Zhang Yu's Identity

Just then, a series of dense and rapid footsteps echoed from the end of the passage, accompanied by the clanging of armor.

Xiao Yun spun his head sharply. Upon seeing who had arrived, his eyes instantly erupted with a mixture of wild joy and venomous hatred.

Prince Jing, Xiao Jingfeng, and Princess Fenghua, Xiao Fenghua, entered swiftly, leading a large contingent of fully armed estate guards.

"Uncle Jing, Sister Fenghua, you've arrived at the perfect time."

Xiao Yun, as if seeing a savior, shouted hoarsely:

"Quick, kill this traitor Zhang Yu.

He's gone mad, he used demonic arts to control me, and forced me to kneel.

He's humiliating our entire Imperial Family.

Hurry and strike, tear him to pieces!"

Although he had always been at odds with Prince Jing's faction within the Imperial Family, they were sworn enemies.

But at this moment, he firmly believed that facing Zhang Yu's "open provocation of the Imperial Family's authority," Prince Jing and Xiao Fenghua would absolutely stand with him.

This was not a personal grievance; it was a matter of the entire Xiao imperial clan's face and dignity.

He couldn't believe that Prince Jing and Xiao Fenghua would stand idly by and let a prisoner humiliate the imperial bloodline like this.

However, the scene he had envisioned, where Prince Jing and Xiao Fenghua would fly into a rage and immediately order Zhang Yu's arrest, did not materialize.

Prince Jing, Xiao Jingfeng, and Xiao Fenghua merely glanced at him indifferently upon hearing his cries, then paid him no further mind.

Instead, they focused all their attention on the youth sitting cross-legged in the prison cell, eyes closed and meditating—Zhang Yu.

Xiao Yun froze, then grew even more furious:

"Uncle Jing, Sister Fenghua, what are you waiting for?

Hurry up and act! Are you going to watch this bastard continue to humiliate me?

He's humiliating our entire Imperial Family."

Xiao Fenghua finally turned her head, giving him a cold look. "Shut up. Look at yourself now. Besides barking uselessly, what else can you do?"

"You!"

Xiao Yun was so choked he almost couldn't breathe, his face turning the color of liver.

He had never expected Xiao Fenghua not only wouldn't help him but would scold him instead.

"You..." He still wanted to argue.

"Enough."

Prince Jing, Xiao Jingfeng, spoke, his voice deep and carrying an undeniable authority.

However, his gaze never left Zhang Yu.

Just then, Xiao Fenghua and Prince Jing exchanged a look, seeing an unprecedented solemnity and... horror in each other's eyes.

As core members of the Imperial Family, deeply favored and guided by Old Ancestor Xiao Xuan, their attainments in formations were far beyond those of prodigal sons like Xiao Yun and Xiao Sheng.

Especially Xiao Fenghua, who possessed extraordinary talent, her formation cultivation being a standout among her peers.

The moment they stepped into this area, both had keenly sensed something was amiss.

A strange, heart-pounding energy fluctuation permeated the air.

The defensive formation of the entire Heavenly Prison, which had originally operated like a precision machine, now seemed to possess a unified, supreme "will."

And the core source of this "will"... was actually the youth in the prison cell—Zhang Yu!

Zhang Yu sat there, making no apparent movement, yet he seemed to have merged with the entire Heavenly Prison formation. He was the formation's eye, its core!

That invisible, vast, and suffocating pressure stemmed precisely from his absolute control over this world and this formation.

"This... How is this possible..."

Xiao Fenghua's exquisitely beautiful face lost all its color, her red lips parted slightly, her eyes filled with unbelievable shock.

"He... he actually... completely controls the Heavenly Prison formation?

This... this is the national defense formation that even Old Ancestor needs the 'Profound Heaven Array Disk' to fully control!"

Although her evaluation of Zhang Yu had risen continuously before, knowing he was not simple and might even possess hidden formation attainments, she had never imagined Zhang Yu's formation skill would reach such an inconceivable, such a horrifying level.

Completely controlling the Heavenly Prison formation, what did that mean?

It meant that within this Heavenly Prison, even Grandmaster-level experts could not harm him.

Prince Jing, Xiao Jingfeng's expression was equally grim, fine beads of cold sweat even appearing on his forehead.

He knew better than Xiao Fenghua what terrifying power and... consequences complete control of the Heavenly Prison formation implied.

This was by no means something an ordinary formation master could achieve. It required an understanding of formations close to "the Way," absolute affinity, and control.

"Before... we underestimated him too much..."

Xiao Jingfeng's voice was dry, tinged with bitterness and deep regret. "No, we... were terribly wrong."

He recalled Xiao Fenghua's various evaluations and warnings about Zhang Yu, and remembered how he had thought his daughter was being alarmist.

Now, it seemed, it wasn't his daughter being alarmist, but rather that he... had no idea of Zhang Yu's true depth at all.

He was like a frog at the bottom of a well, looking up at a divine dragon in the ninth heaven.

Xiao Fenghua took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the storm raging in her heart, and looked at Zhang Yu in the prison with an incredibly complex gaze.

She whispered to Prince Jing beside her: