Chapter 171 - 160: Breaking the Formation, the Crisis Reappears

After Shen Lang had killed and collected all the Lightning Crocodiles, just as he’d predicted, no more of the beasts appeared.

The group from the Shadow Tower had almost completely lost their ability to fight.

An entire day of non-stop, intense battle had completely exhausted their strength. At this point, forget Shen Lang—any random Spirit Martial Realm Martial Artist could have come in and slaughtered them all.

Shen Lang seized the opportunity to sell them a batch of Qi Recovery Pills at five times the market price. Only then did the group finally recover a sliver of their strength.

"Just as you said, sir, the Evil Spirit possessed our Young Miss the moment we entered this Grand Array. But why would it do that? We’re inside the array; it shouldn’t be that hard for it to kill us," asked Xu Ziyang, one of the Shadow Tower’s leaders.

"Were those Lightning Crocodiles really driven by this Evil Spirit? But how could so many of them be controlled by it? And it can’t leave this Grand Array, can it?" another leader, Xiao Zheng, who was sitting next to Shen Lang, asked eagerly.

Nangong Jianqiu said coldly, "We can discuss that later. What I’m concerned about is that since you’ve already accepted your payment, when are you going to help us break this formation and get us out of the Yin Yang Inverted Qimen Formation?"

Shen Lang shook his head. "An Ancient Strange Array like this isn’t something that can be broken so easily. With the strength of our group, it’s simply impossible."

"What!" Nangong Jianqiu and the others were all dumbfounded.

’Can’t break it?’

’You can’t break it, yet you spoke with such certainty about getting us out?’

’You can’t break it, yet you took our three Shadow Demon Flowers!’

Nangong Jianqiu was on the verge of exploding. In all her years, she had never been played like this, never been so infuriated...

Shen Lang, however, seemed completely oblivious to all this, gulping down wine from a flask.

Although he was still wearing the Evil Ghost Mask, it didn’t affect his drinking in the slightest.

The wine from the jug seemed to be controlled by some force, forming a water pillar that he sucked in without spilling a single drop.

After downing the jug of wine, Shen Lang finally glanced at the sullen-faced Nangong Jianqiu and said, "It really can’t be broken. You think an Ancient Array like this is so easy to break? But even though I can’t break it, I still have a way to get you out."

"What do you mean?" The people from the Shadow Tower were stunned.

Nangong Jianqiu was fuming. "Would it kill you to just say everything at once? Do you always have to speak with such dramatic pauses?"

"Er, I thought you all would understand a little something about the mysteries of arrays. Who knew you’d all be completely clueless about them?"

After eating and drinking his fill, Shen Lang patted his stomach, stood up in satisfaction, and said, "The Yin Yang Inverted Qimen Formation is an Ancient Strange Array. It’s a Trapping Array, not a Killing Array. Otherwise, you’d all have been turned to ash by now."

Seeing the people from the Shadow Tower listening with rapt attention, Shen Lang continued, "Every Trapping Array is divided into a Life Gate and a Death Gate. The meaning is simple: every Trapping Array leaves a glimmer of hope, which means there’s at least one Life Gate. You can naturally leave the Grand Array through this Life Gate without having to break the formation. Sigh, ignorance is a scary thing."

The people from the Shadow Tower looked at each other, speechless.

As members of a mysterious assassin organization, they had undergone all sorts of training and studied various kinds of knowledge since childhood. In terms of knowledge and experience, they were far superior to ordinary Martial Artists.

’To think we’d be treated as uncultured here...’

The Shadow Tower leader, Xu Ziyang, stood up, bowed respectfully to Shen Lang, and said, "You’re right to correct us, sir. We’ll be depending on you for this."

"Hmph!" Nangong Jianqiu snorted coldly and turned her face away.

Shen Lang nodded and said, "Since I’ve had my fill and you’ve recovered a bit, let’s get going. What a pain. It’ll probably take us three hours to get out."

With that, he took the lead and headed west.

"Three hours?" The people from the Shadow Tower were startled again.

It wasn’t that they were surprised by the length of time, but that Shen Lang could calculate the time to exit the Yin Yang Inverted Qimen Formation with such precision!

For a Grand Array like this, unless you were the one who set it up, even if an outsider could break it or exit it, who could possibly determine when they’d be able to break it or when they’d get out?

The members of the Shadow Tower actually knew about the Life and Death Gates; they just hadn’t thought of it in their haste. The problem was, even if you knew, finding the Life Gate was no simple task, was it?

’It’s not like you can just find it by looking, right?’

’To be sure he can break the array, and even be sure of the time... this means this person is an absolute grandmaster of arrays!’

The group from the Shadow Tower was immediately filled with reverence for Shen Lang.

’Who on earth is this person? His cultivation is so powerful, but he doesn’t seem very old. His methods... are simply astounding.’ This thought surfaced in the minds of everyone from the Shadow Tower.

Amidst the thick fog, Shen Lang walked in the lead, followed by his four Bone Demons. Behind them was the group from the Shadow Tower, winding their way through the Yin Yang Inverted Qimen Formation.

They moved very slowly, with Shen Lang stopping from time to time to make deductions and calculations.

Time passed bit by bit. The group noticed that the fog in the Grand Array was growing thinner and their visibility was increasing, and they were all overjoyed.

"Hey, how did you know that Evil Spirit was possessing me before? And how did you kill it?"

As they walked, Nangong Jianqiu finally couldn’t resist asking.

Shen Lang sneered. "I think there’s a problem with your question. The things you’re asking about are my private business. Do you really think I’m going to tell you?"

’Even Nalan Ziyun and the Ghost King don’t know about something like the Silver Eyes of Truth. Why would Shen Lang tell a stranger like her?’

Nangong Jianqiu was choked with anger. Shen Lang continued, "A Grand Array of this scale will generally have an Array Spirit. With an Array Spirit, the array won’t collapse over time. That Evil Spirit was, naturally, the Array Spirit of this Yin Yang Inverted Qimen Formation."

"Perhaps because this Grand Array has existed for a long time, the Array Spirit continuously devoured the souls of the Demon Beasts and Martial Artists who died trapped here, slowly transforming into a Resentful Spirit. A Resentful Spirit is an anomaly among Soul Body Type creatures. It’s a monster formed entirely from negative emotions and shattered souls. They wander eternally in the same place, constantly emitting Death Qi and resentment. In their eyes, all living things are enemies."

"This Evil Spirit transformed from the Grand Array’s Array Spirit into a Resentful Spirit. The only difference between it and other Resentful Spirits is that it has gained Spiritual Wisdom."

Nangong Jianqiu frowned. "What does this Evil Spirit having Spiritual Wisdom have to do with it possessing me? Why did it possess me? What was its goal? Why didn’t it choose someone else?"

Without turning his head, Shen Lang said, "Once a Resentful Spirit gains Spiritual Wisdom, it’s no longer content to be trapped in one place for thousands of years. Your arrival gave it the opportunity to leave this Grand Array."

"But if it’s an Array Spirit, how could it possibly leave the Grand Array?" Nangong Jianqiu asked, confused.

"An Array Spirit can’t, of course. But if it were to possess you and then leave through the Life Gate, that is certainly possible," Shen Lang said leisurely. "Although your cultivation is the highest among this group, your willpower is the weakest. That’s why you became its target."

Nangong Jianqiu’s face flushed red, and she said, indignant, "How long have you even known me? How dare you make such a rash judgment and say my willpower is weak?"

The people from the Shadow Tower all hung their heads without a word, wry smiles on their faces.

"As assassins, they must undergo cruel, inhuman training from a young age. But you, as the daughter of the Dark Tower Master, may not have suffered so much... I could tell just by how you were protected in the center during the big battle. Besides, you have a Supreme Yin Body. If I were the Evil Spirit, I’d choose your body too... Er, I’m getting sidetracked. Let’s stick to the Evil Spirit. It possessed you, but to completely take over your body... that sounds a bit weird, but you know what I mean... it had to wait until your Divine Thought was completely depleted and you were at your most exhausted, both physically and mentally, to make its move..."

"So it manipulated those Lightning Crocodiles to attack us relentlessly, but without killing us all at once? But how can an Evil Spirit inside a Grand Array control Lightning Crocodiles from the outside? Is it really that powerful?" Nangong Jianqiu still couldn’t figure it out.

Shen Lang felt a bit helpless. ’A woman’s curiosity really is a terrifying thing. You just have to get to the bottom of everything, don’t you?’

"Of course, it can’t control Demon Beasts outside the Grand Array. But it knows the habits of Lightning Crocodiles well. All it had to do was release the scent of blood from within this array, and the Lightning Crocodiles would naturally swarm here continuously. Once those Demon Beasts entered the Grand Array, the Evil Spirit could control the array to block or guide the scent of blood at will. It could also easily obstruct the Demon Beasts’ line of sight. That’s when it gained the means to truly manipulate them... The reason that group of Lightning Crocodiles gathered but didn’t attack before was because I had killed the Evil Spirit, and they could no longer find your exact location."

"Alright, I’ve said all there is to say. If it weren’t for how generously you paid for those Qi Recovery Pills, I couldn’t be bothered to explain all this to you," Shen Lang said with a yawn.

’That bastard was the one who overcharged us, and he has the nerve to call us generous and mock us...’ Nangong Jianqiu blinked her beautiful eyes and said no more.

Just then, the area ahead suddenly opened up, and a square screen of light appeared before them.

"The Life Gate! We’ve found the Life Gate!" Nangong Jianqiu was the first to cry out.

"It might be the Death Gate, you never know," Shen Lang said, immediately pouring cold water on her excitement.

"..." The people from the Shadow Tower gave another wry smile.

"Just kidding. Everyone, it’s getting late. Let’s all get out of here." Shen Lang said, recalling his four Bone Demons and stepping into the Life Gate first.

A flash of brilliant light shone, and his figure immediately vanished into the Life Gate.

...

Shen Lang’s plans were always foolproof because he could deduce the truth by piecing together all sorts of clues and information.

But, after all, he couldn’t predict the future.

This time, for instance, even someone like Shen Lang would never have imagined that someone was waiting for him outside the Grand Array, lying in ambush.

The moment Shen Lang passed through the Life Gate and escaped the Yin Yang Inverted Qimen Formation, before he could even steady his footing, a gigantic palm descended from the sky, sweeping toward him with terrifying pressure!

The palm was as large as a mountain. Unlike Yuwen Huaji’s Light Palm, which was formed from condensed energy, this one was fair as jade, plump and slender—completely solid!

It was like the palm of a Giant, immense and powerful enough to shake the heavens and the earth!

A heavy, oppressive aura emanated from the palm, giving off an unfathomably deep and ancient feeling, as if it had been polished by the passage of countless ages.

’How could I be so unlucky...’

Shen Lang let out a strange cry...