"Understood, Martial Aunt!" Qin Xiaoyu nodded firmly, her eyes sharp as stars. "Three Talents camouflage on the surface, Nine Palaces transformations in the middle, and a Heavenly Origin hub at the core. I've locked onto every weak point!"
The two exchanged a glance. No words were needed; they were perfectly in sync!
Chen Siyao had actually become more focused now. She crouched on the other side, pressed her palm against a bluestone slab, and slowly fed Spiritual Power into it.
"There's a hidden line here. Its direction matches the Kun position you mentioned." She looked up. "But there's a fork at the end that doesn't fit the normal Nine Palaces arrangement."
Qin Xiaoyu walked over, took a look, and frowned.
"Just as I thought. This should be a decoy from the Three Talents Formation, deliberately embedded in the Nine Palaces framework to confuse anyone trying to break it."
They exchanged a glance and both smiled.
"I'll mark the decoys," Chen Siyao said, pulling a marker from her pocket. "You trace the main pathways?"
"Sure."
Working together, they began analyzing the outer formation step by step.
Nearby, Yang Wanqing, Wu Tian, Ying Wenjie, and Ye Chendong spread out, taking their places at the nodes Qin Xiaoyu and Chen Siyao identified and serving as human anchors for the formation's focal points.
Under Chen Hao's training, their coordination had become so seamless that no extra communication was necessary.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yuanfeng and his three companions were also getting to work.
Xiao Yuanfeng crouched beside another piece of bluestone, sending Spiritual Power into the ground to sense the formation's pathways.
His foundation in formations was solid. Among traditional sects, at least, he could be considered first-rate.
But the more he sensed, the deeper his frown became.
"This formation has too many layers." He stood