Chapter 765
Clearly, Lu Yao's influence on the Book of Life and Death was growing deeper.
On the cliffs of Yin Mountain, treasures were scattered everywhere.
Zhi Tong had already sintered a brilliant relic that illuminated the underworld.
Lu Yao's Buddha form, bathed in the golden light of the relic, became increasingly solid and majestic, his aura rising steadily.
With Zhi Tong igniting his own power and the continuous influx of faith from the Western Continent, it was only natural that Lu Yao held the upper hand.
The Zhuxian Array floated behind the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor, seemingly lost in confusion.
Looking around, one could see layers of space overlapping, with mountains and rivers casting ethereal shadows.
Since entering the underworld, Zheng Fa had not seen the outside world again, but now he faintly glimpsed a path to life.
This was, of course, a sign that the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor had lost control of the Zhuxian Array.
After all, in the struggle for the Book of Life and Death, he had fallen to a disadvantage and naturally had no energy left to control the array.
...
In the Jiushan Realm, within the Ziwei Courtyard.
By the side of the Heavenly Emperor stood Senior Sister Zhang, Uncle Pang, and Xie Qingxue, among others.
Also present were the most elite disciples from the Academy of Talismans and Arrays.
Gu Chang and Mu Qingyan were among them.
"Let's try the first method of breaking the array."
Zheng Fa had brought back over two hundred possible solutions, and Senior Sister Zhang had gone through them one by one, discarding a quarter and keeping only those with a success rate above fifty percent.
With the innate Eight Trigrams at the ready, Senior Sister Zhang watched the light screen, prepared to deduce at any moment:
Breaking the Zhuxian Sword Array was a dynamic process.
With every step Zheng Fa took, the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor and the array would likely react.
Their task was to analyze the changes in the array displayed in the live stream, pooling their wisdom to find the most feasible next step.
Without this support team, Zheng Fa's confidence would have plummeted:
To crack such a treasure as the Zhuxian Array solely on his own... that would be underestimating the Heavenly River Venerable and the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor.
But with Senior Sister Zhang and her team, it was a different story.
They not only had the results from modern competitions—essentially the essence of an entire world.
They were also among the most outstanding "programmers" in the Xuanwei Realm.
Not to mention the Jiushan Array, the Jiushan Talismans were undoubtedly at the forefront of the Xuanwei.
If these people, along with the Xian Sword, couldn't handle the Zhuxian Array, then Zheng Fa... would have to accept it.
...
Taking advantage of the fierce battle between Lu Yao and the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor, Zheng Fa concealed himself in the white mist, his features blurred, his form dim, making it hard to discern reality from illusion.
The Xian Sword silently appeared in his palm.
Zheng Fa sat cross-legged, placing the Xian Sword on his knees, and began to cast spells, attempting to communicate with the Zhuxian Array.
Of course, others could not see Zheng Fa.
This action, however, likely did not escape the notice of the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor.
But the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor had no time to care.
He didn't even open his eyes, remaining focused on resisting Lu Yao's refinement.
...
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Zheng Fa grew bolder and fully attempted to break the array.
"Nothing, the array shows no response."
"Next one."
"Still not working..."
"This one seems to have some movement!"
"Note it down, let's try this spell."
In the Ziwei Courtyard, the Heavenly Emperor and Senior Sister Zhang exchanged information rapidly.
The disciples in the hall understood that this matter concerned the life and death of the Jiushan Realm.
But the more critical it became, the less they dared to speak, for if they were wrong, they could not bear the responsibility.
"Master, I was thinking, could we try..."
Senior Sister Zhang shook her head at the suggestion: "I've already deduced that, it won't work, but your idea is good."
The Heavenly Emperor glanced at Gu Chang, a hint of approval in his eyes.
Gu Chang had intentionally spoken up first.
As Zheng Fa's top disciple, he was already accustomed to discussing matters with Zheng Fa and the others, so being less formal was one thing.
On another note, Gu Chang was deliberately "making a mistake."
He had been present when Senior Sister Zhang was deducing that solution, so how could he not know it was unfeasible?
By speaking up now, he was merely setting an example for the other disciples.
The key was that this matter was not something he and Senior Sister Zhang had taught him.
This disciple had shed his previous timidity and was increasingly resembling a true disciple of the sect leader.
Sure enough, seeing Gu Chang speak up first and make a mistake without being reprimanded by Zhang Zhenren, the other disciples in the hall became more eager to express their opinions.
For a moment, it felt like everyone was sharing their thoughts.
...
While Zheng Fa was secretly breaking the array, the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor must have been aware:
Not to mention that as the "spirit" of the Book of Life and Death, he was intimately familiar with everything in the underworld.
Even now, Zheng Fa was still hiding with the Nine Nether Talisman, how could he possibly hide from him?
However, at first, he seemed unconcerned about Zheng Fa's actions, as Lu Yao was the real threat.
Though he had some power, in his mind, that power was unlikely to stir up much trouble.
The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor appeared almost disinterested, solely focused on resisting the onslaught of Buddha light.
After a while, Zheng Fa suddenly saw the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor abruptly open his eyes and look at him, causing him to halt his movements.
The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor's gaze was filled with anger and disdain.
The anger stemmed from the fact that he felt insulted, as if he and Lu Yao were both trying to seize his treasure, taking advantage of the situation.
The disdain... perhaps he was mocking Zheng Fa for overestimating himself, daring to covet the Zhuxian Array with such meager strength.
The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor stared at Zheng Fa, his expression cold, yet he made no move.
Zheng Fa couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor likely truly had no energy left to deal with him.
He boldly threw himself into the task, working openly and vigorously.
The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor watched coldly, his expression growing more furious, almost grinding his teeth.
Zheng Fa mused that if, previously, the Demon Ancestor had looked at him with some semblance of kinship towards the holder of the jade pendant, now he probably wanted to bury him alongside the original Heavenly River Four Veins ancestors...
All were traitors!
He could even sense a hint of mockery in the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor's expression, as if viewing a clown.
Following Senior Sister Zhang's guidance, Zheng Fa rotated through various strategies to break the array.
Two hours passed quietly, and suddenly, the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor's expression stiffened.
Behind Yin Mountain, the Zhuxian Array trembled slightly, silently.
Zheng Fa felt as if his Xian Sword had merged with the Zhuxian Array, and he seemed able to manipulate some of the array's functions.
He did it!
He looked up and saw the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor's expression turn frantic, his lips trembling, his eyes clearly conveying two lines of poetry:
"Children of the southern village mock my old frailty, how can I bear to face them as thieves!"
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 518: A Favor to Ask, All Thanks to Lu Yao
Chapter 518: A Favor to Ask, All Thanks to Lu Yao
Zheng Fa understood the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor's gaze all too well, even feeling a bit embarrassed from the heart:
After all, the Zhuxian Array was a treasure left to the Nine Nether by the Heavenly River Venerable.
Perhaps the Nine Nether had held the Zhuxian Array daily, reminiscing about the past.
Through this array, he might see the Heavenly River Venerable's visage and laughter from years gone by.
Zheng Fa's current actions felt a bit like barging in and telling the Nine Nether Demon Ancestor: "Let’s live well together; that’s more important than anything else."
...
The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor indeed found Zheng Fa to be an eyesore.
Not just Zheng Fa; he felt particularly uncomfortable looking at the Zhuxian Array... it felt tainted.
For a moment, he couldn't care less about Lu Yao; he stared at Zheng Fa in the mist, filled with anger and confusion.
He believed he understood Zheng Fa's background very well:
Years ago, he had collaborated with Zheng Fa to kill the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor.
Others naturally thought that was due to Zheng Fa's strength, but as the true perpetrator, he knew the truth. At that time, Zheng Fa was slightly stronger than those below the Dao Fruit level, but against any Dao Fruit, he had little chance of winning.
Later, Zheng Fa did impress him somewhat:
After all, Zheng Fa not only created the "Huangting Jing," a technique that combined three methods into one.
He also killed the Luo Sanxian of Haori Mountain with a single sword.
He had genuinely demonstrated combat power exceeding that of an ordinary Sanxian.
Yet he still believed he understood Zheng Fa very well.
After all, others didn't know, but he had long understood that the Xian Sword was in Zheng Fa's hands.
Moreover, he was the only one aware of the matter regarding the Yin-Yang Fish jade pendant.
He viewed Zheng Fa as an assistant, a tool, even a conspirator, never believing this person could escape his control... until Zheng Fa snatched away his Zhuxian Array.
The Zhuxian Array slowly floated before him, as if wanting to abandon its old master and leap into Zheng Fa's embrace.
The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor's anger grew deeper.
He sent a sliver of his consciousness toward the Zhuxian Array.
The Zhuxian Array ceased its movement, hovering in mid-air.
The Nine Nether Demon Ancestor looked at Zheng Fa in the mist, coldly sneering: No matter what means Zheng Fa used to seize the Zhuxian Array,
He was now far stronger than Zheng Fa, with hundreds of thousands of years of ritual training, and was more familiar with the secret methods of controlling the array passed down from the Heavenly River.
Zheng Fa could not simply take it away!
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