Chapter 116: Looking at Someone with New Eyes After Three Days of Separation

"Daoist Friend Xu, hold off the Soul Beast with all your might; I will come to stabilize the Array Eye!"

A familiar female voice rang out, and a black silhouette was seen soaring into the air, flying several dozen zhang high before sitting cross-legged in the center of the beam of light.

Xu Chen was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed; he didn't speak, but simply nodded slightly before focusing his attention on dealing with the giant spider.

One should look at a person with new eyes after three days of separation.

While the giant spider's strength had indeed surged after its resurrection, Xu Chen's own strength had actually progressed even faster over these past few months.

When he first made the bet to enter the underground cavern, he was only at the mid-stage of the Kaiyuan Realm, with his Soul and Qi having not increased in the slightest.

But now, although his cultivation was only at the late stage of the Kaiyuan Realm—not a massive improvement—his Soul strength and Qi reserves were catching up to those of a late-stage Zhenyuan Realm cultivator.

Added to this were the Second-Grade Flying Sword Magic Treasure and the unfathomable Blue Starlight protecting his body; Xu Chen's transformation could be called earth-shattering.

Therefore, even without the help of the two-headed giant bat this time, he was already capable of confronting this giant spider head-on.

However, it was merely a confrontation; the chances of completely slaying it to seize the Soul Bead were not high.

Because he simply did not have the strength to kill it in a single blow.

Even his second attack just now had only managed to carve a crack no more than two or three chi long on the giant spider's back; far from a serious injury, relative to the giant spider's seven or eight zhang large body, it could at most be considered a superficial wound.

After Lan You entered the Array Eye, accompanied by the execution of several incantations, the violently shaking Array Eye soon began to stabilize; although her cultivation was insufficient to fully suppress it and the beam of light continued to flicker and sway, at least there was no longer any danger of it collapsing.

Xu Chen was now able to let go and fight with abandon, controlling his Flying Sword to grow to ten zhang in size, launching fierce attacks against the giant spider that was hanging halfway at the cave entrance with a roaring sound.

For a time, thunderous booms rang out incessantly, and the flashes of spirit light were like thunderbolts striking the earth; the entire Array could hear and feel this violent turbulence within a range of several hundred li.

At that moment, the moods of the other four Yuqing Hall powerhouses guarding the Array Eyes were rising and falling like a roller coaster, their minds nearly collapsing.

The five Array Eyes of the Five Elements Array had to be connected as one to suppress the entire Black Wind Ridge; no matter which Array Eye collapsed, it would trigger a chain reaction, causing the other Array Eyes to collapse as well—it was only a matter of time.

A Fifth-Grade Magic Treasure could only be fully controlled by a True Monarch like Chixia Zhenjun, who was in the True Spirit Realm; right now, even with five Danyuan Realm powerhouses suppressing it, they could only control it simply. Once it began to collapse, it was impossible to stabilize it again.

Therefore, the other four Danyuan Realm Elders continuously attempted to communicate via Divine Sense Transmission, but received no reply, because the Third Elder guarding this location had already suffered a backlash from the Array and fallen unconscious.

But just amidst the extreme panic and terror, this Array Eye, after experiencing a brief period of violent shaking, actually began to stabilize again; although it was not yet fully solidified, it allowed everyone to heave a sigh of relief and begin waiting for the outcome with trepidation.

And from the moment the giant spider rushed out of the ground to the moment Xu Chen arrived in time to suppress it, while it seemed like an earth-shattering battle had taken place, in reality, only a dozen or so breaths of time had passed.

At this time, the several Danyuan Realm powerhouses leading teams to surround and annihilate Soul Beasts in the depths of the Array also felt the violent turbulence of this Array Eye and the terrifying roar and aura of the giant spider, and were all rushing over at full speed.

But the first reinforcements to arrive were not these Danyuan Realm powerhouses, nor were they the Eldest Senior Brother and the others who were several dozen zhang behind Xu Chen, but rather Xu Wen, who had been searching for Lan You everywhere in the Black Wind.

When he rushed near the Array Eye wrapped in a mass of black mist and saw Xu Chen frantically hacking and slashing at a super-huge giant spider Soul Beast within the Array Eye—which was clearing away the black mist with its beam of light—but unable to break through its defense, his terrified expression relaxed significantly. His Flying Sword soared from beneath his feet, and he roared simultaneously: "Daoist Friend Xu, move aside! I will come to slay this beast."

"Third Senior Brother, no!"

Amidst Lan You's exclamation, a Flying Sword had already expanded to over ten zhang in size, and with brilliant radiance and a sky full of thunder, it slashed down toward the giant spider.

"Roar—!"

Sensing the terrifying aura of this sword, the giant spider turned its head to roar while spitting a beam of black light toward the giant sword.

The black light transformed into a giant web that covered the sky and earth, enveloping the Flying Sword within it. Under the impact of the terrifying Soul aura, Xu Wen only felt an incomparably fierce and terrifying force rush into his Sea of Consciousness along with the Divine Sense controlling the Flying Sword, and then slash against his Soul like a sharp blade.

The Green Rune Array guarding his Soul was like waste paper, offering no resistance at all.

His soul was torn in two.

"Ah—!"

Xu Wen let out a miserable scream and plummeted from the sky.

From his appearance to his unconsciousness, only a few breaths of time had passed; even the sound of his roar, filled with Qi, was still echoing in the surroundings.

Xu Chen:...

And just as Xu Wen was falling, a terrifying pressure suddenly descended from the sky, and a phantom Giant Finger condensed out of thin air, pressing lightly onto the giant spider in the center of the Array Eye.

This giant Soul Beast, which could only barely have its defense broken under Xu Chen's frantic attacks, fell apart like rotten wood, and was subsequently ground into ashes by the Spirit Qi. A Soul Bead the size of a chicken egg fell to the ground with a thud, along with Xu Wen's body.

"Great Elder?"

Xu Chen looked up in pleasant surprise.

"Hmm, it is fortunate that you were able to block this giant Soul Beast in time, otherwise this old man would not have been able to save him in time. You shall be credited with the first merit for guarding the Array this time. Keep this Soul Bead safe for now; we will discuss rewards based on merit later!" The voice of Xuanchen Zhenjun rang in Xu Chen's ears.

"Yes, Disciple obeys!"

Xu Chen hurriedly grabbed the Soul Bead into his hand and stored it in his Storage Bag, then went to help Xu Wen up, only to find that his eyes were tightly shut and blood was flowing from his seven orifices; he was completely unconscious and unresponsive.

Just at this moment, accompanied by several powerful auras arriving one after another, several Danyuan Realm leader powerhouses appeared near the Array Eye.

When they saw a huge hole in the center of the Array Eye's light beam, they were all filled with terror. However, although the scene was chaotic, there was no sign of the Soul Beast, so they asked Xu Chen one after another what had happened.

Xu Chen explained briefly, and upon hearing this, the others were awakened as if from a dream, their faces pale and their backs soaked with sweat, and they then began to notify other Danyuan Realm powerhouses via Divine Sense Transmission.

And the other four Yuqing Hall Danyuan Realm Elders guarding the Array Eyes, upon learning that the Soul Beast that had broken through the Array had been finished off by Xuanchen Zhenjun and that the Array Eye had been stabilized again, were all covered in cold sweat, feeling as if they had walked on the edge of death.

The Five Elements Array covered an area of over a hundred li in the Black Wind Ridge; once the Array Eyes collapsed in a chain reaction, a heaven-shaking, uncontrollable explosion of Spirit Qi would inevitably occur, and everything within several hundred li would be blown into dust.

Then, all the cultivators who had entered the Array to annihilate Soul Beasts might die without a whole corpse. Even if these powerhouses guarding the Array could escape, they would suffer heavy damage from the massive backlash of the Array. Right now, the Third Elder, who was at the late stage of the Danyuan Realm, had already suffered a backlash and was unconscious, and the fourth-generation Core Disciple Xu Wen had also been heavily injured in his Soul by the Soul Beast and was unconscious.

In addition, eight Zhenyuan Realm disciples who were assisting in guarding this Array Eye had died.

The damage brought by this super Soul Beast of unknown origin was far greater than all previous casualties combined.

And the Yuqing Hall, which had always kept itself clean and maintained almost zero damage, had also suffered heavy losses because of this, becoming the biggest victim of this Array defense.

Soon, a Danyuan Realm mid-stage powerhouse from a medium-sized sect took over the responsibility of guarding the Array Eye from the already exhausted Lan You.

And as soon as Lan You came out of the beam of light, her body went limp and she plummeted from the sky.

Xu Chen arrived in time, catching her and holding her in his arms.

At this time, Eldest Senior Brother Qin Zhao, Second Senior Sister Yao Yuzhu, and Third Senior Brother Chen Ran—the three Zhenyuan Realm disciples of the Taiyuan Sect—also rushed over with terrified faces. Seeing that Xu Chen was safe and sound and holding the unconscious Lan You in his arms, they breathed a sigh of relief, though their expressions were also somewhat strange.

"Several junior nephews of the Taiyuan Sect, Soul Beasts are rampaging within the Five Elements Array. Fairy Lan is heavily injured, and True Person Huayang and Junior Nephew Xu are also unconscious. Do not stay here for long; you must quickly take them and withdraw from the Array, returning to the Taiyuan Sect first to treat their injuries and recuperate. We will take over this place for the time being," a Danyuan Realm cultivator with silver hair and beard spoke.

"This junior obeys the order!" The brothers and sisters quickly cupped their hands together, and Xu Chen called out to the Eldest Senior Brother and the others to retrieve the Flying Swords dropped by Lan You and Xu Wen, preparing to leave.

"Eh, what is this thing?" Third Senior Brother Chen Ran looked at the light, fluffy black threads drifting like clouds scattered on the ground and asked in surprise, while habitually using his Divine Sense to scan them.

"Third Senior Brother, no!"

"Ah—"

Before Xu Chen had finished speaking, Third Senior Brother let out a miserable shriek, clutched his forehead, and stumbled back several steps, his face turning deathly pale in an instant while his eyes were filled with terror.

"This is the Spider Silk released by that Black Spider Soul Beast just now; it carries a powerful force that attacks the Soul, do not touch it lightly with your Divine Sense!" Xu Chen explained.

The battle just now had been incredibly chaotic, and he had not expected that the Spider Silk formed by the black light spat out by the Black Spider Soul Beast would not dissipate into Black Mist; he was also quite astonished, and after sweeping his Divine Sense around, he discovered there was actually quite a lot of it, in clumps here and there, but because it was too soft and fine, it was mixed into the drifting black fog and almost impossible to distinguish, which was why he had not noticed it either.

Xu Wen, who had wanted to steal the spotlight the moment he came out, was the one who had been struck unconscious by this Spider Silk.

Right now, his Soul aura is extremely weak, and it is estimated that his Soul has already suffered heavy damage; if he is not rescued in time, I fear he will die.

Therefore, Xu Chen did not dare to delay too long; he raised his hand and waved it, and clumps of Black Spider Silk were wrapped in his Yuan Qi and collected into his Storage Bag.

The several experts of the Danyuan Realm did not pay it any mind.

They disdained to compete for such small spoils of war; the only thing to do right now was to stabilize the Five Elements Array as quickly as possible and continue to surround and suppress the Soul Beast within it, and only when the Array was completely stabilized would they be temporarily safe.

Not long after, Xu Chen carried Lan You, Eldest Senior Brother carried Huayang Zhenren on his back, Third Senior Brother carried Xu Wen on his back, and Second Senior Sister was responsible for clearing the path and guarding the front; the four senior and junior siblings rushed out of the Array together, then notified the Disciples waiting outside Yuqing Hall, and together they flew on their swords back to Taiyuan Sect.

(End of this chapter)