The Imperial Martial Pill Venerable

"This is the Heaven-Trapping Array. It has a total of eighty-one nodes."

"It took me two hours to discover that among these eighty-one nodes, three are particularly special. They are the hubs of this array!"

"Destroy these three hubs, and the Heaven-Trapping Array will fall."

Ting Xiao truly was an Artifact Spirit who had mastered the study of arrays. In just two hours, he had devised a way to break it. Under his guidance, Qin Ya arrived at a mountain peak where one of the array hubs was located.

On the peak stood a stone pillar, ten meters long and half a meter wide.

The stone pillar looked completely ordinary. It didn’t emit the slightest energy fluctuation. Even when Qin Ya scanned it with his Divine Thought, he found nothing unusual.

And yet, this simple stone pillar was a hub of the Heaven-Trapping Array.

Qin Ya took a deep breath, gripping his spear tightly. Veins popped on his arm, resembling coiled dragons. With a sudden burst of power, he swung the spear in a wide arc, smashing it into the pillar. BOOM! The powerful strike sent cracks spiderwebbing across the stone. With a great rumble, it collapsed, crumbling inch by inch...

When the pillar crumbled, it revealed a large pit. A dazzling white light pulsed from within, revealing a cache of pure Primordial Stones!

Seeing this, Qin Ya didn’t hesitate to sweep them all into his Storage Ring.

Just as he collected the Primordial Stones, he felt a slight fluctuation in the light curtain of the array. But it quickly stabilized and resumed its normal operation.

"The three hubs are interconnected. When you destroy one, the other two compensate for the loss. You must destroy all three to completely break the Heaven-Trapping Array."

"Got it. Where’s the next hub?"

"To the north, more than ten thousand zhang away."

High in the sky, Ao Zhanyun’s pupils contracted. A look of disbelief flashed in his eyes as he pulled out his Array Disc. Seeing a blinking point of light on its surface, his expression turned grim. "Damn it," he snarled. "Someone found a hub! Who is it? How could they possibly have found it!"

’None of the people I trapped were supposed to be Array Masters,’ he thought. ’Furthermore, this is a Ninth-Grade Heaven-Trapping Array! There are barely any Array Masters in the entire Southern Domain capable of setting one up. I had to spend over half of my family’s resources just to hire one.’

’And now, someone was actually breaking it!’

How could he not be shocked?

With a flash, he appeared before Hex Ziqing and the others. His Divine Thought swept over them, confirming everyone was present. ’It’s Qin Ya! It has to be him!’

He didn’t want to believe it, but since Hex Ziqing and the others had neither the ability nor the opportunity, the only person who could be breaking the array was the missing Qin Ya. His face was livid. After giving the group a chilling glare, he shot through the air, heading for the next array hub. He was certain that’s where Qin Ya would be!

Left on the ground, Hex Ziqing and the others exchanged confused glances.

"What’s gotten into him?"

"Hmph. He probably can’t find Qin Ya."

"Wait, that’s not right. Everyone, check the True Essence in your bodies."

At his words, the others quickly circulated their True Essence. They could feel that the oppressive shackles on it had loosened slightly. Delight spread across their faces. Hex Ziqing mulled it over for a moment before a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. "Someone is breaking the array!"

"Breaking the array? But Ao Zhanyun set this up specifically for us! It has to be at least a Ninth-Grade Grand Array. Who could possibly break something like that?!"

"No, someone has to be. Based on the partial recovery of our True Essence and the look on Ao Zhanyun’s face, someone is definitely breaking the array."

"And what’s more, they’re capable of breaking it!"

Hex Ziqing nodded and added, "The Ao Family must have people guarding the outside of the Grand Array, but we haven’t heard any fighting. Plus, Ao Zhanyun just came over to check on us specifically. That means the person breaking the array is inside it with us. The only one among our group who could do it is... Qin Ya!"

GASP... At his words, everyone’s pupils contracted!

To think that the one capable of breaking a Ninth-Grade Grand Array was Qin Ya!!

’Just how many more tricks does this young man have up his sleeve? It’s terrifying!’

Dozens of miles away, Qin Ya used the concealing power of the Ghost Face Mask to reach a lake. This was the location of the second hub.

"The second hub is at the bottom of this lake."

Just as Qin Ya was about to enter the water, his brow furrowed. He saw a figure: the Ao Family’s old ancestor, Ao Zhanyun. He was hovering a hundred zhang in the air, his eyes as sharp as blades, staring intently at the lake. His Divine Thought swept back and forth; he would detect the slightest disturbance. Qin Ya saw this and whispered, "Looks like he’s figured out I’m breaking the array and came here to wait for me."

’But so what? Can you even detect me?’

Qin Ya gave an indifferent smile and walked toward the lake. High above, Ao Zhanyun’s expression remained stern, but he showed no reaction. He let Qin Ya approach the shore, as even he couldn’t perceive the concealing effect of the isolated Space.

Deep at the bottom of the lake, schools of fish swam by, completely oblivious to Qin Ya’s presence. A few fish accidentally bumped into the boundary of his concealed Space and shot away like arrows. WHOOSH. Qin Ya smiled and scanned the lakebed.

With Ao Zhanyun outside, Qin Ya couldn’t recklessly use his Divine Thought to probe the area. If he did, the resulting fluctuations would be instantly detected.

"Ting Xiao," Qin Ya asked the artifact at his waist, "this lakebed isn’t huge, but it’s not small either. Where exactly is the second array hub?"

"This hub is protected by its own small isolation array. With Ao Zhanyun watching from outside, I can’t risk using my Divine Thought. If he detects it, all our work will be for nothing. Just walk around a bit. You might stumble upon it."

"I suppose that’s the only way."

And so, Qin Ya walked along the lakebed for nearly half an hour.

He had just reached an underwater cave when Ting Xiao told him to stop.

"Kid, it’s in there."

Hearing this, Qin Ya slowly entered. The cave was overgrown with aquatic plants. Beneath them, mysterious Array Patterns covered the floor, emitting a faint white glow.

In the center of the Array Patterns stood an enormous Primordial Stone, the size of three or four grown men. It pulsed with pure Primordial Qi. Qin Ya remarked, "Judging by its quality and size, this one stone is worth several hundred thousand catties of ordinary Primordial Stones."

"You don’t need to destroy this hub," Ting Xiao said. "Just take the Primordial Stone. Without an energy source, the Array Patterns will collapse on their own."

At those words, with a single thought, Qin Ya stored the Primordial Stone in his Storage Ring.

The moment the Primordial Stone vanished, the white glow on the Array Patterns faded away.

「Outside the lake, high in the sky.」

When Ao Zhanyun saw another light blink out on the Array Disc in his hand, shock and fury welled up inside him. He let out a furious roar as his True Essence erupted, drawing the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to him!

"Qin Ya, die!"

RUMBLE! A massive Palm Seal, dozens of zhang wide and radiating a Taotian aura, slammed down into the lake. In an instant, the entire lake erupted in a titanic wave, a wall of water hundreds of zhang high, its power shaking the very heavens and earth!