As the medicinal power of the Longevity Pill was slowly absorbed, Huangfu Song's complexion gradually returned to normal.
He looked around at the dense sea of frozen coffins, pondered for a moment, and replied, "Although these ice crystals seem scattered without rhyme or reason, merely stacked atop one another with no apparent pattern, based on my years of dealing with formations, this place might perhaps..."
As he spoke, he took out a Formation-Breaking Jade Platter, projecting a screen of light before them and beginning to perform deductions right on the spot.
Within the light screen, the countless ice coffins they had seen previously were all converted into tiny black dots, mapped and recorded. Then the perspective of the image rose higher and higher, the number and speed at which the black dots appeared rapidly increasing.
It could faintly be discerned from the light screen that these ice coffins were not all crammed together arbitrarily; rather, they were indeed bound by some sort of power, arranged according to an unknown order.
"We still cannot see the whole picture. Perhaps only by thoroughly exploring this entire place can we discern what formation envelops this Lost Domain," Huangfu Song said with a sigh of regret, shaking his head after examining the screen of light for a long time.
"Then don't just stand there dazed—let's get moving. Stay here too long and who knows what other bizarre anomalies we'll run into," Dongfang Yao called out, and the trio continued forward to explore the remaining uncharted areas.
After an unknown stretch of time:
"Stop, stop!" Dongfang Yao suddenly raised his hand, halting their advance.
"Brother Dongfang, what did you find?" Li Fan surveyed their surroundings, noticing nothing out of the ordinary.
A look of doubt appeared on Dongfang Yao's face, as if he were straining his ears, trying to discern something.
A moment later, his gaze locked onto the depths of the pitch-black, deathly still sea beneath them.
"In this sea, there seems to be something living. Like..."
"Some kind of beast?" Dongfang Yao said, sounding uncertain.
Upon hearing this, Huangfu Song was startled. "Impossible, isn't it? This seawater is composed entirely of deathly stillness. Never mind ordinary beasts—even if we cultivators were to accidentally fall into it and become tainted by the death aura, we wouldn't last long."
Li Fan also looked down at the completely calm black sea, deep in thought. "At the extreme of death, life returns..."
"I trust Brother Dongfang's judgment," Li Fan spoke up and suggested. "If there truly is a strange beast living in this dead sea year-round, our hope of escaping might very well hinge on it. Brother Dongfang, you understand the language of beasts; why not try communicating with it?"
Dongfang Yao hesitated slightly, but eventually nodded. A strange sound rumbled from his throat, rising and falling in cadence, sounding just like the roar of a genuine ancient beast.
Before long, ripples suddenly stirred across the sea's surface, which had seemed unchanged for ten thousand years.
"There really is a living creature?!" Shock appeared on Huangfu Song's face.
Dongfang Yao cursed under his breath. "Damn it, that ghost of a thing couldn't understand me at all—it was scared away instead!"
"No matter, we just need to follow it. Brother Dongfang, lead the way!" Li Fan instructed in a deep voice.
Snapping to attention, Dongfang Yao hastily tracked the movement of the strange beast beneath the black sea and flew after it.
Li Fan and Huangfu Song followed closely behind.
The unknown beast was not fast, so the trio trailed behind at an unhurried pace.
As they gave chase, Li Fan could perceive with his naked eyes that the number of ice coffins around them seemed to be gradually dwindling.
"Right here—it suddenly vanished!" Dongfang Yao abruptly halted and looked back at Li Fan and Huangfu Song.
Li Fan flew upward for some distance and gazed out into the surroundings.
Countless ice coffins, tiny as dots, formed lines like black dragons stretching from the horizon.
From all directions, they converged right here.
These lines were like earth veins, channeling and concentrating all the death aura of the Lost Domain directly into this point.
It was thick to the extreme, faintly undergoing a qualitative change.
Huangfu Song also flew up to Li Fan's side. After careful observation, he detected several clues.
"This seems to be the array eye of the grand formation enveloping this Lost Domain." A solemn expression settled over his face.
"The array eye? Does that mean we can get out from here?" Dongfang Yao asked, overjoyed.
Huangfu Song shook his head. "Without understanding the full scope of the grand array, we can't jump to conclusions yet. It might be a way out, but it could also..."
"Trigger the grand array's counterattack," Li Fan finished for him. "The scale of this formation is exceedingly rare in this world. Furthermore, it faintly ties into the Dao of Life and Death, making it utterly bizarre. I'm afraid that even a Dao Integration powerhouse might not survive an assault from this grand formation."
Huangfu Song looked at Li Fan, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "Brother Li, you are familiar with formations as well?"
"Only a smattering," Li Fan nodded slightly, acknowledging it.
"Then what do we do now? Just stay here and wither away? I feel like I'm being affected by the death aura too; my vitality is constantly draining. My back and waist are actually starting to ache," Dongfang Yao grumbled. After hesitating for a moment, he took out a Longevity Pill and swallowed it.
"Damn it, that's much better." He absorbed the medicinal potency much faster than Huangfu Song, instantly becoming full of vigor once more.
"We still have to map out the grand array's full picture," Li Fan and Huangfu Song said in unison after exchanging a glance.
"We need to hurry," Huangfu Song said, then gave a light cough. His expression darkened, and he had no choice but to swallow another Longevity Pill to slow the dissipation of his life force.
Having encountered no other danger in the Lost Domain aside from the draining of their vitality, and with few Longevity Pills remaining, the three let loose and flew at full speed.
Just as Huangfu Song swallowed the last pill, they finally completed a comprehensive survey and mapping of the grand array.
"A stroke of genius... an absolute stroke of genius," Huangfu Song stared at the display projected by the Formation-Breaking Jade Platter, murmuring involuntarily.
Even Li Fan could not help being captivated by the sheer brilliance of this nameless grand formation.
Under normal circumstances, with his and Huangfu Song's attainment in formation Dao, there would be no need to see the entire formation to deduce its fundamental purpose or even extrapolate its missing parts.
However...
Before this peerless, miraculous array—which used over ten billion frozen cultivators as its array materials—all their learning and experience were rendered useless.
Before seeing the complete formation chart, the grand array was like a divine dragon concealed in the depths of misty mountain forests. It revealed only a scale here and a claw there; without prior knowledge that a dragon existed, it was impossible to fathom what one was looking at.
Until the final portion of the formation manifested before their eyes.
That ultimate array sequence instantly connected everything they had seen before. Like dotting the eyes of a painted dragon, it gave the grand formation its soul, bringing it to completion.
The sheer wonder of this array was truly beyond words.
It seemed to encompass the wonders of heaven and earth, capable of inverting the very laws of life and death.
Before the sketched outline of the formation, Li Fan and Huangfu Song stood dazed for a long time, struck speechless.
Could they truly escape through the array eye?
Even they did not know.
Chapter 697