After receiving confirmation from the assembly, Ye Chen paused for a moment of contemplation, then extended a finger toward the southeast, at the four o'clock position. "This way," he directed.

The others exchanged glances, and Fuxi immediately declared, "Let's go!" With a sweep of his voluminous sleeve, he enveloped Ye Chen's body and took the lead in that direction. Seeing Fuxi forging ahead, Ru Lai, Zhunti, and Fairy Shegu exchanged a brief, silent acknowledgement before following suit.

They proceeded directly for some time until, abruptly, a ferocious beast leaped out of the enveloping mist ahead. Its body resembled a tiger's, but its head was draconic and its tail serpentine. It opened its cavernous maw and lunged toward Fuxi, who was leading the way.

The entire group gasped in surprise, unprepared for such a savage entity lurking within. Before Ye Chen could react, Ru Lai and Zhunti moved first. Ru Lai lifted a palm, and a dazzling, golden palm print shot forth with a resounding impact.

"The Tathagata Divine Palm!"

This brilliant golden palm carried the very momentum of the surrounding heavens and earth, whipping up wind and clouds as it slammed down upon the monstrous beast's head.

Meanwhile, the Daoist Zhunti swept his mighty hand, summoning a treasured book shimmering with seven-colored light. It tore through the void, leaving trails of blackened scars, and hurtled toward the beast's lower body with surging force.

"The Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree!"

This treasure, formed from a fragment of the Jade Disc of Creation that once birthed Pangu, was a high-grade Dao Artifact. As it was unleashed, it caused the surrounding ambient air currents to converge wildly. Each leaf was sharp as a blade, imbued with anti-nuclear energy, instantly traversing the distance of space to strike the beast.

Boom!

The beast shrieked in agony, but before it could even struggle, it was violently crushed beneath the Tathagata Divine Palm. Immediately following, the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree shredded its body, reducing it to a cloud of blood mist that dissipated into the void, leaving not a trace of gore behind.

The Daoist Zhunti clenched his fist, reclaiming the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree, his expression grim. He turned to look at Ye Chen.

"Amitabha," Chanter Jin Chan clasped his hands together, regarding Ye Chen with a benevolent gaze, and smiled lightly, "Benefactor Ye, are you absolutely certain this path leads us out?"

Ye Chen didn't need to turn around to know that the gazes of all the great figures present were fixed upon him. Even Fuxi and the Yellow Emperor, who usually placed complete trust in him, showed faint signs of deliberation.

His thoughts raced: How can this be? According to the positions on the game board, this should be the exit. On the board, a Tiger Howl Formation was stationed here—the most fragile among the formations. Following this Tiger Howl Formation was the Mute Chant Formation...

"The Tiger..."

Ye Chen suddenly grasped something, his eyes flashing with sudden clarity, and he exclaimed, "I know!"

"Hm?"

"Know what?"

Everyone turned to look, their brows slightly furrowed.

Ye Chen quickly explained, "This is correct. This was originally the Tiger Howl Formation on the game board, and that beast just now was a manifestation born from that very formation. If we break through this Tiger Howl Formation, there is a Dragon Roar Formation behind it, and then we approach the edge of the board, guarded by a final Killing Array! These three formations are the locations that appear most perilous on the board, but are actually the weakest points!"

The crowd fell into a brief silence upon hearing his words.

Fuxi pondered for a moment. "Are you saying the Dragon Roar Formation ahead might also manifest as a divine dragon to obstruct us?"

"Precisely!" Ye Chen nodded.

The elder seated upon the azure bull spoke with a gentle expression. "Young friend, how do you know about this game board? To my knowledge, it was devised by an ancient ancestor of the Bai family, and no one in the world can decipher it. How did you come to know?"

Ye Chen froze momentarily. "Devised by an ancestor of the Bai family?" He couldn't help but recall what Master Bai Ya had told him. According to Bai Ya, that game board was played between him and an old friend, but that friend had ultimately perished and had not been resurrected for ages. Could that old friend be the ancestor of the Bai family?

However, the demise of Bai Ya's old friend, as recounted, occurred within the last few hundred thousand years. By then, Bai Tian must have already taken up the position of Patriarch of the Bai family. If that were the case, the one who set up this game board wasn't Bai Ya's old friend. Then who could it be?

He pondered deeply, unable to find a thread of certainty, and secretly resolved, I must ask Master Bai Ya when I see him again. As he thought this, he recalled the moment he fell unconscious in the spatial-temporal storm layer; when he awoke, Master Bai Ya was gone. He didn't know if he lived or died.

This thought brought a sudden wave of melancholy.

Seeing Ye Chen's spirit rapidly dim, the others found it strange but refrained from pressing him.

Fuxi made an immediate decision. "Since that is the case, let us proceed!" With that, he swept his great hand, enveloping Ye Chen, and continued forward.

They hadn't walked far before a dragon's roar suddenly echoed ahead, shaking the very heavens.

While the crowd was awestruck, they also felt a surge of pleasant surprise, gaining seven or eight parts more faith in Ye Chen. They immediately grew bolder.

In the mist ahead, a golden divine dragon suddenly erupted, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, coiled menacingly in the center of the path. It stared down at the group with a presence of chilling majesty, its eyes filled with ferocity.

"Begone!"

The Sky-Supporting Divine Dragon, covered in golden scales, flared with killing intent, its massive body surging forward violently. Its claw smashed down, tearing the very air apart, and struck with lightning speed at the golden dragon's vulnerable seven-inch point. The claw exerted slight pressure, and several sounds of cracking bone immediately followed.

"Daring to show off its might before the race of the Sky-Supporters, the Progenitors of the Dragon Clan."

"It was just unlucky."

Ru Lai and Zhunti smiled faintly, completely devoid of any tension or sense of being in peril.

Splash!

The Sky-Supporting Dragon's claw violently ripped and tore, lifting the golden divine dragon as if it were a mere earthworm, splitting it in two. Bloody chunks of flesh flew everywhere, and two springs of blood erupted from the severed ends, drenching the ground crimson.

"Go!"

Without pausing, as the Sky-Supporting Dragon tore apart the five-clawed golden dragon, the group flickered forward, swiftly moving ahead. Soon they reached a corner, turned northwest as Ye Chen pointed, and then arrived at another bend with several diverging paths.

All eyes turned to Ye Chen.

After a short period of contemplation, Ye Chen raised his hand and pointed southwest.

Without a word, the others charged in that direction. They navigated numerous turns along this path, yet encountered no trouble. Along the way, Fairy Shegu, feeling curious, tossed a high-grade divine artifact, a jade hairpin, into another (forked path). The mist in that direction was thick and white, obscuring all sight, but suddenly, a world-shaking roar erupted.

That roar far surpassed the previous tiger's howl and dragon's cry. Even the Buddha Ru Lai and the Daoist Zhunti flinched slightly. At that moment, their belief in Ye Chen solidified completely, and they dared not take a single wrong turn.

Although everyone present was an unparalleled master, a top-tier powerhouse of the Ancient Continent, they dared not be careless within the Bai family's protective mountain formation.

It was well known that the Bai family controlled nearly a hundred civilizations; their power was immense, and the core protective array around their headquarters had been meticulously designed, becoming an impregnable fortress. If one did not know the method, trapping the assembled group would be effortless, and worse, they might all end up buried here.

When the protective array activated, the group realized why Bai Tian had never used the communicator to instruct Elder Han at the foot of the mountain to close the "Ancient Void Bridge." He had likely calculated their arrival all along, intending to sweep them up in one fell swoop!

After all, the group gathered here comprised top masters from the Spiritual Civilization, Immortal Realm Civilization, Buddhist Realm Civilization, Dragon Realm Civilization, and Phoenix Realm Civilization. If they were all lost here, the power of these major civilizations would be severely weakened!

While cursing Bai Tian's despicable shamelessness, the group also inwardly acknowledged him as a true ambitious overlord! If he offended someone, he dealt with them utterly; his actions were decisive, his schemes profound—he was undeniably a terrifying figure!

With this realization, the way they looked at Ye Chen softened, secretly relieved that they had someone who knew the way. Otherwise, they would likely have met their doom on Bai Ling Mountain today. Although it wouldn't be difficult for the assembled forces to kill a clone of Bai Tian, this was the Bai family headquarters. With the Bai family's influence, they could easily summon dozens of Civilization Lords!

Even if those civilizations were not as mighty as the Immortal Realm or Spiritual Civilizations, they were still part of the Rainbow 7 Civilizations, and each Civilization Lord was a first-rate powerhouse. United, they could completely obliterate everyone present!

They hadn't walked much further when an ancient grand array suddenly appeared ahead. Behind this ancient array was a chasm valley; the cliff walls were sheer as a ruler, bottomless, and permeated with a faint white mist. Across the center of this valley ran an iron chain bridge, connecting to a stone platform on the opposite side, upon which rested a pitch-black vortex.

"That is the exit," Ye Chen said gravely, pointing toward the black vortex.

Fuxi, the Yellow Emperor, and the other strong figures gazed intently, then paid closer attention to the iron chain bridge, their brows furrowing slightly.

Ye Chen stated in a deep voice, "There is a peculiar magnetic field in this valley that prohibits flying. Everyone will need to climb across using the iron chain later. Otherwise, if anyone falls into the bottom of the valley, they will encounter a 'Funeral Arrow Array'—no matter how powerful, they will be utterly pulverized."

Everyone looked solemn, secretly awed by the terrifying nature of the Bai family's protective array.

"Let's go!" Fuxi's eyes glinted briefly, and he took the lead. He flipped his hand, and the Eight Trigrams Mirror, radiating majestic heavenly might, shot forward with a mighty roar, instantly plunging into the ancient grand array.

As the Eight Trigrams Mirror broke in, the ancient array was instantly triggered. Numerous array eyes materialized out of thin air, spawning a barrage of laser cannon shells that slammed into the intruder.

Boom, boom, boom...

Wave after wave of laser shells fired. The Eight Trigrams Mirror shook slightly, but its surface remained completely unscathed. Every beam fired was reflected back, and the faster they were shot, the faster they returned.

Crash!

The entire ancient grand array shuddered and disintegrated, destroyed by the very laser ammunition it had generated.