Chapter 589: How to Set Up the Formation in Time?

"Boom!"

On Snake Demon Star, the battle between Cave Lord Jingyun and Meng Chuan grew increasingly intense. Although the demonic spikes shattered each time, Meng Chuan's 'Soul Star' technique allowed him to instantly recover and reform another one. Thus, one demonic spike after another flew out, repeatedly striking Cave Lord Jingyun's body. Meng Chuan's true form, wielding the Demon Slaying Blade, ferociously hacked at Cave Lord Jingyun's massive physique from close range.

"Damn it!"

"Roar!" Cave Lord Jingyun's eight heads howled, his body writhing. His eight long tails became blurs, sweeping wildly in all directions. His eight heads repeatedly tried to devour Meng Chuan.

The 'unsettling baleful aura' from each blade strike and the continuous 'demonic spikes' prevented Cave Lord Jingyun from executing any sophisticated techniques. He could only rely on his formidable physical body to retaliate. His attacks were too simple, making it much easier for Meng Chuan to counter. Meng Chuan fiercely delivered one close-range blade strike after another. Simultaneously, the 'Thirteen Universe Pearls' also relentlessly assaulted his opponent.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The Thirteen Universe Pearls furiously pounded Cave Lord Jingyun, striking his eyes and neck. The fierce black blade light also repeatedly slashed, tearing open Cave Lord Jingyun's flesh. Cave Lord Jingyun's eight heads frantically counterattacked repeatedly, attempting to bite or swallow Meng Chuan. His eight tails also whipped out, crushing the void, but his simplistic moves couldn't touch Meng Chuan.

"This soul secret technique, and the unsettling baleful aura... they prevent me from unleashing any killing move," Cave Lord Jingyun thought, feeling immense pain yet remaining remarkably calm deep down. "However, this is also a very rare opportunity to temper my spiritual will! At my current cultivation level, it's increasingly difficult to refine my spiritual will. As for City Lord Dongning's attacks, they're just superficial wounds that heal instantly." Cave Lord Jingyun remained unfazed.

His physical body, cultivated based on three Fifth-level Tribulation Realm laws, was incredibly formidable. Superficial wounds healed instantly, barely registering as a drain on his resources. "I could lie here and let him hack at me for ten thousand years, and he still wouldn't be able to do anything to me. My goal is to resist the baleful aura and soul secret technique while dedicating more effort to fighting back. If I can unleash a complete killing move... then my spiritual will will have made significant progress." Cave Lord Jingyun was extremely patient; on the surface, he seemed to be fighting wildly, but in reality, he treated it as a form of cultivation.

Meng Chuan was also putting his full effort into the fight. He simultaneously unleashed the 'unsettling baleful aura' from the Demon Slaying Blade and the 'demonic spike secret technique.' His opponent's mental cultivation was clearly superior to Palace Lord Xueyu's. Although heavily affected, Cave Lord Jingyun's consciousness hadn't completely collapsed, allowing him to continue controlling his body and counterattacking.

"His current moves are crude and can't even touch me, so I can go all out against him. But these injuries probably mean nothing to him." As Meng Chuan saw the repeatedly severed flesh wounds instantly regenerate, he keenly felt the disparity between them. Meng Chuan's physical body was primarily cultivated based on the 'extreme speed law.' He had only recently comprehended the 'Nirvana Blade' law, making it difficult to quickly integrate it into and transform his physical body. Furthermore, Meng Chuan was currently focused on cultivating the third volume of the 'Void Codex,' hoping to swiftly comprehend the Fifth-level Tribulation Realm spatial law. This would allow him to combine and master Sixth-level Tribulation Realm laws in one go, enabling his future physical body cultivation to directly prioritize pure 'Sixth-level Tribulation Realm laws.' He hadn't even spent time contemplating integrating the 'Nirvana Blade law' into his body.

Cave Lord Jingyun, however, cultivated his physical body using three laws, making his body incredibly formidable. "It's already impressive to fight Cave Lord Jingyun to a standstill," Meng Chuan had anticipated this outcome and was even prepared for defeat.

"Activate!"

Meng Chuan's soul world had long since linked with the formation array set up on Snake Demon Star. His vast soul power instantly split into tens of thousands of thoughts, controlling the massive array. When it came to deploying formations, why were Soul Tribulation Realm cultivators significantly stronger than Physical Body Tribulation Realm cultivators? Firstly, it was the soul itself! A much stronger soul allowed for control of far more complex formations. Secondly, it was the soul world. When the soul world merged with a formation, it enabled perfect control over every subtle movement of the formation's power. Every 'Soul Tribulation Realm' cultivator was a master of formations.

"What is this—" Cave Lord Jingyun, seemingly in a frenzy but actually immersed in tempering his spiritual will, was suddenly startled. Snake Demon Star completely vanished, and even the distant void disappeared. Only black and white energies remained. Below was entirely black mist, and above was entirely white mist. Cave Lord Jingyun and Meng Chuan were situated between the black and white mists.

Simultaneously, both black and white mists entwined around Cave Lord Jingyun—coiling around his eight tails, eight necks, thick legs, and torso... everywhere he was enveloped by the mists.

"Go!" The moment Cave Lord Jingyun saw the black and white mists, he felt a tremendous threat and instantly activated the Spatial Teleportation Talisman he carried. The Spatial Teleportation Talisman activated. "What?" After activating it, Cave Lord Jingyun was astonished to find that the area sensed by the talisman was still within the black and white mist! He couldn't teleport out at all.

"The Spatial Teleportation Talisman can't get out?" Cave Lord Jingyun was alarmed. Some Sixth-level Tribulation Realm mighty figures could prevent Spatial Teleportation Talismans from working using their own abilities. If relying on a fixed formation array, even a Fifth-level Tribulation Realm expert could stop a Spatial Teleportation Talisman. For instance, Meng Chuan had exchanged for a Seventh-level Tribulation Realm grand formation, the 'Yin-Yang Great World Array,' from Ancestral Master Cangyuan. This formation was not far inferior to the Thousand Mountains Star array; the Thousand Mountains Star excelled due to its sheer number of arrays. While the Thousand Mountains Star's power was stacked through quantity, the 'Yin-Yang Great World Array' was exceptionally high-tiered. Just acquiring the materials to set it up cost a staggering five thousand nine hundred cubic units of resources.

The reason for acquiring it was, on one hand, to deal with Cave Lord Jingyun. On the other hand, it was also the most suitable formation for Meng Chuan, allowing him to comprehend its operation for his cultivation.

"Break open!" Cave Lord Jingyun's eight tails lashed out, and his eight heads swung, creating layers of spatial fluctuations that surged outwards, attempting to shake off the black and white mists. The black and white mists, though formless, still clung to Cave Lord Jingyun. In almost an instant, 'black and white chains' materialized around him, making it even harder for him to escape.

"Stop struggling. Unless a Sixth-level Tribulation Realm cultivator intervenes, you won't be able to break my grand formation." Meng Chuan stood there, watching Cave Lord Jingyun completely bound by numerous black and white chains.

Cave Lord Jingyun's eight heads stared at Meng Chuan in disbelief. "When did you set up this formation? Snake Demon Star has always been the territory of my Eight-Headed Star Swallowing Snake. You killed two of my clan's soul avatars, and I immediately rushed here. How could you possibly have had time to set up a formation?"

He had never considered rushing into Thousand Mountains Star. That was because Thousand Mountains Star, a former residence of a Sixth-level Tribulation Realm mighty figure, possessed vast and powerful formations. Without a Sixth-level Tribulation Realm cultivation, one simply couldn't overcome its arrays. But Snake Demon Star? This was the territory of the Eight-Headed Star Swallowing Snake!

Such complex fixed formation arrays were notoriously intricate because only through sufficient complexity could a high-level array be broken down into thousands of lower-level arrays. With countless low-level arrays perfectly coordinated... they could ultimately unleash extraordinary power. Setting them up required a very long time.

What he didn't know was that Meng Chuan could achieve 'time stagnation.' Back when Meng Chuan explored the cave mansion and fought against Old Demon Heifeng and Palace Lord Xueyu, he only accelerated time! He didn't reveal his 'time stagnation' ability to them. As for when Meng Chuan eliminated some weaker Tribulation Realm cultivators, he had indeed used time stagnation, but those cultivators never understood what technique killed them.

'Time acceleration' was common. 'Time stagnation,' however, was very rare. Among Fifth-level Tribulation Realm cultivators, achieving 'time stagnation' was one in ten thousand. Only those who pursued the 'extreme speed law' to its utmost in the path of time could accomplish it. Moreover, the 'extreme speed law' was a perfect law of the Heaven and Earth Realm! Even a slight deviation in its mystery, whether too much or too little, or a small error in its combination, would render it ineffective. Therefore, creating an 'Emperor-level ultimate art' was extremely difficult, and such beings were far rarer than even Sixth-level Tribulation Realm mighty figures! Normal Fifth-level Tribulation Realm mighty figures would comprehend 'Heaven and Earth Realm ultimate arts' during their Emperor stage, then grope in the dark, accumulating knowledge to eventually comprehend Fifth-level Tribulation Realm laws. The paths they took did not lead to the comprehension of the 'extreme speed law.' Generally, only after becoming a Sixth-level or even Seventh-level Tribulation Realm mighty figure could one gain a comprehensive perspective and master the laws of ultimate arts.

"When I set up the formation is none of your concern. What matters is that your avatar is now doomed." As soon as Meng Chuan finished speaking, the black and white energies in the high sky condensed into a massive blade light. A formation could trap enemies, and naturally, it could also kill them.

"I'm done for." Cave Lord Jingyun saw the blade light, which was far more powerful than Meng Chuan's close-range furious slashes, already approaching the power of a Sixth-level Tribulation Realm attack. Even though he knew he was defeated, Cave Lord Jingyun still couldn't understand how his opponent had managed to set up the formation in time.