Chapter 2298 - 2257: Past Events and Hidden Secrets

The beauty of those two women does not fall short compared to Zhou Jingzhe and Du Lingfei, and they even vaguely qualify to rival Jiangh Churan. However, Wang Xiaoqiang wasn't in the mood to flirt, and with a playful smile, he replied, "It's simple, just one formation is enough."

Chi Yao's face changed drastically on hearing this—she already understood Wang Xiaoqiang's intention. But since his words were vague, the other two women didn't comprehend and asked, bewildered, "Formation, what formation?"

Wang Xiaoqiang said sternly, "It's the formation that you intend to set up here on Yangqing Ridge."

Chi Yao and those two women belonged to the same hidden sect, located in the Yangqing Ridge area. This sect is a branch of Buddhism, named Lantern Temple, and Chi Yao and others are part of the Buddhist Cultivator lineage. In fact, this Lantern Temple has some ties with that Lampwick Small Temple,

To be specific, the Lampwick Small Temple is the predecessor of the Lantern Temple. Originally, the story goes that the ascetic monk of the Lampwick Small Temple—Withered Lamp Monk—during the Decline Realm of Heavenly Beings, after decades of ascetic cultivation, meticulously researched and created a defiant Divine Sense Cultivation Technique, which is known as "Instant Annihilation."

After mastering the spell technique, Withered Lamp Monk documented the technique, turning it into a small secret scripture and burying it under the Lampwick Small Temple, then set up a peculiar and powerful array for protection. When his Cultivation Base reached the Mold Stage of the Immortal, he remolded his body, transforming from an ascetic monk to a mad monk. Relying on the "Instant Annihilation" technique, he roamed the Martial World, becoming famous and settling scores. Due to the overwhelming power of this spell technique, it spurred Withered Lamp Monk into an overconfident frenzy of desire and murderous intent, which ultimately led him to become a demon.

Where he went, barely anyone could withstand his power—the devastation left behind was corpses strewn about and rivers of blood, with bloody winds and rain raging throughout. Withered Lamp Monk used this technique intending to slaughter all the mighty warriors of the world and dominate the Ancient Times.

Ultimately, it was Xuee Wuji who intervened and severely injured him, forcing Withered Lamp Monk to retreat wounded and flee back to the Lampwick Small Temple. Xuee Wuji pursued him, and by that time Withered Lamp Monk lived up to his name, his wick running low. To prevent the Instant Annihilation Technique Scripture from leaking out, he activated the array,

The explosive power of that array was immense—it blew up the entire Lampwick Small Temple. The force of the explosion caused the ground to collapse several meters, leaving a depression and creating towering mountains and deep ravines.

From that point on, Withered Lamp Monk and the Lampwick Small Temple vanished from the world, leaving only one little monk he had taken in, who survived because he was out chopping wood on the mountain. Later, this little monk achieved the Great Dao, founded a sect, and established a grand temple.

Out of gratitude for Monk Lampwick's kindness in taking him in, he named the temple Lantern Temple, venerating Withered Lamp Monk as the ancestral master, and publicly claimed that Lantern Temple is a continuation of the Lampwick Small Temple. Because Withered Lamp Monk had committed too many killings during his lifetime, having numerous enemies posed a direct threat to Lantern Temple. For the sect's grand strategy and overall situation, Lantern Temple became a hidden sect.

The blood-invincible Xuee Wuji, who severely injured Withered Lamp Monk, was a Golden Blood Boy. At that time, Xuee Wuji was only eighteen years old. However, later on, the Ancient Continent restricted his development, so he ventured into the Primordial Era.

This incident makes it evident that although the Instant Annihilation Technique indeed defies the heavens, it was ineffective against the Golden Blood Boy.

Over millennia, the location of the Lampwick Small Temple transformed into Yinqing Ridge, where a marvel, extremely peculiar, appeared.

Now, Lantern Temple is near Yinqing Ridge. After Empress Chi Yao entered the Ancient Era, due to the disparity in Cultivation Realm, she fell from a generation-defining empress to an ordinary weak woman, isolated and fragile, making survival in Ancient Times exceedingly difficult.

Later, under the guidance of her teacher, she joined the hidden sect, which is now Lantern Temple. The hidden sect maintains a low profile, avoiding worldly affairs and conflicts in the Martial World, focusing on quiet cultivation.

Empress Chi Yao's teacher had her join Lantern Temple precisely for this reason.

The temple during the Ancient Era differs from now, and so does its Buddhist philosophy. The temple in the Ancient Era had both male and female monks, neither required to shave their heads, and marriage was allowed. In short, there were no restrictions on etiquette.

Besides a peaceful mental state and modest demeanor, they were no different from disciples of other sects. After Chi Yao joined Lantern Temple, she became a female monk and pursued her cultivation diligently. Her teacher proved to have foresight; after joining Lantern Temple, Empress Chi Yao not only progressed rapidly in cultivation but also successfully evaded Wang Xiaoqiang's investigation, making him unable to locate her after entering Ancient Times.

Although Withered Lamp Monk and Lampwick Small Temple disappeared in Ancient Times, the world has always sought traces of the Instant Annihilation Technique, hoping to acquire it.

The generations of high monks in Lantern Temple have also perpetually searched for this spell technique scripture, but neither Lantern Temple's high monks nor worldly cultivators have been able to find it.

Gradually, people came to believe that the Instant Annihilation technique no longer existed in the Yinqing Ridge area. Later, that is, during the current host of Lantern Temple's continuous observations and reflections, it was determined that the dual weather patterns of Yin and Yang on Yinqing Ridge were not natural phenomena but were caused by an array.

In other words, the array set by Withered Lamp Monk is a Formation Within a Formation. The term Formation Within a Formation refers to having a formation within another.

He triggered the previous formation, causing the small temple to explode, and activated the second array—this formation was remarkably strange, or one might say fantastically strange, capable of blinding the eyes of the world and bewildering the masses—what is known as an Illusion Array.

Moreover, he believed the Instant Annihilation Technique must indeed be beneath Yinqing Ridge; it's just that the people's eyes were confused by the array, unable to see it. For this reason, he carefully observed and diligently researched, finally creating a formation capable of breaking through the Illusion Array.

"Wang Xiaoqiang, what if we don't hand over the formation?" Chi Yao, focused and wary, retreated as if intending to flee.

Wang Xiaoqiang sneered coldly, "If you don't hand over the formation, you'll only die here, and don't even think about escaping. Cultivators far stronger than you were killed by me with one strike. Do you think you can escape?"

The three women stopped in their tracks upon hearing this, knowing there was no way to escape from him. Chi Yao's expression changed, her expression seemed unsettled, but ultimately, she decisively said, "Wang Xiaoqiang, to be honest, we are female monks of Lantern Temple, but just ordinary disciples. Do you think such a superior formation would be handed to ordinary disciples like us?"

"Perhaps you are merely pawns in someone else's hand, sent as a probe. But now that you've fallen into my hands, I naturally will use you as bargaining chips or directly interrogate you, unless you're not afraid of death," as Wang Xiaoqiang spoke, he fixed his gaze on Chi Yao, his eyes cold, filled with intense killing intent.

...

This chapter is written so slowly, it really gives me a headache, feeling unhappy, apologies.