From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 410 Crisis Amidst Difficulties in Breaking the Formation

Alright, let's get right back to the chaos!

We need to keep the story going, right?

Especially when things get intense.

The ground beneath my feet was no longer just shaking; it felt like the whole world was convulsing.

Dust and pebbles rained down from the cave ceiling, and the air was thick with energy that I could almost taste—a metallic taste, like licking a lightning rod in a storm.

My hand remained firmly pressed against that damned node, continuously channeling my spiritual energy; to be honest, this might be a matter of life and death.

That more powerful surge of energy was more than just a tremor; it felt as if the ancient heart of this damned immortal array had just awakened, and it was in a very volatile mood.

The runes engraved on the nodes beneath my palm suddenly began to glow, transforming from a soft gold into a blinding, almost aggressive white light.

The light was so bright that I had to squint, and I saw stars in front of my eyes.

Ouch!

It felt like looking directly at the midday sun.

Then came the noise—a sharp, mournful sound, like metal scraping against reality itself, that pierced straight into my skull.

Accompanying this sound was a deep, loud buzzing sound that vibrated in my bones, making my teeth chatter involuntarily.

This is not just a simple defensive mechanism being activated; the formation has unleashed its trump card.

"You think you can just swagger in and take the reward, little girl?" Bloodhawk's voice came from somewhere behind me, full of malice, and now perhaps tinged with despair.

He's still putting up a stubborn resistance, this cockroach.

I haven't had time to come up with a sharp rebuttal yet—after all, the most urgent task is more important, right?

—The space around me was distorted.

The air shimmered like the smog on a summer road, and then, "Bang!" everything froze.

One moment I had room to breathe, the next I was surrounded.

A thick, interwoven beam of pure pulsating energy appeared out of thin air, forming a cage around me.

They are not solid metal, but rather solidified light, gleaming with a strong and dangerous blue-white light.

Each energy beam was covered with extremely complex runes, which swirled and changed like living things.

They were perfectly joined together without a single gap, forming an ancient and terrifyingly powerful cage.

This wasn't just a simple barrier; it felt like the very essence of an array was trying to crush me.

And it actually started doing that.

Once the cage is formed, it begins to shrink.

It wasn't fast, but it was slow and unstoppable, like a giant python tightening its body.

The pressure was initially subtle, like being squeezed from all sides.

Then the pressure gradually increases.

My outer robe began to tighten, and the tearing sound was particularly loud in the sudden, tense silence.

My skin first stung, then became extremely painful, and then felt like it was being rubbed against a rough stone.

"Hmm!" I couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.

Breathing becomes something that needs to be done consciously.

Each breath felt like drawing air through thick mud; my chest felt tight and stuffy.

The energy beams pressed down on my shoulders, back, and arms, pushing them inward.

I felt my bones begin to creak under the pressure, and a deep, unsettling pain spread through my body.

It felt like being trapped in a collapsing house, with enormous weights pressing down on you from all sides.

The edges of my vision began to darken, and the light from the cage flickered slightly.

The situation is terrible.

It's really, really bad.

My attention began to waver, and the flow of spiritual energy delivered to the node became intermittent for a moment.

Fear, cold and sharp, tried to crawl out of my throat, but I suppressed it.

"No time to think about that, Xiaoyao! Focus!"

"Hahaha! Look at you now, trapped like a mouse!" Blood Eagle's triumphant laughter pierced the air.

This bastard.

Clearly, watching me struggle was the highlight of his miserable day.

"You think you're so smart, don't you? This ancient formation isn't something a nobody like you can break!"

Then, this despicable person decided to make me suffer even more.

He wasn't stupid enough to attack me directly while I was channeling my spiritual energy and surrounded by such a powerful force—even he probably knew that would backfire.

Instead, he did something that could have been worse.

He began attacking the cage.

I caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye; a blurry figure was holding up a seemingly malevolent artifact—a serrated black dagger dripping with sinister energy.

He fired beams of dark energy, not at me, but at the glowing energy beams of the cage that was confining me.

"Bang! Bang!"

Each impact caused the cage structure to vibrate violently.

Where the dark energy struck, the energy beams flashed violently, and the runes spun wildly.

This didn't break the cage—far from it—but it caused the pressure to fluctuate wildly.

After a while, the pressure on one side will ease slightly, and then the pressure on the other side will press down even more violently.

It's like being thrown into a giant, angry washing machine made of light and pain.

"Stop, you idiot!" Master Qingfeng's anxious voice rang out.

I risked glancing at him.

The old Taoist priest looked panicked; his usual composure was completely gone.

His Taoist robe was a little disheveled, and his hands moved quickly, forming a series of complex hand seals, trying to unravel the mystery of the cage.

"Why should I stop?" Blood Eagle retorted, firing another burst of energy.

"Bang!" The cage trembled, the pressure suddenly increased, and a sharp pain shot up my spine.

I gritted my teeth and tasted blood.

Did I bite my tongue?

Probably.

"If I can't get the treasure, she can't get it either! Let the formation crush her! Maybe in the process, the formation will weaken enough to give me another chance!"

Typical villain logic. Selfish, short-sighted, and extremely annoying.

My situation quickly went from bad to potentially fatal.

The suffocating pressure was bad enough; it threatened to crush my bones to powder.

Under such torment, trying to maintain the delicate process of channeling spiritual energy to the nodes is like threading a needle during an earthquake.

And now, thanks to Blood Eagle's "help," this "earthquake" still has unpredictable aftershocks, which could break that "thread"—and my spine—at any time.

Sweat poured from my forehead, stinging my eyes.

My muscles protested in pain.

Each breath was a heavy, labored gasp.

The nodes under my control are now beating erratically, reacting to the instability of the cage and my own wavering attention.

"Come on, Xiao Yao, hang in there! You've already traveled through worlds and been called a piece of trash, not to be crushed to death like an insect in this glowing cage!"

I tried to ignore the Blood Eagle's disruptive attacks, to shield myself from the searing pain, and to concentrate all my willpower on the node.

Maintain the flow of spiritual energy.

Find the weakness.

Break this damn formation.

At the same time, Master Qingfeng almost plucked out all of his beard.

“These runes… are different! They are indeed very ancient, but… somehow they’ve been distorted. All the standard methods for breaking the seal are useless!” He muttered to himself, gesturing patterns in the air with his glowing fingers, but the patterns vanished uselessly as soon as they touched the surface of the cage.

He tried to project a gentle, exploratory spiritual energy, but it was immediately bounced back, like water splashing off oiled steel.

"Master, can't you think of a way?" My voice sounded strained and hoarse.

He looked at me, his face full of helplessness.

I'm not used to seeing that expression on this knowledgeable old man's face; to be honest, it frightens me more than Blood Eagle's maniacal laughter.

"I...I'm trying, Xiaoyao! But this limitation...it's unlike anything recorded in ordinary books. It feels...like it's been deliberately altered, almost corrupted!"

It's corroded?

Great.

It's amazing.

It seems that a regular, ancient death trap wasn't enough; I also had to run into this "special edition."

Blood Eagle laughed again, clearly enjoying both Qingfeng Daoist's struggle and my struggle.

"Give up, old man! This is beyond your capabilities! She'll be crushed into mincemeat soon, and then I'll deal with you!" Another burst of energy struck the cage, and this time, a sharp cracking sound echoed through the cave.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the sound of the cage breaking.

It sounds more like... my ribs.

A dizzying, excruciating pain struck, and for a terrifying moment, my vision turned completely gray.

The flow of spiritual energy delivered to the node began to waver, and it looked like it was about to be completely interrupted.

The runes on the node were flashing dangerously.

"No!" I gasped, forcing myself back from the brink of collapse, using the last bit of strength I had left to maintain the connection, to survive in the suffocating embrace of the cage.

My body felt like it was being torn apart.

The pressure increased again, squeezing all the air out of my lungs.

Darkness crept in from the edge of my vision, and this time it lingered longer.

In the fog of pain and despair, I heard Master Qingfeng exclaim in surprise, his voice suddenly filled with a fearful realization, "Wait... this structure... the way these runes reject standard spells... it's similar to the lost..." His voice trailed off, but he stared wide-eyed intently at the cage, then quickly looked toward where I knew Ziling and Fairy Lin were, on the outskirts of this chaotic area.

He clenched his fists, looking completely helpless.

"if……"

Ugh... This damn formation!

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, my heart pounding like a drum.

An eerie light filled the air, and a suffocating sense of oppression permeated the atmosphere.

Honestly, I really regret making that boast that I could break this damn "Nine Revolutions Exquisite Immortal Array".

Now we're in a bind!

That old fellow, Master Qingfeng, used to talk a good game about how "this formation is infinitely profound and contains the ultimate principles of heaven and earth," but now he's just sitting outside the formation chanting incantations, unable to help in the slightest.

If it weren't for the fact that he gave me a few bottles of his treasured peach blossom wine, I would have dragged him in to suffer with me!

"Fairy Xiao Yao, be careful!" Zi Ling's voice carried a hint of tension.

This girl usually seems cold and aloof, but she's actually quite reliable when it matters.

I followed her gaze and saw a blood-red shadow darting out of the mist at an astonishing speed!

It's that Blood Shadow guy!

I cursed under my breath. This persistent bastard, I knew he'd come to take advantage of my misfortune.

This guy has been eyeing the treasures in the immortal array for a long time, like a fly attracted to rotten meat, impossible to shake off!

"Hmph, trying to take advantage of the chaos? Don't you know who I am!" I sneered, my spiritual power surging in my hand, conjuring a golden shield that barely blocked the Blood Shadow's sneak attack.

"boom--"

With a loud bang, my shield shook violently, my blood and qi surged, and I almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

That guy really went all out!

"Xiao Yao, don't get distracted!" Elder Xuanfeng's voice came from outside the formation, tinged with anxiety. "The nodes of the immortal formation are about to close; you must break them as soon as possible!"

I gritted my teeth and forcefully suppressed the surging blood and qi within my body.

Elder Xuanfeng is right. Now is not the time to get entangled with Blood Shadow. Breaking the formation is the key!

"Fairy Lin, stop him for me!" I shouted, focusing all my attention on the point in front of me.

As expected of the famously good-tempered Fairy Lin, without saying a word, she unleashed her magic weapon and engaged in a fierce battle with Blood Shadow.

Although her cultivation level was not as high as Xueying's, she was more agile, and for a time, Xueying could not do anything to her.

I took a deep breath, focused my mind, and began to unravel the problem at hand.

This node is incredibly complex, with interwoven runes that make my eyes dizzy.

Even more deadly, as I touched the node, the surrounding restrictions and mechanisms began to activate, and all kinds of beams of light, arrows, and blades came crashing down on me!

Damn it! This feels like falling into a meat grinder!

I dodged the attacks while trying to crack the nodes.

Sweat streamed down my face, soaking my clothes.

I felt my spiritual energy being rapidly depleted, and double vision began to appear before my eyes.

No, I can't fall! I must break this damned formation!

A strong will to survive surged within me, as if a force was supporting me and allowing me to persevere.

"Break!" I roared, pouring the last bit of spiritual power into the node.

"Click——"

With a crisp sound, the runes on the node shattered abruptly, and the surrounding attacks ceased.

I collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, feeling as if I had just escaped death.

But at least it's broken!

I looked up at the outside of the formation and saw that old fellow Qingfeng Daoist was looking at me with a gratified expression, as if he were the key figure in breaking the formation.

Pshaw! That old fox!