Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Forbidden Array of Disruption

With a sudden bang, every stage was engulfed in a blinding light, so dazzling that nothing could be seen. The entire audience shielded their eyes. Yet the cultivators upon the stage could not help but gaze at the dueling ground; given their cultivation, such flashes could hardly force them to avert their eyes.

Madam Wang gave a slight shake of her head and sighed softly, “Alas.”

As the light faded, the armored shell had vanished, leaving Li Mu standing alone at the center of the stage. His garments were scorched in places, but his expression remained unchanged, as though he had suffered no injury at all.

The force of the Lightning Spear had utterly shattered the armored shell, but the remnants of its power were insufficient; Li Mu had managed to defend himself with his shield.

Wang Qi gasped, his body tense. “He’s not dead?”

He was filled with disbelief. He had been certain that under the Lightning Spear, both the armor and Li Mu would be destroyed, leaving no hope of survival. Yet Li Mu remained, seemingly unharmed.

“Hah, even if he’s still alive, does he think he can withstand another of my strikes?”

Wang Qi spoke in anger, waving his hands as he unleashed another thunderous blast.

Like the Earth Armor technique, the Lightning Spear required no incantation. The Thunder-Guiding Rod, much like a fire gourd, drew upon the power of the heavens, channeling lightning once it had absorbed enough energy. But the Lightning Spear could only be used once per battle.

As if anticipating Wang Qi’s move, Li Mu’s body shifted. With a swift activation of his Wind Boots, he darted several meters away.

Yet even so, the momentum of the Thunder Blast was immense; several bolts struck Li Mu, leaving his hands instantly blackened.

Li Mu did not pause, but raced madly across the dueling ground.

“Run, then! Let me see you run!” Wang Qi’s face was livid, and he hurled one Thunder Blast after another at Li Mu.

But Li Mu continued to dodge, weaving and turning across the field.

After a while, Li Mu was battered and bruised, his entire body marked by lightning. Yet the Thunder Blast was a wide-area technique; each bolt individually was not overwhelmingly powerful, and he could still move freely, though pain wracked every part of his body.

His trouble was that he could not counterattack; should he stop, he would be engulfed by the Thunder Blast.

It seemed the outcome was certain, and the audience erupted in noise once more.

“There’s nothing left to see. Sooner or later, Li Mu will be struck down. I don’t believe a mere novice cultivator could possibly outlast Wang Qi!”

“To have resisted the Lightning Spear at all is impressive enough. The conditions are far too harsh; he’s only at the initial stage, after all.”

“I see no one here who could withstand Wang Qi. And who knows where he got such a powerful artifact from?”

On the platform, Madam Wang’s brows were tightly knit.

Wang Qi’s hands did not pause, though his heart was filled with resentment. “Damn it, how can Li Mu be so slippery? At this rate, I’ll run out of power before he does. I can’t let this continue.”

After several fruitless Thunder Blasts, Wang Qi finally stopped.

He sneered, “Heh, I didn’t expect you to have such cultivation. Is it because Shen Bingxue is hard for you to forget?”

Li Mu slowed, though he did not stop completely. The mention of Shen Bingxue caused a ripple in his heart. “Shen Bingxue? Apothecary Shen... How is she now?”

“She? Still hoping for you and that alchemist to save her. Hah, but it seems that hope is in vain.”

A faint black mist appeared on Wang Qi’s face. If Ye Yibai were here at this moment, he might have noticed something amiss—but he was not present, and no one except the nearby Li Mu paid it any mind.

“You dare use that?” Li Mu cried out, realizing Wang Qi intended to use the arts of the heretics.

“Why not?” Wang Qi laughed loudly, “I’ve been prepared for this.”

As he spoke, Wang Qi tossed out a round object. Instantly, a thick mist arose, completely enveloping the stage.

“What’s happening?”

“What’s going on? Is this a Cloud Mist Technique?”

The cultivators below the platform were bewildered. Those who remained calm quickly sent out their spiritual senses, but they soon discovered that even their senses were violently disrupted—they could see nothing at all.

Even the cultivators on the platform, including Madam Wang, found the surveillance array that had been set up over the dueling grounds was also affected. They could only see the vague shapes of the two onstage; their words and their techniques were completely obscured.

The stage was several dozen miles away, and the spiritual senses of cultivators in the Vein-Training stage could not reach that far. They relied entirely on the array to follow the duel.

“What are you doing?” Li Mu cried, equally confused.

Wang Qi laughed with manic glee. “I’d planned to save this for my final move, but why not use it now? Let you see—this is a disruption barrier. Even cultivators at the Vein-Training stage can’t see through it. Now die!”

A disruption barrier.

So it was a forbidden array. That meant Wang Qi had thrown out an array device.

Array devices were often used by array masters who had no time to set up a formation during battle. The formation was inscribed onto a jade token, maintained with spirit crystals, and activated with a burst of true energy. However, arrays from such devices were usually much smaller and weaker than those set up by hand.

“So you’re an array master?” Li Mu asked in surprise.

Wang Qi sneered, “Indeed. I don’t refine pills, I don’t draw talismans, and I’m not much good at forging artifacts. But if you think I’ve spent decades doing nothing but cultivating, you’re quite mistaken.”

He truly hid deeply, Li Mu thought to himself. None of the information tokens, nor even the heretical techniques, had given any hint that Wang Qi was an array master.

On the platform, Madam Wang had risen to her feet.

She gazed at the dueling grounds within the city, her expression grave. “Something unforeseen has occurred—the match is hereby suspended.”

Master Jade, standing beside her, shook his head. “Impossible. Arrays are permitted in the competition; Wang Qi is not breaking any rules.”

Madam Wang snorted. “There will be trouble. The Jade Iron Society cannot allow such things.”

Master Jade shook his head again. “There will be no trouble, as long as only disciples of the Jade Iron Sect are restricted from certain techniques. Other cultivators are not bound by these limitations, and you know that well. Madam Wang, you’ve attended many Jade Iron events—why do you always seem so partial? It was the same last time, and now again?”

“So what? I am one of the sponsors, and that gives me authority here.” Madam Wang shot Master Jade a glance, then turned to leave.

“Lord Ye and Lord Qian are both absent. We have authority too, so I must disagree,” Master Jade replied.

The other sect leaders looked on as the argument unfolded, but none intervened.

Master Jade fixed his gaze on Madam Wang. “Madam Wang, if you care so much for Li Mu, why not trust him? It’s only a disruption array. Do you really believe he’s doomed to die?”

Madam Wang sat silently, saying nothing.

She lowered her eyes, troubled. It was only a disruption array—why did she feel so uneasy? Master Jade’s words might be reasonable, yet she could not shake the sense that Li Mu was about to lose, perhaps even to die. Why was this?

She could not say, but Li Mu understood: Wang Qi was certain to employ heretical arts.

Wang Qi was not only an array master—he was also a practitioner of forbidden techniques.