287: The golden array was broken

Chen Tianming looked in the direction the scholar pointed.

He saw houses that had stood for thousands of years, unyielding, beneath rows of trees.

Among those houses, Chen Tianming saw people meditating while painting, some were mere white bones, and others had half their bodies destroyed, shrunken and withered like decaying mushrooms.

Yet, the other half remained vibrant and lifelike.

These humanoid figures seemed to have united to form some kind of magical array.

A thin layer of golden light surrounded the array, periodically trembling in resonance with a profound cosmic cycle.

If one observed closely, that tremor would resonate, penetrating deep into one's heart and lungs, invigorating the spirit.

At this moment, Chen Tianming ignored everything else and roared at the people around him.

"What are you still standing there for? Get into those dilapidated houses!"

The cultivators' alliance rushed in, vying for precedence.

Although the houses were broken, blackened, and some even at risk of collapsing.

These cultivators still rushed in without hesitation.

And immediately, they felt the refreshing comfort brought by the golden light, which resembled a magical array.

Everyone looked up and only then realized the extent of the golden light's coverage.

Not a single evil entity, not a speck of shadow, dared to enter it.

Chen Tianming couldn't help but exclaim.

"If not for the many seniors guarding this place, I fear that the Small World would have long since been beyond salvation!"

The scholar quickly asked.

"What has the Great Immortal thought of?"

Chen Tianming said with a smile.

"I'm just guessing, but look, with so many shadowy evil entities, yet not a trace of life or demonic aura, ethereal and without collision, but seemingly solid—don't they resemble the legendary souls?"

The scholar nodded.

"Indeed, but in this Small World, we haven't seen souls for thousands of years. People die and cannot be resurrected, so we all thought souls might have vanished with them!"

Chen Tianming replied with another smile.

"Then tell me why there are so many dangers, yet also things resembling souls, only here at the South Heaven Gate?"

The scholar was stunned.

"Great Immortal... please enlighten me?"

Chen Tianming pointed to the ground beneath him.

"Where we are now should be the edge of the Small World, but this edge is completely different from the Bogu Corridor. In the Bogu Corridor, a wisp of remnant soul from the Fire Kirin, an exotic beast from the origin Xuanhuan World, suppresses it. There are no evil entities there, nor can human souls remain!"

The scholar understood and nodded.

"So... for thousands of years, the souls of the deceased could only accumulate towards the South Heaven Gate?"

Chen Tianming pointed to the meditating Great Immortals.

"Look... so many seniors have all died here, but their divine powers are vast, and perhaps they were from the original Xuanhuan World in ancient times. Therefore, the power within their bodies can suppress the chaos at this boundary, which is why the Small World gradually became peaceful!"

Most of Shen Dong's words were just speculation.

Coupled with the numerous corpses of Great Immortals around, their flesh remained uncorrupted after countless years.

This indicates that these Great Immortals' bodies had long surpassed the realm of ordinary cultivators.

At least, they were at the cultivation level of Golden Core and Nascent Soul or higher.

Perhaps even higher, more terrifying!

But the speaker had no intention, while the listeners did.

After Chen Tianming finished speaking, some cunning and treacherous individuals among the surrounding cultivators had already discerned the hidden meaning in his words.

Crooked paths and evil ways began to erode and spread within their minds.

Instantly, they transformed the cultivators into unfeeling monsters.

Suddenly, a cultivator in the crowd broke through the golden light and crashed into the golden body of a senior Great Immortal.

He didn't cultivate his power, nor did he display any pretense of righteousness; there was only endless wildness and greed.

This person embraced the golden body, opened his mouth wide like a beast, saliva dripping from his mouth, and began to tear at the golden body of the senior Great Immortal.

However, although that senior had passed away, the spiritual energy within his body had gradually transformed into golden light.

But his physical body was immortal, still possessing residual power.

How could an ordinary cultivator gnaw at it with a mere flesh-and-blood body?

After two bites, this person's white teeth were already shattered.

His mouth was covered in blood mixed with viscous saliva, flowing onto the Great Immortal's golden body.

Seeing this person's frantic behavior, for a moment, another group of greedy individuals among the cultivators sprang into action, pouncing on the surrounding Great Immortal golden bodies.

Little did they know that as soon as a golden body fell, the powerful golden light array that had been suppressed for thousands of years became ambiguous at this moment.

A mournful wail echoed from the sky.

In the darkness, the malevolent entities, long restless, finally could not hold back and abruptly lunged towards the golden light.

Initially, several shattered entities simultaneously struck the golden light.

The golden aura still stood firm, protecting the other cultivators present.

However, as more and more shadows appeared, they actually piled up on top of the golden light, forming a black wall.

With a crack, the surface of the golden light shattered like glass.

Immediately after, the golden bodies of the Great Immortals began to flicker on and off.

The golden light also produced countless patterns.

It was as if sunlight was piercing through dark clouds, only to be fragmented by them.

Finally, it could no longer bear the burden.

With a crack, it shattered, and countless black shadows rushed in from outside.

Those black shadows were originally masterless ghosts, having endured for thousands of years without absorbing spiritual energy, as hungry as monsters.

They rushed over, embraced a cultivator, and directly possessed him.

The spiritual energy within that cultivator's body was instantly sucked dry, and his physical body turned into a mummy.

Seeing this, Chen Tianming activated all the cultivation techniques within his body.

He burst forth with nine times the strength of an ordinary person.

Beside Chen Tianming, the dark red Fire Kirin's phantom bared its fangs and claws, letting out a heart-wrenching roar as it looked up at the sky.

The Sanwei Zhenhuo, which incinerated everything, instantly burned everything around the house.

The fierce flames rose high, and the Fire Kirin returned to the human world in its celestial form.

A righteous and unyielding masculine aura continuously erupted from Chen Tianming, wave after wave.

The black shadows were illuminated by the flames at this moment.

Only then did everyone see the faces of demons and monsters within the black shadows.

Each one was surprisingly human-like.

However, every face was filled with greed, mockery, sneering, anger, and frenzy!

Just seeing these expressions made one feel utterly uncomfortable.

Although Chen Tianming saved everyone, those greedy individuals who had destroyed the array also survived.

Not only did they not stop, but they became even more rampant.

Seeing that Chen Tianming was preoccupied, they even plunged their hands into the bellies of those seniors.

They wanted to dig out the Golden Cores and Nascent Souls of these deceased powerhouses to enhance themselves.

Chen Tianming was immediately enraged.

With a single punch, the punch was enveloped in the true fire that incinerated everything.

Driven by powerful spiritual energy, almost one punch reduced that person to ashes!