Eight Trigrams Array

After the seven-colored tattoo faded away, Han Fei also lost consciousness.

Woman in Black Veil came to Han Fei's side and drew a dagger. Several times, she wanted to stab the unconscious Han Fei, but for some reason, every time she made up her mind to kill him, she simply could not bring herself to do it.

After an unknown amount of time, Han Fei slowly woke up. The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Woman in Black Veil's melancholy face.

He was lying on Woman in Black Veil's lap, his head resting on her legs so she could clearly see his features.

"You're awake?"

Han Fei struggled to sit up, but his entire body was sore and weak, and he fell back onto Woman in Black Veil's lap.

Woman in Black Veil took out a medicinal pill and directly fed it to Han Fei.

A warm current filled every meridian in his body. Han Fei felt his strength gradually returning, while the soreness slowly faded away.

Half an hour later, Woman in Black Veil said softly, "You can get up now, right? Why are you still lying on my lap?"

Han Fei rose awkwardly and looked at his bare upper body. There was not a single wound on it.

Scratching his head, he said, "I... wasn't I hit by that four-colored fireball? Without spiritual energy, how do I not even have a scratch?"

Woman in Black Veil frowned. "You don't know? Have you forgotten what happened?"

Han Fei shook his head, indicating that he truly had no idea.

No longer dwelling on the matter, Han Fei got up and began searching for an exit. But the moment he stood, he froze in place.

Four-colored crystals covered the ground, shining with four hues beneath the moonlight stones embedded in the walls.

Han Fei said in astonishment, "This..."

Woman in Black Veil said, "After the Seven-Colored Peacock died, its blood turned into these four-colored crystals. I don't know what they're for either. The records on the Seven-Colored Peacock never mentioned such a phenomenon."

Looking at the Seven-Colored Peacock's corpse, its blood flowing with light, Han Fei sighed and casually picked up a four-colored crystal.

The crystals were all fairly uniform in size, each slightly smaller than a palm. Moreover, he could not sense even the slightest trace of power from them.

He picked up the four-colored crystals one by one and placed them into his Storage Bag, not wasting a single one.

Though he did not know what they were for, Han Fei's intuition told him they would definitely be useful someday.

Woman in Black Veil silently watched throughout, and no one knew what she was thinking. Only after Han Fei had collected every crystal did she say, "Han Fei, you..."

Han Fei looked at her in confusion. "Hm? What is it?"

Woman in Black Veil asked, "Can you join Asura Hall?"

Han Fei frowned, then slowly shook his head.

"Though I have no grievances with Asura Hall, I am a disciple of the Tianyuan Divine Sect. Although my current cultivation and combat strength no longer have much to do with the sect, I have spent ten years there, and I cannot forget my master's kindness in recognizing my worth."

Woman in Black Veil lowered her head. "B-but if you don't join Asura Hall, then we'll become enemies. I... I can't bear to kill you, but I have to kill you."

A faint smile appeared on Han Fei's face. "If that day truly comes, perhaps dying by your hand would be a kind of happiness. To be honest, living in this world leaves me with complicated feelings—excitement, anticipation, sorrow, joy. It's a mixture of every emotion. But more than anything, I'm tired."

"Cultivating is tiring. Doing things is tiring. Dealing with people is tiring. Even staying alive is tiring. So if I truly die, perhaps I can learn about the universe and all living beings in another way."

Han Fei's inexplicable words left Woman in Black Veil utterly bewildered.

"The universe? All living beings? What are those?"

Han Fei shook his head. He knew people in this world did not understand what the universe meant, so he pointed upward. "The universe is that endless starry sky."

"Of course, even if you really do that, I can understand. Xuanxuan's status is similar to yours. She can argue with me and give me the cold shoulder over a traitor to martial arts. I believe you would do the same. In your hearts, your sect is the absolute ruler. Friendship can at most rank second."

Woman in Black Veil raised her head. "Friendship? You... you consider me a friend?"

Han Fei said, "Of course."

As he spoke, Han Fei stood and began searching for the exit. He believed the Seven-Colored Peacock had merely been a guardian beast, or perhaps the first trial. Once it had been dealt with, the exit should naturally have appeared. Yet the entire stone chamber remained unchanged.

Yellow Emperor said, "Kid, this is an Illusion Array. You should be able to find its weakness with Old Ancestor Hongjun's Power of Heavenly Dao."

Hongjun said, "It's not that simple. After the Seven-Colored Peacock died, the spiritual energy around us was thrown into complete chaos. Spiritual energy gathering points are everywhere. Even with the Power of Heavenly Dao, it would be impossible to accurately find the Illusion Array's connection point in a short time. Isn't Fuxi here? He is the progenitor of Formation Arrays. With him here, do we still need the Power of Heavenly Dao?"

After Hongjun's reminder, everyone remembered that Fuxi was in the group.

Han Fei humbly asked, "Senior Fuxi..."

Fuxi fell silent for a moment before saying, "Didn't I give you the Eight Trigrams Array? This Illusion Array is very simple. Once you absorb the insights of the Eight Trigrams Array, you can break this trash Illusion Array in an instant."

In the outside world, Woman in Black Veil saw Han Fei suddenly sit down while walking and begin meditating cross-legged. She immediately sighed. She could no longer see through Han Fei at all. Over all these years, Han Fei was the only person she had never been able to understand.

Han Fei's actions were extremely strange and impossible to fathom, but Woman in Black Veil did not disturb him.

At that moment, Han Fei was absorbing the insights of the Eight Trigrams Array, along with the principles and methods for breaking several Formation Arrays.

While absorbing the memories, he also drew in the surrounding spiritual energy to replenish himself.

Several hours passed before Han Fei's spiritual energy had fully recovered. At the same time, he had completely absorbed the memories of the Eight Trigrams Array and was now analyzing them, especially the parts concerning Illusion Arrays.

When Woman in Black Veil saw Han Fei open his eyes, she asked, "What are you doing?"

Han Fei said innocently, "Looking for the exit. What? Never seen someone use this method before?"

Woman in Black Veil said softly, "I used to think I had seen everything, but after meeting you, I realized there are truly many things I've never seen."

Han Fei smiled. "Is that a compliment?"

With that, he began pacing back and forth through the space.

Woman in Black Veil said, "I already searched while you were unconscious. The surrounding rock walls are all the same. I even checked the ceiling and floor. There isn't the slightest crack anywhere, and I can't feel any wind."

Han Fei explained, "I know you are proficient in the wind element. It isn't impossible to use wind to search for flaws in an Illusion Array, but you overlooked one thing: spiritual energy."

Woman in Black Veil listened attentively to Han Fei's explanation.

Han Fei continued, "The reason you can't feel wind coming through an entrance or crack is because spiritual energy is present. When spiritual energy is dense, every attribute is affected by it. Wind is naturally no exception."

Woman in Black Veil asked, "Then how do we break this Illusion Array?"

Han Fei said, "Illusion Arrays of different levels naturally require different methods to break. This one is relatively weak, so all we need to do is observe the changes around us. For example, the passage we came through was part of the Illusion Array. No matter how far we followed the torch-lit tunnel, we could never reach the end. In truth, we were merely walking in place."

"The real exit was in the darkness. This tested the reverse thinking of those trapped in the Illusion Array. As long as your mind is quick and you are willing to try different ideas, you can break it easily."

"But the Illusion Array here is somewhat stronger. It tests our eyesight."

Woman in Black Veil said somewhat disbelievingly, "Nonsense. I've heard seniors from Asura Hall say that when trapped in an Illusion Array, the one thing you must not trust is your own eyes. Yet you say the key to breaking this array is vision."

Han Fei gave a mysterious smile. "Don't believe me? Then follow me."

With that, Han Fei led Woman in Black Veil along the edge of the stone chamber, walking lap after lap without any sign of stopping.

Woman in Black Veil said, "Are we just going to keep walking? Find the exit already."

Han Fei's lips curled upward. "You've followed me for several laps already. Have you noticed anything different?"

Woman in Black Veil shook her head.

Han Fei pointed at a black dot on the rock wall. "During the first few laps, this dot was oval-shaped and not particularly smooth. But now it has become round, and its edges are extremely even and smooth."

Woman in Black Veil said, "I don't know whether it changed or not, but what use is that?"

Han Fei continued, "An Illusion Array is maintained with spiritual energy. In other words, spiritual energy conceals the original objects and makes our visual nerves receive whatever the caster has set up. But spiritual energy is irregular. Even if you use the power of a Formation Array to bind it, there will still be slight changes."

"As long as you walk around this kind of Illusion Array a few more times and carefully observe the details, any place that changes is where the array's foundation lies. Only places that need to be concealed will be covered by spiritual energy. And I discovered another identical dot not far away. I believe this section of rock wall was formed by imitating the wall beside it."

As he spoke, Han Fei gathered spiritual power in his left hand. A dark golden glow lit up along his palm as he pressed it against the dot he had indicated.

With a swish, Han Fei felt a force pushing against his palm. Then, with a crack like shattering glass, the rock wall rippled like the surface of a lake before slowly disappearing.