396: Chapter 396 A Drama Queen in Action! Su Changge's Oscar-Winning Performance and Immunity to All Laws

"Let us begin."

These four words landed in the rift, their echoes bouncing back and forth between the cliffs twice.

No one moved.

Tu Lie's twelve confidants stood where they were, eyes fixed on their leader, waiting for orders. Halberd Demon Elder sat on a rock, shifting his staff to a new position, while the iron-masked female cultivator shuffled half a step forward. The three Disciples of the white-robed old woman exchanged glances, seeing the same thing in each other's eyes—nervousness.

Liu Can still stood in his original position.

His knees were no longer shaking.

It was not because he had calmed down, but because he was using all his strength to control his muscles. His calves were tensed like two iron rods, nailed firmly to the gravel ground.

His gray-white pupils stared in Su Changge's direction, the gears in his brain spinning frantically.

Return to Simplicity.

These four words turned over and over in his consciousness; with every turn, he took a step back.

It was not his body retreating, but his heart.

Su Changge stood in the center, taking in everyone's reactions.

[Good, very good, this kind of scene again.]

[Everyone is waiting for me.]

[They are waiting for me to give orders, waiting for me to say what the first step should be, waiting for me, this "unfathomable" person, to set the tone.]

[The problem is, I don't know what the first step is either.]

He suppressed his inner panic, his expression unchanging, and took two steps to the edge of the tunnel entrance deep in the rift, looking down.

The entrance was a corridor extending obliquely downwards, about a zhang wide. The Formation patterns on the walls were more than ten times denser than outside, layered one upon another like a dense spiderweb covering the entire rock face.

Information from the Great Dao Scripture Pavilion surfaced automatically.

He looked for two breaths.

He recognized all of these Formation patterns.

The hundred thousand years of accumulation by the Old Ancestor Xuantian was no joke. The structure, orientation, and nodes of these Formation patterns had complete analyses in the Scripture Pavilion. One could even deduce the techniques and habits of the person who set them up—they were left behind by the "Dragon Suppression Lineage" of the ancient era; the techniques were rough but the Foundation was extremely stable, emphasizing suppression over agility.

[Good news: I know what these Formations are about.]

[Bad news: knowing is one thing, but I only have the cultivation of the Qi Refining First Layer; I can't dismantle them.]

He straightened up, turned around, and spoke to Tu Lie.

"The corridor ahead still has Formation patterns; the path needs to be cleared."

Tu Lie took a step forward.

"Mr. Su, I have two people here who are skilled in Formations—"

"No need." Su Changge waved his hand.

[It's not that there's no need, it's that I'm afraid they'll go in and mess around, triggering some trap. I'd rather figure it out myself first.]

"I will go in and take a look first."

The effect of these words was immediate.

He wanted to go in alone.

Go alone into an ancient corridor filled with dense Formation patterns.

Tu Lie's mouth moved, but no words came out.

Halberd Demon Elder tapped his staff on the ground.

The white-robed old woman raised her eyebrows.

Liu Can—Liu Can kept his gaze locked on Su Changge, his Adam's apple bobbing.

Ye Qingyao stepped forward from Su Changge's left side, her voice soft, her tone indifferent.

"This Disciple will accompany Revered Master."

Su Changge turned his head to look at her.

Ye Qingyao's expression was calm, her chin slightly raised, her eyes as clear as mountain stream water in the morning light, looking at him without a trace of hesitation.

Su Changge sighed in his heart.

[Fine, it's good if you follow. If something really happens, at least you, a Mahayana Stage cultivator, can block it.]

He did not refuse and nodded.

The two of them walked to the entrance of the corridor.

Su Changge lifted his foot and stepped inside.

The moment his foot landed, the System activated.

Passive effect.

The moment his foot stepped on the first layer of Formation patterns in the corridor, the patterns lit up.

It wasn't just one line that lit up.

It was all the Formation patterns, starting from where his feet were, spreading layer by layer into the depths like a lit fuse. Golden light engulfed the entire surface of the corridor walls, curling upwards from both sides and converging at the top, forming a flowing golden river of light that extended along the corridor into the darkness below.

The entire corridor was illuminated.

All the Formation patterns, all the remaining ancient markings, lit up the moment Su Changge stepped in, as if things that had been sleeping for ten thousand years had been awakened by their Revered Master.

Su Changge did not stop his pace.

He was cursing in his heart.

[System, are you sick!!!]

[I'm just walking!!!]

[Was that necessary!!! You lit up the whole corridor for me?! Are you laying out a red carpet for me or what?!]

He suppressed his emotions, kept his pace steady, maintained a calm expression, and walked step by step into the depths of the corridor.

Golden light flowed over him, reflecting on his face and robes, shrouding him in a gentle golden radiance.

Ye Qingyao walked half a step behind him.

She looked at his back, watched those ancient Formation patterns that had been silent for ten thousand years light up on their own as he passed, and watched the river of light originate from beneath his feet and spread forward.

Her breathing slowed by half a beat.

Last time on the mountain path outside, it was fragmented traces of Formation patterns that lit up.

This time, it was the entire ancient corridor.

A sentence echoed in her mind.

[Under the Great Dao, all laws return to their origin.]

[Where Revered Master goes, the Great Dao follows.]

Her pace slowed by a beat, and the distance between them increased from half a step to a full step.

It wasn't intentional distancing; her legs had gone a bit weak in that instant.

It was not due to insufficient cultivation.

It was because her heart was beating too fast.

Outside the corridor.

Everyone stood by the entrance, watching the glowing corridor inside, watching the two figures walk into the depths.

Zhao Tian stood at the very front, his mouth open again.

For the first time, an undefinable expression appeared on Tu Lie's face. In that expression, there was admiration, relief, and a hint of something indescribable—as if he had suddenly realized he had bet on the right person.

Halberd Demon Elder stood up from the rock.

The white-robed old woman stepped back half a step.

Liu Can.

Liu Can stood where he was, looking at the corridor illuminated by golden light, his hands hidden in his sleeves, his fingers trembling.

Those Formation patterns were left by the ancient "Dragon Suppression Lineage" and had been dead for who knows how many ten thousand years. No one could reactivate them because what was needed to activate them was not spiritual power, but—

It was the resonance of the great dao origin.

His lips moved.

They moved silently.

The shape seemed to be saying four words.

Return to Simplicity.