How can simply creating a sect make you invincible?

As Xiao Ningyun's voice rang out, Chen Ping'an's foot had already stepped down.

Snap!

A faint sound of a mechanism being activated echoed in the hall.

Chen Ping'an's body stiffened, and he slowly lowered his head, only to see that the floor tiles under his feet had slightly sunken.

"Not good." With that, he quickly retreated.

As soon as Chen Ping'an returned to the group, he saw the eight stone statues suddenly tremble, and eight different beast roars came from the statues, making the entire front hall resound.

At the same time, the eight stone statues moved. The Soul-Devouring Sparrow, the Black Tortoise, the White Tiger, the Wild Bull, the Giant Python, the Seven-Tailed Fox, the Giant Ape, and the War Bear—eight Saint-level beast souls—controlled the stone statues, their gazes all locking onto the crowd.

Seeing the aura emanating from the eight stone statues, Han Bingli snorted coldly, then looked at the group: "What's sealed inside these statues are merely the beast souls of a few demon kings. Let's finish this quickly!"

After saying that, a burst of cold energy suddenly erupted from Han Bingli's body.

Upon hearing this, Chen Daoxuan quickly formed hand seals, and at the same time, Ling Yunzhi, Su Qingruo, Chen Ping'an and the others instantly drew their swords.

As soon as the words were spoken, the five people moved at the same time.

Han Bingli's figure flashed out like a ghost, her body radiating icy energy that transformed into countless ice crystals. Wherever she passed, even the air crackled and popped as she charged towards the stone statue.

Chen Daoxuan formed hand seals and chanted incantations, instantly creating an array that trapped the eight stone statues within a small area.

Ling Yunzhi and Su Qingruo unleashed their sword intent and charged towards the eight stone statues simultaneously.

Chen Ping'an was furious because he had accidentally triggered the mechanism. Holding his long sword, he cursed and charged at the war bear statue.

"Damn it, you scared the hell out of me! Go to hell!"

"roar--!"

The stone palm, as large as a palm leaf, slammed down on Chen Ping'an with immense force.

A terrifying collision erupted in the lobby in an instant!

Han Bingli clashed head-on with Baihu. The collision of ice crystals and pure power created shockwaves. However... just as the shockwaves touched various parts of the hall, the faintly visible runes suddenly lit up.

The terrifying aftershocks, powerful enough to shatter mountains, vanished the moment they touched the rune's light, as silently as snowflakes falling into boiling water.

"Such profound array runes..." Ling Yunzhi glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and was shocked. This Tianpeng Temple was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

What is sealed inside the eight stone statues is merely the beast soul of the Demon King. Moreover, the beast soul is trapped inside the stone statues, which already diminishes its strength and prevents it from fully utilizing its agility.

In just a few dozen breaths, Su Qingruo succeeded first.

With a precise thrust of her sword, she pierced the head of the Soul-Devouring Sparrow statue. Simultaneously, sword energy erupted from the head, instantly shattering the statue's skull. The Soul-Devouring Sparrow's agonizing screams echoed from the broken statue. Just as the beast's soul attempted to escape, Su Qingruo cleaved it in two with a backhand sword strike, causing it to dissipate into specks of ghostly light.

Almost simultaneously, Han Bingli also shattered the White Tiger statue. The White Tiger beast soul roared and charged out, but was frozen by layers of endless ice, and then shattered little by little.

Chen Daoxuan manipulated the formation, blasting the two stone statues, the bull and the giant ape, until their bodies were covered in cracks.

On the other side, the stone python couldn't even escape its beast soul before being cleaved in two by Ling Yunzhi's sword. The seven-tailed fox statue beside it tried to escape, but he also severed its seven tails with a single sword strike, and its beast soul was instantly killed by the sword energy as soon as it left the statue.

Chen Ping'an had just finished dealing with the War Bear and wanted to continue his attack, but when he turned around, he saw that the other seven stone statues had been turned into rubble and scattered on the ground.

Chen Ping'an walked up to the rubble and stomped on it twice: "Hmph! That wasn't enough of a beating. You think you can scare me with that little skill? Bah!"

Han Bingli ignored Chen Ping'an's nagging. She walked to the broken stone statue, squatted down, and picked up eight crystals of different colors from the rubble. These were soul crystals left behind after the beast soul was killed. Although the beast soul had dispersed, the soul crystals still contained a lot of pure soul power, making them excellent materials for refining soul weapons.

"Not bad, eight Saint-level Soul Crystals, it wasn't a wasted fight."

She put away the soul crystal, stood up, and looked towards the long corridor deep inside the main hall.

Ling Yunzhi sheathed his sword and walked to her side: "Junior Sister Bingli, there are already eight Saint-level Beast Souls guarding the front hall as soon as we entered. It's probably even more complicated inside!"

Han Bingli nodded in agreement, looked at everyone, and said seriously, "Remember to be careful later, and don't touch anything carelessly."

After this experience, everyone realized that this place was not simple, and they all nodded in agreement.

Afterwards, everyone looked around the front hall several times, but found nothing.

Jinxiao flapped its wings and whispered to the group, "Stop looking, there's nothing here. Let's go... let's go! The good stuff is definitely inside!"

Upon hearing Jin Xiao's words, Xiao Ningyun's little face immediately lit up with an excited smile: "Yes! All the good treasures must be inside!"

Upon hearing this, Han Bingli nodded to everyone: "Jin Xiao is right, there is indeed nothing here. Let's continue walking in."

After saying that, she took the lead and walked towards the corridor.

Upon hearing this, everyone quickened their pace and followed.

A moment later, just as the group arrived at the entrance of the corridor, Han Bingli stopped them, saying, "Something's strange about the corridor!"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned their gaze to both sides of the corridor, where they saw several fighting scenes engraved on the walls. The scenes included demons, humans, and even a demon emanating black energy. Dozens of people were fighting together against two humans.

The fighting scenes on both sides were covered with faint array patterns.

"What kind of mechanism is this?" Chen Ping'an asked first, cursing under his breath, "This isn't some bullshit Heavenly Roc Temple, it should just be called the Mechanism Temple."

Ling Yunzhi frowned, looked at Han Bingli, and asked softly, "Junior Sister Bingli, what should we do? Should we force our way through?"

At this moment, Xiao Ningyun tugged at Chen Ping'an and said in a childish voice, "Junior Brother Ping'an, you're so stupid. This isn't some kind of mechanism; it's an array, and a very powerful illusion array at that."

"An illusion array?" Chen Ping'an was slightly surprised when he heard Xiao Ningyun's words.

Han Bingli rubbed Xiao Ningyun's head and echoed, "Junior Sister's double pupils couldn't be wrong. It must be a test specially left behind by the Demon Emperor. Only by passing through this corridor illusion array can we get inside."

"It's actually a testing ground?" Su Qingruo asked in surprise.

"Senior Sister Bingli, these illusion arrays are too profound. I don't know how to break them," Chen Daoxuan replied in a low voice.

Hearing Chen Daoxuan's words, Jin Xiao was speechless: "With the little array formation you've learned, you think you can break this illusion array? Give it to your junior sister! Her double pupils can break any illusion array in the world."

Upon hearing this, Chen Daoxuan slapped his thigh and immediately realized, "That's right! Junior Sister's double pupils can shatter all illusions, how could I have forgotten?"

Han Bingli looked down at Xiao Ningyun and asked softly, "Junior Sister, can you lead us through the illusion array in this corridor?"

"Okay," Xiao Ningyun nodded in agreement, "but you must stay close to me, or you'll be trapped by the illusion array."