A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 1042: Breaking the Array

Lei Yuce and Wen Zhong were standing together, observing the ongoing work from nearby.

"How confident are you that this will work, Fellow Daoist Shi?" Wen Zhong asked through voice transmission.

"60% to 70% at a conservative estimate. For the sake of the Eon Divine Lamp, even if there's only a 10% chance of success, we still have to give it a try, do we not?" Lei Yuce asked.

"According to legends, the Eon Divine Lamp is an immortal treasure that Immortal Lord Tai Sui spent his entire life to refine. I wonder exactly what type of treasure it is," Wen Zhong said as a look of longing appeared in his eyes.

A serious look then appeared on his face as he turned to Lei Yuce and continued, "Fellow Daoist Lei, I know that you've always held a great deal of admiration toward Su Anqian, but securing the Eon Divine Lamp is vital for the future prosperity of our Almighty Sword Sect, so make sure you don't let your private feelings get in the way of pursuing the greater good."

Lei Yuce's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this, but he replied in a serious manner, "Rest assured, I understand my responsibilities as the deputy sect master."

"Good," Wen Zhong said with a pleased expression.

Under everyone's collective efforts, the construction of the array was progressing rapidly, and in less than half a day, an enormous black and white array had already taken shape in front of the giant pagoda.

Han Li was observing the array from within the crowd, and all of a sudden, an intrigued look appeared in his eyes as he called upon Weeping Soul and the Essence Fire Raven through their spiritual connection.

A few moments later, two drastically contrasting auras, one scorching hot and one freezing cold, seeped out of his body.

"Everyone, this is a twin array designed by our alliance leader for the purpose of breaking this restriction. Each half of the array needs to be powered by fifty fellow daoists. Now, I'm going to call out the people who have been chosen to power the array, please step forward once I've instructed you to do so," Wen Zhong declared.

At this moment, there were over a thousand cultivators gathered in front of the pagoda, and none of them dared to raise any objections, but they were all praying that they weren't chosen.

It was clear that the restriction outside the pagoda was very formidable, so breaking it had to have been a very risky endeavor.

Wen Zhong could tell what everyone was thinking from their reactions, but he hardly cared, and he immediately began picking out the people that he wanted.

With each person that he called out, he would point at that person, and a beam of white light would shoot out of his fingertip before adhering to that person's body.

It didn't take long before a hundred people were picked out, and they were reluctant to step forward, but ultimately did so nonetheless.

The one hundred chosen individuals displayed a wide range of cultivation bases ranging from the True Immortal Stage all the way up to the High Zenith Stage, but the one common trait among them was that they were all cultivating either yin or yang-attribute cultivation arts, and there was a perfectly even split.

So it's a yin yang twin array, Han Li thought to himself with a contemplative expression.

Under normal circumstances, he would've taken some risk to help power the array in order to access the pagoda, but at the moment, there were people observing him in secret, and that was why he had released the auras of Weeping Soul and the Essence Fire Raven, giving himself a very chaotic aura.

Even though Han Li had already been traveling with Yu Kuohai's group for several days, he never revealed to them what cultivation arts he was using, so they weren't suspicious of his slight change in aura.

The Lan siblings were both using yin-attribute cultivation arts, and even though they had used secret techniques to conceal their true cultivation bases, they hadn't done anything to alter their own auras, so they had also been chosen to power the array.

The two of them obediently obliged, perhaps in order to avoid unnecessary conflict.

''What a pain!" Lan Yan grumbled through voice transmission as she sat down onto a certain point in the black half of the array.

"Just bear with it for now. Make sure you don't reveal your true cultivation base," Lan Yuanzi cautioned.

"I know. You can count on me, Brother," Lan Yan promised with a nod.

Right at this moment, a black-robed middle-aged man beside Lan Yan asked in an uneasy manner, "Senior Wen, may I ask if there will be any risk in the process of using this array to break the restrictions ahead?"

"There is always an element of risk when exploring any secret area. If you're so afraid of taking risks, why did you come in here in the first place?" Wen Zhong countered, and the man lowered his head in an embarrassed manner.

"There's no need to be overly concerned. Right now, we are using one array to counteract another, so there will be some risk, but barring any mishaps, it won't be too significant. On top of that, everyone who plays a role here will receive a reward from the alliance, so you won't be contributing your services for nothing," Wen Zhong declared, somewhat easing the tense atmosphere.

"Let's begin!" Lei Yuce declared, and the array immediately began operating, giving off radiant black and white light.

A burst of powerful restrictive force instantly acted upon everyone in the array, rooting them firmly to the spot, and at the same time, a burst of suction force erupted out of the array, rapidly devouring their immortal spiritual power.

Everyone was initially slightly alarmed by this, but the array did nothing else aside from devouring their immortal spiritual power, and that discovery instilled within them a sense of reassurance.

Lei Yuce was hovering in the sky above as he examined the array, and upon ensuring that everything was functioning as it should, he gave a pleased nod before joining his palms together, then spread them apart again.

The array down below instantly lit up, and hundreds of bursts of black and white light flew out from within before surging toward the stone gate of the giant pagoda.

The lightning restriction on the stone gate seemed to have sensed the threat that was being posed, and thick bolts of gray lightning that gave off formidable law power fluctuations erupted out of its surface to strike the bursts of black and white light, instantly tearing them apart with ease.

"What formidable yin lightning!" Han Li murmured to himself with a stunned expression.

The law powers imbued within this type of yin lightning were completely different from those of the lightning in his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords.

The lightning in his Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords had taken on the properties of Divine Devilbane Lightning, which contained extremely righteous law powers, completely opposite from the immense baleful energy in this gray lightning.

If given the opportunity, Han Li was quite interested in further studying this type of yin lightning.

Lei Yuce seemed to have already anticipated this outcome, and he began chanting an incantation while making a rapid string of hand seals.

The black and white array on the ground instantly glowed over ten times brighter than before, giving rise to enormous pillars of black and white light that gave off a tremendous yin and yang aura.

At the same time, two large flags, one black and one white, flew out of Lei Yuce's body before hovering above his head.

Embroidered onto the white flag was a design of a sun, while a moon had been embroidered onto the black flag. Both flags were giving off astonishing spiritual power and law power fluctuations, indicating that they were immortal treasures of a very high caliber.

As he raised his hands up into the air, the two flags began to revolve in mid-air.

Influenced by the flags, the pillars of black and white light also began to intertwine with one another before rapidly revolving to form an enormous black and white whirlwind.

The whirlwind was radiating dazzling black and white light, as well as bursts of incredibly formidable law power fluctuations, and it swept forward at Lei Yuce's behest, advancing toward the base of the gray pagoda.

The restriction around the pagoda retaliated even more intensely, releasing countless arcs of gray lightning that struck the black and white whirlwind to produce a sound akin to that of metal grating on metal.

In particular, incredibly thick bolts of gray lightning were erupting out of the stone gate, decimating all of the space in their path.

However, the whirlwind was far more resilient than the bursts of black and white light from earlier, and not only was it not torn apart, it had even swept up some of the gray lightning into itself.

The arcs of gray lightning that were swept up into the whirlwind resembled fish that had fallen into a net, unable to break free despite their frantic struggles, and all of the cultivators outside the array erupted into thunderous cheers upon seeing this.

Meanwhile, those inside the array could feel their own immortal spiritual power gushing out of their bodies, and bursts of yin lightning power were also being transmitted to them from afar, resulting in a very painful experience.

Lan Yan's brows were tightly furrowed, and as the bursts of yin lightning power were funneled into her body, she felt as if there were countless tiny insects tearing at her meridians from the inside, inflicting intense agony upon her.

She was able to persevere thanks to her advanced cultivation base, but she was far from happy about the role that she had been assigned.

Outside the array, Han Li was observing the one hundred cultivators inside the array while discreetly releasing his own spiritual sense.

If the people who were tracking him were currently inside the array, then this would be the perfect opportunity for him to try and identify them.

High up in the air above, Lei Yuce was quickly cycling through a string of hand seals, and the black and white whirlwind was revolving rapidly while slowly rising upward.

The lightning that had been swept up into it also rose up with it, and the lightning patterns on the parts of the pagoda's surface that it swept over instantly dimmed, as if the yin lightning inside had been stripped away by the passing whirlwind.

Shortly thereafter, the whirlwind had risen to an altitude of over a hundred feet, and that was where it drew to a halt.

At this point, some of the cultivators in the array below with the lowest cultivation bases had already had their immortal spiritual power completely exhausted, and they had collapsed to the ground with blood flowing out of all of their orifices.

As for the rest, they were also struggling immensely, so they didn't have the spare capacity to worry about the welfare of those around them, and all of the bystanders outside the array were feeling very fortunate that they hadn't been selected to power the array.

As the whirlwind continued to rise up, more and more gray lightning erupted out of the pagoda to strike it, as if the restriction on the pagoda had been infuriated by the challenge that it had been posed.

The black and white whirlwind was still revolving as it captured all of the oncoming arcs of gray lightning, but it was clearly revolving much slower than before.

The stone gate of the giant pagoda was revealed beneath the whirlwind, and all of the gray lightning on it had faded away, leaving the gate enshrouded beneath only a translucent light barrier.

This translucent light barrier was very similar in appearance to the one at the entrance of the secret area, and it appeared even thicker and sturdier.