“Haha, Shui Miao, don’t give up so soon!”
Seeing Shui Miao’s fear, Bofa instead smiled calmly. “Shui Miao, you wear the Soul-Sealing Chain. Focus your mind and harness its power. Take another careful look at this Fire Holy Hall.”
“Could it be an illusion?”
Shui Miao’s heart stirred. He quickly concentrated, and gradually noticed that the lava within the fifth spatial layer seemed to be extinguishing, slowly transforming into fire-attribute immortal energy rather than merely intense flames.
“They’ve turned into pure immortal energy?” Shui Miao doubted his own eyes.
Bofa smiled faintly again. “That’s exactly what they were originally. You were simply deceived by human common sense and habitual thinking. In fact, everything in the universe is a sublimation of the Yin-Yang and Five Elements’ spirits. If your spiritual power is strong enough, you can suppress these immortal energies and pass through safely.”
“Just like that… that simple?” Shui Miao blinked, suddenly feeling there was no danger anymore.
Bofa stroked his beard. “It’s simple if you look at it that way, yet not simple at all. It all depends on your cultivation level. Superficially, under the protection of our magical treasures, we can endure the fire-attribute immortal energy here. However, you must understand this is a formation. The mystery of formations lies in their ability to change. Suddenly, it might unleash something unexpected. If you can’t react quickly enough or withstand it, you’re finished.”
“Changes!”
Shui Miao’s heart stirred. Just as he was about to say he wanted to try, he saw two entirely crimson-red humanoid creatures descending from the cave’s entrance.
After peering cautiously into the cave, the two creatures carefully walked toward the treasure chamber.
At this moment, Bofa quickly transmitted his voice into Shui Miao’s mind: “They are Fire Beastmen from the southern part of the Asura Realm, Yan Di. They live beside volcanic magma pools, and the temperature here is nothing to them. However, whether they can handle the formation’s transformations inside this Fire Holy Hall remains uncertain.”
The two Fire Beastmen walked about twenty meters into the chamber before stopping simultaneously.
They glanced around, and suddenly noticed several extraordinary weapons floating within the nearby flames. One Fire Beastman immediately approached and grabbed one of the weapons. Instantly, a surge of powerful fire-attribute immortal energy erupted from the weapon, burning the Fire Beastman to ashes.
Seeing this, the other Fire Beastman was so frightened that he turned to flee. However, suddenly the ground beneath his feet vanished, revealing a black hole into which he fell, instantly incinerated to cinders by the flames.
“Oh my, this place is full of deadly traps…”
Shui Miao felt nervous and fearful again.
Bofa calmly explained, “Of course, formations naturally contain traps. These traps act as switches to activate the formation. Once you step on one, danger will immediately arise.”
“But then, can’t we just fly inside?” Shui Miao asked Bofa.
Bofa shook his head. “Advanced formations possess specific auras. Even the slightest change in the aura can trigger traps. If it were that simple, this treasure chamber would have already been looted long ago—why wait for us to arrive?”
“Right. I don’t understand this stuff at all. I can’t afford to take risks. Let me sense the situation inside first,” Shui Miao became even more cautious.
The failure of the two Fire Beastmen caused the experts from the three major sects to feel despair, and they all retreated back to the fourth treasure chamber.
Bofa gently patted Shui Miao’s shoulder. “Don’t waste your energy. Advanced formations contain illusions. Your spiritual sense will only perceive false images. Unless your cultivation level is much higher than the formation master who set it, you absolutely won’t see through its mysteries. Some top-tier formations can even use your spiritual sense to lure your soul, leaving you dead without even knowing how you died.”
“This… this is impossible to deal with!”
Shui Miao suddenly found himself at a loss, feeling helpless for the first time in his life.
This formation was so frustrating—this couldn’t be done, that couldn’t be done. It was simply an untouchable minefield!
Suddenly, Shui Miao understood why ancient military strategists were so impressive. It was because they transcended human thinking, setting up formations that ordinary people couldn’t penetrate. Zhuge Liang’s Bagua Formation, for example—how could someone who didn’t understand it ever hope to break through? Such things were too mysterious, calculating people with flawless precision.
Bofa’s eyebrows slightly moved, and he smiled faintly. “Don’t be so restless! Whatever a human creates must have flaws that can be found, because human intelligence is limited. Even the most powerful formations can be broken. It’s just a matter of whether your experience is broad enough, your intelligence high enough, and your mind sharp enough to perceive the mysteries and break the formation before it breaks you. Based on my experience breaking the first four formations in the previous four treasure chambers, I know that Luo Tong was a man of great wisdom. He set these formations to seemingly attract people with treasures, but in reality, he was seeking someone capable of inheriting his entire skillset. His formations progress from easy to difficult, seemingly hard to break, but actually teaching us how to understand formations, allowing us to learn more from them.”
“But, I didn’t even understand those first four formations!”
Shui Miao thought that the formation in the first treasure chamber must have been much easier.
Hearing this, Bofa’s heart stirred. “Since Senior Brother hasn’t arrived yet, I might as well set up a formation within my own realm to demonstrate it to you again, so you can learn more.”
“Great!”
Shui Miao immediately became excited.
Since formations were so magical, naturally he wanted to learn.
This was a way to kill with brains, not brute force—exactly what Shui Miao liked.
After Bofa brought Shui Miao into his realm, Shui Miao immediately saw a place filled with misty clouds.
“Shui Miao, this scene is exactly the same as the first treasure chamber, including the misty clouds inside. Carefully observe first, then tell me what you see.”
Bofa stood on the other side of the mist, speaking to Shui Miao.
Shui Miao looked carefully and found nothing particularly special about the mist—it seemed ordinary. When he focused his spiritual sense, his mind suddenly felt dizzy.
“I only asked you to look. Who told you to use your spiritual power? If this were a real formation, you’d already be dead.”
Bofa’s tone turned slightly stern.
Startled, Shui Miao quickly calmed himself and carefully observed for a while before asking, “Can you at least tell me the name of this formation?”
“When an opponent traps you in a formation, do you think they’d tell you its name so you can guess its secrets?” Bofa retorted impatiently.
“…”
Suddenly becoming strict, Bofa made Shui Miao slightly uncomfortable. Embarrassed, he scratched his head and said, “Senior, this formation looks like nothing but clusters of mist to me. I really can’t see anything special about it.”
“You’re too restless. If you could see through it, that would be strange indeed.”
Bofa coldly shook his head. “Since you refuse to observe seriously, you should enter the formation and suffer the consequences.”
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