561: Chapter 561 I've long suspected there's a traitor among us.

Inside the light screen, Ancestor Xuan Yin gritted his teeth, the flesh on his face twitching rhythmically.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but each one was like a moth flying into a fire, fluttering twice before being incinerated.

He looked up at the flowing light screen outside the Martial Arts Arena.

From inside the light screen, he could see the forests outside the mountain gate, the distant peaks, and the clouds on the horizon.

But those inside the light screen could not get out, and those outside could not get in.

They were like being trapped in a giant glass dome, able to see the outside but never able to reach it.

Outside the Grand Array, in a hidden cave on the back mountain of the Hehuan Sect.

Xu Ruyu stood at the cave entrance, looking at the light screen in the distance that enveloped the entire Hehuan Sect.

The immortal binding rope was no longer on him; he had casually snapped it upon emerging from the teleportation array, as easily as tearing a piece of paper.

Xiao Nianyin stood by his side.

The Grand Elder, Hua Xunhuan, and Granny Liu stood behind them.

Leng Ningshuang, Zhao Yan, Ning Caihe, and Qingyan stood further back.

Over three hundred Hehuan Sect Disciples stood even further back.

The cave was very dark and quiet, with only the light screen flashing occasionally, illuminating everyone's faces.

The Grand Elder walked out from the crowd, approached Xu Ruyu, and stood behind him for a long time.

He looked at the light screen, then at Xu Ruyu's back, his lips trembling several times before he finally spoke: "Sect Master, what exactly is going on? That Grand Array... wasn't it broken by them? This Grand Array... where did it come from?

How is it so much stronger than the one we set up before?"

His words voiced the questions weighing on everyone's hearts.

Zhao Yan followed behind, the blood all over his body having dried into a black crust.

He scratched his head, flaking off a piece of dried blood, and said in a muffled voice: "Yeah, Sect Master, we all thought... thought we were really going to..."

He didn't finish, but everyone knew what he was going to say.

Xu Ruyu did not turn around; his gaze remained fixed on the light screen.

The light screen flowed slightly, as if an invisible hand were stroking it.

He was silent for a moment before saying, "The array I led everyone to set up earlier was a fake to begin with."

Everyone was stunned.

The Grand Elder opened his mouth and then closed it again.

He thought of the days and nights spent carving Array Pattern, of the worn-out fingers, and of Chen Ping's back, so tired he couldn't stand straight. All of that was fake?

Xu Ruyu didn't wait for them to ask further, continuing: "From the moment we left the Tianyan Sect, I knew there were spies planted by the Righteous Path Alliance in our group.

It wasn't a guess; it was a certainty."

Hua Xunhuan's hand tightened around her short sword, her voice tense: "Sect Master, how were you so sure?"

Xu Ruyu turned around to face the crowd.

Moonlight shone into the cave at an angle, illuminating half of his face.

“Because of Sun Ping.”

Sun Ping had long since been surrounded by the Righteous Path people inside the Grand Array and was not here at the moment.

But as soon as the name was mentioned, everyone present recalled that usually quiet and hardworking Disciple.

Xu Ruyu’s voice was cold: “Sun Ping, as you all know, joined the sect even earlier than Leng Ningshuang. His Cultivation isn't high—Middle Stage Golden Core—and he’s usually quiet and diligent, never making any mistakes.

That’s why no one suspected him when he was involved in setting up the array. But—”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

“Sun Ping is a veteran of the Hehuan Sect. He’s been here for over a decade. Although he hasn't specialized in arrays, having been exposed to them for so long, he shouldn't be ignorant of even the most basic things.

Do you remember? When I had Chen Ping lead them in carving Array Pattern, what did Sun Ping ask?”

The Grand Elder frowned, reminiscing for a moment before his expression suddenly changed.

“He asked... if there were enough Spirit Stones.”

Xu Ruyu nodded.

“Yes, he asked if there were enough Spirit Stones.”

The cave fell into a dead silence.

At first glance, there was nothing wrong with that sentence, but everyone present was a Hehuan Sect Disciple who had practiced the Qi Induction and Micro-Movement Art. They knew better than anyone that Xu Ruyu never needed Spirit Stones to set up an array.

From the Acetylene Great Array to the Taihu Forbidden Array, from the Illusory Moon Well illusion array to the Grand Array that exhausted Tian Jianzi to death, not a single one was powered by Spirit Stones.

Who in the Hehuan Sect didn't know this? Xu Ruyu established the sect based on Air Cultivation, with the True Explanation of Taixu Source Energy as the Foundation, never relying on Spirit Stones.

This was the Hehuan Sect's greatest secret, yet also its most open secret—so open that every Disciple knew it by heart, yet so secret that outsiders knew nothing of it.

“Someone who has been in the Hehuan Sect for over a decade,” Xu Ruyu’s voice was as cold as a winter wind, “actually asked me how many Spirit Stones were needed for the array.

He actually stood there counting Spirit Stones one by one, embedding them into the nodes one by one.

He even acted so earnest, so much like a beginner, when Chen Ping was telling them how to carve the Array Pattern.

Sun Ping—or rather, those few people—were no longer their original selves.”

His voice wasn't loud, but it sent a shock through everyone’s hearts.

The Grand Elder's face turned ashen, Hua Xunhuan gripped her short sword tightly, and Zhao Yan's fists creaked as he clenched them.

Xu Ruyu continued: “From the moment we left the Tianyan Sect, I noticed Sun Ping.

On the night the Tianyan Sect was surrounded, the people from the Righteous Path Alliance arrived too quickly—abnormally quickly.

We had barely arrived at the Tianyan Sect when they caught up.

And they weren't searching aimlessly; they came straight for the Tianyan Sect.

What does that mean? It means someone among us was constantly sending messages outside.

From the Taihu Clan to the Tianyan Sect, from fleeing to settling down, someone was following us all along, telling the Righteous Path Alliance our every move.

Before, I wasn't sure who these people were, so I set up that fake array with the purpose of drawing the snakes out of their holes.”

“I intentionally said we needed to set up a defensive array, intentionally told everyone the method, intentionally used those Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and intentionally left so many nodes in the Array Pattern.

I wanted those spies to see that the Hehuan Sect was poor, that our Spirit Stones were insufficient, and that our Grand Array wouldn't last long.

He indeed passed the message along, and the Righteous Path Alliance indeed came.”

“They thought our array was a weak point and that we wouldn't last long, so they came out in full force, even bringing out those four old Half-step True Immortal fools.

But they didn't know that the array they saw was a bait from start to finish.

Those Spirit Stones were real, and those Array Pattern were real, but they were just a surface layer.

While everyone was busy setting up that fake array, while they were all staring at those silver-white Array Pattern, and while everyone thought that was the Hehuan Sect's final line of defense, I secretly buried this true Grand Array beneath it.

Every stroke, every line, was carved with double-layered Array Pattern.

The top layer was fake; the bottom layer was real.”

He paused, his voice dropping slightly.

“As for what powers this true Grand Array, I don't need to say it; you all know.

You have all practiced the Qi Induction and Micro-Movement Art, and you know what the most inexhaustible power in this world is.”

No one answered.

But everyone knew the answer: it was air—omnipresent air, infinite air.

As long as the sky didn't collapse, the earth didn't sink, the wind still blew, the clouds still drifted, and people still breathed, this array would never be broken.

This was the core secret of the Hehuan Sect, and a secret that those impersonating Sun Ping and the others did not know.

All the intelligence they had received from the Righteous Path Alliance about the Hehuan Sect was outdated, superficial, or even what Xu Ruyu had intentionally let them see.

They never knew that Xu Ruyu didn't need Spirit Stones to set up arrays.

They never knew that every inch of this mountain's soil and every wisp of wind had already been refined into a part of the Grand Array.

Hua Xunhuan gritted her teeth, her voice full of anger: “Sect Master, those traitors... they are still inside.”

Xu Ruyu nodded: “I know. They won't be coming out. This Grand Array only allows entry, not exit.”

Zhao Yan grinned broadly: “Sect Master, so what do we do now? Just wait here?”

Xu Ruyu shook his head and finally turned around, his gaze sweeping over the Disciples huddled in the darkness, making each person feel as if he had looked directly at them.

“Wait. Wait for those four old fools to reveal their final trump cards, and wait for them to exhaust all their strength on this array.”

His voice was very calm, but the fire in the depths of his eyes was burning brighter and brighter.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly into a faint smile: “The Grand Array has only just begun to operate. No rush. Let those rats in a jar wear themselves out first.”

He turned back and continued to watch the light screen.

The light screen was flowing, breathing, and slowly tightening like a giant snake devouring its prey.

The Grand Elder was silent for a long time, his cloudy old eyes flickering in the darkness.

“Sect Master, then what about Sun Ping and those other traitors... should we just ignore them?”

Xu Ruyu didn't turn back: “There's no need for us to bother. Ancestor Xuan Yin and his lot will give them a warm reception.”

The Grand Elder fell silent.

“The one I, Xu Ruyu, hate most isn't an enemy.

If an enemy attacks, I'll face them.

If I can win, I fight; if I can't, I run. When I've had enough of running, I'll turn back and fight again.

But traitors are different. A traitor stabs you in the back. You trust them with your back, and they drive a blade into your heart.

Such people don't deserve to live.

Besides, Sun Ping and the others aren't even our people anymore.”

No one spoke in the cave.