Chapter 977: Seven Star Formation Array

As the formation plate appeared in his hand, Zhang Xuan's profound zhenqi immediately surged into it.

Sizzle!

Markedly different from last time, upon receiving the influx of zhenqi, the formation plate vibrated intensely. With a loud "boom!" a beam of light enveloped the surroundings, forming a circle several hundred meters in radius.

The circle grew larger and larger, with mists rising and fogs forming within it, creating what seemed like a brand new world. Not to mention others, even he, if suddenly caught within it, would lose his sense of direction, unable to find up, down, left, right, or any cardinal direction.

"It's a Level Seven Illusion Formation... the Lu Xu Illusion Formation?"

Zhang Xuan's eyes gleamed.

Without activating the formation plate, even he couldn't discern the specific type of formation. Although the Library of Heaven's Path had identified its flaws earlier, those were merely defects in the materials and formation diagram.

Only by activating it and seeing it with his own eyes could he know what it was and how powerful it truly was.

Lu Xu was a grandmaster of formations from five thousand years ago. At that time, he was blocked by a patch of clouds and mist in a mountain range, unable to leave, and thus created this illusion formation. Although it was only around a mid-tier Level Seven formation, it possessed the power of a late-tier or even peak-tier formation. Even a Saint 5-dan practitioner caught within it would be confounded and find it difficult to escape in a short period.

Precisely because of this, the formation was very famous and had been recorded in the Formation Academy's library. Zhang Xuan only knew about it because he had read all the relevant books.

"Both named Lu... could he be Dean Lu Feng's ancestor?"

A thought popped into his mind.

But now was not the time to think about such things, so Zhang Xuan shook his head.

"With this formation, the success rate of dealing with those Otherworldly Demons will greatly increase, but I still need to plan it out…"

With his cultivation soaring and now possessing such a formidable formation plate, Zhang Xuan's confidence greatly increased. With a flicker of his body, he left the Myriad Ants Hive and returned to the grotto.

The air around was still thick with a killing aura, and the sky was too dim to see clearly.

His entire body's muscles rippled, and he once again transformed into the appearance of an Otherworldly Demon he had seen before. Only then did he continue flying in the direction he had previously escaped from.

He hadn't gone far when he saw two Otherworldly Demons whistling as they flew towards him.

"Isn't it strange? Nearly forty people just vanished! How did they escape?"

"I also find it strange. We were guarding outside at the time, with our eyes wide open, didn't even see a shadow, yet they escaped. The most crucial thing is that we've been searching for so long and haven't found a single trace of them. Did we capture Master Teachers, or ghosts?"

The two Otherworldly Demons chatted as they flew.

Neither King Azureleaf nor King Goldenleaf understood how Zhang Xuan and the Master Teachers had disappeared, let alone these lower-ranking demons. The most baffling part was that so many people escaped without leaving a single trace.

As they were musing, their brows suddenly furrowed as they saw a fellow tribesman flying over from not far away.

"How is it? Have you two found anything?"

The tribesman asked as soon as he approached.

"Hua Wu, weren't you sent in another direction? How are you here?" Seeing this person, one Otherworldly Demon couldn't help but frown.

This time, around two hundred people came through the seal, and they all knew each other. This fellow was sent in another direction, so how could he appear here?

"Oh, I searched over there and found a clue, so I followed it here!" Hua Wu explained.

"A clue? What clue?"

The two Otherworldly Demons simultaneously lit up with excitement.

"It's here…"

With a flick of his wrist, Hua Wu took out a jade token and handed it over.

Curious, the two lowered their heads to examine it. Before they could clearly see what was on it, they saw two fists descending.

Boom!

The fists carried immense pressure, as if they would shatter the air, and the surging power caused the surrounding ground to crack and shatter.

"You…"

The two Otherworldly Demons, realizing something was wrong, turned ashen. In their haste, they simultaneously met the incoming fists with their own.

Bang! Bang!

As the four fists clashed, these two fellows felt a force like a volcanic eruption pressing down. Their entire bodies stiffened, and they were sent flying backward in unison.

Boom!

They crashed onto the ground, creating two large craters.

"Peak Saint realm, truly powerful!"

Hua Wu let out a strange cry and continued charging forward. Without any specific techniques, he lifted his foot and kicked at the two fallen figures.

Before the two Otherworldly Demons could react, their heads were smashed by the kicks, and they lay sprawled on the ground as corpses.

"Haha!"

Seeing two Saint 1-dan Otherworldly Demons so easily slain, Hua Wu's eyes gleamed.

This fellow was, naturally, Zhang Xuan in disguise.

With his cultivation soaring, he also wanted to test how strong he truly was. Upon trying, he only then understood the terrifying power of his current realm. Not to mention those of the same level, even Otherworldly Demons one level higher could be casually slaughtered.

They were no match for even a single exchange.

"Let's see what they have!"

With a grab of his hand, he took the storage rings from these two fellows' hands. His consciousness spread into them, and he immediately shook his head.

Although these fellows' strength was comparable to Six-star Master Teachers, their net worth was far inferior. They were dirt poor; both combined didn't even have ten high-grade spirit stones!

"No wonder these Otherworldly Demons want to invade the Master Teacher Continent; presumably, the Outer Realm Battlefield is truly too barren…"

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan pointed a finger, destroying the two corpses and leveling the damaged ground around them. Just as he was about to move forward, his heart stirred, and his appearance changed, becoming the exact likeness of the fellow he had just slain.

Slaying over two hundred Otherworldly Demons simultaneously was definitely impossible, but quietly eliminating them one by one was certainly achievable.

Anyway, he had plenty of time and was in no hurry.

Everything prepared, he continued flying forward. Soon after, he encountered two more Otherworldly Demons and dealt with them in the same manner, slaying them.

The Otherworldly Demons sent out to search were all only at Saint 1-dan. For his current strength, they were nothing; he could easily kill them even without using puppets.

Half an hour later, he returned to the place where the building had previously stood.

He saw rubble everywhere, with many Otherworldly Demons gathered around it, seemingly attempting to rebuild, even though they knew the outcome would be negligible.

To build these structures, they had spent nearly two months. Wanting to restore them in a short time was almost impossible.

"King Goldenleaf and King Azureleaf both seem to be here…"

Among the crowd, two powerful Otherworldly Demons hovered in the air; they were indeed the two kings from before.

At this moment, the two fellows had furrowed brows and expressions full of displeasure.

"Reporting, Your Highness, there are no traces in this direction!"

"Your Highness, I haven't found anything on my side either…"

"They seem to have evaporated; nothing on our side either…"

People continued to come forward to report.

Zhang Xuan's escape form was a Soul Oracle's spirit, an intangible entity, leaving no traces. For these Saint 1-dan Otherworldly Demons to discover anything would truly be a miracle.

"Damn it! Thirty to forty people just vanished into thin air. What exactly happened?"

"How did he do it?"

Regardless of how strange other Otherworldly Demons found it, even King Goldenleaf and King Azureleaf, the two kings, were full of doubts.

Thirty to forty old, weak, sick, and disabled individuals, who could die at any moment, slipped away right under the noses of over two hundred of them without being discovered. It was simply unbelievable.

"Do you think… could it be a Soul Oracle?"

Suddenly, remembering the strange sensation from before, King Goldenleaf clenched his fist.

"A Soul Oracle?" King Azureleaf didn't understand why.

"Yes, earlier, when we were guarding outside the hall, didn't we feel something pass by? It might have been then that they escaped. To be able to leave right under our noses without being detected, after thinking for a long time, I can only think of one possibility… a Soul Oracle!"

King Goldenleaf said.

"A Soul Oracle? Wasn't this profession wiped out by the Master Teachers for pledging allegiance to our Spirit Tribe?" King Azureleaf frowned.

Soul Oracles were a very enigmatic profession on the Master Teacher Continent. They had originally pledged allegiance to the Otherworldly Demons, but after being discovered by the Master Teachers, they were completely eradicated, with no lineage remaining. A Master Teacher, most likely the academy dean, actually used a Soul Oracle secret art to rescue people. Could it be true?

"Soul Oracles were indeed eradicated. What exactly happened, I'm not clear either…" King Goldenleaf still couldn't figure it out.

Other than a Soul Oracle, he really couldn't think of how they could have escaped.

As the two were discussing in detail, they saw a tribesman flying over in a hurry: "Your Highness… I think I've found traces of those Master Teachers!"

"Found them?"

Hearing this, their eyes lit up, and they quickly looked over.

"Yes, I saw some traces, with clear human footprints. I didn't dare to continue tracking and immediately returned!"

The tribesman explained.

"Well done!"

King Azureleaf nodded.

These tribesmen's strength was too weak; if they discovered traces and rashly pursued, they could easily be slain.

"In what direction? Lead us there to see!"

His brow furrowed slightly, King Azureleaf said.

"Over there…"

The Otherworldly Demon said.

"Let's go see!"

King Azureleaf nodded. Just as he was about to let this fellow lead the way, he was held back by King Goldenleaf: "Wait!"

"What's wrong?"

He looked at him.

"Have you forgotten how strange that fellow is?"

King Goldenleaf looked over.

"This…"

King Azureleaf's expression tightened, only then remembering that fellow could even disguise himself as a king; his strength was terrifying. If this fellow was truly a disguise, it was very likely a trap.

"Let me see!"

Raising his eyebrows, King Azureleaf extended his divine consciousness, enveloping the Otherworldly Demon in front of him.

"Your Highness…"

This Otherworldly Demon clearly didn't expect the other party to do this; his face turned pale with fright, and his hand couldn't help but clench inside his sleeve.

"He is…"

As his divine consciousness enveloped him, King Azureleaf was about to speak, when suddenly, with a "boom!" a dense fog abruptly rose before his eyes, enveloping an area of several hundred meters around them in the blink of an eye.

Sizzle!

The dense fog obscured heaven and earth, making those caught within it unable to distinguish cardinal directions. Their mouth, eyes, and nose all felt as if they were blocked.

"It's… it's a Seven-Star Illusion Formation!"

His pupils constricted, and King Goldenleaf's body stiffened.

An illusion formation of this level would be difficult to escape from in a short time, even for him.

He hastily looked towards King Azureleaf beside him, only to find that he had already vanished. He looked around and found that his own mind was also confused, and he could no longer find any cardinal direction.