159: Chapter 159 The Price

[ You feel a warmth at the center of your brow, and a very faint star mark appears, then fades away. ]

Chen Yuan watches from outside the simulator, his heart filled with mixed emotions. Although the illusion is false, the longing to see his brother is incredibly real.

[ "This mark will guide you to find the real Big Brother at the critical moment. They were picked up by Father's old subordinates and are very safe now." ]

[ You take a deep breath, suppressing the melancholy in your heart. ]

[ "Let's go." ]

[ "It's time to go back." ]

[ When passing by the array base tree, Shu stops. ]

[ "On this trip, you did not reach the deepest part of Guixu, nor did you see your father's true spirit." ]

[ "Why?" ]

[ You shake your head. ]

[ "I am taking Guan Qingqing and Yang Cong to wait outside now." ]

[ "The dangers in the depths are unknown; it is not worth the gamble." ]

[ "I will come again next time." ]

[ Shu nods. ]

[ "Then, my origin..." ]

[ You take out a leaf picked from the array base tree. ]

[ Shu's fragmented origin returns to the array base tree along the leaf. That cyan phantom manifests one last time before you. ]

[ "My origin has returned to its place." ]

[ "From now on, I shall be the will of the array base tree, guarding this place." ]

[ "The 'Shu' within Guan Qingqing is merely a strand of my avatar; it can continue to assist you." ]

[ "Go now, son of Xuan Xiao." ]

[ Shu's phantom slowly dissipates. ]

[ You return the way you came, passing through the nine-layered seal portal. ]

[ A heaven-shaking roar comes from outside. ]

[ The moment you rush out of the seal, you see only a sky full of fire. ]

[ Cangming and the others stand bathed in blood, surrounded by thirty-six terrifying auras. ]

[ The leader wears a black robe, and his aura is close to that of a Golden Immortal. ]

[ "Remnants of Xuan Xiao, die!" ]

[ The Black-robed man strikes with his palm. ]

[ Cangming blocks in front of you and has his chest shattered by the palm. ]

[ "My Lord... run..." ]

[ Cangming blocked the fatal blow for you, but the price was his death. ]

[ The other two Grave Keepers also died. ]

[ Your eyes turn bloodshot, and you roar. ]

[ Array Master authority fully activated. ]

[ All law runes within a thousand miles respond to your will. ]

[ You use yourself as the array eye, with Myriad Laws Return to One as the core. ]

[ "Ten Thousand Arrays Return to One!" ]

[ A super array covering a thousand miles condenses out of thin air. ]

[ The attacks of the thirty-six Early True Immortals are frozen in mid-air. ]

[ You split into two array-pattern avatars; one wields a halberd to charge, the other manipulates a void black hole, forming a triangle with your true self. ]

[ You suppress the Black-robed man with all your might. ]

[ A quarter of an hour later, all thirty-five Early True Immortals have fallen. ]

[ Only that Black-robed man, an Early Golden Immortal, remains. ]

[ With your strength alone, you cannot hold him for too long. ]

[ The Black-robed man sneers. ]

[ "You can't escape, spawn of Xuan Xiao." ]

[ "Did you think you could survive after leaving Guixu?" ]

[ "The entire East Sea outside has been sealed off by the Nine Heavens." ]

[ You take a deep breath, determination in your eyes. ]

[ There is no way back. ]

[ You bite your tongue hard, spraying a mouthful of essence blood onto the Formation Plate. ]

[ You look back at the direction of the hidden dragon shuttle, where the auras of Guan Qingqing and Yang Cong are. ]

[ "Guan Qingqing, Yang Cong, you go first." ]

[ You take out the life-saving jade talisman gifted by the Tiannan Immortal King, a one-time spatial teleportation. ]

[ "This talisman can only send two people." ]

[ "After you get out, return to Tiannan City immediately and find Xing Haotian, and tell him everything you saw in Guixu." ]

[ "Master!" Guan Qingqing's voice comes from the hidden dragon shuttle, choked with sobs. ]

[ "Boss, let's fight our way out together!" Yang Cong roars. ]

[ You shake your head. ]

[ "With the Array Master authority in my hands, I have more than enough to protect myself." ]

[ This is a lie, but you must say it. ]

[ The jade talisman activates. ]

[ Light envelops the hidden dragon shuttle, and it disappears from the spot along with Guan Qingqing and Yang Cong. ]

[ You face the Black-robed Golden Immortal alone. ]

[ With Array Master authority fully open, you hold out for a full hour. ]

[ At the very last moment, your chest is blasted through by the Black-robed man's palm. ]

[ Blood sprays into the void, and you close your eyes with a smile. ]

[ You died! simulator ended. ]

Chen Yuan opens his eyes abruptly.

He exhales a long breath of turbid air.

The panel in his sea of consciousness appears.

[ You can choose three from the following rewards: ]

[ 1. Array Master breakthrough complete insight (including the "Heart as the Array Eye" mental cultivation technique). ]

[ 2. Talent: All-Aspects Guixu. ]

[ 3. Complete internal structural map of Guixu + Method to break the nine-layered seal. ]

[ 4. Grave Keeper identity roster + Token of submission. ]

[ 5. This simulation experience (in the form of memory fragments) ]

Chen Yuan does not hesitate.

"I choose 1, 2, and 3."

The simulator's prompt sounds.

[ Rewards have been fully distributed. ]

Three golden lights sink into his sea of consciousness.

Chen Yuan slowly closes his eyes to digest the insights.

A moment later, he opens them.

His eyes are clear as if washed.

"Simulation over."

"Time for reality."

Outside the window, the moonlight of Tiannan City falls quietly on his shoulders.

The real journey to Guixu

begins.

The next morning.

In the East District of Tiannan City, a medium-sized martial arts arena.

Chen Yuan stands in the center of the arena, with a broken bronze Formation Plate under his feet.

The Formation Plate is ten zhang square; more than half of the patterns on it are twisted and deformed, and several key nodes have even collapsed directly, with faint black qi emerging from the cracks.

An Early True Immortal cultivator with a worried face stands next to him, rubbing his hands.

"Consultant Chen, this Martial Suppression Array is the core of the Tiannan City martial arts arena. A few days ago, two juniors were sparring here, and one of them couldn't control their qi and blood, directly shattering the Formation Plate."

"Hmm."

"Look at this... how long will it take to fix?" The City Lord's Mansion is in a hurry to hold the martial competition.

Chen Yuan squats down and runs his finger across the Formation Plate.

"Three hours."

The cultivator is stunned.

"Thr... Three hours?"

"Hmm."

"Consultant Chen, it took a whole month to get someone to fix this Formation Plate last time."

Chen Yuan looks up at him.

"That was them."

He doesn't explain much. With a light tap of his finger on the Formation Plate, a wisp of pure white immortal essence seeps into the cracks, and the twisted patterns on the disk begin to slowly return to their original positions.

Not repairing. Reconstructing.

Under the Eye of the Array Master, the entire Formation Plate is a three-dimensional blueprint in his eyes. Every line, every node, every flow of energy is crystal clear. Where it needs to be patched, where it needs to be replaced, where it should simply be torn down and rebuilt—he only needs one look.

Three hours later, the Martial Suppression Array lights up with green light again.

The cultivator stares at the Formation Plate under his feet, dumbfounded. He subconsciously reaches out to touch it, then pulls his hand back, as if afraid of breaking something.

"This... this isn't just fixed, right?"

"Optimized it while I was at it." Chen Yuan pats the dust off his sleeves. "It can withstand one full-power attack from the Golden Immortal realm."

"..."

"Where's the money?"

"Oh, oh, oh!" The cultivator hurriedly takes out a jade talisman from his Storage Pouch. "Ten thousand spirit crystals, payment settled."

Chen Yuan takes it, puts it into his sleeve, turns around, and leaves.

First job.