Chapter Eighty-Two: Entering the Trapping Formation

Standing silently by the lake in the cold air, with a campfire crackling nearby, a plump Royal Fish sizzled as its rich oils dripped into the flames. Watching the savage struggle between Judah and the Sky-Slaying Leopard within Purgatory, a faint smile curved at the corner of his mouth.

“That smells wonderful…”

The fully roasted Royal Fish gave off an intense aroma that made him instinctively swallow. Leng Tian had not enjoyed a warm meal in a very long time, and his stomach stirred with a sudden surge of appetite.

“Master, this Royal Fish was once the favorite dish of the Heavenly Martial Sage Emperor. Aside from its unforgettable flavor, its flesh also possesses a miraculous effect—it helps condense and fortify a cultivator's divine soul!”

By now, the Thornflower Queen Leilei had undergone a dramatic transformation. Shortly after Leng Tian's ascension, she too had successfully advanced. Her new form was no longer the terrifying sight it once had been. Gone were the jagged fangs and gaping maw upon the blossom; in their place was an adorable doll-like face.

As she spoke, two shallow dimples bloomed on her rosy cheeks. Together with a pair of large, expressive eyes and the surrounding petals framing her face, she looked every bit a little flower spirit.

Leng Tian had originally intended to punish her for conspiring with Judah to hide the matter of the Royal Fish, but seeing her endearing new appearance, all such thoughts dissolved from his mind.

“Little one, fine, I forgive you. If anyone saw your pitiful look, they might think I was mistreating a child!” Leng Tian chuckled, watching the pleading expression on Leilei's tiny face.

He sliced off a strip of fish with his dagger, then gathered a breath of cold air from within his body and blew it across the tender, fragrant flesh, cooling it just enough before tossing it into his mouth. He chewed slowly, savoring the taste.

“Mmm… mmm…” Leng Tian swallowed the fish in bliss. “Ahh…” He exhaled, the fragrant steam curling from his lips, and said with deep satisfaction, “No wonder the gods favored this dish—truly the finest delicacy in all the world!”

“Drip… drip…”

Still lost in the lingering flavor, Leng Tian was suddenly startled by the sound of droplets hitting the ground. He turned his head and nearly burst out laughing. There stood the Thornflower Leilei, her small childish mouth hanging wide open, long streams of drool trickling down from the corners of her lips to the ground, while her big eyes sparkled with stars, fixed unblinkingly on the richly fragrant Royal Fish roasting above the fire.

Leng Tian laughed aloud. With a swift stroke of his blade, a strip of fish was lifted into the air and tossed squarely into Leilei's open mouth. “Ah… so hot… so delicious, so delicious…”

Leilei's thick flower stem swayed vigorously, betraying the intensity of her emotions. Her small mouth chewed rapidly as she let out contented hums, swallowing the fish with evident reluctance.

Leng Tian produced a flask of fine wine and began to drink and dine at his leisure, occasionally tossing a piece of fish to Leilei. Man and spirit thus feasted together, and before long, the entire Royal Fish had been devoured clean. At Leilei's earnest request, Leng Tian even tossed the remaining fish bones into her mouth, which she happily chewed on for quite a while before finally swallowing them down.

With his hunger and thirst fully satisfied, a thought stirred in Leng Tian's mind, and he asked Leilei, “Little one, how long have you been here? Am I the first human to enter, or have there been others before me?”

“Master, you are the one hundred and ninth human expert to enter this place!” Leilei answered offhandedly, revealing his ranking—indeed, past one hundred.

“And none of those human experts ever thought to eliminate you?” Leng Tian gazed out at the sea of flowers blanketing the hillside as he spoke to Leilei.

Leilei wrinkled her little nose and said with disdain, “They would have loved to, but the laws of this space would never permit such a thing. If anyone tried to slaughter me or my subjects, they would be instantly transported out of here!”

“Oh…” Leng Tian raised an eyebrow, his tone calm. “So you mean, if I wanted to leave this place, I would only need to provoke the law and have it teleport me out—is that the idea?”

“Hehe, that was indeed the case before. But now, if Master wishes to leave, I only need to communicate with the Spirit of the Law, and it can be done! Only… Leilei cannot leave together with Master…”

As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes, and she looked at Leng Tian with the most pitiful expression imaginable—her meaning all too clear.

“Heh heh…” Leng Tian smiled broadly. “Alright, put away your little scheming. I know fine well you don't want to leave this place, and I never intended to take you with me anyway! Notify the Spirit of the Law—I want to pass through the Heaven-Reaching Tower as soon as possible and enter the Azure Sea and Jade Sky!”

“Master, don't abandon Leilei! Once I can truly take human form, I will be able to leave this place. When that time comes, Master must come back for me. Otherwise, I really will be trapped in this sealed space for the rest of my life!”

Leng Tian sighed inwardly. He could not bear to refuse this flower spirit who was still, in essence, a young girl. The main reason he had given her the spirit milk to aid her advancement was his own compassion stirring within him. In truth, he had never genuinely intended to take her along as a spirit servant.

“Very well, I promise you. Next time I return to the Ancient Realm, I will take you away.” Leng Tian had no choice but to accede to Leilei's request.

“Master must keep his word!” Leilei's little face blossomed into a joyful smile. She had been born over a thousand years ago, but because this space was so scarce in living beings, she had been unable to draw the life energy she needed. It was only now that she had advanced to a yao spirit—and that was entirely thanks to Leng Tian's spirit milk. Without it, even another hundred years would not have been enough for her to break through.

“Mm, I'll keep my word…”

Having received Leng Tian's assurance, Leilei settled down and communicated with the Spirit of the Law. Moments later, a beam of multicolored light descended above the small lake. Within that radiance, a five-colored formation took shape, revolving steadily. Intricate patterns were etched across its surface, and dense arcane runes floated in the air around the array.

Seeing the teleportation array appear, Leng Tian looked at the lake and said to Leilei, “This lake and its fish—can I take them?” A blazing crimson light surged forth, enveloping the entire surface of the water. As the word “collect” left his lips, the whole lake was drawn in its entirety into Purgatory.

“Master, remember your promise! Leilei will wait for you to come back for me!” By now, tears were streaming from the Thornflower Queen Leilei's big eyes as she spoke, unwilling to part.

“I will come back for you. Cultivate in peace—by the time I return, you had better have taken your human form…” Leng Tian leaped upward and plunged into the glowing array. The formation flashed brilliantly, then contracted inward, vanishing together with Leng Tian into midair.

Leilei still wanted to remind Leng Tian once more to be sure to come for her, but before the words could leave her lips, he was already gone. She could only let a few tears fall in quiet despondence before drawing her petals back together and returning to her silent cultivation.

A flash of light passed before his eyes, and he found himself standing before a magnificent hall. He circulated his mystical art to dispel the dizziness in his head, then gathered his gaze and surveyed the palace complex before him.

It was an extensive cluster of palaces covering a vast area. A quick glance revealed a dozen or more towering halls and mansions, each adorned with green stone, jade tiles, and carvings of coiling dragons and perching phoenixes. The hall directly before him rose over a hundred feet, its two golden jade doors thrown wide open, with over a hundred green stone steps extending to his feet.

Leng Tian spread out his spiritual sense, extending it deep into the hall's interior. The space within was quite empty; his divine sense swept through every corner and found nothing suspicious, though something stirred in his heart.

“When did my spiritual sense become so condensed?” Just now, as he had released his awareness to probe the hall, he noticed that his spiritual sense no longer seemed so ethereal and drifting—it had begun to take on a tendency toward physical solidity.

“Could it be that this ascension brought about a transformation in my spiritual sense as well?” Unable to fathom the cause, Leng Tian set aside his confusion and stepped onto the green stone stairs, walking toward the hall's interior. He had entirely forgotten that this was all the effect of the Royal Fish!

There were exactly ninety-nine green stone steps. Leng Tian smoothed his robes and stepped inside the hall, only to find it completely bare—nothing but twelve green stone pillars arranged in two rows. Aside from these columns, there was nothing else!

Leng Tian looked around the entire hall and found that, apart from the green stone walls and the pillars, no other physical objects existed. Suddenly, light flickered beneath his feet. He looked down and saw that the green stone floor was covered with intricate patterns, and the light was emanating from those very lines.

As if his foot had touched a fuse, the light flared up and swiftly raced along the lines, illuminating the entire hall.

The moment he saw this, Leng Tian knew something was wrong. He released his tri-colored protective aura to shield his entire body and attempted to flash out of the hall in an instant. But just as he made his move, the surrounding space under the glow of the light began to warp and turn illusory, as if he were submerged in water—every movement sent ripples cascading through the air around him.

His pupils contracted, tri-colored light flickering in his eyes, as the hall's great doors slowly melted away into nothingness. What replaced the vanished doors was an endless expanse of rippling water. “What is this? Was everything I just saw nothing but illusion?”

Leng Tian felt as though he were standing in water. A slight move of his finger stirred a trail of ripples. Then a deep, resonant voice echoed through the space: “Welcome to my Sumeru Grand Array. Here, if you can pass through the trial of Mirror Flowers and Water Moon, you may leave in safety. But if you cannot break it, you will remain trapped in this formation for the rest of your life!”

“Sumeru Grand Array? Mirror Flowers, Water Moon?” After speaking those words, the sudden voice fell silent and did not return.

Leng Tian realized he had inadvertently stepped into a great formation. Based on what the deep voice had said, breaking through this so-called Mirror Flowers and Water Moon would allow him to escape the array—though he could not tell whether the formation had already been activated.

Just as he was weighing the matter, he felt a hostile wind rushing at him from behind. His instincts flared, and he flashed away to a safe distance. Turning back, he saw a striped ferocious tiger. With a thunderous roar, it leaped into the air and lunged at him!

Leng Tian swept his spiritual sense over the striped tiger and found it to be nothing more than an ordinary mountain tiger, with not a trace of demonic energy radiating from it. Only then did he relax. Seeing the tiger's body already descending upon him, he casually raised a leg and kicked at its abdomen.

Without any suspense, the kick landed squarely on the tiger's belly—but there was no solid impact. The imposing beast, struck in the abdomen, dissolved instantly like flowing water, vanishing without a sound. Leng Tian's kick might as well have struck empty air!

“An illusion…” Leng Tian narrowed his eyes and thought to himself, “What formidable illusion arts—even my spiritual sense failed to detect that it was an unreal construct!”

A piercing cry came from ahead. He looked up and saw a massive bird of prey, wings spread wide, streaking toward him at tremendous speed!

Martial Arts Ultimate Peak 82_Chapter 82: Trapped in the Grand Array — Update Complete!