Under those circumstances, when Li Yan considered the meaning of those words again, the "Heavenly Gate" brought to mind the Light Gate that would let them clear the trial. His first thought had been of the only Light Gate suspended overhead.
Looking up from where they stood, that gate could aptly be called the "trial gate." Once he matched it to the latter half of the formula, it meant that to open the Light Gate above, his heart had to remain unmoved, without stillness or ripples.
Naturally, he could harbor no thoughts of defense or attack either. He had to let the Light Gate act as it would. Then the killing formation here would not appear, he could survive this ordeal, and the killing formation would unravel on its own!
Now that Li Yan had explained it, the other three, all cultivators of profound attainment, connected it with what had happened. Everything became clear in an instant.
"Fellow Daoist Zhang, your cultivation insights are indeed profound. But since you had a way to clear the trial, why did you treasure it like a worn-out broom and keep it to yourself? Had we hesitated any longer, we would have died inside, leaving you as the sole survivor.
"In every previous trial, we shared our views beforehand, yet you always waited until the very last moment to give us any guidance. Fellow Daoist Zhang, that hardly amounts to sincere cooperation!"
After quickly working it out, Su Wenzhou abruptly changed his tone and openly challenged Li Yan. He had already seen Yun Qing and Ling Xingkong's reactions clearly. They were just as startled and doubtful about this method, looking as though they had known nothing about it.
In the end, they must have been like him: after discerning a few clues, they had