165: Surround the bamboo forest!

The bamboo forest began to move despite the lack of wind.

The passage they had just used to enter was now completely cut off.

An invisible light barrier descended over the bamboo forest.

Chen Xian stood upon the Formation Eye.

Though he had a plan in mind, he didn't feel entirely at ease.

The Sage of Literature's Black Tortoise Grand Formation was certainly powerful, but it had, after all, endured the baptism of endless eons.

Whether it could withstand the attacks of over two thousand Prodigies and that ill-intentioned Quasi-Saint was still an unknown.

Zi Yun and the others watched as Chen Xian hurriedly activated the bamboo forest's Black Tortoise Grand Formation.

Just as they were feeling bewildered...

They suddenly felt a dense crowd of people flying toward them from outside.

"So many people!"

"Why did so many people suddenly show up?"

"Chen Xian, who exactly did you offend? To think they'd summon so many people to take you down!"

Chen Xian wanted to cry but had no tears.

"Even if you gave me a hundred times more courage, I wouldn't dare offend them!"

Pei Ning and the others looked at him with disbelief.

After all, in their eyes, this man was inherently audacious and reckless.

At that moment, the expression on Zi Yun's face gradually grew solemn.

She looked at the people in the sky, whose expressions were numb and eyes were vacant.

She whispered, "Something is wrong with these people!"

"Hmm?"

"What's wrong with them?"

Gu Qingcheng asked curiously.

"They shouldn't be appearing here!"

"Our Yaochi Immortal Palace sent at least a hundred people this time; everyone was divided into different areas based on their strength."

Zi Yun pointed at the figures of several women in mid-air.

"They should be in the Edge Zone. Why would they appear here?"

"Because the barrier of the Shanhai Secret Realm has been broken,"

Chen Xian said in a low voice.

"What?"

Everyone's faces turned pale upon hearing this.

"That's impossible!"

Chen Xian looked at the dense crowd in the sky.

"Do you think anyone could lead so many Prodigies to act together at the same time?"

"And with such perfect synchronization? I'm afraid even the top-tier Sects of the various continents couldn't manage that!"

"Furthermore, their eyes are vacant, as if they aren't themselves."

Zheng Yi stroked her chin and said quite cautiously, "I feel like they've had their minds bewitched by someone!"

Following Zheng Yi's reminder...

They indeed noticed the issue.

"Could it be..."

"That's right. I said a Quasi-Saint would be coming to this Shanhai Secret Realm."

Chen Xian stood in the bamboo forest, his gaze constantly scanning the crowd.

"That Quasi-Saint is among this crowd right now!"

"I'm afraid he is the reason these people are acting so strangely!"

Hiss!

Pei Ning and the others sucked in a breath of cold air.

A Quasi-Saint leading over two thousand Prodigies above them—no matter how you heard it, the situation felt incredibly eerie.

As a result, they didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.

In mid-air.

Lan Qingfeng looked down at the bamboo forest with a vacant gaze.

"Great Master, they've disappeared!"

Great Master Ci Du had naturally noticed as well.

He pressed his palms together, his gaze falling upon the bamboo forest below. Just as he was about to leave to continue the search...

He suddenly noticed that the arrangement of the bamboo was slightly off.

"Amitabha!"

"So it's a Black Tortoise Grand Formation. This old man almost fell for the illusion."

"Using bamboo as a Formation is truly deceptive!"

The usually steady Great Master Ci Du actually found his breathing becoming somewhat hurried.

At the thought that he was about to fulfill his long-held wish...

He tightened his grip on the Buddhist Beads in his hand.

"Everyone, those two young friends have likely fallen into an enemy trap. We must help them out of there."

"Yes!"

"We obey the Great Master's command!"

As soon as Lan Qingfeng finished speaking...

He immediately led several people to charge down.

"They're coming!"

Inside the Formation, everyone's hearts were thumping wildly.

Because they all knew clearly that this Formation was their final shield.

If the Formation broke, they wouldn't just be facing death; they would also become vacant shells like those people, manipulated by others!

If the Formation could hold...

They might still have a slim chance of survival.

Boom!

Lan Qingfeng and the others were blocked outside by an invisible light barrier.

The hearts that were hanging in everyone's throats finally settled back down.

However, at that moment, a single sentence from Chen Xian made them tense up again.

"Don't be careless, this is only the beginning. That Quasi-Saint hasn't made a move yet!"

Chen Xian's gaze remained fixed on the dense crowd in the sky.

He was convinced that the Quasi-Saint was among them.

After Lan Qingfeng and the others were stopped by the light barrier...

None of them left; instead, the intensity of their attacks increased.

It was as if they weren't trying to save Chen Xian, but rather to kill them.

Half an hour passed.

Lan Qingfeng and the over two thousand Prodigies took turns attacking.

Yet they failed to break through the bamboo forest's defenses.

Great Master Ci Du's calm expression finally began to change.

He was getting a bit impatient!

Two thousand nine hundred and ninety-five people.

He was clearly only five people away from being able to Transcend three thousand people.

As long as he transcended three thousand, he could... but these two people were actually hiding in the bamboo forest and wouldn't make a sound.

Great Master Ci Du's eyes darted around.

This Black Tortoise Grand Formation was incredibly sturdy.

Since a direct assault wouldn't work...

Then he would make them come out on their own.

Thinking of this, Great Master Ci Du pressed his palms together.

"Amitabha!"

"Young friends, disperse. You may chant the sutras to pray for the young friends inside, so that they may be spared from calamity."

Only then did Lan Qingfeng and the others fly from below back into the sky.

Two thousand nine hundred and ninety-five people simultaneously pressed their palms together.

As Great Master Ci Du spoke from the center...

Everyone followed suit, chanting the sutras.

In an instant, the Sanskrit Sounds shook the heavens.

Chen Xian and the others within the bamboo forest Formation naturally heard this Sanskrit chanting as well.

One by one, their states of mind began to fall into chaos.

"Strange, these are clearly Buddhist sounds, so why is my heart in such a mess?"

"There's something wrong with these Buddhist sounds!"

The well-traveled Zi Yun heard the Buddhist sounds and said with a grim expression, "The Buddhist sounds are disturbing our minds!"

"I found him!"

Pei Ning pointed at an old man in grey monk robes sitting cross-legged high in the air.

"Who is he?"

"How can he control so many Prodigies to chant Buddhist sounds with him?"

"What is he doing here? Is he trying to force us out?"

At that moment, Zi Yun looked at the figure and said with a trembling voice, "If it's a Quasi-Saint and a monk, then it can only be Great Master Ci Du."

"But he is a great philanthropist who has been in seclusion for a hundred years. Why would he suddenly appear here?"

"And what exactly does he want to do by manipulating these Prodigies?"

For a moment, everyone felt suspicious of his motives.

Chen Xian's expression was grave.

"Regardless of his motives, I don't think it's anything good!"

As for the 'great philanthropist' Zi Yun mentioned...

Chen Xian immediately harbored doubts.

If he were truly a kind person, how could he manipulate so many Prodigies to chant Sanskrit here?

At the same time...

Under the influence of the Sanskrit Sounds...

Great Master Ci Du also saw the figures of Chen Xian and the others inside the bamboo forest.

Especially when he saw dozens of people...

A surge of joy rose in his heart!

The numbers are sufficient!