“The Twenty-Eight Line-Pair World Ritual Array?” Ninth Young Master suddenly stood up in a distant building, his expression changing dramatically.
The large ritual array shocked Ninth Young Master, along with everyone else. He could still recall the scene in the Innate Puzzle World like it was yesterday. Was Gu Hai only an Innate Realm cultivator?
“Ninth Young Master, can the Twenty-Eight Line-Pair World Ritual Array be laid using spirit stones? What exactly did Gu Hai learn at our place?” one of Ninth Young Master’s subordinates asked in shock.
“Now that the Twenty-Eight Line-Pair World Ritual Array appeared, then wouldn’t Luo Tiange—”
“Shut up!” Ninth Young Master snapped with a sullen expression.
Ninth Young Master’s subordinates no longer dared to speak.
——
The pale Luo Tiange turned to look at Ninth Young Master across the distance and saw Ninth Young Master’s sullen face.
Luo Tiange’s expression changed as he flew back into the sky.
The chains attached to his back suddenly flew out.
Rattle! Rattle!
The chains flew out and formed an enormous web as they grew larger. Then, flames surged out of it.
“Flame Dragon Web, break it!” Luo Tiange shouted.
Rattle! Rattle!
The chain web expanded rapidly. Although the chains had broken earlier, they lengthened once more and spewed out overwhelming flames like before. Now, it seemed like a large furnace falling from the sky, moving towards the ritual array.
Boom!
The Flame Dragon Web clashed with the ritual array. Even more flames than before surged at the ritual array.
“Humph! Did no one tell you about this? This ritual array is several times more ferocious than the one before. You are just seeking death!” Gu Hai shouted coldly from the ritual array.
“Xiang Yu is here! Now, scram!”
A loud shout came from the ritual array. A general made of fog held a halberd as he charged at the Flame Dragon Web.
When the general swung the halberd, it immediately sent out a sharp, violent wind at the Flame Dragon Web.
Boom!
Everywhere the halberd passed, it chopped everything in half. The Flame Dragon Web immediately exploded.
“Ah!” Due to the Flame Dragon Web’s connection to his consciousness, Luo Tiange screamed in pain.
Shing!
The sharp wind from the halberd struck Luo Tiange’s chest.
Pfff!
Luo Tiange defended with all his might, but he still vomited a mouthful of blood. A bloody gash appeared, stretching from his forehead down to his abdomen.
Bang!
Luo Tiange fell, covered in blood. Although he sustained only superficial injuries, his entire body trembled. That attack nearly vertically bisected him.
Pfff! Pfff!
After vomiting two more mouthfuls of blood, Luo Tiange crawled back to his feet with much difficulty. He gazed at the ritual array in shock and horror, not daring to charge over recklessly anymore.
“Gasp!”
Sharp intakes of breaths rang out in the surroundings.
“The Twenty-Eight Line-Pair World Ritual Array? That is too horrifying!”
“The East Sea Pirate King who swept through the Thousand Islands Sea could not last even one round against it?”
“It actually broke the Flame Dragon Chains and the Flame Dragon Web?”
Loud exclamations rang out in the surroundings. Countless cultivators gulped, celebrating that they had not barged into the ritual array.
The ritual array recovered its calm. The churning fog prevented the people outside from seeing inside.
——
Inside the ritual array:
The fog-formed Xiang Yu went over to the entrance of the deep chasm while holding his halberd.
Meng Tai showed overwhelming rage as he glared at Xiang Yu from the deep chasm’s entrance.
At this moment, Gu Hai was already on top of Xiang Yu’s head, controlling the Xiang Yu cloud beast. He looked at the shocked and angry Meng Tai coldly as Xiang Yu held up the halberd.
“Gu Hai, you…you…you… How excellent! Excellent indeed!” Meng Tai roared in rage and shock.
“Division Master Meng, do you remember what I said earlier? I killed the other Meng Tai because he schemed against me. You are the one who organized the alliance to break the ritual array, right? If you had not schemed against me, why would I scheme against you? Humph!” Gu Hai snorted coldly.
“Hahahahahaha!” Carefree laughter rang out from the deep chasm.
The bound, blind old man above the volcanic crater seemed to startle awake after Meng Tai broke the barrier and made it disappear.
“My disciple Meng Tai, you got schemed against as well? Good scheme! Good scheme! Hahahaha!” that old man guffawed.
Meng Tai revealed a ferocious expression as he said, “Old man, had you not been so stubborn back then, you would not have been imprisoned here. It is your own fault. It’s all your fault!”
However, Wei Yang, the blind old man, smiled coldly. “Imprisoned? My good disciple, had I not been stubborn, you probably would have killed Feng Ling, Li Wei, and Yao Yue already, right? You insidious ingrate, why did I take in such a vile person like you back then? You want to undo the dragon vein’s seal, right? You want to threaten me using Feng Ling, Li Wei, and Yao Yue? It’s useless. I understand you well. If I tell you everything, none of them will survive. They can live only if I remain stubborn and do not tell you anything. You vile being, evil creature!”
Meng Tai’s expression changed dramatically. He turned his head to look at Gu Hai above. Then he lowered his head to look at Wei Yang below.
“Humph! You old fool, since you are going to remain stubborn, I shall grant you your wish!” Meng Tai threw a palm strike at Wei Yang.
This palm strike looked like it would kill Wei Yang.
Shing!
Suddenly, Gu Hai controlled the Xiang Yu cloud beast to chop down with his halberd.
The halberd swung down, sweeping towards Meng Tai.
“Huh?” Meng Tai’s expression changed. He quickly turned his head and redirected his palm strike to clash with the halberd.
Boom!
The halberd immediately knocked Meng Tai back.
“Gu Hai, are you really set on becoming enemies with me?” Meng Tai shouted while glaring.
“Division Master Meng, I said it before. The Great Feng Mafia Family is mine now. Please scram immediately. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being rude!” Gu Hai shouted back, scowling.
Then, Xiang Yu pointed the halberd at Meng Tai.
Meng Tai’s expression changed dramatically. Right now, he had yet to recover fully from his wounds. He was not a match for the Xiang Yu cloud beast.
“Excellent…excellent…very excellent! Gu Hai, you can forget about obtaining what I cannot get! You are not qualified! Hahahahaha!” Meng Tai guffawed as he soared into the sky.
Whoosh!
Meng Tai charged to the edge of the ritual array and quickly left.
“Milord, why did we let Meng Tai go?” Gao Xianzhi asked anxiously.
Gu Hai smiled bitterly. However, he shook his head and did not explain.
This was indeed the Twenty-Eight Line-Pair World Ritual Array. However, this ritual array drained a horrifying amount of energy. Previously, Gu Hai could summon a vast army in the Innate Puzzle World because he could use the laws of that world. Now, this ritual array was supported by spirit stones.
Not to mention the vast army, right now, he could only materialize Xiang Yu with the current number of spirit stones. He could not even manifest Xiang Yu’s horse, what more a vast army? There simply were not enough spirit stones.
The Twenty-Eight Line-Pair World Ritual Array’s drain on spirit stones was extremely horrifying. The spirit stones would be drained after a while more. Gu Hai could not stop Meng Tai.
Rattle! Rattle!
Shangguan Hen and the others quickly undid Wei Yang’s chains, rescuing him.
Gu Hai temporarily scattered Xiang Yu. After all, the cost of maintaining Xiang Yu was simply horrific.
“This humble Gu Hai greets Old Mister Wei!” Gu Hai said seriously.
Wei Yang had been blinded. After Gu Hai rescued him, he gave Gu Hai a slight bow as he said, “Many thanks, Mister Gu. Might I ask if my disciples are still around?”
Gu Hai frowned slightly but did not hide the truth. He gave a simple summary of everything he knew.
“What? Meng Tai married Feng Ling? He killed Yue Yao? Li Wei is now a vegetable?” Wei Yang frowned slightly.
Gu Hai nodded. “That’s right. However, as for Li Wei…I had the mask placed on me and had no other choice.”
“Mister Gu, say no more. Although this old man is blind, my heart is not blind. Li Wei turned into a vegetable from his heart dying, losing all hope. What a vile, evil creature. In the end, Meng Tai saw that letter I wrote to Li Wei!” Wei Yang said with an unsightly expression.
Gu Hai turned his head to look deeper into the deep chasm. Now, he could see it even clearer. There was indeed a pool of lava below and a golden dragon tail floating on the lava. There was a large tortoise shell on the dragon tail and what seemed to be a Go board on the shell.
This tortoise shell sealed the dragon tail in place below.
Aside from that, there seemed to be a bone radiating faint black energy on the tail. That bone looked like a slender saber. This bone saber nailed the dragon tail in place, preventing it from moving.
“Old Mister Wei, will you dispel my doubts? What’s going on with the dragon tail, bone saber, and tortoise shell Go board below?” Gu Hai frowned.
“Bone saber? What bone saber?” Wei Yang felt slightly stunned.
“Huh?” Gu Hai looked at Wei Yang, puzzled.
Wei Yang could not see. Gu Hai remained silent for a while as he carefully scrutinized Wei Yang before describing everything he saw below.
“A bone saber? That can’t be? There wasn’t one before. Could it be…could it be from ten years ago?” Wei Yang’s expression changed.
“What happened ten years ago?”
“I was already locked up here ten years ago. Due to the dragon vein, it felt torrid below. However, there was a moment when a cold wind blew, making the place feel frigid as if the gates of hell opened up. A voice came from that place,” Wei Yang recounted.
“A voice?” Gu Hai asked in confusion.
“Yes. At first, I thought it was a hallucination. Now, it looks like it was not. That voice said, ‘The Bone Ancestor is already reduced to dust. The world is mine now! Hahahaha! After that, everything returned to normal. The cold wind vanished as if it had never been here,” Wei Yang explained.
Gu Hai appeared uncertain. He stared at Wei Yang for a while, as though ascertaining whether Wei Yang was telling the truth or not.
“That tortoise shell below is a seal left by the pavilion master back then, passed down in my Great Feng Mafia Family for many generations. My Great Feng Mafia Family is responsible for guarding it!” Wei Yang added.
“Oh? Pavilion master? Is that Old Mister Guan Qi?” Gu Hai asked.
“Yes. That is my Great Feng Mafia Family’s ancestral teachings, which my Great Feng Mafia Family disciples have to obey. We have to guard it until the fated person appears,” Wei Yang replied.
“The fated person? Who is considered the fated person?” Gao Xianzhi asked, feeling puzzled.
“I don’t know. The pavilion master did not say.” Wei Yang shook his head.
“Is it to solve the Go puzzle on the tortoise shell?” Gu Hai asked, his curiosity piqued.
“I don’t know. However, I can’t unseal it. Meng Tai cannot unseal it, either. He thought that I could unseal it, so he wanted to force me to tell him how to unseal it. I could only pretend to refuse to tell him, which allowed me to live until now,” Wei Yang explained.
“Many thanks, Old Mister Wei,” Gu Hai said seriously.
“You saved Li Wei. There’s no need to thank me. May I go and see my disciple Li Wei?” Wei Yang asked with a bitter smile.
Gu Hai looked at Wei Yang and remained silent for a while. Then, he nodded. “Chen Tianshan, bring Old Mister Wei to see Li Wei!”
“Yes!” Chen Tianshan answered.
After sending Wei Yang away, Gu Hai’s group looked farther down the deep chasm.
