166: Chapter 166 Entering the Formation

Wang Qian took a deep breath, as if inhaling a thousand jun of strength; his spine straightened abruptly, like a battle spear that would rather break than bend, pointing straight at the firmament, and he bowed deeply:

"Subordinates... obey! We will definitely not fail Your Highness's heavy trust, guard the Great Xia Foundation well, and wait quietly for the time of the prairie fire!"

"Obey!" Lin Yue and Su Mu responded in unison, their voices resolute and decisive, like the clashing of swords.

Crown Prince Xia Hong nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the three like a physical force, each word heavier than a mountain: "Remember, what you shoulder at this moment is far more important than fighting and making a name for yourselves in the Eternal Graveyard... To live is to have a future."

"We understand!"

The three bowed again and turned to leave.

Although their footsteps were still heavy, they had already stepped out with a heavy, do-or-die sense of mission—

They were no longer just hot-blooded Prodigies eager to prove themselves, but the sparks and shields guarding the future hope of Great Xia.

The palace doors slowly closed, cutting off the figures of the three.

Inside the side hall, silence returned, with only the crackling of candle flames remaining.

Crown Prince Xia Hong stood alone in the center of the hall, the candlelight stretching his lonely shadow long, casting it onto the cold wall like a Dragon dormant in the abyss, waiting for the wind and clouds.

He picked up the cup of tea that had already gone cold, his fingertips gently stroking the warm porcelain wall, and whispered, as if chanting some ancient proverb: "Xuanyuan Zhanxian... Chu Zhanxiao... Jian Tanghuang..."

The corners of his mouth curled into an arc as cold as ten-thousand-year black ice.

The molten gold gaze in his eyes grew deeper and more unfathomable, reflecting the flickering candlelight, as if burning with something.

"And my Imperial Sister, who is becoming more and more interesting, Princess Xia Zhiqing..." His voice was even lower, almost blending into the wind, "You all, must not disappoint me."

The wind outside the window rolled withered leaves, sweeping past the carved window lattices, making a rustling sound, as if responding to this silent game unfolding in the stillness.

On the distant horizon, a faint line of dawn light appeared.

That glimmer not only failed to bring a shred of warmth but instead caused the entire sleeping Imperial City to sink deeper into the suffocating oppression before the storm—

A storm destined to sweep through the ages was gathering its destructive power on the horizon.

Crown Prince Xia Hong picked up the teacup and drank the remaining cold tea in one gulp.

The bitterness exploded on the root of his tongue, but it was like a potent medicine, making the light in his eyes increasingly sharp and compelling, as bright as the morning star.

He put down the empty cup and turned to walk into the depths of the inner palace, the hem of his black robe brushing across the smooth ground without making a sound, leaving only a lingering shadow that gradually faded and finally dissipated completely into the darkness.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the Imperial City, in a luxurious and silent sleeping palace.

Princess Xia Zhiqing was dressed in moon-white sleepwear, her black hair loosely tied and falling across her shoulders, listening to the low report of a blurred figure in the shadows.

There was no sleepiness on her face, only a gathering cloud of suspicion, like the thick, impenetrable night outside the window, piling up layer by layer on her beautiful face.

"Very well, this Princess knows."

She waved her hand gently, her voice flat and waveless, with no joy or anger discernible, "Withdraw, continue watching, act carefully, and do not reveal your tracks."

"Yes."

The spy in the shadows bowed, then, as if melting, disappeared silently into the shadows of the palace pillars, as if they had never existed.

Inside the palace, tranquility returned, leaving only Princess Xia Zhiqing alone.

She moved to the sandalwood desk, her slender, jade-like fingertips unconsciously tapping on the smooth surface, making a rhythmic tapping sound, while her gaze remained firmly locked on the huge map of the Great Xia territory hanging on the opposite wall.

On the map, three key locations—the Western Mountain mineral veins, the Southern Lake ancient marshes, and the Northern Border majestic pass—were fiercely circled with a cinnabar pen.

The red was thick and dripping, glaringly bright, like three drops of freshly congealed blood exuding an ominous Aura, silently signaling something.

"Crown Prince Xia Hong..."

She murmured in a low voice, her beautiful brows tightly knitted, her eyes surging with impenetrable confusion and a trace of deep wariness, "What exactly are you plotting in the dark?"

"Are you... really still the dull and timid Imperial Younger Brother from my memories?"

Her fingertips slowly lifted, tracing the air over those shocking scarlet circles on the map.

Her eyes grew increasingly complex and difficult to fathom, with confusion, vigilance, and inquiry intertwined—

A strong, almost instinctive intuition told her that the secret Crown Prince Xia Hong was hiding...

...the chess game he had laid out was far deeper and more treacherous than the corner she could glimpse at this moment, and... far more dangerous.

Three days of time passed in the blink of an eye.

At dawn, the first ray of daylight, like a quenched sharp sword, fiercely pierced through the thick night fog shrouding the Imperial Capital, but it failed to disperse the heat and boiling excitement that had almost condensed into a solid substance above the Martial Arts Arena in the center of the Great Xia Imperial Capital.

This place had long since turned into a furnace of Heaven and Earth.

The dark mass of people overflowed from the circular stands, like a surging, endless tide.

It continued to spread upward along the bluestone stairs, even submerging the hills and wild fields several miles away.

Heads were moving, shoulders rubbing against shoulders; as far as the eye could see, there was only a surging sea of people.

The passionate discussions of the Cultivators, the clear, resonant humming produced spontaneously by thousands of Magical Artifacts sensing Spiritual Qi, and the restless roars of various rare and exotic beasts brought along, infected by the atmosphere...

All these sounds intertwined, mixed, and expanded, finally converging into a majestic wave of sound that shook the heavens and the earth, rushing straight into the nine heavens!

Even the golden light shed by the rising sun seemed to tremble slightly within it.

In the center of the Martial Arts Arena, the former arena had disappeared.

In its place were hundreds of profound array bases laid out according to ancient methods and at the cost of countless Heaven And Earth Treasure.

They were based on ten-thousand-year deep-sea meteorite iron, inlaid with colorful Spirit crystals that shimmered with light and contained majestic Spiritual Qi.

On the ground, countless extremely complex array patterns, like ancient runes with life and breath, were slowly circulating and flickering in a mysterious rhythm—sometimes rising with deep blue water waves, silently rippling, carrying the chill of the deep sea; sometimes rising with crimson firelight, burning brightly, exuding the heat that could melt gold and iron; and sometimes emerging with golden, shining ancient seal characters, as if carrying the truths of Heaven and Earth.

Various colors of spiritual light soared into the sky from hundreds of array eyes, intertwining, colliding, and undergoing Fusion in mid-air, forming a magnificent and grand glow that covered the entire Martial Arts Arena, firmly shrouding this piece of heaven and earth in a mysterious halo that was both dreamy and hazy, yet solemn and sacred.

And in the core guarded by all the outer arrays, a massive, entirely gilded teleportation array floated quietly, three feet off the ground, as steady as a rock.

On the array body were carved long-lost ancient totems and divine-demonic patterns, complex and precise to the extreme, surpassing the imagination of any Mortal; every arc and every turn seemed to be copying the truths of the creation of heaven and earth and the evolution of the Dao.

The pressure it naturally radiated was vast, ancient, and heavy, making the surrounding air viscous and heavy, causing breathing to stagnate.

The golden light it emitted was not dazzling or eye-catching, but rather gentle and majestic, like a tangible tide, slowly brushing over the skin of everyone on the field, reaching even deeper into the Soul, stirring the palpitations hidden in their Bloodline.

The tens of thousands of Cultivators present, regardless of their cultivation level or background, could not help but hold their breath at this moment.

Even those most unruly and spiritually sensitive Magical Artifacts temporarily restrained their sharpness, emitting low, submissive hums, as if paying instinctive homage to this magnificent creation from the ancient times.

"Is... is this the teleportation array leading to that legendary... place?"

A young Cultivator wearing a washed-out long robe, from a remote small country, gripped the long sword in his arms, which he regarded as his life, so tightly that his knuckles turned pale from the excessive force.

He had grown up listening to those ancient legends that had vanished into the dust of history, and now, seeing this miracle-like creation with his own eyes, he felt his blood surging backward, his heart pounding wildly in his chest, almost about to shatter his sternum and leap out.

Beside him, an old man with disheveled white hair and a face full of the ravines of time nodded slowly, his turbid eyes reflecting the shifting gilded light, his tone carrying the vicissitudes of long ages and endless gravity:

"Opened once in a thousand years, a rare Opportunity in eternity... It is said that it holds the heaven-defying Legacy of an invincible ancient Sect, sleeps with rare Spirit Medicine that can make one achieve Ascension on the spot, and is imprinted with fragments of the Law that point directly to the Dao..."

The old man paused, his voice suddenly dropping, carrying a trace of imperceptible trembling: "But at the same time, it also buried the bones of countless brilliant and talented Prodigies who once shook an entire era."

"How many heroes stepped in, high-spirited and looking down upon their peers, only to never return... Even their names have long since dissipated in the long winds of time."

"Dong——!!!"

"Dong——!!!"

"Dong——!!!"

Just at this moment, nine heavy, mountain-like, and magnificent bell tolls, like the sound of heaven, came from the depths of the firmament, washing over the universe!

The first bell toll, the noise as boiling as a furnace, was suddenly strangled by an invisible hand of a Heavenly God, instantly falling into dead silence!

The second bell toll, even the whistling wind seemed to be frozen, all things held their breath, and heaven and earth became solemn!

The third bell toll, tens of thousands of gazes, as if pulled by invisible threads, focused simultaneously on the high platform on the east side of the Martial Arts Arena, which was as towering as a mountain and overlooked the entire field—the viewing stand where the top powerhouses and giants of the hundred dynasties were gathered!

The lingering echoes of the bell were still rolling and reverberating between heaven and earth, when dozens of figures who had long been prepared soared into the air from various stands, quiet rooms, and even the clouds!

As their robes fluttered, they turned into streams of light of various colors, yet all with astonishing Aura, like falling stars, falling with absolute precision into the ordinary teleportation arrays on the periphery that had already been marked for their ownership.

Every time a stream of light fell, it caused the corresponding area to erupt with enthusiastic cheers and shouts of support, like a mountain-calling and sea-howling tsunami, with waves of sound rising one after another!

"Everyone."

An old yet extremely clear and penetrating voice, like ripples in an ancient well, rang out in every inch of the Martial Arts Arena without causing waves, yet irresistibly, clearly entering everyone's ears, instantly suppressing all remaining noise.

Everyone looked up involuntarily.

They saw that above the Martial Arts Arena, an old man in white had quietly appeared at some unknown time.

His face was gaunt, his beard and hair were like snow, untainted by dust, and he walked on the Void Realm as if walking on flat ground.

Even more miraculously, with every step he took, a pure white, holy, and slowly rotating lotus-shaped cloud naturally appeared in the Void Realm beneath his feet.

The petals drifted down, turning into specks of spiritual light containing pure vitality, dissipating, leaving faint ripples of Spiritual Qi slowly rippling in the air.

Those with extensive knowledge recognized him, and their hearts were shaken—this was one of the Tai Miao Ancestral Witches of Great Xia, Yu Xuanzi, who had long since ignored worldly affairs and whose cultivation was profound! He was a reclusive expert who truly stood at the Peak of this realm!

"A hundred-year Reincarnation, reopening once in eternity."

Yu Xuanzi's gaze was as calm as an ancient pool, slowly sweeping over the dense, ant-like yet high-willed crowd below, his voice carrying a heaviness and silent majesty that spanned a thousand years, "Today, the heroes of the hundred dynasties gather here to embark together on this... life-and-death Opportunity."

"The Eternal Graveyard is an ancient burial ground, treacherous and unpredictable, far exceeding the imagination of Mortals."

"Great Opportunity and instant killing intent coexist; stepping into the sky or dying and disappearing often depends on just a single thought."

He paused slightly, his calm gaze seemingly becoming sharp all of a sudden, piercing into everyone's heart: "Those who step through this gate must remember—life and death are determined by fate, and wealth is determined by heaven! The road ahead is long, take care of yourselves!"

As soon as his words fell, Yu Xuanzi said no more, and with a fierce wave of his sleeve towards the hundreds of arrays below!

It was as if he had issued the final decree of a Heavenly God.

"Weng——!!!"

"Boom boom boom——!!!"

Hundreds of arrays, at the same instant, erupted with unprecedentedly brilliant light!

The Spirit crystals at the array eyes flickered violently at an unprecedented frequency, the humming sound deafening, merging into one piece, like the roar of an ancient giant beast!

The clearly perceptible spatial fluctuations, like ripples in an ancient well caused by a giant stone, rippled outward in layers, surging and magnificent, with the gilded teleportation array as the core!

Violently stirring the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within a radius of dozens of miles, causing everyone's hair on the field to move without wind, their skin to tingle with a strong sense of electric shock, and their Qi and blood to churn along with it!

"Enter the array!!!"

I do not know who let out a tearing roar, igniting the final fuse.

The Cultivators, who had long been restrained to their limits and had red eyes, were now like a flood of destruction that had finally opened the gates, rushing crazily and recklessly toward the teleportation arrays they had chosen, which were emitting alluring light!

The sharp whistling of robes breaking through the air, the terrifying roar of the arrays operating at full capacity to their Peak, the heart-wrenching final exhortations and shouts of relatives and Sects, the clanging sharpness of weapons being drawn...

All sounds exploded, intertwined, and underwent Fusion at this moment, turning into a tide of deafening noise that swallowed everything!

The light, dazzling to the extreme, instantly swallowed those figures who first stepped into the array.

One, ten, a hundred... figures twisted and blurred in the strong light, then disappeared.

The Eternal Graveyard, this place of slaughter and Opportunity that had been sealed for a thousand years, at this moment, suddenly opened its mysterious and bloody gates!