Chapter 691: Plunged in darkness

Cao Yun had set up many array formations all around the Holy Hongxue City. And he had just activated all of them with no hesitation whatsoever. He needed to escape from this fight. Even in his peak condition, fighting six middle to late Accomplished Demons with such a great battle formation would be nearly impossible. He would be confident not to die, but he couldn't swear he would win either. Against each one individually, he probably would win any fight thanks to his double cultivation system. But in his condition, even against a single one of them, he wasn't too sure about the outcome. Besides, he could clearly sense the Silver Wolf Marshal's presence within the Temple of Grace and Submission.

Cao Yun had just recently found out how to activate the 'Embrace of the Loving God' array formation. In other words, he wasn't completely sure it would be as good as it should. Although Yu Xiangling was the one who knew the most about the array formation, other priests within the temple also knew about it, obviously. As such, Cao Yun couldn't be sure how long the Silver Wolf Marshal would stay trapped. But as soon as he got out, Cao Yun would have no chance of escaping. Of that, he was certain.

The slender woman who had found Cao Yun out was clearly taken aback. She had been the one who had examined the surroundings of the city. Apart from the array formations of the city, she had found nothing unusual or suspicious. And yet, this man had been able to set up several powerful array formations. Just by looking at the current situation, she could tell that at least four 4-star or 5-star Heaven array formations had been activated. Besides, one of them was very clearly Pristine, but all of them were at the very least Perfect. Although she wouldn't claim to be the best array formation master, she had absolute confidence in her perception. But it had failed her.

In the group, everyone was surprised by that, as they were all confident in her. In fact, they were all confident in each other's abilities. That was also why their battle formation was so great, they didn't doubt each other in the least. Thus, a few turned their eyes toward her. Only the arrogant man with the large halberd had cold eyes when looking at her as though he was blaming her for this mistake. The others were just simply surprised and shocked to see that she too was taken aback. However, the arrogant man crossed the eyes of the largest warrior of the group. In those eyes, he saw murder.

Those six warriors were known as the Six Fangs, they were the six most powerful generals under the Silver Wolf Marshal, hence their name. Only one of them had originated from the Langyin Region. The other five generals had joined the Silver Wolf Marshal for one reason or another. But they were all loyal to him and they worked great together. That didn't mean that there wasn't any tension though.

That arrogant-looking man was He Wushuang, the second-in-command. In the absence of their marshal, he was the one who gave orders. As such, he expected everyone to fulfill their roles and he would hold them accountable for their mistakes. As much as he was harsh, they all accepted it because he was even harsher on himself and he was fair, treating everyone in the same manner.

That being said, the large man, Zhai Tiesheng, was overprotective of the slender woman, Lu Xiaoya. To be fair, it was his role in the battle formation to defend everyone, but her in particular. She was the one with the least strength as she relied heavily on soul attacks and her perception. Over time though, he became more and more protective. There was no intimate relationship between the two of them, but it felt as though he was an older brother caring about his younger sister. Even when He Wushuang looked at her with anger or disappointment, Zhai Tiesheng couldn't accept it. But there was no time for that at the moment.

"Sister Lu, ..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the woman answered as she knew what he was going to ask.

"I see four Heaven array formations. There are probably many smaller array formations as well, but they're insignificant and probably only serve as support. You probably already feel it but one of those formations is affecting our Turbid Demons. Using spiritual senses will be harder and harder. But the good news is that whoever this is, he clearly exhausted his soul in the Temple of Grace and Submission. Even flying should be out of the question at the moment."

"So the array formations are the real problem... What about the array formations of the temple?"

The feline woman interjected before He Wushuang would talk. She was Jin Bao. And she was as fast as she was impatient. He Wushuang disapproved of her attitude but her question made sense so he stayed silent.

"It's not clear how strongly he was able to activate it. But it tells us that he probably killed and stole the memories of some array formation master within. Thus, this also means that the priests themselves might have a harder time releasing it. Without any assistance, the Marshal could stay trapped for weeks or even months. No matter how much he tries, he won't easily break it, even if he tries to only create a small opening to exit. But if we help him from the outside..."

Before she could even finish her sentence, the man with long black hair and the long sword drew his weapon. This man was the only one of the group who had been born in the Langyin Region, ruled by the Silver Wolf Marshal. As such, he was the most loyal of the group, Mo Qingsong. Loyalty was his greatest quality, but he was also very reasonable until it came to his Marshal, then loyalty could completely blind him.

'Falling Leaf of No Return'!

As he slashed toward the Temple of Grace and Submission, his long silvery sword made no sound at all. In fact, it was as though all the sound and disturbance around him had been extinguished the very moment he drew his sword. It merely flashed for a moment and the sword disappeared once more in its scabbard. Although his face seemed serene, there was a great determination all over it. As soon as he attacked, He Wushuang looked at him with annoyance. He knew that he wouldn't be able to stop him from trying to free their Marshal, unless the Marshal himself gave the order, but he couldn't at the moment.

Behind it, the sword created a vacuum. As soon as the sword was put away, air came back, causing a thunderous sound to echo. Just after a perfect silence, this sudden violent noise was jolting. On the Temple of Grace and Submission, there was no trace of any damage. However, they could all feel that the array formation had indeed faltered. Mo Qingsong's attack could not only slash any physical object, it also cut deep into one's soul. Thus, it also affected the Death Energy used in the array formation. What Cao Yun had not thought of was that the 'Embrace of the Loving God' was drawing on the Death Energy generated by Yu Xiangling's victims. Now that he had released them from their torment, the array formation could not regenerate itself. But it was still powerful enough to sustain a long siege.

Just after his attack, Mo Qingsong heard Lu Xiaoya's voice. Before even understanding what she had to say, he prepared himself for an attack. With her perception, if she tried to tell him something, it probably meant that there was danger. And sure enough there was.

'Tranquil Roots Guard'!

Keeping his sword in its scabbard, he grabbed the scabbard itself. From above, he suddenly felt a powerful killing intent and extreme hatred. A demon made of Death Energy attacked him. With his scabbard, he struck the ghostly creature away. But even his state of mind was affected by the Death Energy he had felt.

"This array formation is not meant to trap people within. It's made to resist any attack from without. The trapping is supposed to only affect intruders, but I guess that that man targeted all the demons within. It will react to every attack both within and without."

Mo Qingsong didn't answer and went back to his position, ready to strike again. As a matter of fact, some in the group had never even heard his voice as he barely ever spoke.

"Tss..."

Seeing Mo Qingsong's attitude, He Wushuang knew he wouldn't be able to dissuade him. But it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, if they could free their Marshal, dealing with Cao Yun would be quite easy.

"Move!"

Lu Xiaoya screamed toward Xun Lieren, the man who was wielding crescent blades with chains. Although he was known for being a great hunter and tracker, his perception was bit inferior to hers. As such, he listened to her without any hesitation. The very moment he heard her command, he flew away a short distance with his fastest speed. And the spot where he had been an instant ago got struck by a lightning bolt made out of fire. The heat was so high that it could have melted his armor if he had stayed there. Although he might not have died on the spot, he would have suffered quite a lot. Even at a distance, he could feel the heat licking his skin.

Looking around them, the Six Fangs realized that the entire Holy Hongxue City had fallen into some kind of hellish realm. The sky was absolutely black. And the only light came from these tongues of fire behaving like lightning. They were crossing the sky and randomly falling all over the place. At the same time, they could all feel a powerful killing intent all around them. Their spiritual senses had instinctively shrunk so they could still communicate with them as they were close enough, and they could still fly. But outside of their Wei Qi, expanding their spiritual senses was painful.

On the other hand, Cao Yun had already begun to run away with all of his physical strength. Unlike them, he wasn't afraid of being hit by this fiery lightning. Indeed, although it was seemingly random, Cao Yun knew this array formation well enough to know exactly which spot was safe at any given moment. It was impossible to predict where the fire would fall, but one could know where it had no chance of falling, creating a path through the chaos. This was the 'Fiery Torment of the Hellish Tree'. With his Rune of Fire, this array formation was very well suited to Cao Yun.

"Brother Zhai, stay with Sister Lu. Protect her while she tries to decipher those array formations. Sister Lu, focus on the array formations around the city, but also try and keep an eye on the Temple of Grace and Submission to help Brother Mo. Sister Jin and Brother Xun, come with me, we're hunting!"

He Wushuang didn't even try to give an order to Mo Qingsong. Indeed, he knew exactly what he was going to do and that nothing could disturb him. At this very moment, he was already striking the 'Embrace of the Loving God' array formation again. No matter what retaliation the array formation would send him, he was ready!

Thus, Jin Bao and Xun Lieren ran toward Cao Yun, He Wushuang accompanying them. Since she was the fastest, Jin Bao was the first to get to the young man. But she had reduced her speed just enough so Xun Lieren was still close enough to assist her with his chains. Finally, He Wushuang was between the two of them, blocking any attack that could go toward Xun Lieren and ready to strike Cao Yun with his large and terrifying golden halberd.

As Cao Yun was only relying on his physical senses at the moment, while he was focusing on the pattern of his array formation to find the right path, he failed to notice Jin Bao's approach.

'Leaping Fang Execution'!

Using her 'Flickering Step, Rending Claw' martial art, she appeared right above Cao Yun and her twin sabers turned like a drill toward his neck. The moment he finally heard her, Cao Yun could already feel the cold kiss of her blades against his skin. He simply let himself fall to the ground as the attack slashed the skin on his neck. Rolling on the ground, he quickly recovered and stood up with his spear. Since he couldn't run, he would stand his ground.

Since he couldn't use his soul as much as he should, Cao Yun focused on his Spear Heart. Martial states were not reliant on one's soul or cultivation, only on their understanding of their weapon. In fact, it was said that a mere mortal who had reached the highest level of martial state could strike down even a god. Of course, a mere mortal couldn't live long enough to reach such a high level of understanding. But what it meant was that cultivation wasn't as important in a fight between great martial artists. Of course, a higher cultivation was always an advantage, but it wasn't necessarily everything. Against a cultivator who could simply annihilate your entire planet from afar, nothing could be done. But if one was directly facing such an opponent, they could still be able to wound him with a superior martial state.

Besides, the array formation that had plunged the world into darkness was the 'Waning Heavenly Dragon Diagram'. Cao Yun had created it by using the 'Waning Heaven Diagram' and infusing it with his understanding of both the Spear Heart and 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars'. As such, under this array formation, his martial art and his Spear Heart were both stronger than usual. And since his Spear Heart relied on his mind and not his soul directly, he could still use it at full strength.

Stabbing toward Jin Bao with a normal 'Dragon's Fang', his 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' turned into pure darkness. For an instant, it became even faster than Jin Bao. Facing this attack, even she felt cold shudders down her spine.

'Blood-Spattered Mirage'!