Chapter 89

「Gaa—」

An old crow let out a shrill, miserable cry on the dead tree trunk, sounding bleak and filled with the aura of death.

The black mountains stretched endlessly out of sight; once they stepped in, Ye Fan, Tu Fei, and the others felt their breathing grow much more difficult.

Just after penetrating a few hundred meters, they saw a strange bird nearly a meter tall, its nest actually constructed from human bones, utterly eerie.

Moreover, there were gaunt, bony giant snakes, withered trees bearing human faces, and everywhere reeked of an ominous aura.

「It's actually that thing; this place is really damn evil! 」

Da Heigou recognized the bird's species, cursing and swearing; if it weren't for Yang Zhu wanting to come, he wouldn't set foot here even if beaten to death.

「Damn, what kind of creature is that? 」

Li Heishui jumped in surprise; with a casual glance, he saw a humanoid creature appear to the right, its whole body covered in black long hair, extremely eerie in the Holy Cliff.

That shadow flashed by and vanished in this place.

「Let's go, no need to pay attention. 」

Soon they finally reached the edge of the black great mountain; upon entering the Holy Cliff, it felt as if they had come to the Undying Mountain.

「We can't fly! 」

Ye Fan noticed the anomaly; here, just like the Undying Mountain, his feet could hardly leave the ground.

「There are imperial formation patterns left by an ancient emperor here, but they were not carved by the Void Emperor……」

Da Heigou's eyes flashed with a strange light, and suddenly his confidence surged.

「Rest assured, with my mastery of formations, this time there will be absolutely no problem; I guarantee it'll be like entering an uninhabited realm! 」

Boom! Da Heigou took the lead, but after just two steps, the clear sky suddenly unleashed a ten-thousand-feet bolt of lightning.

Crack!

The lightning bolt struck Da Heigou, making him foam at the mouth; he staggered and collapsed, his four legs rigid, black smoke rising from his whole body.

「Heihuang, are you alright? 」

Seeing this, Ye Fan got goosebumps and didn't dare joke at this moment.

「It hurts so much……」 Da Heigou lay there, his four big paws twitching, muttering: 「Emperor…… why did you even strike me? 」

「Didn't you say it would be like entering an uninhabited realm? How did you get struck by lightning? Don't boast—can't you be a bit more reliable? 」

Li Heishui laughed, not missing a chance to jab at him.

「Woof! Damn it! 」

Da Heigou gritted his teeth, wanting to bite him, but after struggling for a long time he couldn't stand; he was severely injured, with many bones broken.

Li Heishui's heart jolted; he never expected that upon entering, they'd encounter such a terrifying emperor's killing formation, and even Heihuang, the most versed in formations, suffered grave injuries.

Yang Zhu lightly brushed his hand, and a gentle surge of spiritual power instantly mended Heihuang's flesh and bones, restoring his injuries almost completely.

「Little Black, can you do it? Or should I take over? 」

「Give this emperor one more chance; this time I definitely won't mess up! 」 Da Heigou lost face, his expression grim, determined to regain his standing.

「I was just saying—apparently the formation patterns have been altered; this time there definitely won't be any accidents! 」

Da Heigou pondered for a long time, then, feeling confident, took a few steps forward—who would have thought that in the next instant another ten-thousand-feet lightning bolt struck, freezing him in place and causing him to topple over stiffly.

「Why is there a smell of meat? 」

This time it was worse: Da Heigou was struck until his eyes rolled back, his silky black hair fell out in clumps, his whole body scorched black, and a faint meaty aroma drifted out. Fortunately, Ye Fan was quick-eyed and quick-handed, dragging him out to avoid accidentally triggering the formation again.

「Ooooh…… it hurts so much! 」

After Da Heigou flopped up and down, jumping about, a chorus of ghostly wails and wolf howls erupted, and every inch of his skin throbbed with faint pain.

「My god, this dead dog is utterly unreliable; sooner or later he'll play himself to death. 」

Ye Fan stared, dumbstruck; the formation's power was terrifying, Da Heigou as strong as a bull, yet he himself nearly died—had it been them, they might not have endured.

「Emperor…… why did you even strike me? This makes no sense……」

Da Heigou muttered, truly damned to the core.

「Do you know who carved these formation patterns? 」 Ye Fan asked, certain this guy must know something.

「It was etched by the Emperor Wushi, but it's incomplete—just a missing corner, not even a tenth of it. 」

Only then did Da Heigou reveal the truth; hearing this, everyone was shocked.

Emperor Wushi possessed unrivaled grandeur, one of the mightiest emperors of antiquity; his formation patterns, issuing from his hand, obviously contained tremendous power.

Although only a corner remains, even if a Holy Lord came, a single misstep would reduce them to ashes, harboring eternal regret here!

「I've seen this in an ancient text; according to its deductions, I shouldn't have been struck……」 Da Heigou muttered.

「How could Emperor Wushi's formation patterns possibly be written in an ancient book? You're just blowing smoke. 」

Ye Fan didn't believe it; who doesn't know that anything touching the character 'emperor' is hard to imprint, for even heaven and earth cannot bear their Way! Upon hearing this, Da Heigou couldn't be bothered to explain, producing an ancient book—there, exactly, was a corner of the Wushi formation; he hadn't expected it to be real! 「Do I need to deceive you? Just this corner—even if a Holy Lord came, he might not comprehend it even after several lifetimes! 」

Da Heigou spoke with conviction; the formation patterns of ancient emperors are hard to fathom even for those below emperor level, and only extraordinary monsters can grasp a superficial hint.

「It's too complex; even a lifetime of effort would hardly suffice to comprehend these. 」

Lao Fengzi's eyes were deep as he stared at the formation patterns for a long time, as if deducing something, but in the end he could only sigh.

「Even a sage cannot comprehend it; no wonder it's the Wushi formation……」

Ye Fan hadn't expected that the sole sage of the present day could not fathom it; he was astonished, lamenting the divine grandeur of Emperor Wushi.

Da Heigou ignored them, instead looking toward Yang Zhu; since entering, Yang Zhu has spoken very little.

Yang Zhu's eyes were covered with a layer of golden light as he gazed into the distance, seeming to pierce through dozens of black great mountains and directly reach the deepest part of the Holy Cliff.

「What's wrong? 」

After a moment, Yang Zhu came to, noticing that several people were staring at him, puzzled.

「We're blocked; we can't get in or out……」

Da Heigou returned listlessly to Yang Zhu's side; he wasn't worried about not being able to enter, after all the Wushi emperor's son could be here! 「With me around, there's nothing to worry about. 」

Yang Zhu smiled; just now he probed the origin, saw the depths of the Holy Cliff, and discovered some interesting scenes.

"Do you have a way?"

Tu Fei gaped; the Great Emperor's array patterns, even this sage Lao Fengzi cannot comprehend—could Yang Zhu possibly?

"Let's speed up, striving to leave as soon as possible."

Yang Zhu didn't want to delay too long; he stepped forward, extended his right hand ahead, then lifted it upward.

Buzz! Dozens of black great peaks followed with violent tremors; on the ground before everyone, dense array patterns lit up.

In an instant, terrifying killing intent burst forth, like a flood pouring forth, capable of destroying everything, nothing could withstand it! Yang Zhu's hands began to deduce; in the void, myriad crystal-clear threads appeared, each possessing the power to annihilate heaven and earth, even erasing the traces of the Dao.

(End of chapter)