Xiuxian: Start with the medicine boy

next moment!
"Reveal the decree of the Venerable One..."

A cold, majestic, and familiar voice that made the demon's soul tremble exploded like thunder from the heavens in the ears of several half-elders of the Black Spirit Tiger Shark Clan who were guarding the four directions!
"...The army marches on, heading home!"

"All matters will be discussed and decided upon when I return to my clan!"

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable, absolute will to rule over all.

"As ordered!"

"I will obey His Majesty's decree!"

"As ordered!"

"..."

The Black Spirit Tiger Shark Clan's semi-elder elders, who were stationed in all four directions, were all shaken at this moment, regardless of what they had been doing before. Without hesitation, they all bowed and lowered their heads towards a certain point in the void, responding with the utmost respect.

His voice was filled with awe and excitement that came from the depths of his soul.

When the several semi-elders cautiously raised their heads again...

High above, the majestic figure that had stood for only a moment, yet seemed to suppress the entire world, had vanished without a trace, its whereabouts unknown.

They didn't even leave a trace of their departure.

Seeing this!
Several elders of the Black Spirit Tiger Shark Clan exchanged glances, their eyes filled with a mixture of excitement and understanding.

Without further hesitation, they immediately channeled their magic, spreading their authoritative voices throughout their respective armies:

"Your Majesty has given the order!"

"The army marches forth—follow me back to the ancestral sea!"

"return!"

"Return to the ancestral sea!"

"..."

The orders spread like wildfire.

The Black Spirit Tiger Shark Clan Alliance army, which had fought for many years and almost swept across the entire True Dragon Sea, was invincible and glorious. However, the years of fighting and defending had long made many demon cultivators feel tired and homesick.

At this moment, they officially received the order to return from the highest level, and it was personally issued by the "Supreme One" who had just exuded a suffocating aura...

The entire army erupted in jubilation, a feeling that had been suppressed for a long time.

Upon closer inspection, countless demon cultivators' faces instantly blossomed with genuine, relieved, and joyful smiles.

Even the taciturn and cold-blooded demon warriors had their tense facial lines soften unconsciously.

His lips curled up slightly, revealing a relaxed and expectant smile.

quickly!

Under the command of a group of semi-elder clan elders, the well-trained demon army began to operate efficiently.

One after another, massive warships changed course, and mobile war fortresses sheathed their fangs. The enormous military formations began to move and assemble in an orderly fashion, transforming into black torrents that sailed majestically toward the ancestral land of the Black Spirit Tiger Shark Clan.

Only a small number of elite troops were left behind, ordered to take over the defense and continue to guard the Xuan Turtle Sea, which had just been calmed down.

A moment later!

The last ship of the last army also turned into a black dot on the horizon, disappearing completely into the blue sea and sky.

It's been going on for half a month...

After a brief moment of jubilation, this vast sea suddenly became incredibly empty and desolate.

Only the gentle sea breeze caressed the azure surface of the sea, stirring up tiny waves and making a soft, gurgling sound.

Under a clear blue sky, all was desolate.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Yet, it seemed as if everything had changed completely.

···
On the other side!
At the edge of the True Dragon Sea, the void rippled silently like a mirror...
A figure seemed to emerge from the cracks of time, appearing out of thin air without a sound.

His black robes fluttered in the wind, his long hair moved without wind, and his aura was one with heaven and earth, yet he was above all things.

It was none other than Shark Minghong, who had previously manifested in the Xuan Turtle Sea and then vanished without a trace!
He stood suspended in mid-air, his gaze sharp as lightning, sweeping forward.

However, what they could see was blocked by an endless curtain of light that stretched from the sky to the dark sea.

The light screen was not a physical object, yet it emitted a soft, unsettling glow.

Like a wall of sighs stretching across the heavens and the earth, extending to the horizon, it completely separates the entire True Dragon Sea from another, more ancient and mysterious sea.

Not bad!

This boundless curtain of light, radiating a faint but oppressive aura, is what separates the True Dragon Sea from that legendary land—

The final barrier of the Forbidden Sea,
It is also the most famous natural barrier in this world.

This isolation zone, evolved from an ancient array, remains as sturdy as ever after countless years.

It not only obstructs physical passage,

It also contains incomprehensible spatial isolation and law-based repulsion.

Ordinary cultivators, even those at the Nascent Soul stage, would find it difficult to approach this without special methods or mediums...
At best, they would be severely injured and thrown back by the power of the formation.

In severe cases, it can trigger spatial turbulence, resulting in death and the dissipation of one's spiritual energy.
It was simply impossible to force one through the light barrier in front of them and step into the legendary forbidden sea.

Seeing this scene,
Countless thoughts flashed through Sha Minghong's deep eyes like lightning, instantly clarifying the current situation.

“Old man from Langya…”

He muttered to himself, his cold voice carrying a complex meaning.

It felt as if I had traveled through countless ages, conversing with an old adversary who was long gone.
"I... I really underestimated the work you left behind back then."

I never imagined that after such a long period of time, the great array you casually set up back then, after being nourished by the spiritual energy and evolved by the laws of this place, would still retain such terrifying power.

Almost perfectly integrated, with a natural and innate Daoist charm…

He focused intently on sensing the subtle yet incredibly resilient patterns of laws flowing across the light screen.
And the hidden, yet powerful array formation capable of annihilating ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators...
His brows furrowed involuntarily, forming a deep "川" (river) shape.

"...Given the current integrity and stability of this formation, if I were to forcefully break through a gap to pass through, I fear even expending my own essence would be insufficient to shake its foundation."

The possibility of success... is extremely slim, almost nonexistent.

Think this far!
He couldn't help but recall the battle at the Forbidden Sea.

He personally destroyed and annihilated the only cross-sea teleportation array capable of reliably connecting to the Forbidden Sea, along with its foundation.
This completely severed the most convenient passage between the two seas.

A rare hint of regret, like a tiny ice spike, rippled across the calm surface of his heart.
"If only I had known that that traitorous brat had somehow managed to gain partial control of the core authority over the array left behind by the old man of Langya..."

I shouldn't have destroyed that teleportation array so thoroughly back then, just to eliminate any future trouble.

Now, however, they've created their own problems and added a lot of trouble for themselves.

but.

Such weakness of emotion is unthinkable for Shark Minghong, whose will has hardened like ancient ice after countless trials...
It merely flashed through my mind, like morning dew meeting the blazing sun, instantly evaporating without a trace, leaving not a single mark.

"What's past is past, and regret is useless."

His eyes regained their sharpness and coldness, and his thoughts moved like the intricate workings of a celestial machine.

"If we want to enter the Forbidden Sea and capture that traitorous wretch, we must find another way."

Moreover, this method must be kept secret; it must not be alerted to him beforehand.

He looked up, his gaze seemingly piercing through a curtain of light, and saw a figure deep within the Forbidden Sea.

"That wicked creature holds partial authority over the formation. Although he cannot fully control the formation, he can sense its anomalies and borrow its immense power."

Once he becomes alert and on guard, it will be extremely difficult to strike him decisively.

If I fail to strike once, given his cunning nature, he will not give me a second chance to get close.

At that time, the initiative will change hands, and I may find myself in a passive position.

He will then use the power of the formation to counter and imprison you...

It's even possible that it could be refined again.

The situation is clear, and the advantages and disadvantages are distinct.

"but……"

Sha Minghong's lips curled into a cold, absolutely confident smile.

"As long as we don't alert him beforehand, catching him completely off guard..."

I am 99% confident that before he can react, I will swiftly and decisively suppress and capture him!

"Even if that traitorous brat has cultivated the Blood God Body to an extremely profound level..."

"There will be absolutely no surprises in front of me!"

This confidence stems from an absolute disparity in strength, and an indifference that looks down upon ants.

The absolute suppression of realm, the world-shaking difference in understanding of rules.

Together with the vast and profound secret techniques and supernatural powers in his mind that far exceeded the comprehension of this world, they constituted his unwavering confidence.

Then,

Sha Minghong no longer hesitated.

With a slight movement, he began to carefully survey and sense the boundless, dazzling light curtain stretching before him at a constant speed, like a ghost.

His divine sense was like the most precise probe, not missing a single minute energy fluctuation or ripple of law on the light screen.

His eyes occasionally flashed with profound Dao patterns, probing the underlying logic of the formation's operation.

Time slipped away quietly between the tranquil sea and sky.

I don't know how much time passed...
It may take a day, or it may take several days.

suddenly!

Sha Minghong's rapidly moving figure suddenly stopped, hovering in front of the light screen.

His gaze was fixed on a certain spot on the light screen in front of him.

There, it seemed no different from its surroundings, smooth as a mirror, flowing with a soft glow.

But in Sha Minghong's perception...

That small area of ​​light was rippled very slowly, with an extremely faint, almost imperceptible pattern.

It was as if beneath the calm surface of a lake, an almost invisible current was constantly stirring, making the array's "membrane" here slightly thinner than the surrounding area.
There was also a slight, almost imperceptible, periodic "stagnation" in the flow of energy.

Although this "ripple" is so subtle as to be almost negligible, in terms of the formation as a whole,

Like a speck of dust on a giant elephant...

But a captivating glint suddenly appeared in Sha Minghong's eyes, which were as deep as an icy pool.

And a hint of expected, faint joy.

"really!"

A cold, detached voice echoed in his mind.

"The Way of Heaven is flawed, and even the Great Way is incomplete."

Even though the old man from Langya possessed profound mastery of formations, and the formation he laid out was almost a creation of heaven and earth...

However, after countless years of self-operation within this realm, the subtle friction with the laws of the realm, and the eternal erosion of spiritual tides, this formation could never remain perfect.

It will inevitably leave traces of the erosion of time!

"This place is a tiny, almost imperceptible gap in the 'Flawless' Grand Array, formed naturally over countless ages!"

His mind raced, but his hands never faltered.

He immediately joined his fingers like a sword, drawing a mysterious and unpredictable trajectory in front of his chest, his fingertips flowing with a rhythm that subtly resonated with some kind of Daoist principle.
Ultimately, it condensed into an ancient and obscure seal.

"amnesty!"

A low shout, like the clash of metal, yet carrying a strange penetrating power, did not resound in all directions, but directly affected the light curtain of laws that was rippling slightly.

next moment!
A condensed, almost invisible gray light shot out from Sha Minghong's fingertip and silently disappeared into the center of the "ripples" of the light screen.

"Om..."

The spot on the light screen illuminated by the gray glow suddenly lit up with a faint light.

Then,

A twisted, bizarre "Daoist script," seemingly compressed from countless spatial folds, was "reflected" out from inside the light screen and slowly emerged.

This script is not a common rune in this world.
Its form is constantly changing, exuding an ancient, ethereal, and slightly dilapidated aura.

As this core "Dao script" was activated and manifested, a complex and dazzling array of patterns, crisscrossing like a star map, briefly and semi-transparently appeared on the light screen, centered on it.

These patterns constitute the complete structure of the array nodes here.

However, upon closer inspection, clues can be found:
The core Dao script itself appeared somewhat "illusory," its light flickering unpredictably, as if its energy supply was unstable.

Within the intricate, interwoven patterns derived from this, there are several crucial "lines" responsible for the flow of energy and the stability of space...

It is already in a state of near "rupture".
It is a state of "annihilation" that is barely connected to the past.
The light dimmed.

It stands in stark contrast to other dazzling patterns.

It is precisely these minor damages and energy blockages that cause the periodic weakening and ripples of the array's "membrane" here.

see,

The smile in Sha Minghong's eyes finally melted away completely, though it remained cold, it carried a sense of composure as if he were in control of the situation.

"Just as expected."

No matter how powerful or perfect a formation is, it will eventually succumb to the erosion of endless time.

This 'flaw' makes virtually no difference to cultivators of this realm, whether it exists or not.

He knew perfectly well what was going on.

Even that traitorous child's mastery of formations might have already approached the theoretical limits achievable in this realm...
Faced with this complete upper realm array, we can probably only rely on those randomly appearing and extremely unstable spatial wormholes, taking huge risks to gradually explore their patterns of appearance, in order to be lucky enough to enter and exit.

How can we discover and utilize these fixed yet extremely weak gaps in the array caused by "time wear and tear"?
It's almost like a fantasy.

"But... for me, the situation is quite different."

Sha Minghong stood with his hands behind his back, his aura deep and imposing.

At his peak, he was an unparalleled powerhouse who could rival and be on par with Daoist Langya of the Upper Realm.

Even though his cultivation level has fallen and he is forced to remain in this realm, his vast knowledge, like a sea of ​​stars, remains...

And the countless supernatural powers and secret techniques he possessed, far exceeding anything imaginable in this world...

Yet it remains one of his greatest strengths.

If facing a flawless grand formation...
...(End of this chapter)