Having finished setting up the formation, Zhang Yang suddenly spoke. The array was complete and needed someone to test it out; this was the first time he had ever deployed such a formation.

The ideal candidate for testing it was naturally Long Feng, standing right in front of him.

"Me?"

Long Feng's eyes widened sharply, and a look of bitterness immediately crossed his face, but he still nodded.

He understood that this was Zhang Yang’s debut in array deployment. To ensure the formation achieved its maximum efficacy, it had to be tested first. There was no one else around, nor any other internal energy cultivators; it had to be him to test the array.

Long Feng slowly walked into the area marked by the small flags, a chill running down his spine.

He suddenly realized that Zhang Yang, who had been standing outside watching him, had vanished. The grassy ground before him had completely disappeared, replaced by a dense forest.

The trees in this forest were towering and appeared incredibly real, but he knew clearly that these were illusions; there was no actual forest here.

Long Feng stood cautiously, his entire body alert, paying close attention to everything around him.

Two tigers suddenly appeared within the forest—massive ones, glaring intently at him. Long Feng’s internal energy surged to its peak; he understood that the attack mechanisms within the array had engaged.

Never assume that because the tigers are illusions, you can afford to be careless or dismiss them.

Even illusory tigers, within the array, possessed the power to kill and bite a person to death.

The two tigers roared simultaneously and lunged at Long Feng. With his current strength, dealing with two tigers was still relatively easy. In moments, both beasts fell beneath his palms.

The dead tigers quickly vanished.

When the tigers disappeared, the scenery of the forest dissolved too, immediately replaced by another scene, still featuring attacks.

Long Feng began attempting to break the array, to shatter the formation so he could escape the waves of assault. Sadly, no matter which direction he charged from, he could not escape the array’s constraints. After more than ten minutes, his heart filled with terror.

This was an array, a formation rooted in the mysteries of Qimen Dunjia (Mystical Gates and Hidden Doors). Even this immature formation had completely trapped him. How terrifying must a genuine Qimen Dunjia be?

Long Feng suddenly recalled a legend: it was said that the ancestor of the Tang family was a master of Qimen Dunjia. However, later generations lacked the talent to develop this art, eventually shifting their focus to the craft of forging.

The formations they used in their forging were simplified versions derived from Qimen Dunjia.

Thinking about it now, the rumor was highly likely true. Although the Tang family's arrays were not true Qimen formations, they already possessed considerable power. Especially this Tianmen Array (Heaven's Gate Formation), which already possessed the ability to trap and kill him.

Long Feng stayed within the array for a while longer. Then, Zhang Yang drove Lightning, Swiftwind, and Shadowless into the formation one by one, trapping all four of them simultaneously.

Swiftwind and Lightning dashed about wildly once they entered the grand array. Swiftwind tried to use its speed to escape, but it kept circling the same spot; running in any direction proved useless.

Only Shadowless, upon entering, immediately dropped to the ground, its little nose twitching constantly, sniffing at something unseen.

Within a few minutes, Shadowless navigated its way through with twists and turns, and after only a short while, it actually burst out of the array's boundary, finally leaping onto Zhang Yang’s body and grinning smugly.

This left Zhang Yang somewhat helpless. Shadowless’s nose was simply too monstrous; even an array couldn't hold it.

With Shadowless free, Swiftwind and Lightning were not so fortunate. The array’s offensives intensified, and like Long Feng, they struggled to cope, desperate to escape but unable to find a way out.

If this continued, sooner or later, they would exhaust their strength and face capture.

After a brief test, Zhang Yang withdrew the grand array. Long Feng, Swiftwind, and Lightning finally saw Zhang Yang and returned to reality.

The moment the array vanished, Long Feng collapsed onto the ground. His strength was the weakest, and he had been inside the longest. He was already utterly exhausted. If he hadn't recently consumed a Vital Blood Pill, he might have collapsed entirely; the consumption within the array was far greater than outside.

But this was perhaps for the best; the time spent inside allowed him to absorb more of the medicine’s effects.

Swiftwind and Lightning were slightly better off, but fear lingered on their faces. Especially Swiftwind, which usually feared nothing, now regarded Zhang Yang with a renewed sense of awe. It had suffered considerably inside.

"You all rest for a while; I need to reinforce the array!"

Zhang Yang said with a chuckle. He was quite satisfied with today’s test. At least under his control, Swiftwind and Lightning had absolutely no chance of breaking out of the grand array.

Of course, this was because the array was being managed by him, a Fourth Layer powerhouse. A Fourth Layer expert naturally held an overwhelming advantage over Third Layer cultivators and spirit beasts; he could handle them even without the array.

Viewed this way, the array seemed somewhat redundant.

However, one cannot look at things one-sidedly. Although Zhang Yang was a Fourth Layer expert, he hadn't used his full power just now. If he exerted maximum effort managing the array, trapping a mid-Fourth Layer expert would be entirely feasible.

After trapping the enemy, he could utilize the array's offensive capabilities to kill them.

Moreover, there was the most crucial point: while controlling the array constrained his own hands, once Chu Yuntian was confined, Lightning and Shadowless could enter the formation to attack. Normally, attacking Chu Yuntian would be difficult for them, but with the array's assistance, Chu Yuntian wouldn't be able to see them. They could simply attack with their full force.

This effectively unleashed their full potential.

It is also difficult for spirit beasts to attack within an array; they need to be intimately familiar with every aspect of it, a difficult prerequisite. However, for them now, this posed no problem.

With their minds linked, Zhang Yang could command them perfectly. They would act as his limbs, launching an assault on Chu Yuntian inside.

Only by doing this could they exert their strongest capabilities. Facing a mid-Fourth Layer demonic master, every advantage must be exploited.

After repairing the array, Zhang Yang left with satisfaction. Long Feng had ordered the area completely sealed off, forbidding anyone from entering.

Due to the struggles of the two great spirit beasts and Long Feng, the array had suffered some damage, functioning like a net that had been stressed. After all, it wasn't a mature Qimen formation; if it were, they, even as Fourth Layer experts, could never have inflicted any damage on an array presided over by a Fourth Layer master.

Seeing that Zhang Yang had set up the trap and the array, Long Feng's confidence increased somewhat.

Upon returning, Zhang Yang assigned him a new task: only he and Swiftwind would be responsible for luring the enemy to the construction site. Long Feng was not to engage. Before Zhang Yang lured the enemy, he was to take Lightning and Shadowless and hide at the site.

He needed to manage the array initially, waiting for Zhang Yang to trick Chu Yuntian into the formation, and then activate it.

Then, Zhang Yang would take over the array management, which was the only way to truly trap Chu Yuntian, utilize the array against this mid-Fourth Layer demonic master, and finally have a chance to slay him.

Only two days remained. Long Feng had to learn how to control the Tianmen Array, which was no easy feat.

Setting up an array is inherently difficult; otherwise, arts like Qimen Dunjia wouldn't have vanished. Zhang Yang’s ability to learn was linked to his initial comprehension of the Dao of Nature; array techniques are inherently imbued with the Dao of Nature.

If it were solely based on his previous self, or the self from his past life, even knowing the setup procedures would not have guaranteed success.

Fortunately, Long Feng didn't need to learn the entirety of it—only how to activate the pre-set formation, which made things much simpler.

Time was pressing, so Long Feng began his studies. Zhang Yang, meanwhile, made other preparations. His Tang family forging technique hadn't been fully mastered, but he had grasped the basics.

He still had some raw materials on hand and decided to process them into weapons.

The first thing he created was the claw from the Great Crab.

This claw was incredibly hard; utilized properly, it could definitely be forged into a divine weapon. However, due to a lack of other materials, he could only perform a simple modification, ultimately crafting a glove for Lightning.

Lightning’s claws were sharp, but it wasn't a purely combat-oriented spirit beast; it was far inferior to the Great Crab.

With this pair of claw-gloves, its attack power was enhanced.

While a single glove offered limited attack improvement, the most crucial component was the extremely resilient fine filament housed within the glove—this provided a ranged attack capability. Zhang Yang himself had nearly suffered because of this very attack from the Great Crab.

After making the glove, this filament was retained inside it. Zhang Yang deliberately crafted it to be perfectly suited for Lightning's use.

With their minds linked, Zhang Yang easily understood how to make it most suitable for Lightning.

It was only a simple modification, which didn't take much time. Lightning was extremely pleased with its new gloves. It was no longer purely a venomous beast; it now possessed the sharp claws of the Great Crab.

These claws could not only wound enemies but also served as hidden projectiles. Lightning’s combat power increased significantly at once.

After finishing things for Lightning, Zhang Yang made a pair of horseshoes for Swiftwind.

Swiftwind was dissatisfied with the horseshoes; its hooves simply didn't require such things. However, Zhang Yang hadn't made ordinary horseshoes; these were reinforced with the fangs of the White Jade Snake.

When Swiftwind kicked out its hooves, the hidden fangs would automatically emerge. A strike from these fangs could severely injure even a Fourth Layer expert.

Because of this feature, Swiftwind reluctantly accepted them. It was fortunate that the horseshoes weren't permanently fixed; Swiftwind could remove them when not in use, allowing Zhang Yang to keep them safe.

If they were nailed to its hooves constantly, it would certainly refuse; Swiftwind was a spirit beast that valued freedom and disliked such constraints, even if they enhanced its strength.

With these Fang-Horseshoes, Swiftwind’s power also saw a considerable boost, which gave Long Feng, now aware of all this, another layer of confidence.

Perhaps they truly stood a chance of successfully slaying a mid-Fourth Layer demonic master.

The last one remaining was Shadowless. Zhang Yang only made a small vest for it, crafted from the skin of the White Jade Snake. Shadowless's defense was too poor; this vest could offer some assistance. As for offense, Zhang Yang truly had no way to help it, so this served as a consolation prize. (To be continued) RQ