Xuanming Escapes Confinement

Only two seconds had passed in the outside world, but for Bai Yuan, it felt like a thousand years.

His mind remained immersed in the profundities of the formation, and even as the epiphany faded, he still tirelessly absorbed the mysteries of the array.

An hour later, Xingwu's voice roused Bai Yuan:

"Master, a large group of people is heading our way—about a thousand of them. They'll arrive here in at most half an hour."

"They're coming faster than I expected." Bai Yuan opened his eyes, his expression extremely grave.

Fortunately, he had traveled here by spaceship; if he had flown slowly on his own, he wouldn't have had this one-hour window at all.

"Let's try it!"

Bai Yuan's gaze sharpened. The three main turrets suspended above the spaceship began to rotate, and deep within the muzzles, blue energy vortices formed. The hum rose from low to high, like the prelude to a beast's awakening roar.

That was the C5-class "Star Ember" main cannon charging.

Simultaneously, the nine secondary cannon arrays surrounding the main cannons deployed. The silver barrels of the B6-class "Rift Arrow" secondary cannons extended section by section, a dazzling stream of light rippling across their surfaces.

Boom!

One of the secondary cannons fired first. The shell struck the mountain body but was steadily blocked by an invisible barrier.

Yet Bai Yuan was not alarmed; instead, he immediately controlled the remaining eleven cannons to attack together.

The rhythm and impact points he aimed for were all nodes of the formation's energy flow—precisely the weakest spots of the barrier.

Each shot from the three C5-class main cannons was comparable to a full-force strike from a Universe Fifth Rank powerhouse. Though the B6-class secondary cannons were slightly inferior, they still provided considerable support.

Finally, a crisp crack came from the barrier, and it shattered with a roar.

This barrier, which would normally require Domain Lord-level strength to break, could be easily breached by a sufficiently powerful Universe Realm expert once its weakness was known.

Deep within Red Stone Mountain, a young man clad in blue armor suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with delight.

"He actually did it!"

Though he had told the other party the formation's weakness, if one's own formation mastery was insufficient, they wouldn't even be able to see it, let alone break it.

Unless it was pure blind luck, striking the vital point by chance.

And right after that, the tremor of another barrier breaking reached him, and he was finally convinced that Bai Yuan had truly seen through the barrier's weakness!

"Incredible! This kid's understanding of formations is so profound! Could he already be a Universe Realm formation master?"

The fundamental reason formation masters were so rare was that this path was extremely difficult to cultivate.

Even if one mastered the art of formations, setting one up often required time to prepare.

In actual combat, an opponent would never give you the chance to calmly arrange one.

Thus, formations were most commonly seen in armies, where the power of many was combined to fight in formation, unleashing coordinated attacks.

Most experts only dabbled in it, unwilling to invest too much effort.

When all three layers of barriers were completely broken, the entire Red Stone Mountain began to shake violently.

Bai Yuan understood that the Xuanming Domain Lord was exerting his strength from deep within the mountain.

In an instant, dense array patterns surfaced on the mountain's exterior, light flowing across them.

Bai Yuan dared not be careless and immediately began breaking the formation according to the method the Xuanming Domain Lord had taught him.

The C9-class spaceship unleashed its full firepower. The three main cannons and nine secondary cannons rotated in bombardment, never ceasing.

Boom!!!

Several key array patterns were annihilated in the cannon fire, and the light of the entire grand formation flickered unsteadily.

The Xuanming Domain Lord seized the opportunity to break through the seal and escape.

He stood atop the mountain peak, his spiritual power surging wildly into Red Stone Mountain, repairing the damaged array patterns one by one.

But Bai Yuan noticed that the newly repaired patterns were completely different from before, and even some intact sections had been subtly altered.

[Quest complete. Rewards have been distributed.]

The system prompt sounded. Bai Yuan put away the spaceship and focused his gaze on the mountain formation.

By now, the thousand-man army had already arrived before him.

Let alone Bai Yuan himself, even a Star Ninth Rank Cloud-Touching Vine would only meet its end against this thousand-man battle formation.

But before they could make a move, the Xuanming Domain Lord's furious shout came from the peak of Red Stone Mountain:

"All of you, stand down!"

Hearing this, the soldiers were terrified and fell to their knees.

"Greetings, Lord Xuanming!"

The Xuanming Domain Lord was slightly surprised:

"So you still recognize me? Looks like Keluolü and Tianmu aren't very good at winning people over."

The battalion commander was taken aback and asked cautiously, "Lord Xuanming, why do you say that? Didn't you personally order us to come and kill this man?"

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pointed at Bai Yuan.

Bai Yuan shrugged and explained, "It seems your prestige runs deep in their hearts. They must have realized they couldn't forcefully replace you, so they simply acted under your name. To outsiders, it looked like you were alive and well all along."

"Oh? So they do have some self-awareness after all." The Xuanming Domain Lord felt pleased.

The moment his words fell, the Red Stone Mountain beneath them rumbled violently. He uprooted it entirely, and in the blink of an eye, the entire mountain was refined into a weapon!

Never having witnessed such a sight, the crowd burst into exclamations:

"Heavens! The Xuanming Lord has taken the entire Red Stone Mountain!"

"As expected of the Xuanming Lord—his strength truly shakes heaven and earth!"

"If I could achieve even half the Xuanming Lord's power in this life, I'd die without regret."

"I'm more modest—a third would satisfy me."

Creak!

The Red Stone Mountain let out a piercing sound of contraction, shrinking to just over two meters in height in an instant.

Bai Yuan had no doubt that if this mountain were to crash down, it would instantly kill a Universe Realm expert, and even a Domain Lord wouldn't dare take it head-on.

After storing the Red Stone Mountain away, the Xuanming Domain Lord flickered and appeared beside Bai Yuan, raising a hand to drape it over his shoulder.

"Since you still acknowledge me, then from today onward, he is a honored guest of my Heavenly Fiend Planet. Seeing him is seeing me. Understood?"

"Yes!"

Bai Yuan, however, was puzzled. "Senior, shouldn't the most urgent matter be exposing that impostor and proving your own identity?"

The Xuanming Domain Lord remained perfectly composed. "No need to worry. Those two can't stir up any trouble. And don't call me 'senior'—you are my benefactor. If you don't mind, from now on, let us address each other as brothers."

"Very well, Brother Xuanming. It sounds like... you're quite familiar with those who harmed you?" Bai Yuan pressed on.

"Naturally. Tianmu is my master's son, and he's always seen me as a thorn in his side."

"Keluolü is my master's tamed beast, wild by nature and reckless in his actions. I once disciplined him for harming innocents, and he's held a grudge ever since."

As he spoke, his tone gradually darkened. "But I never imagined those two would join forces to set a trap, lure me here, and seal me beneath the Red Stone Mountain."

With that, the Xuanming Domain Lord let out a soft sigh, a hint of emotion flickering across his face.

Back then, before his master departed, he entrusted the Heavenly Fiend Planet to him, commanding him to oversee all affairs.

This decision sparked jealousy in Tianmu and Keluolü.

One was the master's own son, the other a beast that had accompanied the master for countless years—yet in the end, the master handed the Heavenly Fiend Planet to this personal disciple to govern, and even explicitly forbade Tianmu and Keluolü from interfering with his actions.

The grudges, accumulated over long years, had led to today's outcome.

Bai Yuan could tell that even after being sealed for ten thousand years, the Xuanming Domain Lord still harbored no murderous intent, nor even any intention of severe punishment.

After all, in the end, they were still of the same sect.