Two Saint realm powerhouses, once moving at full speed, possessed a velocity that was nothing short of terrifying.
Suddenly, Cao Jin waved his hand and came to a halt.
"Senior Brother Cao, what is it?" Fatty Wu knew how strong Cao Jin was. By now, he had already positioned himself as Cao Jin's subordinate, leaving all decisions to his command.
"There's something wrong around here. Stay alert." As a peak ninth-level Saint realm expert, Cao Jin's intuition was far beyond Wu Heng's.
With Cao Jin's cultivation, the only person who had ever given him trouble was the mysterious Miss Huang'er. Other than that encounter, his power should have been enough to dominate the entire Myriad Manifestations Domain — unrivaled throughout.
"Look over there!"
Cao Jin's blue eyebrows shot up as his gaze locked onto a pile of brush by the roadside.
The two of them glided cautiously toward the thicket, every muscle coiled and ready to strike. The instant anything seemed off, they would unleash their full force.
The brush was parted to reveal a corpse lying within.
To be precise, it was Ding Tong's corpse.
"Ding Tong!" Fatty Wu blurted out. They already knew Ding Tong was dead, but they hadn't expected his body to turn up here.
Cao Jin swept an arm out, blocking Fatty Wu behind him. From a distance, he thrust a finger toward Ding Tong's corpse.
Ssss!
The finger force struck Ding Tong's body, which instantly dissolved into a wisp of green smoke and vanished without a trace.
"Crude illusion tricks!"
Cao Jin let out a cold laugh, then drew a deep breath and roared: "You rat! The same trick stops working after a few uses. I know you're nearby. Come out now, and I might spare your life. If I catch you myself, I'll make you wish you'd never been born!"
As he spoke, Cao Jin activated his Dharma Eye to its fullest extent, scanning every direction.
Cao Jin had clearly cultivated powerful eye techniques. A faint purple glow emanated from his pupils, radiating an alarming pressure that pulsed outward in waves.
Fatty Wu, for his part, cooperated by setting up various defensive arrangements.
But then, suddenly, Fatty Wu's expression shifted slightly.
When they looked around again, the two discovered that beneath their feet, before their eyes, and as far as the eye could see — yellow sand stretched in every direction, swirling across the sky!
How could this be?
Cao Jin's pupils contracted slightly, and he asked in a low voice: "Another formation?"
Fatty Wu nodded, his expression somewhat strained. "It is a formation, and an exceedingly sophisticated one at that. Senior Brother Cao, I think we've stirred up whoever lives inside Illusory Wave Mountain. The level of this formation far exceeds anything the Myriad Manifestations Domain could produce!"
Those words gave Cao Jin pause. "Someone inside Illusory Wave Mountain? There's nobody here. If there were, would the sects of the Myriad Manifestations Domain still dare to enter?"
Fatty Wu was equally bewildered. "I don't know why, but I get the sense this formation is extremely advanced — possibly even on par with our Nine Yang Heaven Sect."
Cao Jin scoffed. "We managed to crack a gap in the Illusory Wave's grand formation. How could these minor formation tricks stump the two of us?"
Fatty Wu nodded. "Right — let's use the Formation Splitting Technique!"
The Formation Splitting Technique was a rare divine ability. In the entire Nine Yang Heaven Sect, not even an expert like Cao Jin knew it. Fatty Wu had simply been lucky enough to acquire this ancient art from who knew where.
Just as the two were about to burst into action, a sudden whoosh — several arrows flew straight at them from ahead.
Cao Jin saw the arrows coming. Rather than growing angry, he laughed. With a sweep of his sleeve, he caught all four arrows in his hand.
A slight twitch of his lips, and composure returned to Cao Jin's face. "Junior Brother Wu, use the Formation Splitting Technique. I'll cover you!"
Their roles were clearly divided.
"Yes!" Fatty Wu wasted no time. A runic sigil spread from his palm, its light expanding outward as he locked onto the formation's edge and delivered a fierce chopping strike.
The next instant...
The scene before them shifted abruptly. The rolling yellow sand dissolved into nothingness, replaced by a vast sea of fire. The two found themselves standing in the midst of a field of magma. Pillars of flame shot upward from the molten rock, and the scorching waves of heat made their breathing ragged.
"How can this be?" Cao Jin furrowed his brow.
Fatty Wu felt deeply frustrated. "Senior Brother Cao, this is a live formation — not the static kind we encountered on the outskirts of Illusory Wave Mountain. Against a dead formation, the Formation Splitting Technique works beautifully. But this is a live formation controlled by someone. It shifts constantly — there's no way to pin down the edge!"
When it came to formations, a live one was always far more dangerous than a dead one. That was simply the nature of things.
A live formation had countless variables and could change at any moment. Constant shifts made it impossible to locate the formation's boundary, let alone apply the Formation Splitting Technique.
Though Cao Jin was no grandmaster of formations, he understood this basic principle well enough. He knew he couldn't blame Fatty Wu for this.
Moreover, now was hardly the time to berate an ally.
He nodded. "Don't be discouraged. Keep probing. The fact that our opponent keeps relying on formations proves his actual strength is far below ours. Those arrows just now prove it as well."