“What exactly are you here to find?”

“Do you know what secrets this mysterious land holds?”

“Why do all the creatures in this land seem to be asleep?”

“The Abyss of Slumber…”

On the mountain path, Monk Pǔ Shàn kept asking questions, trying to learn some secrets about this place from the guide.

“Shut up!”

At first, the guide simply ignored him, but when he realized that the monk could keep talking without any response, he finally couldn’t bear it and shouted.

“If you don’t want to talk, then don’t. No need to be so fierce…” Monk Pǔ Shàn muttered under his breath.

After a while, he asked again, “How badly are you injured? My Buddhist sect has some healing techniques that are quite effective.”

The guide stopped and said loudly, “I came here to refine a seventh realm war spirit that is sleeping here. I only found it by accident, and I know nothing else. I don’t need you to heal me, I just need you to shut up. If you say one more word, I’ll rip out this girl’s tongue, understand?!”

Monk Pǔ Shàn closed his mouth and hummed through his nose, “Hmm, hmm, hmm…”

Chu Liang added, “He said he understands, don’t hurt Miss Luo.”

“I don’t need you to translate!” the guide roared.

After a difficult journey, they finally arrived at the temple at the top of the mountain. Around them was a flat white square, a hundred feet in all directions, surrounding a magnificent golden palace. From a distance, they could vaguely see a figure sitting inside.

When they reached the square, Chu Liang and Monk Pǔ Shàn didn’t dare to step on it lightly.

Even without the guide’s reminder, they could see that the square was filled with hidden killing intent and concealed spiritual light, clearly set up with some kind of formation.

“There is a Heavenly Five Elements Formation here. If you can break it, you can enter the palace,” the guide said ominously. “I’ll leave it to you two.”

Chu Liang turned to look at him, only to see him hiding behind Luo Yao, using the girl as a shield, not giving anyone a chance to attack him.

Luo Yao’s eyes, on the other hand, were surprisingly calm, as if she didn’t care about life or death at all.

“I’ll do my best,” Chu Liang replied, stepping forward reluctantly.

Bang.

As soon as he stepped down, a vortex seemed to form around him, and the elements of heaven and earth began to spin and converge into a strange entity.

Boom—

A ball of flame appeared out of nowhere and struck at Chu Liang, its momentum terrifying.

Chu Liang dodged the fireball just in time, but as soon as he moved to a new position, a new element was triggered, and dozens of earth spikes burst from the ground, nearly impaling him!

He flew through the air to avoid landing, but even in the void, there seemed to be invisible threads pulling at him, and the vortex started again.

Two whooshing sounds!

Chu Liang quickly rolled to avoid them, narrowly escaping two invisible golden blades that almost cut him in half.

Before he could land, a large number of water droplets condensed in the air, crackling as they froze on his clothes. The ice grew thicker and thicker, quickly encasing Chu Liang entirely!

Although he quickly used his true energy to shatter the ice, the earth spikes and water droplets had already sprouted a large number of vines, which wrapped around Chu Liang’s feet before he could avoid them!

The long vines, covered in thorns, flung Chu Liang more than ten feet away, landing him hard outside the square!

As soon as Chu Liang left the square, everything that had just happened disappeared as if it had never existed, leaving only a large, flat white square.

Bang—

Chu Liang stood up, his face covered in dust, and gave a bitter smile. “This formation is powerful.”

The formation was controlled by the Heavenly Machine, guarding the central palace from all directions. Thankfully, it was only meant to repel intruders, not to kill. Otherwise, with his cultivation, he might not have been able to escape unscathed.

“Hmph.” The guide’s eyes were cold, and he tightened his grip on Luo Yao’s throat. “Stop pretending. If you can’t break this formation, I’ll kill this girl right now!”

“I’m doing my best. If you insist on thinking I’m a master, there’s nothing I can do,” Chu Liang replied honestly.

The guide’s expression was fierce, and he didn’t seem to believe Chu Liang at all. He sneered, “Your act of playing dumb won’t work on me, save it.”

In his eyes, Chu Liang was just pretending to be weak to lower his guard, then find a flaw to attack him. How could such a scheme fool him, an old hand in the demonic path?

Monk Pǔ Shàn stepped forward and said, “Enough, let me try.”

Before he finished speaking, he stepped onto the square. However, this step was not solid, but as if stepping on an invisible lotus.

In the blink of an eye, he had taken more than a dozen steps, going much further than Chu Liang.

It was only then that the formation was triggered.

A huge wave rose in front of him, which immediately turned into a tall ice wall, completely blocking his path. Behind him, a tall wall of fire blocked his way, and countless earth spikes and vines sprouted from the ground, while golden light poured down from the sky like a rain of knives!

Perhaps because he was too aggressive and went too far in, the reaction he triggered was unprecedentedly intense!

Boom, boom, boom—

In the midst of the explosions, Monk Pǔ Shàn quickly summoned a large glass bell to protect himself. He tried to rush out, but was blocked by invisible barriers on all sides, with nowhere to escape! He was about to be trapped!

Seeing this, Chu Liang sent a sword flying from outside the square. The sword light struck the fire wall behind Monk Pǔ Shàn, allowing the bell where he was hiding to break through the fire wall and escape.

But it wasn’t over yet. As soon as he left the formation and stepped off the square, five whip-like attacks followed him from behind!The shadow of Monk Pǔ Shàn’s bell was already on the verge of collapse, and now it shattered with a loud bang under the bombardment!

Just as he was about to be exposed to the attack, Chu Liang raised his hand and used his sword qi to help him resist.

Boom——

Together, they managed to fend off the pursuit of the formation.

It seemed that this Heavenly Machine Five Elements Formation was not easy to deal with. Chu Liang had only taken a probing step earlier, which had only triggered a part of the attack. But when Monk Pǔ Shàn brazenly intruded, the formation clearly wanted him dead!

After the bombardment, both Chu Liang and Pǔ Shàn looked pale and barely managed to dodge.

Looking back at Nan Lu Jie Yin, his face was gloomy.

“So you really are…”

Because Chu Liang didn’t take the Hidden Yuan Pill this time, Nan Lu Jie Yin felt Chu Liang’s peak Divine Intent Realm aura the moment Chu Liang made his first move.

At first, he thought this young man was hiding his true strength.

But when Monk Pǔ Shàn was in danger and Chu Liang urgently stepped in to save him, his actions clearly showed that his true cultivation level was indeed the Divine Intent Realm… definitely not the Golden Elixir Realm.

In a sense, he wasn’t wrong in his guess.

The strike he used to kill the Southwest Jie Yin earlier must have been executed through some special method, definitely not his true cultivation level. And he was actually hoping that such a weakling could help him break through this Heavenly Machine Five Elements Formation… How could that be possible?!

Nan Lu Jie Yin felt a surge of anger rising in his chest, not knowing whether it was due to the frustration of failing to break the formation or the embarrassment of misjudging Chu Liang.

In any case, he was furious.

If it weren’t for his severe injuries preventing him from breaking the formation, relying on him to make a move, he would have crushed these three spies long ago!

“So you really are just a weakling in the Divine Intent Realm…” Nan Lu Jie Yin pushed Luo Yao away and pointed his finger at Chu Liang, “Then what use do I have for you? Die!”

A black light shot out!

Seeing Nan Lu Jie Yin attacking him, Chu Liang was already prepared. The moment he made his move, Chu Liang counterattacked with another sword.

The Red Slayer!

This sword of justice, which had already slain several people from the Demon Sect, was still restless. It might not be effective against formations, but it was definitely not to be trifled with when dealing with villains!

Talisman Sword Art! Thunder Talisman Sword!

Time was pressing, and there was no time to use the Three Talisman Sword. Chu Liang directly drew a Thunder Talisman and saw the flying sword pushed out.

The reason he chose the Thunder Talisman was twofold. One, because it was fast! Two, because Nan Lu Jie Yin’s current state was very mysterious, seeming both real and illusory. He was worried that other attacks would not work. But the Thunder Law was specifically designed to counter sinister and evil forces, so it should be able to restrain his demonic methods!

And indeed it was so.

A roaring golden thunder dragon rushed towards Nan Lu Jie Yin in an instant, swallowing the black light he had emitted halfway through, and hit him directly.

Caught off guard by the thunder dragon, Nan Lu Jie Yin had no time to resist and was struck by the sword.

Before his body dissipated, he only had time to reveal a look of shock.

How could a mere peak Divine Intent Realm weakling emit such a powerful sword qi? He looked like he was about to die when breaking the formation just now, so why is he so energetic when fighting me now?

Could it be that his weak performance just now was all an act?

Was he playing me?

It didn’t seem like it…

How could his every move be a disguise by a strong person? Who would pretend to be a pig to eat a tiger and look exactly like a real pig?

His portrayal of a weakling was too convincing!

But at the moment the thunder sword was about to hit him, no matter how unbelievable it was, Nan Lu Jie Yin had to admit that he had been tricked by him!

He was first fooled by his pretense of being a Soul Capturer, then by his pretense of being in the Divine Intent Realm. All along the way, he had been constantly deceived by this man.

“Ah…” At the end of his life, he only had time to let out a bitter scream:

“You’ve tricked me so badly!”

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