The Decisive Lure

The magic array was truly enormous; Lin Shenyue couldn’t even see its end with a single glance. Such arrays were also incredibly difficult to destroy.

This was because magic arrays of this scale possessed both auxiliary and primary nodes. Destroying a mere auxiliary node could be easily repaired in short order.

However, if a primary node were shattered, all nearby auxiliary nodes would instantly fail, making repairs exceedingly difficult. In Ye Jue’s estimation, fixing a single primary node would take at least several days, let alone rectifying an array as massive as this teleportation formation.

While Lin Shenyue and Divine Wind remained oblivious to the array’s operational principles, Ye Jue understood them perfectly. Though he wasn’t a formation master himself, this merely meant he couldn’t *create* arrays.

In the later stages of the game, the role of formation masters had drastically expanded. Given enough time, they could erect a Forbidden Curse Grand Array capable of annihilating hundreds of thousands of players without issue.

Of course, the cost for such a feat was astronomical, and no player would be foolish enough to charge headlong into an array once its presence was discovered.

Due to the formidable nature of formation masters, players in the later game stages, to varying degrees, understood some array techniques. Especially after Bai Xiaosheng compiled a list detailing the weaknesses of roughly 80% of all arrays, the effectiveness of formation masters was significantly diminished. This, naturally, earned Bai Xiaosheng considerable enmity.

Ye Jue couldn’t claim to be a master of formations, but he possessed at least a foundational understanding. For such a colossal teleportation array, the primary nodes were few, with most being auxiliary.

His gaze swept towards a spot approximately 100 meters from their team. The number of people in this area was subtly greater than elsewhere, and those surrounding it had subtly formed a protective circle.

Based on his experience, this location was undoubtedly where a primary node resided.

However, Ye Jue frowned at the sight of nearly 30 monsters guarding the area. Their levels weren’t particularly high, as this was merely a monster zone for levels 10-15.

The system wouldn’t deploy overly terrifying creatures here. Consequently, these monsters were mostly level 12-14, with a few elite monsters among them.

Ye Jue speculated that a level 15 BOSS would likely be at the very center, guarding the core node. This wasn’t a BOSS found in a dungeon, but a world BOSS.

Such a BOSS boasted double the attack power and thirty times the health of a typical BOSS of the same level. This configuration was clearly designed to prevent players from destroying the teleportation array, so Ye Jue had no intention of targeting the core node.

Suddenly, an idea sparked within him, and he turned his gaze to Divine Wind. Divine Wind instantly grasped Ye Jue’s unspoken meaning.

“You’re not seriously asking me to lure the monsters away, are you?” he asked, incredulously.

Ye Jue nodded. “Of course. Only by entrusting such a critical mission to you can I truly be at ease.”

‘But *I* won’t be at ease,’ Divine Wind thought fiercely, though he ultimately kept the words to himself, having no better alternative. With a wry twist of his lips, he said, “Alright, then. I just hope I can return safely.”

Ye Jue casually twisted the knife. “It’s highly probable that these monsters will only dispatch a portion of their forces to pursue you. Your task is to stall them for as long as possible and inflict damage.”

Divine Wind’s expression grew increasingly pained. Ye Jue, feigning ignorance, continued, “If you fall, and we haven’t managed to clear out these monsters here, then our entire operation will fail.

“After this attempt, the monster defenses will become even tighter, making it far more difficult for us to destroy the array later.”

Divine Wind’s mouth twitched. “So, either I clear out those monsters and return, or they kill me. There’s no other path.”

Ye Jue pondered for a moment, then nodded definitively. “Exactly.”

Lin Shenyue looked at Divine Wind with sympathy. This was clearly a suicide mission. Even if he only drew away half the monsters, relying solely on his kiting abilities, it would take him over an hour to kill them all.

Moreover, he had to keep these monsters engaged and prevent them from returning. This would necessitate him moving in an arc while kiting, otherwise the slowest magic-wielding monsters would slowly lose aggro and head back.

Lin Shenyue yearned to step forward and pat Divine Wind’s shoulder, but she forcibly restrained herself, remembering her current identity. In the end, she offered verbal encouragement: “I believe in you.”

Divine Wind’s mouth twitched again, and he let out a dry, awkward laugh. “I’ll do my best. If anything happens, I’ll send you all a message.”

Ye Jue stepped forward and did what Lin Shenyue had wanted to do but couldn’t. He patted Divine Wind’s shoulder, his voice solemn. “Go. We will commemorate you.”

Divine Wind cursed with a laugh, “Get lost.” He then looked towards the distant monsters, his expression growing serious.

He understood that Ye Jue had given him this task because he trusted his abilities. An ordinary person, even if they lured the monsters away, wouldn’t last long, causing the monsters to return and sandwich the player team, leading to a far more disastrous situation.

Although their team was small, if Lin Shenyue were to be attacked and killed, the team would instantly collapse. He took a deep breath, precisely calculated the distance, and fired an arrow directly into the center of the monster group.

Lin Shenyue had already hidden with Ye Jue. After watching Divine Wind shoot his arrow, instantly stirring up a surging horde of nearly 20 monsters as if he’d poked a hornet’s nest, she silently offered him a moment of condolences, watching Divine Wind disappear into the distance.

Once Divine Wind had lured the monsters away, a large area was left empty. Ye Jue no longer needed to draw out multiple monsters at once. He simply stepped into the aggro range of two monsters and lured them out.

[Teleportation Array Guard (Normal): Level: 12. Health: 15000/15000. Attack: 280-320.]

The monsters’ stats were still formidable, but with Lin Shenyue’s exceptionally high healing output, Ye Jue safely ground down both monsters, even with two engaging him.

Lin Shenyue kept a close eye on Divine Wind’s health bar in the party interface. Seeing that his health remained stable, she felt a sense of relief.

After Ye Jue systematically eliminated the remaining monsters using the same method, half an hour had already passed. At this point, Lin Shenyue noticed that Divine Wind’s mana bar was nearly depleted.

Ye Jue, realizing this too, immediately spoke in the party chat. “Divine Wind, come back. The monsters here have been cleared. If you have fewer than 10 monsters left there, you can return and let us help share the burden.”

It was unclear if Divine Wind saw the message. Ye Jue understood that Divine Wind was likely under intense mental strain and might not be able to read it. Therefore, after making some preparations, he approached the magic array.

He examined the intricate patterns on the ground and said to Lin Shenyue, “You go back first, find a safe place.” With that, he struck the array with his sword. A short health bar immediately appeared on the magic array, indicating it would only take a few more hits to destroy.

However, perhaps due to the attack on the magic array, Lin Shenyue clearly saw a commotion among the distant monsters, with a significant number of them heading in their direction.

She felt a surge of tension for Ye Jue, but then breathed a sigh of relief as she watched him swiftly use a skill to cancel his attack animation and destroy the teleportation array. The monsters were still far from Ye Jue, their aggro not yet locked on, allowing him to escape with ease.