Formations came in two varieties: dead formations and living formations.
Jiang Chen controlled the formation disc. Although it couldn't be as versatile and flexible as a pre-deployed formation, the Grand Void Formation still possessed a few variations.
A slight movement of the disc shifted the formation's nexus to a different position.
As a result, Gong Wuji and Elder Hao's two groups had all their efforts come to nothing.
However, such variations couldn't last long. Once the true nature of the formation was seen through by the opponent—if they knew it was an illusion formation—they could search for the formation's nexus without any restraint.
Sure enough, no matter how the formation's nexus shifted, under the spiritual sense search of a Sovereign Realm powerhouse, there was nowhere to hide.
"What a pity. I can only activate ten to twenty percent of this formation's power. If I had the Grand Void Formation at full power, forget about these guys—even a Titled Great Emperor would be lost in here."
Jiang Chen felt a deep sense of regret as well. Using the Grand Void Formation like this—if the ancestor of the Danxiao Ancient Sect could see it, he would probably shed tears. It was truly a disgrace to this formation.
But Jiang Chen didn't really care about that. The true Grand Void Formation, at its peak state, encompassed every form and formlessness—all were illusory manifestations. It could directly overturn a person's soul, confuse their spiritual sense, and leave them forever lost within the river of the formation, unable to extricate themselves.
It could even cause a person's spiritual sense to collapse outright.
Of course, these effects were something Jiang Chen could only sigh over wistfully for the time being.
"Brat, I'll admit—you've got some tricks! But this is nothing more than a death throe!" Gong Wuji's voice rang out, maddened.
Right after came Cao Meng's sinister, hoarse voice: "Brat, you killed my nephew. I'll rip out your soul and refine it for forty-nine days, making it so you can neither live nor die!"
His hatred was no less than Gong Wuji's.
Suddenly, everyone felt the world before their eyes blur. The next instant, the formation flickered and vanished into empty air. In the moment after that, what appeared before them was the Valley of Wailing Infants once more.
It was as if everything they had just experienced had been nothing more than a dream.
The formation disappeared, and reality was restored.
Everyone returned to where they had been. Yet that brief time within the formation felt as if they had endured endless ages of change.
When these Sovereign Realm powerhouses touched down, everyone was stunned.
The two sects had brought nearly three thousand people, and now, every single one below the Sovereign Realm had collapsed. Each of them looked as though they were peacefully asleep—their expressions serene, sleeping so soundly, so quietly.
"How could this happen?" The sect masters were all Sovereign Realm powerhouses who had been swept into the formation moments ago. Now, upon emerging, they were greeted by this sight. One by one, they stood frozen like wooden chickens, their expressions as though they had seen ghosts.
Gong Wuji flew into a rage: "What the hell? Get up, all of you!"
Over on Cao Meng's side, cursing rang out as well: "Are you all playing dead? Get up! Get up!"
It was no wonder they were shouting, because when they swept their spiritual sense over the bodies, these people weren't dead at all—there were still fluctuations in their spiritual sense. Though the fluctuations were faint, even barely perceptible, weak spiritual sense fluctuation during sleep was perfectly normal.
But as they kept shouting, a creeping numbness settled in their own hearts.
These were all elite martial artists of their sects. How could they have all fallen asleep for no reason? There had to be a trick!
Gong Wuji had been outwitted by Jiang Chen countless times. Accustomed to Jiang Chen's methods, a nightmarish feeling suddenly surged within him.
Could it be...
In that instant, Gong Wuji recalled the time in the Myriad Images Territory when Jiang Chen had wiped out hundreds of disciples from the Giant Kun Sect and the Thunder Sound Gate with a triple strike.
"Poison?" Those two terrifying words were the last thing Gong Wuji wanted to face, but they were the first to surface in his mind. Under these circumstances, if it wasn't poison, he would be shocked!
Sure enough, no matter how they shouted, it was to no avail.
Those people's spiritual sense was like candles burning to their last—growing dimmer and dimmer, drawing ever closer to extinction.
"Jiang Chen!" Gong Wuji could no longer contain himself, and a mouthful of old blood sprayed from his lips.
The Grand Void Formation hadn't dealt him any real harm, but it had thoroughly ignited the rage buried in his bones—a mass of pent-up qi and blood that had been suppressed in his chest for so long finally erupted!
A dignified Dharma King of a first-rate sect, a mid-stage Sovereign Realm powerhouse, was literally coughing up blood from sheer fury!
The sight left the Sovereign Realm powerhouses of the Imperishable Celestial Capital and the Crimson Cauldron Central Domain dumbstruck, one after another crying out: "Lord Gong!"
"My lord, please take care of yourself!"
Elder Hao and Cao Meng, at this moment, had no mood for schadenfreude. Instead, they felt a kinship of shared doom.
Looking at the people strewn everywhere, Elder Hao's heart bled. These were all the elites he had brought out.
Within the Valley of Wailing Infants, if they couldn't wake up, it wouldn't take more than a short while before countless ferocious beasts came to devour their physical bodies clean.
Even if no beasts came to consume their bodies, judging by the way this poison was taking effect, if the proper antidote couldn't be found, they would almost certainly die.
"Elder Hao, at this point, we must capture Jiang Chen. Only by catching that brat can we go back and report!" Cao Meng said viciously.
Elder Hao nodded: "That brat is nearby! With our Sovereign Realm domains covering the void, he can't have gone far."
Gong Wuji bellowed: "Search! Search for me! Find that brat!"
Just then, Jiang Chen's figure flickered, and he appeared on a stone slab hundreds of meters away.