563: Chapter 563 Who told you that I, Xu Ruyu, need spirit stones to set up an array?

He had studied these points of light for nearly an hour, probing them with his Divine Sense, testing them with his spiritual power, and trying various secret techniques to expel them, but to no avail.

Those points of light seemed alive, slowly wandering through his Meridians, following the flow of his blood toward his Dantian, inching closer and closer.

He didn't dare imagine what would happen if they entered his Dantian.

The new Sect Head of the Tianxuan Sect squeezed out from the crowd. "Old Ancestor, what should we do? We can't just wait here to die, can we? We still have Disciples outside, and many resources. We can call for more people..."

The middle-aged man looked up and glanced at him.

"Call for more people? And then what? Let them be trapped here too? This array isn't something that can be broken by sheer numbers.

No matter how many people come, it will devour them all.

Don't you know? The master of this array is Xu Ruyu. He even exhausted Tian Jianzi to death and left Situ E crippled from an explosion.

A small fry like you—he could crush you to death without even batting an eye."

The new Sect Head of the Tianxuan Sect gaped, unable to say a word.

The Cultivators behind him also began to whisper in low voices. Some turned pale, some were trembling, and others were already mentally calculating how many Spirit Stones they had left, whether there was any way out, and what would happen to their families.

The atmosphere on the Martial Arts Arena was like a pot of porridge about to boil dry, bubbling and gurgling, ready to overflow and scald everyone at any moment.

Ancestor Xuan Yin did not participate in their discussion.

His gaze pierced through that murky light screen, landing in the direction of the Hehuan Sect's back mountain.

His Divine Sense was like an invisible thread shooting out from between his brows, passing through the light screen, through the mountain rocks, through the dense forest, and extending all the way to that high slope.

He couldn't see that far, but his Divine Sense could feel it.

He could feel someone standing there under the moonlight, hands behind their back, quietly watching this place.

He could even feel that person wearing a smile on their face.

That smile made every pore on his body feel as uncomfortable as if pricked by needles, like a scoop of cold water being poured down his collar in the dead of winter, chilling him from his neck down to his heels.

Outside the Grand Array, on a high slope of the Hehuan Sect's back mountain, the moonlight was as clear as water.

Xu Ruyu stood under the moonlight with his hands behind his back, his robes fluttering gently in the mountain breeze.

Xiao Nianyin stood beside him, her white clothes like snow and her long hair like a waterfall. Her face was expressionless, but her gaze remained fixed on the light screen as if admiring a landscape.

The Grand Elder, Hua Xunhuan, and Granny Liu stood behind them, with Leng Ningshuang, Zhao Yan, Ning Caihe, and Qingyan standing even further back.

Over three hundred Hehuan Sect Disciples were scattered across the high slope. Some were sitting, some were standing, and some were leaning against trees. No one spoke; everyone's eyes were fixed on the light screen that enveloped the entire mountain gate.

Inside the light screen, one could vaguely see many people moving around, shoving, and attacking, like a swarm of ants trapped in a cage.

Some were cursing, some were crying, some were desperately smashing against the light screen, and some sat paralyzed on the ground in a daze.

That light screen separated them from the outside world like a layer of glass that could never be shattered.

The Grand Elder stepped out from the crowd and walked to Xu Ruyu's side.

His leg still hurt. He had taken a deep cut below his left knee. Although it had been treated with medicine and bandaged, every step he took brought a heart-wrenching pain.

He couldn't worry about that. His brows were knit together in a deep knot, and his lips moved as he finally spoke.

His voice was kept very low, low enough that only Xu Ruyu could hear.

"Sect Master, are we really going to ignore them? If the Grand Array is breached..."

Xu Ruyu did not turn around.

His gaze fell on the light screen, his voice soft, as if talking to himself or answering the Grand Elder.

"Rest assured, they can't break it. They won't be able to break it in this lifetime."

The Grand Elder opened his mouth, wanting to say more, but seeing Xu Ruyu wave his hand, he swallowed his words.

He took a step back and stood beside Xu Ruyu, continuing to watch the light screen.

He had many questions in his heart, many, many questions.

He wanted to ask, when was this array set up? Why, when that fake array was broken earlier and everyone was fighting for their lives, did the Sect Master not show the slightest hint of panic?

He wanted to ask, what was the deal with those Spirit Stones and Array Pattern? Why were there two layers of arrays—one fake and one real?

He wanted to ask, what powered this true Grand Array, and why didn't it need Spirit Stones?

But these questions swirled in his throat several times before he finally swallowed them back down.

Having been by Xu Ruyu's side for so long, he knew the young man's style—he would say what needed to be said, and there was no point in asking what shouldn't be said.

Inside the light screen, Ancestor Xuan Yin finally withdrew his gaze.

His white hair fluttered gently in the windless air, and his robes billowed out, puffed up by spiritual power as if pushed by an invisible hand.

His voice slowed down, but every word seemed forced out through gritted teeth, carrying a suppressed, extreme anger. "Xu Ruyu, don't get too ahead of yourself.

Don't think we don't know that the Hehuan Sect's resources have all been seized by the Taihu Clan.

Without Spirit Stones, how long can this Grand Array of yours last? One day? Two days?

Once your Spirit Stones are burned out, this array will collapse on its own. When that time comes, let's see what you'll use to trap us!"

His voice was loud, loud enough to penetrate that thick light screen, striking the ears of the Hehuan Sect crowd like a heavy hammer.

The Hehuan Sect Disciples standing on the high slope all heard it, and many instinctively covered their ears.

Xu Ruyu heard it too.

He turned around and walked down from the high slope, step by step, back to the front of the light screen.

Each step wasn't fast, but each was steady, his soles making a crunching sound on the gravel.

The moonlight shone on his face; his expression was calm, showing no joy or anger, nor even a hint of what he was thinking, like a pool of windless water.

He stood still there, no more than ten feet from the light screen.

The Righteous Path Alliance Cultivators inside the light screen saw his face clearly. Some gasped, some backed away, some gripped their Magical Artifacts tightly, and some instinctively swallowed.

Ancestor Xuan Yin stood on the other side of the light screen, facing him with only a thin layer of light between them.

Xu Ruyu looked at Ancestor Xuan Yin and smiled.

That smile was very faint, almost imperceptible.

"Who told you that I, Xu Ruyu, need Spirit Stones to maintain the operation of a Grand Array?"