The abrupt turn of events sent a surge of dread through the Dominators, leaving them utterly bewildered as to how they had triggered the danger of the Seven Stars Lantern Array. Zhang Yuanqing instantly pulled his rattan-armored aunt into his arms, activated his Blazing Sun God of War skill, engaged the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon's defensive form, and raised his left hand, snapping his fingers in rapid succession.
Energy nullification.
What Level 7 Dominators excelled at most was nullifying spiritual power into nothingness.
The sword qi raining down across the sky visibly weakened.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye assumed his three heads and eight arms form, his eight dragon-sinewy arms swinging sabers, spears, staves, and clubs in an impenetrable whirl.
Some of the torrential sword qi was shattered or deflected by his barrage, while some pierced through his guard to strike his body, inflicting puncture wounds and bone-cleaving fractures.
Commandery Princess Yinyao parried and dodged part of the sword qi, but the falling shower of blades was simply too dense. Soon, her head was severed and her right arm sheared off, leaving her like a beautiful dismembered doll.
The first wave of sword rain quickly ended, and the Seven Stars Lanterns drifting overhead came to a halt.
All grew still and calm.
Zhang Yuanqing released the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter. His left ear and shoulder had been mangled and pierced by the sword rain from the sky, and his body bore multiple non-vital puncture wounds.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye snatched a blood-red dagger from his inventory and took a deep, addict-like breath. Wisps of bloody mist drifted from the blade and surged into his nostrils.
The blade's crimson luster faded rapidly as Demonic Eye's wounds healed at breakneck speed.
This was a blood bank standard among Bewitching Demons. Weapons of this class possessed the ability to devour and store essence blood, pairing seamlessly with the Bewitching Demon's Bloodthirsty Rampage skill to enhance their endurance.
Demonic Eye rarely used his blood bank under normal circumstances; after all, few in the real world could ever push him to such extremes.
Among the group, only Fu Qingyang had escaped injury. His white suit remained immaculate and spotless, a sharp contrast to the blood-spattered refugees around him.
He was already a mid-stage Level 8, and coupled with the wildly amplifying Swordsman Cloak, he was fully capable of handling a downpour of sword qi from the same class.
Yet Fu Qingyang's expression showed not the slightest relief; if anything, it was grave.
"Commandery Princess Yinyao has gone offline," Zhang Yuanqing sighed, retrieving Little Red Riding Hood and collecting her severed arm, torso, and head. In the process, he caught a glimpse of grievance in those eerie red pupils.
Even without Insight, Zhang Yuanqing could read the Commandery Princess's mind: *I finally managed to advance to Dominator, and you drag me into high-tier matches every single day.*
As a Dominator-level yin creature, Commandery Princess Yinyao would not die from this, but she was temporarily out of commission.
—Yin creatures devoid of life force could not restore their bodies with Life Source Fluid.
Xiahou Aotian stored his damaged Dominator-level items back into his inventory, beads of sweat breaking out on his forehead.
"All my defensive items are broken. Repairing them would take two hours. But based on the pattern I've observed, the Seven Stars Lantern Array will move again in five minutes."
Movement meant the arrival of another sword rain.
When that time came, he, the protagonist, would undoubtedly kick the bucket.
This was precisely why Fu Qingyang looked so grim.
Although he had no fear of the sword qi, his teammates did not share that luxury. And if his companions fell to the array, he would hardly be able to defeat the final boss on his own.
"It's a pity my Heaven-Swallowing Beast is already full," Zhang Yuanqing sighed.
The Heaven-Swallowing Beast was currently in its second stage—devouring matter.
As long as he did not use it, the matter-devouring state would remain on standby. The standby mode would only end after twenty-four hours, when the Heaven-Swallowing Beast's drawback refreshed and began demanding energy.
*The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter can resurrect us once—our ultimate trump card. But if we can't break the array, resurrecting would just mean dying a second time!* Fu Qingyang's thoughts raced as he said, "Yuanshi, do you have any ideas?"
Zhang Yuanqing furrowed his brows tightly. "I know nothing about arrays, so I can't offer an idea. But I can summarize the patterns for Xiahou Aotian and help analyze the details. Maybe that'll be of use."
He looked at Xiahou Aotian and said, "Our current position corresponds to Kaiyang of the Big Dipper. The lantern array at Kaiyang has several rules. First, one cannot walk more than five paces, or a sky lantern descends as a warning. Second, one cannot leave the illuminated area—this might be a rule for the entire lantern array. Third, after about five minutes, the Seven Stars Lantern Array shifts positions, during which the sword rain descends."
Xiahou Aotian frowned in thought, standing there without uttering a word.
"We have four minutes until the second wave of sword rain," Zhang Yuanqing said.
No one spoke; all furrowed their brows in deep thought.
"Three minutes left," Zhang Yuanqing reminded them, keeping time.
Having no ideas of her own, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter suggested, "Prepare for the worst. Yuanshi, if you could divine the scene of our attack, could we minimize the casualties?"
Zhang Yuanqing shook his head helplessly. "Divination through star reading takes more than two minutes. Besides, black smoke shrouds the area and obscures the astrology, preventing me from gleaning any information."
The black smoke was equivalent to concealment.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter said no more.
"Two minutes left." Seeing that Xiahou Aotian had yet to respond, Zhang Yuanqing's tone grew heavy.
Just then, the Qin dynasty fangshi's muttering drifted from the ring:
"We cultivators seek immortality and transcendence in our search for the Dao. You Spirit Realm walkers are truly more pathetic than venomous gu insects—pitiable, really."
Xiahou Aotian, already consumed by anxiety, felt his composure fray at those words. He snapped furiously, "Save the sarcastic remarks, you useless old coot! Other people's old masters help the protagonist cheat, but you can't do a damn thing. What good are you?!"
The Qin dynasty fangshi chuckled. "The Spirit Realm is your greatest cheat. For young youths barely coming of age to advance to Dominator was unimaginable in our era."
Xiahou Aotian ground his teeth. "If we die here, don't even think about getting out!"
"Heh, dense yin energy permeates this entire place, which serves as great nourishment for me," the fangshi chuckled. "To me, this is sacred ground."
Zhang Yuanqing's voice grew urgent: "One minute left."
Listening to the two banter, his anxiety was ready to burst.
The Qin dynasty fangshi sighed.
"The Kaiyang star is also known as the Wuqu star. It governs order."
Xiahou Aotian and Zhang Yuanqing were stunned simultaneously, and the latter relayed the old master's words to the rest.
Fu Qingyang asked, "Why does the Wuqu star govern order rather than violence or martial force?"
He had dabbled in astrology, but the subject was convoluted, obscure, and difficult to comprehend. Not being a Night Wanderer, he had never studied it in depth.
"The one governing martial valor is Pojun, which is Yaoguang," the Qin dynasty fangshi conveyed through a mental fluctuation. "The 'martial' in Wuqu, to borrow your modern understanding, refers to maintaining public security—hence, it governs order."
"I get it!" Xiahou Aotian grew excited, his face lighting up with pleasant surprise. "I know why we were attacked! Kaiyang governs order. That's why when someone moves alone, a sky lantern descends to issue a warning. One person advancing alone while everyone else stays still represents disorder, and that's why they come under attack!"
Fu Qingyang frowned. "When the sky lanterns drifted, we moved together, yet the attack still descended."
Xiahou Aotian froze.
Heavenly King Demonic Eye said testily, "You don't understand jack! When Yuanshi controlled the yin corpse earlier, it was alone. Reasonably speaking, that wouldn't count as disorder, yet it was still attacked."
Xiahou Aotian was left speechless, his face turning pale in an instant.
"Only thirty seconds left!" Zhang Yuanqing sighed. "Get ready."
Demonic Eye manifested his three heads and eight arms once more.
Fu Qingyang focused his senses, fully on guard.
The Qin dynasty fangshi said calmly, "His train of thought wasn't wrong; your generation simply knows nothing about ancient practitioners, which is why you failed to figure out the solution. If I am not mistaken, you must walk the Pace of Yu together."
"What is the Pace of Yu?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
Fu Qingyang, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, and Demonic Eye wore identical looks of confusion.
Xiahou Aotian, living up to his Scholastic pedigree, had an epiphany and shouted, "The Pace of Yu is a footwork pattern commonly used by Daoists in ritual invocations to the gods! It treads upon the Seven Stars, pacing the Big Dipper! Time is short, so I'll only demonstrate it once!"
With that, he swiftly paced through a rhythmic series of steps.
Just at that moment, the sky lanterns above began to drift.
This time, the group did not rush headlong after the sky lanterns. Instead, guided by Xiahou Aotian's rhythmic incantation, they stepped in unison, pacing the Pace of Yu in tacit coordination.
Slowly yet steadily, they pursued the sky lanterns.
The eerie, ghastly green candlelight drifted silently, bringing no crisis or danger with it.
"Phew!" Heavenly King Demonic Eye exhaled. "Not bad. We've found the way to survive within the array. Next up is finding the array core."
Everyone turned to look at Xiahou Aotian.
Having rarely become the backbone of the team, Xiahou Aotian gained tremendous emotional satisfaction, yet he wasn't particularly happy.
"Based on my observations, the Xuange and Zhaoyao stars should be two sky lanterns hidden among the rest. Finding and destroying them will break the array," Xiahou Aotian sighed. "But that's practically impossible. Old man, notice anything?"
The Qin dynasty fangshi sent a mental pulse: "Where the array cores are, I do not know. But I do know that the Seven Stars Lanterns have already moved twice. When the handle of the Dipper points east, it signifies spring; when it points west, it signifies winter. Right now, the handle points east, meaning it is spring. In two more shifts, winter will arrive."
"What happens when winter arrives?" Zhang Yuanqing asked urgently.
The Qin dynasty fangshi chuckled. "It means the Seven Stars Lanterns will turn into a slaughter array. Even if you've mastered the rules, don't dream of surviving. Heh, arrays were created to kill, after all. Would they ever let those trapped within remain safe and sound indefinitely?"
*Fuck!* Zhang Yuanqing felt a chill run through him, any joy from overcoming the previous crisis vanishing without a trace.
The array cores were hidden among hundreds of sky lanterns, none of which could be forcibly destroyed without drawing down a barrage of sword qi.
Worst of all, they had only six minutes to pick out the two array cores from several hundred lanterns that they couldn't simply destroy.
Could any human being actually pull this off?
When Zhang Yuanqing relayed the Qin dynasty fangshi's words to his teammates, even someone as composed as Fu Qingyang underwent a shift in expression.
"Suddenly we've entered hell mode, huh?" Heavenly King Demonic Eye scoffed. "Fu Qingyang and I have a seventy percent chance of surviving the slaughter array and reaching the boss. Yuanshi Tianzun has a thirty percent chance, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter forty, and as for Xiahou Aotian, not even a single percent."
*There's basically no difference between thirty and forty percent! Xiahou Aotian is as good as dead, and the odds of the Palace Master and me surviving aren't great either!* Zhang Yuanqing grew quietly anxious.
What he hated most wasn't danger itself, but facing a mortal peril in an area outside his expertise.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter pondered and said, "My Demon Refining Pot is a supreme treasure; no attack can damage it. If things truly reach a dead end, I will entrust the Demon Refining Pot to whichever of you has the highest chance of survival.
"It holds your avatars inside. Once you return to reality, find a way to obtain the Mother Goddess's Womb. If we all perish in this instance, we can only wait for the President to locate the South Courtyard instance and retrieve the Demon Refining Pot.
"However, the Demon Refining Pot is an administrator-privilege item. I don't know whether the Spirit Realm will reclaim it once the instance resets."
Xiahou Aotian forcefully cut in, "Don't panic, everyone. We haven't reached that point yet."
His gaze was profound and his expression solemn, the chuunibyou arrogance completely dialed back.
"Arrays emphasize balance! Since winter is a slaughter array, spring must be safe." As he spoke, he retrieved a puppet and commanded it to march forward.
The puppet strode forward, taking over a dozen steps without triggering any attack.
Xiahou Aotian then made it step outside the illuminated area, and right on cue, sword qi descended and destroyed the puppet.
This result brought a pleasant surprise to the group.
This meant that within five minutes, they could traverse all seven lantern arrays without coming under attack.
Zhang Yuanqing said in a low voice, "How do we find the array cores? We don't have much time left."
His words cast a heavy, somber silence over them all.
The Qin dynasty fangshi chimed in, "The array core is the central hub of an array. Unlike the other sky lanterns, it possesses no offensive power and is responsible only for energy transmission. Among so many sky lanterns, whichever does not attack anyone is the one."
Zhang Yuanqing rejected it immediately upon hearing it.
To find the array core with this method, they would have to attack the sky lanterns one by one. The cost of trial and error was far too steep, and they simply didn't have the time.
Fu Qingyang suddenly spoke up: "There is a way! We can use the rules of the Spirit Realm to find the array cores. Any item within the Spirit Realm endowed with spirituality possesses item attributes. The array cores are different from the other sky lanterns, so their item attributes must differ as well."
Xiahou Aotian shook his head. "Won't work. The black smoke has a concealment effect, so we can't view item attributes. If you don't believe me, you can test it."
Back in Yaoguang Hall, they hadn't been able to view the item attributes of the Immortal-Slaying Flying Dagger or the statue.
"No, Boss's idea is solid," Zhang Yuanqing said excitedly. "I can unleash Sunrise and Blazing Sun God of War to purify the black smoke in this area. Without the concealment buff, you'll be able to view their item attributes. However, that means none of you will be able to use skills and will have to touch the sky lanterns one by one. Three minutes won't be enough to find both array cores, but it'll let us eliminate a good number of them."
As expected of the Boss—he rarely spoke, but when he did, he hit the nail right on the head.
Fu Qingyang acknowledged with a nod. "We'll head to different lantern arrays and split up the search. With some luck, three minutes might just be enough."
With time running short, Zhang Yuanqing immediately unleashed the combination of Sunrise and Blazing Sun God of War. A solar insignia surfaced between his brows, his skin took on a dark-gold luster, and a miniature sun emerged behind his head.
Pure, radiant golden light banished the surrounding darkness and suppressed the ghastly green ghost fire.
The spiritual power within everyone felt as though it were being driven out, rapidly dissipating. Paying it no mind, they sprang into action, dashing out of the Kaiyang lantern array and following the linear trails of sky lanterns connecting the six arrays toward Yuheng, Yaoguang, Tianji, Tianxuan, and Tianshu.
Chapter 904