Although the price for setting up an array can often be cut in half or even by forty percent, a genuine formation—even a low-grade one—starts at five hundred spirit stones.

So, for this courtyard that was bought for only three hundred and twenty spirit stones, did a single formation alone cost five hundred spirit stones?

“Young master? Should we still…”

“All right, don’t worry, didn’t the shockwave already pass?”

Henry Carter waved his hand.

Once a formation is activated, it burns through money.

Although he had six hundred spirit stones credited to his account, formations are such money pits that he would avoid using them if at all possible.

“Such terrifying destructive power must mean that a mighty cultivator unleashed a world-shaking battle thousands of miles away. If this kind of divine power strikes a few more times, we…”

“Relax, it wasn’t some great battle between mighty cultivators, and this kind of attack won’t happen a second time.”

Henry Carter spoke, but felt his tone was a bit too certain, so he quickly added, “Besides, if a mighty cultivator at that level really hurled a divine power at White Jade City, would it make any difference whether I was hiding inside a formation or not?”

“This…”

James Clark was momentarily at a loss for words.

Henry Carter looked up at the sky, reddened by the raging fire, and muttered to himself.

“The atmosphere in this world… is really high, really thick.”

But then again, in a cultivation world, if the land isn’t a bit bigger and the atmosphere isn’t a bit thicker, how could it withstand the havoc wrought by mighty cultivators?

Otherwise, if someone accidentally poked a hole in the sky, letting ultraviolet rays shine directly onto the ground, mortals might be wiped out.

You can’t raise big fish in shallow water.

If, in the future, some mighty cultivator told him this world was round above and square below, he’d believe it.

“Hm?”

After a moment, Henry Carter seemed to sense something and quickly circulated the Vermilion Bird Qi Refining Technique.

Only then did he realize that the fire attribute spiritual energy around him had become much more active, causing his cultivation efficiency—thanks to his fire spiritual root and practice of the Vermilion Bird Qi Refining Technique—to skyrocket.

“That hydrogen bomb actually had such a wonderful effect?”

Henry Carter was delighted and immediately said to James Clark, “All right, after witnessing such divine power with my own eyes, I’m even more eager to cultivate. Even if the sky falls, don’t disturb my seclusion.”

With that, he couldn’t wait to run back to the cultivation chamber.

James Clark, though helpless, also felt a bit gratified.

“I wonder how long the young master’s enthusiasm will last. I’ll observe for now. If… he really turns over a new leaf and strives to improve, the master will surely be very pleased.”

……

Yunling Mountain Range.

Frost Sword Sect.

Three sword lights broke through the sky one after another, arriving above the original site of the Frost Sword Sect.

They were none other than Arthur White, Thomas Wright, and Michael Bolton, who had rushed over from White Jade City.

As for the head of the Guardian Institute, Olivia Cooper, she remained in White Jade City to oversee the overall situation in case of emergencies.

“This…”

Even though the three who arrived above the Frost Sword Sect had been prepared, the scene before them still filled them with a deep, heartfelt shock.

At this moment, the Frost Sword Sect had long since vanished, replaced by a massive crater over twenty li in diameter.

At the center of the pit, all the rocks and gravel had turned to glass, gleaming brilliantly, and it seemed as if terrifying heat still lingered above.

Around the edges of this more-than-twenty-li-wide crater were traces left by the rampaging shockwave.

Towering peaks had been sliced in half, dense forests burned to ash, and surging rivers evaporated into nothing.

At a glance…

Flames raged, thick smoke billowed, and for a thousand li, the land looked like the end of the world.

“To turn a thousand li of land into a sea of fire, to refine mountains and rocks into glass—the means of a mighty cultivator… are truly terrifying.”

Thomas Wright drew in a sharp breath.

But because the air was still thick with dust, he choked and couldn’t help but cough repeatedly.

“The human-demon entrenched at the Frost Sword Sect is dead beyond any doubt under such destructive divine power. According to my calculations… the core area of several dozen li that was refined here, the temperature of the flames rivaled the World-Scorching Heavenly Fire.”

Michael Bolton calculated for a moment and said.

“Heavenly Fire!?”

Arthur White couldn’t help but have his pupils contract.

That’s Heavenly Fire!

“The mighty cultivator who struck… just how powerful are they!?”

“I dare not calculate such a mighty one! The power of this divine ability is even stronger than the ‘World-Ending Blazing Sun,’ and the ‘World-Ending Blazing Sun’ alone is enough to pierce the Celestial Mechanism Realm, temporarily turning that area into a void. With my skill in the Celestial Mechanism Art, if I entered that void, I’d likely get lost within, my mind gradually weakening until my consciousness dissipated and I died.”

Michael Bolton said with deep apprehension.

The Celestial Mechanism Art can touch the Celestial Mechanism Realm, peering into and deducing vast, boundless information.

But if the Celestial Mechanism Realm in this area has been pierced, leaving no information behind, it’s like throwing an astronaut into a vacuum with no up, down, left, right, front, or back—and in this vacuum, there are no reference points, only nothingness.

In such a situation, it’s easy to imagine how hard it would be for the astronaut to escape the void.

Over time, as the Celestial Mechanism cultivator’s mind weakens, it’s like their spacesuit running out of oxygen—death is inevitable.

“But seeing this, at least we have two pieces of good news.”