Chapter 423: Invite the Guest into the Jar

"What exactly are you doing?"

Ye Wenxuan glided slowly across the sky; as she drew nearer to the great hall deep within the Thousand Demon Cave, her heartbeat gradually quickened.

Until she could finally sense the aura within the hall.

She suddenly gasped for breath several times and abruptly halted her forward movement.

"Bai Chi!"

This was entirely different from the situation Ye Wenxuan had anticipated; how could she possibly meet the old dog so rashly without any negotiation or preparation whatsoever?

What if something went wrong?

She clenched her teeth tightly, only to find Nie Jun continuing to glide forward, which indicated that Shen Yi was still approaching that hall.

"That is a disciple I painstakingly cultivated!"

Ye Wenxuan suddenly clenched both palms; Nie Jun was her only hope of leaving the General Nanyang Sect.

Yet now, Shen Yi was leading him step by step right before the old dog's eyes.

She remained silent for a long time.

Once Nie Jun's figure had completely vanished from sight, she stamped her foot in resentment and rode a cloud to follow.

That magnificent and intact great hall gradually came into view.

Ye Wenxuan was stunned for a moment.

Because she did not see the scene of slaughter she had imagined.

Nie Jun still hovered in the sky, staring down at the ground with the same confusion as herself.

There, Shen Yi stood alone before the great hall, gazing toward it.

The young man's expression was calm, his black hair fluttering slightly.

Although the space before the hall was empty, Ye Wenxuan could still detect the fierce aura contained within; the old dog was clearly inside.

"This?" Her heart grew even more filled with shock and doubt.

Moments later, Shen Yi actually sat down on the ground, spread his palms, and began to set up an array in front of Zhang Laifu, with golden threads carrying black evil qi spilling from his fingertips.

"..."

Ye Wenxuan looked at the great hall, then at Shen Yi, her gaze gradually becoming dazed.

A mere Transformation of Spirit Realm cultivator walking so brazenly before the old dog was no different from a sheep entering the tiger's mouth.

But now, the fierce tiger in the cave, unaware of what was happening, actually ignored the fat meat placed right before its eyes.

Her years of understanding suddenly began to crumble.

The quiet scene before her eyes clashed violently with the brutal image of Mount Wutong being slaughtered in her mind.

Finally, it all turned into a breath of disbelief.

"Hoo."

Shen Yi sat cross-legged, his gaze as still as an ancient well, with only the golden threads at his fingertips moving rapidly.

The dense and complex array of iron strokes and silver hooks fell onto the ground without a single error in his hands.

With Shen Yi's current spiritual soul strength, he could set up two of the techniques of this Killed Fanxu Great Array, while he intended to leave the final technique for Tong Xin Chuan to complete.

What appeared to be an absurd act to onlookers.

Was in fact something Shen Yi had already pondered deeply.

As a Killed Fanxu Realm great demon, the old dog had also gathered almost all the treasures of the General Nanyang Sect; its foundation was unimaginable to ordinary people.

Such a great demon, if it were willing to come out, who could possibly keep it contained?

Therefore, Shen Yi suddenly thought of Chen Qiankun from a few years ago.

The scene back then was exactly the same.

The old flood dragon in the Yangtze River could leave the Dajiang at any time; Elder Chen was stretched too thin to fully oversee Linjiang Commandery.

Just like the old dog.

With Shen Yi's strength, he could not possibly guard the old dog day and night; if the other party were willing, using methods to slip out of his sight and slaughter the entire Great Qian would be as easy as picking up a feather.

Shen Yi's choice back then was to use Elder Chen as bait to hook out that flood dragon.

Now, it remained unchanged, except Shen Yi had chosen to use himself as the bait.

When the Lion Emperor's identity was exposed last time, he had taken a claw strike; in such severe injury, even if Shen Yi fled with all his might, as long as the old dog was willing to come out, it could still easily kill him.

But the other party did not come out.

This time, Shen Yi initially only wanted to bring a few people from Mount Wutong to help identify the treasures, but in the end, he did not refuse the Great Qian and the Xu family from following.

The reason was that he still wanted to test whether the old dog would leave the hall due to provocation.

A confrontation was unavoidable.

Therefore, rather than on the other party's territory, it was better to lure it out.

Shen Yi's Indestructible True Body of the Heavenly Phoenix had now reached the Minor Success stage; not to say he could defeat the old dog, but at least holding the other party off was no problem; the Great Qian and others were on the periphery, so it would still be timely to leave the Thousand Demon Cave later.

And at this time, as long as the people from Mount Wutong were not fools, they would surely come over to place their Dao tokens.

Shen Yi understood clearly that he himself was the variable not accounted for in either side's plans.

However... until he walked to the front of this hall, the old dog still made no move.

Shen Yi finally accepted reality; this dog was even more patient than he had imagined, and once the other party felt the timing was right, the retaliation that followed would surely be brutal beyond his imagination.

Unless he could achieve what Shenxu Laozu of Mount Wutong did, viewing external things as dust, remaining calm and peaceful even when all old friends had perished, and hiding away from the world; otherwise, he must fight this dog in earnest.

The golden threads imbued with black mist fell rapidly, gradually taking shape.

"..."

Inside the hall, the old dog lying prostrate on the cushion slowly opened its eyes.

Zhang Laifu had previously sensed someone breaking through to the Killed Fanxu realm and the aura of a Dao token being used.

Such an obvious move — it was treating him like a fool.

It had no idea what kind of trap these lowly mortals had prepared, but no matter what, it absolutely would not take the bait.

Zhang Laifu knew this better than anyone.

What exactly was the purpose of this group of people.

If it were deceived, it would surely fall into an irrecoverable end; there was simply no need to take risks at a time like this.

Time passed slowly, yet everything around the great hall seemed frozen in place.

Only the golden threads at Shen Yi's fingertips were moving.

As the communication jade slip at his waist trembled slightly, Tong Xinchuan finally finished reciting the entire "Forbidden" array in an extremely rigid manner — not seeking comprehension, only seeking the ability to replicate it.

"…"

Nie Jun watched helplessly as Junior Brother Tong walked over from afar to the great hall's entrance, likewise beginning to lay out the array with God-Tempering Heavenly Silk.

He couldn't quite figure it out.

Could it be that Shen Yi intended to use some grand array to trap that old dog here forever?

But laying out an array so openly — just how dim-witted would one have to be to stupidly walk right into it?

"Did I succeed?"

Tong Xinchuan was drenched in sweat, so nervous that even his fingertips were trembling.

This was still his first time participating in the arrangement of a Return-to-Void realm formation.

Shen Yi's methods were simply astonishing.

Last time he had seen the other lay out an array, it had been with Black Sha energy; this time, to accommodate him, he had actually switched the God-Tempering Heavenly Silk to a fire attribute.

"Try to stay farther away."

As Shen Yi gave a slight nod, Tong Xinchuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, then watched as Shen Yi took off the black robe on his body and handed it over.

"This… this means he's planning to make a move?"

Tong Xinchuan swallowed hard; in his wildest dreams he had never imagined that he could actually get involved in a Return-to-Void realm magical battle.

In the span of those words, a streak of flowing light transformed into silver armor and a snow-white cloak, clicking into place on Shen Yi's body.

The young man who had been sitting in place for many days finally rose slowly to his feet.

Shen Yi gripped his vambraces and made a slight adjustment.

Yet this simple movement of his instantly drew the attention of Nie Jun and Ye Wenxuan.

Under the two's nervous yet somewhat incredulous gazes.

Shen Yi slowly ascended the grand, majestic stone steps, stepped past the General Nanyang relief carvings, and then walked into the great hall.

Behind him, the Iron-Painted Tiehua Yingou grand array suddenly blazed to life.

The aura belonging to the Return-to-Void realm surged forth and spread in all directions!

(End of Chapter)