Chapter 426 - 410: Immortal Jade Obtained, the Fortress Falls
WHOOSH!
A cold, sinister aura shot straight into the clouds!
In an instant, dark clouds shrouded the once-clear sky, and a black miasma filled the air!
HUMMM.
Within the black clouds, an eerie cyan light emerged!
The cyan light swirled and its radiance converged, revealing the figure of a cultivator!
A longsword was strapped to his back, his cyan robes fluttering in the wind.
His skin was as clear as jade, and his features were handsome.
If not for his dramatic entrance, his excellent appearance would make him look like a young, chivalrous hero in cyan robes, one who roamed the world with his sword, slaying monsters and demons!
However.
Both the cold, sinister cyan-black aura surrounding him and the ancient weariness in his eyes—a look that betrayed his youthful face—gave away his identity!
"Yinshan!"
"The Golden Core cultivator from Candle Python Cave, the bloody-handed murderer who slaughtered everyone on the Sixteen Islands of Heaven and Sea!"
"What is that old fiend doing here?"
A commotion erupted atop the walls of Black Flame Fortress!
A Golden Core!
A Golden Core cultivator!
A life span of eight hundred years, master of True Techniques, one who could command the Power of Rules with a mere gesture—the highest tier of power in the Day Flame Sea Region!
"Shhh."
"Be quiet..."
Yinshan chuckled, a wicked and bewitching smile on his face.
He raised a finger to his lips.
A cyan-black domain, as tangible and vast as the sea, spread outward!
A Golden Core Realm!
Under the suppression of the realm, the Magical Power of any cultivator below the Crystalization stage was almost completely stifled. Qi Refining cultivators found it nearly impossible to even move!
At that moment.
"Activate the array!"
Su Ye’s expression was calm.
He raised his hand. A small flame appeared, and in an instant, it transformed into the Guardian Envoy Token!
BUZZ!
The Guardian Envoy Token lit up!
Across Black Flame Fortress, countless array patterns immediately blazed to life!
RUMBLE.
The crimson magma seethed and shimmered!
The lava surrounding the fortress walls surged upward, morphing into nine fire dragons that coiled around each other, forming a crimson-gold flaming shield!
The Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array!
A Fourth-Tier Array!
"Whew..."
"We’re saved!"
Color returned to the faces of the countless low-level cultivators.
As if they had just been pulled from underwater, they collapsed to the ground, clutching their chests and gasping for breath!
Without this Fourth-Tier Array, even if Yinshan did nothing but unfurl his Golden Core Realm, he could have suffocated them all to death!
Such was the power of a Golden Core cultivator!
’Thank goodness... We have the Guardian Envoy, and we have the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array...’
Wei Yang muttered to himself in relief.
Su Ye possessed Fourth-Tier combat strength.
It would be no problem for him to use this Fourth-Tier Array to hold off Yinshan for several days!
This buffer period would be enough time for the Golden Core cultivators from the Flame Alliance to arrive as reinforcements!
As for the cost, it was just a matter of money!
This island lacked a Fourth-Tier Spirit Vein, so to operate a Fourth-Tier Array at maximum power, it had to be fueled by a constant supply of Spirit Stones.
In other words.
To run the Fourth-Tier Array for a single day would burn through at least a million Spirit Stones!
However, this cost was completely acceptable in Wei Yang’s view.
In the current state of the war, every single Golden Core cultivator was responsible for a vast territory.
And now, Yinshan had left his own war zone to sneak here!
Once the Flame Alliance learned of this, they could organize a counterattack in another war zone!
Even if they were at a strategic disadvantage and couldn’t reclaim any islands, they could still eliminate a group of Candle Python Cave cultivators and strike a blow to their effective strength!
But...
...facing the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array, Yinshan grinned, revealing two sharp canine teeth that added a touch of malice to his handsome, heroic face.
He looked down upon Black Flame Fortress, his deep, dark eyes fixed on Su Ye.
"A Fourth-Tier Array?"
"Is this what you’re relying on?"
As if he had just witnessed something hilarious, Yinshan burst out laughing!
"Heh... HAHAHA!"
His wild laughter spread in sonic waves.
Ripples appeared on the surface of the Divine Fire Shield!
But what was even more terrifying was that, as he laughed...
BUZZ!
...the array patterns on the Divine Fire Shield flickered and the spiritual light grew chaotic!
Several of the nine fire dragons made from magma let out a mournful cry before disintegrating in the sky, turning into a rain of fiery lava!
"This is..."
Wei Yang’s eyes widened in horror as he cried out in alarm!
’Even a Golden Core cultivator shouldn’t be able to destroy a Fourth-Tier Array so easily! The construction standard for a Luotian Array is precisely to withstand a Golden Core’s assault for a period of time!’
This could only mean one thing...
’There’s a traitor!’
’And this traitor’s position is definitely not low!’
’At the very least, they must have Four-Star Authority and access to the Fortress Guard Crystal, allowing them to use their own authority to disrupt the array!’
And in Black Flame Fortress, after Zhao Mingde left, the only people with that level of authority were Su Ye, Wei Yang, and Shangguan Zhi!
Wei Yang knew it wasn’t him, of course.
And it obviously couldn’t be Su Ye... It was a simple matter of deduction.
’If Su Ye were the traitor, then... why would he have struggled against the Golden Core Realm to activate the array in the first place?’
’Is he crazy?’
That only leaves...
"Shangguan Zhi!"
Wei Yang whipped his head around.
His eyes met Su Ye’s.
They communicated through their Divine Sense and came to the same conclusion!
Shangguan Zhi was the traitor!
"Lord Guardian Envoy, Shangguan Zhi is the traitor!"
"Please use your authority to revoke his and restore the ar—!"
Wei Yang’s heart burned with anxiety as he hurriedly sent the message via Divine Sense.
But before his Divine Sense message was even finished...
WHOOSH!
"Yin Mountain Seal!"
In Yinshan’s hand, a small, cyan-black seal spun into existence!
It shot out as a streak of light at an unimaginable speed. Moreover, Yinshan’s timing was perfect, striking a critical weak point in the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array!
BOOM!
The Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array shattered!