Chapter 1 His Eyes Are Blinded

Zhang Yuanqing staggered backward, covering his face, and cursed, "My titanium alloy eyes are blind! What fierce sword qi!"

The Palace Master of Zhisha, who was initially startled and instinctively reached for the Source of Life to heal him, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing his cursing.

To curse with such vigor meant the problem wasn't serious!

Zhang Yuanqing then grabbed the Mountain God Scepter, activated the emerald gemstone at its tip to stop the bleeding, and sat cross-legged, waiting for his eyeball to regenerate.

"What did you see?" Fu Qingyang asked.

With his eyes closed, Zhang Yuanqing replied, "Lanterns floating above my head, Kongming lanterns. A lot of them. After observing carefully, I realized these lanterns were arranged in a pattern!"

The Devil Eye Heavenly King pressed, "What pattern?"

Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a few seconds and said, "The arrangement of the Kongming lanterns… It's a bit like the Big Dipper!"

As a dignified Star Official, Xiahou Aotian was the most sensitive to constellations, familiar with the Big Dipper's seven stars. He raised his eyebrows. "Could it be the Seven Stars Array?"

Hearing about formations, everyone else silently shut up, ceding the floor to Xiahou Aotian, who couldn't help but raise his chin like a proud little rooster.

"The Seven Stars Array is a formation layout that references the Big Dipper. You can think of the Seven Stars Array as a mold, and what you fill it with depends on the operator! Seven Stars Fire Array, Seven Stars Sword Array, Seven Stars Crossbow Array, Seven Stars Ghost Carriage, and so on!"

"I read in the data that ancient famous sects liked to study formations. Relying on their large numbers and advantageous terrain, they could unleash ingenious formations to great effect. It's not surprising that a major sect like Shushan has a formation!"

"Is there a way to break it?" Seeing him start to boast about his knowledge, the Devil Eye Heavenly King grew impatient.

Xiahou Aotian stood with his hands behind his back. "Very simple, the weakness of all formations is the formation eye! And the weaknesses of all Seven Stars Arrays are Xuange and Zhaoyao."

"Xuange and Zhaoyao?" The Devil Eye Heavenly King frowned slightly.

Before Xiahou Aotian could explain, Zhang Yuanqing answered first, "They are two hidden stars on the extension line of the Big Dipper's handle, Xuange and Zhaoyao."

Xiahou Aotian glared at him unhappily for stealing his thunder. "That's right, finding these two stars will break the formation! However, the formation master will hide the two stars representing the formation eyes, so it won't be easy to find them!"

After listening, Fu Qingyang looked at Zhang Yuanqing, who was sitting cross-legged, recuperating. "Yuanshi, do you have any other information to report?"

Zhang Yuanqing said smoothly, "I didn't see any enemies. As usual, a Kongming lantern descended every time I took a step to interfere with me. I destroyed the Kongming lantern, then lost contact with the Yin Corpse, and my eyes were blinded."

Xiahou Aotian stroked his chin and commented, "It should have triggered the formation's mechanism, but it only lowered the Kongming lantern to obstruct, without directly attacking. This means it's not a guaranteed-death mechanism!"

"I wasn't there; otherwise, I could definitely figure out the pattern. This is my area of expertise. If it were me, I should be able to see the formation's operation pattern in half a minute. It's a pity Yuanshi Tianzun is such a disappointment!"

"The attack targeting the Yin Corpse actually fed back to the main body?" Fu Qingyang was more concerned about the formation's attack method. "Judging from Yuanshi's eye damage just now, the attack was two streams of sword qi. I have never seen such a peculiar attack!"

Upon hearing this, the Palace Master of Zhisha asked curiously, "Can't even Marshal do it?"

Fu Qingyang hummed in acknowledgement. "Strictly speaking, the sword qi contains sword intent, which is very peculiar. Sword qi is pure energy, and sword intent is the swordsman's style. Every master swordsman has their own sword intent, and different sword intents exhibit different attack methods!"

"Like my Killing Strike, disregarding life and charging forward. No matter how strong the Marshal is, he can't learn my sword intent!"

Xiahou Aotian added, "It's not just the Killing Strike; others can't learn your swordsmanship either!"

Fu Qingyang looked at him, slightly displeased. "You like to express your opinion very much?"

His life-draining swordsmanship was actually an advanced version of the Killing Strike. It was precisely because he disregarded life and charged forward that he could drain life force.

The Devil Eye Heavenly King stood up straight and looked towards the third floor, bringing the topic back on track. "If it's a formation, then the Yin Corpse's scouting is meaningless! Yuanshi Tianzun doesn't understand formations. He'll just die more times than he can count. He can't afford to expend that many Yin Corpses!"

The Palace Master of Zhisha said, "No matter how many Yin Corpses there are, if you don't know how to break the formation, it's meaningless. According to the information Yuanshi gathered, as long as we don't actively attack the Kongming lanterns, we won't be attacked!"

"But we still need to test the reason why Xiahou Aotian's drone swarm was attacked. We can't act rashly for now!"

Xiahou Aotian raised his chin. "Since it's a formation, it's not surprising that my drone swarm was shot down! Formations are like domains. Only by following the correct route and finding safe areas can you be safe! It's normal for the drone swarm to trigger dangers by flying around randomly!"

At this time, Zhang Yuanqing, whose eyeballs had regenerated, opened his eyes and looked at Fu Qingyang. "Fortunately, we have a scholar in our team. Boss, let's go straight in."

Fu Qingyang nodded slightly and calmly issued orders, "Xiahou Aotian, lead the way. Devil Eye, bring up the rear. Yuanshi, you and I will protect the Palace Master!"

Soon, the group formed a single-file line and entered the membrane led by Xiahou Aotian!

The scenery before them suddenly changed. A Kongming lantern with a ghastly green candle flame was suspended in the air, three zhang above the ground, right above their heads!

They could touch it with a light jump!

The firelight cast a ghastly green hue on their faces, as if they were in the bustling netherworld!

The black smoke here was also very thick, but the numerous Kongming lanterns served as lighting to some extent.

After the mechanical puppet took about ten steps, it suddenly fell apart, the breaks neat, as if cut by a sharp blade, but no one saw where the attack came from, let alone the attack method!

Only Fu Qingyang noticed the details and said in a deep voice, "It's sword qi descending from the sky. The mechanical puppet was attacked by sword qi from above the moment it left the candlelight!"

Xiahou Aotian retracted his gaze from above, his tone equally solemn. "It is indeed a Seven Stars Array. Look carefully, there are seven Seven Stars Lantern formations, connected by lines of Kongming lanterns, forming a spoon shape. Doesn't it look like the Big Dipper?" Everyone followed his guidance and mentally compared it, and it did look like a spoon!

The Palace Master of Zhisha leaned close to Zhang Yuanqing, her voice gentle and pleasant. "So, how do I find the formation eye?"

"Formation eye?" Xiahou Aotian chuckled. "Let's survive in the formation first. This Seven Stars Array is nourished by Yin energy, making it even more dangerous. Staying for one more second could lead to a violent death!"

The Palace Master of Zhisha smiled. "Anyway, with a genius from the Xiahou family like you here, what do I have to be afraid of? Surely a mere Seven Stars Array can't stump you?"

"Ah, this!" Xiahou Aotian was immediately put on the spot. He wanted to say, "Leave it to me," but he wasn't confident, and he couldn't bring himself to admit defeat, making him extremely uncomfortable!

He shifted his attention to analyzing the formation. "We are currently located at the Kaiyang Star in the Big Dipper. All we know so far is that if we walk around randomly, Kongming lanterns will descend. As for other dangers, we don't know!"

Fu Qingyang said lightly, "Then let's try again."

He also took out a defensive mechanical puppet and used puppetry, moving his fingers to command it to move forward!

The puppet took four or five steps, and sure enough, a Kongming lantern descended to block its path.

Fu Qingyang manipulated the mechanical puppet to bypass the Kongming lantern. As soon as it took a few steps, the puppet's chest exploded, leaving a clear hole!

Fu Qingyang's eyes were sharp as he explained, "The attack came from the Kongming lantern. It just descended to block us as a warning. Ignoring it and attacking it will result in the Kongming lantern obliterating us!"

Looking at the dense Kongming lanterns overhead, he said, "These lanterns are props. Props couldn't possibly contain such powerful and terrifying attacks!"

Zhang Yuanqing crossed his arms and tapped his chin with his fingers. "We can't leave the area covered by the light, and we can't move forward. Are we just stuck here? How about trying a teleportation technique?"

Xiahou Aotian shook his head. "No need. Advanced formations won't have such loopholes!"

"Besides, based on my understanding of the Seven Stars Array, it's definitely not as simple as being trapped here. There must be other dangers lurking in the formation. Staying still won't guarantee safety!"

"But the crisis hasn't erupted yet, so I can't see through the pattern!"

"Then let's test the attack intensity before the crisis erupts!" Zhang Yuanqing took out Little Red Riding Hood and summoned a Yin Corpse.

He took out the three-piece Zijin set and had the Yin Corpse put on full body armor. He strode forward, actively approaching the Kongming lantern that descended to block him!

"Bang."

A stream of sword qi descended from the sky, shattering the protection of the Zijin armor, sending pale golden metallic liquid splattering everywhere. The Yin Corpse was cut in half!

Zhang Yuanqing tilted his head back, and his eyeballs exploded again. The Palace Master of Zhisha quickly groped for the Demon Refining Pot and poured out the purple-gold liquid to heal his injuries!

Zhang Yuanqing wiped the blood from his face. "The attack intensity is at the mid or peak stage of Level 8. Devil Eye can barely withstand it with his physical body, but if he's hit by multiple streams of sword qi at the same time, his life will be in danger!"

As for the others, needless to say, they would definitely die.

Zhang Yuanqing waved his hand, and the scattered purple-gold liquid flowed back to cover his body, forming a full-body Zijin armor!

He activated the Solar War God state. With the Zijin set, he could barely withstand one attack!

Although it was normal for a Level 8 Ruler dungeon to have such intensity, the Level 7 Rulers present couldn't help but tense up, their adrenaline rising!

At this moment, even though there was no wind, the Kongming lanterns overhead suddenly drifted eastward, and the ghastly green candlelight quickly faded away!

Fu Qingyang said in a deep voice, "Follow them and don't leave the light!"

Everyone also noticed this change. Fu Qingyang gave a warning, and they immediately began to run east!

However, just as everyone took a step, even though they were not leaving the light, streams of sharp sword qi descended from above, raining down with killing intent.