Deep beneath the altar lies a vast energy space.
The space was churning with the essence of tens of thousands of cultivators, like a purgatory burning with souls.
The array of the Origin Furnace is connected to the altar and is directly controlled by the guardian on the altar.
At the deepest part of the altar, there is a huge divine mirror that is several feet tall.
That divine mirror was of the same origin and quality as the three divine mirrors in the verification hall, but it was much larger and more powerful. The probing fluctuations it emitted were enough to penetrate the core of the soul of a fifth-grade Immortal Lord cultivator.
That divine mirror is the ultimate verification method for the Heavenly Trial.
All cultivators entering the secret realm must undergo a final verification before it; those who fail the verification are sent to the Origin Furnace.
David withdrew his divine sense and stood quietly in the queue.
He had already devised a complete plan in his mind.
The first step was for Ling Shuang to sever the connection between the altar and the Heavenly Palace outside the secret realm, which took only ten breaths.
The second step was to destroy the guardian on the altar, shatter the final divine mirror, and open the passage to the Origin Furnace within ten breaths.
The third step is to enter the Origin Furnace and obtain the cultivator’s essence sealed within, which will be used to solidify the disguise and enhance cultivation.
The fourth step is to destroy the furnace, releasing all the sealed essence, and simultaneously causing the collapse of the entire secret realm’s order formation.
But Ling Shuang only gave him ten breaths.
Completing the first two steps within ten breaths is the limit.
The third and fourth steps must be completed before the Heavenly Palace reinforcements arrive.
Once the power of the entire Heavenly Palace is fully exerted to suppress him, even with the fragments of the Heavenly Pivot and the Shennong Cauldron, he will be unable to move.
He needs to be better prepared.
Just as David was working out the plan, the garrison commander on the altar suddenly turned his gaze toward the formation.
His gaze, like a cold silver needle, pierced precisely at David’s location.
David felt a slight chill in his heart, but remained outwardly calm.
He sensed the probing power contained in that gaze, which was more refined and profound than the divine mirror in the verification hall.
Before each Heavenly Trial begins, the Garrison Commander conducts an extra “pre-screening” of all cultivators, specifically targeting those who may be hiding abnormalities.
The garrison commander’s gaze lingered on David for a couple of moments before shifting away.
He didn’t seem to notice anything unusual.
But just as the garrison commander withdrew his gaze, David sensed another aura.
That aura emanated from the deepest part of the altar, from the direction of the Origin Furnace.
It was more ancient, colder, and purer than the aura of the garrison commander.
That was the aura of a fragment of the Order’s soul. Heng Xuan’s fragmented soul had not been completely separated by David in the Twenty-Fifth Heaven.
A wisp of it remains in the 26th Heaven, sealed deep within the Heavenly Trial Secret Realm.
Heng Xuan’s divided soul is awakening.
David’s heart sank a little.
No matter how perfect his plan was, it couldn’t withstand the full suppression of Heng Xuan’s divided soul.
Although the divided soul of the Orderer is only a wisp of the Orderer’s main body, it contains the combat power of a peak sixth-grade Immortal Lord.
Heng Xuan’s true form has not yet appeared. Once he senses the anomaly in the secret realm, he will rush over immediately.
At that time, David will face the combined forces of Heng Xuan’s main body, a sixth-grade Immortal Lord, and his split soul, a peak sixth-grade Immortal Lord.
He needs to be faster.
At that very moment, a very faint spatial fluctuation suddenly came from above the secret realm.
The fluctuation was extremely subtle; if David’s perception hadn’t far surpassed that of any cultivator in the Twenty-Sixth Heaven, he would have had no way of detecting it.
But David sensed it; it was Ling Shuang’s signal.
She has entered the spatial interlayer above the secret realm and is cutting the connection between the altar and the Heavenly Palace.
Ten-breath countdown begins.
David took a deep breath and released the chaotic origin within his body from the envelopment of the Myriad Tide Heart Seal.
A grayish-purple light surged deep within his dantian, like a sleeping giant opening its eyes.
His cultivation level instantly rose from a disguised first-grade Immortal Lord to the second, third, fourth, and fifth grades of Immortal Lord
Five breaths.
The garrison commander abruptly turned his head, his gaze fixed intently on David’s direction: “You—”
Six breaths.
David raised his hand, and the Chaos Origin transformed into a gray-purple sword light, tearing through the sky and heading straight for the Guardian.
Enraged, the garrison commander unleashed his full power, his fifth-grade Immortal Lord level divine light of order colliding violently with the chaotic sword light.
The entire secret realm trembled violently, and silvery-white sand flew everywhere.