Chapter 685: Celestial Plum Divine Array

“What? An intruder!?”

The elders of the Celestial Plum Divine Clan swarmed over, their killing intent palpable as they stared at Yi Tianyun. He was the only unfamiliar face among them.

Jiang Yi and the others were familiar faces, but their expressions were now filled with utter terror. Jiang Yi, in particular, was trembling uncontrollably. After all, he was the one who had brought Yi Tianyun in. If this was investigated, wouldn’t it mean he had led an intruder into their midst? He would surely face severe punishment.

The problem was, how could he have known back then that Yi Tianyun’s cultivation was so formidable? He had taken out their great elder, leaving him half-dead with a single palm strike. The memory made Jiang Yi’s legs shake where he stood, filling him with dread.

“That’s right! He’s the intruder! When we saw through his scheme, he immediately moved to silence us. He even killed my son…”

Mei Yiming, cradled in Elder Mei’s arms, had long since stopped breathing. ‘If he had survived even that, I might have spared him,’ Yi Tianyun thought, ‘and considered his life force tenacious enough.’ But of course, he was now thoroughly dead. Unlike Elder Mei, he didn’t possess a powerful Protective Treasure.

When the elders sensed that Mei Yiming no longer had even a shred of an aura, they were shocked. It was even more astonishing to see that Elder Mei herself was gravely injured. Although Elder Mei’s cultivation wasn’t at the very peak, she was definitely among the top ten strongest experts in the Celestial Plum Divine Clan. For her to be so easily and severely wounded meant the intruder was incredibly powerful.

“The heart of a woman is the most venomous thing, indeed. An intruder? If you hadn’t stolen my woman, do you really think I would have barged in here?” Yi Tianyun glanced coolly at Elder Wan, who was standing to the side. “Aren’t you going to talk some sense into them? When I’m done wiping out half of your Celestial Plum Divine Clan, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

He didn’t mind going on a killing spree, but his quarrel was mainly with Elder Mei. If she hadn’t orchestrated this, none of it would have happened.

“Elders, you mustn’t act rashly! He may be an intruder, but he hasn’t come for our greatest treasure, so please, don’t be so quick to attack…” Elder Wan pleaded, trying to dissuade them. She knew how formidable Yi Tianyun was. A fight to the death would be a disaster.

It was only natural for Elder Mei to lose her reason after her son’s death. All she wanted now was to bring the full might of the Celestial Plum Divine Clan down on Yi Tianyun to suppress him. She wasn’t thinking about anything else.

“Elder Wan, you’re actually defending an intruder? I suspect you’re a traitor for protecting him! If it weren’t for you, how could he have slipped in so easily?” Having lost her senses, Elder Mei was like a madwoman, even going so far as to slander Elder Wan and brand her a traitor on the spot.

Elder Wan’s expression turned grim. Elder Mei had gone mad, willing to ignore all consequences for her own sake. If a real fight broke out, it wouldn’t be over so easily.

“A traitor protecting an intruder?”

More and more elders and deacons flew over, their gazes fixed on Yi Tianyun and Elder Wan. Elder Mei held an extremely high status in the clan. With her son lying dead in her arms, her words naturally carried more weight.

“What’s going on?”

Just then, a middle-aged man flew over. The moment he arrived and saw Mei Yiming lying dead in Elder Mei’s arms, his expression changed drastically. “Yiming!”

He landed swiftly and reached out to check the body. His face went pale. “He’s dead… Who did this!?”

“Qing Yuan, it was him… He killed our child,” Elder Mei sobbed, her eyes bloodshot.

“You!” Mei Qingyuan’s killing intent flared as he locked his gaze on Yi Tianyun. Noticing Shi Xueyun clutching Yi Tianyun’s hand tightly, he immediately sensed something was amiss. “Who in the world are you to trespass in my Celestial Plum Divine Clan? What is your purpose here?!”

“I haven’t done anything. I just came to take someone home. As for what you’ve invested in her, I will repay you double. But as for your son, I’ll just say this: some people must pay the price for their own stupidity. I’ve said enough. Your son and your wife, I must say, are incredibly short-sighted. Do they not know that some people are not to be trifled with?”

Yi Tianyun sneered. How could he not be furious after what they had done? Simply killing them was letting them off easy. If he were to truly torture them, he’d make them wish they were dead.

“Form the array!”

Mei Qingyuan snorted, and the surrounding elders quickly moved into formation. Mei Qingyuan was not the Clan Leader, but he was the acting one. The true Clan Leader was in seclusion, leaving Mei Qingyuan temporarily in charge.

“I don’t care about the reason! You killed my son, and you still think you can just take someone and leave? What do you take my Celestial Plum Divine Clan for? A place you can come and go as you please? It doesn’t matter who was right or wrong before—right now, you are in the wrong!” Mei Qingyuan’s voice was ice-cold. “Suppress them both! A despicable pair! After killing my son, you think you can just walk out of here alive?!”

Instantly, the elders formed the array. The surrounding Celestial Plum trees began to glow, and the blossoms upon them started to bloom, releasing waves of faint fragrance that drifted from all directions.

The entire trunks of the plum blossom trees began to glow, revealing a dense network of Divine Runes etched upon them. The light spread until the entire mountain was illuminated, and the ambient power began to surge wildly.

In an instant, the entire mountainside was bathed in a brilliant light. A protective shield materialized, enveloping the area in a Heaven and Earth Net that was utterly inescapable. As long as the barrier remained, there was no hope of escape.

The grand array was not only for defending against invaders but also for trapping enemies and preventing their escape. In the blink of an eye, every plum blossom tree lit up like a lantern, their collective glow shining brightly against the snow as they formed a massive barrier to suppress all within.

Facing this grand array, Yi Tianyun’s expression remained unchanged, as if the dramatic transformation of his surroundings had nothing to do with him.

‘The Celestial Plum Divine Array?’ Yi Tianyun smiled faintly as his Eye of Investigation immediately presented him with its detailed data.

Celestial Plum Divine Array: A grand array built from countless Celestial Plum trees. It can withstand attacks and prevent enemies from escaping. There is virtually nowhere to hide, as every Celestial Plum tree can unleash terrifying ice attacks by mobilizing the surrounding Ice Spiritual Power. The more people controlling it, the stronger its effects!

“Tianyun, this grand array is rumored to be incredibly powerful. They say it can even suppress a Saint King Stage expert…” Shi Xueyun said, her voice laced with worry.

“It can suppress even a Saint King Stage expert?” Yi Tianyun smiled calmly. “That depends on what kind of Saint King we’re talking about. Do you think this shoddy array could stop a peak Saint King?”

He wasn’t the least bit afraid. What storm had he not weathered before? He had been well aware of the Celestial Plum Array from the start, so its activation came as no surprise.

The problem was that these people were stubbornly refusing to see reason and actually dared to try and keep him here. They were not only blindly protective of their own but also refused to admit their mistakes. In that case, he didn’t mind teaching them that there’s always a higher mountain to climb and a stronger person to meet.

‘They’ve stayed here so long they’ve all become fools!’