Start with acting, and you'll achieve immortality!

The slight thud of the copper core falling into the groove hadn't even faded when the book of life hidden in Li Ping's robes jolted violently.

The dark red wooden plaque in Qin Bo's hand suddenly glowed, and fine red lines seeped from the missing corner of the plaque, heading straight for Li Ping's arms.

Su Wan drew her sword with her left hand, the blade pressing against Qin Bo's wrist bone.

"Let go"

With a snap, the wooden plaque slipped from Qin Bo's fingers and fell into the puddle. The red line at the chipped corner didn't extinguish; instead, it clung tightly to the water's surface, inching its way towards Li Ping's feet.

The man in black turned around, hooked the strap behind his ear with his fingertips, and pulled the mask down, grazing his right cheek before ripping it off completely from his chin.

The fire talisman first illuminated a thin, pointed chin, then swept upwards over the burn scar on the right cheek and the old scar on the brow bone, finally stopping at the eyes.

His face was different from the Shen Zhu in his memory, and Ren Jun's five fingers gripping the edge of the shield tightened suddenly.

"Shen Zhu..."

Ren Jun held the bronze shield in front of him. As soon as his injured arm tensed, blood began to seep out again, dripping into the pooled water along his wrist bone.

"You're still alive?"

Shen Zhu threw the mask into the water.

"If this can be considered living."

Ren Jun took out half of an old wooden plaque and stared at the web of his right hand.

"What did you bury behind the T-shaped courtyard wall?"

"Of the two jars of wine, you drank from one, and Fang Cheng filled the other with water."

"How many spirit stones do you owe me?"

"Seven dollars, but your account says nine dollars."

Ren Jun relaxed his shoulders slightly, but did not lower his shield.

Li Ping also did not put away the fire talisman.

"First, make sure you explain the birth register clearly, don't omit a single word."

Shen Zhu pointed to the wooden sign in the water

"Qin Shoushan used to be a furnace keeper. When you joined the job, you had to leave a furnace order in the employee register. This order was used for roll call, opening the furnace, and calling back those who hadn't returned. Even if you left the job, the furnace order in the register would not disappear on its own."

Qin Bo's face turned pale

"Lord Chen once personally destroyed my furnace token; the broken mark is still visible on this wooden plaque."

"The broken seal only proves that the wooden plaque is ruined; the old seal in the register of life is still there."

Shen Zhu turned the array on the copper core wall, and the red line in the water suddenly taut. The book automatically pushed open Li Ping's clothes, and the pages made a rapid clicking sound.

Li Ping pressed down on the spine of the book.

A tiny "回" character appeared below Ren Jun's name, and ink was seeping from the page where Su Wan was located. The ink dot marking "South of the City" below Pei Xing's name also shifted an inch toward Jing San's direction.

Li Ping's burning pain intensified, and the twelve yellow lines on the mountain shone brightly from his feet to the base of the wall.

"The copper core reflects the old permissions; the wooden plaque is just the trigger," Shen Zhu said, looking at Qin Bo. "As long as he touches a page, the register will recognize the furnace and lock up the person closest to this place who has not returned."

Su Wan pressed down with her sword.

"Whom should we lock up first with this furnace decree?"

"First Ren Jun, then in a moment, it's you."

Qin Bo kicked the wooden sign away.

"If I could truly comprehend the books, why wouldn't I have used them since Fang Cheng was imprisoned for three years?"

"It's not that you don't want to use it, but the manual is hidden under the well's third door; you simply can't get in."

Shen Zhu pulled out the copper core

The array's core extinguished, and the red lines on the water immediately dispersed. The character "回" under Ren Jun's name was reduced to half, and the ink quickly retreated into the paper's seams.

Before the wooden plaque even touched the book, Ren Jun and Su Wan's ink marks had already stirred. If Qin Shoushan were to actually touch the book, it wouldn't just be a single line of text that would be locked away.

The inspection has proceeded sufficiently.

Li Ping wrapped the cloth around the booklet twice, pressing down the four corners of the cover, and stuffed it into his inner pocket; he moved the booklet to the other side of his clothes, completely separating it from the booklet.

"Touching the register will automatically lock the user, but that doesn't necessarily mean Uncle Qin intends to do so."

Shen Zhu glanced at him

"You are more patient than Fang Cheng."

I only acknowledge things I've done.

Qin Bo had only bent halfway down when Su Wan's sword blade grazed the back of his hand.

With a hiss, a white mark appeared on the stone surface, and the sword tip stopped less than a finger's width in front of the wooden sign.

"Don't touch it for now."

Qin Bo slowly straightened up, a hard line forming on the side of his cheek. His drooping fingers clenched and unclenched, and after a moment, he retreated to the wall.

Click, click, click

The sound of the mechanism meshing approached step by step from the back of the channel.

A series of grinding sounds echoed from within the wall as several black chains slid along the array groove. The new owner of Jing San had taken over the lower level and was currently sealing off this array passage.

Shen Zhu pulled out two iron wedges with his backhand, squatted down, aimed them at the left and right gaps in the formation, first inserting the tips of the wedges at an angle, then pressing them down one by one with the heel of his palm. The rust scraped across the stone groove, producing two rough, scraping sounds.

"Asking questions as you go"

"Where are you taking us this time?" Ren Jun gripped his shield tightly.

"To get to the wastewater tank and shake off Jing San, the only way is through the old pressure relief channel there."

Qin Bo stared at Shen Zhu's right arm

"The blast marks at the outlet of the East Canal were your doing."

"I blew up the pursuers so they could have taken the east canal and circled around to the storage room in no time; by sealing off the exit, they had no choice but to have the well owner clear the way."

"It also forced us to come here," Li Ping continued.

Shen Zhu did not deny it

"The Book of Documents and the Book of Life are both in your hands; I cannot let you leave by the same route."

Ren Jun's face darkened.

"You sent out the funds to lure us into searching the old residence, and then you personally blocked our escape route completely. Shen Zhu, do you still dare to say that you are different from Fang Cheng?"

Shen Zhu touched a darker brick on the side wall, gripped the joint between the bricks with his five fingers, pushed it inwards, then moved it sideways. Dust fell down, revealing a narrow passage behind the brick, just wide enough for one person to pass by bending over.

"He wants to seize the formation, I want to dismantle it."

"Don't just talk about dismantling the formation, who are you prepared to sacrifice first?" Li Ping asked.

Shen Zhu stopped placing his hand on the bone brick.

"Those whose physical bodies still exist have a chance to be saved, but once the copper core is broken, those who only have their soul imprint left will surely die."

Ren Jun stared at him

"So you made a choice for them three years ago?"

"I didn't choose who died; I only chose who could still be saved."

Su Wan's right shoulder blood dripped down her sleeve into the water.

"Did those you abandoned agree to this?"

Shen Zhu didn't answer him, bent down and entered the narrow passage, his figure quickly being half swallowed by the darkness.

The black chain slammed into the iron wedge, its end snapping upwards. Stone chips rained down from the dome, and the shockwave traveled along the wetlands all the way to everyone's feet.

The narrow path was their escape route, and also the path Shen Zhu had chosen for them.

Li Ping didn't move, his gaze still fixed on Shen Zhu's back.

"How does Fang Cheng plan to seize the initiative?"

Shen Zhu turned his head back.

"Those who have not returned from the 'Life Register' will have their records combined with the old 'Array Eye' records. The person holding the record can then bypass the twelve outermost points and directly command the 'Mother Array'."

Fang Cheng was stuck in the well and couldn't get two volumes.

He couldn't get two copies, so he's borrowing them from you.

The iron wedge behind him bent, and the first chain emerged from the crack in the wall, coiling towards Ren Jun's ankle. Ren Jun slammed down, shield in hand, causing the gash on his arm's soul imprint to widen, blood flowing continuously down the edge of the shield.

Li Ping grabbed Ren Jun by the back of his collar and dragged him into the narrow passage. Su Wan was the last to slip in, and with her left hand, she flicked out a fire talisman. The talisman's flame stuck to the chains, forcing the chain ends to retract into the array slots.

Qin Bo stepped over the wooden sign in the water and did not pick it up again.

The group squeezed sideways into the narrow passage, their shoes treading on the wet steps as they descended, their shoulders and backs occasionally brushing against the cold stone walls.

After taking a few steps, Shen Zhu turned back and embedded the copper core into the stone hole behind him. The twelve yellow lines of the mountain immediately dimmed by more than half, and the tension in Li Ping's dantian also eased.

The copper core had only held steady for two breaths when Shen Zhu's right shoulder suddenly sank.

Shen Zhu's wound on his right arm reopened, and dark cyan spiritual energy flowed along the copper core into the stone wall. He used his Foundation Establishment spiritual energy to hold up this section of the array.

"How long can you hold out?" Su Wan asked.

"Hold on until Jing San can't catch up."

Who is the owner of the Arai family?

"A member of the Si clan, a suicide squad, filled Fang Cheng's place with a living person."

The soles of his shoes squeaked on the wet stones, and Li Ping stood rooted to the spot.

"What about Fang Cheng?"

A heavy sound of water came from below, and at the end of the narrow passage appeared a round door covered with bronze patterns. The center of the door was engraved with twelve forked lines, one of which was glowing with an earthy yellow light.

Shen Zhu pressed down on the round door, his profile illuminated by the bronze light.

Before the well was taken over, he untied the remaining three rings.

Fang Cheng is not dead.

"He has already entered the mother formation by following the old Jialu line." As soon as Shen Zhu finished speaking, his right hand, which was pressing on the round gate, tensed up.