Someone had learned the Turtle Shell Technique from the Heavenly Book: Profound Principles Chapter and gone on to establish Turtle-Snake Island, a major sect of some renown in the Youyang Kingdom, with a heritage even older than the Shangyuan Sect's.
And now Yang Zhen had obtained an entire Profound Principles Chapter. If word got out, wouldn't cultivators all over the world come chasing after him?
"Keep a low profile, keep a low profile. I have to keep a low profile!" Yang Zhen muttered, sitting down to one side.
Su Qingyu gave Yang Zhen a puzzled look and sat down beside him. "What are you talking about, Young Master Yang?"
Yang Zhen shook his head. "It's nothing. I suddenly remembered that Ergouzi from our village goes around muttering all sorts of mystical nonsense every day. It seems to have something to do with breaking this formation. Let me think. Don't disturb me."
The nervous people around them nearly ran over to give Yang Zhen a few kicks when they heard him.
Other people had to wait ages for a chance to say a word to Su Qingyu, and they wished she would keep talking to them. But Yang Zhen, just for a few bits of crazy talk from the village idiot Ergouzi, actually told Su Qingyu not to disturb him. He deserved to go his whole life without winning the favor of a peerless beauty like her.
Yang Zhen ignored the group beside him, their faces red and necks bulging, and, once he had settled his mind, immersed himself completely in the vast and profound art of formations in the Profound Principles Chapter.
Countless insights into formations came to him as if by divine inspiration. The obscure and difficult principles of formations, the marvelous works of creation that seemed carved by gods and stolen from heaven itself, cleared away the thatch that had blocked his mind. It was as if a door had opened before him, welcoming him into a vast world.
Boom!
The Heavenly Book: Profound Principles Chapter suddenly burst apart, transforming into countless specks of golden light that merged completely into Yang Zhen's body.
With Yang Zhen's present talent, a single reading had engraved the Heavenly Book: Profound Principles Chapter deeply in his mind. All that remained was to study it further in the future and master it thoroughly. Its disappearance left him wanting more, and he sighed with feeling. The supreme principles of heaven and earth were indeed boundless.
"Young Master Yang, can't you find a way to break the formation?" Su Qingyu asked gently beside him.
Yang Zhen glanced at Fang Shenhe, who was still sweating profusely as he worked away. His expression turned a little odd, but just as he was about to speak, Fang Shenhe's voice rang out.
"You're worrying too much, Miss Su. Though I, Fang, am no great talent, I have some attainments in the art of formations. The Dao Comprehension Stele's formation restriction is unfathomably profound and constantly changing. The slightest mistake could trigger a backlash and a change in the formation. If the gate of life turns into the gate of death, we'll all be in trouble."
Pride permeated Fang Shenhe's every word, and he seemed somewhat displeased with Su Qingyu. Could it be that, in Su Qingyu's eyes, he, a dignified prodigy and heir of Turtle-Snake Island, was inferior to a wild brat like Yang Zhen?
Su Qingyu frowned slightly and was about to explain when Yang Zhen suddenly stood up and walked toward Fang Shenhe.
"Yang Zhen, what are you trying to do?" The Tonglin Sect disciples hurried to block his way.
Everyone had experienced Yang Zhen's shamelessness firsthand. Given how he paid back even the smallest slight, and how Fang Shenhe had needled him time and again, a single disagreement might be enough for him to beat Fang Shenhe until he went mad like Zhang Zongjin.
But how could anyone let Yang Zhen attack Fang Shenhe now? If Fang Shenhe went mad, how would they get out?
For a moment, everyone's expressions changed repeatedly. They subtly moved to block Yang Zhen, determined to stop him if he tried to attack.
"Yang Zhen, don't do anything rash. We won't let you hurt Young Master Fang."
"That's right, Yang Zhen. Whatever grudges you have, settle them once we're out. If anything happens to Young Master Fang, do you want to die here too?"
Princess Changyang and Su Qingyu exchanged a glance, both wanting to speak but stopping short.
Yang Zhen curled his lip and came up to the Tonglin Sect disciples. "Move!"
Clatter!
The Tonglin Sect disciples instinctively moved aside, opening a path. Their expressions turned ugly, but they still put on a brave front. "Yang Zhen, don't do whatever you please."
"Your mouths say no, but your bodies are very honest."
Yang Zhen walked up to Fang Shenhe and kicked his leg. "Move!"
"Yang Zhen!" The kick made Fang Shenhe stagger, nearly falling flat on the ground. After getting back to his feet, he roared at Yang Zhen, furious. "What are you trying to do?"
The surrounding crowd all sucked in a sharp breath. Here it came, here it came. Yang Zhen's grudge with Zhang Zongjin had also started with a kick from Yang Zhen.
Everyone stared at Yang Zhen with strange expressions. Exchanging glances, they all pressed toward him. Although Yang Zhen paid back even the smallest slight and no one wanted to offend him, none of them would let him clash and fight with Fang Shenhe at a time like this.
Yang Zhen looked back at them. "I really don't know how you've lived this long. If I were you, I'd have been too ashamed to go on living. A formation restriction this simple has you all wound up like this?"
What?
Everyone froze. Simple?
Fang Shenhe's handsome face immediately turned the color of pig liver. Pointing at Yang Zhen, he said, "Yang Zhen, don't go too far! Even shameless boasting has its limits. What gives you the right to call this formation restriction simple? Do you know how, how compli... what?"
Hum!
As Fang Shenhe was berating him, Yang Zhen flicked a finger against a spot on the ground. A chain reaction immediately spread across the surface, and the entire formation receded like the tide, rapidly withdrawing in every direction from the point Yang Zhen had flicked.
Before long, the sky cleared, and everyone stood on the grass beside the Dao Comprehension Stele, staring wide-eyed at one another.
This... th-th-this...
Everyone looked around in bewilderment, their mouths hanging open in astonishment.
Su Qingyu and Princess Changyang stared at Yang Zhen, equally dumbstruck. Then, as if by agreement, they both turned to look at Fang Shenhe.
Fang Shenhe's face was pale, and he stared blankly at Yang Zhen, muttering to himself, "No, this is impossible. How... how is this possible?"
Yang Zhen winked at Princess Changyang and Su Qingyu. "Is there anything else after this at the Youzhou Grand Assembly?"
"N-no!" Princess Changyang and Su Qingyu answered in unison, both wearing dazed expressions.
On a mountain peak not far from the Dao Comprehension Stele stood several magnificent pavilions amid swirling immortal mist, with little bridges over flowing streams and clear springs tinkling.
In a tall pavilion, two old men glared at each other, neither willing to give an inch.
"You old scoundrel Luo Yan, are you dead set on competing with my Martial Mountain Sect this time?" the black-robed old man said, narrowing his eyes and enunciating every word.
The white-robed old man called Luo Yan snorted coldly and stared back at him, refusing to yield. "Duan Qing, your Elixir Valley Lake has competed with my Martial Mountain Sect all your life. What difference will one more time make?"
A group of people nearby watched the two old men with schadenfreude, then turned somewhat sympathetic gazes on a short old man beside them whose face had turned livid.
"Duan Qing, Luo Yan, you two old fellows are fighting over that bastard Yang Zhen right in front of me. Aren't you showing my Tonglin Sect far too little regard?"
"Shut up!"
Duan Qing and Luo Yan turned around at the same time and shouted in unison.
Some of the people in charge of the major sects nearby nearly burst out laughing. Of everyone at the Youzhou Grand Assembly, the Tonglin Sect had suffered the greatest loss. Zhang Zongjin, a prodigy, had actually been driven to vomit blood and go mad by Yang Zhen, and he still hadn't been found.
Duan Qing and Luo Yan exchanged a glance, then both turned their eyes toward Yang Zhen beside the Dao Comprehension Stele.
"Yang Zhen is joining my Elixir Valley Lake, no matter what!"
"Yang Zhen is joining my Martial Mountain Sect, no matter what!"