Wait, How Did My Digital Girlfriend Become a Sword Immortal? Chapter 856.5: Confinement Formation

What in the heavens is this mountain god blathering about...

Zhang Yibai and Gu Changsheng pivoted to observe Shiqing. Are these merely four Demon Sealing Pagodas? They pondered. Have you truly never encountered a Demon Sealing Pagoda before? Truly, the cultivation standards among the immortals of this Earth Star must be even more pathetic than imagined. Yet, Shiqing remained in a frantic daze. With a sharp stomp, he launched himself into the heavens with a deafening boom, piercing the atmosphere in a heartbeat. From his vantage point, the nine whirlpools synchronized with the nine Demon Sealing Pagodas were churning the very firmament, but their alignment had shifted significantly. Specifically, the four located directly beneath him had completely deviated from their intended coordinates.

Even the flow of the Earth Veins had been disrupted by this displacement. Upon descending back to the surface, Shiqing wore a grave expression. "It is finished..."

Zhang Yibai approached him cautiously, weighing his tone. "Great Immortal, why such distress? Is there a defect with these Demon Sealing Pagodas?"

Shiqing held his peace for a moment before whispering, "Do you realize why these four structures shifted, and who dared to bisect them?"

Zhang Yibai and Gu Changsheng exchanged a knowing look. Was it not Chen Niu who relocated them with his Divine Ability? The immortals of the Immortal Realm were hardly a united front, so revealing Chen Niu’s involvement seemed of little consequence. "Great Immortal, the Demon Immortal Chen Niu was responsible for this. Seeking to challenge Hua Jin the True One for the Celestial Jade Marrow, it uprooted four Demon Sealing Pagodas to construct a formation at the source. Alas, it met its end at the hands of an unknown assailant."

"Uprooted the Demon Sealing Pagodas to forge a formation? What blasphemous idiocy!" Shiqing hissed. "Do you even grasp the purpose behind the nine Demon Sealing Pagodas or the nine Wells of Heaven?"

Both men shook their heads. Were they not merely for the suppression of demonic beasts? It seemed the truth was far more profound than the surface lore.

"These nine Demon Sealing Pagodas serve as the core of a grand formation! In an age long past, a primordial expert utilized the very essence of heaven and earth as a foundation, fashioning these pagodas to refine the cosmic Qi and imprison the Fierce Beasts within. Over aeons, the Wells of Heaven were formed as reservoirs for vast quantities of Spiritual Energy! They are the literal batteries that fuel this Great Formation!"

Zhang Yibai felt his heart skip a beat. To use the world as a foundation with the Wells of Heaven as cores—what a monumental, divine undertaking. "This junior is enlightened. May I ask what purpose this Great Formation serves, Great Immortal?" he asked, bowing low in reverence.

"Even in my position, the full truth escapes me," Shiqing lamented. "I only know it as a Confinement and Refining Formation. It extracts the very Destiny Energy of this world, though what it actually confines remains a mystery to me."

A cold numbness crept down Zhang Yibai’s spine. If Shiqing spoke the truth, what manner of terror required nine Wells of Heaven to restrain? The sheer scale of using mountains and rivers as components suggested a catastrophe beyond comprehension. Worse yet, it appeared the endless cycles of resource extraction were merely a byproduct of siphoning power from that wretched entity. Was the Celestial Jade Marrow itself just a refined essence of this prisoner? The mere thought was bone-chilling. If that entity ever escaped, the Earth Star might be obliterated entirely. This clearly accounted for Shiqing’s terror.

"If these pagodas are so vital as formation components, were the Demon Immortals ignorant of this?" Gu Changsheng interrupted. "The immortals of Lingxiao know well not to tamper with them. It is hard to believe that those Demon Immortals were unaware."

"They knew," Shiqing replied, his face darkening. "We simply withheld the technical reasons, commanding them only to keep their hands off the pagodas. Naturally, they paid no heed. We, the immortals of Lingxiao, share no brotherhood with the Buddhist Kingdom or the Demon Immortals. Why would we disclose our secrets? Now, the damage is done, and this deity must report the failure to his superiors to seek a remedy."

With Hua Jin the True One currently stable, and Chen Niu dead, the situation had reached an impasse. Shiqing vanished into stone, preparing to ascend, but a sudden pillar of demonic energy erupted from the east. The sky transformed into an ink-stained abyss, blotting out the sun. Detecting this, Shiqing faltered. He had taken the incense and accepted the karma; to watch these juniors perish would be his own undoing. His report could wait. He returned to his human form, eyes burning with solemnity. "Stay here and do not move. A great demon has manifested in the east—likely the one you spoke of. I must intervene, but if any of you wander off and lose your lives, that is your own fault!"

The sky over the Eastern Sea surrendered to a suffocating, ink-black darkness, as if the light itself were being consumed by a ravenous void. The sea ceased its motion, freezing into a polished mirror that reflected the swirling vortex above. In the center of this silence stood Muscle Tyrant, now a being of condensed, lethal grace. The golden runes on its skin flickered weakly. With a gentle swipe of its claw, the very fabric of reality tore, opening a thousand-li long fissure of absolute nothingness. The continent groaned. Renshou, trembling, retreated to the edge of the formation. Chen Huaian stood motionless, his sword-finger held stiff as his sword formation hummed—he sensed not just demonic energy, but the very Dao of Termination itself. The being before them was not a mere beast; it was a cosmic void, and it was hungry.