560: Chapter 560 A Formation Within a Formation: The Entire Joyful Union Sect Disappears

Xu Ruyu didn't move either.

He was bound by the immortal binding rope, standing at the edge of the Martial Arts Arena, with the bluestone ground beneath his feet and that terrifying light screen behind him.

He watched as the four old men drew closer, the smile on the corners of his mouth deepening.

The old man from the east was the first to arrive.

His hand had already reached in front of Xu Ruyu, only three feet away from grabbing his collar.

He saw Xu Ruyu's smile, and an ominous premonition suddenly surged in his heart.

He jerked his hand back, wanting to retreat, but it was already too late.

A circle of light lit up beneath Xu Ruyu's feet.

The circle wasn't large, just enough to cover his entire body.

The color of the circle was silver-white, the same as the previous fake array, but this time it wasn't the glow of Array Pattern; it was something indescribable, like light seeping through from another world.

The old man from the east grabbed at the circle, but it was like grabbing air; his hand passed through the circle, yet his fingers touched nothing.

Xu Ruyu was right in front of him, but his fingers couldn't reach him, as if separated by a layer of unbreakable glass.

The circle abruptly contracted into a fist-sized ball of light and then exploded.

It didn't blast outward; it simply vanished.

Along with Xu Ruyu inside the circle, everything vanished.

There was no flesh and blood flying, no screams, not even a sound.

He simply disappeared, like a drop of water evaporating into the air.

The four old men's hands all grasped at empty air simultaneously.

They stood where Xu Ruyu had vanished, looking at each other in dismay. The old man from the east pulled back his hand and looked down at his palm.

On his palm, some tiny specks of light were swimming as if they were alive, burrowing into his skin and disappearing.

He shook his hand forcefully, but the light specks didn't come out, seemingly having fused into his blood.

"A Teleportation Array," the middle-aged man from the south spoke first, his voice heavy. "It's not an ordinary Teleportation Array; it's a Sub-array embedded within the Grand Array."

"He teleported himself away."

The old woman from the west shrieked, "Then where did he go? How do we give chase?"

No one answered her.

Because it wasn't just Xu Ruyu who had vanished.

The Hehuan Sect Disciples who were surrounded in the corner of the Martial Arts Arena also vanished one after another.

They didn't run or fly; they vanished from the light circles that lit up beneath their feet.

The circles rose from beneath their feet, covering their whole bodies, then abruptly contracted into balls of light and vanished.

When the Grand Elder vanished, he was still in a kneeling position.

A circle of light lit up beneath his knees, covering his whole body, and then he was gone.

When Hua Xunhuan vanished, she was bending over to pick up her short sword.

Just as she gripped the short sword, a circle of light rose from beneath her feet.

She didn't struggle; she only closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, she was already in another place.

When Zhao Yan vanished, he was in the middle of cursing.

He cursed fiercely, berating those traitors, wishing them a miserable death.

Halfway through his cursing, the circle covered him.

His voice stopped abruptly, as if he had been gouged out of this world by something.

When Leng Ningshuang vanished, she was expressionless.

She looked at no one, simply standing there, waiting for the circle to rise.

She waited for one breath, two breaths, three breaths before the circle rose from beneath her feet.

She lowered her eyes, looking at the silver-white light beneath her feet as if seeing something only she could see.

Then she vanished.

When Qingyan vanished, she was still crying.

Her tears had stopped flowing, but tear stains remained on her face.

She squatted on the ground, hugging her knees, her shoulders twitching.

When the circle rose from beneath her feet, she looked up toward where Xu Ruyu had vanished.

She saw nothing, yet she still looked for a long time.

Then she vanished.

When Ning Caihe vanished, he was still clutching the sword he had picked up from the ground.

He gripped the sword very tightly.

He didn't look at anyone; he only said something the moment the circle rose.

It was too faint; no one heard it clearly.

Then he also vanished.

The Righteous Path Alliance Cultivators crowded in the center of the Martial Arts Arena watched blankly as the people from the Hehuan Sect vanished one by one.

They watched as those three hundred-plus people were wiped away from the corner of the Martial Arts Arena, right before their eyes and from within their encirclement, as if by an invisible hand, vanishing completely.

Only the bare bluestone ground remained in the corner of the Martial Arts Arena; not even a corner of a robe was left behind.

Only those few traitors remained.

Sun Ping stood among the crowd of the Righteous Path Alliance, his whole body trembling.

His legs were weak, his teeth were chattering, and his eyes were wide, as if they were about to fall out of their sockets.

He looked toward where Xu Ruyu had vanished, where the Grand Elder had vanished, and where those he once called Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters had vanished.

His mind was a complete blank, with only two words revolving repeatedly: 'It's over, it's over, it's over.'

The female Disciple behind him slumped onto the ground, her crotch wet, though she didn't feel it.

Her mouth was open, wanting to say something, but her throat seemed blocked, only able to make a 'he-he' sound, like the autumn wind squeezing through a crack in a broken window.

"No... it wasn't supposed to be like this..." Sun Ping's voice was very soft, as if talking to himself. "He promised us... he promised to take us in..."

No one paid him any attention.

The people of the Righteous Path Alliance were too busy looking after themselves; who would have the mind to care about him?

Xiao Nianyin still stood in the Void Realm above the main hall, her figure reflected by the light screen like a divine statue.

Her gaze swept over the four old men, over Ancestor Xuan Yin, over the Righteous Path Alliance Cultivators crowded in the center of the Martial Arts Arena, and finally landed on those few traitors.

She gave them a single glance.

Just one glance.

Then, a circle of light also lit up beneath her feet.

Silver-white light rose from beneath her feet, covering her whole body.

She didn't struggle, nor did she speak.

She simply stood there, waiting for the circle to contract, waiting for the ball of light to vanish, waiting for herself to disappear from this world.

The old man from the east suddenly struck out, a palm thrusting toward the circle that was about to close.

His hand passed through the circle, but he touched nothing.

Xiao Nianyin was right in front of him, but he couldn't touch her.

The circle abruptly contracted into a fist-sized ball of light and then vanished.

Xiao Nianyin also vanished.

A deathly silence fell over the Martial Arts Arena.

The people of the Righteous Path Alliance huddled together, looking at the empty Martial Arts Arena, the still-flowing light screen of the Grand Array, and the four grim-faced Half-step True Immortal Old Ancestors standing in the center.

No one spoke, no one moved.

Over a thousand people were crowded together, yet it was as quiet as a graveyard.

Ancestor Xuan Yin's face contorted.

His white hair was disheveled, his eyes were as red as blood, and his breathing was as heavy as a wounded beast's.

He had lived for nearly ten thousand years and had never been played like this before.

He thought he was the hunter and Xu Ruyu was the prey; he thought he was a cat playing with a mouse, and Xu Ruyu was that mouse.

He was wrong.

The mouse was still a mouse, but the cat had been replaced by someone else.

The old man from the east pulled back his hand and looked down at his palm.

Those light specks were still swimming, still burrowing into his skin, still fusing into his blood.

He didn't know what they were, but he knew they wouldn't be anything good.

The middle-aged man from the south's gray pupils reflected the light and shadow of the Grand Array, which was flowing like a tireless river.

"The energy source of this array isn't Spirit Stones," his voice was calm, not sounding like someone trapped in an array. "It's the Spiritual Vein of this mountain, the Spiritual Qi of this region, the sky, the earth, the wind, the light—it's everything."

"That little brat Xu Ruyu has well and truly screwed us over."

The old woman from the west shrieked, her voice as thin and sharp as nails scraping against stone, "Then what do we do now? Do we just wait here to die?"

Only, this time, no one could answer her.