The pursuing army entered the pass behind him, but the broken cliff began collapsing across the narrow path. Soldiers shouted and raised shields as stone filled the space between the walls. The barrier commanders tried to maintain their positions, yet the collapse cut several energy channels and forced them to redirect power toward protecting themselves.
Haotian reached the main commander at the center.
The creature drew a broad blade from its back and struck downward. Haotian shifted far enough that the weapon passed beside his injured shoulder, then stepped inside its reach and drove two fingers beneath the edge of its chest armor. The commander tried to pull away, but Haotian's hand closed.
"Dao of the Universe — Meridian Dominion."
The creature's internal energy stopped obeying it. The black current maintaining the barrier changed direction and flowed through Haotian's arm into the ground beneath the platform. He did not hold the technique long enough to control the entire formation. He only forced the energy away from the western side.
The barrier opened.
Haotian released the commander, turned before the creature could recover, and struck the back of its neck with his elbow. Bone broke beneath the armor, and the body fell across the platform as Haotian stepped through the opening.
The army behind him reached the collapsing section of the pass. Several powerful commanders broke through the falling stone, but the delay had already created distance.
Haotian continued west.
"He could have destroyed the entire formation," Tianlan said.
"He did not need to," Xiangyin replied. She dragged one of the map markers across the report beneath the mirror. "Destroying everything would have cost more energy and kept him there longer."
Xuanyin watched Haotian's injured leg drag slightly as he crossed the next slope. "The pass only delayed them."
"That is what he needed," Yinxue said. "He is building distance a little at a time."
The projection shifted as Celestara formation masters adjusted the external anchor. The image widened enough to show the armies moving around the valley system. One force followed directly behind Haotian, another crossed the northern ridge, and a third moved west toward the open valley ahead.
Xuanyin looked at the black symbols gathering near the western edge. "They are blocking the next route too."
Xiangyin nodded. "They want to keep him moving until he is too tired to maintain the connection to the Dao Palace."
"Then they will force him to open the entrance."
"That is what they expect."
Xuanyin turned toward the people moving outside the pavilion. A squad of wounded cultivators passed along the path carrying practice shields, and a healer walking beside them stopped one man before his breathing became too labored. Beyond them, smoke rose from the repair yards while carts carried weapons toward the central plaza.
"We need to be ready when he opens it," Xuanyin said.
"We are preparing," Yinxue replied.
"That is not the same as being ready."
"No. It is not."
The projection blurred and closed when Haotian moved beyond the current anchor. Shuyue removed one overheated crystal from the mirror frame and placed it in a bowl of cooling water. Steam rose immediately from the surface.
"How long until the next anchor finds him?" Yanfei asked.
"An hour if the terrain remains stable," Shuyue said. "Longer if the abyssal interference gets worse."
Yanfei looked toward the dark mirror. "We should move the combat-ready legions closer to the deployment areas."
Xiangyin unrolled one of the new reports across the table. "We already are."
"How many?"
"Three frontline legions, two support legions, and one reserve."
"That is not enough."
"It is what we have."
Yanfei set her empty cup on the table harder than necessary. "Every hour we wait, Haotian gets more tired."
Xiangyin turned the casualty report around so Yanfei could see the numbers. "And if we deploy before the squads are ready, he will have to turn around and save us again."
"I am not suggesting we run outside without a plan."
Yueru entered through the side door as Yanfei spoke, with Ziyue following behind her carrying a stack of freshly copied reports. Yueru adjusted the sling around her injured arm before answering. "That is usually what you mean when you say we should move immediately."
Yanfei looked at her. "That happened once."
Tianlan reached for the brush and ink beside the reports. "It happened more than once."
"You are supposed to support me."
"I support the idea of leaving when the legions are ready."
Yanfei looked toward Lianhua. "Do you agree with them?"
Lianhua had been pouring fresh tea while the others argued. She placed a cup beside Xiangyin's hand, then another near Yinxue's reports before answering. "I agree that Haotian needs help. I also agree that sending exhausted people outside in broken formations will make things worse."
"That is not an answer."
"It is the only answer we have."
The room became too small for the growing strategy discussion, but no one suggested moving Xuanyin. She could not leave the bed, and none of them wanted to repeat the entire conversation elsewhere while she watched the same battlefield and understood the same risks.
Servants brought in a larger folding table and placed it near the windows. Yinxue unrolled the valley map across its surface, while Xiangyin moved squad markers into three groups along the lower edge. Tianlan sat beside the spear units and began writing the results of his morning inspections onto a clean scroll.
Shuyue continued replacing crystals in the projection mirror while listening. Each time someone moved a report too close to the worktable, she pushed it back with the end of her brush. Liora checked Xuanyin's pulse between adjustments to the formation beneath the bed and interrupted whenever the conversation became too long without allowing her to rest.
"The first group is combat-ready," Xiangyin said as she moved several blue markers together. "They can deploy as full legions if Haotian creates a safe opening."
"The second group can fight, but not for long," Yinxue added. "They should remain near the entrance as support."
Ziyue opened one of the copied healer reports. "The third group includes anyone with unstable meridians, damaged Dao Palaces, or injuries that could reopen under battlefield pressure. They stay inside."
Yanfei leaned over the table and moved one marker from the third group into the second. "This squad fought well during the ambush."
Ziyue moved it back. "Three members cannot circulate energy."
"The other nine can."
"The formation requires twelve."
"They can replace the injured members."
"With whom?" Xiangyin asked. "Every replacement changes how the squad moves. We are not putting strangers together and sending them outside without training."
Yanfei rested both hands on the edge of the table. "Then merge the surviving members with another damaged squad."
Tianlan stopped writing. "That creates the same problem."
Yanfei looked at him. "You inspected six squads this morning and now you are an expert?"
"No. I watched two squads fail because they tried to move around missing members without adjusting the formation."
Xiangyin pointed toward the report Tianlan had written. "He is right. We can merge squads later, but they need time to train together first."
A servant entered carrying a tray of fresh tea and nearly stepped into the space between Yanfei and the table. He paused, looked toward Lianhua for direction, and then moved around the other side to replace the empty cups. Yanfei took one without thanking him, drank half, and immediately frowned because it had cooled too much.
Xuanyin watched the markers move across the map while Liora changed the medicinal cloth over her chest. The cloth had warmed from the life essence passing through it, and when Liora lifted it away, cool air touched the damaged skin beneath her robe.
"What happens when Haotian creates an opening?" Xuanyin asked.
Yinxue turned toward her. "We do not open the entrance from inside."
"Because the tracking formations may still be attached."
"Yes. Haotian has to create the connection himself."
"And then?"
"The first combat legions deploy together," Xiangyin said. She moved three markers toward the center of the map. "Not one squad at a time, and not separate groups from different worlds. The mixed formations go first."
"The support legions remain near the entrance," Ziyue added. "They protect the healers and keep the retreat path open."
Liora folded the used medicinal cloth into a basin. "The treatment teams will be ready to receive Haotian as soon as he enters."
Yanfei looked toward her. "He may refuse treatment until everyone else is inside."
"Then we restrain him."
Tianlan smiled faintly while continuing to write. "That may take several people."
"It will take as many as necessary."
Lianhua placed a fresh cup of water beside Xuanyin. "The most seriously wounded remain deeper inside the Dao Palace. No one near the entrance should be unable to move without help."
Xuanyin looked at the rows of markers. "What about the soldiers who insist they can fight?"
"We ignore them," Yinxue said.
"That seems harsh."
"It is how we keep them alive."
Yanfei moved away from the table and stood near the window, watching the training grounds beyond the healing district. "We keep talking about waiting for Haotian to create an opening. What if he cannot?"
The question quieted the room more effectively than any command.
Xiangyin rested one hand on the table. "Then he will create another plan."
"That is not what I asked."
"I know."
Yanfei turned from the window. "He is exhausted, injured, and surrounded. We cannot pretend he has endless options."
"No one is pretending that," Lianhua said. She collected the empty cups from the bedside table and placed them on the servant's tray. "But opening the entrance ourselves while the Abyss is tracing it could kill everyone here."
Yanfei's jaw tightened. "So we watch."
"We prepare," Xuanyin said.
Everyone looked toward her.
She shifted one hand toward the cracked mask beside the bed and rested her fingers on the cloth beneath it. "Watching would mean doing nothing. We are repairing weapons, rebuilding the formations, organizing the legions, and preparing the healers. That is what Haotian needs us to do until he reaches us."
Yanfei looked at her for several moments. "You sound like Liora."
"That is unfortunate."
Liora raised one eyebrow while adjusting the bandage beneath Xuanyin's ribs. "You were less reasonable yesterday."
"I was also unconscious the day before."
"Your improvement is impressive."
The small exchange eased the pressure in the room. Yanfei returned to the table and picked up another report, while Xiangyin continued moving markers into deployment groups. The discussion lasted through the rest of the afternoon, interrupted by healers entering with medicine, servants removing empty dishes, and runners bringing updates from the training grounds.
By the time the projection mirror brightened again, the combat-ready legions had been ordered toward the deployment districts nearest the possible entrance points. They did not gather in one place, because the Dao Palace of Creation connected to Haotian through several internal routes, and no one knew which one he would use. Instead, squads moved toward three separate assembly grounds while support teams prepared medicine, formation plates, and emergency barriers.
The new projection appeared from a higher angle.
Haotian had reached the largest of the western valleys. The cliffs opened into a wide basin filled with broken stone, dead trees, and the remains of an ancient riverbed that had dried long before the battle reached it. The route beyond the basin narrowed again between two distant ridges, and if he crossed those ridges, he would enter terrain where the Dao Palace connection could be hidden more easily.
The Abyss had already occupied the basin.
A massive army stood between Haotian and the western ridge. Black standards covered the old riverbed, and floating platforms formed several layers above the soldiers. Behind him, the pursuing army entered through the pass he had collapsed earlier, while additional forces moved along both cliff edges to seal the sides.
"He is trapped," Yueru said.
Xiangyin leaned closer to the mirror. "Not yet."
Haotian stopped near the eastern edge of the basin. His injured leg bent slightly beneath his weight, and one hand remained pressed against the wound in his side while he studied the armies ahead and behind him. The Eyes of the Universe moved through his gaze, reading the flow of energy between the standards, platforms, commanders, and tracking formations.
The enemy did not attack immediately.
They closed the valley.
A line of black light spread along the northern cliff, followed by another along the south. The two lines met above the basin, forming a curved barrier that prevented spatial movement beyond the valley. More symbols appeared beneath the ground, cutting off escape through the earth.
"They planned this route," Yinxue said.
"They knew he would choose the western pass," Tianlan replied.
Xuanyin watched the tracking formations gather around Haotian. "They do not want to kill him yet."
Yanfei looked toward her. "What do you mean?"
"They are waiting for him to open the Dao Palace of Creation."
The pattern became obvious once she said it. The forward army held its position instead of advancing, the soldiers behind Haotian stopped outside his immediate range, and the commanders on the platforms maintained enough pressure to prevent escape without forcing a final battle.
"They want exhaustion to make the decision for him," Lianhua said.
Xiangyin moved one marker into the center of the valley map. "If he keeps fighting outside, they wait until he collapses. If he opens the entrance, they follow him."
Tianlan looked toward the mirror. "What can he do?"
No one answered because Haotian was already studying the same problem.
Outside, wind moved dust through the dry riverbed and pulled loose cloth from the bodies scattered near the old stones. Haotian lowered his hand from the wound in his side and straightened, though the effort caused fresh blood to spread beneath his armor.
An abyssal commander descended from the central platform. Its body was tall and narrow, wrapped in layered black robes that moved without wind, and several tracking eyes had been embedded across the metal mask covering its face.
"You have nowhere left to go," the commander said. Its voice carried across the basin through the formation above it. "Open the path, and the others may live long enough to watch you die."
Haotian looked at the armies surrounding him. "That is the offer?"
"You cannot protect them forever."
"I only need to protect them long enough."
The commander raised one hand, and the tracking formations tightened. Black lines moved across Haotian's body, searching for the spiritual connection leading toward the Dao Palace of Creation. He allowed them to spread without resisting, though the pressure forced his injured leg deeper into the dry earth.
Inside the healing pavilion, Shuyue adjusted the projection crystals. "They are trying to lock onto the Dao Palace."
"Can they?" Yanfei asked.
"Not unless he opens the connection or uses too much of its power."
Haotian lifted his gaze toward the floating platforms.
The Eyes of the Universe followed each tracking line back to its source. There were dozens of smaller anchors spread among the soldiers, but only six major nodes controlled the search. Destroying them would stop the current trace, yet the armies would rebuild the network before he could cross the basin.
The commander took another step. "You are already too weak to break through. Open the path."
Haotian wiped blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. "You spent all this time building a trap and still need me to open it for you."
The commander's mask tilted slightly.
Haotian looked beyond it toward the forward army. He could break the force ahead, but the armies behind him would continue following. He could collapse the cliffs, but the barrier above the valley would trap him beneath the falling stone as easily as the enemy. He could open the Dao Palace of Creation, enter, and seal it before most of the army followed, yet even a few tracking anchors reaching the connection would place everyone inside at risk.
He needed to reduce the pursuit before he retreated.
The answer appeared through the structure of the valley itself. The forward army had committed its strongest formations to the western side, while the forces behind him remained compressed in the narrow eastern pass. The northern and southern armies were positioned along the cliffs, connected to the central tracking network through the six major nodes.
If the central formation believed the Dao Palace entrance was opening, every force would move toward the same point.
Haotian lowered his shoulders.
The commander mistook the movement for exhaustion. "You have finally understood."
"I understand that you are all standing too close together."
A faint pulse left Haotian's body.
It carried the same spatial rhythm as the beginning of a Dao Palace connection, but the power remained shallow, touching only the tracking lines already wrapped around him. The six major nodes reacted instantly. Black symbols flared across the valley, and every commander turned toward the point behind Haotian where the false signal gathered.
Inside the Dao Palace of Creation, the projection mirror shook.
Liora caught the cup beside Xuanyin's hand before it fell from the table. Shuyue pressed both palms against the frame while the image distorted, and formation masters outside the pavilion shouted instructions as the external anchors registered the sudden surge.
"He is opening something," Tianlan said.
Yinxue looked toward the changing pattern behind Haotian. "Not the Dao Palace of Creation."
The air above the dry riverbed darkened.
Black-gold lines spread across the sky, forming the outline of walls, towers, and vast gates behind Haotian. Unlike the living landscapes of the Dao Palace of Creation, this manifestation carried no rivers, forests, or warmth. It appeared as an immense inner world built from corridors, broken halls, shifting labyrinths, and the heavy authority of destruction.
The Dao Palace of Destruction.
The abyssal commander turned toward the forming gates. "The path is opening."
Its certainty moved through the enemy formations. The forward army advanced, the forces behind Haotian pushed into the basin, and the commanders along the cliffs redirected power toward the point where the gates appeared. Every tracking node tightened around the false connection, believing it had finally found the entrance to the people Haotian had protected.
Xuanyin's fingers closed around the edge of her cracked mask. "That is not the entrance to this Dao Palace."
"No," Yinxue said as she stepped closer to the mirror. "He is making them believe it is."
Tianlan rose from his chair, then stopped when the injury in his side pulled beneath the movement. He steadied himself against the table and looked at the abyssal armies entering the valley. "He wants them to rush the gates."
Xiangyin moved several enemy markers toward the center of the map. "He will let part of the army enter, then close the Dao Palace around them."
Yanfei studied the forces still gathering behind Haotian. "That still leaves thousands outside."
"He cannot draw all of them in," Xiangyin said. "If he tries, they may overwhelm the internal formations before he can control the labyrinth."
Lianhua placed one hand on the table as the projection trembled again. "He only needs to divide the army. Once enough of them are trapped inside, he can break through the rest and continue retreating."
Xuanyin looked at Haotian's injured body standing before the opening gates. "Can he control the Dao Palace and fight outside at the same time?"
No one answered immediately.
They all knew he could.
The real question was how long his current body could continue doing both.
Outside, the gates of the Dao Palace of Destruction opened.
The first abyssal ranks surged forward, their commanders shouting for the tracking nodes to hold the connection. Black standards lifted across the basin, and floating platforms descended toward the forming entrance while the forward army tightened around Haotian.
He remained in place until the enemy committed.
Then he stepped aside.
The first wave passed him and entered the darkness beyond the gates. The soldiers behind them followed, convinced that they had reached the sanctuary holding the wounded coalition. Inside the Dao Palace of Destruction, the open path divided into hundreds of corridors that shifted as soon as the first army crossed the threshold.
Haotian closed one hand.
The outer gates began narrowing.
The abyssal commander realized the mistake too late. It turned toward the soldiers still outside and shouted for them to stop, but the rear ranks continued pressing forward while the front ranks tried to retreat. Bodies collided in the opening, and the tracking formations strained to hold a connection that had never led to the Dao Palace of Creation.
Haotian moved toward the nearest major node.
The army outside reacted, but its formation had already broken around the gates. He passed between two groups moving in opposite directions, reached the black standard feeding the northern tracking line, and struck the base with his palm.
"Dao of Destruction — Severing Collapse."
The standard broke from within. The tracking line above the northern cliff vanished, and the soldiers positioned there lost contact with the central formation.
Haotian did not remain to fight them.
He turned toward the second node while the gates continued closing behind him.
Inside the healing pavilion, the projection filled with movement as the coalition watched the plan begin. Outside the windows, messengers ran toward the assembly grounds carrying orders for the combat legions to remain ready. The sounds of training stopped across the nearby fields, replaced by commanders calling squads into position and healers moving medicine toward the deployment districts.
Liora kept one hand around Xuanyin's wrist while using the other to adjust the formation beneath the bed. "Your pulse is rising."
"I am not moving."
"You do not need to move to strain yourself."
Xuanyin watched Haotian reach the second tracking node. "Do not close the projection."
"I will if your condition worsens."
"Then keep the formation stable."
Liora gave her a hard look. "That is what I have been doing since you woke up."
Xuanyin loosened her grip on the mask and forced herself to breathe more slowly. Beside the bed, Shuyue rolled the completed talismans into a storage case while continuing to reinforce the mirror frame. Tianlan tightened the strap around his repaired spear, then sat again when Xiangyin reminded him that the legions had not been ordered to deploy.
Outside, Haotian destroyed the second node and moved toward the third as the Dao Palace of Destruction swallowed more of the enemy army. The abyssal commanders were beginning to understand that the opening had been a trap, yet they could not withdraw cleanly while their own soldiers crowded the gates.
The largest commander rose from the central platform and charged toward Haotian.
He turned before the strike reached him, caught the commander's wrist, and used its momentum to pull the creature past him. The movement reopened the wound in his side, but it also drove the commander into the third tracking node.
Haotian struck both at once.
The node shattered, and the commander disappeared beneath the collapse of its own platform.
Three tracking lines remained.
The armies outside regrouped around them, while the final ranks entering the Dao Palace of Destruction realized the gates were closing and began fighting their own allies for space. Haotian stood between the remaining enemy force and the western ridge, breathing harder now as dark-gold light moved through the forming walls behind him.
He had not escaped.
He had created the first part of a road back.
Inside the Dao Palace of Creation, the coalition moved toward readiness. Mixed squads formed at the assembly grounds with repaired weapons in their hands, support teams carried formation plates toward the possible entrance routes, and healers prepared treatment areas for the moment Haotian returned. The most severely wounded remained in the deeper residential and healing districts, protected by elders and reserve units who had been ordered not to leave their positions.
Xuanyin lay in the same bed where she had awakened, unable to stand, unable to cultivate, and unable to reach the battlefield. Her body had not recovered enough to let her take even one step, but she no longer confused helplessness with inactivity.
She looked toward the map spread across the table. "Move the support legions closer to the western entrance routes."
Yinxue followed her gaze. "Why?"
"If he breaks through the army outside, he will continue west. He will not open the connection until the tracking nodes are gone."
Xiangyin moved the support markers across the map. "The western routes are still unstable."
"Then reinforce them now."
Shuyue looked toward the runners waiting near the doorway. "I can send formation teams with them."
Lianhua picked up one of the written orders and handed it to the nearest runner. "Take this to the western assembly grounds. Tell them to prepare three separate receiving formations in case Haotian cannot hold one entrance open for long."
The runner bowed and left at once.
Yanfei looked toward Xuanyin. "You sound like you are giving orders from a battlefield."
"I am lying in a bed."
"That was not what I said."
Xuanyin watched Haotian cross the basin toward the fourth tracking node. "He is trying to come back. We should make certain the path inside is ready when he reaches it."
Outside, the Dao Palace of Destruction continued closing around the trapped portion of the abyssal army. Its labyrinth shifted, separating squads, commanders, beasts, and war engines into different regions where they could no longer support one another. Haotian remained outside with the rest of the enemy, fighting toward the final tracking nodes one step at a time.
His retreat was not complete.
Neither was Xuanyin's recovery.
Yet for the first time since the ambush, both of them had a direction that led back toward the people waiting for them.