"This way."

Yang Fei tightly held Qin Yanyang’s hand, reminding her.

Qin Yanyang murmured an "Oh," and immediately retracted her body that had intended to move in another direction.

Yang Fei gripped her hand even tighter.

Qin Yanyang also held Yang Fei’s hand tightly, afraid to let go.

Ever since entering the huge cave of the Peak White Jade City, the deeper they went, even though holding hands, they still nearly got separated several times.

The first time this happened, Yang Fei and Qin Yanyang were startled and instinctively moved closer together, grasping each other’s hand firmly.

The Nine-Nine Returning to One Array deep in the cave has never disappeared, and before you fall into it, you can’t detect it at all.

Yang Fei and Qin Yanyang initially thought that with their Core Formation Cultivation, there would at least be some warning or perception before entering a formation, but they fell into the Nine-Nine Reunification Illusion Array just like that, unwittingly.

Even after experiencing the first near-separation, despite remaining vigilant, there were four more instances later on where they nearly got separated.

Even holding hands and looking ahead, unbeknownst to them, different passage entrances would appear in their sight and awareness, with a tunnel irresistibly attracting them, leading each to subconsciously choose a path forward.

"The senior who left this Nine-Nine Returning to One Array is truly amazing," Qin Yanyang couldn’t help but say.

Yang Fei nodded: "Of course. Senior Li Er could sever the connection between Earth and the outside world with his own power, and even created the Hidden Sect, Penglai Immortal Realm, and Heaven, these three Plane Worlds, his divine power means far surpasses what I know of cultivators."

Qin Yanyang said, "These are methods that only immortals possess."

Yang Fei said, "In my view, Senior Li Er is an immortal."

Qin Yanyang said, "I just wonder what realm strength Senior Li Er has within the Great Cultivation World."

Yang Fei thought for a moment and said, "He should be one of those standing at the pinnacle of the pyramid, the strongest ones."

Qin Yanyang shook her head: "Who knows. It’s a pity that Lingxiao Sect and the other cultivators of the Southern Domain haven’t heard of Senior Li Er’s name."

Yang Fei said, "That doesn’t mean Senior Li Er’s name isn’t loud enough, it’s just that his era might be too ancient, or perhaps when Senior Li Er was active in the Southern Domain and other star domains of the Great Cultivation World, he wasn’t using the name Li Er."

Qin Yanyang nodded: "That’s quite possible. It’s a pity there’s too little information about his deeds left behind by the senior, we can’t learn more about him."

Her voice drifted within the cave, continuously echoing, lingering for a long time.

The entire cave was eerily quiet.

Suddenly, Qin Yanyang felt a tingling sensation on her scalp, her hands suddenly flailing, shouting: "Yang Fei?"

"Yang Fei... Yang Fei... Yang... Fei..."

Her calls kept echoing within the cave, but apart from her voice and her own heartbeat and breathing, no other sound was heard.

Qin Yanyang gasped, releasing her Divine Sense as far as possible to probe the surroundings.

Everything was chaos and void.

She didn’t know whether her Divine Sense couldn’t probe beyond the cave or couldn’t detect the surrounding scenery.

But none of this was frightening. What was frightening was, when did she and Yang Fei get separated?

Weren’t they walking together, hand in hand, just now?

And they were talking all along, how did he suddenly disappear?

As a Core Formation Stage cultivation expert, Qin Yanyang considered herself brave enough, even unafraid of ghosts and gods, yet now her skin was covered in goosebumps, and the creepy feeling made her long for the safety of being in Yang Fei’s embrace.

How could this happen?

She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Then she probed again with her Divine Sense, which still couldn’t reach beyond five meters.

Hearing and sensing were sealed, unable to extend more than five meters.

She knew she’d entered the Nine-Nine Reunification Illusion Array again.

Although she’d encountered it once when she first came to White Jade City twenty years ago, falling into it again, she still felt inexplicable fear and tension.

The array was too powerful, too strange.

Given her and Yang Fei’s realm status, even in full defense, they were still separated inadvertently.

After a moment, Qin Yanyang completely calmed down, proceeding according to her intuition.

Although there might be numerous troubles ahead, she believed that as she once escaped the array at Foundation Establishment Early Stage, she should be able to get out now that she was at Early-stage Core Formation.

...

"Honey, why aren’t you speaking?"

Yang Fei suddenly felt a strange silence in his ears, without Qin Yanyang’s voice; startled, he quickly asked.

But the only response was the echoing of his voice within the cave.

Startled, he squeezed his right hand hard, wanting to grip Qin Yanyang’s hand tighter.

But only found himself clutching air.

"Damn!"

Yang Fei couldn’t help but curse.

All along, he’d felt he was holding Qin Yanyang’s little hand, how did she disappear so suddenly?

Is this another entrance into the Nine-Nine Reunification Illusion Array?

He took a deep breath, releasing his Divine Sense to probe the surroundings.

After a while, he sighed deeply.

Indeed, he’d fallen into the illusion array, and unknowingly, was separated from Qin Yanyang by the array, wandering apart.

Dammit.

So careful yet still separated, this illusion array was truly formidable.

Hadn’t he been talking with her the whole time? And holding hands so tightly, in such circumstances, even a Mid-stage Core Formation expert shouldn’t be able to separate them, yet this strange, powerful illusion array could unknowingly separate them.

Too terrifying.

"Why insist on separating us?" Yang Fei sighed with some annoyance, his tone full of reproach and a hint of grievance.

Indeed, he considered himself a disciple of Li Er, and this illusion array was evidently Li Er’s masterpiece, yet the teacher in his heart forcibly separated him from Qin Yanyang. Worried she’d lose her way or get hurt in the array, he felt aggrieved and resentful.

"I must find her quickly."

Knowing his complaints were futile, Yang Fei soon adjusted his mindset, swiftly strategizing a solution.

Soon, Yang Fei confirmed a direction and strode towards the Kan-Li direction.

Right ahead, though a cave wall with no passage appeared, as Yang Fei approached, less than a meter from the wall, a crevice bizarrely appeared, revealing a passage.