160: Then let's fill the gap with our lives.

This soft laugh echoed in the vast underground cavern, sounding exceptionally jarring.

The fake smile on Venerable Drywood's wrinkled old face stiffened for an instant before returning to normal, though the hint of malice in his eyes was hidden deeper.

"Why does Fellow Daoist Su laugh? Do you feel this Formation is too profound to start with?"

He deliberately used his words to provoke Su Lin, "If you are truly in a difficult spot, there is no need to force yourself.

Although this old man is untalented, I have studied it for fifty years, so perhaps I could..."

"I laugh because you are ignorant."

Su Lin did not look at him; his gaze remained fixed on the bronze disc, his slender fingers gently brushing over those dim star runes.

"You say this was left behind by an ancient Formation True Immortal?"

"You say this is some profound and unfathomable Star Compass?"

Su Lin shook his head, a look of helplessness and mockery, like watching a child use a priceless jade to crack walnuts.

"This thing is called the Small Heavenly Cycle Simulator."

"It is not a Formation core used for teleportation at all, but rather a... teaching aid used for novice Formation apprentices to practice deducing the changes in star orbits."

"A... teaching aid?!"

Venerable Drywood was stunned, and Daoist Cangsong beside him had his mouth wide open.

This was something the Tianyan Sect revered as a supreme treasure, something their Ancestral Masters had contemplated for thousands of years and regarded as a Divine Artifact protecting the sect; yet in this man's mouth, it was merely a toy for an apprentice?

"Nonsense!"

Daoist Cangsong couldn't help but roar, "Su Lin, if you cannot solve it, just say so. Why fabricate such an absurd reason to humiliate the ancestors of my Tianyan Sect!"

"Humiliate?"

Su Lin turned, standing with his hands behind his back, his sleeves fluttering gently in the wind of the underground currents.

"I once saw the design blueprints for this thing in an ancient ruin in the Central Plains."

"The owner of that ruin left a line of text beside the blueprint—'Gifted to my disciple for his third birthday, hoping he recognizes the principles of the stars early.'"

"You have been worshipping a three-year-old child's toy as a sect-protecting treasure for thousands of years; how else do you want me to humiliate you?"

"You..." Daoist Cangsong was trembling with rage; if he wasn't wary of the two Female Demon Lords, he probably would have charged up already.

Venerable Drywood, however, narrowed his eyes, his heart filled with suspicion.

Su Lin's expression was too certain, and he spoke the name of the Formation so specifically; could it... be true?

But this thought only flashed by for a moment before being replaced by an even stronger killing intent.

No matter if you are a teaching aid or a Divine Artifact, as long as you step onto it, that will be your burial ground!

"Fellow Daoist Su is indeed knowledgeable."

Venerable Drywood cupped his hands with a stiff smile,

"Since you recognize this object, presumably repairing it would be as easy as turning over one's hand?"

"Watch closely."

Su Lin stopped wasting words.

He did not use any Spiritual Qi, nor did he bring out any Magic Treasure.

He simply extended his right hand, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and pointed into the void toward the floating bronze disc.

"Rise."

With his soft shout, the previously dead and silent bronze disc suddenly emitted a clear, resonant hum.

"Click."

It sounded like some kind of precision lock being opened.

Su Lin's fingers began to slide through the air, his movements elegant and composed, as if he were playing an invisible zither.

"Qian is three unbroken lines, Kun is six broken lines."

"Moving stars and shifting constellations, reversing Yin and Yang."

As his fingers moved, the star runes on the bronze disc actually seemed to come alive!

The originally chaotic and mutually locked runes began to move rapidly across the surface of the disc.

They emitted a brilliant blue light, illuminating the entire dim cavern as if the galaxy were inverted.

"This... how is this possible?!"

Venerable Drywood widened his eyes, his murky old eyes filled with disbelief.

He had studied it for fifty years!

He had spent countless efforts, even going so far as to use the living souls of people to test it, only to barely unlock the first one hundred Restrictions.

But now, under Su Lin's hands, those Restrictions that gave him splitting headaches were like gentle flowing water, automatically separating and automatically reorganizing.

In just a few dozen breaths, those three thousand six hundred so-called "Linked Restrictions" were all solved with a clatter, like dominoes!

"Is this... the means of a Grandmaster of the Formation Dao?"

Chu Weiwei, watching from the side, was dumbfounded.

Although she did not understand Formations, that did not stop her from appreciating beauty.

At this moment, Su Lin stood amidst the sky full of starlight, his fingers flying, as if he were commanding the entire starry sky.

That composure, that confidence of controlling everything, made her heart, which was always full of unease, beat violently.

"So beautiful..."

She murmured to herself, her eyes glazed, "Revered Master's fingers... must be very nimble..."

Luo Ximei had a completely different reaction.

She crossed her arms, her white-gold right eye reflecting Su Lin's figure, and the corner of her mouth curled into an arrogant smile.

"This is the man I have taken a fancy to."

"Even if his cultivation has fallen, who in this world can compare to this understanding of the Dao?"

She glanced sideways at the dumbfounded Venerable Drywood and snorted coldly:

"Old thing, tuck in your chin; don't let it drop to the ground and dirty my eyes."

Venerable Drywood could no longer hear Luo Ximei's mockery at this moment.

In his heart, there was only extreme shock, followed by even crazier jealousy and greed.

This person must not be left alive!

He has such means while only at the Void Refining Stage; if he is allowed to recover to the Mahayana Stage, where would there be a place for the Tianyan Sect in this world?

Furthermore, his gaze swept obscurely over Luo Ximei.

If he could seize the True Immortal Origin from that young woman?

"Crack!"

The final crisp sound came.

The bronze disc suddenly stopped rotating.

The originally dim surface was now completely covered by brilliant starlight.

A thick blue beam of light shot up from the center of the disc, striking directly onto the Formation patterns on the ceiling of the cavern.

"Rumble."

The earth began to tremble.

The teleportation Formation patterns carved onto the huge stone platform were fully activated at this moment.

Countless ancient runes lit up one after another, and a space fluctuation so vast it was suffocating erupted deep within this underground cavern.

The Ten Thousand Li Trachoma Array, successfully restarted!

"It is done."

Su Lin withdrew his hand, his expression as usual, not even his breath was in the slightest bit disordered, as if the god-like operation just now was nothing more than a casual wave of his sleeve.

He turned around and looked at Venerable Drywood.

"The Formation is repaired, and the coordinates are set."

"Now, may we borrow the path?"

Venerable Drywood took a deep breath, suppressing the surging killing intent in his heart, and a look of extremely hypocritical gratitude appeared on his face.

"Fellow Daoist Su is truly skilled! This old man admires you, admires you!"

He bowed and made a gesture of invitation.

"Since the great Formation has been opened, the three of you may use it.

I have offended you much previously, and I hope Fellow Daoist Su will be magnanimous.

The journey to the Western Desert is long, and this old man wishes the three of you... a safe journey!"

He said the last four words with profound meaning.

Su Lin looked at him deeply, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile that was not quite a smile.

"I will take your kind words."

After speaking, he took Luo Ximei and Chu Weiwei and stepped onto the huge floating stone platform.

The three stood in the center of the Formation.

The surrounding space power began to twist, and the blue light grew brighter and brighter, about to swallow the figures of the three.

At this very moment.

Venerable Drywood, who had been maintaining a respectful posture, suddenly straightened his back.

On his wrinkled old face, where was there any trace of gratitude?

Replacing it was ferocity, ecstasy, and the exposing of his daggers!

"Do it!!"

He gave a sharp shout.

He, having long retreated to the groove at the edge of the stone platform, without hesitation, slammed a blood-red Jade Slip fiercely into that groove!

That was the control hub of the Formation.

But what he inserted was not a Spirit Stone, nor a Formation Flag, but the [Blood Fiend Soul-Locking Talisman] that the successive Sect Heads of the Tianyan Sect had refined with their own essential blood for thousands of years!

"Hum—!!!"

The originally pure blue teleportation beam of light, at this moment, was dyed with a layer of eerie blood-red without warning.

That was not the light of teleportation.

That was the blood light of slaughter!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The entire underground cavern underwent a drastic change in an instant.

On the surrounding rock walls, the tens of thousands of killing Formation runes that were originally hidden lit up simultaneously.

That was not a defensive Formation, nor was it an auxiliary Formation.

That was the Tianyan Sect's bottom-of-the-box ultimate killing Formation—the [Extinction Immortal-Slaying Formation]!

This great Formation relied on the power of the earth veins of the Tianyan Mountain range and was usually in a dormant state.

Once activated, it would extract all the Spiritual Qi within a thousand miles, transforming it into countless destructive gales capable of shredding those at the Body Integration Stage.

And at this moment, Venerable Drywood had gone to the extreme.

He not only activated the Immortal-Slaying Formation but also reversed the space power of the teleportation Formation!

The teleportation Formation was originally meant to open a space channel to send people away.

Now, with the space reversed, it was a huge space meat grinder!

"Hahaha!!!"

Venerable Drywood's wild laughter echoed in the cavern, carrying the satisfaction of having his great revenge fulfilled.

"Su Lin! You are still too naive after all!"

"Do you think this old man letting you repair the Formation was because I really wanted to let you leave?"

"I wanted to borrow your hand to restart the energy source of this great Formation! And then borrow the space power of this great Formation to completely grind you three Devil Heads into slag!"

"So what if your Formation Dao is god-like?!"

"Now you are trapped in the Formation, the space is locked, there is no road to the sky, and no door to the earth!"

"This is called—catching a turtle in a jar!"

Daoist Cangsong, standing to the side, also revealed a ferocious smile.

He flicked the whisk in his hand and cast several incantations, reinforcing the power of the great Formation.

"Su Lin! Today is your death day!"

"And those two demonesses! After you die, I will extract your Divine Souls, light you as sky lamps, refine you into demon treasures, and you will never be reincarnated for eternity!"

On the stone platform.

The blood-red light had completely enveloped the three.

Space was collapsing, and countless black space cracks were frantically cutting everything around like sawteeth.

Coupled with the overwhelming Immortal-Slaying gales on the periphery, this was truly a desperate situation within a desperate situation.

"Revered Master!"

Chu Weiwei's face was pale; she could feel the terrifying pressure around her.

She instinctively wanted to bring out poison mist for defense, but she found that the surrounding space had been completely locked, and her Spiritual Qi circulation had become extremely sluggish.

"Damned old dog! How dare you plot against me!"

Luo Ximei was furious.

"You want to kill me? Dream on!"

She took a step forward, blocking in front of Su Lin.

Her white-gold right eye widened abruptly, and a vast power of the Origin was about to erupt.

She was prepared to forcibly tear through this chaotic space and take Su Lin out.

Even if she were to be severely injured again, even if she were to destroy this newly reshaped Physical Body, she would not hesitate!

However.

A hand gently rested on her shoulder.

"Do not be anxious."

Su Lin's voice was steady, without a trace of ripples.

In this earth-shattering, danger-filled desperate situation, his voice was like a needle to calm the sea, instantly calming Luo Ximei's about-to-explode Qi.

"Revered Master?"

Luo Ximei turned back, her eyes full of anxiety, "This old dog has reversed the space; if we don't leave now, it will be too late!"

"Leave?"

Su Lin smiled.

He stood in the chaotic blood-red light, his clothes and hair dancing wildly, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

He looked at the laughing Venerable Drywood outside the stone platform, his eyes carrying a pity like looking at a clown.

"Drywood, have you forgotten what I said just now?"

Venerable Drywood's laughter stopped abruptly, and a feeling of extreme foreboding suddenly rose in his heart.

"Wha... what words?"

"I said..."

Su Lin slowly raised his right hand and gently stomped his foot toward the frantically operating Formation beneath his feet, which had turned into a meat grinder.

"This thing is something I watched grow up."

"It is a teaching aid."

"Since it is a teaching aid, there must certainly be... a backdoor left by the teacher."

The moment the words fell.

Su Lin's hand seal changed.

It was not the elegant playing from before, but an incomparably domineering suppression!

"Nine stars return to their positions, ten thousand laws return to their Origin!"

"Reverse for me!"

As he uttered the word 'reverse'.

The blood-red space storm that was originally frantically reversing and attempting to shred the three of them suddenly seemed to have its throat choked by someone.

"Hum!!!"

An even more piercing hum sounded.

Seeing that on the bronze disc, the star runes that were originally rotating clockwise stopped without warning.

Then.

Under the terrified gazes of Venerable Drywood and Daoist Cangsong.

They began to rotate counter-clockwise!

And the speed was ten times faster than before!

"What?!"

Venerable Drywood screamed, "Impossible! This Formation core has already been controlled by me with the Blood Fiend Soul-Locking Talisman! How could you still be able to control it?!"

"Your Blood Fiend Talisman?"

"That kind of trash is worthy of locking a Formation?"

"When I was repairing the Formation just now, I conveniently changed the core logic of the Formation."

"When you inserted that Jade Slip, not only could it not lock the Formation, but it would instead become the best fuel!"

Boom!

As the Formation reversed, an indescribable and terrifying suction force erupted from the center of the stone platform!

But this suction force was not aimed at Su Lin and the others.

It was aimed at... the outside!

Aimed at the Tianyan Sect!

Aimed at this underground cavern!

Aimed at Venerable Drywood and Daoist Cangsong!

"No!!!"

Venerable Drywood felt that suction force; it was a terrifying power that would forcibly extract the Spiritual Qi, Divine Soul, and even the Lifespan from his body!

This was originally the power of the [Extinction Immortal-Slaying Formation] he used to deal with Su Lin, but at this moment, it was swallowed in reverse by that teleportation Formation!

The teleportation Formation had turned into a huge black hole!

It was frantically extracting all the energy around it to serve as the power for this ultra-long-distance teleportation!

Daoist Cangsong let out a shrill scream.

He saw the essential blood and Spiritual Qi in his body, like a river breaking its dam, turning into a red torrent, and being forcibly sucked into the teleportation Formation.

In the blink of an eye, this Sect Head of the Tianyan Sect, who was at the Middle Stage of the Body Integration Stage, withered away at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Old Ancestor! Save me! Save me!"

He extended his withered, stick-like hand, wanting to grab Venerable Drywood.

"Get lost!"

Venerable Drywood was unable to protect himself at this moment; how could he care about him?

He kicked Daoist Cangsong away, desperately burning his own Origin, wanting to break free from this suction force and escape the cavern.

"Want to run?"

On the stone platform, Su Lin looked at the figure fleeing in a panic, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

"Since you have opened the killing Formation, then fill it with your life."