The Final Nexus

A grand procession followed a branching path until they arrived before a magnificent, imposing hall.

Within the hall were rows of low tables, and alongside the walls were arranged sets of musical instruments.

"This must be where Sorcerer River Immortal and his subordinate demonic forces gathered for feasts and entertainment back when he was alive," Shao Yanong said with a laugh. "Look at these tables, these carved pillars—every single one is exquisitely crafted. Nothing here is ordinary."

Ji Ning and the others nodded. They could easily picture the scene from countless eons past: massive demons seated behind the low tables, drinking and making merry.

"And that," Shao Yanong pointed towards the top of the hall, "was where Sorcerer River Immortal himself sat."

At the head of the hall was the most ornate long table of all. The folding screen behind it was also exquisitely delicate, and on either side of the screen stood bronze lamps.

"That bronze lamp is the central nexus of this Sorcerer River Hall," Shao Yanong declared, pointing at a Zifu Disciple. "You. Go up there, to that bronze lamp."

"Yes."

These Zifu Disciples were all loyal death warriors, their minds long trained to obey only their master's commands. They would not hesitate for an instant even if ordered to die.

As the Zifu Disciple walked towards the top of the hall—

BOOM!

The entire hall suddenly transformed. Ji Ning and the others found themselves surrounded by a beautiful peach blossom garden. Peach trees stood all around, and the ground was covered in fallen petals.

"Careful, it's an illusory formation," Xiangliu Fang warned.

"I knew this main hall wouldn't be so easy to claim," Shao Yanong said with a cold laugh. With Uncle Fang by his side, he wasn't worried in the slightest. A formation that had existed for countless ages, with no true master actively controlling it—at best, it could only unleash a tenth of its original power.

"Form up."

Ji Ning, Mu Northson, Nine Lotos, Yu Wei, and Cangjiang Realperson immediately formed the Five Elements Five Directions Formation.

Everyone was on high alert.

"This illusory formation is formidable. Even divine sense can't penetrate it," Cangjiang Realperson said. "And I have a faint feeling this formation is even more powerful than the one we encountered in the Treasure Hall."

"It seems to be gathering Azurewood Divine Thunder," Ji Ning said, frowning.

"So you know something of formations as well." Xiangliu Fang, standing by Shao Yanong's side, glanced at Ji Ning and said indifferently, "This grand formation draws upon the power of the Sunstar, using wood as a medium to generate Azurewood Divine Thunder. Although there's no one controlling the formation, the power of this Azurewood Divine Thunder is still not to be underestimated. It will take me some time to break it. In the meantime, you'll all have to rely on yourselves."

Ji Ning and his four companions drew close together, ready to respond to the Azurewood Divine Thunder at a moment's notice. They dared not run about recklessly; charging blindly through an illusory formation was suicide.

"What about me?" Xue Hongyi's heart was pounding, but he kept his composure and waited.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three bolts of cyan lightning descended simultaneously, striking directly towards Shao Yanong!

"Someone is controlling the formation?" Xiangliu Fang was shocked.

"How can there be someone controlling it?" Shao Yanong, standing beside him, was also panicked.

Whoosh!

Xiangliu Fang stretched out his massive hand. It seemed to blot out the sky like a dark cloud, directly intercepting the three bolts of lightning. Boom! Boom! Boom! The thunderbolts slammed into his enormous palm. Though the skin was split open and arcs of electricity danced across the surface, he completely withstood the assault.

"Ha! Rest easy, Young Master," Xiangliu Fang laughed as he absorbed the lightning. "Sorcerer River Immortal has been dead for over a hundred million years. There's definitely no living creature in this hall. Whatever is still active must be a golem. Most golems only possess simple intelligence—they can activate formations, but they can't actually control them. A grand formation like this is far too complex, and without the methods passed down by Sorcerer River Immortal, they wouldn't be able to operate it."

"If my guess is correct, there should be a powerful golem somewhere in this hall, one with a living soul sealed inside its body. That's why its intelligence is so high and why it's skilled at controlling formations. Sorcerer River Immortal probably trusted it and taught it the methods of control." Xiangliu Fang smiled. "But it's still just a golem. It has no elemental Ki in its body. It can unleash at most twenty or thirty percent of the formation's true power."

As Xiangliu Fang spoke loudly, bolts of lightning continued to rain down from the sky.

He handled them all by himself.

Ji Ning and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Xiangliu Fang's guess was very likely correct. Truly controlling a formation required expending elemental Ki. An Immortal's elemental Ki driving the formation would greatly amplify its power. But a golem had no elemental Ki at all. Even if it could preside over the formation, it could only slightly increase its might.

"Mortals! You are not the Immortal's chosen inheritors. Trespassing into Sorcerer River Hall is a capital crime!" A furious voice echoed throughout the peach blossom garden.

"Capital crime? From you? If I'm not mistaken, at best you're barely comparable to an average Loose Immortal in combat power," Xiangliu Fang sneered. "With such strength, you're far from being a match for me."

As his words fell—

Xiangliu Fang suddenly let out a roar: "BREAK!"

His two massive hands swept outwards to either side. The fingers of his hands transformed into huge serpents, and the ten serpents instantly grasped a certain spot in the void, clenching tightly. The operation of the entire illusory formation seemed to be 'strangled' at its throat. The peach blossom garden trembled and blurred, then completely dissipated.

"Impossible!" A cry of shock rang out.

The peach blossom garden vanished. Ji Ning and the others once again saw the main hall, the rows of low tables before them.

"Good, good, good. I managed to survive," Xue Hongyi thought to himself. "Thank goodness the golem was intelligent enough to realize it had to kill Shao Yanong first and focused all its effort on him. If those thunderbolts had split up and hit us instead, those five from the Black-White College might have held out, but I would have been in real danger."

He felt as though he was blessed with great fortune. Earlier, when facing the golem's attack alongside Buyou Realperson, Buyou had died, but he had survived. Then, he had discovered an Immortal-ranked treasure. Now, he had escaped disaster once more. With such a string of narrow escapes, not to mention acquiring an Immortal-ranked treasure, it had to be a sign that fortune was smiling upon him.

"The formation is broken." Xiangliu Fang swept his gaze across the hall and said calmly, "No need to panic, everyone. Sorcerer River Immortal was merely a Celestial Immortal, and his foundations weren't particularly deep. Being able to create a golem barely on par with an average Loose Immortal is already quite impressive. If that golem doesn't show its face, fine. But if it does, I'll capture it."

Shao Yanong nodded with a smile and added, "Those golems are lurking somewhere in this hall. Don't go wandering off on your own. If you run into them, Uncle Fang won't be able to save you."

"Of course we wouldn't be so foolish as to run off and court death," Xue Hongyi quickly said.

Ji Ning and the others exchanged glances…

It was clear that powerful golems were lying in ambush within Sorcerer River Hall. They weren't stupid enough to wander off.

Xiangliu Fang and Shao Yanong walked up to the top of the hall and began to refine the bronze lamp.

"Ha! This is the final sub-hall's nexus," Shao Yanong said, elated. "Once I've refined this, the entire immortal estate will be under my control. There are certainly still dangers in this hall, but we don't need to take any risks. Once the estate is refined, those golems will have lost."

Ji Ning and the others nodded.

"Stay alert. Those golems won't just sit by and let me succeed in my refinement. I expect there will be more ambushes," Shao Yanong warned.

Eighteen ferocious, vicious Qiongqi golems were gathered, all eyes fixed on the black-armored, stalwart man who led them. The black-armored man said in a low voice, "The one who just broke the formation is a Fiendgod. Turning his palms that large and his fingers into great serpents—only a true Fiendgod can do that. From that display alone, I can tell he is stronger than I am."

"Leader, what should we do?"

"They're about to refine Sorcerer River Hall."

The Qiongqi golems were all anxious.

"It will take them about an hour to fully refine the hall," the black-armored man said in a low voice. "We need to think of a way… we must strike with a single, decisive blow. We need to kill the human the Fiendgod is protecting. From their earlier conversation when they first entered, that human has already refined the other four sub-halls. This is the last one."

"Prepare to follow my orders." A cold light flickered in the black-armored man's deep, sinister eyes.

A large group of Zifu Disciple death warriors was scattered around the perimeter. Ji Ning, Nine Lotos, Cangjiang Realperson, Xue Hongyi, and the others were all on high alert, fearing a sudden golem attack.

Shao Yanong, seated high above the hall while refining the bronze lamp, saw the tense atmosphere and frowned. He barked, "No need to be so nervous! It's just a bunch of golems. If one comes, Uncle Fang will catch it. They've already lost!"

Ji Ning and the others, including Xue Hongyi, rolled their eyes inwardly.

Yes, Xiangliu Fang could kill any that came.

But the strongest among those golems was comparable to an ordinary Loose Immortal! If such a powerhouse suddenly charged in to ambush them, in the chaos, they might well lose their lives. They didn't have Xiangliu Fang protecting them personally.

"Servants!" Shao Yanong frowned, seeing that Ji Ning and the others remained on guard, and ordered, "Prepare a celebration feast."

The two female Zifu Disciple attendants standing close by, ready to serve, immediately brought out fine wine and delicacies and began setting them out. In truth, during the two-day journey from Serpentwing Lake in the Yan Mountains to the immortal estate by ship, they had frequently feasted and drunk, so a great deal of fine wine and food had long been prepared.

Soon, every low table was laden with fine wine, spirit fruits, and exquisite dishes.

Shao Yanong sat cross-legged, laughing heartily as he raised his wine cup. He only needed to devote a sliver of his attention to refining the bronze lamp. "Everyone, there's no need to be so tense. The outermost perimeter is guarded by my Zifu death warriors, who have formations ready to respond at a moment's notice. Even if a golem breaks through, they'll delay it long enough for you to mount a defense."

"Sit, all of you, sit!" Shao Yanong called out. Seeing Ji Ning and the others hesitate, he barked, "I told you to sit!"

Ji Ning and the others exchanged glances, then one by one, they sat down.

"Now that's more like it." Shao Yanong laughed. "All of you followed me into this Sorcerer River immortal estate and braved danger several times over. Your contributions are not small. But now, the final moment has arrived. Once I refine this bronze lamp, everything will be accomplished. These remaining golems causing trouble are nothing to worry about. Come! Let us drink a toast to all the treasures we've acquired, and to the successful refining of the Sorcerer River immortal estate!" He raised the bronze wine cup engraved with a flame pattern.