Cai Junyang raised his sword to block as Peng Shaoqing and Su Xinyue charged in, successfully halting his advance.

Cai Junyang now seemed to have three opponents, but he was fearless, roaring, “Third form of the 19 Star Sword, Strike of Unity and Parting!”

The nineteen sword lights fused into three, attacking his three assailants, who were unable to withstand the strike and were sent flying. But Cai Junyang’s face momentarily turned red. The 19 Star Sword was a powerful art, but it consumed a fierce amount of energy. At his current cultivation level, using it was a great burden.

His attack having worked, Cai Junyang prepared to retreat, but he saw two more smiling students break out of the formation and rush ahead of him.

“Stay right there!” Cai Junyang swung his sword, “Fourth form, Parting Slash!”

The two students were instantly blown away, howling in pain.

But this momentary distraction allowed Long Dao’s group of three to lunge back into the fray, and as they battled, neither side was able to get the upper hand.

Peng Yaolong’s eyes gleamed with a savage light, and he suddenly turned to look at Qin Liang, whose eyes were roving the battlefield as he pondered something.

Peng Yaolong whispered, “Kid, I know that you’re also going to break the formation. I’ll remember your kindness if you help me break out.”

Qin Liang mentally shivered as he looked at Peng Yaolong. Peng Yaolong coldly said, “You don’t have the strength to get through. Even Wei Tianchong is better than you. Even if you managed to get in there first, the True Person would probably pick Wei Tianchong over you!”

Qin Liang inhaled and said, “One thousand coins!”

“I swear on my Heart Demon that if I become True Inheritor, I’ll give it to you!”

“Deal!” A moment later, Qin Liang really did break free, helping Peng Yaolong as he did.

The moment Peng Yaolong was free, he rushed over to Meng Shixue and began to pull off the vines binding her, laughing, “This True Inheritance is mine! Shixue, hold them down while I break through!”

“In your dreams!” As Peng Yaolong spoke, another person flew out, thrusting their flashing sword at him.

“Ye Tianshang!” Peng Yaolong angrily roared.

But Ye Tianshang didn’t understand the Dao of Formations, so how had he broken free?

“Out of my way!” Peng Yaolong threw a punch in response to Ye Tianshang’s sudden attack.

The howling fist gale pushed Ye Tianshang back.

Among the students, Peng Yaolong was the only one at the Mortal Shedding Realm.

Although he hadn’t been in this realm for long and lacked powerful spell arts because he walked the path of the domineering body, the cultivation realm alone came with a huge power boost. Even Tang Jie was no match for him in a duel, let alone Ye Tianshang.

As he knocked Ye Tianshang back, he snorted, “You’re no match for me.”

He sprinted forward.

But to his surprise, Ye Tianshang laughed, “Then what about bringing in a few more?”

He swung his sword, and light burst forth, snapping the restraints of several other students.

The moment these students broke free, they charged forward.

They naturally weren’t Ye Tianshang’s people, so they wouldn’t make trouble for Peng Yaolong for Ye Tianshang’s sake. But they also wanted the True Inheritance and would sprint forward for all they were worth for it, forcing Peng Yaolong to go and make trouble for them.

Sure enough, when Peng Yaolong saw this, he had to turn around and unleash a salvo at these students, pushing them back. He knew that this would make everyone angry, but the Nine Palace Heart Ring was just ahead, and it wasn’t as though he specialized in speed. He could only push back any person who tried to get past him.

As he stopped, Ye Tianshang seized the moment to charge.

But just as he rushed past Peng Yaolong, he heard a rush of wind behind him. Ye Tianshang turned around and swung his sword, cutting down an arrow shot at him by Long Dao. This arrow had forced Ye Tianshang to stop, and Long Dao used the chance to run at the Nine Palace Heart Ring. But he also could only make it a few steps before he was stopped by Cai Junyang, who was in turn stopped by Meng Shixue.

A chaotic melee ensued.

Everyone wanted to get through the Devil Crushing Path, but they didn’t want the others to get through, so the battle became like a game of mahjiang. One had to keep an eye on the player who had gone before, on the player going next, and also on the opponent on the opposite side, and next to the players was the crowd, placing bets, causing trouble, even snatching up tiles…

His sword flashing, Cai Junyang put on the most dazzling show. He had not had his spiritual energy absorbed by the spirit-draining formation, and was full of both physical and magic power. On top of this, the 19 Star Sword was a secret spell of the Divine Firmament Sword Classic, possessing peerless power.

He was at the very front of the pack, lashing out with his sword again and again and filling the air with starlight. He charged out of the flower formation all alone and made his way straight for the Nine Palace Heart Ring.

His heart surged with excitement as he neared, but at this moment, Long Dao bellowed, and a thunderclap exploded in his ears. If Tang Jie had been here, he would have realized that this was none other than the person who had once tried to kill him while he was boarding the flying boat.

Cai Junyang’s entire body shuddered. His spiritual energy scattered, and his feet no longer moved so agilely.

But after this roar that had caused Cai Junyang to stop, Long Dao turned white in the face. This sonic attack had also been rather taxing on him.

Peng Yaolong charged out and hammered a fist into Cai Junyang’s back. Cai Junyang vomited blood and fell to the floor while Peng Yaolong turned around and thrust out a palm, creating a wind that swept everyone back, giving him enough time to jump into the Heart Ring.

After all, he was the strongest of everyone here, and with his Apex Combat True Astral, he didn’t fear the combined attacks of others. He charged forward while holding out against everyone’s attacks, withstanding even Ye Tianshang’s Galefury Sword without stopping.

But as he was about to enter the Heart Ring, boom! Peng Yaolong’s stalwart body bounced back.

“This is…” Peng Yaolong was startled.

Su Xinyue’s sharp eyes swiftly noticed something suspicious. “There’s a guardian seal! We have to break through it to get in!”

“I’ve never heard of the Nine Palace Heart Ring having a protective seal,” a student said.

“Tang Jie must have laid it down,” Peng Yaolong said, grinding his teeth. He was on the verge of success but had been refused at the door, so his anger was easily imaginable.

“Then what do we do?” a student asked.

“You need to ask? We destroy it, of course,” Su Xinyue replied. “Let me. I can destroy it!”

“Forget about it. Let me do it. You would probably just be opening the door for yourself, right?” someone jeered.

Su Xinyue was furious, but at this moment, Peng Yaolong stood back up and said, “Whatever kind of seal this is, let’s destroy it first!”

He roared, circulating energy into his fist, and punched at the invisible seal.

There was a tremendous bang, but the seal was unmoved. Meanwhile, there was a trickle of blood on Peng Yaolong’s fist.

“Let me!” Cai Junyang came forward and hacked at the seal, but it still didn’t budge.

The students began to barrage the invisible wall with attacks, and there was a metallic clatter as sparks flashed, but whatever that seal was made of, it was utterly impenetrable.

“What a strong seal! How did Tang Jie lay it down?” Su Xinyue was stunned.

She had no idea how Tang Jie would be capable of laying down such a strong seal. A seal of this power would need many materials.

Where would Tang Jie have gotten so many materials?

Su Xinyue looked back, but she saw that the place where Tang Jie had been lying was empty.

A chill traveled up Su Xinyue’s back.

He was gone!

He was actually gone!

By this time, Peng Yaolong, Long Dao, and all the other students were working together on destroying the seal. It seemed like they wouldn’t be fighting against each other until the seal was undone. Su Xinyue found herself growing more and more alarmed. She vaguely sensed that there was a problem, but she couldn’t figure out where.

“Wrong… wrong…” Su Xinyue shook her head and stepped back. “There must be a problem here!”

She lowered her head and began to think.

Countless scenes flashed through her mind: Cai Junyang appearing, Tang Jie’s fall, the breaking of the spirit-draining formation…

Wait!

The spirit-draining formation?

Su Xinyue’s heart went cold as the words she had told to Peng Yaolong rang out in her mind: “We’re currently in a chain formation, and I can only recognize two of them. Besides the energy-draining formation, there’s also the Eight Desolations Illusion Formation, the one that was used in the Valley of No Return to hold all of us…”

“The Eight Desolations Illusion Formation!” Su Xinyue blurted out.

Yes, they had broken out of the spirit-draining formation, but where was the Eight Desolations Illusion Formation?

Why hadn’t it continued to work on them, imprisoning them?

Or… was it already working?

Her pupils widened, and her entire body began to shake.

But if that was true, wasn’t this all an illusion?

No, impossible. Tang Jie hadn’t reached that level in the Dao of Formations yet. There was no way his formations could affect the mind!

Su Xinyue firmly rejected this idea.

But if not, what was going on here? What was the explanation for that seal?

Su Xinyue grew more and more puzzled. Growing anxious, she formed a spell. “A clear heart sees the truth! Let nothing hide from my sight!”

Her eyes shone with a divine light as she looked around.

A formation practitioner had to learn spells to break through illusions, and the Truthseer spell was such a spell. Although it was useless against high-tier illusion formations, it was still quite effective against lower-level illusion spells.

As Su Xinyue looked around with the Truthseer spell, she should have been able to see through all illusions, but when she looked around, she saw that everything was real.

How could that be?

Was this not an illusion formation?

Or had Tang Jie’s illusion formation reached a level that the Truthseer could no longer see through?

No!

There was no way he could have reached this level.

Peng Yaolong and the others were still attacking the seal, accompanied by constant flashes of light and the clatter of steel. Someone shouted, “The seal is loosening! I can hear it shuddering!”

Everyone cheered and attacked even harder.

“Shuddering”?

Su Xinyue froze.

Why would a seal shudder?

Hold on!

Su Xinyue suddenly realized something. She recalled that when she arrived, there had been a giant golden rock spanning the Devil Crushing Path.

That was the Heaventopple Stamp!

But where was the Heaventopple Stamp now?

Looking around, she couldn’t see it anywhere.

“Oh no!” Su Xinyue instantly realized what was going on.