"Get lost!"
Jin Ren had been blasted into a spatial fragment by Kui Leihan's final attack during the battle in the small town. Despite the chaos, his remaining spiritual senses and half of the Divine Puppet's body were not injured. In fact, he could feel an intangible force protecting him, helping him resist the storm of debris. He assumed Zhu Yike, Aunt Xiang, and the others had received the same protection.
Perhaps Kui Leihan's actions, though contradictory, were meant to scatter the Saint Servant group across the continent, giving them time to recuperate and plan a return to fight the Holy Divine Palace. At least, Kui Leihan didn't seem like a true enemy.
However, Dao Qiongcang appeared to have anticipated everything. As the divine path pattern began seeping into the spatial fragment, illuminating everything inside, and the Greater Teleportation Technique rang in his ears, Jin Ren realized something was terribly wrong.
"Buzz!"
The light around him blurred, and suddenly, everyone—including the white-clothed warriors—were thrown into a dense forest, scattered randomly.
"This place…" Jin Ren's Divine Puppet, badly damaged, had lost all combat capabilities. His spiritual senses were too weak to survey the entire forest. But given Dao Qiongcang's involvement, this place was undoubtedly dangerous.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, the surrounding forest began to glow with divine path patterns. An illuminated gate appeared behind him, and from the resplendent light, a dark figure stepped out.
Jin Ren quickly turned the Divine Puppet around, not wanting to expose its vulnerable back to a potential enemy. His spiritual senses scanned the slender figure approaching, and soon, a familiar voice, cold yet strange, echoed.
"This is Qingyuan Mountain."
The voice belonged to Yu Zhiwen. She stepped out of the light, holding the astrolabe Guilan, her eyes gleaming with pride as she declared, "I explored the foot of the mountain for a day, unraveling its secrets. With Heaven and Earth as my foundation, I constructed a near-perfect Thirty-Three Heavens Star Weaving Array."
Jin Ren was stunned. This confident and domineering figure was a far cry from the Yu Zhiwen he once knew. Her starry eyes flashed as she looked down at the broken Divine Puppet.
After a moment, she sneered. "Luck is on my side! Xu Xiaoshou, I've been waiting for you!"
Jin Ren's mind reeled—Xu Xiaoshou? Was this Yu Zhiwen truly the same person?This domineering attitude was completely different from the weak girl in his impression!
For a brief moment, Jin Ren even suspected this was an incarnation of Dao Qiongcang, designed to mislead him into a trap. But he remained silent, watching closely.
Yu Zhiwen's dress fluttered in the wind as she slowly approached. A hint of disdain crossed her lips as she flipped her palm, revealing a broken Divine Secret Arm.
"Stop pretending to be mute," she snapped. "Even in this state, I can recognize you at a glance."
Jin Ren's spiritual senses locked onto the Divine Secret Arm, his heart sinking. The arm had been used to break through the Binding Tree Array in Jade Capital City. It should have detonated, yet it had somehow ended up in Yu Zhiwen's hands.
Now, with the Divine Secret Arm in her possession, there was no hiding the truth. Even with her eyes closed, Yu Zhiwen would recognize the connection between the Divine Puppet and the arm.
She smiled smugly. "You're unaware, aren't you? I've become a Path Division Chief now," she said, rolling up her sleeves, her voice laced with arrogance. "This Divine Secrets Array was built specifically for you… You can't defeat Hallmaster Dao!"
Yu Zhiwen's confidence surged as she walked closer. "When he was in Jade Capital City, Hallmaster Dao already predicted that you would come here. That's why I was sent to set up this array."
Her fingers trailed along the scarred back of the Divine Puppet, exposing its most vulnerable part—the core of its energy supply. In this state, it was an open target, and Yu Zhiwen knew it.
"The Thirty-Three Heavens Star Weaving Array has thirty-three transformations. It's a masterpiece of divine craftsmanship, impossible to escape. Even Hallmaster Dao would struggle to break it quickly while I control it."
She paused dramatically, eyeing the exposed internals of the Divine Puppet.
"Not to mention…"
Jin Ren, controlling the Divine Puppet, remained calm despite the overwhelming odds. From within, a voice, familiar and steady, cut through the tension.
"Not to mention what?"
Yu Zhiwen's eyes flickered as she closed them briefly. Her long lashes trembled before a sneer crossed her face.
"Not to mention, you're already seriously injured!" Yu Zhiwen continued with a confident smirk. "As for me, I've gained enlightenment under the waterfall and condensed the divine path patterns to only nine!"
The mention of the waterfall made Jin Ren manipulate the broken Divine Puppet. He turned its head toward Yu Zhiwen, a questioning look seemingly reflected in the half-destroyed array wheel.
Yu Zhiwen raised an eyebrow and teased, "You still don't understand what 'nine' means, do you?"
"What's the concept?" a voice asked, playing along.
Yu Zhiwen huffed proudly, "This means that the Qingyuan Mountain array has even fewer flaws now, only… Eh?"
She suddenly paused mid-sentence, realizing that the voice that had responded to her wasn't from the Divine Puppet. Her eyes darted towards the rustling treetops, and under the night sky, she saw none other than Dao Qiongcang sitting casually atop a tree with his arms crossed, smiling.
Yu Zhiwen nearly screamed in surprise.
"Tell me, what is the concept?" Dao Qiongcang asked, resting his chin on his hand, clearly enjoying the situation.
Yu Zhiwen, her face flushed, babbled incoherently, "Uh... Ah… this…"
"N-nine is a unique concept!" she stammered.
Dao Qiongcang jumped down from the tree, walking toward her with an amused look. "Nine means that as long as Qingyuan Mountain stands, the Thirty-Three Heavens Star Weaving Array cannot be broken. Even the best Divine Secret practitioner can only find nine flaws at most."
He smiled as he explained, "But those nine flaws are traps. Anyone who tries to break the array will fall right into them. It's an open scheme—leading the enemy straight into danger!"
He chuckled at his own words. "An open scheme! How could you expose yourself to the enemy so easily?"
Yu Zhiwen's mouth twitched in panic as she glanced nervously between Dao Qiongcang and the Divine Puppet. She tried to hold back her trembling lips and whispered, "What… is that really the case?"
Dao Qiongcang, playing along, covered his mouth with the back of his hand and replied with mock surprise, "What? You didn't think of this?"
Yu Zhiwen's face flushed deeper. Steam almost seemed to rise from her head as her mind scrambled for an answer. "I-I didn't expect…"
"Didn't expect what?" Dao Qiongcang pressed with a teasing smile.
Backing up in panic, Yu Zhiwen tripped over her own feet, falling to the ground. She looked up at him as if she had just seen a demon. "I didn't expect that I could use… use the flaws to capture Xu Xiaoshou…"
Dao Qiongcang shook his head in mock shock. "You just realized this now? Yu Zhiwen, you're so stupid!"
Yu Zhiwen nearly choked on her words, her face turning pale as she dug her fingers into the soil. She dared not speak further, fearing she'd dig herself into a deeper hole.
Dao Qiongcang wasn't done teasing her, though. "And what about the waterfall? What does the waterfall have to do with all of this?"
Yu Zhiwen silently begged for him to stop, but Dao Qiongcang leaned closer, clearly not letting it go. "Don't tell me the nine flaws are all arranged under the waterfall?"
"Ah!" Yu Zhiwen muttered, her voice barely above a whisper, "N-no…"
Dao Qiongcang gasped in mock horror. "What if they were? What if I had already gone to check them?"
Yu Zhiwen's heart sank. She couldn't even lift her head anymore, fearing the embarrassment would consume her. She mumbled weakly, "No collusion…"
Dao Qiongcang suddenly straightened, his tone light but filled with mockery. "Oh, I'm sorry. Colluding with the enemy is so rude. Let's call it 'showing off' instead!"
With that, Yu Zhiwen couldn't handle it anymore. Her face drained of color, and her body gave in as she fainted, her astrolabe slipping from her hands and rolling toward the Divine Puppet's feet.
Dao Qiongcang couldn't contain his laughter any longer. He clapped his hands together, his laughter echoing through the forest. "Fainting is the best solution. Truly wonderful!"
Suddenly, a loud voice cut through the night. "Old thief! I've tolerated you long enough!"
The Divine Puppet suddenly let out a wild cry as its body twisted unnaturally. It bent at the waist and launched a whip kick with incredible momentum. The attack rushed toward Dao Qiongcang with the force of a final, desperate move.
"Bang!"
Dao Qiongcang, however, barely lifted a finger. Without even relying on his Divine Secret techniques, he raised a hand and, with a small burst of Holy Power, shattered half of the Divine Puppet's leg in an instant.
But the Puppet was quick. As its leg exploded, it swiftly bent down and scooped up the astrolabe that Yu Zhiwen had dropped. Without any hesitation, it connected its spiritual senses to the astrolabe.
Under Jin Ren's control, an array disc materialized beneath his feet, merging him with the surrounding spiritual energy as he activated the Unity of Man and Heaven. In seconds, he had bypassed the astrolabe's defenses, gaining access to the key of the Qingyuan Mountain great array.
"Teleport!" Jin Ren shouted, a grin spreading across his face. He was ready to escape with Yu Zhiwen.
The world around them lit up with patterns of starlight—flowers, trees, wind, water, and clouds all shimmering with Path energy. But something went wrong. Instead of teleporting away, the Divine Puppet remained in place, surrounded by dense water vapor.
In fact, it seemed as though they hadn't moved at all.
The Puppet's innocent eyes glanced upward, its gaze meeting Dao Qiongcang's through the haze. Dao, still smiling, watched the Puppet with an almost amused expression.
A soft "buzz" filled the air, and an illuminated gate appeared. Fifty to sixty figures dressed in white robes marched out from it, their voices echoing in unison.
"Greetings, Hallmaster Dao!"
Their synchronized greeting shook the air around them. Jin Ren, still holding the astrolabe, was speechless. He stared at the real array wheel in his hand, realizing that Yu Zhiwen truly intended to help him escape, yet failed.
Dao Qiongcang, clearly enjoying the situation, broke the silence with a soft chuckle. "This is indeed a key," he said, "but it's useless. When I first entered the mountain, I locked onto Yu Zhiwen's location. I already visited the waterfall and discovered the nine flaws. She was brave to set it up, but... well, she's not as clever as she thinks."
He waved his hand dismissively, continuing, "Once the array was broken, her astrolabe became nothing more than decoration. I could have used it to toy with you, but you? You can't use it at all."
At that moment, something unusual happened. A crack opened in the center of the Divine Puppet's lower body. From this crack, a small black tube emerged, pointing directly at Dao Qiongcang.
"Pfft!"
Dark yellow mist erupted from the tube, like a bizarre mechanical fart. Dao Qiongcang reacted instantly, stepping back in horror. But it wasn't an energy attack or a physical strike. It was gas—thick, foul-smelling gas.
Despite his attempt to retreat and hold his breath, the gas infiltrated his senses, filling his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.
"Fart?" The white-clothed disciples were bewildered. They had been prepared for a deadly confrontation, not... this.
Dao Qiongcang's face quickly changed colors—red, pale, green, and finally purple. The gas wasn't just unpleasant; it was incredibly potent, possibly poisonous. His body seemed to react violently to it, but even so, it didn't make sense for such a powerful figure to be affected by something so strange.
The Divine Puppet's laughter echoed through the clearing as it threw aside the astrolabe. "Even if Dao Qiongcang has a heart as deep as the sea, in the end, he still had to suck in my fart?" The voice inside the Puppet belonged to Xu Xiaoshou, gleeful in his strange victory. "Relax. It's not poison. It's really just a fart… I haven't sunk so low as to use poison."
The Puppet's chest heaved as it continued laughing. "Today, Dao Qiongcang, your skills are better than mine. I admit defeat."
Suddenly, the Divine Puppet began to swell, expanding rapidly. Its Path patterns flared brightly. "Everyone," Xu Xiaoshou's voice declared, "the mountain is high, and the road is long. We'll meet again if fate allows."