Yefutidaolu

Chapter 427 Unlock
In short, after about fifteen minutes, the chaos subsided, and Gao Jian was invited into the largest barracks in the outpost, the so-called central command tent. The atmosphere remained somewhat tense.

"Haha, young man, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Gao Jian looked at the young soldier who had changed into a clean pair of pants but whose head was almost buried in his chest, smiled and patted him on the shoulder, his tone relaxed, trying to ease the awkwardness.

The soldier was about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a youthful face and a physique that was considered robust and strong among ordinary people. He was clearly a promising talent selected from the surrounding villages, which is why he was able to join the Demon Suppression Division.

At this moment, his face was flushed red and his body was trembling slightly. In front of Gao Jian, the shameful state of incontinence he had just experienced and the invisible pressure he felt when facing Gao Jian made him wish he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into, and he couldn't lift his head at all.

However, given the nature of a young person, it is understandable that they would lose their composure when faced with something far beyond their comprehension.

Gao Jian withdrew his hand and glanced at everyone gathered in the tent—from the middle-aged captain with the most powerful aura and a solemn expression, to the few second-realm officers with sharp eyes but unable to hide their surprise, and then to the ordinary soldiers outside the door, who were standing there holding their breath.

Without exception, everyone who met his gaze involuntarily lowered their eyes slightly or looked away, not daring to meet his eyes.

This is not out of politeness or discipline, but stems from a deeper, almost instinctive reaction.

A truly indescribable aura enveloped Gao Jian. It wasn't a deliberately emanating pressure, nor was it murderous intent; rather, it was an ineffable sense of difference.

If I had to describe it, it would be like a group of rabbits peacefully grazing on the grass, suddenly smelling the scent of destruction carried on the wind.

Even without seeing their specific form, the aura itself was enough to instantly chill their blood, stiffen their limbs, and make them instinctively want to curl up and reduce their presence.

At this moment, the soldiers of the Demon Suppression Division inside the camp vaguely felt something similar.

Standing there, Gao Jian seemed no different from ordinary people, even with a friendly smile on his face.

But in their perception, beneath that seemingly ordinary body, there seemed to be an extremely dangerous abyss dwelling.

With every breath he took, every turn of his eyes, or even just standing there, he seemed to be surrounded by an invisible "field," making the surrounding space feel thick and heavy.

It is the sediment that has survived the erosion of two worlds' birth and death, the composure that remains undisturbed even when stealing divine essence from the King of Hell, and the natural outward manifestation of a rusty knife in hand, imbued with the essence of life and death.

Gao Jian's divine intent at this moment exuded a sense of life-suppressing power. This wasn't a relationship between a rabbit and a apex predator—after all, a rabbit can run—but rather a kind of...

They are still the "common people" who live and struggle based on the rules of this world, while Gao Jian has, to some extent, personally touched the "boundary" that leads all things to nothingness.

This experience left an intangible mark of "detachment" and "danger" on him.

Looking at the soldiers of the Demon Suppression Division before him, who didn't even dare to breathe loudly, Gao Jian seemed to understand something. He realized that his current improvement was too rapid, and the path he had taken was completely different from the established cultivation system of the Divine Dynasty, as if he had forged a wild path through thorns that no one had ever walked before. This made it difficult for him to define his strength using traditional "realms," and even more difficult to judge the stability of his foundation based on his existing knowledge.

That subtle yet instinctively fearsome aura stemmed from the "Life and Death Tribulation Rhythm" deeply imprinted in his divine will. His two glimpses of the world's birth and death, especially the second time when he actively triggered the transmigration, made this aura like a branding iron that hadn't completely cooled—hot and dangerous. Even with his current control over his divine will, he couldn't completely conceal it, so it naturally manifested outwards, forming this oppressive force.

To know exactly where one is now and what power one possesses, relying on the existing records of the Divine Dynasty or the judgments of others is no longer reliable.

The only way, perhaps, is to personally "verify" it—find a suitable opponent, have a few real fights, and feel, measure, and calibrate your own strength in actual combat.

Ugh……

He sighed softly to himself.

His own path of cultivation was becoming increasingly incompatible with the norms and conventions of this world.

This is both an opportunity and a source of loneliness and risk, with no one to guide you.

Realizing this, Gao Jian stopped worrying about his own aura and instead gave orders to the officer in front of him, his tone regaining its usual calm: "Notify the main force of the Demon Suppression Division that they can return to defend Cangzhou. Also," he paused and asked, "how is Lord Sima now?"

Upon hearing this, the officer's face showed a hint of embarrassment and indignation. After a moment of silence, he said in a low voice, "Before you entered Hell, Lord Sima was pressured by several powerful families in Cangzhou. Under the pretext of 'assistance in defense,' he was forced to go to guard another newly discovered, supposedly unstable, Yellow Spring Rift on the ancient battlefield... He has not yet returned."

Gao Wenting's eyes turned slightly cold.

What kind of garrison duty is this? It's clearly house arrest.

This must be the Cangzhou aristocratic group led by the Shui family, who forcibly transferred Sima away from the center of power to eliminate dissidents, and may even have harbored the intention of using someone else to kill Sima and causing his demise in the Yellow Springs Rift. It seems that the Shui family's control over Cangzhou is still not to be underestimated, as they were able to force the head of the state's Demon Suppression Division to submit.

Fortunately, the Shui family patriarch and Wang Gang have both been killed by him and are now in hell.

This news, on the contrary, reassured Gao Jian.

The biggest threat has been eliminated; all that remains is the cleanup.

Without further delay, he immediately ordered his officers: "Pass down the order that Lord Sima will soon return to Cangzhou to take charge of the overall situation. Stabilize morale and restore defenses in various regions."

"Yes, sir!" The officer's spirits lifted, and he immediately accepted the order. Gao Jian's return and the news he brought were undoubtedly a shot in the arm.

After giving his orders, Gao Jian vanished from the tent like a ghost.

The next moment, he appeared outside the outpost. After determining the direction, he sped off toward the Yellow Springs Rift that the officer had mentioned.

He was going to bring Sima back.

On the one hand, Sima was one of the few allies he could call himself in Cangzhou, and he should lend a helping hand both publicly and privately. On the other hand, he also wanted to see if the so-called "unstable Yellow Spring Rift," and the "guardians" left behind by the Cangzhou aristocratic families who might be entrenched nearby, could serve as the first "touchstone" for him to test his own strength.

In the blink of an eye, Gao Jian had already arrived at the location described by the officer.

He even roughly estimated the distance he had traveled, and a thought couldn't help but cross his mind: compared to Hell, which often required trekking for several days and was so vast that it was despairing, the territory of the Divine Dynasty, at least within Cangzhou, seemed... surprisingly "small".

After several hours of traveling at full speed, they had covered a considerable distance and arrived at their destination.

I've become stronger.

However, once he landed on the ground, the scene before him was completely different from the dangerous place or the heavily guarded prison he had imagined.

This place looks ordinary, just a desolate hilly area typical of ancient battlefields.

The only difference was a murky, lifeless tributary of the Yellow Springs, like an ugly scar on the earth, slowly seeping from a crack in the ground. Its flow was small, but the chilling, deathly aura it emitted was condensed and persistent. A formation radiating an obscure light encircled this tributary of the Yellow Springs like chains. The formation's patterns were complex, drawing upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth; its core function was to draw upon a powerful force of blood and qi to suppress the Yellow Springs and prevent the vengeful spirits within from overflowing.

But Gao Jian only glanced at it before his brows furrowed tightly.

This formation is indeed suppressing the underworld and preventing the undead from running rampant.

At the same time, it is also guiding the Yellow Springs to the source of the absorbed blood and qi through guidance!

This is not a simple suppression at all, but rather a slow and steady process of wearing down and refining the powerful figure trapped in the array's core, using the Yellow Springs as a millstone and the array as a transmission mechanism!
Nominally a garrison, but in reality a prisoner-killer!

The insidious nature of this formation lies in its ingenious creation of a dilemma: to save people, the formation must be broken first; but once the formation is broken, the unrestrained Yellow Springs tributary will instantly erupt, unleashing a torrent of undead spirits that wreak havoc on the region.

At that time, the act of saving lives may turn into a disaster.

By filling the Yellow Springs with people, the undead could be prevented from rioting, and people could also be suppressed inside, thus solving two problems at once.

"Two evils facing each other, using each other's strength against each other... indeed, the insidious ways of the Cangzhou aristocratic families are the norm." Gao Jian's eyes were cold, and he had already made up his mind.

With a swift movement, he fell like a weightless leaf, heading straight for the core of the shimmering array.

At the core of the formation, a figure sat cross-legged. His powerful blood and energy were being forcibly drawn away by the formation like a flood, and he was constantly being eroded by the death energy of the Yellow Springs, but his back remained straight—he was the Sima of the Demon Suppression Division of Cangzhou, a true ninth-realm martial artist.

Outside the formation, there were several cultivators dressed in aristocratic attire, whose auras were around the seventh realm, "assisting" in maintaining the formation's operation. In reality, however, they were vigilant, their eyes constantly sweeping over Sima in the formation, their "guarding" duties were self-evident.

The sudden arrival of such insightful advice completely caught everyone off guard.

He appeared without warning in the array's light, his figure steady, his gaze calmly sweeping across the entire area.

The aristocratic cultivators were taken aback at first, but then they realized what was happening and their faces immediately showed their usual stern expressions, tinged with a sense of superiority.

One of them stroked his beard with an air of otherworldly wisdom, about to speak, perhaps to rebuke, "Who dares to disturb the peace of the formation?" or to invoke the name of his noble family to threaten him—

However, Gao Jian did not give them any chance to organize their thoughts.

There were no unnecessary movements, no building up of energy, and no shouting.

With just a thought, the rusty knife, not even fully drawn from its sheath, suddenly burst forth with a bright, gleaming light!

The flash of the blade wasn't overwhelming; rather, only a thin line was visible.

"laugh--!"

A faint, almost inaudible cutting sound rang out.

The cultivators from the seventh-realm aristocratic families who had just raised their hands and slightly opened their mouths froze completely. Their expressions were frozen in shock and disbelief, and the light in their eyes dimmed rapidly, like a candle flame blown out by the wind.

The next moment, fine lines of blood appeared simultaneously on their necks, between their eyebrows, and other vital areas.

"Thump... thump..."

Several dull thuds echoed as the guards, who had been so aggressive just moments before, were now several still-warm corpses. All the noise and threats vanished into eternal silence with that single stroke of the blade.

Inside the formation, Sima, who had been enduring the pain with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them and looked at Gao Jian in shock.

He felt the fleeting yet sharp pressure of divine intent that chilled even a ninth-realm expert like himself.

Gao Jian didn't even glance at the fallen fodder. His gaze fell on Sima, and he smiled, "Lord Sima, it seems you need a helping hand here."

“Gao Jian, you—no, this divine will—?” Sima looked up in astonishment, feeling the profound aura emanating from Gao Jian that was completely different from before, as if it contained the cycle of birth and death of the world. For a moment, he forgot his own situation and exclaimed in surprise.

"Don't speak yet, let me help you remove the restrictions of the formation," Gao Jian interrupted him.

"No!" Sima snapped back to reality and hurriedly stopped him. "This formation and the Yellow Springs tributary are now intertwined; moving one will affect the whole thing! If we loosen or damage any of the formation's nodes, the Yellow Springs will lose its suppression, and the undead tide will erupt instantly! In that case, countless lives will be lost, and the first to suffer will be our comrades from the Demon Suppression Division who are on the front lines! It's better if I do it alone..."

His words were resolute, clearly indicating that he had already weighed the pros and cons and would rather be slowly worn away than cause a greater disaster because of himself.

However, before his words of dissuasion had even finished—

The vicious array that had been operating stably and shimmering with light suddenly froze, as if the supporting blocks of a tower had been precisely removed. Its trajectory abruptly halted, and then the complex and obscure patterns rapidly dimmed and collapsed at a speed visible to the naked eye! The strange power that was drawing Sima's life force was instantly interrupted, and the Yellow Springs corrosive power surrounding him also dissipated like the receding tide.

The formation has been broken.

Sima felt a sudden lightness throughout his body; the pain that had been tormenting him all the time vanished, and the long-lost sense of power began to flow through his body again.

He stared in disbelief at the collapsing array light surrounding him, then abruptly turned to look at the tributary of the Yellow Springs beside him—

The anticipated necromancy tide did not materialize.

The waters of the Yellow Springs continued to flow slowly in the crack in the ground, turbid and lifeless. Even the ripples that were originally stirred by the presence of the formation had calmed down, becoming even more "docile" than before.

What necromancer tide? Gao Jian is quite adept at manipulating the underworld.

Sima looked at Gao Jian, opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word, as if he were truly meeting this person for the first time.

“Lord Sima, Cangzhou needs you to return and take charge. As for the Shui family,” Gao Jian paused, his tone calm but tinged with coldness, “I have already dealt with them.”

Upon hearing this, Sima's body trembled violently, and his gaze towards Gao Jian deepened. He nodded heavily, without asking for further details.

"Let's go back."

(End of this chapter)