"BOOM!"

Without the Prohibition's reinforcement, even the rock wall, though corrupted by demonic primality, couldn't withstand the breakthrough of Spirit Sea Realm cultivators.

Section after section of the rock wall was shattered, and Shentu Gui, Wei Ye, and others appeared before Shen Mo one after another.

Even after the three high-class demon heads were defeated and fled back into the passageway, Shen Mo's slaughter did not cease.

Inside the passageway, thousands of low-class Heavenly Demons were still pouring out. Without the high-class demon heads to command them, they were even more chaotic and disorganized than before.

Therefore, Shen Mo directly enveloped the rift opening with a Sword Array.

In a short time, the carcasses of Heavenly Demons before him had piled into a small hill.

Upon learning that Shen Mo had single-handedly charged into the core of the demonic cave, destroyed the array controlling compass, and driven off the three major demon heads...

Shentu Gui's stern expression noticeably softened.

"What a lad!"

"Of the more than ten sources of demonic infestation in Qing State, Wolf Howling Ridge is the first to be pacified."

"With this contribution, your bid for the position of core disciple will also be much smoother in the future."

"Stars Peak has truly struck gold!"

Wei Ye of Gold Toad Tower and Jiang Sheng of Thriving Gold Sect were also effusive in their praise.

Only Elder Tian Qisheng of Rising Sun Peak had a rather gloomy expression, making it obvious he was not in a good mood.

It was no wonder he was upset.

Shen Mo and the Tian Family had a long-standing feud. The stronger Shen Mo became and the greater his merits, the harder it would be for the Tian Family to deal with him.

Not only that, but as Shen Mo's fame grew, the story of how he, while only in the Qi Gathering Realm, had defeated Tian Qisheng, a Spirit Sea Realm cultivator, would also spread far and wide.

Tian Qisheng was deeply worried that he would become the laughing stock of the cultivation world for hundreds of years!

"Elder Shentu, Fellow Daoist Wei... I'll leave this place to you for now. I need to rest a bit."

Saying this, Shen Mo withdrew The Big Dipper Array and simultaneously activated his cultivation method. His two-headed, four-armed form reverted to blood essence primality and was reabsorbed into his body.

As soon as he returned to his original form, Shen Mo felt an immense weariness in his soul, and sharp pains throbbed in his Qi Sea.

The prolonged, bloody battles and continuous consumption of Elixirs to stimulate his Mana had inevitably taken a toll on his body and soul.

Shen Mo dared not delay. He quickly took out a Grade IV Dragon Tiger Formless Pill, swallowed it, and used his Mana to refine its medicinal properties, nourishing his Dao Body and soul.

While he was healing his injuries, Shentu Gui also made his move.

The former Elder of the Enforcement Hall took out stone pillars one by one from his Universe Bag and erected them directly in front of the spatial rift.

The stone pillars were engraved with intricate and profound runes.

Once middle-grade Spirit Stones were embedded, the runes on the stone pillars lit up, quickly connecting to form a barrier that covered the passageway's exit.

While refining the Elixir's properties, Shen Mo watched with rapt attention.

Although he wasn't proficient in the Array Path, he had some understanding of the Formations used to seal Heavenly Demon passageways.

Most spatial rifts are quite unstable!

For Heavenly Demons to cross over, they need to invest vast resources and effort on their side to stabilize the rift between the two realms and construct a passageway that creatures can traverse.

However, the higher the cultivation Realm of the creature entering or exiting the passageway, the greater the impact on it.

Therefore, many Heavenly Demon passageways can only be traversed by Class III or lower Heavenly Demons.

A Class IV major demon head or even a Golden Core Realm old monster *could* forcibly enter... it wasn't impossible.

However, the instant they entered, the passageway would collapse and revert to a chaotic state!

Even a formidable Class IV entity, under the immense intersecting forces of two realms, wouldn't last an instant before being torn to shreds by the rift.

The Formation to seal the passageway operates on this principle.

It's more accurate to call it "interference" rather than "sealing." Through the Formation's power, the stabilized passageway is reverted to an unstable spatial rift.

This way, whether low-class or high-class Heavenly Demons attempt to cross, they have to rely on luck.

Many low-class Heavenly Demons had crossed over this way before.

Tens of thousands would pour into the rift; ninety-nine percent would be torn to shreds. A very few lucky ones managed to enter this realm, where they would lay low and gather intelligence about the cultivation world.

But now, the spatial rift beneath Wolf Howling Ridge has been exposed, with a large number of cultivators guarding it outside...

Even if a few scattered demon heads manage to cross over, they can't make any significant waves!

Unless a massive demonic infestation breaks out elsewhere, sweeping all the way to Wolf Howling Ridge and destroying the Formation here, only then could it be restored into a stable, two-realm passageway.

As Shen Mo was pondering, the power of the sealing Formation began to manifest.

"OM!"

As the Formation operated, wisps of colorful light shimmered and flowed into the passageway.

Before long, the rift, originally shaped like a tree trunk, began to continuously disintegrate and distort, gradually taking on the chaotic appearance of tangled undergrowth, its position constantly shifting.

The tide of low-class Heavenly Demons surging out was soon largely shredded by the chaotic spatial rift.

Only a few mangled demonic corpses fell out.

Upon falling into the Formation constructed from the stone pillars, they were dissolved into Turbid Qi and dispersed.

After a short wait, apart from the Demonic Qi that still billowed out, not a single intact Heavenly Demon could luckily emerge from the rift.

"Excellent! With this immortal Formation sealing it, Wolf Howling Ridge is secure," Wei Ye, Sect Master of the Gold Toad Tower, laughed heartily.

"This isn't secure enough; we also need to construct a city wall Formation outside and link it to this one," Tian Qisheng said. "Otherwise, demon heads from elsewhere might come to destroy this Formation and reopen the Heavenly Demon passageway!"

He was not being needlessly alarmist.

In past demonic calamities, there were indeed powerful Heavenly Demons who went around destroying sealing Formations.

Countless brutal and bloody battles had erupted between cultivators and Heavenly Demons over these various passageway nodes!

With a city wall Formation as a bulwark, future attacking Heavenly Demons could be kept at bay.

Furthermore, this demonic cave also needed to be completely leveled.

There were still many Heavenly Demons hiding in various places that needed to be hunted down and eliminated one by one. There was much follow-up work to be done.

...

「Three days later, the heavy snow had stopped.」

The weather remained cold, but Wolf Howling Ridge was exceptionally bustling and lively.

A tall, thick, circular iron wall, encircling the Abyss, rose from the ground.

The bricks and stones, similar to the materials used for constructing great cities, were all meticulously selected raw materials refined by immortal means.

With an added Formation Prohibition, as long as the Formation remained unbroken, not even a Class III demon head could easily breach it.

The Formation's power extended deep into the ground; anyone attempting to use Earth Escaping would only smash their face into a bloody mess.

Inside the high wall, tens of thousands of Body Tempering Realm cultivators, like ants, were continuously excavating the rock and soil within the demonic cave.

This earth and stone had been corrupted by demonic primality and needed to be incinerated at high temperatures to remove the corruption; otherwise, Heavenly Demons might use this demonic cave again in the future!

Among these Body Tempering Realm cultivators, several thousand were outer disciples of the Riverside Sect.

Their Cultivation Realms were not high, but they could earn some Spirit Stone resources through this task.

The rest were local cultivators, hailing from various Cultivating Families and immortal sects like Gold Toad Tower and Thriving Gold Sect. Many were also rogue cultivators, receiving Spirit Stone resources from the Defense Division.

It was estimated that in another ten days or so, the corrupted rock and soil in this demonic cave—formed by the sacrifice of tens of thousands of low-class Heavenly Demons—would be completely cleared out!

The Defense Division would also relocate its stronghold from Hongye City to within the circular high wall.

Of the several dozen Qi Gathering Realm cultivators and over two hundred Body Tempering Realm Layer VII registered cultivators stationed at Wolf Howling Ridge, about half were permanent residents.

As the Commander of the local Defense Division, Shen Mo naturally received the best living quarters.

It was located at the very top of the high wall. Pushing open the window, he could take in the entire vista both inside and outside the wall.

At this moment, however, he was clutching a sect order that had arrived shortly before, lost in thought.

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