"Until you killed Cheng'er, I was grief-stricken and stumbled upon the array plates controlling the formation in the forbidden ground. I must say, you played a part in this."
Fu Liuyun's sinister tone held a trace of triumph. "To show my gratitude, I'll let you personally experience the might of the Sky-Slaying Array!"
As he spoke, he took out three array plates from his storage bag, swiftly infused them with spiritual energy, and then struck them into the ground.
Instantly, a beam of light shot up from the earth, and the entire Sky-Slaying Array was activated.
Fu Liuyun, being the one controlling the formation, walked away leisurely.
"Hahaha! Zilin Ling, you can enjoy it slowly!"
His triumphant laughter took on a more savage edge, and wisps of demonic energy began to emanate from his body.
Indeed, the moment he agreed to let the residual soul of the demon king inhabit his body, he had taken his first step into demonic cultivation.
Perhaps it was Fu Liuyun's overconfidence that he didn't notice the chilling coldness on Zilin Ling's face.
Zilin Ling had not stopped Fu Liuyun from doing anything. She had simply watched him completely activate the formation.
Of course, if she had wanted to stop him, Fu Liuyun wouldn't have even had the time to take out the array plates.
Her nonchalance was due to Elder Du's words.
"This formation is a defective product I made as a joke back then. It's nothing like the true ancient Sky-Slaying Array."
"It might scare some people, but it can't withstand a single blow from a minor divine realm expert. Little girl, don't you feel your cultivation isn't solid enough? Come, try it with this formation!"
It was for this very reason that Zilin Ling had "helplessly" watched Fu Liuyun activate the formation.
The formation's light flared brilliantly, and Elder Du's figure emerged from the Nine Spirits Ring.
"Little girl, wait a moment. Let me modify this formation and seize control. This way, no matter how you struggle inside, outsiders won't notice anything."
After speaking, Elder Du willed it, and spiritual stones from the Nine Spirits Ring were brought forth.
With a wave of his hand, a pile of spiritual stones flew towards the parts of the formation where the light was weakest.
A few breaths later, Elder Du clapped his hands and said, "Done! Little girl, you can start!"
Concurrently, Fu Liuyun felt that he could no longer control the Sky-Slaying Array, and he began to panic for no reason.
After modifying the formation, Elder Du's soul was noticeably weaker, indicating that altering the array had not been easy for him.
Moreover, in just these few breaths, the spiritual stones in the Nine Spirits Ring, which numbered in the hundreds of millions of low-grade stones, had decreased by more than half.
Although Zilin Ling didn't understand formations, she knew that the more spiritual stones invested in a formation, the higher the formation master's skill and the more powerful the formation would be.
Even though Elder Du had never revealed his rank as a formation master, it was likely no lower than Emperor-grade.
An Emperor-grade formation master, having used hundreds of millions of low-grade spiritual stones to modify it, made it clear that the power of this modified, defective Sky-Slaying Array must have increased significantly.
"When you're done having fun, this old man will teach you how to break it," Elder Du said before returning to the Nine Spirits Ring to recover.
Zilin Ling's lips twitched, but she cautiously released her spiritual energy.
Her physical strength and divine sense were already exceptionally powerful, thanks to the training on the Sky-Climbing Ladder.
However, solidifying her spiritual energy required constant combat.
And within the Three Kingdoms, the only one who could spar with her was Ye Lingyuan.
But how could Ye Lingyuan bear to attack Zilin Ling?
Thus, the matter of solidifying her spiritual energy had been put on hold.
But who told her she was lucky?
Every time she felt sleepy, someone offered her a pillow.
And now, another pillow had arrived!
As for dealing with Fu Liuyun, she wasn't in a hurry.
After all, Fu Liuyun would eventually be unable to escape, wouldn't he?
Inside the Sky-Slaying Array, Zilin Ling casually unleashed a stream of spiritual energy, which triggered a chain reaction in the formation, activating it.
Then, she did not use her physical strength, and only a small portion of her divine sense was used to lock onto the formation's counter-attack direction and intensity.
Her spiritual energy, however, was constantly mobilized to counter the formation's power.
As time passed, the spiritual energy within Zilin Ling became increasingly solid, and her control over it became more proficient.
From initially wasting a lot of spiritual energy with every move, she progressed to unleashing the most powerful attacks with the least amount of spiritual energy.
Zilin Ling practiced like this for three days, finally feeling that her spiritual energy and physical body had reached a temporary state of balance.
She dispersed a burst of the formation's power and said, "Elder Du, it's done!"
"So soon?"
Elder Du emerged from the Nine Spirits Ring in great astonishment. After glancing at Zilin Ling, he immediately channeled his soul power into a specific part of the formation, causing the power within the array to quickly subside.
Zilin Ling let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Even with her monstrous combat power, she was still exhausted after three days of non-stop high-intensity combat.
"Take a break!"
Zilin Ling sat down on the spot, recovering her depleted stamina and soul power.
An hour later, she exhaled a breath of stale air, her weariness completely gone, and her entire being revitalized.
"Elder Du, we can go out now!"
Elder Du nodded and said, "Walk three steps forward and slightly left, then retreat three steps backward and slightly right. After that, take three steps forward, turn left three steps, and turn right three steps. You will then see one of the formation's corners."
Zilin Ling followed his instructions and indeed saw a small blade of grass.
The grass was entirely purplish-black, resembling a mulberry.
"Tongtian Grass?"
It was actually Tongtian Grass.
Tongtian Grass, also known as Tuntian Grass, meant it could swallow anything.
Zilin Ling was shocked. No wonder the formation was called the Sky-Slaying Array; it used Tongtian Grass as its core.
"Elder Du, since this formation is a replica you made, did you also get this Tongtian Grass?"
Elder Du nodded. "I did find this grass, but I didn't know its name. I just felt that it could quickly absorb spiritual energy and be used for the formation's operation."
Zilin Ling's expression was peculiar. "You're lucky you weren't swallowed by it!"
"This grass can swallow people? You're not joking, are you?" Elder Du asked, a hint of fear creeping into his heart.
Zilin Ling replied with annoyance, "Joking? It can swallow the sky, what's swallowing a person to it? You're lucky you didn't turn to ashes!"
"It's that powerful? What do we do now?"
"Although Tuntian Grass swallows everything, all things in heaven and earth have their checks and balances. What can counteract it is something called 'Chou Chun Teng' (Stinky Ailanthus Vine)."
"Chou Chun Teng? What is that?"
"Here, it's this thing!"
As Zilin Ling spoke, she produced a dried branch from the Goddess Palace.
The moment this branch appeared, an unbearable stench filled the surroundings.
"Ugh..."
Elder Du, caught off guard, immediately vomited.