The Jingyuan Cult leader’s copper chain tightened around Nian'an’s ankle like a venomous snake, black slime oozing from its links. The moment the slime touched the ice, the terrain of the Northern Frontier snow valley began to distort and shift. Snowy peaks moved like massive chess pieces, forming a nine-grid formation, while the melting venom flowed between the lines, gradually sketching out a mechanical array that covered the entire territory of the dynasty, resembling a gargantuan web of death.
"This is the true Great Furnace Array." The Princess’s wedding dress suddenly ignited, the ashes forming Nanzhao characters in the air. Each character seemed to whisper ancient, evil secrets: "Using the mountains and rivers as a furnace, all living beings as copper, and the movement of the stars as fuel..."
As Nian'an swung her sword to sever the copper chain, the blade accidentally sliced her wrist. The instant a bead of blood fell into a crevice in the ice, a harsh sound of grinding gears rose from deep underground, as if the mechanisms of the entire world had frozen in that moment. The seventy-two bodyguards suddenly knelt in unison; within their torn chests, the needles of bronze compasses pointed directly at Nian'an’s brow, as if she were the pivot of this conspiracy.
Chapter 73