Zhang Yang, controlling the grand formation, possessed the clearest understanding of everything happening inside. A dozen hungry wolves rushed toward Chu Yuntian all at once.

From Zhang Yang's perspective right now, one could discern that one of the wolves was Long Feng’s Snow Whip, and beside another wolf was the petite Lightning. One wolf was moving the fastest, with Chasing Wind galloping rapidly right behind it.

When Chu Yuntian and Zhang Yang fought previously, Chasing Wind had been anxious to try out its new weapon—it hadn't yet used the pair of tusks mounted on its hooves, but unfortunately, Zhang Yang hadn't given it the chance. In the previous battle, Zhang Yang had primarily been luring the enemy; naturally, he couldn't fight with his full strength.

"Bang! Bang!" The illusory wolf shadows were knocked away by Chu Yuntian, but the hidden Chasing Wind landed a kick on him.

Fortunately, Chu Yuntian sensed the danger in time and blocked it with his Flame Blade, narrowly avoiding the attack. Feeling this attack emerging from the illusion, Chu Yuntian broke out in a cold sweat.

Chasing Wind’s strength wasn't overwhelmingly powerful; Chu Yuntian could manage it. But that was when he could see the attack.

If he could see it, let alone one Chasing Wind, even three or five wouldn't necessarily harm him. But now, he couldn't see anything, and the attacks were a mix of real and illusory—Chasing Wind’s power wasn't at a level Chu Yuntian could completely disregard.

One slip-up, and he could still be hit. "Pat!

Pat! Pat!" Several more hungry wolves were sent flying by Chu Yuntian.

The wolves that died immediately dissolved into illusory outlines on the ground and vanished. "Poison?" Immediately after killing these few wolves, Chu Yuntian's expression shifted slightly again.

In front of him, a cloud of black mist suddenly appeared. One look told him this was a highly potent toxic fog, and it was extremely close, practically rushing right at his face.

When the enemy couldn't see it, Lightning could approach quite boldly to deploy poison. However, it was only poison deployment.

Chu Yuntian was exceptionally strong and still at his peak. At this moment, Lightning dared not rush in to use its venomous fangs to bite; one wrong move and it might be injured by Chu Yuntian’s counterattack.

Moreover, if it could release poison covertly, there was no need to take such risks. Recognizing the poison mist, Chu Yuntian leaned his entire body backward.

Many practitioners of the Demonic Path had dealings with various toxic creatures. He knew very well that some poisonous mists could not be avoided simply by holding one's breath; the formidable ones couldn't even have the slightest physical contact with the body.

Zhang Yang, manipulating the grand formation, inwardly sighed with regret. Under his guidance, Lightning could move freely within the formation, but the poison mist it spewed couldn't be hidden; it would be immediately exposed.

Otherwise, relying solely on Lightning spitting poison mist might have been enough to deal with Chu Yuntian. Chu Yuntian retreated a step, and the last few wolves lunged at him.

The Flame Blade, carrying an intense heat, swept across these final wolves. These wolves instantly split into two pieces before vanishing from the ground.

Long Feng, wielding the Snow Whip, quickly retracted it. These wolves included the one transformed from his Snow Whip.

It was a pity Chu Yuntian used a weapon this time, not his hands. Otherwise, that sneak attack might have caused Chu Yuntian a minor setback.

His Snow Whip was also coated with poison—a very potent toxin formulated by Zhang Yang, one that could heavily affect even a strong practitioner at the peak of the Fourth Layer. After all the wolves were slain, the scene before Chu Yuntian changed again.

This time, it wasn't a desert, but a vast grassland under the night sky. Chu Yuntian could even smell the scent of the wild grass, an immensely comforting sensation.

The grass in the prairie was tall, reaching nearly halfway up a person’s height, with occasional rustling sounds emanating from the thicket. Hidden among the grass were dozens of jackals.

These were also illusions, but just like the wolves, these phantoms carried significant offensive power; being bitten by these jackals would still cause injury. Of course, these jackals alone were incapable of causing any harm to a powerhouse like Chu Yuntian; the main assault force remained Long Feng and the Three Great Spirit Beasts.

The Heavenly Gate Formation was fundamentally an evolution of an illusionary formation; its direct offensive power wasn't strong, illusion being its greatest feature. Lightning and the others were hidden among these dozens of jackals.

Chasing Wind also moved the fastest. The smile was completely gone from Chu Yuntian’s face; his concentration was absolute.

He listened intently to everything around him, his eyes constantly scanning, searching for any flaw in the formation. He knew clearly that what was attacking him now was not just the formation, but also other people and spirit beasts within it.

This equated to him being passively beaten, and beaten without the ability to retaliate effectively. If this continued, even with his immense strength and high internal energy reserves, he would eventually meet his demise.

The opponent's attacks were not purely physical. The poison mist that appeared earlier had made him extremely vigilant.

His most crucial task now was to break the formation quickly and escape. He was confident that without the constraints of the formation, these few assailants—the people or spirit beasts—would be no match for him.

At worst, he could escape their siege. "Crack!" Chu Yuntian cleaved one attacking jackal in half with a single strike from his blade.

Chasing Wind, having learned some cunning, deliberately delayed its attack this time. The two tusks protruding from its hooves managed to graze Chu Yuntian’s robes, tearing two holes in them.

If Chu Yuntian hadn't sensed something at the critical moment and quickly shifted, it wouldn't have been his clothes ripped this time, but his actual body. "Pfft!" Just as he dodged, a surge of powerful internal energy manifested out of thin air.

Chu Yuntian's Flame Blade immediately shot out a blade-light to intercept this energy. This internal energy blast was, naturally, Shadowless’s projection.

It targeted Chasing Wind’s body, allowing Shadowless to attack without moving, which was quite convenient. Chasing Wind and Shadowless’s assaults were unsuccessful, but their attacks didn't cease.

Lightning’s poison mist appeared again, this time manifesting as two rapid clouds. After spitting the mist, Lightning immediately shifted its position.

Although Chu Yuntian was inside the formation, his true location hadn't changed. If Lightning had remained where it was, it might have been struck by Chu Yuntian.

As expected, just after Lightning moved, a blade-light struck the spot where it had been. The grass on the ground was shredded into fine ribbons, then vanished.

These blades of grass were illusory and disappeared upon being severed. Chu Yuntian managed to kill off most of the dozens of jackals.

Chasing Wind and Shadowless organized another assault, while Long Feng’s Snow Whip constantly lashed out at Chu Yuntian from various directions. In this moment, Chu Yuntian’s formidable strength was fully displayed.

Even hidden and aided by the grand formation, these repeated attacks failed to inflict even a single scratch on Chu Yuntian. However, it wasn't without some achievement.

At the very least, under Chu Yuntian's full alert, his internal energy consumption was immense. He had repeatedly released blade-lights and internal energy bursts; the expenditure in this short time was higher than when he fought fiercely with Zhang Yang for so long.

After all the jackals were eradicated, the scene shifted yet again. This time, Chu Yuntian found himself on a barren mountaintop, surrounded by chaotic piles of stone.

Above his head, hundreds of falcons circled, their gazes fixed on him, poised to strike at any moment. The Heavenly Gate Formation consisted of nine layers of illusions, each level featuring a different scene and corresponding fierce beasts, the number of which increased with each level.

By the ninth level, the beasts appearing numbered in the tens of thousands, a dense swarm. A dozen falcons dove down in unison.

They let out piercing screeches from their beaks. If an ordinary person encountered such a scene, they would likely be terrified into paralysis.

Chu Yuntian was no ordinary person; he was a powerful figure at the mid-Fourth Layer of the Demonic Path. Before the falcons even closed in, he raised his Flame Blade and executed a light sweep.

More than half of the diving falcons were cleanly severed and vanished. "Bang!" "Pat!" Long Feng and Chasing Wind, who were concealed, attacked along with the illusion.

These covert assaults were the true source of trouble for Chu Yuntian. "Puff!" After half the falcons were eliminated, Chu Yuntian finally stumbled, struck once by Shadowless’s internal energy.

This time, Shadowless had dared to approach much closer, using the cover of a large flock of falcons to unleash its internal energy. Unfortunately, the strike didn't hit a vital spot; it only struck Chu Yuntian’s back, causing him to stagger slightly.

Shadowless’s internal energy merely shredded the fabric of Chu Yuntian’s outer robe to dust. Beneath the tattered garment, a golden, shining vest was revealed.

This vest showed no damage whatsoever, and its appearance alone suggested it was no common item. This Chu Yuntian possessed not only a Divine Weapon List artifact like the Flame Blade but also a formidable defensive divine artifact.

Although it caused no substantial damage to Chu Yuntian, it was still one effective blow—the first successful hit. This greatly encouraged the other two beasts and Long Feng.

Their attacks, launched from the shadows, became more varied and increasingly sharp. This caused Zhang Yang, who was controlling the formation, to shake his head slightly.

These fellows had gone mad. The attacks Chu Yuntian faced were mounting, and his own situation was becoming more perilous.

While shaking his head, Zhang Yang’s expression flickered, and he hurriedly increased the energy flow to the two flagpoles. Having suffered successive blows, Chu Yuntian had stopped looking for flaws in the formation.

He swung his Flame Blade wildly, hacking at the surroundings with sheer force, attempting to break the formation through brute power. While this approach seemed foolish, it was proving effective.

His attacks were tangible, forcing Zhang Yang to rapidly adjust the formation flags, protecting them lest Chu Yuntian accidentally damage one. If a flag were destroyed, the grand formation would naturally collapse.

If he couldn't inflict substantial damage using the formation, dealing with Chu Yuntian without it would become much harder. While fully focused on maintaining the formation, Zhang Yang recalled those true Esoteric Formations.

According to ancient legends, true Esoteric Formations were impervious to methods like breaking them with brute force. Furthermore, true Esoteric Formations weren't merely scenes conjured from illusion like his, but rather a blend of reality within illusion and illusion within reality.

Such formations could never be harmed by mere force; without locating the formation eye, no damage could be inflicted upon it. As he was thinking, Zhang Yang’s expression brightened again.

As Long Feng and the others accelerated their attacks, Chu Yuntian's defense finally showed a slight gap—this time, the successful strike came from Chasing Wind. First chapter!

RQ