Chapter Fifty-One: Marching Out

In the depths of the darkness, a wry smile appeared on Ye Cheng’s delicate face. He truly had no clue how to break this formation and could only pin his hopes on Old Mu.

After a moment, Old Mu’s voice sounded again: “There are two ways to break this formation. The first, as I mentioned before, is the most direct—force. Shattering the formation with absolute power is the quickest method, but only if you have enough strength to overwhelm its core. As you are now, I’m afraid you’ll have to rely on another, more subtle approach.”

“What approach?” Ye Cheng frowned, pondering for a moment. Yet within this darkness, he could find no tangible point of entry, no clue at all as to what Old Mu might mean by a ‘subtle’ method.

“If you cannot see, then use your heart to sense,” Old Mu replied.

“Use my heart?” Ye Cheng was even more perplexed.

“Every person possesses an inner eye. Though formless, it truly exists. Use your heart to sense your surroundings. Focus all your spirit and attention on every change in the environment around you. Cast aside all stray thoughts. Perhaps then, you’ll find a way out of this formation.” Old Mu’s voice was calm and measured.

Hearing this, Ye Cheng understood what he should do. Without further delay, he relaxed his tense stance and slowly sat down cross-legged in the darkness, closing his eyes tightly.

His posture was identical to how he usually cultivated and absorbed vital energy—the only difference was that normally, he would circulate the Devouring Spirit Technique, and a faint aura of devouring power would manifest around him, drawing in the energies of heaven and earth. But now, as Ye Cheng sat, there was no trace of that devouring force; he simply sat still and silent.

At first, Ye Cheng’s mind was still cluttered with stray thoughts. Because of this, he couldn’t calm his heart—a fallen leaf disturbing the still surface of his mind, sending ripples across the lake of his heart. The darkness remained unchanged, impenetrable, and still.

But as time passed, half a day slipped by quietly. During this time, the last vestiges of distraction were gradually set aside. As these thoughts faded, the ripples in Ye Cheng’s heart grew calm and still. He drew all his spirit, energy, and mind together, truly sensing every subtle shift in his surroundings.

Sensing this change in Ye Cheng, Old Mu’s face, within the jade, flickered with surprise; yet soon after, a look of appreciation appeared at the corners of his mouth. He hadn’t expected Ye Cheng to settle his heart so quickly.

At last, the world of darkness began to change. Under Ye Cheng’s perception, the dark space was no longer static but alive. Threads of darkness flowed and converged, weaving together into immense curtains that enveloped everything for hundreds of yards around.

Focusing intently on these changes, Ye Cheng became aware of a single point of light brightening somewhere within the shifting darkness—a glimmer that stood out strikingly in the gloom.

Sensing this light, Ye Cheng slowly stood and began to walk toward it, step by step, his eyes never opening. He relied entirely on this newfound sense, for he knew that if he opened his eyes, the light would vanish, and he would be lost in darkness once more.

As he moved, the light gradually grew larger. It was impossible to tell how long he walked in the darkness before finally reaching the source of the light. Without hesitation, he stepped forward.

With that step, dazzling brightness poured down as if from the heavens, a world apart from the darkness before. Though Ye Cheng’s eyes remained closed, he could feel the change—the blinding light was no longer the impenetrable blackness. Realizing this, he knew he had succeeded in escaping the formation.

Suppressing his joy, Ye Cheng’s tightly closed eyelids fluttered before slowly opening. The sudden brilliance flooded in, and, after so long in darkness, forced his eyes to squint.

After a brief moment of adjustment, Ye Cheng could finally see the scene before him—and it was not what he’d expected. Spreading out before his eyes was a vast open space. On the stone walls, he noticed large patches of black stone—so hard that even a powerful cultivator would hesitate to claim they could shatter it. Yet now, the stone bore marks of being cut, the surface smooth and even, clearly the work of some mighty expert.

“How powerful must one be to achieve this?” Ye Cheng marveled silently. He could hardly believe that someone had managed to hew such a massive chamber from this place.

Letting his gaze wander, Ye Cheng did not see Nan Gongxue anywhere. He could not tell whether she was still trapped in the formation or had already gone ahead of him.

Scanning the area, Ye Cheng failed to spot Nan Gongxue, but he did see, at the far end of the open space, four long, shadowy passageways, their destinations unknown.

“Boy, take the passage on the far right!”

As Ye Cheng hesitated over which path to choose, Old Mu’s voice rang out in his mind.

Startled, Ye Cheng did not question further. He immediately darted toward the passageway on the far right and slipped inside.

Along the stone walls of the corridor, at regular intervals, were luminous stones lighting the deep, silent tunnel. As Ye Cheng advanced, he encountered many branching paths leading elsewhere—clearly, this was a maze.

“Go straight ahead. Do not stray into any side passages,” Old Mu’s voice reminded him.

Heeding Old Mu, Ye Cheng did not pause at the junctions but pressed on swiftly in the indicated direction.

After several minutes of running, Ye Cheng’s eyes flashed, and he suddenly came to a halt. He sensed an intense surge of energy ahead.

“Something good!”

The surge made Ye Cheng’s heart pound. Unable to restrain his excitement, he sped forward. As he drew closer, he saw up ahead a stone chamber.

The waves of energy were emanating from within that room.

Chapter 51 — End of Formation.