Chapter 1267: The Might Of Ming Jian (1)

In a mysterious place within the Tenth Chaos Void.

Peculiar mountain peaks floated through the emptiness, composed of extraordinary stone that pulsed with subtle fluctuations of spacetime. These massive formations flickered between reality and illusion, materializing in the void only to vanish moments later. The massive distortions in spacetime occasionally created spacetime rifts that added to the eerie, otherworldly atmosphere.

On this particular day, more than thirty True Saints had gathered in this bizarre expanse of void. Their collective attention was focused on one singular mountain, none daring to make any sudden movements.

At the base and along the slopes of this mountain lay the crumbling ruins of ancient palaces. Atop the summit stood four figures. Two of these figures were True Saint Bu Xiu and True Saint Taiyuan, subordinates of the Spacetime Dao Master who had agreed to team up and explore this newly opened Tenth Chaos Void.

Whoosh~

A shimmering veil of protective light enveloped the entire mountain, its hazy radiance shielding the four figures who stood at its peak.

"Dong Cang!" A cold voice sliced through the void. "Hand it over, or don't blame me for turning hostile."

Outside the majestic mountain stood six imposing figures, each radiating an aura of tremendous power. At the front stood a man draped in purple robes, his presence oozing malevolence. Most striking was the twisted purple marking adorning his brow, resembling a tightly shut eye.

This purple-robed figure was none other than True Saint Shen Yan, ranked tenth on the True Saint Rankings and the top True Saint of the Nine Saints Alliance, one of the six first-rate powers dominating the Central Megaverse.

The five powerhouses who had joined forces with True Saint Shen Yan were formidable in their own right; even the weakest among them ranked within the top three hundred of the True Saint Rankings.

Those ranked in the top hundred were all Full True Saints, each with a precise ranking to their name. As for those in the top three hundred, the Wan Yu Tower no longer provided exact rankings, only general ranges of power.

Through the long march of years, as more True Saints emerged, their overall strength had steadily increased. A considerable portion of those ranked in the top three hundred had also attained the level of Full True Saint, though they remained slightly inferior to those in the top hundred.

"Haha, what a joke!" The snow-white figure resembling a great bear roared from within the mountain's protective barrier. "Shen Yan, no matter how strong you are, do you really dare to attack this maze mountain? If you've got the guts, come and force us out!"

"That's right! Come and attack if you dare!" True Saint Taiyuan echoed.

"We've already called for reinforcements. The top powerhouses of our Blood Dream Alliance will arrive soon!" True Saint Bu Xiu added, his voice thundering with fury.

The four of them had been exploring together, with True Saint Dong Cang ranked within the top three hundred of the True Saint Rankings being the strongest among them. True Saint Taiyuan and True Saint Bu Xiu were considerably weaker, having only reached the level of Peak True Saint.

Despite this disparity, their team of four was considered quite formidable within the Tenth Chaos Void, capable of handling most challenges they encountered.

It was precisely this confidence in their collective strength that had prevented True Saints Taiyuan and Bu Xiu from sending a message to Wu Yuan earlier to request his assistance. Up to that point, they hadn't faced any truly dire situations.

Not long ago, fortune had smiled upon them and they managed to obtain a special token. Unfortunately, this news had quickly spread, leaked by other True Saints who had failed to claim the prize. This led to True Saint Shen Yan gathering his team and giving chase.

The location where the dozens of True Saints competed for the treasure was uniquely situated within this bizarre spacetime; a place easy to enter but extremely difficult to leave. Therefore, when True Saint Shen Yan and his team arrived, True Saint Dong Cang, Taiyuan, and the others hadn't yet managed to escape this spacetime and were swiftly cornered.

Fortunately, Dong Cang and his companions had spent considerable time in this strange spacetime, studying the area thoroughly and unraveling the secrets of many maze mountains. In the end, they had managed to slip into one of the mountains and gain control over its operational principles, temporarily halting True Saint Shen Yan's relentless pursuit.

"A bunch of rabble," True Saint Shen Yan sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. "Even if True Saint Meng Guan of the Blood Dream Alliance were to come, I wouldn't fear him. You think you can intimidate me? Besides, it would take True Saint Meng Guan thousands of years to reach this place. He's busy seeking treasures right now. Do you truly believe he'd abandon his quest specifically to save you?"

True Saint Shen Yan's gaze turned glacial as he bellowed, "Dong Cang, I'll give you one last chance. Hand over the treasure, and I'll allow you to leave with your lives. Otherwise, once I dismantle this array, I'll slaughter each and every one of you without mercy."

Atop the mountain peak, True Saint Dong Cang and another True Saint exchanged grim expressions. How could they not recognize the truth in True Saint Shen Yan's words? True Saint Meng Guan, the top True Saint of the Blood Dream Alliance, was only marginally stronger than True Saint Shen Yan. It would be difficult for either to gain a clear advantage in direct combat.

As for other True Saints? Unless multiple Full True Saints joined forces to attack, it would be nearly impossible to pose a genuine threat to True Saint Shen Yan. In other words, if this standoff continued, their defeat was all but certain. Yet to simply surrender the treasure they had fought so hard to obtain? The thought filled them with extreme reluctance.

After all, they had spent nearly two thousand years exploring this special spacetime, even missing prime opportunities to hunt for treasures elsewhere, before finally obtaining this token.

"Why don't we just hand over the treasure?" True Saint Ming Sha, the last of the four True Saints, suggested. Resignation colored his voice. "It's better than losing our lives."

True Saint Dong Cang's eyes flickered with indecision, weighing their limited options.

"There's no need to hand it over," an urgent voice interrupted, causing Dong Cang and Ming Sha to turn their attention to him.

"Taiyuan, are you certain?" Ming Sha stared intently at True Saint Taiyuan.

"Someone is coming to rescue us," Taiyuan said in a low, confident voice. "We just need to hold out for two years."

Wu Yuan said that he'd arrive in three months, but Taiyuan had deliberately extended the timeframe to give some buffer.

"Who's coming to save us?" Dong Cang asked immediately, hope and skepticism warring in his tone. "Can they truly fend off True Saint Shen Yan?"

Taiyuan and Bu Xiu exchanged a meaningful glance. If Wu Yuan's body refiner self were to arrive, they would certainly feel confident in their salvation. But they already knew it was Wu Yuan's qi refiner self who was coming. Could he really hold off True Saint Shen Yan? They weren't entirely sure.

"If he dares to come, he must be confident," True Saint Taiyuan said with conviction.

"Who exactly is coming?" True Saint Ming Sha pressed, his voice grave. "True Saint Meng Guan was last seen in a location that’ll take him more than one thousand years to reach us." It wasn't that he distrusted Taiyuan, but when their lives hung in the balance, caution was essential.

"Stop prying," True Saint Dong Cang shook his head. "If Taiyuan dares to make such a claim, fine. I'll trust you this once. I hope you don't disappoint us.

"If we survive this, Taiyuan will get a fifty percent share of this token's value."

True Saint Taiyuan and True Saint Bu Xiu's eyes lit up with surprise and delight. According to their previous agreement, they would have only received a combined twenty percent share of any treasures obtained.

"Shen Yan!" Dong Cang shouted across the vast distance. "Leave now while you can. You could still obtain other treasures. Why waste time on us?"

"Courting death!" True Saint Shen Yan glared at the four figures within the mountain, his fury palpable.

In a direct confrontation, with his overwhelming strength, he could easily defeat all four of them even if they fought together. He could even pick them off one by one with minimal effort.

But he had already tried. The entire mountain stood hundreds of millions of li tall, as solid as a single entity, incredibly difficult to budge. Breaking the array with force was nearly impossible.

And finding a flaw in the array? Extremely challenging! Even after half a day of examination, True Saint Shen Yan hadn't discovered any weaknesses to exploit.

"Has anyone noticed weaknesses in the array?" True Saint Shen Yan communicated telepathically to the five True Saints who had followed him.

Several True Saints shook their heads in response.

Only one True Saint remained silent, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.

"Chou Lie?" True Saint Shen Yan turned toward True Saint Chou Lie, a glimmer of hope sparking in his eyes. He knew the other's achievements in array cultivation were exceptional.

"We can dismantle the array," Chou Lie said thoughtfully. "Or rather, we don't need to completely dismantle it." He continued, "Shen Yan, I've been analyzing the array this whole time and have made some preliminary deductions. This entire spacetime seems to be subtly interconnected. All the mountains here are faintly linked as one, as if some supreme powerhouse employed unparalleled divine abilities to lay down a grand array."

"An array?" True Saint Shen Yan's eyes widened slightly. "This vast spacetime is all one grand array?" He was startled by this revelation, having originally thought the mountain arrays were independent of each other.

He could naturally sense the bizarreness of this spacetime and its immense scope. If someone could create such an array, there was no doubt it had to be the work of a Dao Zenithel.

"This immense array is constantly in motion," Chou Lie explained. "The mountain where True Saint Dong Cang and the others are hiding in is currently in an active phase, protected by the array's essence. So it's nearly impossible for us to break through by force; even a Dao Zenithel would struggle in this situation." He paused before continuing, "There are only two options. The first is to wait."

"We simply need to wait for the array to complete its rotation. The power enveloping the mountain will completely dissipate, returning it to normal, just like some of the ordinary mountains we see now," True Saint Chou Lie elaborated.

"How long would we have to wait?" True Saint Shen Yan frowned.

"As short as a hundred years, or as long as a thousand," True Saint Chou Lie answered vaguely. He had only made preliminary deductions about the array and couldn't provide a more accurate assessment.

"Too long, far too long," True Saint Shen Yan shook his head decisively. "This special token might be a valuable treasure, but we can't afford to waste that much time here. We still need to compete for the Chaos Jade Crystals."

The other True Saints nodded in agreement. They had chosen to follow True Saint Shen Yan because they had been promised substantial rewards, each with their own ambitions and goals. None could afford to keep waiting here while other opportunities slipped through their fingers.

"The second option," True Saint Chou Lie continued, "requires you, Shen Yan, to employ your Divine Eye to launch an attack on the most crucial nodes. I'll guide you. This won't shatter the mountain's defenses directly, but it will accelerate the rotation of the entire spacetime array.

"That way, perhaps in a few years or even months, as the array rotates, this mountain will naturally return to its normal state."

Use his Divine Eye? A flicker of hesitation crossed True Saint Shen Yan's expression. His ability to rank tenth on the True Saint Rankings was largely due to the extraordinary Divine Eye embedded in his brow. He had even taken 'Shen Yan' as his title. [1]

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

However, using this extraordinary treasure came at a tremendous cost. He hadn't fully mastered the Divine Eye yet, and each activation drained him significantly. Naturally, he was reluctant to use it carelessly.

In True Saint Shen Yan's plans, his Divine Eye was reserved for the struggle for the Chaos Jade Crystals or the Chaos Nucleus. Those prizes were worth the sacrifice.

"No, we can't use it here," True Saint Shen Yan finally declared, shaking his head. "I can only use it three times within ten thousand years. If I use it once here, it’ll put me at a significant disadvantage in the competition for the Chaos Jade Crystals later."

His gaze hardened as he turned to Chou Lie. "Think of another way. If you can find a method to shorten the time to dismantle the array, you can have fifty percent of this treasure."

True Saint Chou Lie sighed inwardly with resignation. After contemplating briefly, he said in a low voice, "Everyone, please launch your strongest attack. If we can disturb the array even slightly, I might be able to identify its vulnerabilities."

Dismantling an array followed similar principles to confrontations between powerhouses; theoretical analysis could only go so far. Once they provoked the array into active resistance, its weaknesses would reveal themselves more readily.

"Alright!" True Saint Shen Yan bellowed. "Follow my lead. We'll concentrate our attacks on a single point!"

A terrifying surge of power erupted from him, so overwhelming that the observing True Saints blanched visibly.

True Saint Shen Yan's palms gleamed like translucent jade blades as he swung them downward. "Slash!" The devastating chop descended toward the majestic mountain.

"Attack!"

"Break for me!"

The four other True Saints unleashed their full might, some brandishing weapons, others employing arcane arts, all focusing their destructive power against the towering peak.

Whoosh~

The mountain's surface rippled with flowing light, its barrier vast and impenetrable, deflecting the combined assault. Yet the sheer might of five True Saint powerhouses striking in unison proved formidable. The luminous shield trembled visibly, showing the first signs of weakness.

"Will it hold?" True Saint Dong Cang and True Saint Bu Xiu watched with mounting anxiety, their gazes never leaving the barrier.

"It should," True Saint Taiyuan replied quietly. "This array was designed to withstand assaults from Dao Zenithels."

Among their group of four, True Saint Taiyuan possessed the deepest understanding of arrays. It was he who had guided them to seek shelter within this maze mountain.

Outside the protective barrier, True Saint Chou Lie's eyes gleamed. "The array's patterns are becoming clearer now. Let me work out a solution," he said rapidly.

"Excellent. Everyone, maintain the assault. Full power!" True Saint Shen Yan commanded.

At once, all five True Saints intensified their barrage, hammering the maze mountain with devastating strikes.

"How pitiful!"

"If they just surrender the treasure, Shen Yan might show mercy.”

"Surrender? Who would relinquish such a prize after finally claiming it?"

The numerous True Saints gathered in this expanse of spacetime murmured among themselves as they observed the battle.

1. 神眼 Shen Yan = Divine Eye ☜