Mortal: Junior Sister Song Yu

He recalled that before entering the secret realm, an elder of the sect had casually mentioned that deep within this secret realm, there were scattered cultivation caves belonging to some ancient cultivators from the three sects.

These cave dwellings are often surrounded by trapping or killing formations that were casually set up by the original owner. Once you accidentally enter one, you are almost certain to die.

This is both a test for those who come after, and a tremendous opportunity.

But right now, no opportunity is as important as survival!

Although being trapped in the formation is dangerous, it's still better than being torn to shreds by a saber-toothed tiger in the next second!

"Junior sister, trust me this once, come with me!"

Li Xiao roared, his voice booming.

Instead of fleeing, he soared into the sky like a resolute wild goose, his target the seemingly empty, distorted void!

Song Yu was slightly taken aback, but her trust in Li Xiao was already deeply ingrained, and it was almost an instinctive reaction. Without the slightest hesitation, she transformed into a streak of light and followed closely behind without thinking.

The two stood one after the other, like fledglings nestling in their mother's arms, their posture resolute.

"roar--!"

Seeing this, the saber-toothed tiger thought that the two tiny humans were trying to escape by trickery, and it was immediately enraged, its roar shaking the forest.

With a powerful push from its four claws, its massive body transformed into a streak of white lightning, increasing its speed by three times. In the blink of an eye, it had caught up to Li Xiao, closing the distance to less than three feet behind!

The nauseatingly foul breath, like a humid, poisonous fog, had already sprayed onto his neck.

Li Xiao could even feel the stinging sensation as the sharp claws behind him tore through the air; they were just an inch away from ripping open his back!

"Now!"

On the brink of life and death, Li Xiao suddenly twisted his body, his eyes flashing with an unprecedented glint.

The Tang sword in his hand drew dozens of afterimages in mid-air, and he frantically slashed out with the Gale-Splitting Gold Blade in a way that was almost self-destructive!

He didn't seek to harm the enemy at all; he only hoped to stop that beast for even a moment!

"Clang clang clang!"

Dozens of golden-red blades rained down on the saber-toothed tiger's face. Although they couldn't break through its indestructible fur, they exploded into bursts of dazzling fire, successfully obstructing its vision and causing its forward lunge to suddenly slow down.

In that split second, Song Yu understood immediately. With a flick of her wrist, she unleashed the remaining heavy water, transforming it into a deep blue water barrier that precisely blocked the saber-toothed tiger's path, preventing its final attack.

"Bang!"

The claws slammed into the water curtain with a muffled thud, shattering the curtain in response.

But that's enough!

Taking advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the two plunged into that distorted void.

The saber-toothed tiger, due to its aggressive pursuit, was unable to stop in time and crashed into the hole as well.

But just as half of its body stepped into the void, an invisible and vast spatial force, like an unseen giant hand, violently bounced it outward!

This once arrogant monster, like a ball, tumbled and rolled more than ten feet away, crashing to the ground in a sorry state.

It struggled to its feet, its deep blue eyes fixed on the void, filled with rage and resentment, but even more so with a deep-seated fear from its bloodline.

It dared not approach any closer, and could only pace back and forth anxiously, emitting threatening growls.

……

Li Xiao and Song Yu, who rushed into the distorted void, felt dizzy and disoriented.

They felt as if they had been thrown into a giant, high-speed spinning drum, their internal organs were out of place, and even their souls felt like they were being torn out.

The sharp whistling sound of space being torn apart filled my ears, and countless colorful ribbons of light flashed wildly before my eyes.

After an unknown amount of time, when they were finally able to stand on solid ground again, they found themselves in a strange, white, and desolate space.

Here, there is no bounds; above, below, left, and right, everything in sight is pure white.

There were no mountains, rivers, grass, trees, sun, moon, or stars, only endless, slowly flowing white mist, and... an ancient array plate suspended in mid-air.

The array plate is three zhang in diameter and is carved entirely from an unknown jet-black jade. Its surface is engraved with hundreds of millions of complex and mysterious silver runes.

These runes seemed to possess life, flowing slowly like a galaxy, flickering and changing, emitting a terrifying fluctuation that made one's heart tremble. With each flash, the surrounding space rippled with visible light.

"This...this is an ancient spatial formation, no, it's a spatial trapping and killing formation!"

Song Yu's face turned deathly pale instantly, and his voice trembled slightly with fear, "Judging from the complexity of these runes, they're probably the kind of runes that could trap even a Core Formation cultivator to death!"

Li Xiao tried to activate the Wild Goose Technique, and his figure soared into the sky. However, no matter which direction he flew in or how long he flew, he would eventually return to the starting point in a strange way, as if the whole world was a closed loop from which he could not escape.

He landed with a wry smile: "Looks like we've just escaped one tiger's den only to fall into another."

"It's no use, senior brother."

Song Yu shook his head in despair, his breath weak from the exertion. "This ancient trapping formation is a world of its own, with spatial laws completely different from the outside world. Unless we find the core of the formation and break it with a specific technique, we will be trapped here to die until our lifespan is exhausted."

Before she could finish speaking, a flash of silver light appeared on the huge array plate, and a black light, like a bolt of lightning appearing out of nowhere, instantly crossed space and headed straight for Li Xiao's chest!

The speed was too fast; there was simply no time to dodge!

Li Xiao only had time to let out a muffled groan before he was sent flying backward as if struck by a heavy hammer.

The front of his clothes instantly turned to ashes, revealing the inner armor underneath, on which a clear crack appeared!

Although the inner armor blocked 99% of the damage for him, the terrifying aftershock still made his internal organs churn violently. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and could no longer hold back, so he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Senior brother!"

Song Yuhua turned pale and hurriedly flew over to support him, pouring her magical power into his body as if it were free, to calm his turbulent blood and qi.

"I'm fine."

Li Xiao coughed up a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, his eyes unusually grave. "This formation can attack on its own; it's truly troublesome! The power of this attack is absolutely comparable to a full-force strike from an early Foundation Establishment cultivator. We can't withstand it head-on!"

He stared intently at the array plate and noticed that the runes on it were circulating at a sudden faster speed, and the silver light was flashing more intensely, clearly preparing for the next, or even stronger, attack.

"Junior sister, you are a formation master, do you have any ideas?" Li Xiao asked in a deep voice. He knew that Song Yu's talent in formations was their only hope at this moment.

Song Yu stared at the mysterious array plate for a long time, took a deep breath, and slowly sat down cross-legged.

She took out a blank jade array plate from her storage bag, her jade-like fingertips swirling with magical power as she began to quickly draw and deduce on it: "Although this array is powerful, it is ultimately an inanimate object, and its operation must follow certain rules."

Given enough time, I should be able to deduce the rules governing the formation's operation and find the only way out.

But… this formation is too complex; I'll need at least seven days!”

"Seven days then!" Li Xiao didn't hesitate at all, sitting cross-legged in front of her with an imposing posture, his straight spine like an unshakeable mountain. "I will protect you. As long as I live, no one can harm you in the slightest!"

"But the formation's attack..." Song Yu looked at him worriedly; she had witnessed the power of that attack firsthand.

"rest assured!"

Li Xiao took out the few remaining talismans from his storage bag. He held three of them, the Profound Water Heavenly Thunder Talismans, between his fingers, grinned, and although the smile aggravated his wounds, distorting his face, he said, "I can withstand it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the array plate hummed again. This time, three beams of dark light shot out simultaneously in a triangular formation, attacking the heads, chests, and dantian of the two men respectively. The angles were extremely tricky and the speed was like a ghost!

Li Xiao let out a cold snort and slashed with his Tang sword. The golden and red blade light drew three precise arcs in the air, striking the three dark lights one after the other.

The blade's edge and the dark light collided violently, dissipating at the same time. The terrifying shockwave caused the entire white space to ripple violently.

"See that?"

Li Xiao forcibly suppressed his surging blood and qi, forcing a reassuring smile at Song Yu, but a trickle of blood still insidiously spilled from the corner of his mouth. "The attack strength of this formation is not constant, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, I can handle it."

Seeing this, Song Yu knew that this was not the time to hesitate. She bit her lip tightly, suppressed all her worries, closed her eyes, and devoted herself wholeheartedly to the deduction.

Her jade-like fingers moved so fast on the blank array plate that they almost left afterimages. With each stroke, her face grew paler.

For a mere Qi Refining stage array master like her, deducing such an ancient array of this level was like burning her divine consciousness with every breath.

On the first day, the array attacked once every hour, its dark light like a deadly arrow.

Li Xiao met the attack head-on with the blade's edge, resulting in seven or eight deep, bone-revealing gashes on his body. His clothes were torn to shreds by the violent energy, leaving him looking like a madman.

He gritted his teeth and stuffed recovery pills into his mouth like candy, barely managing to maintain the flow of his spiritual energy.

The next day, the attack frequency increased dramatically to once every 15 minutes, and runic chains appeared, like long silver snakes that would devour anyone, coiling around from all directions.

Li Xiao's magical power was severely depleted, forcing him to begin using the exquisite movement techniques of the Wild Goose Technique to dodge, no longer confronting the formation head-on, in order to conserve every bit of spiritual energy.

Even so, by sunset, his mana was less than 30% of what it used to be, and he had used up most of his pills.

On the third day, illusions were added to the formation's attack.

When the dark light struck, it was accompanied by the mournful roars of countless evil spirits, directly impacting the divine consciousness.

Li Xiao desperately guarded the Ice Heart Pendant on his chest, barely managing to maintain the last shred of his mental clarity, but his consciousness was still severely damaged. Every time he resisted, it felt like someone was stabbing his temples with steel needles, causing him excruciating headaches.

On the fourth day, as Li Xiao was awkwardly dodging a strange spatial cutting attack, the silent yet incredibly sharp black rift suddenly resonated in a mysterious way with the sword path of the "Gale-force Golden Blade" that he had already memorized!

His swordsmanship pursues the ultimate in "splitting" and "crackling," while this spatial attack is the ultimate in "cutting" and "splitting."

Although they seem different, they share a common origin!

In a flash of inspiration, a bolt of lightning struck his nearly dried-up sea of ​​consciousness!

"I see... I see! Offense and defense are two sides of the same coin! Since my blade can cleave through everything, why can't it be woven into a wall to 'cleave' away all incoming attacks?"

Under this life-or-death pressure, he actually comprehended the prototype of a defensive sword technique—Wind Wall—amidst the attacks of the formation!

Instead of condensing the blade's energy into lines, he instantly unleashed hundreds or even thousands of fine blade energies, weaving them together in a specific pattern to form an impenetrable wall of blade energy!

"Clang clang clang!" Three streaks of dark light crashed into the "wind barrier" one after another, and were successfully blocked. Li Xiao's spiritual energy consumption was reduced by 70%!

On the fifth day, Song Yu had completed 60% of his deductions.

Her face was as pale as paper, her lips were cracked, and even fine blood seeped from the corners of her mouth—signs of excessive mental exhaustion.

Seeing this, Li Xiao felt a pang of pain in his heart. He forcibly pried open her jaw and fed her his last recovery pill, ordering her to rest for half a day.

And I, in her place, used my bloodshot eyes to stare intently at the operation of the formation, memorizing its patterns for her.

On the sixth day, the formation's attack suddenly stopped without warning.

Just as Li Xiao was wondering what was going on, the entire white space began to twist and tremble violently!

Countless spiderweb-like black spatial cracks spread everywhere, emanating a chilling darkness that represented absolute nothingness.

This is a sign that the formation is running out of energy and is about to collapse completely!

"Junior sister, hurry!" Li Xiao's voice was hoarse like a broken gong, revealing an unprecedented anxiety.

Song Yu suddenly opened her eyes; she knew there was no time left!

Without hesitation, she bit her tongue and spat a mouthful of bright red life essence onto the jade plate in front of her!

Buzz! Nourished by the essence blood, her deduction speed instantly increased, her jade fingers moving so fast they almost danced like a phantom.

Finally, just as the spatial rift closest to them had spread to within three feet of them and was about to engulf them, she completed her final deduction!

"Found it!" She weakly opened her eyes, using her last bit of strength to point three feet directly above the array plate. "The array's core... is there! It's that... reversed silver rune!"

Li Xiao suddenly looked up and saw that among the countless clockwise rotating runes in the center of the array plate, there was only one rune the size of a grain of rice that was rotating strangely in the opposite direction, emitting a dark light that was completely different from the other runes.

"You get some rest, leave the rest to me!"

Li Xiao let out a long roar, squeezing out the last and purest trace of magic power from the already dried-up meridians in his dantian, and pouring it all into the Tang sword in his hand without reservation!

The golden-red light on the blade suddenly surged, and even a raging golden flame ignited on the edge!

Golden Flame Slash - Formation Breaker!

This strike, imbued with all his will, anger, and hope, transformed into an extremely dazzling meteor, precisely striking the reversing rune!

"Snap!"

A crisp cracking sound echoed throughout the entire space.

The reversed rune instantly dimmed and shattered.

Immediately afterwards, the entire massive array plate let out a mournful cry of despair, and all the silver runes went out at the same time.

The entire trapping formation trembled violently, and then the endless white mist around it receded rapidly like a receding tide, revealing the true scene of the place.

They were inside a huge cave in the middle of a mountain, with countless fist-sized crystals embedded in the cave walls, emitting a soft glow that illuminated the surroundings as bright as day.

Beneath the shattered array plate, a bottomless, downward-facing stone staircase was revealed, its destination unknown.

"It's...it's a success..."

A weak smile appeared on Song Yu's face. He could no longer hold on, his vision went black, and he slumped backward.

"Junior Sister!"

Li Xiao's heart tightened, and he quickly stepped forward, pulling her soft body tightly into his arms.

He reached out to check her pulse, and his heart sank as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

Her spiritual energy was severely depleted, damaging her very essence!

If rare and precious materials are not found in time to treat the illness, the patient's cultivation will stagnate at best, or even be cut off from the path of cultivation at worst, or even face the risk of death!

A sense of panic and anxiety even greater than when facing a saber-toothed tiger gripped Li Xiao's heart.

He looked down at the pale, sleeping face of the beauty in his arms, his eyes filled with a mixture of pity and resolve.

He carefully picked her up in his arms without hesitation, and carried her step by step up the dark, unknown stone steps.

No matter if it's a dragon's den or a tiger's lair below, he's determined to brave it for her sake!