You're Kidding Me

At this moment, the crowd instantly scattered. Enduring the overwhelming, churning cramps in their stomachs, they frantically searched the great hall for the so-called array core.

However, there were no traces of an array core in the hall; they could not even sense the presence of an array.

Even so, refusing to give up, everyone released their divine sense to sweep the area.

How could there be nothing? Everyone was on the verge of being poisoned to death!

If it weren't for the fact that cultivators naturally abstained from mortal food, they probably wouldn't have been able to hold it in by now.

Yet, some disciples who had consumed spiritual herbs and immortal fruits were now looking thoroughly green in the face. What a joke!

Meanwhile, Wu Qiandu led two Tribulation Transcendence realm supreme elders toward the depths of the hall, attempting to find a flaw in the array.

Having lived for nearly ten thousand years, she had seen countless bizarre ancient grand arrays. Yet, no matter how she probed, she could not find the slightest trace of an array core. Instead, the cramps in her stomach grew more severe, the circulation of her Dao principles became increasingly sluggish, and the unease in her heart grew heavier.

Standing in the center of the hall, Ye Chuan also put on an act, furrowing his brows.

"Strange, the patterns of this array defy all logic, and there isn't even the slightest aura of an array core. Who laid down this poison..."

"No, this isn't right at all. What potent poison." Ye Chuan groaned, "Ouch, my whole body hurts. The person who planted this poison really has some skills. I bet he's very handsome, too."

He even cast a glance at the people from the Ten Thousand Poisons Holy Land, looking as if he suspected they were the ones who did it.

Wu Qiandu glared at him, understanding Ye Chuan's implication. How could it possibly be her own doing?

At this moment, however, Ye Chuan's divine sense had already enveloped the entire great hall, without causing the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy or a single ripple in space.

The dazzling array of ancient divine weapons, defensive spiritual treasures, and cultivation method jade slips on the white jade shelves along both sides vanished silently like flowing water, all swept into his spatial backpack.

A backpack really was a wonderful thing.

In the span of a single breath, dozens of white jade shelves that were originally packed full instantly became completely empty. Not even a speck of jade slip dust or the spiritual glow of a magical treasure was left behind. It was so clean that it looked as if nothing had ever been placed there.

The crowd in the hall, their minds unsettled by cognitive contamination and entirely focused on finding the array core, completely failed to notice anything amiss.

It wasn't until a disciple, fighting through his stomach pain, reached out to grab a Realm-Breaking Shuttle from a shelf and grasped nothing but thin air. He froze for a moment.

"The t-treasures! The treasures on the shelves are all gone!!"

This scream instantly plunged the entire great hall into dead silence.

Everyone whipped their heads around, their eyes uniformly locking onto the white jade shelves on both sides. Upon seeing the row of empty shelves, everyone froze in place, their expressions shifting from greed to sheer horror.

"What is going on?! They were just here!"

"Impossible! With so many of us watching, how could they all disappear in an instant?! It's an illusion! It must be an illusion from this array!"

The disciples instantly erupted into an uproar, panicking and losing their wits.

The negative effects of the cognitive contamination had already left them unnerved. Now, with the treasures vanishing out of thin air right before their eyes, they were utterly convinced that they had fallen into a terrifyingly powerful ancient illusion array, unable to distinguish reality from illusion.

Wu Qiandu instantly rushed back. When she saw the bare shelves, her face turned ashen, and her divine sense swept overwhelmingly across the entire hall.

But let alone the traces of the magical treasures, she could not find the slightest spatial fluctuation or lingering spiritual energy. It was as if those treasures had never existed in the first place.

In her nearly ten thousand years of life, she had never witnessed such a bizarre situation!

"This array... can actually convert reality into illusion and erase physical objects out of thin air?!"

Wu Qiandu's voice trembled, the unease in her heart reaching its absolute peak.

She knew very well that an array capable of such a feat was definitely not something she could contend with. If they stayed any longer, let alone snatching treasures, the entire team from the Ten Thousand Poisons Holy Land would perish here!

But when she turned her head to look at Ye Chuan, she saw him still clutching his stomach, looking weak and heavily affected by the array, barely able to stand steady.

In an instant, the greed at the bottom of Wu Qiandu's heart suppressed that lingering unease.

This kid was currently in terrible shape, barely able to protect himself. It was absolutely impossible for him to be behind this.

Moreover, with the hall in utter chaos and the array's influence growing stronger, it was the perfect time to strike!

As long as she killed this kid and seized the heaven-defying secret technique he used to slay Wu Cang, what did it matter if they lost these magical treasures?

At this thought, a gleam of ruthless murderous intent flashed in Wu Qiandu's eyes. She inconspicuously shot a subtle glance at the two supreme elders beside her.

The two elders instantly understood. Under the guise of comforting the panicked disciples, they quietly dispersed to the east and west sides of the hall. From their fingertips, dark green toxic threads as fine as hair shot out, silently merging into the warm jade bricks of the floor.

These toxic threads intertwined with one another. In just over a dozen breaths, they formed the ultimate killing array of the Ten Thousand Poisons Holy Land—the Ten Thousand Poisons Soul-Devouring Array.

Once activated, this array would instantly release a bone-corroding, soul-devouring lethal poison. Even a mighty expert at the Ascension realm would fall victim to it and have their combat power drastically reduced if they were not careful.

Wu Qiandu then took two steps forward and said to Ye Chuan in a deep voice:

"Holy Lord Ye, this array is too bizarre, far exceeding our expectations. If we stay any longer, I'm afraid we will all perish here! In my opinion, it would be better for us to join forces to break open the hall doors, retreat, and plan our next move!"

Ye Chuan laughed inwardly, but his face continued to feign a weak and anxious expression. He stumbled slightly, clutching his stomach as he said:

"Retreat? But the hall doors were already sealed when we came in. I tried earlier... Ancestor Wu, do you have a way?"

Seeing Ye Chuan barely able to stand, Wu Qiandu was overjoyed, feeling that victory was already in her grasp. Yet, she offered false reassurance:

"Rest assured, Holy Lord. With the combined strength of myself and the two elders, it might not be impossible to break the restrictions."

"It's just that you are in poor condition right now, Holy Lord. Please step back a little, lest the aftershocks of breaking the array injure you."

As soon as she finished speaking, the two supreme elders on either side nodded simultaneously, signaling that the array had been successfully set up.

Murderous intent surged in Wu Qiandu's eyes. Just as she was about to activate the array, the cramping pain in her stomach suddenly magnified by more than ten times!

That knife-twisting agony rushed straight through her meridians into her divine soul, causing her whole body to violently shudder as she directly spewed out a mouthful of black blood.

"What is going on?!" Wu Qiandu shrieked harshly, enduring the excruciating pain to steady her posture. But when she looked at Ye Chuan, she instantly froze.

Ye Chuan, who just moments ago looked incredibly weak and on the verge of collapse, was now standing perfectly straight. The paleness and agony on his face had vanished without a trace, replaced only by a half-smiling, mocking expression. Where was there any sign of him being afflicted?

A chilling sensation instantly shot from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head. Wu Qiandu finally realized what was happening.

Something was wrong! Something was terribly wrong!

From the stomach cramps and sluggish spiritual energy upon entering the hall, to the treasures vanishing out of thin air, and now the backlash of the array—from beginning to end, there was never any ancient poison or illusion array! It was all the doing of the brat standing right in front of her!

"It's you!! You're the one behind all this?!" Wu Qiandu's eyes were wide with fury as he let out a harsh roar. The dark green poisonous miasma surrounding him surged madly, and the oppressive pressure of the Ascension Realm swept outward without reservation.

"How dare you play me?!"