A violent crack of thunder split the crimson clouds, etching glowing spiderwebs of scarlet light across forty miles of open sky.
The twelve pillars of boiling blood did not fade. Instead, the crimson columns broadened at the upper atmosphere, bleeding outward into interlocking geometric lines. Within seconds, a vast ceiling of Tier 6 blood-runes spread across the entire province, pulsing in rhythm with the subterranean dragon veins.
On the high stone watchtower of Seven-Tower City, three conclave elders stood against the iron railing.
Elder Kang, a gray-haired formation master with eighty years of talisman study, leaned over the stone parapet. His eyes glowed with pale azure Qi as he focused directly on the central apex of the sky-grid.
“Look at the third celestial ring,” Kang muttered, his voice trembling with academic wonder. “The recursion formulas... they are using ancient imperial blood-seals to invert the local ley line—”
Kang’s voice cut off with a wet choke.
The pale blue light in his pupils abruptly turned pitch-black. A violent spasm racked his chest, arching his spine backward against the battlements.
SPURT.
