Haotian compared the routes and chose the nearest position that remained incomplete. "We reach that one first. If the General is still necessary when we get there, kill him. If the transfer finishes before we arrive, we attack the fixed point."
Xuanyin looked toward the roads between Sixth Legion and the position. "The remaining defenders are abandoning everything except the direct approaches."
"They do not have enough soldiers left to protect more than that."
"Then Sixth keeps the route narrow and Second clears anything that tries to close behind us."
"Yes. No one spreads across the convergence."
The coalition advanced through ground that had become increasingly difficult to read with ordinary senses. The spatial distortion near the center had expanded enough that several straight formation lines appeared bent from certain angles, and distances between structures changed subtly whenever the remaining fixed points redistributed their load. Haotian corrected the route whenever the visible ground diverged from the relationships he could see through the Dao of the Universe.
The Demon General at the chosen position had stopped using the sacrificial current for defense. His remaining trusted elites fought with only their own cultivation and whatever local support survived around the approach, while nearly everything flowing through the fixed point now went toward the dimensional pressure.
Blue Sphere cultivators struck the first line and immediately forced it backward. Pyrelith members attacked through the gaps created by the collision, while Marephoros support kept the damaged road stable beneath the mixed teams. The defenders tried to compress around the narrower approach, but Sixth Legion kept its pressure centered entirely on the route to the fixed point.
Lianhua and Yinxue moved with Haotian through the strongest resistance rather than leaving the formation behind. When two elite demons tried to establish a new defensive center around one surviving formation node, Lianhua used Cloud-Sundering Steps to reach the exposed relationship and cut through it with Voidpierce Sword Sutra. Yinxue followed the weakening immediately, forcing the defenders away from the node before they could transfer its remaining power into another barrier.
Yueru and Ziyue concentrated on the physical channels revealed as the formation redistributed itself. Lightning disrupted one overloaded line running beneath the defenders, and Ziyue severed the support after the current became unstable. Xiangyin and Yanfei prevented the nearest elites from closing the opening, allowing the mixed teams to advance through the same section without turning the engagement into separate fights.
The Demon General continued disappearing into the fixed point throughout the advance. His cultivation foundation had become so damaged that the formation was no longer drawing through his meridians in orderly circulation, and the Abyssal energy leaving his core flowed directly into the sacrificial relationships beneath him.
"We are close to losing the chance to interrupt him directly," Haotian said.
Lianhua looked toward the General ahead. "Can we reach him first?"
"Possibly. Do not leave Sixth behind to try."
The trusted elites between them made the question increasingly irrelevant. Their line collapsed under the coalition's pressure, but each group that remained forced the mixed teams to spend several more exchanges opening the road. The defenders could not stop the advance, yet the moments they continued buying were exactly what the General needed.
The transfer crossed the threshold before the coalition reached him.
The General's body sagged as the formation stripped away the final part of his cultivation foundation, and the relationships beneath him stopped depending upon his continued participation. His life force followed immediately afterward, feeding the already completed pattern.
Haotian changed the order before the body had finished falling.
"Do not attack the General. Break the fixed point."
The General died inside the sacrificial relationship, and his corpse collapsed across the formation lines while the fixed point remained stable. Haotian ignored the body and traced the deeper structure immediately, locating the junction where the absorbed foundation connected to the wider convergence.
"Yueru, disrupt the current there. Lianhua, wait until it compensates."
Lightning entered the overloaded channel without attempting to overpower the enormous Abyssal current directly. The disruption forced the formation to change how it distributed the load, and several deeper relationships tightened as the fixed point tried to preserve its alignment.
"There."
Lianhua moved with Cloud-Sundering Steps and brought Voidpierce Sword Sutra against the relationship Haotian had exposed. The technique cut into the spatial and formation connection rather than the surface stone, weakening the link carrying the absorbed foundation toward the dimensional pressure. Yinxue followed before the network could restore the relationship, widening the damaged section.
The completed sacrifice had left a denser structure than the previous fixed point, and several surrounding channels immediately tried to redistribute the burden around the damaged relationship. Ziyue attacked one support as it became exposed, while Xiangyin struck another before the network could divide the current completely.
Yanfei spread Frostfire across the nearby formation channels, interfering with the flow returning toward the fixed point without covering the entire convergence. Sixth Legion held the surrounding ground while the family concentrated on the structure.
"Again," Haotian said. "The western support is carrying too much."
Lianhua shifted toward the point he indicated, with Yinxue remaining close enough to follow. The second coordinated attack forced the fixed point farther out of alignment, and cracks spread across the reinforced stone around the dead General.
The formation reacted by drawing more heavily from the remaining fixed points.
Xuanyin saw the deterioration across the region. "The other positions are increasing their contributions again."
"They are compensating for this one."
"Can we still break it before they finish?"
"Yes. Keep Sixth here until the relationship fails."
Several demons managed to attack the outer mixed teams, but Second Legion had already moved enough formations forward to prevent them from reaching the family in strength. None reached the damaged fixed point before Haotian identified the last relationship still holding it to the convergence.
He struck that support himself.
Fist of Ruin drove through the weakened structure while Lianhua and Yinxue attacked the exposed formation relationship from opposite sides. The accumulated damage passed into the buried network, forcing the completed fixed point away from the dimensional alignment it had been maintaining.
The connection failed.
The absorbed power remained inside the shattered local formation, but it could no longer support the passage. The spatial distortion at the center contracted unevenly as the remaining fixed points were forced to absorb another portion of the burden, and for a brief period the dimensional boundary began moving back toward its natural state.
Xuanyin looked toward the center. "It is weakening."
"Yes. We removed another complete share."
"Then we can still collapse the passage if we destroy enough of them."
Haotian examined the remaining positions. The opportunity still existed, but several surviving Generals had reached the final stage of the sacrifice while the coalition destroyed the completed fixed point. Their bodies were already failing, and the network was transferring their remaining foundations into the structures beneath them faster than Sixth Legion could physically reach each position in sequence.
"We keep moving. The next fixed point is still incomplete."
Xuanyin began shifting Sixth before the damaged formation had fully settled.
The next General was still alive when the coalition began approaching, but his fixed point had already consumed most of his foundation and the remaining transfer was proceeding without any attempt to defend the position. The trusted elites around him had stopped building layered formations and instead attacked directly from whatever ground they still controlled.
Sixth Legion pressed through them.
The coalition no longer needed to solve every defensive structure because most had lost power to the sacrifice, and the few elites still capable of fighting could not hold enough width to prevent the mixed teams from advancing. Haotian and his wives remained inside the same pressure, breaking only the obstacles directly in front of them.
The General died before they reached striking distance.
Haotian saw the fixed point complete itself and did not waste time looking at the body.
"Structure first."
Yueru attacked the nearest channel before Sixth Legion had completely secured the area. Ziyue followed once the current shifted, while Haotian used the Dao of the Universe to trace the deeper relationship becoming exposed beneath the fixed point. Lianhua and Yinxue moved toward it while Xiangyin and Yanfei kept the remaining defenders away from the family.
The coalition attacked immediately.
This fixed point had completed more cleanly than the previous one, and its relationships were already integrated deeply into the convergence. Breaking it required more than one disruption, and every attempt forced the surrounding network to redistribute its burden across the remaining positions.
That redistribution carried a cost.
The final surviving Generals were consumed even faster.
Haotian could sense their cultivation foundations collapsing while he worked on the structure in front of him. The sacrificial network had stopped preserving any distinction between cultivation, core energy, and life force. Everything that remained inside those bodies was being converted into the same stabilizing relationships.
Xuanyin received reports from the rest of the stronghold at the same time. "The drain on the demonic army is reaching the end. Entire sectors have stopped showing cultivation signatures."
"The formation is taking whatever remains."
"Then the army cannot provide much more after this."
"It may not need to."
The stronghold's stored energy had been drained, its active defensive systems had been drained, most of its surviving army had been drained, and the Demon Generals were giving the last part of themselves. The sacrificial foundation had already accumulated an enormous amount of power even after the fixed points the coalition had destroyed.
Haotian struck another exposed support, and the family followed through the same weakness. The fixed point finally began separating from the convergence.
At that moment, one of the remaining Demon Generals disappeared completely into his own sacrifice.
The formation at his position retained the transfer.
A second General followed before Haotian finished breaking the structure beneath him.
The remaining fixed points changed again.
Haotian felt the dimensional pressure surge as two completed sacrifices entered the convergence almost simultaneously, while the damaged point beneath the coalition failed a moment later and lost its contribution. For several breaths, those competing changes pulled the dimensional boundary in opposite directions, with the fixed points Haotian had destroyed weakening the connection even as the newly completed sacrifices forced enormous amounts of power into the surviving structure.
Haotian expanded the Dao of the Universe across the entire convergence.
"Stop trying to reach the bodies."
Lianhua turned toward him. "The remaining Generals have finished transferring?"
"Most of them. The ones still alive are no longer important enough to justify crossing the entire convergence."
Xuanyin moved nearer. "Then we attack the remaining fixed points directly."
"Yes. Everything that still stabilizes the passage."
The coalition shifted from pursuit to destruction.
Haotian identified the closest surviving relationship and sent Yueru and Ziyue toward the channels feeding it while Lianhua and Yinxue moved toward another support exposed by the redistribution. Xiangyin and Yanfei remained between the family and the last trusted defenders, keeping the fighting connected to the mixed legions while Sixth spread enough to give Haotian room to work.
Each damaged relationship transferred more of its burden into the remaining fixed points, and those points were already carrying the completed sacrifices of several Demon Generals. The network no longer possessed the balanced structure with which it had begun, but the raw power accumulated inside it was enough to keep forcing the dimensional boundary thinner.
Yueru disrupted another channel.
Ziyue severed the exposed support.
Lianhua drove Voidpierce Sword Sutra through a relationship Haotian identified near the edge of the distorted center, and Yinxue followed before the connection could settle.
Another fixed point failed.
The dimensional pressure dropped sharply and the distortion at the center contracted, leaving the remaining relationships visibly struggling to keep the two realms aligned.
Then the last living Demon Generals surrendered what remained of themselves.
Their bodies failed across the convergence as part of the same accelerating process, with the sacrificial network drawing the final remnants of cultivation foundation and life force through the surviving fixed points while the demonic army elsewhere in the stronghold reached near-total exhaustion. The remaining structures inherited those completed contributions before the coalition could destroy enough of them to force a total collapse.
The accumulated power surged toward the center.
Haotian immediately attacked the nearest remaining relationship.
"Break it now."
The family struck with him while Sixth Legion maintained the surrounding space and Xuanyin held the army together behind them.
The fixed point began failing.
The dimensional boundary failed first.
The distortion that had been repeatedly forced away from its natural position no longer returned when the surrounding relationships shifted. Space compressed around the center of the convergence and then stretched under the enormous difference between Blue Sphere and the Abyss as the sacrificial formation forced the connection beyond what the boundary could absorb without rupturing.
The stone beneath the central formation fractured across several directions at once. Buried channels split as the energy inside them surged toward the same point, and the remaining structures around the convergence shook beneath forces they had never been designed to contain physically. Haotian kept the Dao of the Universe fixed on the rupture as the relationship between the two realms changed from pressure against a boundary into an actual opening through it.
The dimensional boundary tore.
Beyond the damaged edge of Blue Sphere lay another realm.
The Abyss became visible through the passage as an actual place separated from the stronghold by a dimensional connection that should not have existed. Strange terrain extended beyond the rupture beneath a sky and atmosphere belonging to another world, while dense Abyssal energy pressed against the opening from the far side.
Haotian examined the connection immediately. The sacrifice had not created anything inside Blue Sphere or summoned a being from nothing. It had opened a road between the two realms.
Xuanyin moved close enough to hear him over the continuing collapse of damaged formation structures. "Is that the Abyss?"
"Yes."
"Can the passage still be collapsed?"
Haotian followed the remaining fixed points and the torn boundary between them. "The formation has finished its purpose. Destroying the remaining supports can weaken the passage, but the boundary is already open."
"Then we need the legions away from the immediate edge."
"Yes. Pull the forward formations back far enough that they are not packed around it. Keep the movement organized."
Xuanyin began issuing the order immediately.
Sixth Legion stopped pressing deeper into the convergence and started giving ground in controlled layers while Second created space behind it. The coalition was not retreating from the stronghold, but creating enough distance from an unstable dimensional rupture that the army would not be trapped against it if something crossed.
Haotian remained where he was with his wives.
The Demon Generals were gone, and the remaining trusted elites had either died during the fighting or lost enough cultivation through the final sacrifice that they could no longer influence the battlefield. Across the stronghold, the army those Generals had sacrificed was collapsing with them.
The passage remained open.
Xuanyin continued pulling Sixth Legion away from the immediate edge while the damaged formation settled around the rupture. The leading mixed teams withdrew in controlled layers rather than turning their backs on the opening, and Second Legion expanded behind them to create enough room for the movement without compressing the wounded or healer formations farther back. No one attempted to reclaim the ground being surrendered around the convergence, because there was nothing left there worth holding closely enough to justify surrounding an unstable connection between worlds.
Haotian kept enough distance between the family and the opening to prevent a sudden spatial fluctuation from separating them. The Dao of the Universe remained expanded across the surviving formation relationships as he studied how the newly opened passage behaved.
The sacrificial foundation had already spent most of what it had gathered. Several remaining channels still carried residual Abyssal energy toward the opening, but the violent current that had fed the dimensional pressure throughout the ritual was weakening now that the stronghold's stored reserves, active systems, demonic army, and Demon Generals had been consumed.
That should have allowed the passage to weaken.
Instead, Haotian found that the opening no longer depended entirely upon the sacrificial formation to remain connected. The rupture itself had created a direct relationship between Blue Sphere and the Abyss, and the remaining formation structures were now supporting something that already existed rather than continuing to force two separated realms together.
Xuanyin completed the first withdrawal of Sixth Legion before approaching close enough to speak with him. "The forward formations are clear of the immediate convergence. Second is opening more space behind them, and the wounded are still protected."
"Keep everyone moving until the legions have enough depth to absorb an attack without being pushed back into the rupture."
"How far do you want the front?"
"Far enough that the first line can give ground if necessary. Do not pack formations against one another."
Xuanyin looked toward the opening. "Is the passage still being sustained by the sacrificial network?"
"Partially, but not in the way it was before. The formation forced the boundary open. Now there is an actual connection between the two realms."
"So destroying what remains of the formation will not close it immediately."
"No. It may weaken the passage, but we cannot assume the rupture disappears simply because the supports beneath it are destroyed."
Xuanyin did not order anyone to attack the surviving fixed points while the coalition was still reorganizing around the new threat. The army had already damaged the sacrificial network heavily, and committing fighters back into the convergence before understanding the passage would only place them closer to whatever might use it.
Tianlan remained with the Celestara formations several layers behind the new front. He had seen the rupture open from farther back, but the shifting distance around the convergence made approaching it unnecessarily dangerous, especially with his arm already strained from the earlier fighting. The two Frost Rainbow Falcons stayed near him, moving with the Celestara cultivators rather than circling the opening.
Shuyue shifted forward only enough to support the mixed teams completing their withdrawal. She helped stabilize cultivators who had exhausted too much energy breaking through the final trusted elites, then moved back with them rather than remaining near Haotian. Liora and the healer formations stayed well within the coalition's protected depth, where the wounded could continue receiving treatment without being exposed to the dense Abyssal energy leaking through the passage.
Across the stronghold, the effects of the completed sacrifice had become increasingly obvious. Most of the demonic forces still alive were no longer capable of maintaining organized resistance. Entire groups had lost so much cultivation that they could barely move, while others had collapsed completely after the final stage of the sacrificial network stripped what remained from their cores and meridians.
Defensive systems that had survived the coalition's attacks were dark because their reserves had been emptied into the convergence. Xuanyin received several reports confirming the same situation from different sectors, but she did not redeploy formations to finish the surviving demons. Whatever remained elsewhere in the base mattered far less than the dimensional passage open in front of them.
Haotian continued examining the rupture.
The Abyss visible beyond it did not resemble empty darkness or an undefined space between worlds. There was ground on the other side, although the distance between that terrain and the opening was difficult to judge because the dimensional connection distorted ordinary perspective. Jagged formations rose across portions of the landscape farther back, while dense Abyssal energy filled the environment strongly enough that even the amount leaking through the passage began affecting the air around the convergence.
Haotian could perceive the relationship maintaining the passage, but the Dao of the Universe did not suddenly give him unrestricted awareness of the realm beyond it. Once his perception reached the dimensional opening, the structures he understood belonged to Blue Sphere ended. He could study how the two worlds connected and how energy crossed that relationship, but he could not extend his senses throughout the Abyss as though it were another district of the stronghold.
Lianhua remained beside him while the other wives maintained positions within the same defensive area. "Can you sense anything moving on the other side?"
"Not clearly. The passage lets me understand the connection, but the Abyss is still another realm."
"Then we wait for whatever opened this passage to reveal why they were willing to sacrifice the whole stronghold."
Haotian looked through the rupture. "The Generals did not sacrifice everything only to create an escape route."
Yinxue shifted her sword slightly as more Abyssal energy crossed into Blue Sphere. "Then they expected something to come through."
"That is the most likely reason."
The pressure around the opening began changing.
At first, Haotian considered whether the surviving fixed points were releasing another portion of the power accumulated during the sacrifice. When he followed the flow through the Dao of the Universe, however, he found that the direction had reversed.
Energy was no longer being dragged from Blue Sphere toward the rupture.
Abyssal energy was entering from the other side.
The difference grew steadily enough that Haotian could distinguish it from the passive leakage already crossing between the connected realms. Something beyond the opening was forcing additional energy toward Blue Sphere, and the dimensional relationship widened slightly under that pressure.
Xuanyin noticed the change even without the Dao of the Universe. "The energy coming through is increasing."
"Yes."
"Is the formation pulling it from the Abyss?"
"No."
She looked toward Haotian. "Then what is causing it?"
"Something on the other side is pushing through it now."
Lianhua moved closer to Haotian without breaking the spacing around them, while Yinxue and Ziyue adjusted their positions to cover the approaches beside him. Yueru allowed Lightning to circulate through her meridians without releasing it, Xiangyin lowered her spear into a ready position, and Yanfei kept Frostfire contained rather than covering the ground prematurely.
Xuanyin immediately adjusted the coalition behind them. "Sixth Legion holds the first defensive line. Second reinforces behind it but does not crowd forward. Keep the command formations and healers deeper."
One of the legion commanders looked toward Haotian. "Do you want the front to attack as soon as something crosses?"
"No. No one attacks until we know what is coming through. If the pressure alone becomes dangerous, give ground instead of wasting people against something you do not understand."
The order moved through the coalition.
Blue Sphere cultivators strengthened the leading barriers without advancing them toward the rupture, while Marephoros support stabilized the ground beneath the defensive formations. Pyrelith members prepared offensive techniques but did not release them, and Veridian specialists watched the earth around the convergence in case the remaining Abyssal channels reacted to whatever was approaching from the other realm.
Celestara cultivators remained above the protected depth rather than moving toward the opening. The distortion surrounding the rupture made aerial movement nearest the center unreliable, and Haotian had no intention of losing cultivators to warped distance before the enemy even appeared. Tianlan remained with them and obeyed the earlier restriction on his spear techniques despite the pressure gathering ahead.
The Abyssal energy entering Blue Sphere continued increasing, no longer behaving like a diffuse environmental current. The flow gathered around something approaching the far side of the passage.
Haotian could not yet see its complete shape because the dimensional distortion bent the view through the opening, but the relationship itself reacted to the approaching presence. The edges of the rupture pulled outward, and several remaining sacrificial channels beneath the convergence lit again as the passage absorbed stress from the opposite direction.
Whatever was approaching did not require the formation to drag it through.
It was using the road the Generals had opened.
Lianhua watched the far side carefully. "The passage is expanding again."
"It is being forced wider from the Abyss."
"Can the remaining fixed points withstand that?"
"They are not controlling the pressure anymore. They are only helping the damaged boundary hold together."
Yinxue looked toward the ruined formation beneath them. "If those supports fail now, would the passage collapse on whatever is trying to cross?"
"Possibly. Or the rupture could become less stable and widen in a direction we cannot predict. We do not destroy anything blindly while something this powerful is already pressing against the connection."
The Abyssal pressure rose again, and this time the leading mixed formations felt it. The barriers at the front trembled even though nothing had struck them, and several cultivators shifted their footing as dense energy pushed across the convergence. Xuanyin ordered the foremost teams back several more steps, preserving their formation rather than making them prove they could stand directly against the pressure.
Haotian and his wives remained ahead of the legion.
The distance between them and the rupture was still sufficient for Haotian to respond if its structure changed, but close enough for him to see more clearly into the Abyss as the figure approached the opening. The distortion gradually stopped hiding its scale.
Something enormous stood beyond the passage.
The figure remained partly obscured by the Abyssal environment and the unstable dimensional relationship, but its proportions were far beyond those of the Demon Generals who had sacrificed themselves. The energy surrounding it did not come from the fixed points, and none of the remaining formation lines controlled how it approached.
Haotian understood before the figure reached the boundary.
The Demon Generals had opened the passage for a being that already existed in the Abyss.
Their sacrifice had not created it.
The enormous presence moved closer to the rupture under its own power.
Xuanyin looked toward Haotian. "Is that what the Generals were trying to bring here?"
"Yes."
"Can you tell how strong it is?"
"Not completely while it is still on the other side. But it is far beyond the Generals."
That answer was enough for Xuanyin to change the coalition's posture again.
"Do not move the legions forward," she ordered. "Maintain defensive depth. If Haotian gives the order to withdraw farther, every formation moves together."
The commanders acknowledged immediately. No one argued that the army should rush the rupture and try to kill the approaching figure before it crossed, because the dimensional passage itself made such an attack unreliable and the pressure entering Blue Sphere already demonstrated that the being on the other side possessed strength on a scale none of the ordinary formations had encountered during the assault.
Haotian watched the Demon God reach the far edge of the dimensional relationship.
For the first time, the passage reacted to direct physical contact from the Abyss side.
The opening widened as part of the Demon God entered the connection. The movement was not teleportation, nor did the being disappear from one realm and appear instantly in the other. It was physically crossing the road the sacrificial formation had opened, forcing its body through the dimensional passage while the damaged boundary strained around it.
Abyssal energy flooded into Blue Sphere with the movement.
The remaining fixed points beneath the convergence shook under the increased load, and cracks spread through several formation lines that had survived the coalition's attacks. Stone shifted across the damaged inner region as the pressure from the Abyss entered a world that had never been meant to receive it through an opening of this size.
Haotian did not move away.
His wives remained with him.
Behind them, Sixth Legion held its defensive line while Second preserved the depth needed for the coalition to move if the pressure increased again. Tianlan, Shuyue, Liora, the healers, and the wounded remained protected farther back, and Xuanyin continued controlling the army rather than moving forward to join Haotian personally.
The Demon God continued crossing.
Enough of its body entered the dimensional relationship that Haotian could finally see that the enormous figure was not being carried or pulled by the sacrificial formation. Its own power pressed against the passage with every movement, widening the connection as it advanced from the Abyss toward Blue Sphere.
Lianhua tightened her grip on her sword. "Once it comes through, the legions cannot fight it the same way they fought the Generals."
"No," Haotian said. "Keep the family together. We meet it first."
Xuanyin heard him from behind the defensive line. "And the coalition?"
"Keep everyone back until we understand what it can do. Do not sacrifice the legions trying to test its strength for us."
"I will hold them here."
Haotian returned his attention to the passage.
The Demon Generals were dead, their army had been consumed, and the stronghold had spent nearly everything it possessed to open a road between Blue Sphere and the Abyss. The being for whom that road had been created was now forcing its way through the damaged boundary under its own power.
Haotian and his wives held their positions in front of the coalition as the Demon God continued crossing into Blue Sphere.