“Supreme divine artifact?”
“Deserving of possession?”
“I’ll possess your granddaddy!”
Master Longbrow’s nose twisted in anger as he hurled the brick.
“Boom!”
The brick smashed a large crater into the ground, its power no less than a grenade explosion, and Master Longbrow hadn’t even used his true qi.
“Huh?”
Master Longbrow let out a surprised sound, then burst into joy. He rushed over with a whoosh, picked up the brick, and held it fondly, saying, “Truly a treasure.”
Ye Qiu and the others were also astonished. They hadn’t expected such a small brick to wield such extraordinary power.
“Old man, congratulations. You finally got yourself a treasure,” Ye Qiu said.
Master Longbrow grinned and said, “From now on, anyone who dares mess with me will get a taste of this brick.”
Fairy Hundred Flowers and Green萝 covered their mouths, chuckling.
“There must be more treasures here. Come on, let’s check ahead,” Master Longbrow said, leading the way.
Ye Qiu and the others followed closely.
After walking for a while, they emerged from the cave. Looking up, they saw the purple mountain had been hollowed out, with light streaming in from outside, illuminating the mountain’s interior brightly.
“There’s a stone statue ahead,” Master Longbrow said.
Ye Qiu looked forward and saw, a hundred meters away, a tall stone statue.
The statue depicted an old man sitting cross-legged, one hand pointing to the sky, the other to the ground.
It was strikingly lifelike.
“Let’s go check it out,” Ye Qiu said, leading the group toward the statue.
As they came within thirty meters of the statue, the Xuanyuan Sword hidden in Ye Qiu’s eyes suddenly flew out, hovering above his head, buzzing and trembling.
“Bad news, there’s danger.”
Ye Qiu, seeing the sword’s warning, was about to lead everyone back when white beams of light shot up from the ground, like dragons emerging, forming a cage that trapped them.
The surroundings became hazy. They could no longer see the statue or even the cave.
Their vision was completely blocked.
The light above vanished, replaced by rolling black clouds, filling their hearts with oppression.
“What happened?” Green萝 exclaimed.
Master Longbrow said, “If I’m not mistaken, we’ve been trapped in a formation.”
No sooner had he spoken than the air around them shimmered with radiant light, runes flickering in a dazzling display.
“This formation is no simple matter,” Master Longbrow said, his face grave.
Ye Qiu asked, “Old man, can you tell what kind of formation this is?”
“This is a formation set by a sage-level powerhouse. How could I possibly figure it out?” Master Longbrow replied, then added, “Though this formation has trapped us, there’s no killing intent. The sage likely set it up not to kill us but to test us.”
“I wager that if we can escape this formation, we’ll gain something huge.”
Fairy Hundred Flowers said, “The question now is how to get out.”
“Old man, why don’t you try divining?” Ye Qiu suggested on a whim.
“I’ll give it a shot,” Master Longbrow said, pulling out three copper coins. He muttered an incantation and tossed them.
The coins spun above his head for a few moments before falling to the ground, shattering in half.
“What’s going on?” Green萝 asked.
Master Longbrow sighed. “The sage’s methods are too powerful. This formation blocks the aura of heaven and earth. I can’t divine here.”
If divination didn’t work, what could they do?
Ye Qiu suddenly recalled the inheritance of the Ye family ancestor, which included knowledge of formations. He quickly reviewed it but found none of the formations matched the one before them.
“Are we left to rely on luck again?”
Just as Ye Qiu thought this, Master Longbrow said, “Let me try.”
He stepped forward a few paces, then waved his right hand.
“Swish, swish, swish!”
Ten talismans flew out from his robe’s sleeve. Master Longbrow formed hand seals and shouted, “Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan…”
Boom!
The ten talismans erupted in brilliant light, scattering in all directions.
“No matter the formation, every one has a gate of life. If we find it, we can escape,” Master Longbrow explained.
Everyone understood. The ten talismans were meant to locate the gate of life.
But would this work?
They watched the talismans closely. After a while, the light on them suddenly vanished, and they fell to the ground, crumbling to dust.
“Can’t find the gate of life?” Master Longbrow’s face darkened.
The group stood still, growing anxious. If they couldn’t break the formation, they’d be trapped forever.
A moment later, Green萝 suddenly said, “Why don’t we try breaking the formation with brute force?”
Master Longbrow shook his head. “Green萝, think about it. This is a formation set by a sage. With our cultivation levels, can we break a sage’s formation?”
Green萝 said, “We can’t just stand here doing nothing, can we?”
Master Longbrow replied, “We’re thinking of ways to break it. Don’t rush. We’ll figure something out.”
Ye Qiu said, “I think Green萝’s idea is worth a try.”
“Little brat, why don’t you try with your Qiankun Cauldron?” Master Longbrow suggested.
“Step back,” Ye Qiu said, summoning a Qiankun Cauldron.
The cauldron rapidly enlarged and slammed forward.
“Boom!”
A loud crash echoed.
The cauldron failed to break the formation.
“Again!” Ye Qiu summoned three more Qiankun Cauldrons.
All four cauldrons flew out, their combined force exceeding a million jin, crashing into the formation.
“Rumble!”
A thunderous collision rang out, but the formation still held.
Master Longbrow said, “I told you, didn’t I? This is a sage’s formation. With our cultivation, even a divine artifact can’t break it.”
Ye Qiu frowned.
They couldn’t find the gate of life, and brute force didn’t work. What now?
As the group stood dejected, a commotion came from Ye Qiu’s Qiankun Bag.
He opened it and saw the egg rolling around inside.
“Feeling itchy?” Ye Qiu scolded.
Whoosh—
The egg rolled out of the bag. To everyone’s astonishment, it circled the formation once, instantly devouring all the surrounding runes.
The formation broke.
“That worked?”
Ye Qiu was dumbfounded. A sage’s formation, consumed by an egg? Who would believe it if they hadn’t seen it?
After devouring the formation, the egg wobbled twice, as if sated, then rolled back into the Qiankun Bag.
Ye Qiu and the others could see the statue again.
“Little brat, what’s with that egg?” Master Longbrow asked, but before he could finish, light flashed from the statue’s forehead, revealing four large characters.
“Ultimate Inheritance!”
