PS. Here's today's update. Also, a quick plug for Qidian's 515 Fan Festival — everyone gets 8 votes, and voting earns you Qidian coins. I'm on my knees begging for your support!
Inside the stone cavern, Gong Yue was busy at work, standing before the blood-red gate and constantly gesturing as his expression shifted from time to time.
Everyone else was sitting in meditation and resting, but Yang Tai seemed unable to sit still. He paced back and forth, occasionally turning his head to steal a glance at the blood-red gate, though he didn't dare approach and interrupt. He looked quite anxious.
Wu Kuangyi gestured for him to sit down, but Yang Tai politely declined with a smile.
"Senior Brother Yang, is something still not right?" Hua Yulu sent a voice transmission, her tone quiet.
Yang Kai kept his eyes closed and replied via voice transmission: "Wait and see."
So far, he hadn't spotted much that was overtly suspicious — apart from his earlier doubts about Gong Yue's identity. But that was only suspicion; he couldn't be certain himself, so naturally he couldn't give Hua Yulu any definitive answer.
Whether that suspicion would become reality would depend on how Gong Yue conducted himself from here on out.
While resting, he immersed his consciousness into the jade slip that the Southern Gate Army had given him, probing its contents once more and committing the key details to memory.
Half a day later, Gong Yue suddenly took several steps back, gazed at the blood-red gate, and a faint smile appeared on his face. He called out, "Everyone, please come over."
The group perked up at his words and rose together to head in that direction. Yang Tai was the most eager, arriving before Gong Yue in no time. He asked urgently, "Brother Gong, have you found any leads?"
Gong Yue smiled and stroked his beard. "A few."
"Good, good — any lead is a lead!" Yang Tai's face flushed with excitement.
"However, to break the formation, I'll need everyone's assistance."
At those words, Yang Kai's heart skipped a beat. His eyes narrowed slightly, and the suspicion in his mind grew even stronger.
Wu Kuangyi spoke up. "What exactly do you need us to do, old patriarch Gong? None of us are versed in the Dao of formations — only Brother Fang has some understanding."
Gong Yue smiled. "There's no need for expertise. You simply need to coordinate with me. The prerequisite, however, is that everyone must trust me unconditionally!"
The group exchanged glances. No one knew just how far this "trust" was supposed to extend. Yang Tai said, "Since we invited Brother Gong to help, we naturally trust you."
"Good." Gong Yue gave a slight smile. "I'll impart a technique to everyone. Once you've familiarized yourselves with it, we can combine our efforts to set up a formation. If this formation is successfully deployed, it will break through the ancient restriction."
"Then let's not delay — Brother Gong, please share it with us," Yang Tai said eagerly.
Gong Yue smiled faintly and beckoned everyone forward. He produced several blank jade slips, inscribed the contents into each with his divine sense, then handed them out one by one.
Yang Kai received his, swept it with his divine sense, fully absorbed the information within, and then let out a quiet sigh.
He didn't know exactly what was in the other jade slips, but he assumed the contents would differ from his own. When forming a joint formation, each person bore a different responsibility, which meant a central hub was needed to coordinate everyone's power into a unified whole. That central hub would, without question, be Gong Yue himself.
The central position controlled the most intricate aspects of the formation. And as the formation's core, once the array was activated, he would be able to exert a degree of control over the other participants. It wouldn't quite extend to controlling their lives, but this kind of influence was not something Emperor Realm cultivators could easily accept.
That was why he had said everyone needed to trust him unconditionally.
Without trust, a joint formation could not be established.
Yang Kai didn't bother examining the jade slip's contents in detail, because he had already seen them before.
The jade slip the Southern Gate Army had given him contained records on this very subject.
When he had sent the information about this ancient restriction formation back to the Celestial Palace through Bian Yuqing, it was precisely so that the Southern Gate Army could study it thoroughly and come up with a plan to break it. The Southern Gate Army truly lived up to his reputation as an Emperor Formation Master. In just over a month, he had developed three different approaches.
One of them was using a formation to break a formation — exactly what Gong Yue was doing now. But if they actually went through with it, they would be walking right into a trap. Using a formation to break a formation was only the first step. To fully dismantle the ancient restriction on the blood-red gate, a second method was required — an extremely sinister one.
Yang Kai had originally planned to use the Southern Gate Army's research to help Hua Yulu and the others break the formation, then explore whatever treasures lay within. He hadn't expected Gong Yue to appear halfway through.
With a formation grandmaster of this caliber already in the group, there was obviously no need for him to step forward.
But Gong Yue's behavior had raised his suspicions. If he had merely harbored doubts about Gong Yue's identity before, he could now confirm that there was definitely something wrong with the man. Yang Tai was very likely in on it as well. As for the third person, Yang Kai wasn't yet certain.
He looked up at Yang Tai and saw him focused intently on the jade slip in his hand — or so it appeared. In reality, his divine sense was surging subtly as he silently communicated with someone.
Yang Kai understood immediately.
As if sensing his gaze, Gong Yue suddenly looked up at him and smiled. "Young Brother Yang, do you have any more questions?"
"I do!" Yang Kai's voice rang out, startlingly loud, echoing through the stone cavern. It broke through the others' concentration, drawing frowns and looks of displeasure from Wu Kuangyi and the rest.