The light and shadows changed, and countless scenes flashed before Ye Zhen like a kaleidoscope. A valley filled with green trees and fragrant with the scent of birds and flowers appeared before Ye Zhen and Feng Qingyue.
Following that, Divine Calculator Bian You, Shadow Blade Shao Mo, the cane-holding Lan Shuiqiao, and Hu Qingtong with his flowing green robes appeared one after another at the mouth of the valley.
"This Ten Thousand Beast Valley is truly marvelous. Just the entrance alone has both Formation and Illusion Technique intertwined, exquisitely unmatched. It wasn’t in vain that I came this way!" Divine Calculator Bian You exclaimed in admiration.
"Yangh Guan’er, didn’t you say you almost made it inside the valley last time? Hurry and lead the way. Once we’re there, we can start working," Shadow Blade Shao Mo urged.
Yangh Yiguan could only smile bitterly, "The Valley-Guarding Formation of Ten Thousand Beast Valley is constantly changing; each time we enter, the mechanisms of the formation change according to the heavenly timing.
Last time, I risked my life to charge through it, and seven Disciples died, three were crippled. These Disciples, each one had at least two demon servants, all perished!"
As he spoke, Yangh Yiguan looked towards Divine Calculator Bian You, "Brother Bian, three steps forward is the first layer of the Valley-Guarding Formation; it’s up to you now!"
"Mmm, I’ll try the formation first!" Divine Calculator Bian You said, and took three steps forward. The moment he took the third step, his expression suddenly changed.
Simultaneously, Hundred Poisons Master Lan Shuiqiao suddenly sniffed, "There’s enchanting poison within this formation!"
As soon as these words were uttered, Shadow Blade Shao Mo’s face changed drastically, and he quickly moved two steps forward, pulling the stationary Divine Calculator Bian You back.
"What are you doing?"
"Master Lan says there’s enchanting poison!" Shadow Blade Shao Mo explained.
"What enchanting poison? It’s just a rather complex Illusion Array. I was just calculating," Bian You said with disbelief on his face.
"There’s an extremely faint fragrance in the air. Don’t you feel very spirited, very eager to enter this Ten Thousand Beast Valley, and want to explore it as quickly as possible?"
Lan Shuiqiao tapped his cane, then looked towards Yangh Yiguan, "Elder Yangh, the last time you charged into the formation, were some people particularly impatient, especially brave, even fearless in the face of death?"
Divine Calculator Bian You looked startled, but Yangh Yiguan’s expression became incredibly shocked. "How did you know?"
"My Disciples were ordinarily not so impressive, but on that day, they were each incredibly brave, even sacrificing their lives to protect me from the mechanisms . . ." Yangh Yiguan’s voice grew lower, and his complexion became increasingly grim.
"There’s a strange flower in this world known as Jade Dew Guanyin. It emits an extremely elegant fragrance that helps with focus, combats fatigue, and greatly energizes the spirit. Moreover, it can make people extremely excited.
Many powerful Martial Artists sniff a few whiffs of Jade Dew Guanyin aroma when cultivating or attempting a breakthrough to enhance their Cultivation.
However, once overused, it can excite people beyond control without them realizing.
This effect, though beneficial for cultivators, turns into a deadly weapon in a place fraught with crises and pervasive dangers," Lan Shuiqiao explained.
Before Lan Shuiqiao finished speaking, Divine Calculator Bian You’s face turned extremely grim. Looking at the fragrance-filled birdsong corridor ahead, and then at himself, even his fingers started trembling.
In that instant, he felt an overwhelming urge to enter the Illusion Array ahead recklessly.
"Master Lan . . ." Seeing this, Yangh Yiguan looked at Lan Shuiqiao with a pleading tone.
Six rays of light suddenly flew out from Lan Shuiqiao’s hands, each directing towards Yangh Yiguan, Shao Mo, Bian You, Ye Zhen, Feng Qingyue, and Ma Yue.
"These are Miasma-Dissolving Pills I made myself, capable of curing a hundred miasmas. As long as it’s not one of the world’s ten greatest poisonous miasmas, it can easily detoxify. If you feel anything unusual, just sniff it close to your nose," Lan Shuiqiao said.
Hearing this, Divine Calculator Bian You quickly grabbed the pill and smelled it intensely. Strangely enough, under the impact of the pill’s bizarre aroma, the irritation in his heart vanished.
For safety, Ye Zhen and Feng Qingyue also sniffed a few times, experiencing an extremely sharp scent that instantly eliminated all other odors.
Sometimes, these silent, sanity-affecting poisonous miasmas are the most terrifying.
For a moment, everyone’s view of the Hundred Poisons Master Lan Shuiqiao changed. Had she not been there today, everyone would have been ensnared silently and inadvertently.
With prior incidents as a warning, the Divine Calculator Bian You stepped forward to break the formation once again, his Protective Spirit Armor materialized and even held his breath, switching to Inner Breath before re-entering the Illusion Array and beginning his calculations with closed eyes.
About an hour later, the Divine Calculator Bian You suddenly retreated, a look of relief on his face.
"Master Bian, have you managed to deduce the formation?" Yangh Yiguan asked anxiously.
"Yangh Guan’er, this time, you’ve found the right person. The formation is the Heavenly Time and Place Enchanting Soul Formation, which has been lost to the world. Anyone else would be helpless,
Luckily, my sect’s heritage includes crucial details about the Heavenly Time and Place Enchanting Soul Formation; otherwise, even I couldn’t find a way into the formation so quickly," Bian You said with evident pride.
"We are truly in your debt, Master Bian!" Yangh Yiguan smiled and complimented, and Bian You naturally assumed an air of deserving such praise. Beside him, Lan Shuiqiao, Hu Qingtong, Ye Zhen, Feng Qingyue, and even Ma Yue displayed a flicker of disgust.
"This formation, combined with the heavenly timing and placement, is extremely difficult to break. However, as long as you all follow my steps through the formation, there will be no problems," Bian You stated.
"Furthermore, although the Heavenly Time and Place Enchanting Soul Formation is primarily a misleading formation, it also has lethal traps. If anyone makes a misstep and loses their life, don’t blame me!"
"This bewildering formation doesn’t block Talisman Communication. Each of you give me a temporary Talisman Lead. If you experience any illusions or hallucinations in the formation, ignore them and simply follow my talisman’s guidance!" Bian You instructed them.
"Now, enter the formation, first into the Earth Position and proceed straight for seven steps!" With that, Bian You stepped forward several times and then vanished from everyone’s sight, promptly followed by Shadow Blade Shao Mo.
By this time, Ye Zhen had realized that Shadow Blade Shao Mo was acting as the guardian for Bian You, the Array Master, especially during the formation breaking.
Next were Lan Shuiqiao and Hu Qingtong, followed by Ye Zhen and Feng Qingyue, with Yangh Yiguan and Ma Yue being the last to enter.
Three steps forward into the formation triggered a sudden influx of dense fog, turning the whole world chaotic with howling winds and flying sand and stones.
More astonishingly, the dense fog was filled with wildly turbulent spiritual power, forming spirals of Spiritual Power Storms and sequences of Spirit Arrows, Spirit Blades, and Spirit Blades colliding and then striking against Ye Zhen and Feng Qingyue, causing their Protective Spirit Armors to flicker incessantly.
Amid the fierce wind, if Ye Zhen and Feng Qingyue hadn’t been holding hands when they entered, they might have been blown apart.
"This formation is truly terrifying; the Earth Position is over there!" Feng Qingyue discerned the direction, pulled Ye Zhen into the Earth Position, and then quickly proceeded straight for seven steps.
In an instant, the winds calmed and the surroundings became incredibly quiet. The furious wind and Spirit Blades seemed to vanish in that moment.
"Does this Mr. Bian actually have some skills?" Ye Zhen was somewhat surprised.
"More than just some skills! His mastery in formations ranks him among the top in the entire True Spirit Domain...."
Whoosh!
Feng Qingyue hadn’t finished speaking when a sudden wind, laden with terrifying energy and rapidly forming Spirit Blades and Spirit Arrows, changed both Ye Zhen and Feng Qingyue’s expressions.
At that instant, a Spirit Talisman descended from the sky.
"Enter the Kan Position, first move three steps to the left, then retreat five steps, and then proceed straight for eighteen steps!"
After reading the Talisman Communication, recognizing the direction, Feng Qingyue once again pulled Ye Zhen through the white expanse of the formation, following these steps, each time successfully avoiding the dangers within the formation.
However, each time the duration was not long, a series of five talisman communications were all very timely.
"Qingyue, we should have reached the center of the formation by now, with another four or five talisman communications, we should be able to pass through the formation," Ye Zhen said.
"Hmm, be careful, the spiritual power storm at the center of the formation is more than twice as strong as the one we just entered," Feng Qingyue said.
Whoosh!
A huge spirit blade, without any warning, chopped down from beside Ye Zhen fiercely hitting Feng Qingyue’s back and causing his protective spirit armor to tremble violently.
"This strike was almost as powerful as the full force of a martial artist at the third and fourth stage of the Vein Forging Realm," Feng Qingyue’s face changed.
Whoosh!
Another spirit arrow struck directly at the back of Ye Zhen’s head, Ye Zhen quickly maintained his protective spirit armor, yet his complexion became somewhat ugly.
"Why hasn’t the talisman communication come yet?"
"Previously, the intervals between talisman communications were but ten breaths, now it has been twenty or thirty breaths!"
"There might be an accident, wait a moment!" Feng Qingyue’s complexion also turned worse.
"Bian You that old bastard, definitely doesn’t have good intentions! Be careful!" Suddenly, Ye Zhen exclaimed as a huge earth-yellow palm imprint suddenly emerged, stretching across the front of an extremely terrifying spirit blade!
Puff!
In front of the Earth Primordial Divine Palm, the spirit blade directly shattered.
However, the next instant, one blade, two blades, three blades, ten blades made from spiritual power storms bombarded them, instantly causing the Earth Primordial Divine Palm to dissipate.
The next instant, both Ye Zhen and Feng Qingyue exclaimed in unison, as the spiritual power storm here blasted out increasingly dense spiritual power strikes and spirit arrows.
"We must leave here immediately, if we don’t, we might be torn apart by the spiritual power storm, we can’t last much longer under such a concentrated attack!" Ye Zhen shouted.
"We can’t leave! If we do, our steps will be completely in disarray, even if we receive talisman communication, it would be useless! Once we move chaotically, we would be completely trapped in the grand formation!" Feng Qingyue said.
"Wait for the talisman communication, waiting for Bian You that old dog is almost like waiting for death, come with me!" Ye Zhen forcefully pulled Feng Qingyue’s slender hand and immediately left the increasingly terrifying spiritual power storm.
It was also the miraculous nature of the formation, once Ye Zhen and Feng Qingyue left, the increasingly terrifying spiritual power storm simply dispersed.
minutes later, on the other side of the grand formation, Bian You and Shadow Blade Shao Mo almost simultaneously stepped out of the Heavenly Time and Place Enchanting Soul Formation, with the white mist and violent wind dissipating, a valley filled with green trees and fragrant birds appeared before their eyes once again.
However, Shao Mo appeared relaxed, whereas Divine Calculator Bian You’s face carried a trace of a strange smile.
Soon, Hundred Poison Master Lan Shuiqiao and Qing Tong Hu Qingtong also stepped out of the grand formation, simultaneously exhaling a breath, clearly, their journey through the formation was not an easy one.
After another thirty or more breaths, Yangh Yiguan and Ma Yue also staggered out of the grand formation, particularly Ma Yue, who had a clear wound on his shoulder.
The moment they stepped out of the grand formation, Yangh Yiguan paused.
"What about Ye Zhen and the others, haven’t they come out yet? He was ahead of us!"
"Ye Zhen was ahead of you? Then why hasn’t he come out yet?" Hu Qingtong gasped, her gaze turning towards Divine Calculator Bian You.
It wasn’t just Hu Qingtong; Lan Shuiqiao, Ma Yue, and Yangh Yiguan’s gazes also turned simultaneously toward Divine Calculator Bian You.
"Why are you all looking at me? I have sent every single Talisman Communication to them without fail," Bian You stated discontentedly.
"Then what’s the matter?"
Yangh Yiguan’s face was filled with urgency. They had only just started challenging the formations and had already lost two people; the challenges ahead were even more dangerous. With only six of them left, how many more losses could they afford?
"Master Bian, why don’t you go back and look for them?"
Yangh Yiguan requested with a smile. As the ultimate beneficiary of exploring the Ten Thousand Beast Valley, he had to mediate these matters.
"Enter the formation again to find them? Only if I were out of my mind! The danger of reversing the formation is several times riskier than passing through it before," Bian You flatly refused.
"We all came out normally; it doesn’t make sense for those two to be trapped inside. Strange, isn’t it?" Hu Qingtong looked at Bian You with a puzzled expression. "Master Bian, could you please..."
"Why should I?"
Before Hu Qingtong could finish speaking, Bian You started protesting.
"Why should I take the trouble and risk because they made a mistake?"
"As to why they are trapped inside, I might know a bit of the reason!" Bian You suddenly declared.
"Oh, what reason?" Hu Qingtong asked, while everyone’s gaze shifted towards him.
"I assume, it must be because this shameless pair couldn’t restrain themselves while passing through the formation, indulging in disgraceful deeds, and missed the timing to move that I mentioned in the Talisman Communication..."
"Shameless!"
"Old Dog Bian, it really was you who played tricks!"
Before Bian You could finish his sentence, two angry shouts, one male and one female, emanated from the formation. Almost simultaneously, Ye Zhen and Fengh Qingyue stepped out of the formation and appeared before everyone.
Just as Bian You was smugly slandering Ye Zhen and Fengh Qingyue, his expression froze, his eyes widened in disbelief.
In his mind, Ye Zhen and Fengh Qingyue were supposed to be trapped and die inside the formation; how could they possibly come out?
"How could you possibly..." Overwhelmed with surprise, he uttered half a sentence when he suddenly stopped, realizing something.
"How could we possibly come out alive, right? Old Dog Bian, you’re quite surprised, aren’t you?" Ye Zhen’s Spiritual Power surged around him, his killing Qi soaring!
Almost simultaneously, Shadow Blade Shao Mo became extremely alert, protecting Bian You, while Yangh Yiguan and Ma Yue stood between Ye Zhen and Bian You.
"Young Hero Ye, let’s talk this over; there might be some misunderstanding here!" As he spoke, Yangh Yiguan looked at Ye Zhen with a pleading gaze.
"Misunderstanding? I could consider it a misunderstanding that this old thief only sent me five Talisman Communications; I don’t care about that! But this old thief also blatantly slandered us—you all heard him—is that still a misunderstanding?"
"Old Dog Bian, to say we were being affectionate in such a perilous formation, your imagination sure is rich!" Ye Zhen’s face was full of cold scorn.
Hearing this, the expression on the face of Hundred Poisons Master Lan Shuiqiao instantly turned icy. "Bian You, did you truly only send five Talisman Communications? To do such a thing in a life-and-death situation, you dared to betray your teammates?" (To be continued. If you like this work, we invite you to vote and recommend at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com.)

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