

A tremendous force passed through the silk band. Yan Xuehen lost her footing and began to stagger toward the great formation. Fortunately, Yun Jianyue moved quickly and grabbed her waist. The suction force was too terrifying. They no longer let their pride as grandmasters affect them and used everything they had.

Xie Daoyun, who had been sent even further away, quickly formed a hand seal. A pair of translucent hands stopped the two of them, barely keeping them in place. Despite that, the powerful suction still drew their group closer and closer to the vortex.

When he saw that, Zu An immediately shouted, “Hurry up and let go! Otherwise, you’re all going to lose your lives!”

Qiu Honglei bit her lip and frantically shook her head. She reached out her hand and wrapped the band around her arm a few more times.

Yan Xuehen’s expression remained unshaken, and she naturally didn’t let go either. Instead, she used everything she had to try to haul the two of them out.

However, the sound of tearing cloth soon filled the air. The white band couldn't tolerate the weight and terrifying absorption force, and it snapped. Between the time it took for the first fibers to tear and the band tearing apart, there was almost no time to react at all.

Yan Xuehen was filled with regret. If she had known things would turn out like this, she wouldn’t have given the Primal Skysilk to Chuyan. Still, she didn’t hesitate and instinctively flew out, grabbing the other half of the torn band. As a result, she was pulled further toward the formation.

Yun Jianyue was shocked. She didn’t have time to think and quickly grabbed Yan Xuehen’s ankle.

Xie Daoyun’s face was deathly pale. She didn’t have time to think too much and leaped forward to grab Yun Jianyue, holding onto the ground with her other hand.

“Stone cold woman, you’ve actually gone so far to save my disciple! If we survive this, I’ll definitely repay this favor,” Yun Jianyue said. She was too embarrassed to thank her for saving Zu An, so she used Qiu Honglei as a shield.

Yan Xuehen was also too embarrassed to admit that she couldn't bear to see anything happen to Zu An. She bit her lip and said, “We might not have that chance.”

The space within the formation rapidly collapsed at a speed several times greater than before, and its suction force also grew exponentially greater.

With Xie Daoyun’s cultivation, how could she still hold on? The hands made of talismans shattered, and the entire group cried out in alarm as they were sucked into the vortex.

…

Jadefall Palace had taken up temporary residence in another part of Violet Mountain. Their disciples hadn’t left yet, but the emperor had been holding his Fengshan Ceremony, so they couldn't remain at Golden Peak. As such, they had chosen a place to stay temporarily until the secret dungeon opened again. Then, they could welcome the disciples as they came out.

From the very start, Wan Tongtian and Elder Huo Ling had been paying attention to the changes happening on Violet Mountain. They were greatly shaken, as they could feel the terrifying power being unleashed on Golden Peak even from far away. Fortunately, they were far enough away to be unaffected; otherwise, they would have been as helpless as ants.

Suddenly, a disciple cried out, “The Wordless Edict, Wordless Edict!”

The two of them noticed the disturbance and quickly followed the source of the sound. They saw the Wordless Edict, which normally remained quiet and unmoving, suddenly beginning to shake intensely. At the same time, it gave off a special light.

The two of them were shocked. After all, the Wordless Edict was related to the daoist secret dungeon. If something happened to it, their most outstanding disciples would be stuck inside forever.

They were about to try and calm it down when it suddenly rushed into the air. It broke through the roof, then disappeared into the starry sky. The book opened and pointed at Golden Peak. The once empty pages filled with ancient and profound symbols that also seemed to resemble a series of moving pictures.

…

Meanwhile, on Golden Peak, the massive formation had turned into a black hole the size of a basketball. Then, the entirety of Golden Peak was sucked into it. Streaks of dark light emerged as the hole closed up, disappearing completely.

The officials who had been trying to blast open the mountain defense formation were all stupefied. The formation they hated so bitterly had just vanished. However, they couldn't bring themselves to feel happy; it wasn’t just the formation, but rather the entire peak above Guidance Palace, that was now completely missing!