After the Blood Sea Corridor, the golden gate had swung open, and Cheng Huang disappeared inside.
Qin Yi took a deep breath, calming his thoughts with a technique called the Clear Heart Method. He and Liu Su had a shared understanding about this task: it was strange. Cheng Huang clearly had some plans regarding the so-called wolf-like figure and the "Guo Kingdom," but on the surface, it seemed like nothing had been prepared. It was as if they just needed to guard the formation and not let anyone in to disturb them, and then they boldly went in to cultivate.
It felt foolish.
How could things be that simple? It was impossible.
But after thinking it over, Cheng Huang didn’t seem to have any reason to harm him, especially not to harm Ye Ling as well. If they truly wanted to harm them, why go through such a complicated method? What would it mean for her?
He couldn’t figure it out.
He didn’t dare to be careless, not even wanting to step to the door to see what was happening below. He activated the formation and stayed at the center, waiting for any changes.
The strength of this formation was surprisingly… weak.
Qin Yi had thought that a formation meant to protect a sacred place would be set up by leaders from years ago and would be incredibly powerful, strong enough to rival Nascent Soul experts. But Liu Su’s assessment was:
“The power is about the same as a perfected Dan Formation, but it’s very balanced. Each attack is like a full-force strike from a perfected Dan expert, and multiple attacks can happen at the same time, adding many special abilities… So, it’s like having many perfected Dan experts guarding here. Anyone below that level would definitely die upon entering the formation, and only those of equal strength would dare to try using various treasures to break in.”
“Actually, it’s not too bad…” Judging by this strength, there probably hadn’t been any formation here before. After the White Kingdom took over, the monsters from the White Kingdom set up this formation. At that time, the monsters had already fallen to a state where they had no sacred places to enter, so they couldn’t be very strong.
Without sacred places to use, stuck at the bottom of the valley with few opportunities to train, and with resources being relatively scarce, it would be hard for a genius to break through on their own. So, the perfected Dan level should be the baseline for the kings of the three nations, with everyone unable to break through, maintaining a balance.
Those who would come to challenge the formation could only be kings from the opposing side!
Formations are never completely dead; they always leave a “sliver of life,” giving people a chance to break through. This aligns with the concept of “Heaven’s Way” and also prevents them from trapping themselves.
It was all quite normal, but once there was an insider leaking the method to break the formation, it could render the formation useless.
This was why Qin Yi was guarding the formation. Someone who understood formations could manipulate the changes, making it hard for any known methods of breaking the formation to match up in the moment.
Ye Ling was getting bored and wanted to go out and take a look, but Qin Yi pulled her back: “The big formation is open. Do you want to die? If enemies appear later, you must follow my instructions for every move. Don’t step wrong even a little.”
Just as he finished speaking, a tremor shook the ground below, followed by the screams of guards and the sound of brutal laughter.
“They're here.” Qin Yi tightened his grip on his wolf-toothed club.
It seemed the newcomers had brought their subordinates. The fighting continued below, and the newcomers charged right up. In an instant, the guards outside the hall were sent flying in, landing in the formation and triggering it. Flames erupted, and several guards were instantly turned to ashes.
Ye Ling looked at the charred bodies in the formation with some reluctance… these were their own people…
Qin Yi maintained a calm expression as he watched the figures appearing at the entrance.
There were not one, but two.
Both were humanoid. One was a burly man with a fierce face, his hands shaped like tiger claws; the other was a thin figure, so frail it looked like he could be blown over by the wind, with only one eye and four wings on his back.
The Guo King and the Xiao King.
They had come together from the Guo and Xiao Kingdoms!
It made sense; a sacred place like Kunpeng Zifu wouldn’t be something either kingdom would want the White Kingdom to keep all to itself. Previously, they couldn’t gather the tokens to enter, but now that Cheng Huang had gathered the tokens and still hadn’t rushed in to cultivate, dragging things out for several days, it was no surprise they came together to form an alliance.
It was likely that not just the two kings planned to enter the cave to kill Cheng Huang; their elite forces were also coming to divide up the White Kingdom.
He watched the two kings, and they were also watching him and Ye Ling, their eyes filled with surprise.
“Teng She… that wretched woman’s top disciple?” The Guo King chuckled, looking at Ye Ling with a cruel glint in his eyes.
“That human.” The Xiao King let out a sharp, piercing laugh: “The wolf said that wretched woman has been extremely fond of this human lately, spending every night in her palace, and even personally weaving clothes for him, hahaha…”
Qin Yi’s expression changed suddenly.
Personally weaving clothes?
The Guo King laughed meaningfully: “That promiscuous woman must be enjoying herself; it’s a bit of a pity.”
The Xiao King laughed loudly: “Once we break in, she won’t be able to focus while breaking through; won’t we be able to enjoy her as we please?”
The two monster kings laughed heartily, ignoring everyone else. Ye Ling looked confused, not understanding what they meant.
“What are they laughing about, brother? They look so silly.”
“Oh.” Qin Yi snapped back to reality: “I didn’t catch what they said; their voices sounded like broken gongs.”
The faces of the two monster kings darkened at the same time.
They were kings among many, not ruffians or thugs, and they weren’t the type to speak nonsense just to provoke their opponents. They said those things intentionally to anger him.
But these two opponents were clever enough to see through their intentions, even a little kid could see it, and they were mocking them back…
The Xiao King’s voice turned cold: “That wretched woman is cautious, unable to confirm which of her trusted ones might have been bought by the wolf, so she only uses her own lover and disciple, avoiding any of her subjects who might be connected to the wolf. But because of this…”
The Guo King sneered: “Because of this, she must be in the cave for sure!”
Before he finished speaking, a tiger claw shot out, a massive claw-shaped shadow lunging towards Qin Yi!
The speed was so fast that Qin Yi could barely see it, but he didn’t react at all.
With a loud “crack,” the shadow hit a suddenly formed ice wall, which not only held strong but also sent ice shards flying back. The tiger claw swept again, brushing aside the ice shards, and the Guo King’s expression grew serious.
Qin Yi finally spoke: “Trying to deal with the formation keeper from outside? Are you still asleep? If you’re confident in breaking the formation, why not come in and give it a try?”
Before he could finish, Ye Ling suddenly moved, stepping onto a different stone.
It seemed like a meaningless action, but flames suddenly erupted at the edge of the formation in one corner of the hall, black flames, Teng She’s heavenly fire!
Ye Ling’s involvement changed the nature of the flames in the formation, amplifying them many times over!
A muffled grunt came from the corner, and a thin figure stumbled back.
It was the Xiao King.
Looking again, the Guo King still had a Xiao King beside him, which was actually a clone meant to deceive Qin Yi’s vision, while the real body had already tried to sneak into the formation. But the reason this formation was complex enough to need someone to control it was that it had many functions. The formation itself had the ability to break illusions, and his clone was fully visible to Qin Yi, allowing Ye Ling to switch positions, turning the escape route into a dead end.
“You really do have an insider; you knew that was the entrance to the formation.” Qin Yi smiled slightly: “Let’s see just how many changes he told you about.”
The Xiao King said coldly: “What good is knowing the changes? In the end, it comes down to understanding and comprehending the way of formations. You’re still a child; how many years have you studied?”
Leaning on his wolf-toothed club, Qin Yi smiled brightly: “Sorry, it’s been tens of thousands of years.”
(End of Chapter)