Ian Song watched as Yellow Mountain and Lydia Liu disappeared into the stone forest, finally withdrawing his gaze.
"Ian, where are we going now?"
Harriet Gu asked softly.
"Back to the Pristine Way Sect," Ian replied.
"Won't the army have people lying in wait at the Pristine Way Sect, hoping you'll walk right into their trap?" Harriet asked, worry in her eyes.
"I only hope they do!" Ian sneered, his eyes flashing with a sharp glint.
Half an hour later, Ian brought Harriet by Great Teleportation to a valley a hundred li outside the Pristine Way Sect.
The valley was barren, almost devoid of grass, but as Ian surveyed the area, a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.
"Ian, what are we doing here?" Harriet asked, puzzled.
"You'll find out soon enough!" Ian replied mysteriously, then began setting things up in the valley.
In the blink of an eye, Ian had dug nearly a thousand holes in the valley floor and along the cliffs.
Harriet grew even more puzzled at the sight.
Next, Ian took nearly a thousand top-grade spirit crystals from his Storage Ring and placed one in each hole, then filled them all in with dirt or stones.
"Harriet, come here!"
Ian waved for Harriet to come over.
At his words, she nodded and walked toward him. But the moment she stepped forward, the scene changed—the barren valley vanished, replaced by a boundless forest.
"Did Ian set up a formation here?" Harriet instantly figured it out, and her nerves faded. She stretched her legs and started searching for a way out.
But as time passed, Harriet began to panic a little. She had run for a full quarter of an hour, but the forest seemed endless—there was simply no way out.
In reality, the valley was so small she could have circled it in just a few breaths.
On a sudden impulse, she drew her sword and swung it.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Sword light flashed, and dozens of trees fell with a crisp snap.
She sheathed her sword and walked over to one of the fallen trees, touching the cut surface. The texture was astonishingly real—just like the real thing.
"Ian, what is going on here?"
A figure flickered, and Ian appeared at her side. He explained, "This array is a blend of eighteen formations, forming a separate pocket space. Everything you see, feel, and touch here can be considered real."
"That's incredible!" Harriet exclaimed, stunned.
Ian continued, "But the cost of setting up this array is huge. I used up more than a thousand top-grade spirit crystals, and it only lasts for a month!"
Spirit crystals are incredibly precious—even low-grade ones cost ten thousand taels of silver each. Top-grade spirit crystals are almost never sold, since their energy is so pure and concentrated that Martial Saints love to use them for cultivation.
If you had to put a price on them, each one would be worth at least a million taels of silver.
That means Ian spent ten billion taels of silver on this array—absolutely the most expensive formation in the world.
"All right, let's head back to the Pristine Way Sect!"
He took Harriet's hand again. With a flash, the two of them vanished from the formation.
Five li outside the Pristine Way Sect, there was a small grove.
At this moment, three middle-aged men sat cross-legged in the clearing within the grove.
"Old Ox, we've been waiting here for three or four days, and that kid still hasn't shown up. Maybe he won't come back to the Pristine Way Sect at all!" one man sighed.
"Not necessarily," Old Ox replied calmly.
"Lord Tianxi really thinks highly of that kid, sending three Martial Saints to kill a Grandmaster-level brat!" the third man complained. He had triangular eyes, and even when he smiled, he looked sinister.
"By the way, Old Ox, you're the one with all the connections—do you know why Lord Tianxi wants this kid dead?" the Martial Saint with triangular eyes pressed.
Old Ox was silent for a moment, then said, "I don't know the specifics. All I know is that Lord Tianxi is just following orders."
"Following orders? Could it be Elder Chu's command?"