He gazed at the curtain wall that was constantly breaking and then solidifying; as it clashed with the arrows, a sharp edge had already penetrated through the curtain wall and entered its interior.
Xu Long's eyes flashed, and the Power of Oblivion within his body surged wildly before him. The extraordinary phenomena of a great cultivator condensed before him, and he uttered a single word at the massive armor-piercing cone in front of him:
"Imperial Edict!"
As the word left his lips, the light on the curtain in front of him dimmed, and the arrows, propelled by Super Strength, dissipated into pure energy.
Before the armor-piercing spikes from behind could even get in, a sharp aura had already reached Xu Long, but it didn't have time to cause him any harm.
Above Xu Long, a tiny Milky Way appeared. Because Xu Long was a newly promoted Grand Master, this celestial phenomenon appeared somewhat small. However, because its Celestial Phenomenon were very different from those of ordinary cultivators, it already possessed considerable grandeur.
The faint starlight in the Milky Way illuminated his face, and the countless twinkling stars seemed to be his eyes. His will resided in the vast and boundless depths. This was a celestial phenomenon condensed by him as a great cultivator.
Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon!
A powerful Power of Laws manifested before Xu Long. The majestic aura of the Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon phenomenon seemed to contain a trace of heavenly might, appearing as if an immortal had personally opened their gaze upon the mortal realm when summoned by Xu Long.
The Power of Oblivion had been condensed in front of him had already erupted. With the support of the Power of Laws, Xu Long's own power was three times greater. Under the illumination of the Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon, he was like the brightest star among them.
At this moment, the curtain wall in front of him had completely shattered, and the huge armor-piercing cone, carrying a sharp aura and Super Strength that shot towards him, descended upon Xu Long's head with a piercing power that crushed an ant.
The fragments of the curtain wall crackled and popped in front of him, and the armor-piercing spikes that were attacking from behind suddenly stopped above his head.
Within that tiny Milky Way, unpredictable energy seemed to be hidden, causing the armor-piercing cone, poised to pierce through everything, to halt at this moment.
Xu Long's eyes were bright and piercing, and a strong Power of Laws condensed around him. In this small area, he had already seized the power of heaven and earth, causing the aura above his head to freeze for a moment.
And the Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon are the very essence of his laws!
Taking advantage of the moment when the momentum of the massive armor-piercing cone was halted, Xu Long immediately dodged in mid-air. He knew that the armor-piercing cone was evolved from the energy of the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram.
His own Power of Laws was relatively weak in comparison, and the stalemate between the two could not last long. Therefore, he only used the law of anomalies to block for a moment before he began to think about a way out.
A large gash had been cut through the thick clouds ahead; under the erosion of the Power of Oblivion, the clouds were almost split in two.
Xu Long's eyes flashed, and he forcefully broke free from the restraint left by the armor-piercing cone above his head. His figure emerged from the scattered clouds, and with a flash of light in the air, Xu Long's figure followed the sword light and disappeared.
Only after he escaped did he realize that the scattered clouds in front of the water vapor curtain were indeed a great obstacle, trapping any creature that had entered the array like a brocade.
The arrows hidden behind the curtain of water vapor were meant to annihilate him, and now that he had escaped, he felt much lighter as he fled through the air.
As Xu Long's figure vanished in an instant, the massive armor-piercing cone pierced through the faint power of heaven and earth, leaving behind only the brocade-like clouds before it.
Xu Long was nowhere to be seen at this moment; the enormous armor-piercing cone pierced straight into the scattered clouds.
Xu Long's lips curled up; he had deliberately gathered these scattered cloud layers with strong resistance, leaving them to trap the armor-piercing cone.
With a flash of light, Xu Long's figure had already appeared beneath the thick clouds. The sharpness of the sword light in front of him continued to erupt, and the Power of Oblivion easily parted a path in the clouds.
The thick clouds, eroded by the Power of Oblivion, rolled away, leaving behind countless arrows. The energy within the clouds was now somewhat weakened.
Xu Long had precisely anticipated this point when he used his sword light to cut through the clouds, beyond which lay the exit of the second gate.
The immense will had already sensed a trace of mysterious energy. Xu Long was overjoyed, for based on his previous experience, this was a sign that he was about to leave the second gate.
However, Xu Long was suddenly jolted. He turned around abruptly beneath the clouds and saw a huge armor-piercing cone hurtling towards him.
At this moment, his figure was facing away from the sword light. He had already sensed the exit behind the clouds, but at this last moment, the armor-piercing cone had already caught up.
The scattered clouds had clearly not trapped it; it silently appeared behind Xu Long Xu Long, catching him completely off guard with this sudden attack.
Fortunately, his intuition sensed the danger, and with a thought, the sword light behind him stopped instantly, while Xu Long's figure shot away in the air like a cannonball.
As their gazes met, the figure and the sword light collided. With a thought, the sword light, which had been suspended in mid-air, swept away in the opposite direction from Xu Long.
A star suddenly rose within the barrier, and a powerful Power of Laws attached itself to the sword light.
The sword light that appeared no longer used a light approach to deal with the armor-piercing spikes, but instead unleashed a burst of sharpness as it slashed down heavily at the fiercely approaching armor-piercing spikes.
A thunderous roar echoed within the barrier as countless arrows shattered under the Power of Laws, and the massive armor-piercing cone instantly deformed under the sweeping sharpness.
Countless streams of pure energy transformed into curtains in the air. Through these blurry curtains, the thick clouds in the sky were scattered by the surging energy, and wisps of the Power of Laws dissipated within the clouds.
Xu Long's figure grew smaller and smaller in the air, while the armor-piercing cones behind him had completely transformed into countless tiny arrows that attacked.
A flash of light appeared in my eyes, and the curtain of water vapor and the scattered clouds opened and closed automatically, leaving only a long trail in the clouds.
The mysterious energy became increasingly apparent. Xu Long sensed the energy within the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram for the second time. At this moment, he channeled his own Power of Laws, and under the influence of the Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon, the mysterious energy within the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram became even more pronounced.
A slight darkness fell before my eyes, and the figure retreating in the air gradually blurred before disappearing completely within the barrier, leaving a tiny strange phenomenon above my head.
Xu Long carefully sensed the mysterious energy within the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram. Sure enough, with the enhancement of his own extraordinary phenomena, the energy became much clearer to him.
He had been in close contact with the energy core of Blackwater City and knew that the mysterious energy in the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram probably originated from the energy core of Phoenix City.
No matter how he tries to contact the city, inside or outside, he will have no way of obtaining the energy core of Phoenix City.
But at this moment, within the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram, he had clearly sensed this energy using his own Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon.
Because the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram encompasses everything, and the energy it receives comes from the City Heart, which contains the truths and world energy left behind by the ancient gods.
The combination of these two elements has made Phoenix City a self-contained entity, creating a paradise within the Land of Exile, a world like a miniature universe.
Xu Long used a Milky Way Celestial Phenomenon to sense the immense energy contained within it. This was probably due to the energy of the City Heart being used when the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram changed, but he also sensed the Milky Way phenomenon contained within it at the same time.
At this moment, he was inside the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram. The interaction between the two inevitably stirred something within Xu Long. The City Heart was the energy core. The energy core of Blackwater City was given to the True Dragon Clone, but what about the energy core of Phoenix City?
Within the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram, he was able to sense the immense energy contained within it using his own laws and Celestial Phenomenon.
Moreover, he discovered that with each gate he passed through, the mysterious energy shifting within the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram became increasingly apparent, and his own senses became clearer.
If one were to pass through several more gates, and utilize the laws and Celestial Phenomenon, could one then use the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram to seize the immense energy within the City Heart?
The idea of sensing the increasingly pronounced mysterious energy in the darkness took root in Xu Long's mind.
He knew he absolutely could not seize the entire City Heart of Phoenix City, because the core of the City Heart —something similar to the energy core sphere of Blackwater City —was definitely in the hands of the city lord.
City Lord Deng Lifu is a powerful cultivator at the Earth Immortal level; Xu Long would never be so presumptuous as to try and seize the City Heart.
Although he couldn't obtain the energy core of Phoenix City, he could still manage to extract a small amount of its energy by manipulating the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram.
This is using its own laws and Celestial Phenomenon to extract the Milky Way energy contained in the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram.
Xu Long had a deep understanding of just how immense the energy contained within the City Heart was. Even the shattered City Heart the Blackwater City, left behind ten thousand years ago, allowed his True Dragon Clone to cross two minor realms in succession.
The City Heart of Phoenix City remains completely undamaged, and the energy it contains is likely greater than that of Blackwater City. I should be able to secretly seize some without being detected.
However, this array is fraught with danger. We've only just managed to sense the mysterious energy after passing through two gates. If we want to profit from it, wouldn't we have to wait until after the third gate, when the mysterious energy becomes increasingly apparent?
Thinking that he could harness some of Phoenix City's energy within the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram, Xu Long couldn't help but feel a surge of secret joy.
Having already experienced the benefits of City Heart, he was no longer particularly concerned about the crisis Ma Fang had previously mentioned.
As the light dimmed slightly and the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram shifted, mysterious energy manifested within the barrier.
Xu Long's figure appeared inside another barrier; this was the third gate!
Hearing the rushing water in his ears, Xu Long's heart skipped a beat; he thought he had returned to the basin of Blackwater City.
The sound of rushing water left a deep impression on him, and hearing it in the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram at this moment, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
He was standing on a high point in a river valley, and looking down, he saw a rushing river below him.
The surging waters carry countless silt and sand, turning the rushing river incredibly turbid. Only small whirlpools float in the middle of the river, with no floating objects on them.
A suspension bridge spans the middle of the river, and the turbulent river rushes in from the darkness, disappearing back into the shadows as Xu Long's gaze falls upon it.
There was only one torrent between heaven and earth, seemingly born from the darkness, and its final destiny also vanished in the darkness, leaving only the "whooshing" sound between heaven and earth.
This is a barrier with a constant flow of water, a city gate that tests the cultivators' character. There is nothing in the river except for an iron chain bridge in the center.
Thick iron chains, as thick as a bowl, are anchored in the valley, forming a suspension bridge connecting the two banks. The bridge is less than half a meter above the rushing water, and the rising water droplets occasionally splash onto the bridge cables.
The great river has rushed out of the darkness for countless years, and this iron chain bridge has existed for who knows how many years. Patches of rust have covered its surface, and in the center of the iron chain bridge, something like moss has even grown.
The river is wide, and the opposite bank cannot be seen at a glance. The current is swift and there may be dangers beneath the water. The only way to cross the rushing river is through this iron chain bridge.
Xu Long had already carefully examined the area with his will and found that there was no buoyancy on the water's surface, making it impossible to cross the river by using floating objects.
If one were to use a flying Dharma Artifact to cross the river, one would inevitably be attacked by something hidden in the water. Therefore, the only way to cross this swift river is to go directly to the iron chain bridge.
Xu Long narrowed his eyes. This iron chain bridge was incredibly old; was it really safe to cross it? The murky river offered no buoyancy; what if a cultivator with a powerful physique tried to swim across?
Just as Xu Long finished thinking about it, he saw a dark shadow flash across the rushing river. He focused his will and plunged into the water, only to find it was a human figure!
The great river, emerging from the darkness, carried away a human figure!
The figure was seen rising and falling in the torrent, its head and body completely out of balance, only managing to stay upright by its own Magic Power.
But the turbulent river wouldn't give him a chance. Whirlpools in the torrent moved toward him. Xu Long's eyes narrowed, and he saw the figure instantly being swept into the whirlpool.
The body that was thrashing about just moments before had now lost all strength. As the whirlpool continued to spin, it seemed as if something was violently pulling at the figure beneath the surging water.
The overwhelming force of the torrent swept over, its immense power engulfing the figure. Under this immense force, the figure within the whirlpool lost its balance. After churning and rolling once above and below the water, nothing seemed amiss.
How insignificant a human figure is in the torrent; how fragile even the most powerful cultivators are in the face of nature.
As Xu Long watched the whirlpool carry the figure away into the darkness, he instantly abandoned the idea of swimming across.
His will surged across the water's surface, but he dared not venture beneath. The things within this Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram seemed illusory, but in reality, they could truly kill a great cultivator.
From the sword formation within the first gate, to the armor-piercing spikes within the second gate, to the current torrent.
Xu Long knew that these were things contained within the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram, things that had evolved from it itself, but living beings that entered it would also be controlled by it.
Fortunately, this is just a test to enter the city. If the power of the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram is truly unleashed, what earth-shattering power will it unleash?
So who could possibly have complete control over the Eight Trigrams Formation Diagram?
The ancient god?
Immortal?