Seeing Xu Lai’s action, Duan Yan’s lips curled into a cold smile. He’s just a young man, after all. Too impulsive. The moment he touched a single hair on one of the three women at the heart of the Formation, it would activate. Then, the Blood-Draw Prison would completely trap Xu Lai. Even if a Great Grandmaster intervened personally, they wouldn’t be able to rescue him. Such was the profound mystery of the Formation.
Jiang Fu was even more delighted. We’ll subdue Xu Lai so easily, and then only Tan Chang will be left...
Amid their contempt and surprise, Xu Lai’s fingertip touched Ruan Lan’s forehead. A cool sensation brought her slowly back to consciousness. In a dazed voice, she asked, "Brother-in-law, why are you here?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Xu Lai retorted, clearly annoyed.
"Ah!" Remembering the horror of the No-Face entities, Ruan Lan immediately threw herself into Xu Lai’s arms, trembling as she said, "Brother-in-law, we have to run!"
Xu Lai gently pushed his sister-in-law away. "A man and a woman should not have such close physical contact."
Ruan Lan was speechless. Is this really the time to worry about that?!
Her pretty face pale, she pointed to the surrounding No-Face entities and said in fear, "Just now, they all... they all turned into tiny faces! Oh, right!"
Ruan Lan quickly crouched down and shook her two friends, who also gradually came to their senses. Afterward, the three women huddled together, sobbing. Li Li, in particular, clung to Ruan Lan and Yu Xiaoxiao with tears and a runny nose, grateful they hadn’t abandoned her.
The noisy commotion caused Su Daiyi and Old Jiang Ba to look on in exasperation, and their own fear diminished significantly. Xu Lai, whose head was starting to ache from the noise, said, "Maybe you all should head out first."
Without hesitation, Yu Xiaoxiao and Li Li turned and ran. Ruan Lan, however, didn’t leave, looking at Xu Lai with concern.
"Don’t worry, I’m fine," Xu Lai said with a smile.
Ruan Lan bit her lower lip, then left.
「At that moment, atop the roof.」
Jiang Fu looked puzzled. Why hasn’t the Formation activated? He couldn’t help but glance at Duan Yan in confusion. He saw that Duan Yan was no longer composed, his forehead beaded with sweat the size of soybeans. His Ten Thousand Spirits Killing Array was complex and unpredictable, with many marvelous uses; the previous Mist was just one of its additional abilities.
The Mist being broken was a coincidence. But for the Blood-Draw Prison I specifically set up to fail... could it be another coincidence? Duan Yan clenched his fist, inwardly chastising himself. It seems my strength has regressed from not setting up a Great Array for so long.
Evidently, Duan Yan mistook all these events for his own errors during the Array Setting.
"Don’t panic, everything is still under my control," Duan Yan declared solemnly, speaking to Jiang Fu. "Watch as I coalesce my ten thousand No-Face Walkers into their most powerful form! Coalesce!"
With Duan Yan’s shout, the densely packed No-Face Walkers on the construction site began to merge. In a brief moment, only a single No-Face Walker, standing ten zhang tall, remained. Its body was massive, and a terrifyingly potent aura radiated from it.
The No-Face giant’s roar blew away the clouds in the sky. It smashed a fist into a nearby ten-story building, and the tower collapsed instantly. Then, the featureless face turned its eerie gaze on Xu Lai. Like a pouncing tiger, it transformed into a streak of light and rushed toward him with incredible speed. Any building in its path was smashed to pieces, sending dust billowing into the air and creating a devastating scene.
Jiang Fu’s scalp tingled. The pressure from this giant No-Face Walker was comparable to an Eighth Grade Martial Dao practitioner, and he himself was only a mere Seventh Grade. Array Masters... so this is their terrifying power!
Su Daiyi and Old Jiang Ba hadn’t left. Their faces were pale as a flicker of doubt crossed their minds. Can Mr. Xu really defeat this godlike, terrifying giant?
With his hands clasped behind his back, Xu Lai said indifferently, "You don’t know your own limits."
He kicked a small pebble on the ground toward the giant.
Atop the high-rise, Duan Yan burst into laughter. Is Xu Lai an idiot? What good can a tiny pebble do?
But in just an instant, the smile on Duan Yan’s face stiffened, then turned utterly ugly, verging on fearful. The No-Face giant stopped in its tracks, its huge body frozen in place. The next second, it dissolved into streams of Spiritual Energy and dispersed. The Formation that had enveloped the entire construction site suddenly collapsed with it.
Duan Yan, who had been mentally controlling the Formation, spat out a large mouthful of blood. He staggered back dozens of steps, his expression horrified as he stared at the ground below.
At that moment, Xu Lai looked up, his expression serene.
Spurred by that display of confidence and pride, Duan Yan’s expression flickered uncertainly before he leaped from the high-rise. He landed fifty meters away and shouted, "You noticed me a long time ago!"
"Yes," Xu Lai nodded, not bothering to hide it. He had simply never paid it any mind.
After all, in my eyes, everyone beneath a Quasi-Emperor is an ant. Sometimes I don’t even deign to glance at an Immortal Venerable, let alone someone with a Boundary as insignificant as Duan Yan’s.
"First you broke my Illusion Array, then my Blood Drawing Formation, and finally my Ten Thousand Spirits Killing Array! You’re an Array Master too!" Duan Yan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his expression ghastly. "As fellow Array Masters, we should abide by the rule that Array Masters must not kill each other! Why didn’t you reveal your identity sooner?"
Too few geniuses in the Cultivation World took the time to delve into Formations; each one was an irreplaceable talent. Therefore, the Formation Association had issued this ironclad order.
Xu Lai was stunned. "You call this a Formation?"
In the Cultivation World, the recognized standard for an entry-level Array Master requires one to create a single Formation that can cover an area of ten miles in radius. Yet, Duan Yan’s Formation didn’t even cover one mile, and it was full of petty little tricks...
"You—" Duan Yan’s face turned crimson with rage, looking utterly wretched. "If this isn’t a Formation, then what is it!"
"I thought some kid was playing house here."
Already suffering from the Formation’s backlash, Duan Yan was now so overcome with rage that he spat out another mouthful of blood. Pointing a trembling finger at Xu Lai, he stammered, "You—you’ve gone too far!"
This was my most prized Formation! To be mocked ... it’s utterly unbearable!
"Jiang Fu, now!" Duan Yan roared, but he received no response. He whipped his head around to find Jiang Fu still standing on the rooftop, hesitating.
He’s weighing the pros and cons!
Duan Yan said furiously, "Jiang Fu, I have one more Formation that can suppress Xu Lai! I just need you to hold him off for a moment!"
Jiang Fu gritted his teeth. Just as he was about to leave, he transformed into a shadow and began darting through the shadows of the surrounding buildings.
Xu Lai narrowed his eyes. Someone from the Jiang Family of Yanjing. First Tan Chang. Then ten shadows. Now this guy and that old man... Do they really think my temper is so good they can provoke me whenever they please?
His expression turned cold. He stamped his foot violently and shouted, "Get out here!"
Jiang Fu was blasted out from the shadows by an unimaginable force, spitting a mouthful of blood as his face filled with utter shock.
My concealment technique... was forcibly broken? How is this possible!? The intelligence on Xu Lai never indicated such terrifying combat power!
"Why does your Jiang Family keep troubling me time and again?" Xu Lai asked.
"You want to know?" Jiang Fu sneered, suppressing the shock in his heart. "Surrender without a fight, and I’ll tell you everything." The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the novel•fire.net
Not going to talk? Fine.
Xu Lai wasted no more words. With a mere thought, he swept his divine sense over him.