Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
By the time Shen Ying and company returned to the Interspatial Arena, there were no immortals left outside the array. She did not know whether the remaining immortals fled or whether they entered the array to save people. All they say was a giant blood-red coloured dome with about a few kilometres radius.
They flew on top of the dome and tried to look in. Faintly, they could see a group of people at the right side. They were the various emperors who had been watching the battle. Chef and Father Niu were there too. At that time, however, all of them were lying on the floor motionless. Inside the entire array, everything was silent. Not one person seemed to be breathing. They all looked like they were asleep.
“What’s going on?” Lan Hua turned to glare at Chu Xuan. Is this an Immortal Execution Array or a Soul Confundus Array? Why were they all unconscious?
“Celestial… Emperor, this is just a sign,” Chu Xuan began to explain. “The array is complete and their primordial spirits have been trapped inside it.” As he spoke, he conjured another seal, raised his hand and waved toward the array. The blood red colour hung for awhile, and then a golden light flashed and everything inside the dome changed.
The ancient wasteland was no more. In its place was a tall mountain peak with molten rocks and lava. Everywhere they looked, the place looked just as frightening as hell. The air inside was filled with wind blades and sword Qi. The immortals who were seen unconscious earlier were inside, scattered and fighting the wind blades, yet none of them were able to block off that many blows. Some of the wind blades hit the crowds. It seemed like the fight would go on forever. If this carried on, the people inside would be stabbed to death for sure.
“The immortals have a long life. As long as they have one last breath, they can be revived,” Chu Xuan explained. “That is why an ordinary attack cannot be used to deal with immortals. The Immortal Execution Array traps the immortal’s primordial spirit until it is destroyed and the immortal dies.”
So those were just the bodies of the immortals that they saw lying down.
“Stop your nonsense – break the array immediately!” Shen Ying dragged Chu Xuan out from behind Lan Hua. It was almost noontime.
“I… I… I can’t break it!” Chu Xuan’s legs turned to jelly and he almost fell to his knees.
“You conjured the array and you can’t break it?” Lan Hua looked at him suspiciously. Was he kidding?
“I really cannot break it. This is an ancient array – it was here from the beginning. I only found out about it a few hundred years ago as well.” Chu Xuan looked like he was on the brink of tears. If Celestial Emperors knew how to break the array, he would not have used it against Chen Ge. “This array is founded on the five elements of Yin and Yang. The closer you are to the centre of the array, the more dangerous it would be. The scene in the array is ever changing as well. One must destroy the heart of the array before they can dream of breaking the array, but the heart of this array is at the centre of the array. We won’t be able to get to it if we don’t enter.”
So there was no way to break the array from outside, but the moment they enter, they can forget about ever escaping.
“Moreover…” He pointed toward the dome below and said, “The array has been completed and another world has formed inside the dome. The walls of this array are stronger than even realm gates. There is no way to…”
Crack…
Before he could finish speaking, Shen Ying bent over and reached out to the dome, pulling it apart with some strength.
The walls of the array, which Chu Xuan said were stronger than realm gates, broke… broke… broke apart… just like paper!
Σ(°△°|||)
Chu Xuan: “…”
Lan Hua: “…”
Shen Ying, who was just trying her luck: “…”
Chu Xuan: This must be a fake Immortal Execution Array. He thought it was a strong and formidable ancient array?
Lan Hua: This must be a fake Immortal Execution Array. Indeed, he could not trust anything Celestial Emperors said!
Shen Ying: This must be a fake Immortal Execution Array. She read the Soul-Sealing List for no reason – wasn’t it said that only saints could open it?
Hai, if she had known this earlier, she would not have brought Boss’ good comrade here together with them. She would have left them there to continue sorting out their relationship.
“Heh… Well, help me locate Chef!” She remembered the important task at hand. Shen Ying pushed Lan Hua aside and suddenly added, “And Father Niu.”
Lan Hua looked at the opening of the array in disbelief. Then, he lowered his head and looked closely.
“They’re there!” Lan Hua used his divine perception and located the group of people from Invincible Sect. He pointed at the lower right hand corner of the dome.
“Let’s go over.” Shen Ying was just about to go over and fetch them, but she was stopped by Lan Hua.
“Wait!” Lan Hua frowned. “Something is not right there.”
On closer inspection, the group saw that the corner where the Invincible Sect held was indeed much quieter than everywhere else. There was no danger, no flying wind blades and no sword Qi. Instead, it was a peaceful garden of flowers and it looked extremely safe where they were. For some reason, apart from Yi Qing and Lonemoon who were standing together, everybody else was spread out. It looked like… They despised everyone else.
“That’s the… Illusion Valley!” Chu Xuan sputtered, shocked. He turned to Shen Ying and then retreated two steps, as if afraid that she might reach out to hit him.
“What does that mean?” Shen Ying paused.
“The Illusion Valley is a place where illusions become reality.” Lan Hua’s expression fell and he frowned. He had not expected that this place would exist inside an Immortal Execution Array. “Inside, the fragrance of the flowers would condense into either the thing that a person fears or treasures most. It’s very much like the mental demons, except whatever they interact with is tangible. That makes it very difficult for them to differentiate between imagination and reality.”
Lan Hua conjured an array to protect the three of them. Then, he lowered his voice and instructed, “Do not go anywhere near that array or we will get affected by the fragrance of the flowers as well.”
“Oh,” Shen Ying nodded.
Lan Hua mounted his flying sword and entered the hole in the array.
At that moment, Yi Qing and Lonemoon who were in the Illusion Valley realised something was amiss. They looked around.
“What’s going on? Where’s Yu Hong and the others?” Everybody was gathered together before this, yet the moment they entered the garden, only two of them remained. In front of them, apart from flowers, all they could see was a fog.
“I can’t feel their aura.” Yi Qing shook his head.
Lonemoon’s face fell. “There is something wrong with his garden. Be careful.”
Yi Qing nodded. Then, he paused and looked up in front of him. “That is… Master!”
From the white fog, a familiar figure emerged.
But was pulled back by Yi Qing.
“Wait!”
“What’s wrong?” Lonemoon paused. He turned to look at Yi Qing and then realised something. He stopped moving.
“What’s wrong with you two? Why are you just standing there?” Shen Ying waved them over. “Come with me, it’s very dangerous in this array!”
The moment she finished speaking, both Yi Qing and Lonemoon frowned.
“Shen Ying, you know how to get out of here?” Lonemoon asked.
“Of course – how do you think I was going to save you?” Shen Ying rolled her eyes.
“Where’s the way?”
“Right there. Come with me, quickly. We just need to walk toward the east and we’ll be out.”
The two of them exchanged glances and raised their swords at the same time. They charged toward Shen Ying and stabbed her several times without any hesitation.
“Where did this freak come from? It’s not even imitating her rightly. Shen Ying, that brat, doesn’t remember any directions.”
“What lousy acting – how dare she try to impersonate Master. After four years, she still has never returned alone from the backyard after watering the plants. How can this imposter say that she knows the way back?”
In a moment, a hundred thousand flashes of the sword filled the air in the garden. They cut the fake “Shen Ying” into pieces so that only a pile of branches and twigs remained on the floor.
Not far away.
Chu Xuan: “…”
Lan Hua: “…”
Shen Ying, who just landed: “…” Motherf*ckers!
The two of them were okay, but why was she feeling so terribly upset?
