Chapter 5
Jiang Linyu's expression turned serious. "This formation is related to the strength of the person who set it up. If someone is stronger than the person who set it up, they can break the formation with brute force. If someone doesn't have the same level of cultivation as the person who set it up, they have to find the core of the formation and destroy it. However, this formation has its own consciousness. If it senses that someone in the formation has the idea of breaking it, it will change its position."
"Then let's try to break it with brute force first." Gu Yu didn't want to listen to them talk about these possibilities, so he directly summoned his natal sword and struck the steps in front of him.
Shi Anxu initially thought that the formation was set up by the demonic cultivators to trap those behind them. Mu Qingzhou had also mentioned that the demonic cultivators were at the early Golden Core stage, and that Gu Yu's strength would make breaking the formation a piece of cake. However, after Gu Yu swung his sword, they waited for a long time without any movement.
Gu Yu refused to believe in superstition and poured more spiritual power into his natal sword, unleashing an even more ferocious strike.
The formation remained completely still, without even the slightest ripple.
Gu Yu couldn't possibly unleash his ultimate move and exhaust all his spiritual power to break the formation. After striking a few more times with his sword without any effect, he sheathed his sword and stood there irritably.
Shi Anxu also realized that the person who set up the formation was definitely above the Golden Core stage. It must have been set up by an elder or immortal venerable outside. It could not possibly be that demonic cultivator. Perhaps he was trapped in the formation just like them.
After Gu Yu finished chopping, no one spoke for a moment, and a heavy atmosphere spread.
Shi Anxu couldn't stand the atmosphere any longer, so he spoke up to break the silence and voiced his earlier thought that the demonic cultivators were also trapped in the formation.
Jiang Linyu felt that there was an 80% chance of this idea. He said, "Our main task now is to find the array eye. If that demonic cultivator is also trapped here, he must also be looking for the array eye. We are very likely to encounter him. We must not let our guard down."
Qin An, who had kept his mouth tightly covered, asked, "The array's core can move on its own, so how should we find it?"
Mu Qingzhou: "An illusion."
Qin An: "Huh? What kind of illusion?"
An Xu knew Mu Qingzhou's thoughts as soon as he spoke. Since this formation had its own consciousness, it would automatically change position if it sensed any attempt to break the formation.
So why don't they use a feint? A few of them can pretend to go looking for someone, while the real person will observe from the shadows using their divine sense and then strike them down in one fell swoop.
Shi Anxu: "That's right, we split into several people... and then there are two more people like this..."
Jiang Linyu praised, "Junior Brother Mu, your idea is excellent!"
Shi Anxu nodded, and continued Jiang Linyu's words, saying, "I also think that it would be better for our junior brother to secretly observe the location using his divine sense. What do you all think?"
Gu Yu: "Okay."
Qin An: "I have no objection."
“I think it’s a great idea,” Jiang Linyu replied with a smile, but her hands, hidden behind her clothes, were clenched into fists, her nails digging deep into her flesh.
Seeing that everyone else agreed, Mu Qingzhou couldn't refuse, and since it was his senior brother's suggestion, he had no reason to refuse, so he nodded in agreement.
Mu Qingzhou sat cross-legged on the spot and entered a meditative state. His vast divine sense spread out over a large area, covering every corner within the range that his residence could reach.
Seeing that Mu Qingzhou had already sat down, the others also began to carefully search for the array's core as arranged.
The round eye of the formation stood still, then suddenly trembled as it sensed that many "dangers" were searching for it.
It got up and rubbed its soft belly, knowing it should move on to another spot.
Guided by its instincts, it took its short legs and headed away from the "danger".
Mu Qingzhou sensed a slight fluctuation in the array with his divine sense, immediately opened his eyes, concealed his aura, and slowly moved in that direction.
The formation leader was very confident in his ability to conceal himself, and without paying attention to whether there was any "danger" following behind, he let Mu Qingzhou follow him all the way.
It happily found itself a new hiding place, but it never expected that it would be picked up by a cold-blooded person as soon as it sat down.
The array's core struggled to break free from Mu Qingzhou's grasp.
Its only strength as the core of the formation is its ability to hide. Now that it's being held in someone's hand, it's like a lamb to the slaughter, unable to do anything.
Mu Qingzhou sent a message to Shi Anxu, indicating that he had found the core of the formation.
Upon receiving the message, Shi Anxu found Jiang Linyu and the others, and led them to Mu Qingzhou's location.
When the group arrived, they saw a fluffy white ball of light flying around inside the barrier set up by Mu Qingzhou, while Mu Qingzhou was meditating and cultivating to the side.
Shi Anxu leaned closer to the scattering balls of light. "Junior brother, is this the core of the formation?"
Mu Qingzhou replied, "Mm."
Looking at the round ball of light, Anxu felt a surge of tenderness in his heart, and he really wanted to touch it.
Mu Qingzhou seemed to have guessed Shi Anxu's thoughts, removed the barrier, grabbed the array's core, and handed it to Shi Anxu.
Shi Anxu took the array core, stroked it in his hand, and asked, "Only by destroying the array core can the array be broken, so now we need to destroy this small ball of light?"
Mu Qingzhou: "No need, just drain its power."
Shi Anxu's eyes lit up with joy. "Junior brother, let's take this array core back with us."
Mu Qingzhou: "Okay."
After responding, Mu Qingzhou raised his hand and extracted the power from the array's core, dispersing it into the air.
The surrounding scenery slowly faded away, revealing its original appearance.
Along with the scene outside the formation, a black figure also appeared. Mu Qingzhou, with his sharp eyes, grabbed Qingyuan and rushed forward to fight the black figure.
Shi Anxu and the others exchanged glances, then drew their weapons and joined the battle.
Shi Anxu tried his best to get closer to Mu Qingzhou, "Junior brother, we'll help you hold him off. You retreat first. When he uses Zhaoyu, find an opportunity to take it away."
Mu Qingzhou nodded, then flashed back to his original spot, his gaze following Shi Anxu's figure.
Mo Yi was gradually losing ground as he was surrounded and attacked by several people. He had never been beaten so badly before, so don't blame him for being impolite.
With a wave of his hand, a dark red bow appeared in his grasp, and he made as if to draw the bowstring, shouting, "You despicable immortal cultivators, prepare to die!"
Shi Anxu stared intently at Mo Yi's movements, waiting for the arrow to be shot so he could react.
Seeing that Mo Yi was about to attack them, Gu Yu shouted to Mu Qingzhou, "Mu Qingzhou, didn't you say you had a plan? Hurry up, we're about to be shot to death!"
Mo Yi scoffed at Gu Yu's words, "Heh, you guys are no match for me, Mo Yi."
The moment the words left his mouth, Mu Qingzhou appeared in a flash and held Qingyuan to his neck. Zhaoyu, which he was holding, automatically slipped from his hand and flew into Mu Qingzhou's grasp.
Mo Yi roared in disbelief, "How could this be! It's impossible! Zhao Yu has already acknowledged me as his master, it can't be!"
"Zhaoyu has not recognized you as its master," Mu Qingzhou said indifferently.
"Impossible! I've already signed a contract with it!"
"Zhaoyu only recognizes those it approves of as its master; forced contracts are useless."
Mo Yi burst into maniacal laughter, "Hahahaha, so Zhao Yu has acknowledged you as his master? I don't believe it!"
Mu Qingzhou didn't waste any more words with Mo Yi. With a flick of his hand, Mo Yi's body jerked and he collapsed to the ground.
Seeing that Mo Yi was completely dead, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Shi Anxu asked, panting heavily, "Junior brother, is it true, as that demonic cultivator said, that Zhaoyu has already recognized you as his master?"
"Hmm." Mu Qingzhou asked again, "Senior brother, do you like it? If you like it, I'll give it to you."
Shi Anxu quickly shook his head, "I don't like it. Since it has already recognized you as its master, you should keep it."
Why is he talking nonsense here? How could he possibly want Mu Qingzhou's magical artifacts? These were the stepping stones for Mu Qingzhou to become the number one cultivator in the world, and the ladder for him to return home. How could he possibly want them?
Shi Anxu didn't want Mu Qingzhou to say anything more, and stood there coldly without speaking.
Seeing his expression, others came over to ask what he meant, offering a simple "congratulations" and that was it, though whether they were sincere was anyone's guess.
They had already lingered too long inside the formation. After resting for a while, they returned to the original steps.
Unbeknownst to the two, after they had walked away, Jiang Linyu's previously gentle expression changed, and his face became extremely sinister.
"Shi Anxu, Mu Qingzhou, I don't want you two to steal my thunder..."
As soon as he finished speaking, his figure turned into black smoke and disappeared in a flash.
Not long after Shi Anxu and Mu Qingzhou left, they encountered several low-level magical beasts, and the two collected many inner cores without much effort.
When encountering magical beasts, An Xu would usually give way to Mu Qingzhou. It wasn't that he was lazy, but that he had a clear understanding of his own strength. Even if he killed these magical beasts, he would still be at the bottom, so it was better to give them to Mu Qingzhou.
As you go further up, it seems that the methods to open the upper passages become much simpler. Shi Anxu was really puzzled. Shouldn't it get harder as you go higher?
But the mechanisms up to the top floor were very simple, which made him feel at ease, yet he also felt inexplicably uneasy.
The two went to the top floor and, together with other cultivators, killed off the demonic beasts before being teleported out.
After Shi Anxu recovered from the dizziness, the first thing he did was to go and see the stone tablet where the immortal elders had read the terms.
He was shocked to find out what he was seeing. The top spot wasn't held by Mu Qingzhou, but by Jiang Linyu, whom he hadn't really paid much attention to. Mu Qingzhou was ranked directly below Jiang Linyu, with only a 0.1-point difference between them. This made Shi Anxu feel uneasy.
"How could this happen? Junior brother, we're not number one, we can't get the Fuyuan Grass, what should we do?" Shi Anxu's tone was somewhat dejected.
"Go ask Jiang Linyu if he can give it to us. If not, we'll have to collect it ourselves." Mu Qingzhou looked at the stone tablet, his eyes devoid of any emotion.
"We can only do it this way. Shall we go find Jiang Linyu?" Shi Anxu's eyes darted around, trying to find Jiang Linyu's whereabouts.
"Alright, there are too many people here. Let's go back to the sect's viewing platform first." Mu Qingzhou withdrew his gaze.
"Um."
Shi Anxu agreed, reached out and grabbed Mu Qingzhou's wrist, then intertwined their fingers.
He held up their tightly clasped hands in front of him and said, "See, as long as we hold hands like this, we won't get lost. There are too many people here, so I'll hold your hand and take you back."
Mu Qingzhou's earlobes quickly flushed red. He was a little uncomfortable being held like this, but he didn't break free and let Shi Anxu pull him along.
The heartwarming scene didn't last long. They had just arrived at the stands and hadn't even looked for Jiang Linyu when they were stopped by disciples of the Xuan Yuan Sect.
"There are demonic cultivators lurking in the tower. Please come with us to investigate."
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