Nightfall

The powerful array intent spread along the cliff to the peak of Peach Mountain, and then spread toward the night with the fog. The speed of the spread was not fast in people’s perceptions, just like a stone rolling. But in the real world, the array intent was formed quickly, melted together and became very thick. It seemed to be turned into the real cloud even though it had no shape or mass.

Under the turbulence of this powerful array intent, the fog at the bottom of the abyss slowly spread away, and the starlight returned from the purple to white, its original color. The situation on the ground could finally be seen clearly.

Chu Youxian and Chen Qi felt that the array intent was spreading like a rolling stone, and they found that there were really many stones rolling on the ground when they finally got a clear look at the ground.

Thousands of stones kept rolling by a pond and formed a certain pattern. Meanwhile, the clouds floated among the cliffs also formed a certain pattern.

Then a more miraculous thing happened on the cliff. Among the smooth and seamless stone walls, the wild trees thrived even though they were exposed to wind and rain and the majesty of the arrays for countless years.

( NovelFull )   At this point, inspired by the array intent, these wild trees with the strongest vitality began to move among the cliffs. Their roots were still deeply embedded in the soil behind the stone walls, and the leaves kept swaying under the starlight.

This was a grand array, a real grand array. The array was really grand.

Thousands of stones at the bottom of the abyss, those shaking trees among the cliffs, the fallen gravel, and the clouds were all parts of the grand array.

If the array was a Grand Talisman, then every stroke that wrote the talisman was breaking the mountain. Heaven and Earth were paper, the stones were stamps, the fog in the abyss was ink, and the pond by the carriage was ink stone.

The grand array was remarkable, and the person who arranged it was even more remarkable. It was very hard to find such a person in the world today. Throughout history, probably only the Great Divine Priest of Light who founded Devil’s Doctrine, of Black Ink Garden and the predecessor who arranged Array of Peach Mountain in the Divine Hall of West-Hill were capable of doing so.

Even if these three were to come alive, it would still take a long time for them to arrange such a grand array. Besides, it would be more difficult to not alert these Grand Cultivators at the peak of Peach Mountain.

Sensing the powerful array intent, Chen Qi finally felt more confidence that Ye Hongyu might survive, turning to look up to the night sky.

The array intent seemed to be spread slowly, but actually it only took a very short time to make the array work. Ye Hongyu just jumped from the Divine Hall of Judgement, looking like an inconspicuous black spot among the cliffs.

A loud whistling sound echoed among the cliffs. Ye Hongyu kept falling at a high speed. Chen Qi knew that she would be safe soon, but he still felt what he saw was startling.

It was indeed startling. And there were two arrays among the cliffs: Array of Blinding Eyes, and Array of Unsettling Heart.

The Array of Blinding Eyes was a magical array used to blind prying eyes by the Divine Halls of West-Hill, which might have little influence on Ye Hongyu. But what about the Array of Unsettling Heart? How could she keep her Taoist Heart calm?

An impalpable array intent generated among the cliffs which contained the cold killing psyche of Taoism and the hatred from countless prisoners of Secluded Pavilion. The killing intention was so strong that the world trembled.

The stone wall trembled, and the clouds outside the wall began to tremble too. The vibration caused by the array intent fell on Ye Hongyu who was still falling at a high speed in a magical way.

Her body paused slightly in the night sky.

Her Gown of Judgment which was already severely damaged in the previous battle was broken into pieces at this point, which was not caused by the mountain wind among the cliffs, but by the intent of the Array of Unsettling Heart.

The shock fell on her Taoist heart, raising countless waves on her ocean of consciousness and accelerating her heart rate. It seemed that her ocean of consciousness would burst and her heart would rupture the next moment.

Ning Que was almost killed by the shock when he climbed slowly among the cliffs back then. How could she survive tonight?

Fortunately, the warm and tranquil moonlight helped Ning Que survive the shock that night. And Ye Hongyu was also lucky enough to get help from the array intent at the bottom of the abyss tonight.

The wild trees among the cliffs kept moving back and forth in a very small distance. The leaves rustled in the wind and the soil around the roots of the tree cracked, which revealed indomitable vitality and kept washing out the psyche of hatred emitting from the cliffs.

Thousands of rocks at the bottom of the abyss had completely stimulated the array intent in the fog and clouds which spread toward the Array of Unsettling Heart which had lasted for countless years.

That array intent seemed to be faint but could not be blown out, like candlelight, gently falling on the cliffs and totally shadowing the Array of Unsettling Heart.

The rock at the bottom of Daming Lake was silent for countless years, but it was able to isolate Heaven from Earth. The same was true of the hard rocks at the bottom of the abyss. Thus the Array of Unsettling Heart on the cliffs was greatly affected by those hard rocks.

An inconspicuous gravel sprang into the air like a sharp arrow, piercing a hole on the Array of Unsettling Heart. At this exact moment, Ye Hongyu fell to the spot where the hole was.

With a loud sound, a hole appeared in the sky outside the cliffs. The reason why the hole could be seen was that the starlight made it brighter than the surroundings.

Ye Hongyu fell through the hole and successfully avoided the attack of the Array of Unsettling Heart.

But this was not enough, because she was still falling. Due to the gravity, she fell faster and faster, as if she was about to become a meteorite.

She was indeed powerful and was talented in Taoism, but she never cultivated any skill of Devil’s Doctrine. Therefore, she could not survive falling from the sky like Yu Lian and Tang. She would definitely die if she fell to the ground directly.

But it was obvious that the remarkable array master in the carriage had been prepared to help her. With a Psyche Power coming from the carriage and falling into the pond, the water in the pond rippled, and countless array intent was added to that grand array.

Thousands of rocks at the bottom of the abyss rolled again, and the pattern changed instantly.

The fog on the lakeside began to gather together and became thicker and thicker, finally turning into an air cushion. The fog was not the air, or to be accurate, not the ordinary air. It contained countless toxins which could be seen as power. Thus the fog was air with power.

That person turned the fog at the bottom of the abyss into air cushion to bear more weight.

The whistling sound finally came to the bottom of the abyss from the peak. The beasts who kept making strange noises in the dark forest were shocked and ran away, and Chu Youxian and Chen Qi covered their ears painfully.

There was another loud noise.

A person fell heavily on the bottom of the abyss. Countless rotten leaves and green branches were shaken up and then casted high into the sky like fireworks, meanwhile the night sky was stained with blood.

Seeing this, Chu Youxian and Chen Qi turned pale and wondered if she could survive. As they rushed to check on her, they unexpectedly heard a loud whistling sound.

Dozens of figures swept to Ye Hongyu like arrows. They were all black-robed deacons of the Divine Hall of Judgement. Chu Youxian and Chen Qi were shocked, for they did not even notice that they were there before.

A moment later, Ye Hongyu came over under the escort of dozens of black-robed deacons. She took a glance at Chu Youxian and Chen Qi and then kept walking to the carriage without any expression.

Chu Youxian and Chen Qi did not look back at her and looked away, as if they dared not to see her not because they feared her, but because of the way she looked at this moment.

She was covered in blood, and the shabby Gown of Judgment piled up at her waist casually. She was topless, and blood kept flowing down her body, which revealed a cruel sense of beauty.

Unlike Chu Youxian and Chen Qi, dozens of black-robed deacons had no expression on their faces and did not even look away.

Chu Youxian and Chen Qi followed them to the other side of the pond. While approaching the carriage, they finally recalled their previous confusion about who the great array master was?

They soon knew the answer, for dozens of girls stood by the carriage. They didn’t see these girls because they were standing on the other side of the carriage.

These girls wore masks made by tulle and Xiu Sword hanging in the waist. Just like their eyebrows and eyes, the Xiu Sword looked delicate but also revealed unyielding courage.

They were female disciples of Black Ink Garden of the Great River Kingdom.

With a light sound, the carriage door was pushed open. At this moment, Ye Hongyu had just walked to the pond.

A woman came out of the carriage, wearing no sword but a blue ribbon at her waist. Her black hair under the crown was thick and shiny, and her robe was a little loose, looking like a cotton dress. She was elegant and beautiful, wearing a pair of glasses which was unique in this world. Just like the old days , her eyes were not focusing on anything. She was Mo Shanshan, the previous youngest Talisman master and the current Queen of the Great River Kingdom.

Ye Hongyu walked toward her, and blood kept falling down her half-naked body. These female disciples of Black Ink Garden were shocked and dared not to look at her, wondering why she didn’t care at all.

It didn’t mean Ye Hongyu was bold or dissolute. She didn’t care that others saw her body, which was not because she was proud of her beauty and wanted to show her body to the world, but because she didn’t take being naked seriously and she had already abandoned the concept of gender.

From the moment she sat in the Seat of Heavenly Black Jade, she transcended the boundaries between men and women, for she was no longer an ordinary human being.

That was the reason why she was so calm and indifferent. Those black-robed deacons who were loyal to her must learn to be as calm and indifferent as her. Although Chu Youxian, Chen Qi and those female disciples of Black Ink Garden felt very uncomfortable, they dared not to express any opinions, thus looking away.

Mo Shanshan was different. She walked forward to greet her and took off her pure white robe while walking. The gown danced with the wind and finally fell on Ye Hongyu, wrapping her body.

Looking at Ye Hongyu’s pale cheeks, Mo Shanshan frowned and asked worriedly, “Are you all right?”

“I am fine,” Ye Hongyu answered without any expression.

Mo Shanshan was still worried. She was well aware that Ye Hongyu must have suffered a lot to escape from that three powerful men even though she was prepared for this. So she asked again, “Are you sure?”

Ye Hongyu frowned and seemed a little unhappy. She said, “Of course!” After saying this, she walked to the carriage, but did not throw away the robe that Mo Shanshan put on her.

After entering the carriage, she closed her eyes, sat down, and then began to bleed.

Mo Shanshan walked up to her and held her hands, getting very worried.

Her slender eyelashes were as calm as the willow leaf in the ice and did not tremble at all. But blood kept coming out of her eyes, ears and lips.

Mo Shanshan knew that this was due to the wound that three men had left in her body. She could only silently pray that Ye Hongyu could survive, at least could stay alive before they got out of the abyss.

…

…

Several carriages moved slowly along the shore of the pond. At this point, the bottom of the abyss was shrouded in fog, and it was hard to tell the direction for there was no starlight at all.

Chu Youxian and Chen Qi didn’t know where they were heading and just silently stayed in the carriage with the female disciples of Black Ink Garden. Finally, they couldn’t help but starting asking questions.

The one who was talking with Chen Qi was Zhuo Zhihua, the leading disciple of Black Ink Garden. She didn’t reveal too much detail, but the whole matter was quite clear since they saw the grand array with their own eyes.

What happened tonight was all planned by Ye Hongyu. Even before Chu Youxian and Chen Qi delivered Ning Que’s message to her, she had already prepared to betray Taoism, not because her complicated relationship with Ning Que or because she had lived quite a long time in Chang’an. But because she was Ye Su’s sister.

Like Ning Que, she also thought the Abbey Dean would not choose the most extreme solution. But also like Ning Que, she was used to not trusting anyone, even including herself. She would always leave herself a way out.

She was very clear what kind of storm she had to face if the worst scenario were to happen, so she had to make sure that the Abbey Dean and the Hierarch did not know her way out. As for Ning Que who happened to be shameless, she would never let him find out what she planned to do.

She only trusted those who were trustworthy. In today’s cultivation world, she only trusted the Eldest Brother and Jun Mo from the Academy, and another woman who seemed very different from her but resembled her in some respects.

Many days ago, a letter left the Divine Hall of Judgement and came to the capital of Great River Kingdom through the most secret passage, secretly making its way to the palace.

Because of that simple letter, Mo Shanshan, the queen of Great River Kingdom, racked her brains to make her people and the Divine Halls of West-Hill believe she was still in the palace, secretly came to the Divine Hall of West-Hill and stayed at the Secluded Pavilion for several days.