The Grand Arrays Clash

“I’ll handle the Gong family cultivators; the rest is up to you.”

The Gate of Wonders’ chief disciple, Tan Xiao, summoned his magic treasure and eagerly gazed towards a combat arena surrounded by Gong family cultivators.

Earlier, within the underground cavern, the Gate of Wonders had suffered a significant setback when Gong Lingfeng united the strength of many cultivators against them. Now, naturally, they sought to reclaim their lost prestige. The Gong family cultivators were numerous, and Gong Lingfeng, in particular, possessed extraordinary methods. They still needed to exercise extreme caution.

The chief disciple of the Dao Sect, clad in white robes, nodded, offering a word of caution.

“Rest assured.”

Tan Xiao waved a hand. Behind him, the Gate of Wonders disciples and the cultivators from the three major clans orderly departed the area, heading directly for the arena occupied by Gong Lingfeng.

“Dao Sect disciples, form ranks—”

Lin Chen, the chief disciple of the Dao Sect, flicked his horsetail whisk. His long hair and Daoist robes billowed in the wind as his composed expression remained unwavering. Beneath his feet, a Taiji diagram slowly emerged, enveloping all the Dao Sect disciples.

“Form—the Three Powers Array!”

The numerous Dao Sect disciples, highly disciplined, simultaneously formed their ranks. In a flash, they used their true qi to construct the ethereal forms of Heaven, Earth, and Man, completing the Three Powers Array.

The Dao Sect’s power ranked among the top of the Nine Great Sects of Daqi. Although the number of their disciples was not large, each one was exceptionally gifted and remarkably powerful. The current chief disciple of the Dao Sect was Lin Chen. He was over forty years old, and his strength was unfathomable. At twenty, he had already risen to prominence, and by twenty-five, he had broken through to the God Concealing stage. Unfortunately, he was currently trapped before the chasm of the Dharma Manifestation Realm, unable to achieve another breakthrough.

No sooner had the Three Powers Array taken shape than it began to surge with true qi, brewing an offensive. Its target was an arena guarded by Qi Yun, who commanded a hundred Black Armored Imperial Guards.

Seeing that the Dao Sect had already made the first move, the remaining forces—Spirit Mountain, Yishui Gate, the Gate of Wonders, and others—naturally refused to fall behind. They immediately constructed their own formations and launched their counterattacks. In an instant, upon Dragon’s Rest Island, which spanned only about ten li, true qi surged everywhere, creating an incredibly lively scene.

“Tan Xiao—your strength is inferior to mine. Your grand array is also several times weaker than mine. How can you hope to contend against me?”

Gong Lingfeng roared. Behind him, a colossal phantom of a Daoist robe materialized. This phantom wielded a massive golden greatsword, and with each descending strike, it dimmed the colossal shell conjured by the Gate of Wonders.

Tan Xiao gritted his teeth. Blood slowly seeped from the corner of his lips, as he teetered on the brink of his limits. Behind Tan Xiao, the Gate of Wonders disciples and cultivators from the three major clans immediately channeled their internal true qi. Even the Dharma Manifestation Realm cultivators from the Dao Sect assisted from the side. Yet, the disciples behind Tan Xiao were all pale, their true qi almost entirely depleted.

“Your Gate of Wonders has existed for less than ten thousand years. My Gong family, however, is an ancient clan that fought alongside Emperor Qi since ancient times. When it comes to heritage, how can an upstart like you compare to my Gong family?”

What truly constituted heritage? Heaven-tier cultivation methods, divine secret arts, pills, and spirit herbs? While these were important, they were far from being the fundamental essence of a sect. For a major power, the most crucial element was a grand array, be it an offensive killing array or a protective sect-guarding array.

One must understand that the Daqi Imperial Family would not interfere in conflicts between factions. On the contrary, Daqi even encouraged various sects to battle each other. Amidst these sectarian clashes and the slaughter of numerous cultivators, grand arrays were undoubtedly the cornerstone that determined a sect’s combat strength.

The Gong family, an ancient clan that had persisted from ancient times to the present day, possessed grand arrays whose intricate sophistication was considered top-tier within Daqi. Currently, although the number of Gong family cultivators was fewer than the Gate of Wonders’, their grand array was vastly superior. Thus, the Gate of Wonders was utterly powerless to retaliate, almost completely crushed. Moreover, the area around their grand array had been entirely locked down by the Gong family’s formation. They could neither launch an effective attack nor find a way to escape.

“We retreat—”

Witnessing the shell grow increasingly dim, with cracks beginning to appear one by one, Tan Xiao’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets, yet he was powerless to reverse the tide. He could only reluctantly retrieve a magic treasure resembling a compass and issue the order.

Tan Xiao infused true qi into the compass-like artifact. Immediately, streams of yin and yang qi erupted from it, enveloping all the Gate of Wonders cultivators in an instant. These two opposing qi forces intertwined and tore at each other, actually ripping a large hole in space itself and teleporting all the cultivators out of that area.

“Hahahahahaha…” Seeing the Gate of Wonders cultivators tear through space to escape, Gong Lingfeng made no move to pursue them. He threw his head back and laughed heartily, his mood exceptionally jovial.

“Brother Qi, I have honored our agreement and forced the Gate of Wonders to retreat. I wish you good fortune.”

Observing the intense battle raging where Qi Feng and Qi Yun were fighting, Gong Lingfeng did not offer his assistance. Instead, he cupped his hands in a distant salute, then dispersed his grand array.

Upon hearing of the Gate of Wonders’ defeat, Qi Feng’s face initially brightened with joy. However, when he saw Gong Lingfeng dismantle his grand array without any intention of helping him, his joyful expression gradually faded. Gong Lingfeng truly was someone who wouldn’t suffer a loss. After repelling the Gate of Wonders and securing a position for himself, he was unwilling to exert any further effort in assistance.

Qi Feng secretly gritted his teeth.

After dispersing his grand array, Gong Lingfeng whispered a few words to the Gong family cultivators beside him. Then, he turned and stepped onto the thousand-zhang white combat arena, one step at a time. The remaining Gong family cultivators once again surrounded the arena. Some cultivators, whose condition was still acceptable, formed another grand array. However, this time it was not an offensive killing array, but a defensive one.

Meanwhile, those cultivators whose true qi was severely depleted sat down cross-legged on the spot. They took out spirit pills, consumed them, and began to recover their true qi. A phantom of a verdant mountain enveloped the arena. Mysterious Daoist patterns adorned the mountain, with true qi subtly circulating within it, rendering it steady and profound.

Gong Lingfeng sat cross-legged within the arena. Seeing the mountain phantom take shape, he nodded slightly, feeling a significant weight lift from his heart. With this, he only needed to wait six hours before he could occupy a stone platform and enter the Dragon Transformation Pool.

Gong Lingfeng turned his head to look at the Dragon Transformation Pool. Three figures sat cross-legged on the stone platforms: Chi Qiu, Qi Yue, and a third person. As he looked at Chi Qiu, who was silently recuperating, a strange glint flickered in his eyes.

However, Tingxuan and I must still focus on the True Dragon’s Aura. Chi Qiu is merely a trifle. After we find the True Dragon’s Aura, crushing her again will be simple.

Having just thoroughly defeated the Gate of Wonders, Gong Lingfeng was now brimming with extreme confidence. In his view, though he alone might find it difficult to capture Chi Qiu alive, his clan brother, Gong Tingxuan, also held a position within the Dragon Transformation Pool. For the two of them to join forces and capture Chi Qiu would undoubtedly be effortless. Gong Tingxuan’s own strength was only slightly inferior to his. Moreover, having now obtained Yinglong’s Silent Water, his power must have advanced by leaps and bounds.

Gong Lingfeng closed his eyes, a faint smile on his face, feeling that everything was within his grasp.

The other battlefields were not as relaxed as Gong Lingfeng’s. The two sides had been clashing for about four to five hours, finally reaching a decisive outcome.

Though the Black Armored Imperial Guards were powerful and their grand arrays sufficiently intricate, two fists were ultimately no match for four hands. In the end, they only managed to defend three arenas, while the other two were seized by the Dao Sect and Spirit Mountain.

“If Brother Su Hanxing were here, this arena would be yielded to him. This is also Elder Su’s agreement with Prince Heng.”

Qi Feng had previously disregarded their alliance and abandoned Chi Qiu. Now, fearing he had utterly offended Su Hanxing, he prepared to offer the extra arena to Su Hanxing to rebuild their alliance. After all, once they entered the Dragon Transformation Pool, their advantage of having the Black Armored Imperial Guards would become meaningless. Within the Dragon Transformation Pool, everything depended on individual strength. If Su Hanxing could assist the three Qi clan members, they would undoubtedly become the strongest force inside.

With only a quarter of an hour remaining until the six-hour deadline, the major powers had already stabilized their positions. Lin Chen of the Dao Sect, Kong Hua of Spirit Mountain, Gong Lingfeng of the Gong family, Qi Feng, Qi Yun, and a leader of the Black Armored Imperial Guards sat cross-legged within their respective arenas, quietly awaiting Yinglong’s appearance.

Chi Qiu had already expelled all the poison qi from her body, and her right wrist had returned to normal. She sat quietly on the stone platform, surrounded by several enchanting pink-purple flowers in bloom. Qi Yue looked at Chi Qiu’s back with a hint of apology, but Chi Qiu offered no response.

The six-hour deadline was fast approaching. Chi Qiu opened her eyes, scanning the entirety of Dragon’s Rest Island, yet she found no trace of Su Hanxing. This filled her with a sense of urgency.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a blue-purple long rainbow pierced through the air from afar. Star-like lights flickered upon it, and Daoist patterns covered its surface. This long rainbow moved with extreme speed, traversing several li in less than a breath, striking directly at the mountain grand array constructed by the Gong family cultivators.

Boom!

Following an earth-shattering roar, the long rainbow actually drilled a ten-meter-wide crater into the mountain. Such power made all those present twitch an eyelid, their hearts secretly astonished. As the long rainbow dissipated, everyone realized that within it was an arrow.

“It’s that divine ability, Star Piercer!”

Upon seeing this very familiar long rainbow, Chi Qiu’s eyes immediately sparkled, and a smile finally graced her face.

“Who dares to breach my grand array?” Gong Lingfeng opened his eyes with a displeased expression. The violent tremor just now had awakened him from his cultivation state.

The Gong family cultivators were shaken back several steps. They quickly steadied themselves, concentrating their true qi to begin repairing the grand array.

Swish, swish, swish—

Beneath the sky, several points of starlight flickered. In an instant, a figure passed through the ten-meter-wide hole created by the long rainbow and landed upon the arena.

The person was nearly nine chi tall, with a robust physique and a rather handsome face. He held a large battle pike and carried a precious bow on his back. His expression was cold, making no attempt to conceal the killing intent emanating from his entire being.

It was precisely Su Hanxing.