Gods of the Nation: You worship the God of Longevity, I worship the King of Hell!

Chapter 182 Despair! This seemingly insurmountable obstacle!
"Hey, fellow Daoists, please don't misunderstand. This formation is not the same as that one. After all, I have never taken a life, so how can it be called a killing formation? It is just a slight modification to the Qian Tian Luo Yin Grand Formation."

Although Dhritarashtra spoke politely, his brows betrayed his arrogance.

Upon hearing this, the five plague envoys all felt a chill run down their spines.

It wasn't that they were making a fuss; it was simply that the power of this formation was truly terrifying.

Legend has it that the Qian Tian Luo Yin Formation was used to kill countless powerful cultivators during the ancient war.

Anyone who enters the formation will have their magical power suppressed and their consciousness sealed.

Even more crucially, no sound must be made within the formation.

If even the slightest sound is leaked out, it will trigger the great array's restrictions.

Heavenly fire burns the body, evil winds scrape the bones, black water corrodes the soul, and divine thunder shatters the spirit.

No matter what kind of profound method you cultivate, your physical body and soul will turn to ashes in an instant, which is truly terrifying.

Of course, such a fierce formation could not possibly have been created by a single guardian deity.

Legend has it that this formation was created by an ancient ancestral shaman who was skilled in playing the zither.

If we're talking about origins, it's not impossible that the Eastern Heavenly King, who holds a jade pipa, could have gleaned some insights from it and created a new formation by forging his own path.

"I thought it was some ancient killing formation, but it turns out it's just a watered-down version that you concocted! How dare you use the name of the Qian Tian Luo Yin Grand Formation for something like this? You're really good at patting yourself on the back!"

Li Qi, the Southern Plague Envoy, snorted coldly, his tone almost overflowing with sarcasm.

He had seen people borrow light before, but he had never seen anything so shameless.

These are clearly two different things, but the other party has somehow managed to conflate them, which is simply laughable.

"You!" The Heavenly King of the Nation's face suddenly darkened. He stood with his zither in his arms, a cold smile playing on his lips. "Even the abridged version caused Fellow Daoist Li to fail. Fellow Daoist Li doesn't have that ability, so why be sarcastic and make a fool of yourself?"

“That’s right!” The Western Heavenly King with his arms crossed stepped forward, glancing sideways at the Five Plague Envoys, his tone even more arrogant: “Enough with the nonsense, which other fellow Daoist dares to break my third brother’s great formation?”

"A mere imitation formation dares to be so arrogant! Watch me break it!"

Yang Wenhui, the Northern Plague Envoy, stepped forward, and the Plague Brush was raised again, hovering in the air.

He made hand gestures and silently recited a secret mantra.

At this moment, Lu Chen stood aside, like a lackey.

How could he not be a lackey?

All around were true immortals and deities, their divine light awe-inspiring and their power overwhelming.

He was the only one with a mortal body.

Listen to their sharp and witty arguments.

Lu Chen knew perfectly well that even if the Qian Tian Sound Array couldn't compare to the ancient killing array, the Qian Tian Luo Sound Array, it was by no means ordinary.

Otherwise, how could Li Qi, the dignified protector of the Plague Department, have returned defeated and speechless with resentment?
For now, he could only hope that his five senior brothers would be able to help him break the great formation.

Once the great formation is broken, this secret realm, and even the treasures within it, will all belong to him!
Lu Chen was happily pondering this when Yang Wenhui made his move.

At the tip of the brush, a drop of thick black ink slowly condensed.

As soon as the ink droplet appeared, it strangely flattened out, as if it had suddenly fallen from three-dimensional space into a two-dimensional plane, transforming into a thin, cicada-wing-like black light curtain.

In the next instant, Yang Wenhui transformed into a streak of light, silently plunging into the ink shards, his figure concealed, and flew towards the great formation in an almost ethereal manner.

"Good! Fourth Brother is awesome! By transforming reality into illusion and avoiding the perception of sound, this formation will surely be broken!" Li Qi couldn't help but clap his hands and cheer.

At this moment, among the Four Heavenly Kings, only Dhritarashtra remained calm and composed. The other three kings, upon seeing this, were all startled and showed expressions of worry.

Seeing that Dhritarashtra was so calm, they were somewhat relieved.

Sure enough, opening champagne in the first half was a no-no.

The "ink flake" had only drifted halfway down its path—

"Ling Ling——"

The clear, melodious sound of the zither rang out again without warning, spreading like ripples.

Before the music had even finished, Yang Wenhui was suddenly pulled out of the ink shards by an invisible force. He staggered back several steps and was already outside the formation, his face turning pale and then flushed.

"Fourth brother, are you alright?" Zhou Xin, Li Qi, and others asked with concern.

"I'm unharmed." Yang Wenhui steadied himself, his refined face filled with disbelief: "I never expected... that even my 'Ink Flying Immortal' technique could be detected! This formation is indeed quite strange."

"I'll give it a try!"

At this moment, Zhu Tianlin, the Plague Envoy of the West, stepped out, his plague banners fluttering in the wind.

The pitch-black plague surged like a tide, once again converging into a churning pool of miasma. Within the pool, the hideous demonic head reappeared, its fangs gleaming white and its eyes gleaming with bloodlust.

"Since entering the formation won't work, let's use brute force to break it!"

"go with!"

Zhu Tianlin gave a soft shout, and the demonic skull suddenly opened its huge mouth, from which thousands of plague demons roared out, some wielding bone spears, some holding ghost axes, and some swinging giant hammers. Each of them had a ferocious face and roared as they rushed towards the Qian Tian Sound Array.

However, the moment those millions of plague demons crashed into the great formation, they were like mud oxen entering the sea, not even causing a ripple, as if they had struck the invisible air.

Instead, the formation was triggered, and the music began again...

In the next instant, all the plague demons, along with the torrent of plague miasma, were collectively "invited" out by a gentle yet immense force.
However, Zhu Tianlin seemed to have anticipated this, and the moment the plague demon touched the formation, he activated the miasma in an attempt to corrupt the invisible zither music. But this time, it was still in vain.

The sound of the zither was formless and invisible, seemingly formed from magical power, yet it was far beyond the reach of ordinary magical power.

It should be known that the plague of the Plague Department is virtually invincible. Even the magical power of immortals will be completely devoured if they come into contact with it. It can even kill enemies remotely by following the trajectory of magical power.

However, they were completely helpless against this Qian Tian Musical Array.

The Four Heavenly Kings burst into laughter, with the Virupaksha King giving the Dhritarashtra King a thumbs-up: "Third Brother is mighty! This formation is truly wondrous and extraordinary; today has truly broadened my horizons!"

"Fourth brother, you flatter me." The Heavenly King Dhritarashtra smiled faintly, his arrogance even more pronounced. "While my formation may not be infinitely profound, it is certainly not something that ordinary immortals or gods can easily break. Rest assured, with this formation in place, we have no reason to be defeated!"

Seeing that a direct attack was ineffective, Zhu Tianlin snorted coldly and withdrew the Plague Banner's divine power.

For a moment, the Five Plague Envoys were truly in a dilemma.

"Brother, this formation is indeed quite ingenious."

Li Qi's voice rang in Lu Chen's mind—clearly, He had also pulled Lu Chen into the "telepathic" channel:
"Anyone who enters the formation, whether using divine sense to probe or divine power to circulate, will be forcibly expelled by a tremendous force if they disturb the music. What should we do?"

"Second brother, don't be anxious," Zhou Xin's calm voice rang out.

“Every formation has a key point. Although this formation imitates the ‘Qian Tian Luo Yin’ and has been modified, its core principles should be the same. If we study it carefully, we may be able to find the key point. Junior brother, don’t be impatient.”

Lu Chen's heart stirred slightly, and he nodded gently.

He's just a spectator now, what's the rush?

If even these few great gods of the Plague Department can't break it, then he'll naturally be in trouble too.

Seeing that the other party couldn't come to a conclusion after a long discussion.

The Heavenly King Dhritarashtra played his zither and laughed, “I advise all fellow Daoists not to waste your energy any more. Although this formation has eliminated the killing power of the original formation’s four elements of wind, fire, thunder and water, it has pushed the ability of ‘forbidden movement’ to its extreme.”

If there is even a trace of divine power or disturbance of divine consciousness, it will be detected by the sound of the zither and expelled from the formation.

No matter how powerful you are, don't even think about making an inch of progress. Let alone... you.

The Heavenly King of the Nation swept his divine eyes over and landed on Lu Chen, a half-smile on his face: "If you don't believe me, you can try it yourself."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen thought to himself, "Let's give it a try!"

Although the ghost king in the mass grave didn't kill people, it still managed to injure them.

But in this situation, there's no need to worry about even that.

Since that's the case, what is there to fear?!

—Let's get it!
Lu Chen took a deep breath and stepped to the front of the formation.

In an instant, the gazes of the eight Dharma images all fell upon him.

There was mockery, contempt, curiosity, and concern.

Lu Chen steadied himself and decided not to use any of his magic power.

After all, even Li Qi, Yang Wenhui, and those who used divine power had failed before.

He's just a mortal; with his meager cultivation, even if he were to unleash his magic, it would be meaningless.

Lu Chen held his breath and slowly raised his foot, taking a step into the formation.

However, before the other foot could land...

The clear, melodious sound of the zither, though late, arrived just in time.

"Ling Ling——"

The moment the music entered his ears, Lu Chen felt an invisible force surge in, and the scene before his eyes blurred.

When the other foot landed, it was already firmly standing in place.

As expected, they were unceremoniously "invited" back outside the formation.

Upon seeing this, the Four Heavenly Kings burst into laughter, their laughter echoing through the mountains.

Lu Chen's heart sank.

I rely on!

How does this work? !

The entrance to the secret realm was right in front of us, just a few big steps away.

However, this Qian Tian Music Array is like an invisible chasm, standing between him and the secret realm, seemingly so close yet so far!

It even gave him a sudden, unprecedented sense of powerlessness.

No solution!

This hurdle truly seems unsolvable!

　I can't keep going like this anymore.

　　I forced myself to finish writing this today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)