Chapter 529: 528
As experts from various major forces risked their lives to delve deeper into Illusion Lord’s Cave-Dwelling, miles away at a certain lake in the boundless desert region, a free-spirited young man in a green robe arrived.
"Miss Shui once said that every array system surrounding an ancient cave or tomb has two major entrances - the life door and the death door. The entrance in the boundless desert region should be the life door," he mused.
Every array system expert knows that the life door is the only path to breaking the array system.
However, Shui Lingping chose to take the opposite approach. She believed that breaking the array system through the life door was no real feat. She held that the true method to decipher and even gain control over an array system was to enter through the death door, facing death and then surviving.
Voicing such a viewpoint would cause a roar of laughter among array system experts in the Martial World.
Shi Xiaole did not laugh.
Based on the location of the boundless desert region, and Shui Lingping’s methods, he was certain that the death door was right here. When he extended his mental energy, he immediate felt the faint fluctuations of the array system above the lake.
"There are three weak spots."
Attempting to break the array system with his own mental energy, he pointed out the flaws. Bang! Bang! Bang! The water surface of the lake exploded, as the twisted array system suddenly transformed into another, more terrifying version, sweeping towards Shi Xiaole.
He hastily dodged, leaving a large gash where he had been standing. The force of the array system still did not dissipate, bouncing up into the sky as if tracking Shi Xiaole.
"Heartless Wind and Rain."
With a swing of his sword, he tore apart the force of the array system just in time, only for a stronger force to rush towards him.
"Truly the work of the Illusion Lord."
Shaking his head, Shi Xiaole followed the array breaking method Shui Lingping taught him and pointed into the air. Suddenly, the force of the array system subsided and vanished.
With his powerful mental energy, Shi Xiaole could use the vulnerabilities in the array system to forcefully break it. But doing so would not only cost him a great deal of energy, but Shi Xiaole also found the array system exceptionally peculiar. If he got through one flaw, it would bring about more transformations and vulnerabilities. Combined with the subsequent array system, it came in endless cycles.
It was like a tangled skein. If he pulled out one thread, he would affect the entire skein, and he couldn’t untangle it.
Involuntarily, Shi Xiaole found himself more and more admiring of Shui Lingping.
She had never reached Illusion Lord’s Cave-Dwelling, and had just explored all the methods of breaking the system through literature. Regardless of whether they worked or not, her talent was certainly admirable!
After accurately identifying the location, Shi Xiaole pointed to a place on the lake.
Whoosh!
A huge opening suddenly split open at the center of the lake. Shi Xiaole leapt in, and within a blink, the lake closed up again and returned to tranquility.
At the bottom of the lake.
He was compulsively encompassed by a churn, being dragged to a deeper place while the terrifying array powers turned into sharp blades, stabbing towards him.
Everyone would instinctively resist.
However, Shi Xiaole did not.
Shui Lingping believed that this array system was the key to entering Illusion Lord’s Cave-Dwelling. Despite its seeming danger, only by completely disregarding life and death could one safely traverse it.
Tense all over, there were many times when the array powers almost touched his skin, about to enter his body. With an extraordinary character, Shi Xiaole forcefully endured the urge to fight back.
After countless moments of shock, the vortex finally disappeared. Shi Xiaole realized a moment too late that he had arrived in front of a giant red lacquered bronze door, the air thick with mist.
The rich energy of the array completely separated the water from the bottom of the lake.
Looking up, the red-lacquered door was three fathoms high, with irregular bronze nails on its surface. On either side, there were stone lions as tall as a man. It bore no difference from regular mansion entrances.
"The death door must have a death eye, I need to be careful."
Although Shui Lingping had written the method to break the array, she hadn’t actually visited Illusion Lord’s Cave-Dwelling, so she didn’t know the physical layout or the sequence of the array. All she had written were theoretical methods.
Without a sufficiently smart brain, a calm personality, and a strong will, it is impossible to combine theory with reality and make the most timely responses.
Therefore, while Shi Xiaole admired Shui Lingping, she would have been amazed to know that he made it to Illusion Lord’s Cave-Dwelling just by using what she wrote down.
With mental energy stretching out like invisible tentacles, Shi Xiaole released it in threads, cautiously capturing the faint fluctuation in the air.
About half a 2-hour period later, he had a suspicious target in mind. However, instead of acting hastily, he continued to sense with his mental energy and observe.
The death eye was of great importance and any mistake would trigger the entire array system. Even Shi Xiaole could not escape in time if that happened, so it didn’t matter checking a few more times.
After two more 2-hour periods, once he was certain without a doubt, Shi Xiaole didn’t hesitate. He stepped on the center, pointed his left hand towards what should be the lower right position, and slightly later, his right hand hit the copper nail in the south fire position.
Plop! Plop!
Amid the faint crumbling sounds, the red lacquered bronze door automatically swung open, revealing a passage inside.
Shi Xiaole exhaled long and deep and adjusted himself for a while. He didn’t walk in until his exhausted mental energy had replenished.
...
"If we continue this way, probably more than 70% of the people we brought along will die."
Stuck at the seventh array, the leader of the Tide Gate, Elder Tide, regretfully uttered.
Hearing this, both Ai Yinglong and Yu Qinghe shook their heads repeatedly.
They didn’t bring many people this time, but every one of them was elite. Losing one of them would be painful, but they were dropping like flies before even discovering the treasure.
How many people would be left once they actually entered the core of the dwelling?
But if they withdrew now, they would all feel regret.
"How many more array systems are there?"
Lu Zixiong roared at the Array System Elder ahead.
The Array System Elders ignored him as all their attention was focused on the array system.
They were the chief Array System masters of the major superior forces. They were among the top twenty in Xuanwu State in terms of their achievements in the Array System, yet they were also sweating profusely due to the methods left behind by the Illusion Lord.
"Is this the door of life or the door of death?"
"It must undoubtedly be the door of life. Alas! If the door of life is this terrifying, I really don’t know how astonishing the door of death is. In the past, I was somewhat defiant towards the Illusion Lord, but now I know the difference between us."
After a Herculean effort, everyone finally discussed a method of breaking the array. The heroes joined forces to launch an attack as advised.
Boom, boom, boom...
The Array System started to fiercely shake and suddenly, like a tidal wave, it spread out in all directions.
"This is bad!"
"Quick, retreat!"
Feeling this aura, a dozen top Lords reacted the fastest, immediately pulling their respective Array System elders from their schools and retreating several hundred meters away.
The superior Lords released their Vigorous Air from within their bodies to resist the shock caused by the Array System.
The worst off were the low-level Lords and the masters who survived below the Lords.
The former kind of people were spitting blood in large mouthfuls, and many died on the spot. The latter kind were like candles in the wind; wherever the aura of the Array System spread, people died in swathes, with none able to resist.
By the time the aura passed, there were only nearly a hundred people left at the scene, all of them top-level masters of the Lord Level.
"Ah, the aura of the Array System has disappeared, hahaha, we have entered the core of the mansion."
Before he could grieve, an elder from the Tide Gate suddenly cried out in madness.
Lu Zixiong squinted his eyes, sensing the situation around him, and seeing the Array System elder beside him nodding excitedly, he quickly took a deep breath.
"Sister."
A stunning beautiful woman in white was about to say something, but stopped.
"Little sister, stay close behind me, no one should fall behind."
The woman in purple said to the woman in white and the other women around her.
If Shi Xiaole were here, he would definitely recognize that the woman in purple was none other than Zi Xiangbo, the Hell Master of the Spring Night Hell. And the woman in white was Bai Xueying who had once captured him.
Everyone stayed sensible despite their excitement.
Although the Array System along the road was broken, the closer they got to the core, the more terrifying the Array System would be. They proceeded cautiously, and only after ensuring that there were no dangers ahead did everyone enter the newly appearing passage, one by one.
As soon as they entered, the scene in front of them changed dramatically and turned into a desolate City of Death.
The buildings inside the city were very old, from hundreds of years ago, and the streets were covered with a thick layer of dust. The only sound was probably the sound of running water within the city.
How could a city appear under the desert?
Clearly, this was another massive setup by the Illusion Lord.
"The layout in the city is very strange. Some places have Array Systems, and some do not. Hmph, what you can get depends on your own abilities."
After observing for a while, Lu Zixiong laughed coldly and took the lead to fly away.
"Everyone, please take care."
The thin middle-aged man from Tang Family Fortress greeted everyone with a clenched fist, and then led his people to depart in a different direction.
"I hope we don’t run into them."
The old crone from the Blood Emperor’s Cave half-opened her eyes. Her low voice had a hint of chilliness.
The rest of the people also departed in their own directions.
The City of Death was vast. To increase the efficiency of treasure hunting and avoid fighting as much as possible, splitting up was the best choice. As for whether they would meet again later, that was not something they could decide.
...
After a dangerous journey, Shi Xiaole finally entered the core area of the Illusion Lord’s mansion after passing through seven challenges.
Breathing in the air around him, Shi Xiaole thought to himself: Even though it is a mansion, the grandeur of this place is much larger than that of the Heavenly Treasure Ruins in Qingxue State. They are not on the same level at all.
Since he did not know the specific layout of the Illusion Lord, Shi Xiaole simply did the opposite. He sensed the Array System with his spiritual force; wherever the Array System was most terrifying, he would go there.
By rights, that should be where the best things were.
While sensing and hurrying up, his perception, which was at the Divine Barrier Realm level, was astonishingly fast. He soon found a place to start.
...
"Spirit Mist Lord, Shadow Lord, are you daring to do this?"
In front of a pawnshop, a low-level Lord of the Tianyuan Association glared at the two people in front of him.
"What are we afraid of? Since you have discovered us, you only have one way - death."
The Shadow Lord sneered coldly. Although his robe was ragged, his momentum was like a hungry wolf, choosing people to devour.
The characteristic of the Array System’s door of life is that it will produce different Array System combinations depending on different landing points. This is called life.
The Spirit Mist Lord and the Shadow Lord were very lucky. The Array System combination corresponding to the landing point of the Illusion Lord’s mansion for these two was just very weak. Coupled with the Spirit Mist Lord’s superb achievement in the Array System, they broke the formation a month and a half earlier than everyone else. Thus, they arrived here a few days ago.
From their aura, the two had made considerable progress.
"One Sun Rising!"
Knowing that it could not end well, the low-level Lord of the Tianyuan Association took the initiative and threw a punch forward, then rushed towards the corner of the street without looking back.
