The northern command building finally came into view beyond a damaged courtyard. One upper section had collapsed during earlier fighting and deep cracks ran through the western wall, but the lower structure remained intact. Demons concentrated around the western approach because that damage offered the coalition the shortest route toward the General beneath it.
Xuanyin remained near enough to see the same concentration. "Do not surround the building. We only need one route to the lower chamber. Keep the rest of the Sixth moving around the district so the demons cannot close behind us."
The commanders passed the instruction.
Haotian took the western approach.
A heavy Abyssal cultivator stepped into the route and released pressure across the broken courtyard. Haotian turned through the outer edge instead of meeting it directly, struck the demon's wrist when both hands came down, and moved inside the weapon before the second arm could close. His shoulder drove into the demon's chest, shifting the body just far enough for coalition fighters behind him to attack the legs and break its stance.
Haotian continued toward the entrance.
Lianhua reached the courtyard from another section of the Sixth's advance and intercepted a blade aimed toward his flank. Her sword turned the attack away without stopping her movement, and she passed the defender while Haotian crossed the remaining ground. Yinxue's Sword Dao pressured another group attempting to close the western approach from farther out, while Yueru and Ziyue entered through the widening breach.
Xiangyin and Yanfei converged from another route rather than trying to reach Haotian directly. Xiangyin used her spear to prevent demons from closing behind the squads entering the building, and Yanfei stabilized enough of the damaged courtyard for the coalition to keep using the same approach even as the fighting broke more stone loose around it. The family's movements widened the breakthrough instead of collapsing into a single cluster.
Haotian reached the reinforced western entrance and examined the Abyssal formation woven through the stone. There was no reason to search for a way to operate it. Fist of Ruin struck the already damaged center, another coalition attack landed beside his, and the doorway broke inward under the combined force.
The Sixth entered before the defenders inside could rebuild the barrier. Fighting continued behind Haotian as the leading squads compressed into the narrower interior, while Xuanyin remained near enough to the entrance to keep contact with the Second and the other Sixth Legion routes. The wounded still moved rearward toward Liora, the third Frost Rainbow Falcon remained with the reserve, and none of those arrangements changed merely because Haotian had entered the structure.
The lower passage narrowed quickly. Haotian stayed near the front, with Lianhua close enough to cover one side while Yinxue pressured the corridor from farther back without forcing too many coalition fighters into the same space. The stable point ahead continued changing, and Haotian could feel the General surrendering more of his foundation to the formation before he could see the chamber itself.
The first defenders met them around a turn in the passage. A spear thrust toward Haotian's chest, and he caught the shaft, turned it into the wall, and struck the attacker hard enough to push the body aside without stopping. Lianhua passed through the opening before the demon recovered and cut across the next weapon reaching toward them.
The restricted space prevented the coalition from surrounding defenders easily, so Haotian refused to let the fight settle into stationary exchanges. If a demon lost its footing, he stepped past it. If one backed into the wall, the next cultivator behind him kept it occupied while the front continued deeper.
One defender began weakening under the sacrifice in the middle of an attack. Haotian ignored him and struck the healthier demon behind him instead, leaving the collapsing cultivator for the squads following the advance. The same decision that had accelerated the Sixth outside carried them through the lower structure without wasting strength on enemies the formation had already claimed.
Xuanyin's voice reached him through the command cultivators maintaining communication from the entrance. "Umbrel confirmed a route to the north-eastern point. The squads there are clearing it now."
"Do not let them enter the General's chamber without support."
"They have that order. Two of the other points are accelerating, and the last remains behind heavier resistance."
Haotian followed those changes through the buried network while continuing forward. The surviving Generals were allowing more of the formation into their foundations now that one transfer had completed and the coalition had reached another fixed point.
The final defensive chamber before the General contained three Abyssal officers strong enough that the sacrificial drain had not yet reduced them significantly. They attacked as soon as Haotian entered, one releasing a broad crescent of dark power through the confined space while another advanced behind it with a heavy sword.
Haotian lowered his stance and moved beneath the thickest part of the crescent. The second officer's blade came down immediately afterward, but he struck the flat before the weapon reached full speed and turned it past his shoulder. His other palm hit the officer's elbow and shifted the arm far enough for Lianhua to move through the opening.
The third officer attacked her before she could clear the space. Lianhua met the weapon, changed its line, and stepped past rather than allowing herself to be pinned into a duel. Yinxue's Sword Dao pressed into the first officer from the passage behind them, preventing him from rebuilding the broad technique he had already released.
Haotian continued toward the inner chamber.
Black-red formation light became visible before he reached the doorway, running across the floor and climbing the walls in currents far denser than anything beneath the abandoned stations outside. The Demon General stood at the center with both hands pressed against a dark pillar while power entered his body from the surrounding stronghold and continued downward through the formation beneath his feet.
Haotian slowed only enough to read the relationships before entering. The current passed through the General's meridians, crossed the core, and had already begun embedding itself into deeper parts of the cultivation foundation. Unlike the completed point farther east, this one still depended on the living General to keep the surrounding currents synchronized, which meant the transfer had not yet reached the stage Haotian had already seen once.
The Demon General looked toward him without releasing the pillar. "You reached this place sooner than expected."
Haotian continued into the chamber. "Your soldiers could not stop us."
"No."
"What are you trying to open?"
The General glanced toward the currents surrounding the chamber before returning his attention to Haotian. "You will know when it arrives."
Haotian did not ask again. Whatever answer the General chose to give mattered less than the visible relationship between his body and the fixed point.
An officer positioned near the wall attacked before Haotian crossed the remaining distance. Lianhua intercepted him from the side and drove the weapon away from Haotian's route, while Yinxue entered far enough to keep the officer from turning back toward the center. Coalition cultivators arriving behind them controlled the doorway and prevented the other defenders from collapsing into the chamber around the fixed point.
The formation increased its pressure as Haotian approached, but the Eyes of the Universe showed that the force rising from the floor remained dependent on the General's connection to the pillar. Haotian ignored the formation surface and continued toward the body maintaining that relationship.
The General released one hand and formed a dark weapon while keeping the other pressed against the pillar. His first strike carried enough force to stop an ordinary Lesser Immortal Lord outright, but the sacrificial current pulling through the same body made the circulation fluctuate as power left some pathways before the attack fully formed. Haotian caught the movement near the wrist, turned the weapon past his shoulder, and stepped into the space created by the redirection.
His palm drove toward the General's chest. Abyssal protection gathered there, but part of the current meant to sustain it disappeared into the formation before the defense settled completely. The strike landed and forced the General half a step away from the pillar, stretching the connected arm and tightening the dark currents running through it.
Haotian stayed close enough that the General could not recover the lost distance without fighting for it. The Demon General attacked with the free hand while pulling himself back toward the pillar, and Haotian turned the weapon away before directing his next strike toward the arm maintaining the connection. Additional protection moved into that limb, forcing the General to draw power away from the torso and weapon arm while the sacrificial network continued taking its own share from the same circulation.
The General changed his response instead of repeatedly trying to regain the original position. Abyssal pressure rose from the floor in front of Haotian's next step while the weapon came around from the side, attempting to force him away from the pillar long enough for the connection to stabilize again. Haotian saw both movements developing through the same network, shifted before the pressure fully formed, and drove his forearm against the General's elbow as the weapon passed outside his shoulder.
The connected arm tightened under the movement, and several currents running between the General and the pillar stretched farther than they had before. Haotian followed those relationships with the Eyes of the Universe while keeping his body inside the General's preferred range, forcing him to spend cultivation defending himself even as the formation continued pulling through the same foundation.
Xuanyin's voice reached Haotian through the communication line behind him. "Another point just completed. The General there disappeared, but the current remained stable."
Haotian redirected another strike without looking away. "How many living points are left besides this one?"
"Three."
"Keep every open route ready. Do not send anyone into those chambers until I arrive."
"They are holding the approaches."
The Demon General heard enough of the exchange to understand. "Reaching the others will not undo what has already begun."
Haotian turned the weapon away and stepped closer. "Then I will stop the ones I can still reach."
The General answered with another attack instead of continuing the conversation.
Haotian struck the upper arm holding the weapon and forced the defense upward, then shifted immediately toward the arm still connected to the pillar. The General reinforced that side before Haotian's fist landed, but the Eyes of the Universe showed the price of that redistribution as power left the torso and weapon arm while the sacrificial current continued draining through the core.
Haotian struck again from a different angle before those pathways recovered. The General moved back another fraction of a step, dragging the connected hand across the pillar as dark lines tightened along the arm. The formation pressure around Haotian flickered when the General's stance shifted, revealing how strongly the point still depended on his living position.
The Demon General tried to regain the lost ground with a knee toward Haotian's abdomen. Haotian turned his hip, guided the leg past, and drove his shoulder into the chest instead of contesting the lower-body strength directly. The impact forced the General farther from the pillar and stretched the connected arm until several strands of Abyssal power became clearly visible between his cultivation and the formation surface.
Haotian attacked the body maintaining those strands rather than the strands themselves. Fist of Ruin struck the connected arm and compressed the protection surrounding it. The first impact did not sever the relationship, but it forced more cultivation into the same limb while the formation continued taking power from the rest of the body.
The General attempted to counter with the free hand before Haotian could strike again. Haotian redirected the wrist, stepped deeper, and drove another blow into the same arm while the defense was still divided. The protection cracked, the General's hand tore away from the pillar, and the current running through the chamber shifted violently as direct contact disappeared.
Haotian remained inside striking distance and watched the deeper relationship rather than assuming the fixed point had failed. The formation lines along the floor dimmed unevenly, but power still moved through the General's core and foundation because the sacrificial network had already embedded itself too deeply to depend entirely on his hand touching the pillar. The direct connection had been broken, yet the transfer continued through structures inside the General himself.
The Demon General freed both hands and formed a second dark weapon. Without the need to keep one arm against the pillar, his immediate attacks became faster and more direct, even as the sacrifice continued pulling through him. He struck high with the first weapon and low with the second, trying to use the increased freedom to force Haotian away from the center of the chamber.
Haotian redirected the high strike, shifted across the low one, and entered between them before the General could widen the distance. Their shoulders collided, and Haotian struck the ribs while the General answered with an elbow that scraped across his protection and drove pain through his side. Haotian yielded half a step with the impact rather than allowing the force to settle into his ribs, then returned before the Demon General could use the separation.
The Eyes of the Universe stayed on the transfer throughout the exchange. Dark currents entered the General's foundation from the surrounding formation and left again through relationships that became more stable each time the network completed another cycle. The longer those connections remained intact, the less the original pillar mattered, because the fixed point was gradually shifting its dependence from physical contact to the General's core and foundation.
Haotian kept the General moving away from the pillar while attacking whatever pathways had just lost power to the sacrifice. A palm struck the shoulder when the defense shifted toward the core, and when the General countered toward his chest, Haotian turned the arm aside and drove a short strike into the ribs before the displaced protection returned. The Demon General attempted to plant his rear foot and rebuild his stance, but Haotian used the moment of weight transfer to attack again and forced him another step across the formation lines.
The dark current followed him.
Several strands stretched from the deeper formation toward the General's foundation while others remained stable enough to continue carrying power. Haotian did not try to sever them through raw force; he kept moving the body they depended on, forcing the network to adjust every time the General lost ground.
Behind him, Lianhua and Yinxue prevented the surrounding officers from reaching the fixed point. Haotian did not need to look back to know whether they were still holding, because no attack entered his rear and no new Abyssal presence crossed the center of the chamber. The coalition cultivators at the doorway kept additional defenders from joining the fight, allowing Haotian to remain focused on the transfer.
Xuanyin's next report reached him during another exchange. "The north-eastern route is open. That General has entered the same stage as this one."
Haotian struck the Demon General's weapon aside. "Hold the route. Do not enter his chamber."
"They are holding."
"What about the last two?"
"One is accelerating. The other is still behind heavy resistance."
"Keep pressure on both routes."
"We are."
The Demon General attacked again with both weapons. One strike carried enough force to shake the chamber when Haotian redirected it into the wall, while the next lost part of its strength before reaching full extension because the formation pulled power through the same meridians supporting the arm. Haotian adjusted to the difference without assuming the weakening would continue in a predictable pattern.
He stayed close enough to deny the General room for broad techniques but not so close that both weapons could trap him between the body and the fixed point. When the General tried to recover ground toward the pillar, Haotian shifted into the route and redirected the movement sideways. When the General attempted to use that interception as the setup for another attack, Haotian followed the change rather than committing his weight too early.
The exchange carried them across the chamber in small increments. Each time the Demon General moved farther from the pillar, the formation adjusted the deeper strands connecting to his foundation, and several of those relationships became less efficient before recovering. Haotian began timing his attacks to those moments, striking when the sacrificial network was still redistributing itself rather than wasting force against the fully reinforced body.
The General's protection around the ribs failed to settle quickly enough during one of those changes. Haotian drove his palm into the weakened region and forced the body sideways, then stayed close enough that the General could not turn the displacement into breathing room. When the Demon General brought both weapons inward to close the space, Haotian controlled one wrist, redirected the other forearm with his shoulder, and struck the same side again before the formation finished reinforcing it.
The defense cracked farther.
Dark blood reached the corner of the General's mouth, and the surrounding sacrificial current immediately diverted additional power toward the damaged region. Haotian watched the redistribution through the Eyes of the Universe and saw that the formation could not reinforce the wound without taking some of the same current away from the deeper transfer.
He did not need to declare what that meant. He simply continued attacking the body.
The General understood the pressure and stopped trying to regain the pillar directly. Instead, he drove forward, accepting the close range and using short attacks meant to keep Haotian occupied while the sacrificial network continued working through his foundation. Haotian met him there, redirecting wrists and elbows rather than trying to overpower every strike and attacking whenever the formation took power from a pathway the General still needed for defense.
The chamber shook under another surge from the wider network. Haotian felt one of the remaining points farther north intensify, and the living presence inside it began fading as the transfer progressed. He did not hurry his own strikes into carelessness because of that change; the General in front of him was still strong enough to punish a mistake, and giving him a clean opening would waste more time than maintaining precise pressure.
Haotian caught the next wrist, stepped inside the second weapon, and drove his shoulder into the Demon General's chest. The body moved another step away from the pillar, stretching several of the deeper strands until one lost stability and snapped back through the General's foundation. His movement faltered for an instant as the recoiling current disrupted the circulation around his core.
Haotian attacked before the disruption settled. The first strike crashed into the guard, the second turned the arms aside, and the third drove toward the chest. The General twisted enough to keep the blow from landing squarely, but the impact still pushed him farther across the formation pattern and forced the surrounding currents to adjust again.
Several strands recovered.
Others did not.
The General tried to plant his feet and rebuild his stance while the sacrificial network compensated for the broken relationship. Haotian stayed close and forced another exchange before either the body or the formation could stabilize completely.
The Demon General's left weapon came toward Haotian's neck. Haotian redirected the wrist and struck the elbow, while the right weapon drove toward his ribs from below. He turned with the second attack, allowed the edge of the pressure to scrape across his protection rather than meet it directly, and answered with a short fist to the torso.
The General absorbed the impact and tried to create distance.
Haotian moved with him.
Behind them, one of the officers fighting Lianhua broke away and attempted to reach the center. Yinxue's Sword Dao forced him sideways before he crossed half the chamber, and Lianhua closed the opening again without drawing Haotian's attention away from the fixed point.
Another report reached him through Xuanyin. "The point farther north is almost complete."
Haotian watched the transfer inside the General in front of him. "How far is the north-eastern chamber from this one?"
"Less than three hundred paces once you leave the structure. The route is open."
"Keep it open."
"It will be."
Haotian attacked again.
The Demon General had begun giving ground because the exchange no longer allowed him to remain stationary long enough for the formation to settle. A palm to the shoulder shifted the upper body, and when the General tried to recover by planting his rear foot, Haotian struck the weakened protection along the ribs before that weight fully settled. The Demon General moved backward another step while the sacrificial current pulled in the opposite direction through his foundation.
Haotian followed the relationship instead of the visual movement alone. The point remained incomplete, and the General's living core still occupied the center of the stabilizing structure. That meant every step farther from the densest part of the formation forced the network to work harder to maintain the connection it was trying to preserve.
The General changed tactics again and dissolved one weapon, freeing a hand to seize Haotian's forearm while the remaining blade drove toward his side. Haotian rotated with the grip before it tightened completely, let the weapon scrape across the outer layer of his protection, and struck the General's wrist with his free hand. The hold broke before the next movement could form, and Haotian used the resulting turn to push the General farther from the pillar instead of remaining in place to trade blows.
Dark lines moved beneath their feet.
Haotian remained aware of the densest parts of the fixed point without allowing the formation to dictate his movement. He did not want the General returning to the pillar, but neither did he want to be forced into a region where the surrounding Abyssal current could support the enemy more efficiently.
The Demon General understood those constraints and tried to use them. He stepped toward the pillar as though attempting to reconnect, then changed direction when Haotian shifted to deny the route. Haotian saw the false movement through the body before the attack arrived and refused to follow it.
The weapon passed outside his shoulder.
Seraph Shatter Palm struck the Demon General's upper chest and shoulder.
The impact drove him sideways, and the dark current running through the chamber stretched with him. Haotian stayed within range, followed the unstable relationship through the Eyes of the Universe, and attacked again before the network could completely settle around the new position.
Xuanyin's voice returned through the communication line. "Another General completed his transfer. His point remained active."
Haotian's gaze stayed on the Demon General in front of him. "How many living Generals remain?"
"This one and two others."
"Which route is closest after this?"
"North-east."
"Keep the Second where it is."
"They have not moved."
Haotian continued pressing forward.
The Demon General brought both hands together and compressed a broad surge of Abyssal power between them rather than forming another weapon. Haotian saw the current gathering through the shoulders and core, shifted before the release reached full density, and let the blast cross the chamber beside him.
Stone ruptured along the wall behind.
Haotian used the General's extended posture to close the distance again. His fist struck the forearm, the second blow hit the shoulder, and when the General twisted away from the third, Haotian followed the turn and drove his palm into the side of the torso where the protection had already cracked.
The weakened defense failed to absorb the entire impact.
Dark blood left the General's mouth.
Abyssal currents immediately rushed toward the injury from several directions, and Haotian saw the deeper transfer slow slightly as the formation diverted power to preserve the living stabilizer. He struck the opposite side before the redistribution finished, forcing the network to divide itself again between maintaining the General's body and continuing to weave his foundation into the point.
The Demon General's next attacks became shorter and more controlled. He stopped wasting movement on broad techniques and concentrated on keeping Haotian away from the damaged torso, which allowed the sacrificial current to continue deepening whenever the defense held long enough. Haotian matched him at the same range, redirecting the wrists and elbows before striking whichever region the formation had just left thinner.
The fixed point beneath them continued drawing from the army outside. Haotian could feel the wider network through the chamber floor, thousands of smaller currents feeding the surviving stabilizers while the boundary between Blue Sphere and the Abyss remained under increasing pressure. He kept his attention on the General because the larger formation could not be solved until the living points in front of the coalition were dealt with.
Another pulse ran through the chamber.
The General's core began losing more of its distinction from the surrounding formation.
Haotian stepped in immediately.
Fist of Ruin drove into the already weakened side.
The protection fractured.
The Demon General tried to answer, but the sacrificial current had just taken power from the arm forming the counterattack. Haotian turned the incomplete strike away and followed with another blow before the pathway recovered.
The General staggered toward the pillar.
Haotian moved between them.
The Demon General raised both arms and drove forward, trying to force Haotian aside through raw strength rather than create another opening with technique. Haotian shifted his footing, turned with the pressure instead of meeting it directly, and redirected the forward drive across the formation pattern.
The General stumbled several steps away from the pillar.
The deeper strands connecting him to the fixed point stretched behind the movement.
One destabilized.
Another followed.
A recoil passed through the General's foundation as the damaged relationships snapped back toward the core.
His movement faltered.
Haotian stayed inside that moment and struck before the surrounding network could repair it. The General brought both arms up in time to catch the first blow, but the second turned the guard aside and opened the torso enough for Haotian to continue pressing him away from the center of the fixed point.
The formation followed more slowly now.
Its connection remained active, but several of the deeper relationships had been stretched beyond the state they held when Haotian entered the chamber. The General tried to stabilize his circulation while the sacrificial current worked in the opposite direction, forcing him to divide attention between Haotian's attacks and the network consuming his foundation.
Haotian did not pause to explain the advantage to himself. He kept moving.
The General's weapon came toward his shoulder.
Haotian redirected the wrist.
A second attack followed toward the ribs.
He shifted outside the line, struck the elbow, and drove his palm into the torso while the defense was still reorganizing.
The Demon General retreated another step.
Lianhua and Yinxue continued holding the rest of the chamber behind Haotian, while the coalition fighters at the entrance prevented additional defenders from reaching the fixed point. The Sixth still held the western approach outside, the Second remained separated behind it, and the routes toward the other Generals stayed open under Xuanyin's command.
Haotian kept the current point in front of him.
The transfer inside the General remained unfinished.
The surrounding formation still required his living foundation to hold the stabilizing relationships together.
Haotian caught the next wrist, stepped inside the weapon, and forced the Demon General farther from the pillar as the damaged strands stretched through his foundation.
The fighting continued without breaking its rhythm.