In his previous life, Lü Yang had painstakingly studied arrays, and the one engraved onto the Blood Sun Sword Pill was a sword array known as the "Blood River Sword Array".
Lü Yang had also designed three hundred and sixty array eyes. In his vision, if three hundred and sixty cultivators could take their places within them, the array's power would be fully unleashed.
He had already thought this through in detail.
After retrieving his Primal Qi Myriad-Soul Banner from Liu Xin, his plan was to have the banner spirit occupy the array eyes—saving effort and ensuring it could be carried around.
But for now, he could only maintain the main array himself.
"Open!" Lü Yang performed a Daoist hand seal. The Blood Sun Sword Pill hummed, and within the array, a celestial river roared from south to north, veiling the heavens without end.
At that moment, Lu Yuanchun, Zhao Xuhe, and the others were all swallowed by the Celestial River. The river surged violently, and boundless sword Qi slashed at every heartbeat, turning several cultivators of weaker strength into blooming blood mist after a single scream.
Lu Yuanchun's expression changed drastically.
"This is impossible! Master said he understands arrays, but I didn't give him time to set one up. How did he trap us in one?"
There was no way Lu Yuanchun could understand.
The Blood Sun Sword Pill was no ordinary artifact—it was an array artifact. An array artifact forms an array at the owner's thought, with no need for a physical setup!
Falling into it at this moment was completely beyond Lu Yuanchun's expectations.
After all, arrays imitate the wonders of heaven and earth, borrowing their might. They were reputed to be invincible against those of the same realm. Though he had confidence in his strength, falling into an array instantly shattered it.
Was his fate truly going to be sealed over such a misstep?
Thinking this, Lu Yuanchun's face grew darker, his former certainty gone, making Zhao Xuhe beside him increasingly uneasy.
"Senior Brother, this array…"
"Junior Brother, be careful. Today's matter may take a turn," Lu Yuanchun murmured, raising the Golden Light Treasure Mirror overhead to shield himself.
He still harbored a sliver of hope. In his mind, Lü Yang was merely a fortunate disciple with some opportunities—knowledgeable, yes, but with shallow cultivation. Even if he understood arrays, how skilled could he be? And the array before them… perhaps it was simply an ancient legacy?
But in the very next moment, Lü Yang shattered that final illusion.
With a cold expression, Lü Yang stirred the array with a light tap of his finger, and the originally clear Celestial River of Sword Qi took on a chilling crimson hue.
Heavenfiend Lifeblood Offering Radiance!
This divine ability, although incredibly powerful, came with a fatal flaw—it had to hit its target.
If it missed, it did nothing.
However, within the "Blood River Sword Array " Lü Yang had completely resolved this flaw: being inside the array meant soaking in the divine light itself.
In other words, once deployed, it could not miss.
Instantly, Lu Yuanchun felt heaven and earth tremble. He watched his junior brothers scream one after another, turning into human skins in the blink of an eye.
"No good!"
Lu Yuanchun's expression twisted sharply. Gritting his teeth, he rapidly altered his Daoist hand seals. Above him, the Qi of the Golden Light Treasure Mirror grew chaotic and violent.
One glance was enough for Lü Yang to understand.
"Detonating the artifact? Naive."
The Golden Light Treasure Mirror was clearly a superior artifact. If Lu Yuanchun detonated it, he might tear open a path through the array to escape.
But that assumed Lü Yang didn't understand arrays.
Ordinary arrays operate strictly within preset rules. But with an Array Master present, everything changed.
A true Array Master can adapt the array in real time, shifting between offense and defense. Not to mention, Lü Yang himself had created the array; he manipulated it as naturally as his own hand.
Thus, the moment Lu Yuanchun attempted to detonate the artifact, Lü Yang acted.
With one hand calculating the patterns and the other adjusting the array lines, he instantly scattered the explosion force—initially concentrated at a single point—across the entire array.
Once dispersed, its power dropped severalfold.
What would have breached the array now failed. The remaining force was even used against its owner, allowing the Celestial River to surge forward and engulf both Lu Yuanchun and Zhao Xuhe.
Zhao Xuhe didn't even have time to scream before collapsing into a withered husk.
"Impossible! This wretch… he's an Array Master!?"
Lu Yuanchun's face went pale as he felt his own flesh draining rapidly, unable to resist his impending fate.
"Blood Transformation Divine Light…"
Facing life and death, panic drowned his anger. His will broke; resignation replaced all resistance.
"Boom!"
The next instant, a jade pendant at Lu Yuanchun's waist shattered silently. Infinite splendor erupted from within, piercing Lü Yang's array at once!
Lü Yang's pupils constricted as he looked up.
In the sky, the radiant light condensed into a vast, emotionless face, serene yet imposing, forming high above the heavens.
Its expression was blank, its eyes as bright as sun and moon. Even a glance forced tears from Lü Yang's eyes, and his Qi was weakened about 70%—he nearly dropped from the sky.
Looking down from above, the voice that rang out was like thunder from a mountain:
"Impudent."
Though not loud, it carried an overwhelming weight, as if infused with the decree of heaven itself. To heaven and earth, Lü Yang seemed a hated existence—so much so that even the surrounding Qi recoiled from him.
The unseen pressure pressed upon Lü Yang like a mountain.
The ground beneath him cracked inch by inch.
Such a sight shook the entire Heaven Mending Peak.
Disciples in closed-door cultivation awoke, rushing out of their cave dwellings, staring up at the colossal face with terror.
"Greetings, Peak Master!"
"Greetings, Peak Master!"
The senior disciples recognized the visage instantly. Their scalps went numb, and they fell to their knees, kowtowing repeatedly.
The Master of Heaven Mending Peak!
Lü Yang finally understood the true identity of Zhao Xuhe's mysterious master: the Master of Heaven Mending Peak, a Foundation-Stage cultivator presiding over one of the Inner Sect's Four Peaks.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
As the words fell, the array map Lü Yang had painstakingly forged over decades began collapsing rapidly, large swaths of array patterns shattering like fragile glass.
Seeing this, Lü Yang could not help a faint sigh.
The gulf between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment was far beyond his imagination—his twenty years of effort amounted to nothing before a single rebuke from a Foundation-Stage cultivator.
A gentle word… with such destructive force?