Chapter 32: Giant Stones All Over the Sky
Qu Yi’s appearance alone was enough to shock and excite the masters of the Nine Sects. Now, hearing that he had a way to break through the Giant Stone Array, although they were skeptical, they still wanted to hear it.
So, the masters of the Nine Sects flew together and gathered around Qu Yi.
When Qu Yi saw everyone had arrived, he stopped smiling and said seriously, “Gentlemen, in this Giant Stone Array, touching certain stones will activate it. But if all of us land on the stones at the same time, regardless of those that can activate the array, the entire array in this stone world will be activated. Then, a stone with a spatial teleportation array will emerge, allowing us to leave this stone world.”
At this point, Qu Yi finally revealed the method to break the array that the Artifact God had told him.
After hearing this, the masters of the Nine Sects looked at Qu Yi with doubt. They wondered how he could know about this Giant Stone Array and how he had found a way to break it. Could an array set up by an Immortal Emperor really be so easily broken?
Naturally, given their usual skepticism toward Qu Yi, they also looked at him with disbelief.
Qu Yi spread his hands, deciding not to explain further, giving them an indifferent look as if it were up to them to believe or not.
After a while, seeing that everyone was still hesitant, he grew tired of talking and simply sat down on one of the stones below.
The masters of the Nine Sects had seen it before—when the two masters from the Ying Tian Sect and Qing Yun Sect landed on either the golden or white stones, it activated the surrounding Giant Stone Array. But now, Qu Yi sat on a stone without activating the array around him, leaving them in shock.
Of course, the masters of the Nine Sects began to believe that Qu Yi might indeed have found a way to break the array.
The leaders of the Nine Sects immediately exchanged thoughts through spiritual communication, quickly reaching a decision.
Then, Tai Ming, the leader of the Tai Yuan Sect, spoke up, “Qu Yi, how do you know the method to break this Giant Stone Array? Did you get some hint from Emperor Hao?”
It turned out that the leader of the Nine Sects had assumed that since Qu Yi was the first to enter the stone world, he must have received a hint from Emperor Hao first, thus obtaining the solution.
Based on the information they had, they only knew that Qu Yi’s cultivation speed was unusually fast, but they were unaware that he was also studying arrays and had a powerful Artifact God backing him. Therefore, the leaders of the Nine Sects could only guess that Qu Yi had received a hint from Emperor Hao.
After hearing Tai Ming’s words, Qu Yi simply lay down on the giant rock and chuckled lightly, “Do you believe it or not? I don’t even care. Anyway, I’ve already told you the method. If you don’t believe it, keep searching for a way to break it. I’ll just take a nap on this rock first.”
People won’t give up until they’re in a desperate situation. Qu Yi knew that the leaders of the Nine Sects suspected he had ulterior motives, wanting to use the stone array to kill their strong warriors. Since no explanation could dispel their fears, there was no other choice but to let them suffer more before making a decision.
Upon hearing Qu Yi’s words, the strong warriors of the Nine Sects grew even more convinced of his intentions, believing he wanted to trap them with the stone array. As a result, they abandoned the method he suggested for breaking it.
Soon, the strong warriors of the Nine Sects flew in the air once again, continuing to search for a way to break the stone array.
…
Now, only thirty-eight strong warriors remained from the Nine Sects.
In the air, they kept flying, yet found nothing but rocks on the ground—no special spots at all. There was not even any hint from Emperor Hao.
Another month passed. All the strong warriors continued to fly in the air, too afraid to land on the rocks below. As a result, their medicinal pills and spiritual energy were consumed very quickly.
If this continued, they would all realize one thing: they would all die slowly from exhaustion in this world of rocks, as their spiritual energy was not infinite.
At that moment, a strong warrior from the Jin Yang Sect noticed that one of the golden rocks below suddenly turned white. Surprised, he hesitated for a moment before quickly landing on the white rock.
The moment he landed, rocks flew everywhere, striking this warrior from the Jin Yang Sect. This time, the power of the stone array was even greater, with an aura of spatial confinement. Despite being well-prepared, he still wasn’t able to avoid being crushed to death.
The strong warriors of the Nine Sects, with their senses wide open, naturally sensed what had happened to this warrior from the Jin Yang Sect. Instead of feeling any joy, the warriors from the other sects felt only deep fear.
“Feng Gu!” The other four warriors from the Jin Yang Sect cried out in pain.
At this point, the strong warriors of the Nine Sects gathered around another rock, with no sign of competition among them. In such a situation, where everyone seemed destined to die together, there was no longer any desire to fight or hate one another.
“Everyone, it seems we can’t continue like this. Before we find a way to break the Stone Array, we’re likely to run out of all our medicinal pills. Let’s try Qu Yi’s method now,” Tai Ming said calmly at that moment.
The Nine Sects had reached a dead end.
After a brief silence, the leaders of the other eight sects nodded in unison.
Soon, the 37 powerful warriors from the Nine Sects flew back together and landed above the stone where Qu Yi was.
“Qu Yi, do you have any explanation for the method you mentioned to break this array?” Tai Ming shouted from above.
Qu Yi, who had been resting on the stone for a month, hadn’t wasted a single bit of his vital energy. Instead, he had taken the opportunity to explore part of the Four Elements Dao. Hearing Tai Ming’s words, he opened his eyes.
“I don’t care if you believe me or not. This is your only choice,” Qu Yi said. Of course, he wouldn’t reveal the reason—how could he share such a great secret as the Artifact God?
At worst, once all the warriors from the Nine Sects were dead, Qu Yi would be the only one left in this stone world. Then, he would activate the entire Everlasting Stone Array, and the stone equipped with the space teleportation array would appear. That was his plan, as he watched the warriors from the Nine Sects above with calm composure.
Sure enough, as soon as Qu Yi finished speaking, the warriors were so angry they couldn’t speak.
They didn’t want to keep flying uselessly in the air, wasting their vital energy. But attacking Qu Yi together? Considering the terrifying Poison Fruit he possessed, they simply didn’t have the courage.
Moreover, were they even sure they could defeat Qu Yi if they attacked?
Soon, the leaders of the Nine Sects had another intense exchange of spiritual energies and finally agreed to use Qu Yi’s method to break the Stone Array.
“Qu Yi, the Nine Sects have decided to use your method to break this array. If we fail, you’ll have to bear the wrath of all nine sects alone,” Tai Ming shouted again, his tone clearly threatening.
Qu Yi just chuckled, too lazy to reply.
Soon, the warriors from the Nine Sects took in medicinal pills and absorbed the energy from high-quality spiritual stones to restore their vital energy. Then, they all landed on the stone at the same time.
In total, 37 warriors from the Nine Sects plus Qu Yi himself made 38 people land on the stone at once.
It seemed the Stone Array already knew the number of people entering this stone world. Once it sensed that everyone had landed, it immediately activated the entire Everlasting Stone Array in this world.
All the giant stones on the ground turned into white spheres, rising into the air, while huge white spheres fell from above. It seemed as though the entire world was filled with these white stones. Moreover, as these white spheres moved up and down, they never touched each other, perfectly filling the world without any overlap. Of course, the spheres did not fall in layers but were arranged in an alternating pattern, leaving some gaps between them. There was a time difference, and as long as a cultivator flew through these gaps during that time, they would not be hit by the stones. Each of these white spheres possessed the power of a Great Vehicle stage being. Naturally, the thirty-eight people did not attempt to fight against them head-on; there was only one way—to escape from the stone formation at top speed. In the air, indeed, after the Immortal Stone Formation was activated, a hundred-meter-wide white disc-shaped stone emerged, which was the location of the space teleportation array. Qu Yi had already received guidance from the Instrument God and knew what would happen after the formation was activated, so he already had a plan to escape. Thus, the moment the formation started, Qu Yi’s body seemed to disappear as he moved through the gaps between the spheres, taking the fastest and safest route to escape the attack range of the stones. He was the first to reach the disc-shaped stone in the air. Meanwhile, the strong warriors from the nine sects were also moving through the Immortal Stone Formation. However, they did not have Qu Yi’s luck and were caught off guard, struggling to deal with the spheres that kept falling and rising, moving awkwardly through the space filled with spheres. With their strength at the late Tribulation stage, it was not difficult for them to navigate through the gaps between the spheres. But the only problem was that they had to keep moving their bodies upward. If they tried to fly downward to avoid a sphere, it would be hard for them to return to the upper gaps. Once trapped at the lowest layer of stones, these late Tribulation stage warriors had no chance of survival—they would be crushed by the stones flying upward right in front of them. Qu Yi sensed the warriors from the nine sects still struggling inside the formation and merely smiled slightly. He had no interest in targeting those who were trying to escape and immediately entered the space teleportation array. A flash of white light, and Qu Yi’s figure disappeared. The warriors from the nine sects also emerged one after another from the space filled with rolling spheres, escaping danger.