Chapter 262: Array Hub

Lu Bai spread his wings and flew like a bolt of lightning. He arrived outside the Grand General’s camp, announced himself briefly, and hurried toward Duke Chen’s tent.

He hadn’t had a chance to return since he last left this place.

At the entrance to Duke Chen’s tent, the eight personal guards in jet-black heavy armor still stood watch. They wore Evil Ghost masks that only revealed their eyes, remaining as motionless as stone statues.

"Lu Bai, Captain of the Fuhu Camp, requests an audience with the Grand General on a matter of utmost urgency."

Lu Bai said in a loud voice.

"The General is not here."

One of the personal guards looked at Lu Bai and replied simply. His voice was metallic and devoid of any emotion.

When no response came from inside the tent, Lu Bai guessed that Chen Shihu must not be there.

Otherwise, Chen Shihu would have most likely called out upon hearing his voice.

Lu Bai asked instinctively, "Where did the Grand General go, and when will he be back?"

The moment he asked, he realized his mistake.

He and Chen Shihu addressed each other as brothers, but in reality, he was just a minor soldier under Chen Shihu’s command.

Inquiring about the Grand General’s whereabouts like this was a taboo.

He didn’t have the right to ask.

The eight personal guards wore masks, so Lu Bai couldn’t see their expressions.

But the eight of them didn’t seem to dwell on the matter. One of them said, "Go wait in that tent over there. We will inform you when the General returns."

’This is an emergency. I can wait, but they can’t.’

Lu Bai quickly explained, "Generals Yue Qianshan and Xiao Qingyu, along with several of their Deputy Generals, are trapped in a large tomb to the east! They were ambushed by the Corpse Refining Sect and are in imminent danger. If the Grand General is not here, are there any other experts in the army who can go rescue them?"

After a pause, Lu Bai added thoughtfully, "I’m afraid a Nascent Soul True Monarch won’t be enough. Are there any Returning Void Realm experts in the army?"

Hearing this, the eight personal guards’ eyes remained calm, as if they were completely unconcerned.

’The heads of the Huben Army and the Longxiang Iron Cavalry, Duke Chen’s right-hand men, are about to be wiped out, and you eight don’t show the slightest reaction?’

’You’re like eight wooden posts!’

Lu Bai cursed inwardly.

After standing at the entrance to Chen Shihu’s tent for a while longer with no response, Lu Bai had no choice but to go to a nearby tent to wait.

He wasn’t strong enough to help, and he couldn’t find Chen Shihu. All he could do was wait.

***

Inside the mountain, hordes of corpses roared and moved, forming a dense tide of the dead that continuously attacked the Cultivators and Martial Artists who had entered.

It didn’t matter if they were from the Wu Country or the Great Li Country, or what sect or school they belonged to.

Every living creature, aside from those of the Corpse Refining Sect, became a target for this swarm of Combat Corpses!

None could escape.

In just a short time, more than half of the thousand-plus Martial Cultivators had been killed or injured!

Yue Qianshan, Xiao Qingyu, and the six remaining True Master Martial Dao gathered together. They were barely holding on by relying on their jointly practiced Dragon and Tiger Array, looking utterly wretched with injuries all over their bodies.

One of them had a festering wound, clearly infected with Corpse Poison. He wouldn’t last much longer.

The others weren’t in much better shape.

As time went on, everyone would die in this great tomb. Some might even be refined into Combat Corpses by the Corpse Refining Sect, losing their consciousness and control of their own bodies!

A bleak look flashed in Yue Qianshan’s eyes as he muttered to himself, "To think that after so many years in the army, I wouldn’t die on the battlefield, but instead fall to the treacherous schemes of the Corpse Refining Sect."

’No wonder the Late King and the Court took the Demon Sects so seriously.’

’Whenever a demon appeared in the world, it was bound to bring chaos!’

"Is there no chance?"

A pale-faced True Master Martial Dao asked Yue Qianshan and Xiao Qingyu as he fended off the attacks of the Combat Corpses.

Xiao Qingyu shook her head slightly. "We can’t break the Corpse Refining Array. The Corpse Qi is only getting denser. The Magical Power and Blood Qi of the Cultivators and Martial Artists trapped here will be suppressed and continuously weakened."

Moreover, the exit above us is sealed by the Corpse Qi of the Corpse Refining Array. There’s no way to break through.

"To break the Corpse Refining Array, we first have to find the Array Patterns, then locate the core Array Hub where the various patterns converge."

"Once the Array Hub is destroyed, the array is considered broken."

"For some arrays, destroying a single Array Hub is enough to neutralize them."

"But powerful arrays, like this Corpse Refining Array around us, are bound to have multiple Array Hubs."

"Destroying just one will weaken the array, but it will continue to function."

"To break it, one must either be an expert in arrays who can trace the Array Patterns to find and destroy the hubs, or possess enough absolute power to directly shatter the Array Patterns and destroy the entire array."

"Either way, it’s impossible for us."

Xiao Qingyu had studied the way of arrays, but trapped here in imminent danger, she was already stretched thin just dealing with the endless stream of Combat Corpses. It was a perilous situation, leaving her no opportunity to search for the Array Patterns.

As far as the eye could see, there were only dense swarms of Combat Corpses, not a single Array Pattern in sight.

BOOM!

Just then, a huge explosion erupted from deep underground. It was as if some terrifying power had detonated, causing the entire mountain to shake and countless rocks to tumble down.

The faces of the Martial Cultivators turned ashen with despair.

They could barely handle the swarm of Combat Corpses before them.

And now, it seemed an even more terrifying existence was about to awaken from beneath the great tomb!

"Wait!"

Xiao Qingyu knitted her delicate brows, sensing something was off.

That tremor hadn’t just startled them; the surrounding tide of corpses had also paused for an instant.

It seemed even the Corpse Refining Sect Cultivators hiding in the shadows had been caught off guard by this development.

"Look over there!"

Yue Qianshan whispered, looking up.

Xiao Qingyu and the others followed his gaze.

The entrance to the mountain had been sealed by over a hundred coffin lids, and the gaps between them were filled with incredibly dense Corpse Qi, making it impossible to break through.

But now, several of the coffin lids were falling from above.

Because of the falling lids, a section of the Corpse Qi dispersed, revealing a gap in the once-impenetrable entrance!

"Someone is breaking the array! They’ve destroyed one of the Array Hubs!"

"This is our chance!"

Yue Qianshan, Xiao Qingyu, and the others were the first to notice the anomaly and react. Seizing the moment while the surrounding corpse tide was stunned, they broke free, shot into the air, and raced toward the gap in the mountain entrance!

"We can get out that way!"

"Hurry, escape!"

Xiahou Li and his men from the Great Li Country caught sight of Yue Qianshan’s group and quickly reacted.

In an instant, the several hundred remaining Cultivators and Martial Artists trapped there unleashed their greatest potential, broke free from the corpse tide, and fled toward the entrance above.

BOOM!

Another colossal explosion rocked the very ground they stood on!

Everyone instinctively glanced down.

They saw that the several palaces below had all collapsed, and massive cracks had appeared in the ground. Terrifying fluctuations of power and the sounds of a titanic clash emanated from within!

"Is someone fighting deep underground?"

"To cause such a commotion... could it be a clash between Returning Void Daoists?"

"I get it now."

Xiao Qingyu quickly understood the reason. "The Array Patterns of the Corpse Refining Array must be hidden deep underground. A great battle erupted down there, causing one of the Array Hubs to be destroyed."

As the group fled toward the mountain entrance, the black mass of Combat Corpses below went berserk. They swarmed after them, forming a towering, ever-rising pillar of the dead!