Volume One: Youths Meeting in Humble Times Chapter 159: The Path of Faking Death 14

Hearing him speak in this manner, the crowd found themselves unable to determine whether he was merely holding out for a better price or genuinely lacked sufficient strength to resolve the matter.

Li Zhonghong looked at him with a half-smile and said, "If you can help us break this formation, a vastly broader path of cultivation awaits you. However, if you cannot help and merely wish to use this pretext to secure personal gains, your path of cultivation might well be coming to an end."

Li Zhonghong's meaning was quite simple. For him, there were only two options: the first was successfully breaking the formation, and the second was killing the person to vent his anger.

Upon hearing this, Guo Yunming felt a lingering sense of apprehension. He knew that taking this step was a hazardous gamble. Play it well, and a magnificent highway to success would open before him; but make the slightest misstep, and he would be plunged into eternal damnation.

Hastily steadying his mind, he said, "I cannot break this formation by myself, but I have other methods to shatter it, provided I have your assistance."

"What method? Let's hear it."

Guo Yunming explained, "His formation layout is indeed exquisite, but a concealed flaw still exists within it, and this very flaw is the key to breaking the formation."

After a brief moment of reflection, Li Zhonghong asked, "Are you certain that this gap in his formation was not deliberately left by him? What if it is a trap intentionally set to lure us inside and wipe us out in one fell swoop? In such a scenario, how can you be sure?"

Guo Yunming explained, "Impossible. This gap is extremely well-concealed and could only arise from his insufficient mastery of formation techniques. Had it been done intentionally, there would be traces of deliberate design. As it stands, the gap is clearly minute and fragmented."

Still harboring suspicions, Li Zhonghong asked once more, "Are you certain? If you are wrong, you will be the first person I kill."

Yet, how could the current circumstances allow Guo Yunming to retreat even a fraction of an inch?

Gritting his teeth, he replied, "If I am wrong, there is no need for Senior to act; I shall take my own life to atone for the mistake!"

Thus, the group decided to let Guo Yunming lead them into the formation. As for what to do once inside, the arrangements were left entirely in Guo Yunming's hands.

Apart from the members of the Li family, who participated willingly, the others felt varying degrees of reluctance and fear. Knowing that the experts of the six major sects had previously been trapped and unable to escape, how could they possibly possess enough confidence to withdraw unscathed?

Once inside, they found themselves trapped within a vast formation, much like the members of the six major sects before them. The flaw Guo Yunming had identified was just as he described, but with one difference. He instructed the group, "At the gap of every single sub-formation, we must assign someone to stand guard. Once we have traversed all the formations, we must ensure that someone is guarding the gap of every single one. Finally, we will launch a coordinated strike together to pierce through all the gaps simultaneously. In this way, we can plunge this grand formation into a state of brief paralysis."

The members of the five great clans asked, "What use is a state of brief paralysis? How does that benefit us?"

Guo Yunming explained, "Following that brief paralysis, both the gates of life and death of this formation will be exposed simultaneously. At that moment, we can breach both gates and render this grand formation completely useless."

The gate of life and the gate of death represented the realms of survival and demise within a formation. While they had heard of people escaping through the gate of life, they had never heard of destroying the gates of life and death simultaneously.

Seeing further than most, Li Zhonghong asked directly, "Could it be that the gates of life and death of this formation are located in the very same place?"

Guo Yunming nodded and answered, "Indeed. The gate of life and the gate of death of this formation are in the exact same location. Therefore, trying to solve this formation using the methods applied to ordinary formations will not work."

The standard method for solving ordinary formations involved using the gate of life to escape or finding the formation core to forcefully shatter it. However, it was clear that none of them had discovered the location of the core. Thus, the only path to survival was the gate of life, but since the gate of life was entwined with the gate of death, only one option remained: to destroy both gates simultaneously. This, however, required the grand formation to be temporarily incapacitated so that the destruction of the gate of death would not exert any adverse effects upon them.

Knowing that the black miasma was extraordinary, they realized that surviving here required assigning those with high cultivation levels, as they could endure for longer periods. Yet, doing so meant that fewer high- cultivation individuals would be available to fight Li Yu in the end.

This was a dilemma. Li Zhonghong's mind was in turmoil, intensifying his suspicion that this gap might have been deliberately engineered by Li Yu after all.

Otherwise, why would every choice leave them struggling to advance further?

Yet, now that they had entered, did they have any room for regret? Under the current circumstances, biting the bullet and pressing forward was the only way to catch a glimmer of hope!

With cold eyes, Li Yu watched the faction split as clear divisions emerged among them. No one wished to be the one left waiting in the foremost formation, for none of them knew how long they would have to wait for the dawn to break.

There was a strong possibility that instead of waiting for dawn, they would be swallowed by the black miasma; and even if they did survive until the moment the formation was paralyzed, who could tell whether the minor formations within it would undergo further changes?

These were the two most obvious possibilities, alongside countless other unpredictable scenarios. After all, the Dao of formations was ever-changing; the slightest alteration could plunge one into a life-or-death crisis.

Shen Tang asked, "Is this also something you orchestrated intentionally?"

Li Yu replied, "Yes. Only by keeping them locked in mutual friction can we secure a greater chance of survival. None of them want to be stationed at the front, yet they are forced to deploy people there. In the end, the adversaries we face will be rendered even more useless, to the extent that the only ones posing a threat to us might be the members of the Li family."

Indeed, it unfolded precisely as Li Yu had anticipated.

The ultimate outcome would be the Li family using the Spirit-Controlling Gu to suppress the others, forcing them to obey commands.

Yet, would these people truly serve wholeheartedly?

Li Yu continued to explain, "Ever since they were threatened by the Li family, they have never been willing to risk their lives for them. Being oppressed by the Li family at the final hour, how could they possibly give their utmost sincerity? Therefore, once they have traversed all the formations and deployed personnel everywhere, the moment they strike together to paralyze the formation, they will withdraw in time to secure their own escape. They would rather perish together than pave the way for the Li family. Besides, once they escape from the formation, how would the Li family ever know?"

Shen Tang asked, "Can they truly be certain that the so-called Spirit-Controlling Gu will not detect their departure from the formation?"

Observing the figures within the formation, Li Yu smiled and said, "That is precisely where the other function of the black miasma comes into play—the power of bewitchment."

The Li family had assigned people to guard various positions, believing that the Spirit-Controlling Gu gave them absolute control over everyone. They forgot, however, that every seemingly impossible variable can be amplified thousands or even millions of times under the manipulation of a deliberate mind.

And Li Yu was that deliberate mind.

Possessing the capability, the requisite knowledge, and a cold, merciless heart, executing such tasks was nothing more than a trivial matter to him.

Leading the group through one minor formation after another, the Li family forced those left behind to remain by suppressing them with the Spirit-Controlling Gu. Having thus navigated the majority of the formations, they finally caught sight of the elders of the six major sects.

At this point, the elders of the six major sects had completely lost their composure. The difficulties they faced while traversing the formations far surpassed those encountered by the Li family; not only were illusion and maze formations superimposed, but formations targeting the state of mind were also introduced to test their mental fortitude.

Consequently, by the time the members of the six major sects reached this point, they had completely retreated into a state of self-sealed protection.

Knowing full well that they lacked the strength to walk out of the grand formation on their own, they had unveiled all their trump cards, sealing themselves away defensively in the hope that the Li family would eventually arrive to rescue them.

Looking at the members of the six major sects shielded by magical artifacts, the Li family members flashed looks of disdain. No matter how arrogant they had once been, were they not reduced to this wretched state now?

Li Zhonghong motioned for Li Xi'an to step forward and awaken them. Acknowledging the command, Li Xi'an stepped up and utilized the Li family's soul-awakening art to signal that their true spirits were now free to wake.

When the members of the six major sects saw the Li family members before them, disbelief still lingered in their eyes, making them suspect they were trapped in an illusion.

Eventually, the others had no choice but to use various methods to prove that reality had not been subverted. Only after such exhaustive efforts did the trapped elders truly believe it.

Upon confirmation, tears of old age streamed down their faces, leaving them momentarily speechless.

Following a bout of weeping and recounting their grievances, the group embarked upon the final leg of their journey. However, the number of survivors dwindled steadily.

By the time they completed all eighty-one formations, the remaining survivors consisted solely of a few members of the Li family and the elders of the six major sects.

In truth, the members of the six major sects had previously traversed three-quarters of the formations, only to be defeated by Li Yu's illusion formations, which shattered their mental resilience and left them incapable of pushing further.

Of all the paths in this world, no matter how arduous, none were truly difficult; the true hardship lay in seeing no end in sight and having no idea how long one must walk to reach it.

For cultivators, the hardships of cultivation could be endured, but what could not be borne was hopelessness.

Unbeknownst to them, Li Yu had activated another function of the black miasma. The miasma quietly seeped into the minds of each individual in an intangible form, ceaselessly bewitching them: "If not now, when? Once you break the formation, the Li family will be too preoccupied to care about you. Since they show you no benevolence or righteousness, why should you display absolute loyalty to them? The so-called Spirit-Controlling Gu is merely a temporary expedient of theirs; the moment Li Zhonghong dies and the mother gu perishes, the gu within your bodies will naturally die as well."