117: An unknown powerful being descends

Zhou Yan's Divine Sense firmly locked onto the two figures in the deep pit.

A strange feeling arose in his heart, as if he had become the villain of all villains.

But he had no choice.

The strength of these two was truly unimpressive; they merely had the shell of the Core Formation Stage, and even at their peak, their panel stats were no more than an Elite Monster's.

Killing them probably wouldn't drop anything valuable.

Helpless, Zhou Yan could only continuously pressure them, hoping they might transform into a BOSS like the Sea Horse before.

"Old Shrimp, I can't go on... while my flesh and blood are still useful, devour me."

The voice-to-text content appeared before his eyes, and Zhou Yan knew that the critical moment was approaching.

The next moment, a roar echoed.

"Senior, please help us buy some time!"

It was the voice of the big shrimp; though still weak, Zhou Yan could clearly see its hp rapidly recovering on its panel and its stats continuously climbing.

"That's enough, both of you... I asked you to come save me, and now I have to act instead."

Ma Hao, who had been lying on the ground, now stood in front of the large pit, blocking Zhou Yan's path.

"Kid, how about we both take a step back? I'll give you the Legacy, and you let us live."

"That does sound tempting. Such severe injuries, yet you can reverse them with the power of time." Seeing Zhou Yan seem interested, Ma Hao's expression relaxed slightly.

But in the next second, the two had already clashed violently.

"I knew you had ill intentions."

Ma Hao gritted his teeth, glaring at Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan didn't answer, but responded with thunder in his stead.

Yang attribute lightning was still too damaging to soul bodies. Although Ma Hao forcibly reversed his injuries with the power of time, he couldn't sustain it for long.

However, the time he bought was enough.

A green shadow flashed by, timely saving Ma Hao, who was about to be pierced by lightning.

"Apologies, Senior, you can rest now."

A monster whose size was now comparable to Zhou Yan's gently placed Ma Hao on the ground.

BOSS [Demonized Old Shrimp]

[Rank: Core Formation Middle Stage]

[hp: 380,000/460,000]

Old Shrimp turned around, his expression seemingly calm, but fierce anger burned in his eyes.

"We once received kindness from the Old Duke. Today, Sir Qiao ordered us to kill you, but we didn't expect to suffer such a great calamity."

"All my brothers have died in battle. Right or wrong, I no longer have the heart to pursue... Come, let's fight!"

Zhou Yan frowned.

The emotions he displayed when speaking did not seem feigned; under the detection of his Divine Sense, it should be the truth.

Could it be that Qiao Wenbin wanted to kill him?

Why?

Recalling everything after arriving in Jiangzhou, and the other party's impatient eagerness to see him, he still couldn't figure it out.

However, he would know once he investigated upon returning.

Just as Zhou Yan was distracted, Old Shrimp suddenly charged out, now furious and ferocious, as if wanting to tear Zhou Yan to pieces.

Zhou Yan was not in a hurry; he simply transformed back into human form and casually cast the "Zhou Yans Marvelous Array."

Do you really think I'm like Wang Yao?

Fighting you is just to get more rewards.

I hold many trump cards; I'm not here for a fair competition with you.

The grand Formation unfolded, a starry sky appeared, and Old Shrimp was instantly teleported to a corner of the Formation.

This was the Formation Master entering the Formation, the Formation's spontaneous protection.

Zhou Yan no longer looked at them; with a thought, he exited the Formation.

Glancing at the rapidly depleting Spirit Stones in his ring, his heart ached slightly.

I hope you are worth this much effort.

Spirit Stones vanished rapidly, and the grand Formation completely unfolded.

The original starry sky became even more dazzling, but unfortunately, Zhou Yan was outside and couldn't see the scene within the Formation.

Even a Core Formation Stage Divine Sense couldn't approach this grand Formation by a single inch.

"Ding! Player has killed BOSS [Demonized Old Shrimp] and Elite [Recluse of Spiritual Stream]. Experience +36000, Seeking the Dao Coin +76500."

"Loot has been automatically picked up into your backpack. Please check it yourself."

The notification popped up, and Zhou Yan quickly retracted the Formation.

Good heavens, burning tens of thousands of Spirit Stones in two seconds, his heart was truly bleeding.

Though distressed, he had to admit that the power of this Formation was truly formidable.

Although it was a trapping Formation and not primarily for killing, it could still trap a Nascent Soul to death.

How could these ordinary Core Formation cultivators, who weren't even considered Prodigies, compare?

No, Ma Hao should be considered a Prodigy-level Core Formation, but now he was only a remnant soul, inferior even to an ordinary Core Formation cultivator.

The Formation dissipated, and nothing remained within it.

Good, not even dregs are left, saves me the trouble of digging a pit to bury them.

Wait!

Damn it, I haven't looted the bodies yet!

Just as Zhou Yan was regretting, battles in several other spaces also neared their end.

Although those fragments of the Recluse of Spiritual Stream could also use some time-type powers, their own panel stats were not strong, and facing true Prodigies, they could only barely hold on for a moment.

Just as Mu Qianqiu's sound wave attack shattered the gaunt old man in front of him, a rift suddenly tore open behind him.

He abruptly turned his head, looking at that figure in shock.

"You Truth Cult... you are truly a bunch of madmen!"

Similar situations were playing out in several other spaces.

Zhou Yan was admonishing himself not to overuse Formations in the future to avoid wasting resources, when Mu Qianqiu suddenly appeared beside him.

"Brother Mu?"

"Why are you back so quickly?"

Zhou Yan didn't understand how Mu Qianqiu returned, nor did he understand the meaning of the panic on his face.

"No time to explain! Those people from the Truth Cult are crazy, come with me quickly!"

Mu Qianqiu grabbed Zhou Yan's wrist and conjured a writing brush.

Before Zhou Yan could react, a rift had been torn open in the sky above.

"Not good!"

A terrifying beam of light shot out from the rift, heading straight for Zhou Yan.

Mu Qianqiu flashed in front of him, conjuring the writing brush to forcefully block it.

The beam of light dissipated, and the writing brush also shattered.

Mu Qianqiu's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and he said with a slight tremble, looking at the rift.

"Brother Zhou, this time our Joyous Union Sect truly screwed you over... even I was caught in the scheme."

"I apologize now, can you forgive me, considering we are about to face life and death together?"

Zhou Yan looked at his pale face and finally realized the seriousness of the situation.

There was an expert, and one far beyond imagination.

The rift expanded, and a Black-Robed Man stepped out from it.

A large red marker on the mini-map was unusually glaring, but he was neither a normal enemy nor an Elite Monster or BOSS, and his panel information was completely blurred.

[???]

[Rank: ???]

What's going on?

Even as an enemy, his information cannot be displayed?

"Zhou Yan, hand over time like a shuttle and yang scissors."

Zhou Yan was about to try talking his way out, but suddenly found his body unable to move.

Checking his panel, a line of status was clearly visible.

[Abnormal Status: Law Invasion (???)]

He was drenched in cold sweat, using all his strength, yet unable to regain control of his body.

He could only watch helplessly as his hand took out time like a shuttle and yang scissors from his ring.

As soon as the two treasures were taken out, the other party casually put them away.

"Alright, you can die now."

That person's aura surged, and a giant finger condensed from magical power pressed down towards the two.

The strength of that power far exceeded Zhou Yan's imagination.

Zhou Yan's Divine Sense feedback only conveyed: unanalyzable, irresistible, unavoidable.

The two could only watch helplessly as the giant finger approached, powerless to reverse the situation.

"Om—"

A wave of Qi spread out from the profound ring, and Zhou Yan and Mu Qianqiu suddenly regained their mobility.

Under Mu Qianqiu's shocked gaze, Zhou Yan's eyes hardened, and he pressed the profound ring.

"Om—!"

A stronger wave of Qi swept out, and this time the sound was incredibly clear, as if echoing in everyone's heart.

Even though they had never heard this sound before, they all knew—it was a sword cry!