Red light from the four dragon pillars filled the Great Hall of Seals. It was the color of drying blood.
The thirty-two survivors stopped twenty paces from the raised platform. The air prickled against Pei Jing’s neck and arms. Every few breaths a red spark jumped from the damp floor to a stud on his boot.
Ling Feiyu passed the line and stopped five paces from the first black glass step. He took bronze measuring tongs and a round jade compass from his sleeve. His lips moved as he sighted along the pillars to the cracks in the ceiling.
Yan stood behind him with a pine torch. “Senior Brother, the marks match the Three-Rivers Archive. The stairs on the other side lead to the treasury and the earth-heat chambers. But the ward...”
“Ninth-Rank Blood-Thunder Obliteration Nexus,” Ling said, keeping the tongs raised. “Third Calamity Era. The four pillars draw from the magma veins. To open it properly would take twelve formation masters, two days of tracing, and forty Grade Two spirit stones.”
“The Azure Cloud masters are already working the east face,” Yan said. “Their vanguard is taking the north ridge to meet them. If they keep the pace you saw outside, they could be at the outer gate in twenty-eight minutes.”
