Chapter 431

Chapter 431: Twelve Heavenly Pillar Array
Yu Zhao knew it would not end so easily. Even though she was in darkness, she did not lower her guard.

Sure enough, after a short while, the three pillars lit up again.

But this time, their positions had clearly changed, and the formation had turned from a trapping array into an illusion array.

Yu Zhao used the same method, sending out the halo to break the illusion array again.

After a brief period of darkness, another pillar appeared in the space. Four pillars formed a killing array.

This time, Yu Zhao used up a bit more spirit power.

…

In the quiet room.

Three days and nights passed, and Yu Zhao still showed no sign of waking up.

Huo Shao Yan was starting to get restless.

“Tu Xiao, what are you playing at? Are you trying to trap Liu Yun to death inside your Dao Intent?” he demanded.

Tu Xiao wore a mocking look: “I already warned her. She just didn’t believe me.”

“That’s enough. If she really dies, what happens to our bet?” Huo Shao Yan said.

Certain that Yu Zhao could not hear their conversation, Huo Shao Yan began to speak without restraint.

“She’s just a cauldron. You really treat her like some rare treasure.”

“Tu Xiao, are you really stupid or just pretending? Only the purest spirit bodies can wear Auspicious Palace’s Ruyi. How could Liu Yun be the same as those common goods?”

Cauldrons also came in different grades.

The highest grade were pure spirit bodies with a water spiritual root.

Dual cultivation with a pure spirit body not only let them absorb and harvest that person’s cultivation level, but that person’s essence blood was also a great tonic.

And according to rumor, Liu Yun, who carried the Jade Ruyi and was as beautiful as a celestial, was a pure spirit body that only appeared once in hundreds of years.

The wind, fire, water, and earth clans had almost fought over who would get Liu Yun. In the end, several junior disciples privately discussed it and reached an agreement, deciding to bring her over first and then compete fairly.

As for that grand dual cultivation ceremony, it had always been just a cover for them to buy a cauldron from Auspicious Palace.

Other than people who did not know the truth, no one cared about it.

As someone who knew the inside story, Tu Xiao naturally understood all of this.

In the past, he had also coveted a pure spirit body and had been especially attentive to Yu Zhao.

But for some reason, ever since he was injured that time, he suddenly lost interest in women. Seeing them only annoyed him. Instead, toward men…

Tu Xiao’s eyes darkened slightly. After a long moment, he said coldly: “I won’t let her die.”

At most, she would suffer a bit.

After all, she would not live for long anyway.

With Tu Xiao’s promise, Huo Shao Yan stopped pressing him.

Everyone calmed down and waited.

Another ten days passed like this.

Even the always calm and carefree Feng Jiusi could not help feeling restless.

If not for seeing that Yu Zhao’s face was peaceful, they really would have suspected that Tu Xiao was doing something vicious to her inside his Dao Intent.

“Don’t worry. She’s about to reach her limit,” Tu Xiao said lightly.

Everything that happened inside the Dao Intent was under his control.

Sure enough, before he finished speaking, Yu Zhao’s brow furrowed slightly, and a struggling expression appeared on her face.

Everyone’s gaze fell on Yu Zhao.

But not long after, her tightly knitted brows slowly relaxed, and her expression became calm again.

Tu Xiao was stunned: “How is this possible?”

Huo Shao Yan quickly asked: “What happened? What’s going on?”

“She…” Tu Xiao paused, then said in disbelief: “She actually broke the Twelve Heavenly Pillar Array.”

“Twelve Heavenly Pillar Array? What is that?” Huo Shao Yan asked.

“The Heavenly Pillar Array is a formation our Tu clan created,” Tu Xiao explained. “It uses Heaven Pillars as the core. Every time you add another Heaven Pillar, it can evolve into several different formations, and the difficulty of breaking it rises as well.

“Later, the ancestors felt that the Heaven Pillars were too eye-catching and not easy to carry around when setting up formations, so they replaced the Heaven Pillars with Rock Beads.”

Hearing this, the others suddenly understood.

Rock Beads were the magical artifacts Tu Xiao used to set up formations. They had all seen them before, but were not very familiar with formation methods.

Another name for the Twelve Heavenly Pillar Array was the Twelve Rock Bead Array.

“I remember you can already set up a formation with fourteen Rock Beads. What’s so shocking about Liu Yun breaking a Twelve Rock Bead Array?” Huo Shao Yan said carelessly.

He did not hear the deeper meaning in Tu Xiao’s words.

But as someone who had watched from the side while Tu Xiao taught Yu Zhao the Dao of formations, Feng Jiusi almost instantly understood why Tu Xiao was so shocked.

At the start of his lessons, Tu Xiao had used Rock Beads to set up formations and taught Yu Zhao how to break them.

Back then, Yu Zhao could only break a Seven Rock Bead Array.

In just a little over a year, Yu Zhao could already break a Twelve Rock Bead Array!

Her comprehension was downright terrifying.

Tu Xiao’s face grew gloomy. When he looked at Yu Zhao now, there was no trace of his earlier contempt, only faint fear and killing intent.

He could not let her keep comprehending.

With a thought, Tu Xiao forcibly expelled Yu Zhao from his Dao Intent.

Yu Zhao’s body swayed slightly as she opened her eyes.

Everyone saw a streak of golden light flash through her eyes the moment she opened them.

They could not help looking at Tu Xiao again.

That was the Eye of Breaking Formations, something only people with extremely deep understanding of formations could possess.

The killing intent in Tu Xiao’s eyes grew stronger. He forced a smile and asked: “Liu Yun, how was your comprehension?”

“Very good. I still have to thank Young Master Tu for your generous help,” Yu Zhao said with a slight smile.

This time, she had indeed earned a lot.

Tu Xiao had probably wanted to torture her inside his Dao Intent because of the grudge between them. He had deliberately thrown her into a constantly evolving Heavenly Pillar Array, trying to wear her down with an endless stream of formations.

But he had not expected the Heavenly Pillar Array to instead give her a perfect chance to learn, letting her use everything she had half-learned before in one complete run. Her understanding of the Dao of formations advanced by leaps and bounds.

In Yu Zhao’s own opinion, even if her level in formations still could not match the Sword Sovereign Jiu Hua of the Heavenly Sword Sect, the gap would not be too big.

Tu Xiao had wanted to make things hard for Yu Zhao, but instead she ended up taking huge advantage of him. He was so depressed he almost vomited blood.

The way the other three looked at Yu Zhao changed yet again.

They did not pity the weak.

But they would respect the strong.

Tu Xiao was extremely unwilling. He still wanted to say something, but Shui Qiu Bai did not plan to give him a chance.

“Liu Yun, do you want to comprehend my Dao Intent now, or rest first?” Shui Qiu Bai asked.

“I want to continue,” Yu Zhao said.

Right now, Yu Zhao was in a conflicting state. She had spent a huge amount of mental energy constantly breaking formations, but she had also gained great pleasure during the process and was mentally excited.

These two different feelings were tugging at her nerves, so she urgently needed to vent her excess energy.

Shui Qiu Bai nodded in praise: “All right.”

As he spoke, a gentle mist of water wrapped completely around Yu Zhao’s consciousness.

Yu Zhao felt as if she had returned to the womb, her whole body soaking in warm water. Her body and mind relaxed greatly, and before long she fell into a deep sleep.

She did not know how long it was before she woke from that sleep. She realized she had become a single drop of water.

She flowed through the lightless underground, surrounded only by rock and soil. She could not control her own body and could only drift with the current, merging with other water as they poured toward some unknown place.