Chapter 599 - 538: Bizarre, Fissure

Chapter 599: Chapter 538: Bizarre, Fissure

This time, however, Chu Mu was prepared. The moment his Heart Spirit wavered, it instantly stabilized again.

Chu Mu’s fingertips twitched. Several Cyan Bird Puppets floated out from his Storage Space. With a flick of his sleeve, they vanished one by one into the thick white mist before him.

To Chu Mu’s surprise, he did not lose his connection to the Cyan Bird Puppets that had entered the roiling white mist. Although his perception of them was faint and intermittent, the link was undeniably still there.

But just as Zhao Shuang had said, this space clearly placed some unknown restriction on surveillance and recording methods. Even the Tier Three Cyan Bird Puppets’ Memory Array Prohibition, forged from Celestial Trace Crystal Stone, failed to record the slightest bit of information.

Chu Mu’s expression was calm as he silently guided the Cyan Bird Puppets back. Then, under the seemingly puzzled gazes of Zhao Shuang and the other two, he once again began walking along the edge of the plaza. He circled it several times before finally coming to a stop.

And now, he looked up at the sky, which was also a vast expanse of white.

’It’s not just an Illusion Array... There’s something else... something unknown?’

A flicker of understanding crossed Chu Mu’s eyes, yet the doubt in his heart only intensified.

Given his level of Cultivation and his airtight defenses, for something to be able to breach them so surreptitiously and disrupt his Heart Spirit was an extremely bizarre matter in itself.

It could even be said that this was somewhat beyond his comprehension.

After all, from his understanding, any Illusion Array, even a Heart Demon, should have some traceable sign.

To put it simply, no matter how fragile his defenses were, there should have been a process to them being breached.

But the bewitchment of this Illusion Array had no such process. His heavily fortified Sword Intent Barrier was treated as if it didn’t exist. The moment of contact resulted in the immediate, unconditional disruption of his Heart Spirit.

In all the Array Systems he knew, no Illusion Array was capable of such a feat.

One might even say it violated the very framework of the Array Dao.

The only explanation was his previous speculation.

This roiling mist was definitely not just a single Illusion Array; there had to be other unknown elements at play.

Based on his observations, this unknown element was very likely one, or even several, Arrays that existed outside his realm of knowledge.

Everything, it seemed, had returned to the starting point.

What could be the purpose of all this?

Chu Mu did not understand. He was deeply confused.

"Senior..."

At this moment, seeing that Chu Mu had made no move to break the Array for a long time, Xie Yu mustered his courage and called out softly.

After glancing down at the Jade Scroll in his hand, Chu Mu looked up at the apprehensive Xie Yu and gave a slight nod. "Prepare to break the Array."

After that short sentence, Chu Mu said nothing more, nor did he ask any more probing questions.

Chu Mu still had a fair amount of confidence in himself.

If even he couldn’t detect any clues and was completely baffled, then anyone else—even a Nascent Soul Great Power—would surely be in the same boat.

After all, based on his observations, these many anomalies weren’t difficult to perceive due to a gap in Cultivation. Rather, it seemed to involve a higher-level system of knowledge he had never before encountered.

When it came to a higher-level system of knowledge, even a Nascent Soul Great Power, no matter how immense their Divine Power, would be unable to discern much without the requisite understanding.

And for a field of knowledge like the Array System, a high Cultivation level does not necessarily equate to a high level of understanding. The two were never an equation.

The only option left was what was recorded in the Jade Scroll... to break all magic with overwhelming force, to act decisively...

And in the current situation, whether or not Xie Yu had hidden anything was clearly no longer important.

After breaking this Array and formally entering the ruins, if it was truly as the Jade Scroll described—random teleportation into endlessly evolving trial stages—then whether he had concealed something mattered even less.

And if it *wasn’t* as the Jade Scroll described... well, that would undoubtedly be even easier to resolve.

If they entered the Ruins Cave Mansion together, and there was no random teleportation as the Jade Scroll claimed, then with his methods, Xie Yu would be unable to escape his control.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, Chu Mu looked at the roiling white mist before him and could not help but let out a soft sigh.

Given enough time, it wasn’t impossible for him to reverse-engineer this bizarre Illusion Array piece by piece.

But clearly, this Ruins Cave Mansion, which only manifested once every sixty years, would not grant him that much time.

As such, the only thing he could do was... force his way through.

As for whether the answers to the many anomalies here would be revealed, that would depend on his fate and fortune after truly entering the Ruins Cave Mansion.

With his mind made up, Chu Mu didn’t dwell on it any longer.

Following the Array-Breaking Technique recorded in the Jade Scroll was merely a matter of simple imitation—for him, it was an exceedingly simple task.

He had already prepared everything required during his prior seclusion and could now use it all directly...

In just about a quarter of an hour, all the preparations needed to break the Array were complete.

With a mere thought from Chu Mu, a spot of inky black abruptly appeared on the flawless white plaza. Then, with this black spot as the center, lines that looked as if they were sketched by a brush tip began to spread out rapidly.

Crisscrossing each other, they formed an ancient Rune in a mere instant.

"Gather!"

Chu Mu gave a low shout, forming a hand seal and pouring vast, surging Magical Power into the Rune.

At the same time, Zhao Shuang and the other two, each standing at a designated point and holding a Command Flag, waved their flags in response to Chu Mu’s shout. Beams of light shot out one after another, sinking into the Rune.

The inky black light grew more intense, becoming as viscous as lava radiating a dark glow. As more Magical Power was poured in to strengthen it, the viscous black light began to slowly, bit by bit, eat away at the white mist.

The flawless white was instantly stained with drops of an almost jarring black.

As time went on, this jarring blackness became more and more conspicuous. The white mist billowed as if resisting the black light’s encroachment.

But strangely, the white mist’s resistance seemed rather weak. It appeared that aside from its incredibly bizarre mind-bewitching properties, this vast expanse of white mist possessed no strong Defense against external encroachment.

The doubt in Chu Mu’s mind seemed to deepen once again.

For a Cave Mansion, the purpose of an Array is usually to seal off the inside from the outside and repel enemies.

And for a Trial Land, the purpose of an Array should be... a trial?

But this white mist before him seemed to have no connection to either of those purposes.

Bizarre yet terrifying, terrifying yet posing no great threat...

It felt extremely forced and abrupt!

Just as the Jade Scroll had recorded, the process of breaking the prohibition was unbelievably smooth, with no anomalies whatsoever. A rift was torn open in the bizarre yet terrifying Illusion Array.

The rift extended rapidly through the dense mist, forming what looked like a perfectly natural passage that started from the plaza, cut through the mist, and stretched into the distant unknown.

The group stood at the entrance to the rift, their expressions unreadable.

This time, without waiting for Chu Mu to speak, Zhao Shuang tactfully walked to the entrance of the rift. Then, after receiving Chu Mu’s tacit approval, she slowly stepped into the misty passage under his watchful gaze.

Her green dress was not difficult to spot with the naked eye, set against the black-and-white interweaving rift.

Within Chu Mu’s line of sight, he watched the green dress move from near to far, slowly receding from view.

Finally, just as the green dress was about to disappear from his line of sight, his vision seemed to blur for an instant. The green dress vanished without a trace, leaving only the deep, dark passage that led to who knows where.

"Senior, according to my clan’s records, after about ninety zhang into this passage, one will be randomly teleported to the Cave Mansion’s Trial Land. During the teleportation, one’s consciousness will blur for a moment. The feeling of spatial distortion is said to be more severe than a normal teleportation..."

At this, Xie Yu hesitated for a moment before mustering his courage to explain from behind Chu Mu.

Chu Mu’s gaze flickered as he suddenly looked toward that Space Gate.

It was a simple Space Gate, but entering it earlier had also felt different from a normal teleportation...

...