The subterranean depths beneath the Rising Dragon Sect were cold, damp, and completely isolated from the deafening clamor of the battlefield above.
Down here, beneath layers of reinforced granite and ancient dampening runes, the air hummed with a heavy, rhythmic vibration of dense spiritual energy being funneled upward to sustain the mountain's defenses.
Ling Luochen stared at an altar. It was carved from a single block of dark, blood-streaked spirit marble, etched with complex circuits of glowing azure script that pulsed in synchronization with the heartbeat of the grand barrier.
Hovering suspended three inches above the stone was a jagged, fist-sized crystal of pure, incandescent crimson.
It burned like a trapped heart, radiating intense waves of condensed spiritual qi that fed directly into the subterranean leylines.
This is the last energy node of the formation, and once this was destroyed, the entire formation will collapse.
