277: Chapter 275 Detonating the Sixth-Order Array

The moment Xue Ji flew out from within the courtyard walls, the air in the entire Huai Tree Alley froze.

Her white hair danced wildly in the night wind, and her ice-blue eyes were as cold as the ice of the far north. The short sword, condensed from her natal spiritual power, exploded in her hand, turning into a sky full of ice crystals. These were not mere shards, but inch-long ice blades, each emitting a bone-chilling cold. With a wave of her hand, thousands of ice blades poured down like a torrential rain, heading straight for Hall Master Zhao and President Qian.

Simultaneously, her other hand formed a seal, and a massive snow fox condensed out of thin air above her head.

The snow fox spat out an ice-blue pillar of light. Wherever the pillar passed, the moisture in the air instantly froze into ice, and even the gray Void Realm was frozen until cracks appeared.

Hall Master Zhao and President Qian both turned pale. They hadn't expected an Early Nascent Soul Stage fox demon to burst forth with such terrifying power. Without time to think, they both moved to defend. Hall Master Zhao pushed out with both palms, and a black spiritual power barrier unfolded in front of him, blocking all the ice blades and the light pillar from the ice phoenix. President Qian's figure blurred as he turned into a golden stream of light to dodge the attack.

The sky full of ice blades exploded around the two of them, each explosion sending out a ripple of icy shockwaves. Wherever the shockwaves passed, the ground froze and the walls cracked; even the great Formation locking down the space trembled slightly. The aftermath of the explosion, mixed with violent Spiritual Qi, raged in the air for a full three or four breaths.

The suppression on Yun Ming's body loosened for a fleeting moment amidst this impact.

He did not waste that moment. A palm-sized silver-gray Formation Plate flew out from the map of mountains and rivers—a portable teleportation array, and one that had been pre-activated. He pushed the Formation Plate toward Xue Ji; it traced an arc through the air and landed steadily at her feet.

Before Xue Ji could react, the Formation Plate had already lit up. The formation patterns spread out from beneath her feet, forming a halo about three feet in diameter in the air, enveloping her entire body. It was the light of the Teleportation Array activating—silvery-white, piercing, and cold.

"Yun Ming!" Xue Ji's eyes widened as she finally realized what he was doing. She reached out to grab the Formation Plate, trying to rush out of the halo, but once the Teleportation Array was activated, space began to warp, and her body was firmly locked in place. "What are you doing! Let me out!"

Yun Ming did not answer. He looked at her, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly into a smile.

Hall Master Zhao and President Qian also reacted by then. Seeing the light of the Teleportation Array, their first reaction was that Yun Ming was trying to flee.

"Trying to run?" Hall Master Zhao snorted coldly, raising his hand to blast a beam of black spiritual light directly toward the Teleportation Array.

President Qian also struck at the same time, a golden pillar of light shooting from his palm with a piercing shriek, heading straight for Xue Ji. They thought the person in the Teleportation Array was Yun Ming. The two attacks carried world-destroying power, reaching Xue Ji in the blink of an eye. Yun Ming's figure flickered as he pushed the Tahua Zizai Escape Technique to its limit, turning into an afterimage and forcefully throwing himself in front of Xue Ji.

The black spiritual light slammed into his chest, and the golden pillar of light exploded against his shoulder. His body burst apart in mid-air, half of it shattered instantly. Flesh and blood splattered, bone fragments scattered, and fresh blood stained the bluestone slabs beneath his feet. His left arm was gone, and there was a massive hole from his left chest to his abdomen, revealing shattered internal organs and broken ribs. Yet, his hand still held firm; he did not fall.

The light of the Teleportation Array reached its peak at that moment. Xue Ji's figure became blurred within the halo, her eyes still fixed on Yun Ming as tears welled up and slid silently down her Face.

"Yun Ming—!"

Her voice was swallowed by the spatial distortion, and she vanished into the light of the Teleportation Array. After she disappeared, the Formation Plate dimmed and fell to the ground, rolling twice before stopping at Yun Ming's feet.

Hall Master Zhao and President Qian were stunned. They looked at the blood-covered young man on the ground, who was missing half his body, and then at the direction where the Teleportation Array had vanished. The expressions on their Faces shifted from anger to shock, and then from shock to disbelief.

"The one he teleported... wasn't himself?" President Qian's voice was somewhat dry.

Hall Master Zhao and President Qian were stunned. They looked at the blood-covered young man on the ground, who was missing half his body, and then at the direction where the Teleportation Array had vanished. The expressions on their Faces shifted from anger to shock, and then from shock to disbelief. "The one he teleported... wasn't himself?" President Qian's voice was somewhat dry. Hall Master Zhao did not answer.

Yun Ming slowly raised his head.

He complained in his heart that his Body Refining Cultivation Technique hadn't been practiced in vain; he hadn't died even after taking those two hits.

However, his Face was now as pale as paper, his mouth was covered in blood, and his left side was empty. He barely managed to stay upright.

His eyes looked at the two Late Nascent Soul Stage experts before him. His mouth twitched, and then he raised a single finger—the middle finger.

Hall Master Zhao didn't know what the gesture meant, but he could sense that it was an insult.

His expression darkened completely. "Seeking death."

Yun Ming ignored him. Within his Dantian, the five Golden Cores began to rotate frantically. The five colors of gold, green, red, black, and white intertwined, spinning faster and brighter. Spiritual power surged through his body, his Meridians began to swell, and fine cracks appeared on the surface of the Golden Cores.

"He's going to self-detonate!" President Qian's expression changed drastically, and he moved to stop him. Hall Master Zhao also reacted. Both were Late Nascent Soul Stage experts and were extremely fast.

But Yun Ming was faster; the five Golden Cores exploded simultaneously.

The Five Elements spiritual power annihilated each other, erupting with terrifying power. With an earth-shattering boom, everything within dozens of yards, centered on Yun Ming, was swallowed up.

The ground collapsed, walls shattered, and even the great Formation locking down the space trembled violently in this explosion, with several formation patterns snapping instantly.

The shockwave spread outward. Although Hall Master Zhao and President Qian reacted quickly, they were still caught by the aftermath and forced back dozens of yards.

The two stabilized themselves and looked back. At the center of the explosion, Yun Ming was gone, leaving not even ash behind.

Hall Master Zhao's expression was ugly to the extreme. "Madman."

President Qian did not respond. His gaze fell toward the small courtyard—the Grade 6 Illusion Array was still there. Yun Ming was dead and Xue Ji had been teleported away, but the Formation remained. A complete Grade 6 Illusion Array, even without a Cultivator to control it, had a Formation base, formation patterns, and a Formation Eye that were all priceless treasures. If they could dismantle and take it, it would at least make up for tonight's losses.

"Fortunately, the Formation is still here." Hall Master Zhao saw it too, and his expression softened slightly.

The two walked toward the small courtyard. Just after taking two steps, the ground beneath them suddenly began to vibrate violently. It wasn't an ordinary vibration, but a tremor coming from deep underground, carrying an aura of destruction. The formation patterns emerged from the courtyard—one, two, ten, a hundred—dense and layered. They were no longer operating steadily but were flickering wildly, flashing on and off as if struggling or burning.

The formation patterns of the Floating Life Dream Illusion Array were all glowing. It wasn't the glow of normal operation, but the glow of being on the verge of collapse. "He left a backhand in the Formation!" President Qian's voice cracked. "This madman, he's going to detonate the sixth-order Formation!"

Hall Master Zhao's Face turned completely white. The self-detonation of a Grade 6 Illusion Array was not something a Golden Core self-detonation could compare to. That was a power capable of leveling half of Tianyuan City. What kind of place was Tianyuan City? It was the capital of the Zifu Immortal Dynasty, a place where a Void Refinement Divine Lord resided. If half the city were destroyed, let alone them, even all the forces behind them combined wouldn't be able to withstand His Majesty's wrath. Moreover, they themselves would be blown to bits.

"Run!" Hall Master Zhao didn't want to say another word; he turned and fled. President Qian was even faster. The two turned into two streaks of light, rushing out with all their might. At this moment, Face, treasures, and plans were all forgotten.

Staying alive was the most important thing.

What space-locking Formation? When their lives were on the line, who cared about a Formation? The two used brute force to smash through the Formation wall and flew toward the city outskirts without looking back.

In the small courtyard, the flickering of the formation patterns grew faster and brighter. The entire Huai Tree Alley was enveloped in a brilliant spiritual light. The formation patterns began to snap one by one, as if burning their own life force to release a final radiance. Then—

A pillar of light shot up into the sky.

The pillar of light was astonishingly thick, dozens of yards in diameter, shooting out from deep beneath Huai Tree Alley, piercing the ground, the roofs, the clouds, and stabbing straight into the firmament. It illuminated the entire Tianyuan City, the golden roofs of the Imperial Palace, the tip of the Heaven-Reaching Tower, and the continuous mountain ranges outside the city. Countless illusions vaguely shifted within the pillar of light—mountains, rivers, cities, starry skies, vast oceans, and mulberry fields. It was the distillation of the Floating Life Dream Illusion Array's existence, the final swan song of a Grade 6 Illusion Array.

Everyone in Tianyuan City saw it. Some were startled awake from their dreams, pushed open their windows, and stared dumbfounded at the pillar of light in the distance. Some stood in the streets, heads tilted back, mouths agape.

From the direction of the Imperial Palace, several powerful Divine Senses swept out simultaneously toward Huai Tree Alley.

Tens of thousands of miles away, on an unknown barren mountain, Ah Yuan stood beside Yun Ming. She wanted to ask where Sister Xue Ji had gone, but in the end, she didn't.

Yun Ming pressed his hand on her head and didn't speak either. He looked up toward Tianyuan City. On the distant horizon, a pinkish-purple pillar of light was shooting into the sky, illuminating half the heavens. That was the light from the Floating Life Dream Illusion Array's self-detonation.

Ah Yuan also saw the pillar of light and stiffened. "Master, that is..."

"It's nothing." Yun Ming withdrew his gaze and looked down at Ah Yuan. "Let's go. Let's find a place to rest first."

He led Ah Yuan and disappeared into the night. Behind them, the pillar of light gradually dimmed and finally vanished into the night sky.