A suspicious coincidence

"It was just a trick?" Lin Yu, upon hearing Jian Cunyi's words, showed obvious surprise and Outer God, saying with some admiration, "I had no idea... As expected of Brother Jian."

"As expected, although the legacy of Layman Yun Fengyang mentions the location of this sect, if I came alone, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to see through the illusion array here at all..."

As Lin Yu spoke, Jian Cunyi also chimed in with a smile, "I think you, Brother Lin, will definitely be able to see through it. Although you might not be able to detect it as an illusion array as quickly as I did... you'll definitely sense something amiss here and won't really think this place is empty."

"After several attempts, although it will take some time, we will definitely be able to figure out what kind of illusion it is."

"After all, although this illusion array is sophisticated and the flow of True Spirit within it is well concealed, there is no completely traceless Formation in this world. It will still have energy fluctuations—with careful examination, these fluctuations can definitely be detected."

Lin Yu nodded. "But that would take much longer."

"Moreover, even if I realize there's an illusion array here, I probably won't be able to break it immediately!"

Jian Cunyi looked at Lin Yu: "A mountain-protecting Formation that is still fully operational is no simple matter, let alone daring to choose this location... This sect must have been no ordinary Daoist Sect before its destruction; it must have had a certain scale and strength."

"You say I can 'crack it immediately'... aren't you having too much faith in me, Brother Lin?"

Lin Yu looked at Jian Cunyi and said, "I do have confidence in you. After all, you just mentioned that the sect you inherited was involved in the Formation Dao... Based on my understanding of you, Brother Jian, you would never mention something you're not good at."

"You were able to immediately identify the illusion array here, which also indirectly reflects... that you've actually already seen through this Formation to some extent, haven't you, Brother Jian?"

Jian Cunyi laughed again, "Being able to sense the existence of Formation and being able to see through and break it are completely different concepts."

Looking at Jian Cunyi's composed demeanor, Lin Yu pursed his lips and said, "Brother Jian, don't be so modest... Just tell me, within half an hour, can you break this Formation and create a way for the two of us to enter the mountain gate?"

Jian Cunyi looked at Lin Yu and chuckled softly, "Brother Lin is really... well, actually, half an hour is a bit long."

"Just let the two of us through this door—it will only take the time it takes for an incense stick to burn at most."

Jian Cunyi spoke, he then took out a small array flag.

"Watch closely, Brother Lin, this move is called 'Confuse Formation with Formation'!"

Then, Jian Cunyi threw the black array flag to the ground, where it stood firmly. Jian Cunyi then pointed two fingers of his Right Hand at the flag and began to chant scriptures.

Jian Cunyi the scriptures at an extremely fast speed. It would be unfair to compare him to any tongue twister or rapper's speaking speed—because this guy had transcended the human realm, as if he were a tape recorder playing at sixteen times the speed.

Before actually hearing it, Lin Yu found it hard to imagine that a human mouth could produce such a sound, like "machine distortion" or bird calls.

Out of curiosity, Lin Yu even used his stored and already used precious buff [Those the Virtuous and Frugal Drinkers] to slow down the time scale and listen to Jian Cunyi's chanting for half a second.

Unsurprisingly, after slowing down the playback, every single word he uttered was clear.

"... Supreme Purity, All Directions..."

After the speed returned to normal, Lin Yu looked at Jian Cunyi and felt admiration once again.

"Truly worthy of being called 'Tier 4'... He has quite a few special skills."

Jian Cunyi could chant sutras quickly, and he could gather spiritual energy even faster.

Formation that would normally take a long time to set up was formed very quickly by Jian Cunyi's almost cheating speed.

Although the Mind Imprint he received from Yun Jushi was mainly based on Fang Techniques and the Daoist Sect Daoist Arts were relatively shallow and mixed, Lin Yu still had a basic understanding of the flow of True Spirit.

He couldn't see through the protective array set up by the mysterious sect in the valley, but he could clearly sense the flow of spiritual energy in Jiancun's array.

After all, Jian Cunyi hadn't hidden anything.

The Formation is now more than 70% complete, and it continues to improve.

Lin Yu could already vaguely sense the characteristics of this Formation.

"A killing formation focused on slaughter... but without such concentrated destructive power—I see, that's what 'Break Formation with Formation' means!"

"By modifying the 'killing formation,' can its destructive power be directly applied to the surrounding 'all things in heaven and earth' and 'the flow of spiritual energy,' thereby destroying the integrity of the Formation?"

Lin Yu pondered, and couldn't help but sigh again.

Feng Shui Master Jian Cunyi... truly lives up to his reputation.

This was the first time he had seen Jian Cunyi make a move—although he wasn't dealing with any Yaomo or other "Player," but rather a Formation, it was clear how profound this guy's mastery of the Daoist Arts system of the Prison Mountain Realm was.

And...

Lin Yu realized that this "Break Formation with Formation" technique was mostly Jian Cunyi's own original creation.

This guy's imagination and creativity are also extraordinary.

Just as Lin Yu was inwardly praising it, Jian Cunyi had already completed setting up the Formation.

"Break!"

Jian Cunyi's chanting stopped abruptly, replaced by a popping sound from the tip of his tongue.

The dark array flag was surrounded by a bright blue light, and spiritual energy suddenly condensed and exploded, wildly releasing in all directions, as if a spiritual energy bomb had been detonated!

However, the difference between this killing formation and a bomb is that... the shockwave of a bomb only lasts for a moment, while the spiritual energy surge caused by this killing formation is continuous and lasts for a long time!

After a few breaths of cleansing, Lin Yu also sensed the existence of another Formation —an even larger Formation in this valley. Because the flow of True Spirit was disturbed by Jian Cunyi's Formation, problems arose in its integrity and operation, and some of the Formation's flow structure was also revealed!

Although the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation was designed with stability and the possibility of malicious damage in mind, even localized damage would not affect the operation of the entire formation. After all, if the entire formation could be easily paralyzed by damage in certain areas, especially at the obvious outer perimeter of the formation such as the "entrance," then the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation would have little purpose.

Therefore... although only a small part of the grand formation was revealed, the illusion array had not failed— Lin Yu still could not sense the sect within the array.

Lin Yu couldn't even perceive the full extent of this Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation.

But...

Jian Cunyi's use of "Break Formation with Formation" was clearly not intended to directly paralyze the entire large formation using this small Formation.

In that brief moment of manifestation, Jian Cunyi's divine sense was sufficient to be released, allowing him to begin deducing the part of the Formation that was still submerged in the water based on that part!

"Go!"

Jian Cunyi threw out the array flags again, but this time it wasn't to set up Formation, but rather... to mark it.

Soon, Jian Cunyi, beginning to mark the flow and structure of the Formation, and searching for its Array Eye.

After all, such a large formation is usually composed of many different Formation, and there is more than one Array Eye.

However, as Jian Cunyi continued to throw out battle flags, his brows gradually furrowed.

"Strangeness..."

Jian Cunyi muttered to himself, but his hands moved faster and faster.

Before Lin Yu could even find an opportunity to ask Jian Cunyi what had happened or if something was wrong...

All the array flags that Jian Cunyi threw out began to shake violently.

"Bang!"

The next second, spiritual energy erupted throughout the entire valley, and then...

Lin Yu felt the scene before him change. The valley, which was originally only a dozen meters deep, suddenly seemed to have been stretched and widened, adding hundreds of meters to the distance!

At the same time...

One by one, blurry architectural silhouettes emerged—pavilions, ancestral halls, ancient trees, deep wells, mountain gates, and high walls. All sorts of scenes that were not visible before appeared before the eyes, making one's vision somewhat dazzled.

"The illusion array has been broken."

Jian Cunyi's voice came from beside Lin Yu's ear.

Lin Yu looked at Jian Cunyi, who still had a slight frown on his face, and said, "Impressive, Brother Jian... You broke this illusion array in less than half an incense stick's time, let alone a full incense stick's time."

"It's not just the illusion array; this entire Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation... while I can't say it's completely under my control, I've mastered about 70-80% of it," Jian Cunyi said. "Now, I've made this Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation treat us as 'disciples within the sect'... We can not only freely enter and exit this place, but we can even utilize the Formation's power to our advantage to a certain extent."

Lin Yu exclaimed in surprise, "You actually managed to do that... Brother Jian is truly amazing!"

"No... I'm not that great..."

Jian Cunyi shook his head again and said, "It's just a coincidence."

Hearing Jian Cunyi say this, Lin Yu also pondered and asked, "Coincidence? Brother Jian, would you mind telling me about it? After all, you've been looking rather worried ever since we broke this Formation, which does seem a bit unusual to me."

Jian Cunyi hesitated for a moment before saying, "It's convenient... but I'm not sure what the situation is, so I'm afraid I might mislead you if I tell you."

"The protective Formation of this mountain gate... feels very familiar to me, as if... it was set up exactly according to the Formation Dao inheritance left by that predecessor—of the same origin."

Lin Yu was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. "It can't be such a coincidence... Could this be the Du Duxuan Sect?"

"Very likely. Even if not, it's at least deeply connected to the Duxuan Sect. Either the Duxuan Sect helped them set up this Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation, or they simply share the same origin in the Formation Dao," Jian Cunyi. "It's really... too much of a coincidence."

Upon hearing Jian Cunyi's words, Lin Yu understood why the other party was so solemn.

Although it sounds like a good thing, but...

Such a coincidence, occurring in the Prison Mountain Realm and on the way to cause trouble for the "Diviner," is hardly a good thing.

"That's quite a 'coincidence'—we should still be careful."