The Alliance Leader began explaining to Yang Han. After hearing the Alliance Leader's explanation, Yang Han finally realized he had stumbled into a formation crafted by Sovereign Heartless, called the Heartless Immortal-Slaying Devil-Devouring Array. Its strongest aspect was its ability to trap—even the Alliance Leader was no exception and unable to escape.
Even Immortal Sovereigns could be trapped here. Yang Han didn't believe that brute force alone could break this place.
"Who exactly is this Heartless Dao master?" Yang Han was quite interested in Sovereign Heartless, curious how someone could possess such skill to create a terrifying formation like this.
"The Heartless Dao was a figure from long ago, highly accomplished in formations but utterly cold and unfeeling. That's why people called him the Heartless Dao master. He didn't have many successors, but it turns out Sovereign Heartless is one of them—which is hard to imagine." The Alliance Leader sighed.
"Does this formation have some limitations? It seems like they can't make a move against us inside it?" Yang Han asked suspiciously.
"That's right. Although this formation is powerful, it requires four people to maintain it. If even one stops, the array weakens greatly. Even if you can't break it, I could force it open—but not now. They didn't expect me to enter the formation, so they definitely won't let anyone leave to deal with you." The Alliance Leader said.
"Are we just going to stalemate like this?" Yang Han realized even his Heavenly Eye couldn't break through this tangled, complicated formation. It was simply too complex, and fused with the power of four Immortal Sovereigns. To break it, you'd have to be stronger than any of them—but he wasn't.
"No. Given a hundred years, the array will weaken those inside, and then they can withdraw it." The Alliance Leader said.
"A hundred years? Are we just supposed to sit here and wait to die?" Yang Han muttered.
"That's why we don't have much time—we have to find a way out soon." The Alliance Leader said.
"This Heartless Dao grand formation really is formidable. Finding a way out won't be easy," Yang Han replied.
"I have a method, but you'll have to carry it out. It's extremely risky—if anything goes wrong, you could end up crippled, or worse, just an empty shell without a soul," the Alliance Leader said after some thought.
Yang Han asked curiously, "What method does the Alliance Leader have in mind?"
"This Heartless Dao formation is powerful, but it's not advanced enough to lock down a person's awareness. So, I'll use my power to help you create an Awareness Space. Once you're inside, you'll rely entirely on your consciousness to move around. My Awareness Space is special—you can use any of your own abilities, except for artifacts on your body," the Alliance Leader replied.
Hearing this, Yang Han thought of the Light Boundary. Back then, when he accidentally entered that place, he existed entirely as an awareness entity, while his body and artifacts remained inside the Sky-Piercing Tower.
"Well?" The Alliance Leader asked, seeing Yang Han lost in thought.
"I'm not afraid of danger," Yang Han replied, "but I'm curious—once the Awareness Space is formed, will I be able to find a way out?" He was eager to know how this awareness state related to the formation.
"As I said, the Heartless Dao formation can't control awareness. So, you can search within the awareness state until you find the deep subconscious of the four Immortal Sovereigns, then defeat them," the Alliance Leader explained.
"Defeat them? That sounds impossible. If I can't use artifacts, my strength in the awareness state is pretty low," Yang Han frowned.
"That's why I said it's dangerous—but not hopeless. What you'll face is their shallow subconscious state, and since they don't know I've created the Awareness Space, their awareness is enveloped. As long as they don't notice you, their subconscious is at its weakest—roughly the strength they had before breaking through to Immortal Sovereign, which means peak Emperor Realm. Stronger than ordinary peak Emperors, but not invincible," the Alliance Leader explained.
"You mean, their awareness strength inside is only at peak Emperor Realm?" Yang Han asked in surprise.
"Exactly—shallow subconscious. But if they notice you in the Awareness Space, they'll try to eliminate you there. At that point, you'll be in much greater danger—your awareness could be destroyed, leaving only your physical body behind," the Alliance Leader replied.
Yang Han understood what the Alliance Leader meant. If he compared it to his time in the Light Boundary, dying there would have meant his physical body would forever lie unconscious in the Sky-Piercing Tower. He quickly said, "Then please begin, Alliance Leader."
The Alliance Leader looked at Yang Han and said, "The Awareness Space I create with my artifact can only last one month, but inside, you can spend up to a thousand years. Awareness and reality have a time difference."
"A thousand years? That should be enough," Yang Han thought aloud.
"Are you really ready?" the Alliance Leader asked.
Yang Han nodded. The Alliance Leader looked at him and said, "Sit down, close your eyes, and listen to my voice."
Yang Han followed the Alliance Leader's instructions, slowly closing his eyes. He heard the Alliance Leader's voice by his ear, soothing like a lullaby, making him feel sleepy. As Yang Han drifted off inside the Alliance Leader's barrier, the Alliance Leader muttered, "I hope you awaken fully."
The four Immortal Sovereigns maintained their positions at the four corners of the formation. With Lynn Immortal Sovereign's shard as the array core, combined with their power and the guidance of Sovereign Heartless, they operated the formation, trapping both the Alliance Leader and Yang Han inside.
The four could communicate with each other. Sovereign Heartless said, "Now Yang Han has been put into a barrier by that Alliance Leader. We can't see what's happening inside, but in a hundred years, it'll be their end."
"Do you think the Alliance Leader will try to break the formation?" Lynn Immortal Sovereign asked curiously.
"Lynn Immortal Sovereign, without your artifact, maybe he could. But with your artifact powering the array, it can block him completely. Plus, the formation is surrounded by lightning—if the Alliance Leader does get out, he'll be struck and severely wounded. Either way, it's to our advantage," Sovereign Heartless said.
"Sovereign Heartless's formation really is impressive," Lynn Immortal Sovereign said, delighted by the explanation.
"A hundred years—just a hundred years. Even the Alliance Leader can't stop us. When the time comes, where will Sovereign Frost escape to? I don't believe that brat can hide a living person," Sovereign Heartless sneered.
"I'm not interested in the Heaven-Cold Seed—it's just that Sovereign Frost and Yang Han are so close. If he shows up now and disrupts our formation, what then?" Lynn Immortal Sovereign suddenly raised a concern: if Sovereign Frost attacked from outside, would it cause trouble?
Sovereign Heartless replied, "Don't worry, I've prepared for that. If someone attacks from outside, the array will weaken them. Right now we're each at a node in the formation—they won't find us. Let them try; if they manage to come in, even better. Saves me the trouble of hunting them down."
"Sovereign Heartless truly lives up to the name. That's perfect. When the time comes, I only want Yang Han—whatever else you all want, I won't interfere," Lynn Immortal Sovereign said with a smile.
"Rest assured, Yang Han will be yours," Sovereign Heartless replied with a grin.
They were still focused on how to deal with Yang Han and find Sovereign Frost after a hundred years, completely unaware that Yang Han had entered a place called the Awareness Space. Inside, it felt familiar—just like the Light Boundary. He could move and think, but couldn't use artifacts. "Even without artifacts, I have attribute bonuses. Hopefully I can handle those guys," Yang Han muttered to himself.
But Yang Han faced a problem: the Alliance Leader hadn't explained what the subconscious state looked like, or where it was. All he could see was a vast white mist, like a foggy day, with very low visibility.
"I'll just take it one step at a time," Yang Han muttered, then released a flock of Phantom Spirit Birds to search for the Immortal Sovereigns' possible whereabouts.
About two days later, Yang Han's Phantom Spirit Birds returned, having detected activity in four directions—each like a flickering light in a different corner.
"That must be the four directions they're stationed in within the formation. I'll try one first—hopefully they haven't noticed me," Yang Han thought, picking a direction and heading toward it.
Soon, Yang Han arrived before a flickering light circle, which radiated a glow. He looked at it and said, "Let's go in and see."
Yang Han stepped inside. What he saw next was astonishing—the Lynn Family estate, bustling with people coming and going. Even more incredible, he saw Quinn Lynn there as well.
At first, Yang Han thought he was seeing things—how could he end up at the Lynn Family estate? Then he realized this was an awareness world, and perhaps the subconscious was deeply attached to the Lynn Family, creating such a scene. Quinn Lynn had already been defeated by him, so the person before him must be just a construct of past awareness.
"This must be Lynn Immortal Sovereign's awareness. But finding Lynn Immortal Sovereign here will be tricky," Yang Han thought. With so many people, he had to avoid alerting Lynn Immortal Sovereign to his presence, so he planned to sneak into the Lynn Family estate and locate Lynn Immortal Sovereign's subconscious.
If these people were subconscious constructs, they seemed just as real to Yang Han. When he saw Quinn Lynn in the awareness world, Quinn Lynn looked at him in surprise. "Why are you at the Lynn Family estate?"
"Quinn Lynn, where is Lynn Immortal Sovereign?" Yang Han asked.
"Ridiculous! You came here to look for our Lynn Immortal Sovereign? You really don't know your limits!" Quinn Lynn snorted coldly.
"You won't know until you try," Yang Han said with a smile.
Quinn Lynn snorted again and stepped forward, ready to fight Yang Han.