（I've revised the previous chapters a bit, reading the first two chapters should catch you up.）
I saw that, as Elder Long raised his hand, several small flags and a square formation plate appeared in his hand. These items flashed with spiritual light in his hand and began to rotate around him.
Then, the formation flags shot out in all directions, settling in mid-air dozens of feet away, rippling with layers of fluorescent waves.
Seeing that Elder Long began to explore the formation, Ding Ruozhao said to the others, "With Elder Long here, we must not be careless. How about I patrol the surroundings?"
"What the fairy says is true."
"Zhang has no objections."
After discussing a few sentences, they divided into four groups to explore.
First, the Green Python Taoist grinned and released a huge two-headed python.
This snake was more than twenty feet long, and the strange thing was that it had a dark, black horn on its head, which looked ferocious and terrifying.
The aura on this monster was also not weak, it was actually a fourth-order demon python. With a flash, this person stood on one of the snake's heads and swam quickly towards a square, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Ye Zimei nodded to Zhang Ling and Ding Ruozhao respectively, and with a flash of white light, turned into a stream of light and headed south.
Seeing this, Zhang Ling no longer hesitated, a yellow light lit up, dragging him into the air, and after circling in the air, he headed north to explore.
Seeing that the three of them had left, Ding Ruozhao pondered for a moment and looked at Elder Long's situation. She also released a colorful silk thread and headed towards the remaining direction to explore.
Only Elder Long was left in place, his expressionless face narrowed as he stared at the formation plate in his hand, seemingly sensing something.
As the formation flags floating in the air lit up one by one, strange winds began to blow again. And unlike before, the strange winds were now stronger, and within them, it seemed as if huge shadows could be seen.
"Hmph, illusion array..."
...
In the blink of an eye, several days passed, and the group was no longer on the original mound, but in a sandy land.
Zhang Ling and the others all had solemn expressions, releasing spiritual light shields around their bodies, constantly vigilantly watching their surroundings.
The surrounding environment was changing every moment, and they were now in an illusion.
Ten feet away from the group, a layer of yellow mist flowed, surrounding them like a sandstorm.
In the center of the group, Elder Long flew into the air several feet above the ground, the formation plate in his hand constantly shaking, shooting out some mysterious runes that disappeared into the dozen or so small flags.
"Rise."
The old man suddenly shouted in a low voice.
The dozen or so small flags turned into various colors of light, flying up and down, floating out spiritual runes of different colors.
These runes were very regular, arranged and combined in a certain order. Finally, they turned into giant cyan flags. After the giant flags were formed, they formed a cyan light罩(光罩: light shield) around the group, protecting them.
Moreover, the light罩(光罩: light shield) was like a layer of light curtain, slowly advancing forward.
Outside, bursts of rumbling sounds continued to come. Yellow sand filled the sky. Zhang Ling and the others within could be said to be unable to see their fingers.
A howl came from the yellow sand, and countless beasts could be seen roaring in the yellow sand outside.
Zhang Ling and the others' faces were solemn, but they were not flustered. They had experienced this situation several times in the past few days.
Each time, Elder Long easily resolved it, and Zhang Ling greatly admired this Elder Long.
The way of formation is profound and not something that ordinary people can master. Moreover, he is also a Golden Core cultivator, which is even rarer.
How did the two girls find such a capable person?
While Zhang Ling's thoughts were turning, he heard Elder Long shout.
He saw that the cyan light罩(光罩: light shield) that had been protecting the group twisted and split into lumps, cyan whirlwind, sweeping towards the surroundings.
Under the scouring of the hurricane, the monsters formed by the yellow sand mist were transformed back into sand and scattered.
Bang... bang bang.
A series of deafening explosions came from the thick yellow mist.
Zhang Ling and the others followed Elder Long closely, not daring to leave too far. Otherwise, they would fall into the surrounding illusion array. After the group left, the original yellow sand land, after a twist, turned into a mountain forest full of black boulders.
...
After slowly advancing for several hours, Zhang Ling and the others' eyes lit up, and they arrived at a rubble ground.
Not far ahead, a black stone wall blocked their path.
The mountain wall was very high, and they could not see the top, but in the center, it was as if it had been split open by a knife and axe, chiseled out a long tunnel, which they did not know where it led to.
"Hehe. Master Long is indeed powerful, breaking through several layers of illusion array."
After arriving here, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the Green Python Taoist complimented Elder Long with a smile.
Hearing this, Elder Long frowned, first looked at the surrounding environment, then looked at the formation plate in his hand, and shook his head in response.
"Fellow Taoist is underestimating these ancient formations too much. I have only unlocked some of the outermost deceptive tricks. The further in we go, the stronger the power of the formation will be, and I am not fully confident that I can break through."
Hearing this, everyone frowned.
Seeing everyone's expressions, Elder Long raised his hand, and with a flash of spiritual light, a jade fan appeared in his hand, and he waved it gently. A circle of cyan spiritual light was released, and with a wave of the spell, the green light instantly turned into a small cyan bird.
Everyone did not know what Elder Long was doing.
This cyan bird was transformed by this person using the art of condensation. However, not much spiritual power was used, and even if he used a spell, it would only be equivalent to the spell of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
With a light chirp, the cyan bird flew up into the air.
In everyone's eyes, the cyan bird only flew to a distance of more than twenty feet above the ground, then paused and stopped in mid-air.
Then, several golden lights flashed around the cyan bird, smashing the cyan bird into pieces.
Seeing this, everyone's faces changed.
Zhang Ling also frowned, just now when the cyan bird flew twenty feet into the air, golden lights flowed in the sky, revealing streaks of golden lines.
After smashing the cyan bird, the sky returned to its original state in the blink of an eye, and there was nothing unusual to be seen.
"This is no longer an illusion array here, everyone has seen it, a killing array has been set up in the sky, and the surroundings are even more..."
Elder Long looked at the surrounding environment with a solemn expression. He did not finish his words, but everyone knew what he meant.
"Then, in Elder Long's opinion, what should we do now?" The Green Python Taoist's face sank.
"There is no good way now, let's carefully explore this place first. However, fellow Taoists, do not act rashly, so as not to activate other formations."
Hearing this, everyone nodded.
Next, everyone split up and checked the surroundings.
...
