Chapter 1086: Black Tortoise Assassination

"Where are the other two Seventh Layer Earth Sovereign fierce beasts?" Ye Liuyun was puzzled.

Suddenly, beast roars came from both the left and right.

Two Seventh Layer Earth Sovereign golden-maned hǒus, each leading five or six Sixth Layer Earth Sovereign fierce beasts, charged at Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun immediately commanded the Yin Souls, splitting his forces into two routes to confront the enemy.

He also released a single‑horned rhino, positioning it in front of himself.

He was at a disadvantage in this battle. He had few Sixth Layer Earth Sovereign Yin Souls, and among the fierce beasts he possessed only a single‑horned rhino.

"Huo Wu, poison them!"

Ye Liuyun immediately ordered Huo Wu to poison the fierce beasts.

Huo Wu had also cultivated the Ten Thousand Poison Heart Sutra, so she could poison.

Ye Liuyun's duplicate was also poisoning the fierce beasts coming from the other direction.

The duplicate's realm was low, so it dared not approach the beasts for fear of being discovered. However, it wielded a staff that could release poison gas at range.

Huo Wu, wearing a cloaking garment and possessing a higher realm, could approach to poison.

Moreover, in her direction there was an Earth Sovereign Sixth Layer Yin Soul assisting her, making the poisoning go smoothly.

She combined illusion art with poison, and when those fierce beasts reached near Ye Liuyun, she managed to poison them all into collapse.

The duplicate was a bit slower; although the two Sixth Layer Earth Sovereign fierce beasts were poisoned, they still surged forward—one was blocked by the single‑horned rhino, and the other was intercepted by the Huo Hu that arrived in time, burning it to ash.

Two Seventh Layer Earth Sovereign Yin Souls were battling two fierce beasts, with no clear advantage.

【7】 "Go try whether you can help, but don't get too close!" Ye Liuyun instructed Huo Wu.

"Go try it, see if you can help, but don't get too close!" Ye Liuyun ordered Huowu

"Alright!" Huo Wu replied, then moved toward one of the golden-maned hǒus.

Ye Liuyun first used his Golden Pupil to cast illusion art on that golden-maned hǒu.

However, his illusion skill was insufficient. The golden-maned hǒu only staggered briefly before recovering.

Yet that brief stagger gave Huo Hu a chance.

Huo Hu continued to cast illusion to confuse it, and it could no longer discern.

It immediately changed direction, charged at the other golden-maned hǒu, and engaged it.

Thus it became three against one.

The two Seventh Layer Earth Sovereign Yin Souls quickly gained the upper hand and extinguished the Soul of that golden-maned hǒu.

Then the two Yin Souls combined again to eliminate the other golden-maned hǒu.

Ye Liuyun suffered a lot this time; Yin Souls below the Fifth Rank were wiped out, more than ten of them.

"Your setup is unreasonable! I can't absorb them, yet they can actually kill my Yin Souls," Ye Liuyun complained to the artifact spirit.

However, the artifact spirit gave no reply.

After a while, Ye Liuyun stopped expecting a response, but it spoke again.

"Congratulations on completing the second trial. The third trial, Black Tortoise Assassination, please choose the Black Tortoise's realm," the voice said.

"The last trial was close! This time we must ask clearly. Otherwise, if we're careless and the artifact spirit finds a loophole, it would be disastrous,"

So he carefully asked this time: "How many Black Tortoises? How long is the trial?"

"One Black Tortoise. The trial lasts three days," the voice replied.

"Black Tortoises excel at stealth assassination! Their cloaking technique is said to be far superior to the Shadow Concealment Art!" Huo Wu reminded Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun, hearing this, asked the voice again: "During the three days, may I stay stationary?"

"Yes," the voice answered.

"Good then!" Ye Liuyun pulled his duplicate and Huo Wu into the Space World, then arranged the Formation Flags beside him.

Then he replied: "I choose the Ninth Layer Earth Sovereign realm."

He feared the Formation Flag couldn't withstand attacks from a Heavenly Sovereign strongman, so he dared not try recklessly.

But attacks from a Ninth Layer Earth Sovereign, this Formation Flag could definitely endure.

"The trial now begins!" the voice said, then fell silent again.

Ye Liuyun immediately closed his eyes to cultivate, employing the Primordial Spirit Secret Technique, simultaneously training and searching for the Black Tortoise's whereabouts.

He thought that even if the Black Tortoise hid well, it couldn't evade the Primordial Spirit Secret Technique's detection.

However, after a day passed, Ye Liuyun found nothing.

But he had dealt with shadows before and knew assassins are very patient, so he continued to wait.

After all, the waiting didn't delay his cultivation.

Ye Liuyun stayed put for another day, still not spotting any Black Tortoise.

The duplicate was now accelerating cultivation inside the Xuan Kong Shi, and after the previous enhancement in the Ancient Ape Secret Realm, the duplicate had raised his realm to the pinnacle of Fourth Layer of Creation over these days, preparing to breakthrough again.

"Breaking through here is fine! Like last time, during the breakthrough, draw out that Black Tortoise!"

Ye Liuyun thought of this, and without restraining his realm, let the duplicate break through.

And on the final day, as he was breaking through, the aura around him became chaotic.

Suddenly, the Formation indicated that someone had intruded into the Formation.

"What is happening? How did I miss everything!" Ye Liuyun immediately manipulated the Formation to attack, abandoning his own judgment.

His Primordial Spirit Secret Technique only saw some fire‑dragon‑shaped energy moving toward the same spot.

But that spot was empty; the Primordial Spirit Secret Technique detected no anomaly.

Ye Liuyun instantly opened his Golden Pupil, yet also found nothing abnormal; the area remained empty.

Then he immediately switched back to the Primordial Spirit Secret Technique to observe again.

Only when the Black Tortoise was attacked did it begin to resist with True Essence, and Ye Liuyun finally saw a mass of Black Tortoise‑shaped energy.

"This Black Tortoise is so mysterious? Even the Primordial Spirit Secret Technique and Golden Pupil can't detect it; no wonder Huo Wu said it's adept at stealth! Such a cloaking technique, isn't it unbeatable!"

Ye Liuyun thought of this, and switched to Golden Pupil to observe.

But his Golden Pupil still could not see Xuanwu's form. In other words, even if Xuanwu is invisible in combat, his Golden Pupil cannot see it.

"Impressive!"

Ye Liuyun couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

However, no matter how powerful the invisibility technique, when placed within a Formation, it is still no match for the Formation.

Xuanwu itself has a hard shell that can resist some physical attacks. But against Fire Attack it has no means at all; in the end it could not escape the fire dragon's roasting and was burned to ash.

"Congratulations, you have passed the three‑stage trial. You may first break through your realm, then proceed to the next trial." The artifact spirit said, then fell silent again, letting him quietly break through.

"This artifact spirit is indeed friendly!" Ye Liuyun sighed, returned into Xuan Kong Shi, and broke through together with his clone.

Only after he solidified his realm at Early Fifth Layer did he reappear and put away the Formation Flag.

"The Formation Flag left by Qiong Qi really came in handy! It has contributed repeatedly!"

Ye Liuyun knew that without the Formation Flag this time he would surely have been killed by that Xuanwu. He had already relied on this set of Formation Flags to survive many dangerous battles.