“Uncle Cheng, I can handle it myself. You don’t have to do anything,” Xia Liuchuan said.
“Sorry, Old Master can’t wait any longer.” As Ah Cheng spoke, he continued walking towards the Gate of Supreme Harmony. Soon, he passed through it and saw Zhou Wen fighting Xia Xuanyue.
“Little Yue, you can stand down. Leave this to me,” said Ah Cheng.
“Uncle Cheng, I can handle it myself,” Xia Xuanyue replied.
“This is Old Master’s order,” Ah Cheng said.
When Xia Xuanyue heard the words “Old Master,” she had no choice but to back out from the battle and go to Ah Cheng’s side.
Ah Cheng extended his hand and a strange yellow talisman appeared. The moment it appeared, golden runes lit up on the ground in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. It blanketed the huge space in golden light instantly.
Zhou Wen immediately felt as though he had fallen into a huge vortex. The Essence Energy in his body was sucked out before rapidly flowing into the vortex.
It wasn’t just Zhou Wen himself. Even the Companion Beasts he summoned suffered the same fate. The Golden Overlord Sword and Medusa were rapidly drained of their Essence Energy.
The petrified Xia family disciples and their Epic Companion Beast swords didn’t receive any special care.
Zhou Wen hurriedly retracted Medusa and the Golden Overlord Sword. At the same time, he switched his Essence Energy Art to the Dao Sutra. The Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder also appeared in his consciousness.
Such an array formation was similar to the Explosive Fiend Man’s time bomb. It needed to be prepared ahead of time. Clearly, the Xia family was very careful and had prepared everything. Even if Xia Liuchuan couldn’t win, they could still kill Zhou Wen.
With the appearance of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, Zhou Wen immediately felt the Essence Energy in his body stop leaking. With a thought, he retracted Tyrant Behemoth who was fighting Xia Liuchuan.
Tyrant Behemoth’s Absolute Strength was almost up. There was no need to continue fighting.
“We agreed on a duel. Isn’t your Xia family being too shameless?” Zhou Wen pretended to be alarmed as he struggled to retreat.
Ah Cheng said indifferently, “You were the one who didn’t duel. How can you blame our Xia family for not honoring our promise?”
“Alright, count yourselves lucky. I’ll admit defeat, alright? Stop your array formation,” Zhou Wen shouted as he retreated. He was already very close to the Hall of Supreme Harmony—less than fifty meters away. Any closer and he would be able to jump onto the top of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn’t know if the Hall of Supreme Harmony was the peak of Forbidden City or if it could help him escape the log.
“It’s already too late,” Ah Cheng said.
“It’s easy for you to want my life. But don’t tell me you have zero concern about the lives of the ten thousand Xia family members?” Zhou Wen pointed at the petrified Xia family members.
As Medusa had been unsummoned by Zhou Wen, their petrified bodies were gradually recovering.
Seeing that they weren’t dead, Xia Xuanyue couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief. She had thought that Zhou Wen had killed all of them and was extremely furious. Only now did she realize that Zhou Wen hadn’t really killed them.
However, just like Zhou Wen, they were trapped in the array. Furthermore, they didn’t have the protection of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. Their Essence Energy was constantly devoured by the array. Before the petrification on their bodies completely subsided, their Essence Energy was nearly sucked dry.
Xia Liuchuan walked over and said, “Uncle Cheng, stop. If this continues, they will all die.”
Ah Cheng shook his head. “Before dealing with Zhou Wen, the array can’t be deactivated.”
Zhou Wen was still retreating. Having already retreated to the edge of the array, the light barrier formed at the edge of the array blocked his path. The thin layer of golden light was like a metal wall. Zhou Wen tried his best several times, but he failed to slam through it.
Furthermore, as long as Essence Energy struck the barrier, it would immediately be absorbed by the barrier, making its defense even stronger.
Zhou Wen was still fine. His Essence Energy hadn’t really been sucked away.
The Xia family’s disciples didn’t share his prowess. They were nearly drained dry. Some of them had already recovered from the petrification. They rushed to the edge of the array formation, but like Zhou Wen, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t break through the barrier.
Soon, their Essence Energy was sucked dry. After their Essence Energy was sucked dry, the array didn’t let them off. Their essence, vitality, and spirit were extracted after their Essence Energy was drained.
Their bodies aged at a speed visible to the naked eye. They looked extremely terrifying.
Many Xia family members shouted in horror as they struggled to escape the hellish array.
Xia Xuanyue’s expression was complicated. She never expected to see such a scene. Furthermore, she was part of the reason why these people ended up like this.
If she hadn’t failed to stop Zhou Wen, Ah Cheng wouldn’t have taken action—the ten thousands of Xia family members wouldn’t have been trapped in the array.
“Uncle Cheng, I’m sorry!” Xia Xuanyue gritted her teeth and suddenly brandished her sword, stabbing the yellow talisman in front of Ah Cheng.
Ah Cheng never expected Xia Xuanyue to unsheathe her sword beside him. He was caught off guard as the yellow talisman was pierced by the sword beam.
As the yellow talisman shattered, the array’s golden light immediately cracked. The light barrier vanished as the golden runes on the ground dimmed.
“Little Yue... You...” Ah Cheng’s expression changed drastically. He wasn’t worried that the array formation would release Zhou Wen after breaking, there was another reason.
Xia Liuchuan was also shocked. He turned to look in the direction of the city gate tower and his body immediately trembled. Old Master Xia, who was sitting on the city gate tower watching the battle, had already disappeared.
When he turned around, he realized that Old Master Xia was already standing in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony with his hands behind his back.
Zhou Wen was just about to forcefully break through the light barrier when he realized that it had suddenly vanished. Just as he was overjoyed and was about to rush up the Hall of Supreme Harmony, a figure appeared in front of it as though he had teleported. He stood at the end of the stairs and blocked his path.
Zhou Wen took a careful look and saw that the person’s body was majestic. He was about two meters tall and his hair was completely white. He looked like an elder, but his aura was extremely powerful. He didn’t look like an elder at all.
Zhou Wen’s heart palpitated as though he had sensed an extremely dangerous aura. He couldn’t help but feel alarmed.
“Who allowed you to destroy the array without permission?” Old Master Xia didn’t look at Zhou Wen, but his gaze landed on Xia Xuanyue.
“Old Master, Xuanyue didn’t do it on purpose. She just couldn’t bear to see the Xia family’s members die...” Xia Liuchuan hurriedly pulled Xia Xuanyue to kneel down and admit her mistake.
“Is that so?” Old Master Xia glanced expressionlessly at the Xia family members who had been drained of their vitality and had luckily escaped.
Suddenly, Old Master Xia extended his hand and grabbed. Xia Xuanyue’s body seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand as she was instantly pulled in front of Old Master Xia. He had his hand on her head.
On the ground, the golden runes appeared once again. The array was activated again, trapping everyone inside once more.