Space Spreading Net Heaven, Array Hiding True Mystery

Above the firmament, a streak of Clear Radiance suddenly descended. It was not blinding, yet it caused the entire restless space to fall instantly silent, as if even time itself had become docile in this moment.

The Clear Radiance shone upon the Illusory Daoist, and his phantom form, which had been on the verge of dissipating, was instantly frozen in place.

At the source of the radiance, Taizhen stood suspended in the air, cradling a primitive and profound treasure mirror in her hands.

The frame of the mirror was carved with patterns of Sun Moon Stars and Mountains and Rivers, yet the surface remained as hazy as an eternal night—it was none other than the top-grade spiritual treasure, the Kunlun Mirror!

"Release Donghua, and I shall allow your true spirit to flee," Taizhen said, her voice cold. The mirror's light had already locked onto the Daoist.

"Too late!" the Daoist laughed maniacally. "This is an Innate Great Array; no one can save him."

Before the words had even faded, divine light erupted from within the array, the blinding glare completely swallowing Donghua's figure.

Taizhen's heart tightened. She transformed into a streak of light and plummeted downward, the Kunlun Mirror blooming with an unprecedented Clear Radiance as she attempted to stabilize this spiraling space-time.

"Crack—"

A crisp sound, like shattering Lapis Lazuli, echoed across the wilderness.

Taizhen's expression shifted slightly as she saw the Clear Radiance of the Kunlun Mirror being pried open by a fissure of Silver Array Light.

"Donghua?!" Witnessing this, Taizhen's heart constricted, and she transformed into a streak of light, racing toward him.

By the time she touched the ground, however, Donghua was already gone, leaving only the array patterns slowly fading away.

"Haha, I was trapped by this array for several epochs before I could break free. You may wait here in silence; I shall take my leave!"

The moment Donghua's figure was swallowed by the array, a look of resolve flashed in Taizhen's eyes. The Clear Radiance of the Kunlun Mirror in her hands surged, and an intangible yet profoundly mysterious Time Ripple, centered on her, suddenly expanded outward.

"Draw a Circle as Prison, Time as Shackles!"

Her cold voice seemed to carry the power of some supreme law.

As the ripple swept past, all things came to a standstill.

Whether it was the dust flying in the distance, the crumbling rocks nearby, the Daoist whose face still held a mixture of shock and ecstasy, or even Taizhen herself—everything was absolutely frozen in this instant.

In this space, the flow of time had completely ceased.

Yet, within this absolute stillness, consciousness remained like a fish swimming in the undercurrent beneath a frozen lake.

The Daoist was eternally fixed within the Space-Time Amber, but his consciousness roared frantically:

"Madwoman! You would go so far as to imprison yourself here! After ten thousand years, when your Magic Power is exhausted, I shall be the one to leave!"

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Donghua felt the scene before him shift, and when he focused his gaze, he found himself amidst a lush expanse.

Ancient Trees towered into the sky, their branches and leaves blotting out the sun.

Drifting through the forest was a faint, ethereal presence of Chaos Spiritual Qi, swirling amidst the dappled light and shadows.

Beneath his feet lay a thick layer of decaying leaves, soft and silent underfoot. From afar came the sound of a babbling brook, weaving with the rustle of leaves into a natural rhythm.

The forest appeared ordinary, yet it exuded an extraordinary aura in every detail; the arrangement of the Ancient Trees seemed chaotic, yet it secretly aligned with the Number of Zhou Tian; the flow of spiritual energy seemed random, yet it followed a mysterious trajectory.

Donghua observed intently, discovering that the veins of every leaf were like manifestations of Dao Patterns, flowing with a faint Clear Radiance amidst the dappled light.

This place was unsettlingly calm.

Donghua's gaze deepened, and his Divine Sense spread out like a web.

He did not employ any Evasion Technique, choosing instead to pick a direction at random and walk forward with the most primitive of strides.

His footsteps landed on the thick layer of decaying leaves, emitting a soft, rustling sound.

In this overly quiet forest, the sound seemed exceptionally clear, even carrying a slight echo, as if he were conversing with the entire woods.

His pace was slow and steady; with every step he took, a ring of Pale Gold Dao Pattern rippled out from beneath his feet.

As he stepped, the branches and leaves of the surrounding Ancient Trees swayed without wind, emitting a soft rustling sound, as if resonating with his Dao rhythm.

The Innate Spiritual Qi flowing through the forest did not touch the Pure Yang Daoist Robe on Donghua's body; instead, it parted naturally like a stream meeting a reef, forming a transparent barrier three feet around him.

Yet, the further he walked, the deeper the gravity in Donghua's brow became—the sound of the stream remained ahead, and the rhythm of the rustling leaves never changed.

More importantly, the traces of his own unique Pure Yang Dao rhythm, left on the decaying leaves beneath his feet, had not yet fully dissipated; they were the remnants of the aura he had carried when he was transported here moments ago.

The entire forest seemed to be an intricate mechanism, adjusting its orientation in synchronization with his movement.

"An illusion, or..."

Donghua's gaze sharpened, and he stopped moving. He flicked his sleeves, and the Jingyang Bell emerged, hovering before him. As he poured his vast Magic Power into it, the ancient bell suddenly transformed into a streak of Azure Divine Light, striking forward like a Sky-Opening Divine Axe!

Wherever the divine light passed, the space rippled in layers, and the trees collapsed in its wake.

In his Divine Sense, the Jingyang Bell was indeed moving rapidly away, yet he could feel the bell drawing closer and closer to him.

The next moment.

"Hum!"

A familiar chime sounded from three yards behind him.

Donghua turned, only to see the Jingyang Bell hovering behind the spot where he had first stood. The Dao rhythm on the bell had not yet fully faded, and the surrounding space still held the lingering resonance of its flight.

The path he had carved out ahead had vanished, as if that earth-shattering strike had never occurred.

The entire dense forest remained silent, save for the Jingyang Bell vibrating faintly behind him.

Donghua watched this scene, and far from feeling the slightest bit of annoyance, a trace of faint interest flickered in his eyes.

He reached out to recall the Jingyang Bell, his fingertips brushing across the body of the bell.

"Interesting, the Space Law!"

Donghua whispered softly; this trip to Buzhou Mountain had certainly not disappointed him.

Such an exquisite and peerless Dao of Space was highly likely to be an Innate Great Array. To be protected by such a grand formation, this spiritual treasure had already stirred Donghua's desire to explore.

As for that skulking coward outside the array...

A look of indifference flashed through the depths of Donghua's eyes.

Was Taizhen someone to be trifled with? There might be those among their peers who could steadily defeat her, but that person outside was certainly not one of them. Donghua could rest easy and break the array here.

Since he had already uncovered a portion of its mysteries, Donghua naturally had to test this formation.

Without any hesitation, this time, Donghua brought out all three of his spiritual treasures at once.

The Jingyang Bell vibrated before him to clear the path, and wherever the mighty tolling sound passed, the space rippled like water.

Clad in his Pure Yang Daoist Robe, the true essence of the blazing sun flowed between his sleeves, scorching the surrounding twisted Space Law until it warped even further.

The Stream of Time circled his body, its clear waters reflecting fragments of time, with every crest of a wave bearing the weight of the years.

"Space forms a ring!"

Donghua unleashed his Evasion Technique, his divine sense spreading out like a net to perceive his surroundings in detail.

Had he not known that the space here formed a ring, he might not have had the leisure to notice the anomaly, but now that he was observing with focused concentration, the sense of spatial distortion could not have been more obvious. Just as he had expected, the space here was not flat, but had been forcibly twisted by a profound and mysterious power.

"Break!"

There was no need for further probing. With a shift of Donghua's will, the Jingyang Bell suspended before him suddenly rang out.

The tolling was not thunderous, yet it carried a precise and overbearing force of spatial vibration, aimed directly at that forcibly twisted spatial node.