Chu Zhiyuan peered with his Eye of Insight, but saw only a hazy blur.
It was as if shrouded in mist, or like viewing through the shimmering surface of a lake.
The scene within the valley was distorted and indistinct.
He concentrated and intensified his gaze.
Faintly visible was a towering golden statue.
As tall as the mountain walls, thirty-some meters in height, its presence was majestic and its aura grand.
It faced the valley entrance, looking down upon it with a solemn expression.
On its left and right sides were two golden statues each, only half its height.
Their features were identical, but their facial expressions differed: joy and anger on the left, sorrow and happiness on the right.
As Chu Zhiyuan continued to observe, he spoke quietly to Xu Haode.
"This is a treasure passed down by our ancestors," Xu Haode said dismissively, waving his hand. "Originally, there were seven of them, called the Seven Stars Formation-Breaking Stones,
but now only one remains."
"Why were they lost?" Chu Zhiyuan continued to focus his gaze, wanting to see more details clearly.
Besides the five golden statues, there was also a grand hall, a row of houses, and thirty-some people in the valley.
Among these thirty-some people, there were two Grandmasters, ten Masters, and the rest were all at the Innate realm.
"Formation-breaking can suffer backlash from the formations. This formation of the Huai Su Sect is just a Bewilderment Formation, so it's fine, but some formations are very powerful, filled with deadly intent.
Breaking formations like that can directly destroy the Formation-Breaking Stone."
"That's truly a pity," Chu Zhiyuan said. "Such treasures are not easy to find."
These people didn't seem to have noticed that the formation had been broken and were busy with their own tasks.
Some were practicing martial arts, some were praying, some were wiping the statues, and some were cooking.
Xu Haode said, "Now that spiritual energy is thin, the power of formations is decreasing, which is why I was able to preserve this Formation-Breaking Stone."
Chu Zhiyuan asked, "What about military formations? Can they be broken?"
This place did seem like the main stronghold, but judging by the size of the valley and the number of people, he couldn't imagine that the Huai Su Sect actually had so many disciples.
Xu Haode shook his head. "This can only break formations arranged using natural spiritual energy; man-made formations are useless. Does the Prince want to break such formations?"
Chu Zhiyuan turned to look at the sky and said, "The Ling Shuang Iron Cavalry of Da Zhen and the Ta Yun Iron Cavalry of Da Meng are both military formations. If they could be broken..."
Xu Haode also glanced at the sky, finding nothing, and said, "As far as I know, there doesn't seem to be such a treasure."
"What a pity," Chu Zhiyuan said, shaking his head.
He withdrew his gaze from the sky, sensing a faint probing presence.
"Man-made formations are often countered with other formations; there's no easy way out."
"How can the Ling Shuang Iron Cavalry and the Ta Yun Iron Cavalry be broken using formations? Does Master Xu know?"
"I haven't had the chance to witness these two formations, so I really don't know... Ah, someone's coming out."
The two immediately silenced themselves.
Chu Zhiyuan secretly glanced at Xu Haode.
Xu Haode hadn't told the truth.
This would be a pursuit with the full force of a dynasty, far more terrifying than a heretical sect.
He saw two young men floating out of the valley, each carrying a package.
Xu Haode used sound transmission, lowering his voice, "They will discover that the formation has been broken as soon as they turn around."
Chu Zhiyuan nodded.
"We'll each take one," Xu Haode said.
Chu Zhiyuan shook his head. "I can handle it alone."
Xu Haode looked at him.
Chu Zhiyuan nodded slightly.
Xu Haode nodded helplessly, nervously watching the two young men walking out, stepping out of the valley entrance.
The two young men strode out of the valley, stepping onto the bamboo branches and floating away.
They went further and further away, gradually disappearing from sight.
Xu Haode looked at Chu Zhiyuan.
His eyes questioned: It's so far away, and you still haven't made a move? Are you going to let these two guys escape?
Chu Zhiyuan smiled and transmitted his voice, "It's not advisable to alert the enemy now. We'll act after they've gone further away."
Xu Haode nodded helplessly.
Indeed, it wasn't advisable to lose the big picture for small gains.
But to just let those two guys go like that, he really couldn't accept it.
The demonic members of the heretical sect should not be let go, not even one.
"I'll go take care of them and come back," Xu Haode said quickly.
Chu Zhiyuan said, "They have already been killed by me."
"...You've dealt with them?"
"It's already done, by the stream at the foot of the mountain."
"I'll go take a look."
Xu Haode had heard that Chu Zhiyuan had a secret technique for killing people silently, but he had never seen it himself.
He felt that no matter how miraculous the secret technique, killing people always required power, and spiritual energy was bound to fluctuate.
But just now, there was nothing unusual. He had killed two Masters without anyone noticing?
These were two Master-level experts from the heretical sect.
One couldn't judge the cultivation of demonic members of the heretical sect by their age.
Some were young but were already Masters, while some were old but were only at the Innate realm, or even below.
Xu Haode floated away.
Chu Zhiyuan smiled and shook his head, continuing to observe the valley.
If the valley wasn't protected by a power from beyond the heavens, which was isolating his Eye of Insight, the Bright Moon Blade God could have directly annihilated these guys.
This power from beyond the heavens was distorting his Eye of Insight, preventing the Bright Moon Blade God from accurately projecting into the spiritual world of the people in the valley.
The Bright Moon Blade God originated from spiritual power and returned to spiritual power. If spiritual power couldn't lock on, it was useless even if the eyes could see.
Xu Haode floated back, cupping his fist at Chu Zhiyuan.
Chu Zhiyuan smiled and shook his head, transmitting his voice, "Master Xu, what clever plan do you have to break this main stronghold?"
"Lure them out?" Xu Haode said softly.
Chu Zhiyuan could kill them so easily, so why not lure them out and kill them all?
There were definitely hidden traps or mechanisms in the valley, all of which were powerful killing moves. It was best not to go in if possible.
Chu Zhiyuan said, "Use huge rocks to strike it, driving them out, and also try to destroy those Venerable statues. They are the source of power."
"Giant rock?" Xu Hao De paused.
He really hadn't thought of that.
Chu Zhi Yuan said, "The bigger the stone, the better."
Xu Hao De looked around, a troubled expression on his face.
This place was full of bamboo forests, mostly soft soil, with few stones.
Giant stones were even rarer.
Chu Zhi Yuan said, "Follow me."
The two of them floated out of the forest, quickly passing over three mountains, and arrived at a high mountain with strange rocks.
Mingyue Blade silently and effortlessly sliced the stones, as easily as cutting tofu.
The two began to move stones to the mountain peak opposite the Huai Su Sect's main altar valley.
Each stone had to be at least as big as a person could hug. They moved a total of thirty-two stones, raising the opposite mountain peak by a section.
Chu Zhi Yuan looked at the surrounding boulders and nodded with satisfaction.
Xu Hao De stared nervously at the opposite valley.
"Let's begin," Chu Zhi Yuan said in a deep voice.
He lifted a huge rock with one hand, as easily as if it were made of paper.
With a sudden throw, he lifted and threw another, then a third.
One after another, the boulders drew parabolas in the air, smashing towards the opposite valley.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang——."
Muffled sounds rang out incessantly.
A black circular light罩 appeared above the valley.
These boulders smashed into the light罩, only causing it to shake. The boulders slid to the sides and did not fall into the valley.
Chu Zhi Yuan's hands did not stop. One by one, boulders fell from the sky.
He injected his spiritual energy and blade intent into each boulder, causing the black light罩 to flicker continuously.
Xu Hao De cursed, "Damn it, it's an extra-terrestrial demon, I'm afraid we can't break it!"
This was definitely not an array; otherwise, the previous array-breaking stones would have been shattered.
If it wasn't an array, yet it had such defensive power, it was clearly the power of an extra-terrestrial demon.
The power of these extra-terrestrial demons was very strange and not easy to deal with.
"Help me!"
Chu Zhi Yuan said in a deep voice.
He changed from throwing to pushing horizontally. Each time he pushed out a boulder, his feet would sink a layer.
This was a pure combination of strength and spiritual energy, which made Xu Hao De click his tongue in amazement.
Xu Hao De followed him and pushed together, also injecting spiritual energy into it.
The horizontally pushed boulders carried even more tyrannical spiritual power, blade intent, and strength.
After several boulders, the black light罩 flickered violently, the frequency becoming faster and faster. Xu Hao De was overjoyed, seeing hope for it to shatter.
The people in the valley had already reacted. They were not flustered. Some ran to the valley entrance, some ran to kneel under the largest statue. Only eight people came to the valley entrance to guard, all of them grandmaster experts.
The remaining twenty-six people knelt under the huge golden statue, muttering and forming hand seals.
The golden statue slowly lit up.
The originally shaking black light罩 turned golden, thick and stable.
The boulders fell on it as if they were falling on a real golden shield, and were even bounced away.
Chu Zhi Yuan threw out the last four boulders.
The boulders were bounced away one by one, the golden light罩 as stable as a rock, not moving at all.
"Again!" Chu Zhi Yuan said.
Xu Hao De said, "Is it useless?"
The golden light罩 showed no signs of damage. It seemed that no matter how many boulders there were, it would be useless.
"It's useful," Chu Zhi Yuan said, "There is a price to pay for this power."
Xu Hao De immediately understood, "Yes, there's a price. Let's do it again!"
So the two of them continued to move boulders from another mountain.
The people in the valley had already discovered them, but had no intention of coming out. They just stood at the valley entrance and glared at them coldly.
Chu Zhi Yuan knew that they must have already sent out a signal, summoning the surrounding Huai Su Sect disciples to come to their aid.
"They actually won't come out!" Xu Hao De gritted his teeth.
These guys were too cautious, not even one of them came out to investigate the situation at this time, only shrinking back in the valley.
Did they think the valley was an impenetrable tortoise shell, foolproof?
Chu Zhi Yuan said, "Let's get more this time."
Xu Hao De said hatefully, "We have to smash these turtles to death!"
The two chatted while moving stones.
Chu Zhi Yuan smiled and said, "Mr. Xu wants to devour extra-terrestrial alien power, right?"
"... Your Highness is wise." Xu Hao De said with some helplessness, "Having reached my stage, wanting to go higher, devouring the spiritual energy of grandmasters is useless. Unless it's a second-level or higher, where can you find that in the world? The only hope is the power of these extra-terrestrial demons."
"Is it very dangerous?" Chu Zhi Yuan said.
Xu Hao De smiled and said, "I still have some confidence."
Chu Zhi Yuan nodded, "That's good. --- Why don't you just go over with the boulder and see if you can directly devour the power of the light罩."
Xu Hao De thought it made sense and quickly said, "Then I'll try."
The two of them moved sixty-six boulders in one breath, creating another hill on the mountain peak, and then began to throw them.
They threw them high separately, and pushed a boulder together when pushing horizontally.
Sometimes throwing high, sometimes throwing straight, the two alternated, forming a rain of stones.
After forty or so boulders, the golden light罩 was as stable as a rock, with no signs of damage.
"Damn it, troublesome!"
Xu Hao De gritted his teeth and cursed, leaping into the air and landing on a boulder, falling towards the golden light罩 with the boulder.
He clung to the boulder, and as the boulder was bounced away, he reached out and touched the golden light罩.
Immediately, he let out a strange cry, and withdrew his hand in a flurry as if he had been scalded by boiling water.
Chu Zhi Yuan saw clearly that as soon as the power of the golden light罩 entered Xu Hao De's palm, it began to burn, appearing as a ball of flame in his vision.
Xu Hao De mobilized the spiritual energy around his body to撲 towards the flame, but it was like adding fuel to the fire, making the flame even stronger.
