While Ian Song and Lila Li were trapped in a twisted, overlapping pocket world, those who had chased after them—Mira Xuan, Damien Chi, Fletcher Toba and Diana Toba, along with their group of subordinates—were each trapped in other small worlds.
In one pocket world filled with magma and scorching heat, Mira Xuan stood alone on a rock, staring at the ever-rising lava below her feet. Her beautiful face was twisted with anger and worry—she was sure this array had to be another one of Ian Song’s tricks.
She’d tried brute force to break out of the pocket world and also attempted to contact Damien Chi with the Witch Heart Seal, but both efforts failed.
“Damn it!”
Just thinking about it made her grind her teeth in hatred toward Ian Song. Two times in a row, she’d been trapped by arrays—though she had no idea this time’s grand formation wasn’t his doing at all.
As for Damien Chi, he was thrown into a pocket world filled with slicing wind blades, forced to search for a way out while dodging the endless blades swirling everywhere.
Fletcher Toba ended up in a world of nothing but water. Even though his cultivation let him breathe underwater, as a land-dweller he couldn’t get used to it at all.
Then there was Diana Toba, trapped in a world of total darkness—so black she couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face.
Finally, the Out-of-Body experts of the Fire God Church and Witch God Church found themselves scattered in odd little pocket worlds, two or three to a group.
Not long after this batch of people fell into the Innate Grand Array, more and more cultivators arrived outside the valley—some recklessly charged into the mist and got themselves trapped, while others stayed outside to watch, playing it safe.
Inside the gray misty pocket world, Ian Song’s face grew visibly conflicted.
“Does Fellow Daoist Song have any concerns?”
Lila Li sensed his mood and asked.
Ian Song paused for a moment, then said seriously, “Saintess, if we want to escape, I’ll have to reveal a secret. If that secret gets out, it could mean disaster for me!”
Hearing this, Lila Li immediately understood—he was worried she’d leak his secret. She grew solemn and said, “Fellow Daoist Song, I can swear on Heavenly Tribulation that I’ll never reveal your secret to anyone.”
Swearing on Heavenly Tribulation is the heaviest oath in the cultivation world—no one jokes about it, and once it’s made, nobody dares break it.
Because breaking that oath means certain death by Heavenly Tribulation.
“Then please, Saintess.”
Ian Song didn’t hesitate and let Lila Li make her vow.
“Alright!”
Lila Li bit her finger, drew a blood sigil in the air, and solemnly intoned, “I, Lila Li, swear on my Heavenly Tribulation: I will never reveal Ian Song’s secret to anyone. If I break this oath, may I be struck down by heaven’s wrath and never reincarnate!”
As soon as she finished speaking, a divine light descended from the void, turning into a black talisman that sank into Lila Li’s brow. If she ever breaks her vow, that talisman will instantly destroy her soul.
Feeling the heavenly might from the divine light, Ian Song shivered inwardly, gaining a new respect for the laws of heaven. Lila Li also sensed the talisman’s power anchored in her sea of consciousness; though she’d volunteered the oath, she still felt a faint sting at Ian Song’s lack of trust.
Once the oath was sealed, Ian Song smiled. “Alright, since the Saintess has sworn, let me take you somewhere. Please give me your hand.”
Lila Li hesitated briefly, then offered her hand.
Ian Song gently grasped her soft, cool jade-like fingers. With a thought, he drew her into the Divine Temple.
Staring at the breathtaking starry expanse, Lila Li was so moved and shocked she forgot to pull her hand away. Curiously, she asked, “Where are we?”
Ian Song released her hand and said, “This is the interior of the Stellar Divine Temple.”
“Is this an immortal artifact?” Lila Li stared at Ian Song in shock. Only legendary spatial immortal artifacts could allow living beings inside.
Magic treasures are divided into treasure tools and spirit artifacts.
Above spirit artifacts are immortal artifacts. For example, the Prime One Church has a sect-protecting immortal artifact, but it’s just the lowest tier. Any artifact that can sustain living beings inside is at least high-grade.
If a high-grade immortal artifact ever appeared, not just the Prime One Church—even the Phoenix Heaven Church would fight for it at any cost.
No wonder Ian Song insisted on the oath. If she were in his shoes, even with an oath, she wouldn’t dare reveal such a secret—one leak could mean endless pursuit.
Her lingering discomfort instantly vanished.
Ian Song just smiled, neither admitting nor denying it was an immortal artifact. In truth, the Stellar Divine Temple’s rank far surpassed immortal artifacts—even divine artifacts. It was forged by the Star King himself, a true God-King weapon.
“Fellow Daoist Song, are you planning to rely on this temple to escape?” Lila Li asked, snapping out of her shock.
The temple could indeed shuttle between worlds and escape the pocket space, but Ian Song had already checked with the Temple Spirit—the cost was far too high, so he wasn’t planning to use it.
“Wait here for now. I’ll look for another way out.”
“Fellow Daoist Song, please send me back!” Lila Li suddenly said.
Ian Song blinked, then understood—Lila Li didn’t want to learn any more of his secrets, just in case she accidentally leaked something.
“Alright!”
Ian Song sent Lila Li back to the pocket world, then appeared in the Library Pavilion. Escaping with the Divine Temple would burn ten thousand top-grade spirit crystals.
That many spirit crystals could be used for time acceleration, letting Ian Song learn tons of formation lore.
“All books on formations, come to me!”
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Dozens of formation books shot over and landed in Ian Song’s hands.
“Time acceleration, one hundred times!”
With time sped up, Ian Song started studying the formation books one by one.
The Star King was a top boss in the God Realm; the formation books he’d collected were anything but ordinary. Every volume gave Ian Song new insights, and soon he was so immersed in the sea of formation knowledge that he even forgot why he’d come here.
While Ian Song was lost in formation study, outside in the valley covered by the Innate Grand Array—
The purity of spirit liquid in the Spirit-Liquid Pool had thinned to the extreme. At the same time, another tender pink claw burst from the shell, making the golden pillar in the sky even thicker and more dazzling.
More and more cultivators, unable to resist their greed, charged into the grand array and got trapped inside.
Meanwhile, the pocket worlds trapping Ian Song and the others began to change in mysterious ways.
For example, in Mira Xuan’s magma pocket world, the temperature kept rising. Even as a Deity Transformation expert, she found it hard to bear the heat pressing in from all sides, and sweat beaded on her face.
In the wind-blade pocket world, Damien Chi noticed the blades were getting faster and stronger. If it kept up, he might get chopped into meat paste.
As for Fletcher Toba in the water pocket world, the water’s density increased, and the crushing pressure put a huge strain on his body.
In Ian Song and Lila Li’s pocket world, the space kept shrinking and squeezing in. Lila Li’s face changed; she tried to lift her hand, but found even this simple movement was ten times harder than usual.