CHAPTER 130: CHAPTER 129: TIANYI TOURNAMENT (PART 21)

Unexpectedly, Chu Yunyi’s control over the wind had reached such a level, and it was meaningless to drag on. Li Xing summoned back the Three Thousand Lotus, her wrist shook, and the Glazed Array Beads scattered, forming the Thousand Leaves Hunting Array without a sound.

Chu Yunyi only felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, a more pronounced sense of crisis than when he was trapped in the Reversed Mystical Array arose from the depths of his heart, instinctively activating the Sky Wind Annihilation Array for protection.

Unfortunately, Chu Yunyi was still a moment too slow. The Thousand Leaves Hunting Array had already formed. Just now he was in a forest clearing, but now mist was rising around him, and in the blink of an eye, the dense fog spread, making it impossible to discern east from west or north from south.

Trapped in the thick fog, Chu Yunyi dared not make a rash move and could only release his spiritual power to probe. Strangely, with the intensity of his spiritual power, he couldn’t detect the boundaries of the array, nor could he find Li Xing’s figure, as if he had entered a foggy, mysterious space.

Since entering the array, Chu Yunyi had been on high alert, wary of a fatal move that could come from nowhere. But after waiting a long time without any movement, he slowly withdrew the Sky Wind Annihilation Array and began to wonder if this was just a low-level illusion array?

All talisman masters know that illusion arrays are easy to break, so vividly recreating and simulating the surrounding scenery is the first key to an illusion array’s success. The goal is to let opponents enter the array unknowingly and realize it later, thus prolonging the duration of entrapment.

But an illusion array that can only manifest fog is somewhat too low-level and clumsy, perhaps because Li Xing’s talisman array skills are too poor. But Chu Yunyi found that unlikely; if Li Xing’s talisman array skills were truly that poor, she would never challenge his strengths with her weaknesses.

Could it be that Li Xing wanted to take the opportunity to transfer the Competition Token and used a clumsy illusion array to trap him? That was possible. At this thought, Chu Yunyi tentatively slashed into the void with a Wind Blade. The Wind Blade was unparalleled in sharpness; if this were truly just an illusion array, this strike alone could break it.

"Buzz—" The Wind Blade disappeared into the fog, leaving no trace.

The Great Array didn’t vanish, and just as Chu Yunyi was about to unleash a second Wind Blade, two strong Wind Blades flew out of the fog simultaneously, slicing toward Chu Yunyi from left and right.

Startled, Chu Yunyi dodged continuously, and the two Wind Blades sank back into the fog, only for four stronger ones to emerge and fly toward him from the east, west, south, and north.

This time, Chu Yunyi didn’t dodge. He clasped his palms together and pulled apart, conjuring a transparent Wind Rope between his hands. The four Wind Blades were captured by the Wind Rope, and with a forceful twist, the Wind Rope strangled, turning the Wind Blades back into Elemental Power and dissipating them.

The fog finally returned to calm, with no new Wind Blade attacks appearing, leaving Chu Yunyi with a look of surprise on his face.

The Elemental Power fluctuations within the Wind Blades he shattered were all too familiar to him; they were his own attacks.

But he clearly launched a strike into the fog; why did two, then four stronger Wind Blades, attack him? Could this be the quirk of the Great Array?

To verify his suspicion, Chu Yunyi launched two more Wind Blades. As expected, moments later, four identical Wind Blades attacked him from cunning angles, with force and speed doubled from the ones he had just launched.

Chu Yunyi continued using the Wind Rope to absorb the Wind Blades. With no source of Elemental Attacks, the fog returned to peace.

So, the fog had a duplication and amplification function, using the enemy’s attack to double the energy and return it to the attacker.

Without attacking, it was just the lowest-level illusion array. But once attacked, the illusion array turned into a Killing Array, with the trapped one becoming the executioner by their own hand.

Using the Thousand Leaves Hunting Array in actual combat for the first time and meeting Qianyuan Continent’s foremost talisman array expert, saying Li Xing wasn’t nervous would be a lie. She concentrated intently on changing her hand gestures, manipulating the Array Beads, and dared not slacken for a moment.

Chu Yunyi was too smart. After probing twice, he discovered the Great Array’s mystery, stopped attacking blindly, and instead closed his eyes, relying on spiritual power to navigate the array. Every few steps, Chu Yunyi would stop to sense, and then continued on.

Li Xing was amazed to find that every place Chu Yunyi paused was where the Glazed Array Beads were located; a person whose spiritual power rivaled that of a Nascent Soul cultivator was indeed difficult to handle.

And now, Chu Yunyi stopped once more, standing for a long time without any inclination to leave.

Li Xing felt uneasy. Chu Yunyi was at the position of an Array Bead, but this particular Bead was somewhat aged and damaged, causing a slight delay during transformation.

This could have been the only weakness in the Thousand Leaves Hunting Array. If Chu Yunyi wanted to break the array, this was the only breakthrough point.

Suddenly, Chu Yunyi opened his starry eyes, and a finely crafted folded fan appeared in his hand. Li Xing’s heart was filled with dread—the fan emitted a rich wave of Spiritual Power; was this... a Spiritual Treasure?

Chu Yunyi waved the Carefree Fan, aiming a powerful strike at the faint fluctuation he sensed earlier.

Chu Yunyi was also gambling; if this was the array’s breaking point, an all-out strike would either cause the Great Array to waver or shatter completely. If he was wrong, the strike would be replicated and doubled by the fog; even with an Immortal Treasure in hand, he couldn’t withstand the attack and would have to concede.

Luckily, he gambled correctly. The fog didn’t manifest a sky-obliterating attack, and for a moment, the fog cleared, allowing Chu Yunyi to faintly see Li Xing’s figure.

Li Xing couldn’t afford to think about why Chu Yunyi had a Spiritual Treasure-level Artefact in hand. She changed her hand gestures quickly, and thousands of Glazed Leaves surged toward Chu Yunyi like a swarm, their sharp edges like blades, slicing deeply upon contact.

The Carefree Fan was originally a wind-based Spiritual Treasure, and in Chu Yunyi’s hands, it was a perfect match. With a gentle sweep, he conjured dozens of powerful whirlwinds, engulfing the Glazed Leaves within them.

While the Glazed Leaves were besieging Chu Yunyi, Li Xing hurriedly repositioned the damaged Array Bead.

An attack Artefact of Spiritual Treasure level, even if only of the lowest grade, was truly worth being the treasured artefact of a mid-tier Cultivation Sect.

Even though Chu Yunyi wasn’t a cultivator and hadn’t grasped the true essence of manipulating a Spiritual Treasure, thus unable to unleash more than thirty percent of its power, that accurate strike had almost caused the Great Array to collapse from within.

After sweeping away the Glazed Leaves with the fan, Chu Yunyi was about to launch a second attack at the previous spot. But just as he raised the fan, he furrowed his brows, paused for a moment, then suddenly turned around to strike at a spot behind him.

"Boom—!" With another strike, the Great Array shook violently, and the fog thinned at a visible speed.

Li Xing gritted her teeth, thinking she had moved the position of the Array Bead, yet he could still pinpoint it accurately; truly, Chu Yunyi was difficult to deal with.

The Array Bead was already damaged, and after being struck twice by the Spiritual Treasure, several small cracks appeared.

Filled with both frustration and heartache, Li Xing’s fingers flew as she manipulated eighteen Array Beads, continuously changing their positions without pause.

By doing so, Chu Yunyi once again lost track of the weakness and could only stand silently in place.