Chapter 416

Chapter 416: The Will

Yu Zhi Yi really had left a flaw on purpose.

When she first saw the tragedy on Mount Ming, she thought everything she went through was real and believed her family and friends had all died. Why did You Bing Yue appear then? Because You Bing Yue was the first person she suspected.

When Yu Zhi Yi left Capital City, she didn’t have time to deal with that woman. Time was tight, and she also understood the emperor. The emperor used to value Prince Xiao Yao because Prince Xiao Yao had no ambition for the throne and only wanted to be a quiet, idle prince. But once Prince Xiao Yao rebelled, how could anyone expect the emperor to spare him? Impossible. The emperor didn’t even keep his own brother-so why would he leave alive the main culprit who lured Immortal Qing Feng to Capital City, You Bing Yue?

If not for Immortal Qing Feng’s arrival making Yu Zhi Yi hesitate, the emperor wouldn’t have almost had his throne stolen from under him. Yu Zhi Yi knew the emperor would never let You Bing Yue go. Yet the moment she “saw” her loved ones die, the first person she blamed was still You Bing Yue. That woman wanted her dead, and to get revenge she even brought Immortal Qing Feng to Capital City, throwing all its people into danger. So an order to slaughter Mount Ming would “make sense,” right?

Later, the “You Bing Yue” she saw wore an expression so overdone that it leaked a flaw. Half-believing and half-doubting, Yu Zhi Yi killed her. Then, drawing on her past experience laying arrays, she forced herself to imagine a strange man calling out to You Bing Yue by her full name: “You Bing Yue.”

Strangers calling each other by name isn’t odd. But You Bing Yue and that man were no strangers-he was “willing to slaughter the innocent for her,” so why would he call her only by her full name? Whether it was Du Zi Heng, Li Chang Huai, or Ou Yang Shuo, and later even Immortal Qing Feng, they all used nicknames. You Bing Yue had that kind of pull. She made these men give up stiff, proper forms of address.

So the instant the man said “You Bing Yue,” Yu Zhi Yi knew: this had to be an illusion. And not a simple one-an advanced illusion, higher than anything she had ever fused together herself.

Yu Zhi Yi watched the man before her with full caution. There were still things she didn’t understand, and she hadn’t figured out the illusion completely.

The man smiled and said: “Miss, don’t worry. I mean you no harm.”

His body flickered and changed. Yu Zhi Yi stared, stunned to see him suddenly turn old, and she asked in surprise: “It’s you?”

Standing there was the very elder whose corpse lay in the cave.

The elder chuckled and said: “Don’t mistake me. I didn’t play dead, and I’m not faking life. I truly died. But to stop my legacy from falling into the hands of schemers with no virtue or talent, I arranged this Seven-Star Trapping-Kill Formation and left behind a wisp of my soul.”

Yu Zhi Yi frowned and asked: “Seven-Star Trapping-Kill Formation?”

Arrays named after constellations usually borrow power from the stars to strengthen the formation. The array she used to kill Immortal Qing Feng borrowed the strength of a star array too. She made her move by day, but the killing formation truly started at night, and the power of the stars boosted it greatly. But this was a cave-where would star power come from?

Seeing her doubt, the elder smiled a little and said: “Do you know why you can’t find the Formation Core?”

Yu Zhi Yi hesitated. She had never revealed that she couldn’t find the Formation Core-she hadn’t even found a clue. Yet the elder saw it at a glance.

“Don’t tense up,” he said mildly. “I won’t harm you.” He lifted a finger toward the ceiling and said: “The path of arrays is ever-changing. Top Array Masters can even touch time. I’m not that gifted; I can’t move time. But I can use space to build an array that fits my intent.”

Yu Zhi Yi was startled and asked: “You mean the Formation Core is outside the cave?”

“Exactly,” the elder said with a small smile. “Many beginners think too simply and believe an array must sit inside one single space. Not so. The art runs deep. A flower, a grass blade, a tree, a piece of wood, even a plain stone by the road can become a Formation Flag in an Array Master’s hand. Specially-made Formation Flags are actually the lower approach.”

As his words fell, a patch above her head lit up. To her eyes, the cave turned half-transparent. The stone still blocked, but it no longer kept her from seeing the layout above. She realized the cave’s “ceiling” wasn’t solid-it hid a second layer of cavern. She couldn’t spot the entrance right away, but in the lit place, the “flag” standing there wasn’t any Formation Flag she knew. It was just an ordinary-looking stone.

“This is where the Formation Core sits?” Yu Zhi Yi asked, a bit dazed.

The elder dipped his head: “Yes.”

Yu Zhi Yi fell silent. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t shocked. Ever since she touched the study of arrays, she had mostly worked with Formation Flags. Her master died before he could teach her more. Everything today broke her old ideas.

After a quiet moment, she asked: “What do you actually want?”

He had trapped her in an array yet hadn’t done anything cruel-in fact, he had kindly explained the wonders of arrays. She didn’t believe he was just bored.

The elder said with courtesy: “I wish to pay you with my life’s work and ask a small favor in return.” He added, gentle and honest: “Don’t worry; it’s not difficult. I spent my life in arrays and owe my family much. My death was an accident, and I made no arrangements in time.”

“I’m not a great success, but I did build up some savings. I hope you can take those things back to my home for my wife and child.”

That truly wasn’t hard. But-

Yu Zhi Yi said, calm but direct: “It’s not difficult. But what if your family mistakes me for a murderer who robbed the dead-what then?”

The elder blinked, surprised by her worry. Yu Zhi Yi didn’t like to judge others harshly, but she had handled too many case files. Some criminals were driven to fight back by bullies, but most were bad from the start, with strange reasons for their crimes. She had come to the Hidden Realm to avoid trouble. She really didn’t want more.

After a pause, the elder said: “There is a Firecloud Hairpin in my storage ring. Give it to my wife. We’ve been married for hundreds of years, and I’ve never given her anything fine. On her birthday last year, she said she wanted a hairpin from me. We had a big argument over it.” He sighed: “I soon regretted it, but I couldn’t swallow my pride to apologize, so I went and bought this hairpin for her. I never thought I would lose the chance to hand it to her myself.”

“As for your payment: besides my array notes, you may choose three items. I’ll also add a sum of Spirit Stones.”

As he spoke, a storage ring appeared out of thin air before Yu Zhi Yi.