Inside the sword casket space.
Staring at the massive array before him, Ye Feng stood rooted to the spot in utter shock.
"B-Boss..."
"Don't tell me this is a space that can hold living people!"
Li Guanqi did not answer, for he noticed a brilliant gleam in Cao Yan's eyes.
To Cao Yan, who was well-versed in the dao of arrays, the shock this grand array gave him was far greater than what Ye Feng felt.
Cao Yan clenched his fists tightly, only letting out a long breath after a good while.
Seeing his reaction, Ye Feng also understood that this space was likely far less simple than he had imagined.
Li Guanqi smiled softly. "Notice anything?"
Cao Yan turned to look at Li Guanqi, an unnameable emotion glowing in his eyes.
He was profoundly grateful for Li Guanqi's appearance—it was like a ray of light piercing the darkness of his life.
A hand reaching through the gloom had pulled him from the mire, washed away his filth, and restored his dignity!
And now, Li Guanqi had actually shared such an immense secret with him.
Unbidden, moisture welled in Cao Yan's eyes. He murmured softly, "Eldest Brother... you actually shared such a tremendous secret with the two of us."
"Rest assured!"
"No matter what I, Cao Yan, do in this life, I will never betray you!"
Ye Feng blinked in surprise, then leaned close to Li Guanqi and muttered, "Boss, what's gotten into Big Head? Why is he pledging loyalty all of a sudden?"
Cao Yan looked at Ye Feng as if looking at a fool. He had no choice but to explain in the simplest terms what everything before them meant.
Pointing to the shimmering light upon the altar not far away, he said softly, "If I'm not mistaken, that array should be a time-dilation array!"
Ye Feng frowned, murmuring Cao Yan's words under his breath.
Yet on the second repetition, he yelped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
"What?! A time... a time-dilation array?!"
Cao Yan continued, "If the outside world learned of this array, I fear even experts on the level of the Four Heavenly Kings would wage war over it..."
Li Guanqi smiled slightly. He had not expected Cao Yan's knowledge to be so vast that he even knew of time arrays.
Li Guanqi slowly embedded spirit stones into the array, then pointed toward the formation ahead and murmured, "Care to go inside and try it out?"
"This array is more than just a difference in the flow of time."
Hearing this, Cao Yan's eyes flashed with anticipation, and he said in a deep voice, "I'd like to try."
Li Guanqi nodded with a smile, then cautioned, "You will engage in deadly combat inside, but don't worry—you won't actually die."
After Cao Yan took a few steps inside, Ye Feng frowned. "Why did Big Head just freeze there after stepping in?"
Li Guanqi glanced at him. "Why don't you try it yourself and see?"
Ye Feng's eyes lit up. Thinking that made sense, he stepped forward into the array.
"Activate Hundred Champions Illusion!"
*Hum—!*
The entire sword casket space trembled faintly as light surged within the grand array, instantly initiating a two-fold time dilation!
Not only the time-dilation array, but also the Hundred Champions Illusion!
This time, Li Guanqi directly inserted three mid-grade spirit stones.
The consumption of the time-dilation array was already massive, but that of the Hundred Champions Illusion was even more terrifying.
A single mid-grade spirit stone could only keep it active for the span of an incense stick.
Glancing back at the two within the array, Li Guanqi smiled faintly, then took a step forward.
When he reappeared, he was standing upon another altar.
This altar had even more spirit stones inlaid upon it. It could be said that this was the greatest gold-devouring beast Li Guanqi carried!
A dragon egg crackling with purple lightning!
Looking at the dragon egg, which had grown several sizes larger, Li Guanqi showed a wry smile. This fellow only grew bigger without showing any signs of movement.
The sword spirit had gone silent once more, likely due to intervening earlier.
Even now, thinking back on it filled Li Guanqi with lingering dread.
If the sword spirit hadn't been able to intervene, the three of them would have already perished at Fang Yishan's hands.
Rising, he let out a soft sigh, replenished the spirit stones once more, and turned to leave.
Hatching the dragon egg would likely take a very long time, or perhaps ordinary spirit stones were no longer enough to make it grow swiftly.
Rubbing his chin, Li Guanqi murmured softly, "Seems I'll need to find more lightning-attribute natural treasures in the future..."
When he returned to the Hundred Champions Illusion, he saw the two kneeling on the altar, gasping heavily for breath.
At the sight, Li Guanqi couldn't help but grin. "Well? How does it feel?"
Ye Feng was lying on the ground, pale as a sheet, his pupils trembling wildly.
Swallowing hard, he stammered with difficulty, "I... I... died!"
"Three strikes... that phantom killed me in three sword strikes!"
He turned to look at Cao Yan. The latter's face was not much better, though in terms of mental fortitude, Cao Yan was somewhat more resilient than Ye Feng.
"Five punches. The phantom I faced hammered me to death in five punches."
Li Guanqi nodded. It seemed neither lacked talent. If they honed themselves more in the days ahead, their strength was bound to soar.
At that moment, Ye Feng, who had been lying on the ground, seemed to realize something and sprang to his feet.
He looked Li Guanqi up and down, began circling him, and kept muttering under his breath.
Finally, Ye Feng roared, "That phantom inside was Boss! It was definitely you!"
"Same build, left-handed sword... wasn't it!"
Li Guanqi shrugged. He hadn't expected Ye Feng's luck to be so good that he ran into his phantom right upon entering.
Suddenly, Ye Feng seemed to realize another point and whined with a crestfallen face,
"If that really was Boss, doesn't that mean in a fight within the same realm... you could wipe me out in three strikes?"
Cao Yan and Li Guanqi exchanged a look and burst into laughter.
In the end, Cao Yan comforted Ye Feng, saying, "Second Brother, think about it. Eldest Brother shared such an important secret with us."
"We definitely can't let his good intentions go to waste."
"We just need to cultivate even harder. Since Boss could leave behind a phantom, that means we can too!"
As they spoke, both were reignited with fighting spirit. Watching this, Li Guanqi felt deeply gratified.
It had to be said that Cao Yan was exceptional in both intellect and emotional maturity.
Li Guanqi didn't care about Cao Yan's background, or how much karma it might carry.
Since he felt Cao Yan was genuinely good to him, and had even risked his life to save him after the previous battle, then this karma—Li Guanqi would gladly shoulder it!
None of the three had fully recovered from their injuries yet, so Li Guanqi didn't let them attempt the Hundred Champions Illusion again.
When the trio reappeared inside the cave, Li Guanqi spoke in a deep voice.
"Let's go. Time to settle scores with Changfeng Villa!"
Hearing that, Ye Feng rubbed his hands in excitement. "Heh heh, time to make a massive haul again."
Beside him, Cao Yan was equally eager. Li Guanqi suddenly felt that the three of them were acting just like bandits.
Wherever they went, disaster struck...
Chapter 224