Chapter 464: Chapter 451: Controlling Life and Death
Shen Lang, who had seemingly entered the Ancient Array, suddenly reappeared. The world around Zhu Feng and Tang Hao shifted, and in an instant, they found themselves adrift in a vast, starry sky.
If, by this point, they hadn’t realized they’d fallen for Shen Lang’s ploy, they would have been monumentally foolish.
On the surface, Shen Lang’s ploy of luring them into a trap was hardly brilliant. In fact, the signs were glaringly obvious.
And yet, every step Shen Lang took was timed to perfection. The ruthlessness of his scheming was enough to make one’s heart shudder.
It was such a simple plan that anyone with half a brain would have suspected something was amiss if they’d just stopped to think.
And yet, it compelled them to walk right into it, step by step, almost willingly.
Zhu Feng couldn’t wrap his head around it. ’What on earth could make people from the Holy Light Sect and the Beast Emperor Palace come scrambling over at the mere whisper of a rumor?’
’If those old monsters from the Holy Light Sect and the Beast Emperor Palace hadn’t shown up, why would we have walked right into a suspected conspiracy?’
’And he understood even less how, even if Shen Lang was connected to the Imperial Dragon Sect, he could possibly construct such a massive "Array within Array" that seemed to encompass the entire Dark Moon Abyss.’
’The Imperial Dragon Sect simply didn’t have the resources to possess an Array this vast and profoundly mysterious.’
The so-called "Array within Array" is a simple concept: it’s just one Array set up within another, a multi-layered construct.
This was something only a legendary Array Master could possibly achieve.
An Array is created using Secret Techniques, Magical Treasures, and Spirit Stones. It alters the surrounding environment to guide and even control the Heaven and Earth Power, producing effects like bewilderment, defense, or various forms of attack.
It is a high-level, direct or indirect application of Energy.
Its vast and unfathomable power drove the Major Sects and countless experts to madness;
yet its rigor and harsh requirements deterred just as many.
Because an Array communicates with the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi—or Energy, in other words—and alters its environment, the more powerful it is, the more complex its construction, allowing for no margin of error.
To most, an "Array within Array" was thought to be an impossible feat.
Once an Array is complete and communicating with the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, setting up another Array to envelop it would inevitably alter the flow of that Primordial Qi. This would make it difficult for the two to integrate and could even lead to them fighting over the Heaven and Earth Energy.
The result would be either a completely chaotic Array that even its creator couldn’t control...
...or a total collapse, creating a dangerously unstable space.
But Shen Lang had done it.
Zhu Feng found himself in a vast, starry expanse. The space was unnervingly stable, showing no signs of chaos or any discernible flaws. A sense of urgency gripped him. The composure he had maintained for years began to crack under the pressure of this crisis.
"Don’t worry too much, Senior Brother. Shen Lang can’t necessarily do anything to us!" The voice of Shui Tianji, whom Zhu Feng kept on his person, rang out.
Zhu Feng panted heavily. "Junior Sister, we’re in deep trouble this time. This is an Array within Array! Forget us—even if the Elder Ancestor of Blood Evil Island himself were trapped here, breaking out would be incredibly difficult."
The moment the words left his lips, Shen Lang’s figure materialized in the void before him.
He was lounging with his legs crossed, regarding Zhu Feng with a smug, unhurried air and a smirk that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
He appeared to be less than three hundred meters away, yet it also felt as though he existed in another time and space, his form wavering between clear and hazy.
Shen Lang smiled faintly. "So you do have some sense, recognizing the power of this Grand Array. And I’m not being arrogant when I say this, but even if those two old codgers from your Blood Evil Island, Black and White Impermanence, were trapped in here, escaping wouldn’t be so easy. Even if they didn’t die, I’d make sure they paid a heavy price."
"Shen Lang!" Shui Tianji shrieked. "Senior Brother, kill him! Kill him!"
"Sigh... Junior Sister, we’re trapped in this Grand Array. We’re the fish on the chopping block, and he’s the one holding the knife. How could we possibly hurt him now?"
Zhu Feng was rendered speechless by Shui Tianji’s hysteria.
’If Shen Lang dares to show himself, it’s obvious he can’t be attacked so easily.’
Despite his words, Zhu Feng seemed to hang on Shui Tianji’s every whim. He decided to put on a show for her, and in doing so, test the Profound Mysteries of this Grand Array for himself.
With a casual wave of his Longsword, two powerful beams of sword light shot through the air, slashing toward Shen Lang.
It was just as he had expected.
The powerful sword beams passed straight through Shen Lang without any resistance and dissipated in the distance. They hadn’t even touched the hem of his robe.
This vast, starry sky was no ordinary Illusion Realm; it felt truly endless...
"Within this Grand Array, I can be here, or I can be there," Shen Lang said coolly. "You may see me standing before you, but in reality, I could be behind you. Anything you do is futile."
Zhu Feng looked around, his face ashen.
His Cultivation was immense, having reached the King Martial Realm Fifth Heaven Peak Realm.
But Arrays were not his specialty.
To break an Array, one must either master them and find a flaw...
...or be powerful enough to overwhelm the Grand Array’s power—brute force!
But in this vast emptiness, with no sense of up or down, no east or west, where his attacks found no purchase... breaking the Array was far easier said than done.
’After all their scheming, not even someone like Zhuge Xian’Er had predicted that Shen Lang could deploy such an incomparably powerful Array!’
Shui Tianji snorted. "Senior Brother, don’t fall for his act. His scaremongering is just a tactic to break our morale. This Array might be powerful, but don’t forget, an Array’s strength depends not only on its design but also on the Cultivation of the person who built it and, ultimately, the person controlling it!"
"No matter how strong that little bastard’s Cultivation is, he can’t possibly have reached the King Martial Realm! This Array may trap us for a while, but it can’t hold us forever. He can’t do a thing to us!"
"Running an Array consumes a massive amount of Spiritual Qi. We just need to wait. In time, a flaw is bound to appear, and it won’t be too late for us to break out then!"
Shen Lang listened quietly to Shui Tianji’s tirade, a grin spreading across his face. "I destroy one of your avatars, and you risk being discovered by the Imperial Dragon Sect’s experts to track me to Celestial Phoenix City, only to have your physical body destroyed. Even an idiot could see I was coming for you, yet you still blindly walked into my trap. Now you’re caught in a Grand Array. Anyone with a functioning brain would know to keep quiet, but you’re still here, shouting and courting death..."
"Your lives are in my hands now, yet you’re still arrogant enough to think I can’t touch you. I’m genuinely curious. How can you live for hundreds, even thousands of years, and still be this simple-minded?"
"You should remember this for next time: you can’t stop taking your meds, but you can’t just take any old prescription, either. You have to choose a name brand... try Brain-Again! Cures chronic stupidity! Sugar-free, in the red bottle! And it tastes great!"
Shui Tianji was driven to fury by his words. "You little bastard, you’ve got a sharp tongue, but I wonder if your real strength can back up that mouth of yours! If our lives are truly in your hands, why are you wasting time rambling on at us?"
’It’s over,’ Zhu Feng lamented internally. ’In a situation like this, stalling him and keeping him talking is our best strategy! Why is she provoking him with words like that?’
Just as Zhu Feng began to worry, Shen Lang swept a hand through the air before him, and two mirror-like surfaces materialized, one to his left and one to his right.
The scenes displayed within the mirrors made Zhu Feng gasp!
On one of the two massive mirrors, five elders in Armor, their auras shaking the heavens, were controlling the Grand Array. Wind, lightning, water, and fire—one attack after another bombarded the four King Martial Realm experts from the Holy Light Sect and the Beast Emperor Palace. The scene was utterly shocking.
Though they had only been trapped for a short while, the four of them—He Zongdao of the Holy Light Sect and Old Monster Han of the Beast Emperor Palace among them—were already weakened, covered in wounds, and barely able to defend themselves.
The poor fools were still completely in the dark, with no idea why they were so unlucky, much less who was attacking them.
The other mirror was even more terrifying. A full ten King Martial Realm experts were controlling the outer Grand Array. Tang Hao was trapped in the vast, starry sky, constantly dodging and weaving as lightning bombarded him. His left arm was gone, leaving only a bloody, mangled stump.
Controlling this Array within Array were a total of fifteen King Martial Realm experts!
All of them wore Armor, their auras vast and unfathomable!
"Old Tang..."
Although Zhu Feng couldn’t sense the auras of those King Martial Realm experts, one look at their eyes and their bearing was enough to make his face turn deathly pale.
Fifteen King Martial Realm experts...
Four of them were likely no weaker than him, a cultivator at the Peak of the King Martial Realm’s Fifth Heaven!
Even without the Grand Array, if these people attacked them directly, they would stand no chance.
With so many experts powering this Grand Array, breaking out was an impossible dream!
"Stop! Don’t hurt my senior brother!" Shui Tianji screamed, seeing Tang Hao’s gruesome condition.
Tang Hao’s Cultivation was even greater than Zhu Feng’s. He was usually a quiet, honest, and dutiful man. To think that he would now perish in a place like this, all because of her...
Shen Lang shook his head. "I’m sorry, but you don’t get a say in this."
"I have no personal quarrel with these two. But since you brought them here to kill me, did you really think I would let them live?"
Shen Lang snapped his fingers. The assault on Tang Hao immediately intensified, leaving him battered and hard-pressed to even defend himself.
"No, no... I’m begging you, please let my two senior brothers go! I’m the one you want to kill! I’m the one you have a grudge against, it has nothing to do with them! Kill me, I’m begging you, just let them go!" Shui Tianji cried out, her voice thick with sobs.
The woman’s behavior in this critical moment actually gave Shen Lang pause.
From Shen Lang’s perspective, this vengeful woman didn’t seem like the type to care about anyone’s life but her own.
Otherwise, why would she have led those two men into this deathtrap?
"Hmph." Shen Lang just watched her with a blank expression, showing no intention of stopping.
"How can this be? It’s impossible... We checked! Other than the people from the Holy Light Sect and Beast Emperor Palace, there weren’t any other King Martial Realm experts in the Dark Moon Abyss! How could you have possibly avoided my senior brothers’ detection?! And how do you have such a powerful Array?!" Shui Tianji screamed frantically.
Shen Lang replied coolly, "I have no interest in explaining myself to a dead woman walking."
"You’re still standing here unharmed not because I can’t deal with you, nor because I’ve taken pity on you. I am never merciful to my enemies."
"The only reason you aren’t dead yet is that I want to meet the person who’s been pulling your strings. I’ve spared you only as a courtesy to him."
As he spoke, he traced a line in the air with his finger. A bolt of lightning flashed, and a rain of powerful Thunder Balls descended upon Zhu Feng.
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