Chapter 116: The Heaven-Defying City-Protecting Array

While running, Yue Qi cast a water-soothing spell on himself and added a flying rock spell for good measure. The small stones he had been pelted with earlier had indeed caused some minor injuries; as for the flying rock spell, it was merely to prevent more debris from striking his head.

The ground shook with increasing violence, making it difficult for him to keep his footing. The group stumbled until they arrived before a wall.

"Is this what you called 'finding it'?" Qin Luo’s face was deathly pale, and her words were clearly tinged with dissatisfaction. This thick, solid wall seemed to merge seamlessly with the surrounding environment; how could it possibly be a secret chamber?

"I am certain it is inside! Move aside!" Yue Qi spat out the blood and debris from his mouth and drew his sharp treasure sword. He could think of no other way; he had to use the sword, White Lotus, to clear the massive rock before him. He could clearly sense a faint ripple of spiritual energy behind the stone wall—though weak, it was at least a glimmer of hope.

"Xue Hong, take Qin Luo to the exit first. If the tunnel is about to collapse and I haven't called for you, get out immediately!" Yue Qi commanded.

"No! How can we leave you behind!" Before Xue Hong could speak, Qin Luo protested, her face pale.

"Stop messing around! Go! Your current state is only a hindrance. Don't worry, even if this place collapses, I have a way to escape!" Yue Qi pushed Qin Luo aside and then turned to Xue Hong. "I’m counting on you. I, Yue Qi, will remember this favor for the rest of my life!" With that, he ignored them both and plunged his sword into the stone wall.

"No! I won't—" Before Qin Luo could finish, Xue Hong delivered a sharp strike to her neck, knocking her unconscious. She had been barely holding on as it was, so it didn't take much effort for her to collapse gently to the ground.

"Brother Yue, you must come and rendezvous with us! Otherwise..." Xue Hong picked up the unconscious Qin Luo, gritted his teeth, and said, "Otherwise, no matter what, I will come back for you!" Xue Hong’s face flushed, and he quickly carried Qin Luo away.

After a few strikes, Yue Qi managed to hack through the massive, thick stone. However, once the wall was breached, the sight inside left him stunned.

"This... this is the core wheel of the city-defense array, and outside... it’s a formation!!!" Yue Qi saw a miniature model of a city, clearly the layout of Fengzhou. Outside it lay a small wheel with seven holes, obviously meant for placing spirit stones. Around the perimeter was a small protective formation; Yue Qi understood that it existed to prevent the wheel from being damaged, ensuring that accidents like tunnel collapses wouldn't compromise the city’s defensive array.

Breaking this protective formation was not difficult, and Yue Qi solved it in short order.

"Is this the city-defense array?" Yue Qi gazed at the exquisite model, feeling the currents of energy similar to spiritual power connected to the wheel, controlled by the mechanism.

"Spirit stones! Do I need high-grade spirit stones?!" Yue Qi felt a headache coming on. It looked like seven high-grade stones were required, and he didn't have that many on him!

The ground shook again. With no better plan, Yue Qi took seven medium-grade spirit stones and tossed them in. In an instant, the energy within them was devoured, but the city model only flickered with a faint light before returning to its original color.

"What am I supposed to do?!" Yue Qi paced the secret chamber. He had given the torch to Xue Hong, so he cast a fire-summoning spell, instantly illuminating the room.

"Wait, something is wrong here!" Yue Qi noticed a protrusion on the wall and paused. He closed his eyes, instantly projecting his spiritual sense into it.

"There is another secret chamber inside?!" Yue Qi gasped in shock. He struck the protrusion with his palm, and amidst a rumble, a section of the stone wall opened.

"This... this..." Yue Qi was dumbfounded. Countless gold and silver treasures, along with piles of medium and low-grade spirit stones, lay everywhere! It was a spectacle that even the treasure vault of the Qinghe Sword Sect couldn't match.

"Just how much did that general exploit others to accumulate this wealth?" As this thought crossed Yue Qi's mind, he spotted an inconspicuous box in the corner.

"Here..." Yue Qi probed it with his spiritual sense and felt a surge of joy. The small box contained dozens of high-grade spirit stones!

Dozens of high-grade spirit stones—one alone could hire a peak-stage Huitong expert for a year! One could only imagine how wealthy the general had been.

He hacked the box in two with a brutal swing of his sword, and the glowing green stones spilled onto the floor. Yue Qi swept them into his Mustard Bracelet, took out seven, and inserted them into the seven holes of the wheel.

*Hum, hum, hum...* A strange sound resonated, and Yue Qi watched as a layer of earthy-yellow film appeared over the model of Fengzhou City!

*Boom, boom, boom...* The city, which had been under heavy assault, suddenly fell silent, as if no zombies had ever been there. Immediately after, Yue Qi felt a vibration beneath his feet, though it was faint, like the sound of distant firecrackers.

"It worked?!" Yue Qi was overjoyed and rushed outside. This time he didn't stop, sprinting directly toward the city walls.

He hadn't expected that even though he had ordered everyone to return to their quarters, the city grounds and walls were now littered with corpses. Sharp-eyed, Yue Qi spotted several mutated zombies that had already breached the interior!

Perhaps fueled by the sight of the slaughter, Yue Qi let out a roar and charged at the nearest zombie. There weren't many; they were likely the vanguard, acting on orders from the leader to scout the situation. But now that the city was sealed, there was no way for them to escape!

With a sword strike, he forced the zombie back. Yue Qi locked onto it easily, unleashed his Lightning Dance, and shattered the creature's skull to pieces.

*Rumble!!!* A deafening sound erupted. In the sky outside the city, a small black dot appeared. Yue Qi clearly recognized the leader-level zombie from before!

A massive fireball suddenly appeared in the zombie's hand—a sphere over ten meters in diameter. Instead of launching it immediately, the creature continued to channel power into it!

"That is..." A flash of disbelief crossed Yue Qi's eyes. "That is the Samadhi True Fire!"

Samadhi True Fire, a third-tier fire spell, possessed power enough to easily destroy a small town! He had never expected his first encounter with such a high-level spell to be at the hands of a zombie.

*Boom!* The fireball was hurled from the zombie's hand. Yue Qi’s heart skipped a beat. He knew that if he were hit, he wouldn't just be reduced to dust; he wouldn't even have a hair left. He wondered if the city-defense array could hold.

Yue Qi retreated a few steps, returning to the entrance of the General's Mansion, thinking that if the zombie could break the array, he would at least have time to make his escape.

Deep down, however, he held some confidence. Fengzhou was far superior to Changzhou or Qingzhou; as one of the major cities built by a feudal lord, its defensive array could not be broken so easily. A third-tier spell, if wielded by a Golden Core stage cultivator, could unleash its full potential—but if such a massive city could be leveled by a single Golden Core cultivator, it would hardly deserve its status as a major hub.

As Yue Qi expected, the Samadhi True Fire slammed into the protective barrier of the array, but it had little effect. The array shuddered violently but withstood the attack.

"It, it blocked it..." Yue Qi was not the only one watching; many brave individuals with decent strength had emerged to witness the scene.

Under the impact of the zombie’s assault, the formation quieted down, displaying only a faint, flowing yellow light with no other abnormalities. The zombie, perhaps due to overexertion, did not strike again, instead observing the formation intently.

Suddenly, whether triggered by the attack or something else, the light on the formation began to spin rapidly. For some unknown reason, the zombie suddenly retreated in a panic!

"Is it about to counterattack?!" A sudden, inexplicable thought flashed through Yue Qi’s mind.

He was right. The hovering formation suddenly unleashed a beam of brilliance, striking toward the zombie!

The leader-level zombie clearly realized it could not withstand the power of this attack, but the beam was like a maggot in the bone, relentlessly pursuing it.

Realizing it had no way to escape, the zombie accelerated, circling wide. Relying on its formidable physique, it created distance and launched another fireball from its hand, slamming it into the incoming light!

*Boom!* The two energies collided, and for a moment, Yue Qi was blinded by the intense glare.

After a long while, his vision cleared, but what he saw left him stunned once more.

The leader-level zombie was nowhere to be found, but Yue Qi saw blood from the sky dripping onto the formation, and for some reason, it began to evaporate upon contact.

"We... we actually won?!" Yue Qi could hardly believe his eyes. Then, realizing what had happened, he rushed to the city wall. Below, all the zombies had retreated!

"We won! We actually won!" Everyone who witnessed the scene erupted in cheers. They knew they had emerged victorious in this battle.