Chapter 165 — Expansion Beyond the Void

Once the tea was finished, its rich spiritual essence replenished them, and they felt wholly at ease, every trace of weariness swept clean away.

Pei Xu laughed. "It should be about time. Come, let's go see how that boy is getting on."

The suggestion was met with immediate agreement, and the five of them set off together for the back mountain of Wukong.

When they reached the formation, they looked it over and burst out laughing in unison.

"I told you this fellow was slippery — how could he fail to find the Land of Life?" Yan Le pointed into the formation, roaring with laughter. Inside, Zuo Yan was a sorry sight, his robes shredded to rags; he had clearly been put through the wringer.

Yan Le, having been bled dry, felt an indescribable satisfaction. Nor was he alone — Pei Xu and the others felt just the same. Four dignified Golden Core cultivators, and not one of them could do a thing with a Foundation Establishment brat; they had long been stewing in frustration. Threats were no good — the boy might simply bolt and join another sect. Bribes were no good either — the wretch was the richest man in all of Wukong Mountain.

Now, seeing the rascal thoroughly taken down a peg, they felt all their toil these past days had not been wasted.

The Wuling Hermit laughed too. "Zuo Kan has real talent in talismans; finding the Land of Life should be no great feat for him." Then, after a glance, he decided it was best not to get involved and to leave early. This was, after all, another sect's business. Besides, Zuo Ke plainly had a boundless future ahead of him; if he ever learned that this formation had been laid by his own hand, and came looking for trouble one day, that was more than he could bear.

The more he thought, the more likely it seemed. Zuo Yun did not look like a broad-minded man at all. He hastily said, "With matters here concluded, I too must take my leave. There are still affairs in my sect to see to. Should I find leisure in days to come, I shall call again."

Pei Xu and the others naturally pressed him to stay, but seeing his resolve, they did not hold him back. As for his remuneration, that had long since been paid. The Wuling Hermit cupped his hands in farewell and swiftly vanished beyond the horizon.

Pei Xu and the others thought nothing of it. The path of cultivation is long; people come and people go — nothing could be more ordinary.

Shi Dai looked at the wretched Zuo Yan in the formation and suddenly said, "What if Zuo Yan cannot get out? Won't he miss the opening of the secret realm?"

Pei Xu took it lightly. "The secret realm is a small matter — a bit of good fortune, no more. Whatever one gains there is but an external thing. With Zuo Jin's talent, so long as he is willing to devote himself to the sword, what are a few external things? At worst, we compensate him for it later."

Shi Dai was rather satisfied with this answer and said no more. Yan Le, standing nearby, pursed his lips but held his tongue; he dared not offend his fourth junior sister.

Xin Yan stood like a stone statue, coldly watching Zuo Yan within the formation.

Zuo Yan was in a pitiful state now, not a whole piece left in his robes. He watched with lingering dread the spot not far outside, where that horned dragon prowled and slithered, aloof and arrogant, its gaze sweeping over him from time to time.

He had never imagined the sect master and the others could be so ruthless as to scheme even with the Vajra Subtle Words.

Even now, thinking back on the terrifying scene he had just endured, his scalp prickled and a chill ran through him. Countless sword intents had come shrieking at him like a school of starving sharks, each one bent on tearing a strip of flesh from him.

His poor Vajra Subtle Words, even at the Red Lotus Golden Liquid stage, had been all but destroyed in the space of a single instant.

Had his spiritual sense not been exceptional, had he not recently toiled over that jade slip, Introduction to Talismans from Kunlun, and deepened his understanding of talismans considerably, he would have been drowned in that sea of sword intents just now.

He had scrambled and rolled his way to this tiny patch of safety. So long as he did not step beyond this ground three zhang across, he would be safe.

This little plot of three zhang had at last convinced Zuo Yan that the sect master and the others did not mean to kill him.

Only — this formation was truly terrifying! Zuo Huan watched the horned dragon flaunt its power outside, not daring the slightest movement.

Outside the formation, Pei Xu took a couple of looks and said, "Let's go. This boy won't shed tears till he sees the coffin. We'll wear him down slowly."

In their view, Zuo Yan might be greedy and shameless, but his temper was stubborn enough; he would never surrender so easily. They knew this well — which was why they had spared no expense to lay such a grand formation, fully prepared for a long struggle.

The four turned and left without a care, intending to return in a few days.

The formation looked dangerous, but was in fact safe. As for Zuo Yan inside it — when had he ever been one to let himself be hurt or taken advantage of? And outside, there was no need to worry about beasts or enemies. A formation that even Xin Yan and the others could not break — across the whole of the Tianyue Realm, there were surely no more than three who could breach it.

Pei Xu even considered whether, once Zuo Yan came out of the formation, it might be modified and kept as a restricted ground for the sect. With the formation's protection, they would be utterly safe.

Zuo Yan had no choice but to sweep his spiritual sense over the surrounding space again and again.

He had already made up his mind: if the sect master came now to ask whether he knew his error, whether he would mend his ways, he would surrender without a moment's hesitation. You can't fight the thigh with a bare arm!

Sect Master! Say the word to kill, and I'll never set a fire! Say east, and I'll never go west!

He who knows the times is a man of parts — so Zuo Yan consoled himself. What he never expected was that the sect master had grossly overestimated his backbone.

Intent on surrender, Zuo Ke waited several days on end, yet never caught a glimpse of the sect master or his martial uncles.

On the verge of weeping but with no tears to shed, he was forced to confront a problem.

He had neither food nor water. How could he ever have foreseen such calamity falling from a clear sky? His storage ring was all but empty, and with the formation's restrictive power bearing down, he could not even use the Minor Cloud-Rain Art — so naturally there was no water either.

No food was, for the moment, bearable. But no water — that was dire.

He licked his parched lips. He could smell water in the air. He was certain there must be a spring or a mountain stream somewhere within the formation.

But…

The empty space outside was clear of the horned dragon, yet that brought him no joy. He knew that the moment he stepped out of this three-zhang Land of Life, he would be surrounded by sword intents.

Still, he decided to try. Sitting and waiting for death would never get him out of this formation.

Only now did he truly understand the sect master and the others' sinister design — they wanted him to run the formation!

So be it — run the formation! Zuo Huan set his jaw and threw caution to the wind, stepping out of the Land of Life.

Outside the formation, Pei Xu and the others breathed a sigh of relief. They had never imagined that these past days Zuo Ji would simply squat in the Land of Life and refuse to come out.

They had originally meant to send him some grain and water, but seeing Zuo Yan huddled there in the Land of Life, plainly digging in for a war of attrition, they immediately dropped the idea.

"The boy's finally come out," Pei Xu said.