The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 609: Closing the Gap of the Formation

"You...are...too...late." The weak voice of Zhang Haoran resounded.

Aldrian, who felt his heart turn cold, gritted his teeth as he turned his gaze and saw Zhang Haoran showing a weak smile. But that smile did not last long, as Aldrian struck him hard in the face.

The hit was so strong that Zhang Haoran’s head slammed into the ground, creating another crater.

Zhang Haoran fainted again. From that hit, his head and soul were shaken greatly, and there was no way he could stay conscious, as his soul was already wounded and couldn’t withstand another blow from him. Aldrian then sealed Zhang Haoran’s cultivation before turning his gaze to the black pillar.

Without wasting a second, he activated his avatar again and instantly attacked the altar with all his might.

The giant sword created raging winds and spatial cracks everywhere. The slash energy from Slash of Vanguard slammed directly into the black pillar—or so Aldrian thought.

The sound of the clash resounded, making the ground tremble, but Aldrian could see a kind of invisible spatial barrier protecting the altar. Seeing that his attack did not reach the target, he did not give up and kept attacking it using the Slash of Vanguard at full power in rapid succession.

Each strike created ripples on the spatial shield, and the ripples kept growing larger.

Truthfully, Aldrian was astonished that this spatial shield could withstand so many strikes from the Slash of Vanguard. From Zhang Haoran’s memories, he knew the spatial barrier protecting the altar and the black pillar was empowered by the divine energy of Tarius.

The barrier could withstand any attack from a cultivator of the First Heaven, no matter how strong.

Still he wanted to destroy it, and he could see that the properties of his golden energy were capable of weakening it.

However, from the looks of it, the power still wasn’t enough. Even if he used the Slash of the End, he might need to use it several times to truly shatter the barrier, which would be a serious waste of time.

He thought hard before slapping his forehead a few seconds later as the solution came to him. If he couldn’t destroy the altar through normal means, then he needed to approach it from another angle.

He then controlled the vast land in front of him, using his earth laws to move the ground to both sides. The ground trembled violently as it split apart, and the grand palace that serving as both altar and the base of the black light, began to crack as well.

Normally, something like this would be impossible, as the barrier also prevented any disturbance from underground. But with Aldrian’s domain covering part of the altar, he could manipulate the earth much more freely. The barrier was useless inside his domain.

Rumble!

The land split into two, moving widely to both sides, and the altar finally split apart, but Aldrian still felt unsatisfied. He then manipulated the ground to create a massive sinkhole beneath the altar. He intended to destroy the entire palace completely.

The black light began to flicker, unstable, and the black pillar started to shrink little by little. Aldrian continued destroying the altar, and three of the six towering pillars that pointed toward the sky also began to collapse. The sinkhole grew even larger, devouring a significant portion of the altar.

Aldrian gritted his teeth as he looked up at the sky nervously. He wondered whether he could still stop the portal formation. He hoped he wasn’t too late and that the portal hadn’t reached its threshold yet.

The black light kept shrinking as it continued to flicker, until it finally vanished completely. The altar and the palace collapsed as Aldrian expanded the sinkhole even further, turning it into a massive crater.

It looked as if a colossal rock had fallen from the sky and smashed into the land, leaving behind a vast and deep impact.

Smoke and debris rose as everything in front of him was destroyed. At last, he had stopped the portal from opening. He could see that the spatial crack in the sky had also stopped spreading, which made him let out a slight sigh of relief. Even so, he kept his eyes on the sky, wanting to make absolutely sure the portal formation had truly stopped.

He spread his senses across his entire domain on the continent. He also used the Eyes of Heaven to survey the situation.

The portal had already engulfed half the sky above the continent. He guessed it was because he had killed so many devils at once two days ago, which had likely accelerated the process.

Once again, he felt frustrated, he hadn’t known that death and destruction would also accelerate the opening process.

He had also miscalculated the necessary size of the portal for Tarius to descend. If only he had known that the portal didn’t need to be as large as the one he saw in the memories of those traitors.

If only he had known that there was something called a threshold for the portal, he would have chosen a different strategy in this war to avoid accelerating its opening.

But all of that was just wishful thinking—there was no way he could have known any of this before defeating Zhang Haoran. It no longer mattered, and none of it would change anything now.

Sweat rolled down his forehead as he kept his eyes on the sky, waiting for any change.

He could already sense Tarius’s divine aura seeping through the thin crack, spreading across the continent below. At this moment, many people across the land were already feeling the terrifying aura that pushed countless souls into despair.

To them, it felt like the descent of the devil god was only a matter of time.

They believed death was inevitable.

For Aldrian, it was truly bad news, the seeping of Tarius’s divine aura was a sign that, somehow, the portal had already connected to the Higher Heaven.

He desperately hoped he wasn’t too late, that the portal hadn’t passed the threshold, and that destroying the altar had truly stopped the process.

After all, the threshold could only be seen through Zhang Haoran’s system.

At this moment, everyone could see that the black pillar had vanished, causing many to hold their breath. Most didn’t know how to interpret its disappearance.

Had they failed, or had they succeeded?

Many continued to stare at the sky, hearts pounding, waiting to see if anything would change in the portal’s form after the black pillar disappeared.

A second... two seconds... ten seconds... nothing changed.

A minute... two minutes... still no change.

But then, after three minutes—

Crack!

A loud cracking sound echoed across the continent, sending chills through the entire populace.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The cracking sounds continued, growing louder and louder, and everyone watched as the fracture in the portal began spreading rapidly. The terrifying aura that seeped through the crack surged outward like a tidal wave, making the populace feel as if their very souls were being shaken.

A wave of pure negativity welled up in their hearts, but then, suddenly, a glistening light appeared in the sky, visible across the entire continent.

The overwhelming negativity diminished in an instant, and the terrifying aura seemed to weaken. The glistening light shone like a protective shield, covering the continent and holding back the excessive divine aura of Tarius.

Unbeknownst to the populace, the barrier created by the formation spanning the entire continent was already at work. At this moment, the formation created by Long Shentian and Feng Xuanyan was actively repelling the excessive divine aura that was trying to seep into the continent.

Aldrian, witnessing all of this unfold, felt his heart tremble and a chill spread through his chest. It seemed he was still too late, the portal had already reached the necessary threshold, and Tarius might still be able to descend.

He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to suppress the anxiety surging in his chest. His mind raced, trying to find a way to turn the situation around. He knew there was no way he could defeat a god, even if Tarius descended in his weakest form. The gap between him and a god was still far too great.

What could he do now?

What could he do?

First, he spread his senses across the continent once again. He could sense that the formation created by Long Shentian and Feng Xuanyan was active, shielding the continent from the excessive divine aura.

However, he could sense that there was a gap in the formation, an opening through which the divine aura was still seeping into the continent. That gap was located above the devil territory. Because of the dense negative energy concentrated here, the area had become the formation’s weakest link.

He instantly understood what needed to be done.

He teleported to the altar, which had now become a vast and deep crater. He could sense that the faith from across the devil territory had gathered at this place.

By establishing his domain here, he could turn the entire devil territory into his domain, and that would restore the formation as a whole, since his domain would purify the excessive negative energy.

Without waiting even a second, he began to build his domain here. A few seconds later, he finally finished, and the effect could immediately be felt across the entire devil territory.

More importantly, his cultivation also rose to the peak of the Grand Duke stage!

The glistening light in the sky now appeared above the devil territory as well, working to close the gap and protect the continent as a whole.

Crack! Crack!

The sound of the spatial crack still echoed, and Tarius’s divine aura kept pouring out, until suddenly—

Crack! Clang!

"Grhh."

R𝑒ad lat𝒆st chapt𝒆rs at f(r)eew𝒆bnov𝒆l.com Only