The Master and His Wealthy Fiancée

The group once again advanced in the direction of the Thunder Tribulation. After proceeding about a hundred yards, Chen Dong, who had been on high alert, felt his brow twitch sharply.

"Here it comes!"

The flowing black mist came to a halt. In the distance, another bolt from the Thunder Tribulation struck down. At that very moment, countless black Demon Thorns materialized, lunging from all directions—above, below, and all around—leaving not a single gap.

The attack was impossibly swift and vicious, but Chen Dong had been expecting it.

Chen Dong's Fire Technique encircled them, forming the first line of defense. Next came Li Zhixuan's Void Sword Intent, followed by several Defensive Spiritual Artifacts deployed by the five disciples. Li Zhixuan contributed his own defenses as well. Meanwhile, Chen Dong's hands were hidden in his sleeves, one grasping the Phoenix True Feather and the other holding a Transmission Talisman.

The instant the trap activated, Chen Dong had already figured it out. It was a combination of three Killing Arrays and one Trapping Array.

Perhaps it was because this type of Killing Array was immensely powerful, or perhaps due to material constraints, but all three Killing Arrays were the same: a Third-tier Array that produced the black Demon Thorns.

Chen Dong's outermost layer of defense, the Sun Burning True Skill, had a strong suppressive effect on Demonic Qi, and it successfully blocked the first wave of Demon Thorns.

However, the array was a Third-tier Array. Despite its elemental advantage, Chen Dong's Fire Technique vanished after blocking the first wave.

But in less than a breath's time, a second wave of Demon Thorns struck.

Li Zhixuan's Void Sword Intent surged forward, instantly dissolving the thorns. The third wave followed immediately. After blocking this attack, the Void Sword Intent shattered.

At this point, Chen Dong understood why there were only three Killing Arrays.

Because three Killing Arrays were more than enough!

The first array began its cycle anew, and another wave of Demon Thorns struck. The attacks were so rapid that before the last bolt of the Thunder Tribulation had even faded, the fourth wave of Demon Thorns was already upon them.

Each Demon Thorn held the power of a strike from a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator, and a full ninety-eight thousand of them came with every wave.

Although the array's attack was monotonous, in terms of sheer power, it was at the pinnacle for a Tier Three Killing Array.

Three Killing Arrays nested within a Trapping Array—it was a truly perfect trap.

The attacks were nearly seamless. Anyone caught inside who couldn't break the Trapping Array would be killed. Even a Nascent Soul Stage expert would eventually be worn down and killed if they were unable to escape.

The Defensive Spiritual Artifacts of the five Foundation Establishment disciples were destroyed after blocking just one wave of Demon Thorns, rendered completely useless.

Right now, Chen Dong and his companions were like prisoners in a black box, being endlessly stabbed from all sides.

Another wave of Demon Thorns descended. Li Zhixuan's two Spirit Shields formed a sealed barrier, protecting everyone within.

The time was too short. Chen Dong's Divine Sense could only probe a small corner of the formation, and it was a composite of four arrays at that. It wasn't enough for him to deduce a way to break it.

A sudden sense of defeat made Chen Dong feel that he had overestimated himself.

'Should I use the Transmission Talisman to escape?'

Chen Dong immediately rejected the thought. 'No! Isn't this a challenge in itself? Since I stepped onto the path of the Extreme Dao, there has been no retreat. If I run away now…' He had a foreboding sense that his breakthrough to the Golden Core realm would become infinitely harder. 'This isn't an issue of opportunity; it's an issue with my Dao Heart.'

Li Zhixuan's two Spirit Shields lived up to their name as mid-grade Tier Four Defensive Spiritual Artifacts. They managed to block two consecutive waves of Demon Thorns, but their Spirit Light was already dimming.

"Lao Chen, what's the situation? If this isn't working, we should retreat!"

Li Zhixuan could see they didn't have much time left. Although the five disciples were desperately using their Defensive Spirit Talismans without holding back, these Tier Two Spirit Talismans were of little use against a Tier Three Killing Array.

"Give me a few more breaths!" Chen Dong sent through a gritted-teeth transmission.

"Alright!"

Li Zhixuan's Spirit Sword once again multiplied into a thousand blades, trying to block one more wave of thorns. The five disciples looked terrified, but they didn't dare disturb the other two. The Defensive Spiritual Artifacts they had pooled their power into couldn't even withstand a single assault; Chen Dong and Li Zhixuan were their only hope.

In Chen Dong's sea of consciousness, the Six Paths of Radiance dimmed rapidly as he furiously calculated a way to break the array.

However, this Demon Race array deviated from the principles Chen Dong had learned. With time running out, his heart sank.

The Demon Thorns assaulted them again and again, and Li Zhixuan used every technique at his disposal to hold them off.

"Lao Chen, are you getting anywhere!?" Li Zhixuan urged again.

In the nearby black mist, a pitch-black, Scale-Armored claw waited patiently. As soon as the array fell silent, it could move in to leisurely feast on their lifeblood and souls.

The thirtieth wave of Demon Thorns struck. Then the thirty-first, the thirty-second…

"Lao Chen, I can't hold on any longer!" Li Zhixuan's frantic voice screamed through the transmission. It was a testament to his immense power that he had lasted this long; any other Golden Core cultivator would have succumbed long ago.

'Do I really have to give up?' The Six Paths of Radiance in his sea of consciousness had already dimmed by more than half. He had figured out the array's principles, but that alone was useless. The method used to construct it was unorthodox, which meant the method to dismantle it would be too. It was like solving a complex problem—he had finally understood the question and the theories involved, but finding the actual solution would still take time and effort.

Another wave of Demon Thorns descended. Li Zhixuan knew he could no longer stop it. His Spirit Sword, drained of Spiritual Power, flew back into his hand.

"Teleport! Lao Chen, use the talisman now!"

All the Defensive Spirit Talismans laid down by the five disciples turned to ash in an instant, failing to stop the thorns from piercing through.

The Demon Thorns closed in. Sheer despair filled their eyes. They were about to be turned into human pincushions!