Chapter 211: The Aftermath

The Aftermath

The children were trembling violently. Some curled their fingers into fists; others jerked against the stone platforms. Their faces were pale, and their breaths came in short, uneven gasps.

Seana’s expression grew serious.

She extended both hands. Thin strands of crimson Qi slipped from her fingertips and entered the nearest children.

Her Herbal Sight revealed their condition. She could see their blood vessels and the chaotic movement within them. Their blood rushed without rhythm, as if the ritual had disrupted its natural flow.

So that’s what the array did.

The children’s Yang energy had been forcibly drained, leaving their bodies badly unbalanced.

Seana fed a small amount of her refined Blood Qi into each child. She carefully guided it through their bodies, calming their circulation and helping restore its rhythm.

One child’s convulsions eased.

Then another’s.

Soon, the worst of the trembling had stopped.

Zhao Meiyun, holding one of the children, watched in surprise. He quickly recovered and reached for a crystalline vial.

"We should give them these."

He pulled out the stopper and tipped several pale-green pills into his palm. After checking that the child could swallow, he placed a pill in his mouth. He repeated the process for the others.

"These should help stabilize them for now," he said. "They’ll need proper treatment once we get them out."

Seana nodded, continuing to monitor the children with her Blood Qi.

"For now, they’re stable."

That would have to be enough. They couldn’t stay here.

Nearby, the remaining demonic beasts were still fighting. The deaths of the two elite zombies hadn’t ended the battle; Gong Sihe’s summoned creatures continued attacking, their Demonic Qi tainting the air.

Nyren’s sword swept across the battlefield. Frost spread beneath her feet as she avoided a beast’s claws and cut into its chest.

Oren moved alongside her, keeping another creature from striking her flank.

Justin’s lightning flashed as he brought his sword down on a charging beast. Adrain’s blade followed in a swift, decisive strike. Ambiel, Anelle, and Arvessa worked together to keep the remaining creatures from surrounding the group.

Without Gong Sihe directing them, the beasts’ attacks had become less coordinated.

One by one, they fell.

A groan came from behind the broken boulders.

Elder Rowan’s fingers twitched. His eyes opened, and pain tightened his face as the events came back to him: Gong Sihe’s casual gesture, the force that had hurled him through several boulders.

He tried to sit up, but pain forced him to stop.

"Damn..."

After a moment, he pushed himself upright. He was badly hurt, but conscious.

He looked toward the battlefield. The fighting was nearly over.

Lothe, meanwhile, had gone to examine the formation platforms. His injuries still troubled him, and his Qi hadn’t fully recovered, but he pushed through the pain. He needed to understand what the array had done.

A demonic beast lunged at him from the side.

Lothe didn’t turn fully. A faint distortion appeared beside him, and several spatial blades swept forward.

Slash!

The beast fell in two pieces.

Lothe continued to the platforms and looked down at the formation.

Its lines connected the nine platforms, and runes covered the stone between them. Some were familiar; others were not.

He activated Qi Sight.

The formation’s structure became clearer. He could recognize several runes and trace parts of the energy flowing through them, but the more he examined the array, the more complex it seemed.

He couldn’t understand it completely.

Still, one thing stood out.

The formation hadn’t been designed to kill the children. It had kept them alive while drawing out their Yang energy.

Lothe’s expression darkened.

He knew something about Yang energy. While recovering in the Glacial Spirit Sect, he had read cultivation texts and studied the different forms of Spiritual Qi. He understood its basic properties.

But why go to such lengths to extract it from children? And why choose children between five and seven?

His thoughts returned to the reports.

Their ages. Their birth records.

They had all been born in the seventh month.

Why the seventh month?

Was there something special about the time of their birth, or another quality the children shared?

He didn’t know. There were still too many unanswered questions—and the group couldn’t remain here until they found them all.

Lothe continued studying the array, memorizing the runes, their positions, and the paths connecting them. His mastery had reached the Master level, but he still lacked the knowledge to understand or reproduce a formation of this complexity.

Even so, he began building a rough blueprint in his mind.

I can remember its structure. That doesn’t mean I could build it.

An array this large would require immense Soul Power to operate. The person who had created or controlled it must possess a remarkable reserve.

Lothe thought of Gong Sihe.

The man had barely moved before sending Rowan flying through several boulders.

What realm has he reached?

Lothe set the question aside. They had no way to confront Gong Sihe now, and guessing wouldn’t help.

He had memorized what he could. For the moment, that was enough.

By the time Lothe returned, the last demonic beast had fallen.

The other cultivators were gathering their strength. Some leaned on their weapons; others tended to their injuries. Broken stone and wreckage covered the clearing, mixed with the remains of zombies and demonic beasts.

The air still carried traces of Corpse Qi and Demonic Qi.

Elder Rowan had managed to stand. His clothes were torn, and his face was pale, but he was conscious.

Nyren noticed him first.

"Elder Rowan!"

Nyren quickly approached Rowan. "You’re awake."

Rowan nodded slightly. "How are the others?"

"We’re still standing," Nyren replied. "But many are injured."

Rowan looked across the clearing. His gaze soon settled on the two fallen elite zombies.

"Those two..."

"They’re dead," Nyren said.

Rowan remained silent for a moment. He had been unconscious when the battle ended, but the ruined clearing made the cost clear.

His eyes shifted toward the formation platforms.

Then he noticed Lothe standing nearby.

"Did you discover anything?" Rowan asked.

Lothe turned toward him. "The formation was designed to keep the children alive while extracting their Yang energy."?