Upon hearing Zhou Quan’s words, Lord Ma sighed softly, "The Shen Family promised that as long as you all die, the power of incense you leave behind will be given entirely to me. If I absorb your incense, it will be enough to complete the critical transformation and condense a divine body!"
"Fool! How can there be two tigers on one mountain? If you kill us, once the Shen Family gets through this calamity, how can they allow you to live and become their rival?" Zhou Quan looked at the lifeless body of Ye Liangchen falling to the ground and cursed angrily.
"If it were someone else making such a promise, of course, I wouldn’t believe it, and I also believe the Shen Family would not watch idly as the Zhou Family rises. But Madam Shen is my own younger sister; we crawled out of the same womb, and we’ve been very close since childhood. If I can’t even trust her, who else in this world is worth my trust?" Vest said slowly and steadily.
His voice was very calm, "The Shen Family is a great family that has existed for hundreds of thousands of years. Knowing someone is secretly targeting them, how could they not make any preparations at all? You all are also part of the Shen Family’s considerations and calculations."
At this point, Lord Ma advised again, "Zhou Quan, now the great era of immortality and the indestructible godhood has arrived. As long as we collect enough incense, we all have hope to ascend to that supreme throne of immortality and witness the ages. If you lay down your arms now, forsake evil and do good, and assist the Shen Family in quelling the Yellow Heaven Dao, the Shen Family can forgive today’s matters."
Zhou Quan shook his head at these words, "Saying you’ll forgive and forget is all nonsense to fool children. Besides, the methods of the Yellow Heaven Dao are beyond your imagination; do you think you can reverse heaven and earth? Truly naive!"
"Enough talk, capture him, and then we’ll see if he still has a hard mouth!" Madam Shen’s eyes flashed with a cold light.
Upon hearing this, Vest nodded and joined forces with Madam Shen, advancing towards Zhou Quan.
Faced with the attack from the two, Zhou Quan remained unflustered, responding calmly. He knew in his heart that the Yellow Heaven Dao still had many masters lurking in the shadows, observing secretly. Even with Ye Liangchen dead, the Shen Family had no chance of victory because the masters had not yet revealed themselves.
How many more than just Yellow Heaven Dao want to annihilate the Shen Family?
As the confrontation unfolded, the blood of the Shen Family continued to be absorbed by the formation beneath, and the entire array gradually shifted positions, with a faint turbulence emerging in the air.
Zhang Chen stood outside the grand array, his eyes sweeping across the battlefield. His Eye of Devouring opened, observing and deducing the changes in the Shen Family’s grand array. As the battle continued, Zhang Chen’s heart stirred, and he keenly grasped a certain opportunity. "The Shen Family’s array has loosened," he noted.
Of course, it was only a loosening and not to the point where one could enter, but who was Zhang Chen? He had the Celestial Measuring Ruler, capable of manipulating the power of space. If others could not enter early, could Zhang Chen be stopped?
At least Zhang Chen had the chance to enter early.
"How is it? Any chance to find an entry into the Shen Family Mausoleum?" Tushan Qing noticed the change in Zhang Chen’s expression and inquired from behind.
Zhang Chen didn’t respond to Tushan Qing but instead extended his hand, and a silver light flickered as the Celestial Measuring Ruler appeared in his palm. Looking at the blue formation, Zhang Chen turned and cautioned Tushan Qing, "Be careful, I’m going to take action now!"
The underground tomb was full of dangers, so with Tushan Qing, he’d have a companion to watch his back.
Then Zhang Chen channeled magical power into the Celestial Measuring Ruler, and as he slashed in front of the formation, it was like using a stick to part the river, revealing the riverbed below. At this moment, a pitch-black space tunnel appeared before his eyes.
"Let’s go!"
Zhang Chen saw the space tunnel and, without a word, stepped across it, with Tushan Qing following closely behind, clutching the hem of Zhang Chen’s clothes.
"Wait for me!"
Hu Li the Immortal, who had been observing Zhang Chen from the sky, kept some focus on him at all times. Seeing Zhang Chen cut open the formation and reveal a path to the underground, he struck Shen Liang with a palm and the next moment appeared beside Zhang Chen.
"That’s the entrance to the mausoleum..." Zhou Quan’s eyes lit up at the sudden appearance of the entrance. He broke away from Madam Shen and Shen Liang and charged towards the path.
"Go back now!"
Seeing Shen Liang rushing in, Hu Li the Immortal slapped him away with a palm strike.
"There has always been only me taking advantage of others, when has it ever been the other way around with you?" Hu Li the Immortal cursed, looking at the incoming Shen Liang and Chen Zhifei of the White Lotus Sect. Without further delay, he slapped them away as well.
"Hu Li the Immortal!!!" Chen Zhifei shouted in frustration as he steadied himself mid-air, filled with suppressed fury.
All he received in return was a sneer from Hu Li the Immortal, before the spatial tunnel closed, separating both sides completely.
"That person has remarkable skills; they can actually find the flaws in the great array, then tear through space to enter the mausoleum," Shen Liang looked at the disappearing space passage, eyes full of gloom and shock.
"Shen Liang, hurry and open the passage to the mausoleum; they’ve already gone in. If they plunder and destroy inside the mausoleum first, taking all the Shen Family’s legacy, your family’s loss will be immense. Why not take the initiative to open the mausoleum now, and we go in together, perhaps we can still gain something," Chen Zhifei turned to look at Shen Liang.
Shen Liang let out a bitter laugh, "Do I have that ability? The only way outsiders can enter the mausoleum is through a blood sacrifice. As long as there are enough sacrifices, the blood of my Shen Family can naturally taint the array, causing the great array to temporarily stop functioning."
The blood of the Shen Family is never used to open the mausoleum passage but to taint the mausoleum’s array themselves, causing the array to experience a temporary halt.
"Kill! Kill all Shen Family disciples, then we can naturally enter the mausoleum interior." Chen Zhifei’s eyes turned red at this point, seeing someone already rushed into the mausoleum, he became anxious.
Chen Zhifei was not the only one anxious; even the Yellow Heaven Dao experts outside were anxious now.
"This shouldn’t be happening. It’s different from the calculations by Prince! According to Prince’s calculations, after slaughtering the Shen Family, it would take at least a day to soak the array with their blood, causing a temporary pause, allowing the breakage of the array’s shackles. But now someone has entered the mausoleum already, if delayed too long, others might take all benefits, and we of Yellow Heaven Dao are left with scraps..."
Gu Mingyue hesitated slightly, taking out a piece of Message Incense, began communicating with Zhang Xiaohua.
Inside Exquisite Tower
Zhang Xiaohua and Zhou Qiucheng were playing chess, a golden chain connecting them. Suddenly, Zhang Xiaohua frowned, eyes filled with surprise, "Master sending me a message at this time, could something have changed outside?"
At this point, Zhou Qiucheng across him seemed unaware of Zhang Xiaohua’s thoughts and lightly picked up a chess piece, placing it on the board, "Do you think this battle will see the Shen Family extinguished by your Yellow Heaven Dao?"
"Shen Family is a lineage of hundreds of thousands of years; our Yellow Heaven Dao is merely established for a mere sixty years compared to the Shen Family’s duration, not even coming close. But often, many matters are not determined by existence duration to be strong. Great Virtuous Master alone closed the gap of hundreds of thousands of years, even surpassing, putting all forces underfoot. If not for the Great Victory Dynasty having three Twelfth Tier mysteries, I fear the entire realm would already belong to Yellow Heaven Dao." Zhang Xiaohua’s mouth twisted, eyes showing disdain.
Long-lived advantageous, yet not unbridgeable, or why need talent?
Hearing Zhang Xiaohua’s words, Zhou Qiucheng paused his chess action, eyes showing helplessness, "You’re right."
"The game will stop here for today, disciple shall take leave." Zhang Xiaohua threw the chess piece onto the board, disrupting the layout.
"You’re leaving?" Zhou Qiucheng inquired.
Zhang Xiaohua nodded, "Yes!" and added, "You wouldn’t still want to trap me here, would you?"
Zhou Qiucheng shook his head, "After today, you’re no longer a disciple of Chongzheng Academy; don’t return."
"You truly are heartless, Master." Zhang Xiaohua looked at Zhou Qiucheng, voice filled with lament.
Zhou Qiucheng let out a cold laugh at that, "Heh! You committed acts of defiance against your master. Chongzheng Academy can’t keep you."
Zhang Xiaohua remained indifferent, slowly standing, "So be it, we shall meet again if fate allows."
After speaking, Zhang Xiaohua clapped her hand, turning the pillars imprisoning Exquisite Tower to ashes, the light covering Exquisite Tower vanishing.
And Zhou Qiucheng retracted the golden chain.
Thus, all restraints between the two were lifted.
Zhang Xiaohua’s figure flickered, disappearing from the spot. Zhou Qiucheng wanted to chase but unexpectedly, Zhang Xiaohua paused outside Exquisite Tower, manifesting a talisman in hand. The talisman flew out, transformed into a post, adhering to Exquisite Tower, sealing it, preventing entrance or exit, trapping Zhou Qiucheng inside.
Zhou Qiucheng sensed within Exquisite Tower, trying to shake the post loose, yet Zhang Xiaohua chuckled lightly, "This is Great Virtuous Master’s post, capable of suppressing you for three days; please emerge after then."
As her words fell, Zhang Xiaohua vanished, while Zhou Qiucheng stood before Exquisite Tower’s door, gazing solemnly at the post emitting golden radiance, eyes filled with gravity, "Great Virtuous Master has such skills! Just a post can suppress me for three days; how unparalleled his cultivation must be? This Demon Dao indeed became the greatest threat to our Great Victory Dynasty. But here lies Exquisite Tower, my domain, thinking to seal me? Ha!"