Chapter 169 The Heaven-Locking Array!

Sandstorms rolled across the land.

The setting sun was like blood.

The battlefield had been swept clean.

Those mountains of corpses had long since turned into fly ash across the wasteland.

Only the charred craters scattered everywhere and the lingering scent of blood in the air continued to recount the earth-shattering, brutal slaughter from a month ago.

Ye Haocheng stood atop the highest tower of the Asura Hall.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his black robes snapping in the wind.

His deep eyes did not look at the ground beneath his feet, but were fixed intently on the dim, yellow sky above.

There.

It appeared empty.

But he knew there was an invisible shackle there.

A shackle that had locked away the Eastern Continent's fortune for ten thousand years and severed the path forward for countless martial artists—the Sky-Locking Formation.

"Palace Master, the ancestors of the Twelve Dynasties are preparing to leave."

Leng Yi walked up lightly and stood respectfully behind Ye Haocheng.

His voice was kept very low, for fear of disturbing the young king who was lost in thought before him.

Ye Haocheng withdrew his gaze and turned around slowly.

There was not much expression on his face, only calmness.

"Understood."

Ye Haocheng nodded faintly.

He looked at the various forces gathering below.

Those dynasty ancestors who were once aloof and even somewhat disdainful of him were now all looking up in unison.

There was no longer any arrogance in their eyes.

Replacing it was deep awe and a hint of undisguised gratitude.

"Tell them."

"Go back and recover well from your injuries."

"The future of the Eastern Continent still needs them."

Ye Haocheng's voice was not loud, but with the enhancement of spiritual power, it clearly reached everyone's ears.

The crowd below stirred.

Immediately after, an old ancestor with gray hair stepped out from the crowd.

He was the ancestor of the Great Qin Dynasty and one of those who had been severely injured in that battle.

But at this moment, he stood with his back straight and bowed deeply toward the tower.

"We will never forget the kindness of Palace Master Ye!"

The ancestor's voice was loud and desolate, carrying the relief of surviving a disaster.

He raised his head, his cloudy old eyes filled with sincerity.

"If the Asura Hall has any commands in the future, the entire Great Qin Dynasty will not hesitate to die for you!"

As his voice fell, the other dozen or so ancestors also clasped their hands in salute.

"We will not hesitate to die for you!!"

The sound rolled and surged straight into the clouds.

These were not just polite words.

This was a promise from the bottom of their hearts.

If not for Ye Haocheng turning the tide and killing the four Martial Gods in that battle, these people would have long since become dry bones in the loess mounds.

The entire Eastern Continent would have also been reduced to a slave pen for foreign races.

Ye Haocheng watched this scene and nodded slightly.

He didn't say much, just waved his hand, signaling that they could leave.

"Go."

The Great Qin ancestor took one last look at the young figure, a flash of complexity in his eyes.

The waves of the Yangtze River push the waves ahead.

The era that belonged to them had finally passed.

From now on, the sky of this Eastern Continent belongs to Ye.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, a month went by.

During this month, the Eastern Continent was surprisingly calm. So calm that it was even... eerie.

According to common sense, the four-region coalition army had been completely wiped out, and even their own ancestor-level Martial Gods had died in the Eastern Continent.

For the Central, Southern, Western, and Northern Regions, this was definitely a great humiliation and an immeasurable loss.

They should be angry, they should be roaring, they should be gathering more troops to flatten the Eastern Continent at all costs.

However, there was nothing. Nothing happened.

On the border, not even a foreign fly had flown in.

The entire Eastern Continent seemed to have been forgotten by the world.

This silence made countless Eastern Continent commoners feel fortunate.

They thought the war was completely over and began to cheer and rebuild their homes.

But at the Asura Hall headquarters, inside that black palace symbolizing supreme power, the atmosphere was suffocatingly oppressive.

Ye Haocheng sat on the throne carved from obsidian.

He toyed with a pure white jade slip in his hand, his brows tightly locked together.

"Something is wrong."

Ye Haocheng tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest, making a rhythmic "tap-tap" sound.

He was thinking, and also deducing.

During this month, he had not been idle.

Although his cultivation had stabilized at the seventh level of the Martial Saint Realm, he could never settle his mind.

That feeling was like the silence before a storm, so oppressive it made it hard to breathe.

"Although Chu Yunxiao is dead, the Chu family is still there."

"That old bald donkey Pudu is dead, but the foundation of the Western Region Buddhism still remains."

"How could they swallow this breath?"

Ye Haocheng muttered to himself.

His gaze became sharp, as if he wanted to pierce through the palace walls and see the truth behind the fog.

Unless... they are afraid. Or perhaps, they are brewing a bigger conspiracy.

"Report!!"

Just then, a hurried report came from outside the palace, breaking the silence inside.

An Asura Guard wearing black armor ran in quickly and knelt on one knee.

"Report to the Palace Master! Wu De requests an audience!"

This Asura Guard was covered in sweat, obviously having run all the way here.

He lowered his head, his tone carrying a hint of undisguised joy.

"Elder Wu says... there is good news!"

Hearing this, Ye Haocheng's previously tightly furrowed brows instantly relaxed.

He stood up abruptly from the throne, a flash of light exploding in his eyes.

"Quick, let him in!"

A month ago, the day after the war ended, Ye Haocheng had given Wu De a death order.

Gather all the formation masters in the Eastern Continent and, at all costs, study the "Sky-Locking Formation" that had shrouded the Eastern Continent for ten thousand years.

Because Ye Haocheng knew that as long as this formation remained for one day, the Eastern Continent would forever be a prison.

No matter how many battles they won, it was just the death throes of a turtle in a jar.

Only by breaking this sky could the Eastern Continent truly have a way to survive!

"Oh! My Palace Master!"

Before the figure appeared, a round, chubby voice had already been heard.

Immediately after, a meatball-like figure scrambled and rolled into the palace. It was none other than Wu De.

But at this moment, he no longer had the oily appearance of the wealthy man he used to be.

His originally round face was now much thinner, his eye sockets were sunken, and they were filled with red bloodshot eyes.

The Taoist robe on his body was tattered and stained with formation material powder of various colors.

He looked like a beggar who had just escaped from a refugee camp.

"I'm exhausted... This time... I have squeezed out all the brain juice of my life..."

Wu De plopped down onto the futon on the floor, gasping for breath.

He grabbed the teapot on the side table, not caring whether it was cold or hot, and chugged it down.

That unseemly action would surely shock anyone who saw it.

Ye Haocheng did not urge him; he walked down the steps and watched Wu De quietly.

Until Wu De finished a pot of tea in one breath and let out a loud burp.

"How is it?"

Ye Haocheng asked. Although his voice was calm, the fist slightly clenched in his sleeve betrayed the tension in his heart.

"It's done!"

Wu De slapped his thigh and jumped up from the ground. His fat shook with his movements, but his face was radiant and flushed with excitement.

"Palace Master, I have lived up to the mission! This damned tortoise shell, I've finally found its flaw!"

As he spoke, Wu De pulled out a crumpled animal skin blueprint from his arms.

He rushed to Ye Haocheng in a few steps and spread out the blueprint. He pointed a trembling finger at a red dot in the center of the blueprint.

"Palace Master, look! Although this Sky-Locking Formation is an ancient wonder formation, touted as unsolvable."

"But after all, it has gone through ten thousand years of erosion and no longer has its former power."

A light of wisdom flickered in Wu De's eyes, which was his unique confidence in his professional field.

He pointed to the red dot, his tone becoming serious.

"This month, that group of old guys and I have been deducing day and night, almost calculating all 130 million variations of this formation."

"Finally, we discovered that at this position, which is every full moon night at the third quarter of the Zi hour, the energy flow of the formation will have a moment of... stagnation!"

"Stagnation?"

Ye Haocheng's gaze narrowed as he looked at the red dot on the blueprint. That position was clearly marked as the sky above the Barren Sand Sea where the Asura Hall headquarters was located.

"That's right!"

Wu De nodded heavily. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued to explain.

"This is what is called the 'formation eye' shift. Although this stagnation time is extremely short, less than half a breath. But for us, this is the only... gate of life!"

Ye Haocheng fell silent. He looked at the complex formation map, calculating rapidly in his mind.

Half a breath of time. For ordinary people, it might not even be enough to blink. But for experts of their level, half a breath is enough to do many things.

"What conditions are required?"

Ye Haocheng raised his head and looked straight into Wu De's eyes. He knew that things were definitely not that simple.

If it only required finding a weakness to break the formation, then in the ten thousand years of the Eastern Continent, there have been countless brilliant talents, why has no one ever succeeded?

Sure enough, hearing this question, the excitement on Wu De's face subsided a little.

He rubbed his hands a bit awkwardly and glanced at Ye Haocheng cautiously.

"Ahem... Well... Palace Master, this breaking of the formation is theoretically feasible. But... the power required is a bit... a little bit large."

Wu De held out his chubby fingers and made an "a little bit" gesture. But his flickering eyes were clearly feeling guilty.

"Speak."

Ye Haocheng frowned slightly. He didn't like this hesitant feeling. "Just say it directly."

Wu De swallowed, no longer beating around the bush. He took a deep breath and held up two fingers.

"First, there needs to be an expert with superb strength as the main attacker. At the moment the stagnation appears, use the strongest single-point attack to tear through the formation barrier!"

"This person's attack power must reach... the Martial God Realm!"

Speaking of this, Wu De looked at Ye Haocheng. This first condition was absolutely impossible to complete before. But now, with a freak like Ye Haocheng, it was not a problem.

"I can do this."

Ye Haocheng nodded. He was now at the seventh level of the Martial Saint Realm, and if he exploded with full power, combined with his Innate Chaos Body and heaven-burning sword, his attack power had long surpassed that of an ordinary Martial God Realm.

"What about the second point?"

Ye Haocheng continued to ask.

"The second point..." Wu De smiled bitterly and spread his hands.

"Once the formation is attacked, it will instantly trigger a self-defense mechanism, which is the counter-shock force. That power is enough to instantly shatter all living things within a thousand miles."

"Therefore, we need enough manpower to share this counter-shock force, and at the same time stabilize the torn gap to prevent the formation from healing."

Wu De paused, his tone becoming extremely heavy.

"After calculations. To withstand this counter-shock force, we need at least... twenty or more Martial Venerable Realm experts to join forces!!"

"And they must be of one mind, burning their essence blood without reservation to build a defensive formation!"

Twenty Martial Gods! Hearing this number, even Ye Haocheng couldn't help but shrink his pupils.

Martial Venerable Realm, that's not Chinese cabbage. That is the existence standing at the top of the pyramid in the Eastern Continent.

Although the members of the Asura Hall are strong, they only broke through to the Martial Venerable Realm a few days ago, so for safety's sake, they naturally cannot be used.

If it were a month ago, this would have been an almost impossible task. But now...

Ye Haocheng's mouth suddenly curled into a meaningful arc. He turned around, walked back to the throne, and sat down.

"Twenty?"

Ye Haocheng whispered softly. His fingers tapped lightly on the armrest, a hint of determination flashing in his eyes.

"It seems it is time to let those old guys fulfill their promises."

During this month, although the ancestors of the Twelve Dynasties went back. But Ye Haocheng believed that as long as he gave an order, those people would not dare not to come. And they would not fail to come.

Because breaking the Sky-Locking Formation is not just for the Asura Hall. It is also for themselves, for their descendants, and for the freedom of the entire Eastern Continent!

"Leng Yi!"

Ye Haocheng suddenly shouted. The voice penetrated the palace and traveled into the distance.

"Subordinate is here!"

Outside the palace, Leng Yi's figure appeared instantly, kneeling respectfully at the door like a ghost.

"Pass on my Asura Order!"

Ye Haocheng untied a blood-red token from his waist and threw it away.

The token drew a red arc in the air and landed steadily in Leng Yi's hand.

"Notify all the ancestors of the Twelve Dynasties. And all the reclusive Martial Venerable Realm experts within the Eastern Continent."

Ye Haocheng's voice became cold and majestic, carrying an unquestionable domineering air.

"Tell them. If they want to break this sky and see the outside world. Bring their tools of the trade and set off immediately."

"Within three days, if anyone does not arrive... kill without mercy!!"

At this moment, the killing intent emanating from Ye Haocheng caused the temperature in the palace to drop to freezing point.

Even Wu De couldn't help but shiver and shrink his neck.

He knew that this young Palace Master was serious.

This is not just a gathering to break the formation, but also a major reshuffle of the entire Eastern Continent's high-level combat power!

"Obey!!"

Leng Yi held the cold Asura Order tightly, his eyes burning with raging flames.

He clasped his fists abruptly, turned into a black stream of light, and disappeared into the sky.

Three days later. Barren Sand Sea.

This is one of the most hostile forbidden lands in the Eastern Continent.

Strong winds rage all year round, and yellow sand fills the sky.

Even a Martial King Realm expert, if they accidentally enter the depths, may lose their way and eventually be swallowed by quicksand.

But this forbidden zone of life has become exceptionally lively today.

"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"

Streaks of brilliant light sped over from all directions of the Eastern Continent.

Those are the escape lights of experts. In every light, there is a terrifying aura that changes the color of the world.

Immediately after, the Martial Venerable Realm ancestors of the Twelve Dynasties all arrived without a single one missing.

Besides them, there were also some rogue Martial Venerable cultivators who usually appeared like dragons—seeing their heads but not their tails.

For example, the slovenly Taoist known as the "Wine Sword Immortal" was riding a huge wine gourd, swaying as he flew over.

And there was the "Ice Granny" who lived in the far northern ice plains; wherever she passed, even the air was frozen into ice crystals.

A full twenty-three!! This is all the Martial Venerable Realm combat power that the Eastern Continent can currently produce!