Chapter 326: Chapter Eight: The Life-Death Array

“I’ve already set up the array.” Luo Feng looked at the Master of Yuanxiang Hall, “We can strike at any moment.”

The Master of Yuanxiang Hall instructed: “First, you must join the city defense—just like the other Elders’ avatars, go and ambush the infiltrators. The fewer low-level Hunsourced lifeforms hiding within the city, the longer we can hold out. Second, your identity must remain secret! When you activate the array, I will tell others it is I who is wielding it.”

“I understand.” Luo Feng nodded.

Once revealed, he would become the target of all.

Even if Luo Feng could harness the power of Lancheng to strengthen himself, he had no confidence he could withstand the combined assault of the ultra-limit Huoxin worm and a vast army of leader-level true bodies, all willing to pay any cost.

“Go,” said the Master of Yuanxiang Hall. “You are now the Lord of Lancheng. If you make any arrangements, send me a message. I will issue orders to all quarters.”

Luo Feng nodded, then quietly departed from this ordinary cave dwelling in the outer district.

The Master of Yuanxiang Hall remained hidden here, silently watching all of it.

“I’ve done everything I can. Now, it’s up to fate.” The Master of Yuanxiang Hall murmured. Since the arrival of a new low-level Hunsourced lifeform legion outside the city, he had instantly calculated that, if things continued this way, Lancheng would not last even half a day, let alone more than one.

But no matter what, he would hold on until his final moment.

…

As Luo Feng raced toward Lancheng’s core region, he used the cultivated City Seal to perceive every movement within Lancheng in perfect clarity, and knew the exact locations of all low-level Hunsourced lifeform infiltrators.

“My array is far weaker than the Star Array. So I’ll target only one elite infiltrator squad.” As he moved, Luo Feng diverted attention to manipulate the array.

Boom—boom—boom—

One of Lancheng’s elite infiltrator squads suddenly noticed swirling black-and-indigo clouds forming directly above them. Luo Feng also channeled Lancheng’s vast energy reserves to amplify the array’s power, pushing its strength even higher!

“Bad! This array is forming directly above us—it’s targeting us!”

“Watch out!”

Despite having endured multiple ambushes, this elite infiltrator squad still retained seven leader-level avatars, five core member true bodies, and thirty-nine core member avatars. They moved with flawless coordination, enveloping themselves in layers of illusory ripples to resist the array’s assault.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Terrifying light erupted from the clouds, instantly tearing through heaven and earth, engulfing the squad—and in an instant, the squad shattered into pieces.

“How is this possible?”

“Is this array stronger than the Star Array?”

“Lancheng is already struggling to defend against the siege from outside—how can it still summon such a powerful array to target us?” Within moments, only three core lineage true bodies remained barely alive.

But under the continued onslaught of the terrifying light, these three core lineage true bodies were utterly annihilated.

In just over a dozen breaths, an entire elite infiltrator squad was wiped out.

Previously, the Star Array had struck multiple squads simultaneously from afar. Luo Feng’s Life-Death Array now condensed directly above a single squad, focusing all its power on just that one group. This gave the infiltrators the chilling impression that this array was even more terrifying than the Star Array.

“The Star Array has collapsed. The Elders are all fully occupied defending against the external assault—how is another massive array appearing?”

“This array’s power is at least fifty to sixty percent of the Star Array’s.”

Each Elder was astonished—they could precisely judge the array’s strength.

The Star Array had been cast jointly by the Master of Gaibao and ninety-two Elders. Though Luo Feng’s accumulated reserves surpassed the Master of Gaibao’s, even as Lord of Lancheng and with the city’s power bolstering him, his “Life-Death Array” could only reach fifty to sixty percent of the Star Array’s might.

“It’s me.”

The Master of Yuanxiang Hall transmitted his voice, “I’ve temporarily suppressed my injuries and can still muster a fraction of my strength! I’ll do my best to eliminate the infiltrators.”

“So it’s the Master of Yuanxiang Hall.”

“Even with his injuries suppressed, the Master of Yuanxiang Hall’s power clearly surpasses that of the Master of Weiyang and others.”

“No wonder he’s a Dao-seeker who has mastered two and a half Hunsourced-level Dao paths!”

The Elders all felt renewed hope.

The Master of Yuanxiang Hall’s display of power was exactly what they expected—after all, before his corruption, his strength had been one great tier above the Masters of Weiyang and others.

In his peak state, the Master of Yuanxiang Hall’s power had been far more terrifying—capable of matching twenty Masters of Weiyang.

Of course, in his peak state, the Master of Yuanxiang Hall sought to escape the cage entirely—he had never considered expending battle merits to build a city.

“I wish I could suppress my injuries too.” The Master of Yuanxiang Hall sensed the Elders’ renewed morale, yet felt even more weary and powerless.

He knew his condition all too well.

Even maintaining consciousness was now a struggle.

…

Lancheng’s core region.

Luo Feng stood in midair, gazing far off.

A distant infiltrator squad spotted Luo Feng and immediately turned away, with no intention of engaging him.

“These infiltrators are all psychic-type low-level Hunsourced lifeforms—too fast to chase.” Luo Feng sighed inwardly. “Only by using Lancheng’s arrays can I strike anywhere within the city and ambush them with ease.”

Luo Feng continued to control the array, and as Lord, channeled vast energy to amplify its power, launching another devastating strike against an elite infiltrator squad.

“Boom—boom—boom—”

Terrifying light struck from afar.

“Hah! Another squad wiped out!”

“No wonder it’s the Master of Yuanxiang Hall!”

The Elders within the city were all exhilarated.

Huh—

Luo Feng, guarding the airspace above Lancheng’s core region, noticed a squad of Elder-level warriors flying past.

“Brother Luo Feng,” the group of Elder-level warriors greeted him. “Brother Luo Feng, you dare act alone to hunt infiltrators!”

Luo Feng looked at the squad.

The squad consisted of six members: three Elder avatars, and three others who were not Elders. There were many non-Elders in the city who possessed Elder-level strength. Their true bodies remained in Lancheng and actively participated in the defense.

Since Luo Feng was actively eliminating infiltrators, these warriors naturally treated him with friendliness.

“Pity these infiltrators move too fast,” Luo Feng said.

“We have the Master of Yuanxiang Hall. His true power is terrifying—even if he can only unleash a fraction, I believe this time he’ll lead us through this crisis.” The Elders were all energized.

Clearly, the Master of Yuanxiang Hall’s ability to suppress his injuries and wield such a powerful array had given them hope.

The squad exchanged a few words with Luo Feng, then flew off toward another direction.

Slower than the infiltrators, the Elder squads primarily patrolled the core region, ensuring its safety—many Elders lived here.

“With six Elders working together, using secret treasures and other tools—as long as they avoid the ultra-limit Huoxin worm, they can hold their ground,” Luo Feng thought.

The Elder squads always monitored the ultra-limit Huoxin worm’s movements and avoided it whenever possible.

But sometimes, the “King” moved too fast—there was nothing they could do.

“The array I wield alone still isn’t strong enough,” Luo Feng frowned. The Star Array’s power had reached a threshold capable of destroying leader-level true bodies.

Luo Feng’s array had only half that power. Those leaders, as “Divine Emperor Perfect” psychic-type low-level Hunsourced lifeforms, possessed extraordinary vitality—they could be gravely wounded, but rarely utterly annihilated.

…

“King, our elite squads are suffering catastrophic losses.”

“Of our thirty-nine elite infiltrator squads, twenty-one have been wiped out. Most of these twenty-one lost eight or nine tenths of their members; the few survivors… have all hidden in cave dwellings and dare not emerge again.”

“Now there’s this black-and-indigo array—every dozen breaths, it wipes out an elite squad. There’s nowhere to hide.”

One by one, the leaders transmitted their thoughts to the King.

First came the Star Array; now Luo Feng’s Life-Death Array—both primarily targeted elite infiltrator squads.

“Another legion led by Yuanyan has arrived outside the city. Logically, Lancheng’s defensive pressure should be greater—how can it still deploy such a powerful array to target us?” The King was puzzled.

“King, the remaining elite infiltrator squads are beginning to panic!”

“If we don’t find a solution soon, our elite squads will collapse entirely.”

Each leader sensed the growing fear among their core members—it had reached a breaking point, ready to shatter at any moment.

The King understood.

Previously, the infiltrators had fought without fear, seeing hope: the Elders were dwindling, the Star Array had been forced to disband. Their morale had been high.

But now, this new black-and-indigo array kept appearing, striking again and again—with no end in sight. How could their core members not panic?

“All elite infiltrator squads—disperse and conceal yourselves,” the King ordered.

He didn’t care about their casualties.

But if the entire force was about to collapse, there was no point in forcing it to hold.

“Understood.”

“Disperse and conceal!”

“Disperse and conceal!”

Instantly, the remaining eighteen elite infiltrator squads received the order. They exhaled in relief, their forms blurring as they scattered, slipping into surrounding cave dwellings. Their psychic bodies easily infiltrated weaker dwellings.

They swiftly took control of cultivators—either by possessing their avatars or their true bodies.

The cultivators, shielded by their cave array protections, could not discern the precise hiding locations of the infiltrators’ true bodies.

“Since they’ve hidden, ignore them,” the Master of Yuanxiang Hall now ordered. “We need to buy time; the longer we delay, the more certain our victory. The Elder squads must be reorganized—each must become strong enough to face the ultra-limit Huoxin worm.”

Within the city, with the elite core infiltrators now scattered and hidden, only the King and five leader-level infiltrator squads remained active, attacking various locations.

“Stop them.”

The core region’s Elder squads reorganized. Some were small—just one or two, like Luo Feng and Star Yi Elder, who operated alone with confidence. The largest squad now consisted of thirty-six Elder-level warriors forming a grand array—normally, squads of around twenty Elders operated together.

“Does quantity matter?”

The King, wearing the appearance of the Master of Weiyang, appeared.

One moment he was far away; the next, he had lunged into a squad of nineteen Elder-level warriors.

Those without avatars had spent heavily on life-saving treasures. But the Elders, who possessed avatars, owned few or even no such treasures.

Whoosh!

In one or two breaths, two Elder avatars perished. The remaining Elder-level beings, aided by the array’s coordination, possessed some capacity to resist.

“Next location.”

Wang vanished instantly.

To come and go as he pleased—this was the power of a “Transcendent-Level” being!

Wang cast a distant glance at Luo Feng, Elder Xingyi, and others, but had no intention of acting. Elder Xingyi was at least an “Elder,” so Wang didn’t even bother. Luo Feng, who wasn’t even an Elder, was beneath Wang’s notice—wasting even a moment on him was unthinkable.

Wang had no desire to waste time on cultivators with powerful will techniques or potent soul-protection artifacts.

He was willing to expend greater cost on Wei Yang, Hall Master, and Gai Tao, Hall Master. But against the other Elders, speed was paramount—target only those with ordinary will techniques and no superior soul-defending artifacts.

“Once the number of Elders drops further, below a certain threshold, the city will fall.” Wang already saw the glimmer of victory.

(End of Chapter)