On the desert outside the Unknown Burial Ground.
The area was blanketed by a colossal structure — a pyramid-like construction that spanned tens of thousands of meters. It was a true behemoth, like a colossal palace seated upon the desert.
However, that behemoth was not solid. It was translucent.
And this… was the grand formation that everyone had worked together over the course of several days to complete.
At that moment, everyone present stood around the perimeter of the grand formation, their gazes fixed upon its apex.
Two figures stood there, and these two individuals were the key figures capable of activating the grand formation.
One of them was Ying Mingchao, who had just returned. The other was the person who had appeared alongside him — the one Ying Mingchao had gone to recruit.
This person was unfamiliar to everyone present.
She was a woman — young and beautiful — and the aura she radiated was that of a second-grade True Immortal.
Such cultivation inspired genuine awe, for the second-grade True Immortal realm was the absolute pinnacle of the Hundred Refinements Mortal World.
People finally understood why even Ying Mingchao had personally gone to recruit her help. Her cultivation alone was proof enough that her background was extraordinary.
However, very few among those present actually recognized her, and they couldn't help but marvel that the Hundred Refinements Mortal World harbored a hidden expert of such caliber.
And this person was none other than Zi Xunyi.
After Zi Xunyi had departed from the Kong Clan, she had delivered the corpse of the Bloodscale Monster Clan's chief to the Monster Extermination Lair.
Upon seeing their chief dead, every member of the Bloodscale Monster Clan believed that Zi Xunyi had been the one to kill him.
The problem was, Zi Xunyi's strength surpassed all of theirs. Even though they hated her to the bone, there was nothing they could do about it.
But Zi Xunyi herself believed that she had caused the Bloodscale Monster Clan chief's death. So she set up a grand formation on her own — a formation designed to torture and punish herself, seeking to put herself to death through suffering.
Had Ying Mingchao not arrived, Zi Xunyi would likely have perished within that formation.
Although Ying Mingchao had saved her, Zi Xunyi showed no inclination to thank him. Instead, she spoke to him coldly: "If you dare lie to me, I will hate you for the rest of my life."
"Xunyi, I'm truly not lying to you. Chu Feng really is trapped inside this Unknown Burial Ground," Ying Mingchao explained.
Even now, Ying Mingchao was still shaken, his emotions tangled and complicated.
He still remembered what it had been like when he arrived at the Monster Extermination Lair, the Bloodscale Monster Clan's stronghold. Zi Xunyi had been in a truly wretched state — utterly weak, clinging to life by a thread. Most importantly… she had done it to herself willingly.
If Chu Feng's predicament hadn't stirred something in Zi Xunyi, even Ying Mingchao might not have been able to stop her from dying.
"Whether it's true or false — let it decide."
As she spoke, Zi Xunyi produced an object — a jade pendant.
But it was only half of one.
Ying Mingchao then produced his own half of the jade pendant and handed it to Zi Xunyi. When the two halves were placed together, they formed one complete jade pendant.
Looking at the two halves of the jade pendant, Ying Mingchao fell into contemplation. Only he and Zi Xunyi knew that this was, in truth, a token of their love.
At the same time, this jade pendant was also the key item needed to activate the formation.