90: The battle begins

"Hehe, indeed, you won't have to wait."

"Because..."

"You won't get the chance!"

Hearing Li Yudao's arrogant words, Lin Chen's expression suddenly changed. His previous terror and ferocity gradually settled into calm, and a cunning smile appeared at the corners of his mouth, slowly spreading to his ears. He looked like a conspirator hiding in the shadows whose plan had finally succeeded.

"Hmm?"

Li Yudao was stunned.

He completely failed to understand Lin Chen's reaction.

Not only him, but the other six old fogies were also baffled. How could someone have such a reaction when they were on the verge of death?

The seven of them suddenly felt an ominous premonition, and a chill struck their hearts.

At that very moment—

A sudden change occurred!

The surrounding spatial Laws suddenly trembled violently. Wisps of almost imperceptible black firelight, like swimming Dragons, appeared around the seven of them in an instant. They then expanded rapidly, forming an almost invisible circular wall of fire in a flash.

Meanwhile, Lin Chen stood on the deck of the warship, looking at them with a beaming smile.

"Snap!"

Lin Chen suddenly snapped his fingers.

The 'Fang Hong' and 'Xiao Jin' who had been lying on the ground playing dead immediately scrambled up and restored their original appearances. Then, the two of them simultaneously crushed something. With a 'buzz', a spatial rift suddenly appeared, and a force sucked the warship inside.

In the blink of an eye, it vanished.

As soon as Li Yudao saw the woman's face, his eyes widened like copper bells. He recognized her instantly; she was the woman who had killed his disciple, the Holy Son, named Chu Nansheng, an Early Great Emperor stage expert.

And the old man standing beside her... his aura was significantly stronger than Chu Nansheng's. Without even thinking, he knew it must be the Old Ancestor of the Wending Sect, Li Tiangang!

A Peak Great Emperor!

Seeing their composed manner and the eerie smile on Lin Chen's face, Li Yudao immediately realized something and roared—

"Not good! It's a trap!"

"We've been ambushed! Retreat, quickly!"

The other six were all old foxes who had lived for tens of thousands of years. If they hadn't been so overconfident just now, they never would have fallen into this snare.

Although they were exceptionally furious, their reactions were lightning-fast. Before Li Yudao could even finish speaking, ripples appeared in front of them as space tore open. The old fogies each dove into the forcibly torn spatial rifts, attempting to escape.

However... it was already too late.

"Array, rise!!"

A bone-chilling voice rang out.

"Buzz—!!"

With the warship's original position as the core, countless black-red lights lit up within the Void Realm for a million miles around, originating from those fire Dragon wisps. The circular wall of fire flared up violently, instantly weaving into a flame cage that covered heaven and earth!

A Magic Treasure resembling an ancient mirror hung directly above the cage.

Eight black-red pillars of light stretching across the starry sky rose from eight directions, forming eight roaring fire Dragons.

Inside the cage was no longer the starry sky but a sea of fire. The temperature in the center spiked to an unimaginable degree, even igniting and incinerating the Great Dao Laws!

The black-red fire Dragons rampaged through the cage, seemingly searching for something.

"Ah—!!"

Soon, miserable screams echoed from within.

A figure wailed and shrieked as he dashed around frantically. His entire body was ignited by flames. No matter what methods he used, he couldn't extinguish this flame known as Extreme Radiance True Fire. It was like maggots on a bone; to touch it was to die.

"Save me, save me—!!"

He screamed in terror.

But no one came to save him... the others could barely save themselves.

Though their movements were fast enough, they were not faster than the Eight Desolations Profound Fire Array.

Not one of the seven escaped; all were locked within the flame cage.

"This is... the Eight Desolations Profound Fire Array!"

They naturally knew the power of this ancient malevolent array.

Instantly, their expressions became extremely unsightly. Terror, anger, panic... various emotions intertwined. They never would have imagined in their wildest dreams that the Wending Sect would set an ambush for them in advance. Lin Chen's constant fleeing earlier was actually a show of feigned weakness, a performance for them.

The goal was to lure them into the killing array.

Trying to escape from the killing array was undoubtedly harder than ascending to heaven. It would be one thing if the array's creators weren't Great Emperors, but... each of the eight people hosting the array eyes was in the Great Emperor Realm, and among them was a Late Stage Great Emperor expert. Their Realms were not at all weaker than theirs.

"Ah ah ah ah—"

"It's actually you!!"

"Ancient Moon Tower!"

"And those old hags from Yushuang Palace!"

"You dare to collude with the Wending Sect to plot against the Taiyi Immortal Sect!"

They soon recognized that the eight people hosting the array eyes were all old acquaintances.

However, three black-clothed figures also slowly revealed themselves. They didn't recognize these three, but judging by the aura they deliberately emitted, they were undoubtedly in the Great Emperor Realm as well.

Lin Chen smiled and said, "I forgot to introduce them to you. These three are assassins from the Misty Rain Tower. This operation was planned by the Misty Rain Tower Lord himself... Well? Are you surprised? Is it unexpected?"

The seven of them were now like turtles in a jar; Lin Chen wasn't worried at all about them escaping.

Not everyone possessed a ten thousand calamities untainted robe that could make them fearless of the Extreme Radiance True Fire.

"Misty Rain Tower?"

The voice of the burning, screaming old fogey gradually weakened until it faded away entirely. His body was completely incinerated, not even a single hair remained.

The other five old fogies were terrified. While frantically dodging the entanglement of the eight fire Dragons, they shouted angrily at Li Yudao, "Li Yudao!! Didn't you repeatedly guarantee there would be no problem?! Why would the Misty Rain Tower plot against us?!"

"...I! I don't know either... The Taiyi Immortal Sect has no grievances with the Misty Rain Tower..."

Li Yudao was nearly in tears; he also couldn't understand why this was happening.

Anger, grievance, and despair covered Li Yudao's face. Brilliant divine light erupted from his body as he swung his sword with all his might, trying to carve out an opening to escape.

However, it only stirred a ripple on the sea of fire.

As the fire Dragons surged toward him, he could only dodge in panic.

"Let me explain it to you! That way, you can die with understanding."

Lin Chen smiled and said, "A long, long time ago, there was a place called Wind and Snow City..."

Outside the array, Lin Chen's voice was unhurried, as if he were telling a bedtime story to a child.

Inside the array, however, it was a completely different scene.

"Ah! My Protective Emperor Qi!"

"Save me, save me—!!"

Old Ancestor Fenhai let out a miserable scream as a fire Dragon broke through his defenses and instantly ignited his body.

The remaining five, including Li Yudao, finally found an opportunity to gather together.

They finally knew the truth of the matter, but it no longer mattered. They now had only one thought—to break through an opening and escape from this place... they didn't want to die!

"Join forces! Attack a single point!"

They roared, the five of them launching a heaven-shaking offensive, simultaneously attacking one of the array eyes.

However, the others were already prepared.

Li Tiangang, Chu Nansheng, and the three assassins from the Misty Rain Tower struck at the same time. Under the enhancement of massive spiritual power, the power of the Eight Desolations Profound Fire Array surged. The flame cage instantly became at least twice as thick, and the bodies of the eight fire Dragons also expanded by more than double.

"Boom—!!"

The attack from the five members of the Taiyi Immortal Sect was like a clay ox entering the sea, failing to stir even the slightest wave.

They were unwilling to give up and tried many more times, but the result was always the same.

"...No!!"

Old Ancestor Fenhai's screams echoed in their ears. Their eyes were nearly bursting from their sockets as they fell into complete despair.

"Condense!"

As the eight Great Emperors hosting the array eyes shouted in unison, the Eight Desolations Profound Fire Array began to contract. The room to survive for the six people inside the array grew smaller and smaller.