Chapter 623: Jiang Feng, is that you?

Late at night, the entire building fell into an unusual silence.

Dongfang Jue opened his eyes again.

He had maintained a cross-legged posture for several hours, but his mind could not fully sink into cultivation.

That feeling of unease clung to him like a bone-deep ulcer, sticking to his back from the moment his awareness woke, impossible to shake off.

At this moment, he was the only one in the entire metal room.

The guards and soldiers were downstairs, inside and outside the perimeter wall, strengthening their vigilance under his orders.

Logically, this secret room was the safest place in the building; the alloy plates a foot thick on all sides could withstand a full-power strike from a Heavenly Being, and he still had a trump card, so even if something unexpected happened he could cope.

But he just felt cold.

It was as if something in the darkness was watching him, its gaze falling on him through the thick walls and layers of defense.

Dongfang Jue jerked his head up.

His gaze became extremely alert, his pupils constricted slightly, and his divine sense spread out like a tide, covering the entire building.

His perception wandered every inch of space, like an invisible net trying to catch the source of his unease.

But there was nothing.

The room had only him; the instruments hanging on the walls continued to run silently, and everything looked exactly as before.

Yet Dongfang Jue just felt something was off.

His fingers twitched, and he instinctively picked up the communicator beside him.

"How's the situation? Give me feedback, all teams."

The communicator was silent for two breaths, then a voice came back.

"Group A, no abnormalities."

Then came a second voice, almost seamlessly following the first.

"Group B, no abnormalities. Everything is normal."

Hearing those two replies, the stone that had been weighing on his heart finally eased a little.

He let out a slight sigh, released the talk button, and set the communicator on the nearby metal tabletop.

The four elite squads were each led by a Heavenly Being, and they were linked in pairs.

If one squad encountered a problem, the other would notice immediately.

Even a Half-step Martial Ancestor expert could hardly take down these four elite squads without alerting anyone.

Adding to that, the thousand well-equipped battle legion members stationed outside, plus the omnipresent surveillance probes and sentry towers…

The fortress's defense system was tightly interlinked, leaving almost no blind spots.

Thinking this through, Dongfang Jue's mind indeed calmed considerably.

He closed his eyes again, preparing to continue adjusting the meridians in his body that had not yet fully healed.

But his ear twitched suddenly.

Wrong.

He jerked his eyes open, staring straight at the communicator placed on the metal tabletop.

What about Group C and Group D?

The four squads are linked in pairs.

Group A and Group B are present, so Group C and Group D should be as well.

But the communicator only had two voices; the other two squads remained silent.

Dongfang Jue's brows knotted tightly. He grabbed the communicator again and switched to Group C's channel.

"Group C, acknowledge if you receive."

"Group C! Acknowledge if you receive!"

This time his voice was a bit louder, carrying an irrepressible anxiety.

Still no response.

He immediately switched to Group D's channel and repeated the same call.

Just as before, there was dead silence, and Dongfang Jue's breathing grew rapid.

He pressed Group A's channel again; this time his fingers were trembling.

"Group A, acknowledge if you receive."

Just moments ago there had been a reply; just moments ago they had said everything was normal.

But now the channel held only silence.

All four squads have lost contact!

Dongfang Jue clenched the communicator, his knuckles whitening, the metal casing slightly deforming in his palm.

The cold sweat that had just dried on his back surfaced again, trickling down his spine and soaking a patch of his inner clothing.

There's definitely a problem!

He sprang to his feet, moving extremely fast, with almost no hesitation.

He slapped his palm onto the nearby control panel, pressing a button that had never been used before.

That button was hidden in the most inconspicuous corner of the panel, requiring specific fingerprint and iris dual verification to trigger.

The instant the button was pressed, the entire metal room burst into a blinding white light.

Those white beams welled up from every inch of metal surface on the walls, ceiling, and floor, as if countless lamps had switched on at once, bathing the room in daylight brightness.

Those beams condensed, intertwined, and flowed in the air, forming visible patterns like some ancient rune wandering across the metal surface.

The secret room became a gigantic luminous body.

Dongfang Jue stood within that white light, feeling the power within his body surging upward at an almost frenzied pace.

Those true qi that had been slowly recovering seemed to have been ignited by some catalyst, rushing violently through his meridians, striking at his wounds that had not yet fully healed.

The pain was intensifying, but he couldn't afford to worry about it.

That was the Super Formation the Dongfang clan had set up here over many years.

Using the entire building as the Formation Base, the alloy plate a foot thick as the Formation Pattern, and all the Spiritual Energy within a radius of one kilometer as the energy source.

Once activated, it can forcibly raise the controller's strength to Martial Ancestor Level in a short time.

Although he is not a true Martial Ancestor, at least within the Formation's Scope his strength is enough to match a Martial Ancestor Strongman.

At the same time, one of his secret treasures was activated.

An extremely faint signal emanated from his body, turning into an invisible ray of light that pierced walls and pierced the sky, flying toward Kyoto a thousand li away at a speed beyond reason.

That was the Transmission Mark left by the Dongfang Ancestor inside his body; once he fell into danger, the signal would automatically trigger, notifying the Ancestors of the clan to rush to his aid.

After doing all that, Dongfang Jue finally let out a breath.

He stood at the center of the Secret Room bathed in white light, feeling the power from the Formation surge through his body, and that sense of Safety returned to him.

No matter what enemy comes, no matter what means they use to pull out his Dark Stakes and Sentry Guards, as long as this Formation remains, he has the strength to fight.

He closed his eyes again, merging his five senses with the Formation.

His perception extended along the Formation's Pattern, wandering through every inch of the building's space.

Then he sensed a presence.

That presence came from downstairs, and he was advancing up the stairs step by step.

But what that presence contained made Dongfang Jue's heart skip a beat.

Dongfang Jue clenched his teeth.

He felt that presence had already passed the building's midsection and was now approaching the top floor.

At that speed, it would not be long before it reached the floor he was on.

No matter who you are!

Anyone who dares to provoke the Dongfang clan will make you pay the price!

Dongfang Jue gave a Cold Smile, his figure flickered, and he stepped out of the white light.

The power of the Formation surged within him, enveloping his whole body in a faint glow, each step leaving a luminous footprint on the ground.

He passed through the Corridor and arrived before the iron door leading downstairs.

The iron door was heavy, but before his current strength it was as flimsy as paper.

He reached out, pushed it open, and stepped out.

The stairwell was dark, only the emergency lights casting a dim yellow glow.

At the stairwell's turn, a person was walking up, his footsteps light but unusually clear in the silence.

That person's appearance was indistinct in the dim light, but Dongfang Jue could see his eyes.

Those eyes shone brightly in the darkness, as bright as two balls of burning fire.

Dongfang Jue gave a Cold Smile, about to speak, but the moment he made out the other's face, his expression changed drastically and all his words got stuck in his throat.

"Jiang Feng, is that you?"