Chapter 227: Reconfiguring the Array
Upon entering the spiritual array, the once-vast grassland instantly changed. In an instant, it turned into an endless desert, with violent sand and gravel flying everywhere under the howling wind, enveloping the entire world in sandstorms. Lin Dong turned back and saw the same scene of sand filling the air behind him. Suddenly, a sand wall over ten meters long and four meters high rose from the ground and slowly moved toward them. With a loud noise, twenty disciples of the Gu Huan Sect drew their swords, watching nervously. “Remember, no one may get within ten meters of me,” Yun Lan said calmly. She flipped her wrist, and her blue sword transformed into a streak of blue light that shot out and vanished into the sand wall in an instant. The blue light flickered, and the sand wall gradually collapsed, forming a hill. The blue sword returned and then drew a diagonal line dozens of meters long on the sand to the right. “Send one person, carrying only fifty fourth-tier spiritual stones. Move along the line, staying no more than one meter from the sides. Once you reach the hill, place two spiritual stones on its top every hour. Continue for five hours, with no deviation of more than fifteen minutes per hour,” Yun Lan said slowly. “After placing them, don’t wander around. We’ll come back for you.” After discussing it, one disciple took out fifty fourth-tier spiritual stones from his storage ring and bravely approached Lin Dong and the others, carefully moving along the line. Yun Lan turned to Lin Dong and explained, “The hill formed after the sand wall was destroyed is a convergence point of various paths in the sandstorm array, but its actual location isn’t what the eyes can see. It’s currently the Wu hour. According to the rules of the sandstorm array, if the people closest to the fake hill are ten meters apart, the real hill is thirty meters to its right. If they’re twenty meters apart, the real hill is sixty meters to its right.” Lin Dong nodded in response. Yun Lan smiled and said lightly, “You have two chances to memorize the rules of this sandstorm array. The third time we reconfigure it, you’ll be in charge.” Lin Dong was stunned and said somewhat resentfully, “Isn’t that risky? One wrong step could cost lives.” Yun Lan shook her head. “I can rescue those who accidentally enter the spiritual array.” “That’s good!” Lin Dong felt much more at ease. Yun Lan continued, “However, no matter when you place the spiritual stones, you must go with them and then return the same way.” Lin Dong was speechless. Safety was guaranteed, but making a mistake would likely bring trouble. “Let’s go!”
Yun Lan walked slowly, forcing Lin Dong to follow. Glancing at the fair little hand in his own, he hesitated for a moment before asking, “Is the veil on your face to avoid drawing too much attention and having everyone stare at you?”
“Why do you suddenly ask that?” Yun Lan retorted.
Lin Dong was speechless. He had never asked before—first, because he didn’t want to intrude on others’ privacy, and second, fearing that Yun Lan wore the veil because her appearance didn’t match her temperament, and asking might embarrass her. Now, he suddenly asked out of impulse, forgetting that haste leads to mistakes, and had even taken her hand without thinking. If he promised to take responsibility without understanding her appearance, things could get very awkward.
Yun Lan replied irritably, “The most important aspect of the Heavenly Sword Technique is one’s mental state. Once the heir of the Heavenly Sword Sect has their status confirmed and mastered all the incantations of the technique, they must retreat in seclusion for one year, keep their eyes closed for two years, stay silent for three years, and cover their face for four years. Only by doing these four things can their mental state gradually reach the level needed to comprehend the four realms of the Heavenly Sword Technique.”
Lin Dong was astonished. “That spiritual technique is quite unique. How much longer do you have left?”
“Two years!”
“That means eight years have passed already…” Lin Dong said with a smile. “How old were you when you started your seclusion?”
“Eleven.”
“So you’re only nineteen now?” Lin Dong tutted. “The greatest genius in the Great Han Kingdom! With Tian Hao’s talent, if he didn’t train with spiritual arrays, he’d never reach your level by nineteen.”
“If Tian Hao had grown up in a major sect without using spiritual arrays, he’d probably be around the same level as me.”
“Senior Yun must have reached the peak of strength around forty, right? How does his talent compare to yours?” Lin Dong asked.
“More or less the same.”
“In that case, with the help of spiritual arrays, wouldn’t you have a chance to become the first peak warrior in the history of the Great Han Kingdom in your twenties?”
Yun Lan suddenly asked back, “Do you still remember the first rule I asked you to remember?”
Lin Dong froze for a moment before reluctantly answering, “The Wu hour, then the fake sand dune and the position of the person closest to it, thirty meters to the right?”
“It’s three times!” Yun Lan corrected. Before Lin Dong could speak again, she added lightly, “It’s not that hard to figure out.”
Lin Dong was stunned, then understood what she meant, his face turning slightly embarrassed. He had planned to trick Yun Lan step by step before hinting at his intentions, but she had already guessed his plan.
Fortunately, just as Lin Dong didn’t know what to say next, a whirlwind suddenly rose on the left side and rushed toward them.
A flash of blue light pierced straight into the center at the bottom of the whirlwind. In an instant, the whirlwind seemed to have its tail stepped on; no matter how it spun, it could no longer move an inch. After struggling uselessly for a while, it gradually weakened. Once the whirlwind disappeared, Yun Lan ordered, “Take twelve spirit stones with you—one person per stone. Place three spirit stones at the spot where the blue sword struck every hour, with no deviation of more than fifteen minutes between each placement. Stay right there and wait for us to return.” A disciple stepped forward quickly. Yun Lan turned slightly to the right before continuing forward, explaining as she went, “At the Wu hour, only by hitting the bottom of the whirlwind can it be stopped; otherwise, it will keep chasing the person closest to it until all the spirit stones in the array are used up. Also, at the Wu hour, the bottom of the whirlwind is its intersection point. To find the next intersection point, one must move in the opposite direction from where the whirlwind appears.” Lin Dong quickly recited it several times, memorized it, and then reviewed the first part several more times. As they moved forward, fewer and fewer disciples remained behind, while the amount of content Lin Dong needed to memorize grew. When no disciples were left behind, they found the center of the spirit array, made significant modifications, and placed the remaining spirit stones there before turning back. Along the way, the disciples behind them gradually gathered again. By the time they left the spirit array, all twenty disciples were there, and it had already started to darken. Immediately, everyone entered the second sandstorm array. The changes varied depending on the hour, but the pattern remained the same. After going through it once, Lin Dong studied it carefully and gained some insights. By comparing the two, he could now predict all the changes within the twelve hours of the sandstorm array. After completing the third and fourth sandstorm arrays, it was already noon the next day. Walking quickly to the group, Lin Dong asked Xiao Tianchi, “How’s the situation?” “Huo Yuan and the others are badly injured. Fortunately, there were no strong opponents, so the damage isn’t too severe. The people from Ning Ji Zong are almost at the last spirit array. At this pace, they should arrive in about an hour.” Lin Dong nodded and said, “Inform Elder Huo and the others to fight their way back while retreating, without letting the enemy suspect anything, but safety first.” Xiao Tianchi took a deep breath and looked at Yun Lan. Yun Lan nodded slightly. After two disciples stepped forward, she immediately led them into the Illusion Sand Array. While Yun Lan was still inside, Xiao Tianchi hurriedly asked Lin Dong about her.
Previously, Yun Lan clearly didn’t want to get involved in the conflict between the Gu Huan Sect and the Ning Ji Sect, nor did she want either side to know her identity. Lin Dong gave vague answers, only revealing Yun Lan’s surname to Xiao Tianchi before refusing to disclose any further information despite his attempts to probe further.
With no other choice, and having waited until Yun Lan came out without obtaining any useful information, Xiao Tianchi gave up on Lin Dong and stepped forward eagerly, asking, “Miss Yun, how powerful is this Illusion Sand Formation? How long can it hold them back?”
Yun Lan replied calmly, “With the number of spirit stones in the formation, if the enemy exhausts themselves to activate it, it can hold them back for about three days.”
“Three days…” Xiao Tianchi fell into deep thought. Three days was beyond his expectations, but it was still too short—far too short for Huo Yuan and the others to recover even half of their injuries.
After careful consideration, Xiao Tianchi asked further, “Given the power of this Illusion Sand Formation, how much damage can it inflict on the enemy?”
“The formation is indestructible and endless, causing the enemy’s spirit to weaken,” Yun Lan said slowly.
“Just a weakened spirit?” Xiao Tianchi was astonished. “Is this really an illusion formation?”
Yun Lan nodded slowly.
Xiao Tianchi felt helpless. It was actually an illusion formation… If it had been a combat formation, even if it were a weakened one, and the spirit stones used to activate it were of a lower grade and in smaller quantities, it would still be a seventh-grade spirit formation capable of killing a hundred or eighty disciples. Who would have thought it was a harmless illusion formation?
An idea struck him, and he asked urgently, “Miss Yun, can this Illusion Sand Formation truly make people think it’s just a fourth-grade spirit formation?”
Yun Lan nodded without saying a word.
Xiao Tianchi slapped his thigh sharply. “Since it’s a seventh-grade spirit formation that can trap people for three days, once the five elders of the Ning Ji Sect lead their men into the formation, even if they realize we’re trying to break through, they won’t be able to break it as quickly as with a lower-grade formation using plenty of spirit medicines. If we find a way to break through after they enter the formation, won’t we avoid much resistance?”
Lin Dong smiled and said, “Seignior Xiao, why focus only on breaking through? Wouldn’t it be better to keep them all here?”
Xiao Tianchi was shocked. “How is that possible? The six elders of the enemy have all reached the seventh level of the Mind Realm, with one even at the eighth level. Just those six, with the full strength of the Gu Huan Sect, would suffer heavy losses even if they tried to capture them all. Moreover, the enemy has four or five hundred disciples of considerable strength, the weakest of whom are at the second level of the Mind Realm—far from our Gu Huan Sect, where more than half still haven’t even reached the Spirit Movement stage.”
“Seignior Xiao, trust me and just wait!” Lin Dong said calmly. “The Illusion Sand Formation will be the place where they rest in death.”
Xiao Tianchi nodded silently. No matter how unbelievable Lin Dong’s words seemed, he would believe them to be true to an extent of 80%. Besides, if they couldn’t kill the five elders in charge of breaking the formation of Ning Jizong, it was never too late to retreat.
More than half an hour later, Huo Yuan emerged, staggering, along with a group of elders and disciples.
After waiting a while longer, a disciple came back to report that Ning Jizong’s men had already entered the third Illusion Sand Formation.