While the five members of the Five Elements Dao Sect were at a stalemate with the wolf pack in the desert illusion and Feng Weilan was putting all his effort into deducing the array, the atmosphere atop the high platform was equally solemn.
Ten massive water mirrors floated in mid-air, each clearly reflecting the scenes upon a Heart-Probing Bridge.
However, nine of the mirrors were currently a blur of mist. Only the central mirror—corresponding to the central bridge chosen by the Five Elements Dao Sect—clearly displayed the real-time images within the illusion.
The desolate desert, the agitated wolf pack, and the five members of the Five Elements Dao Sect struggling to break the array were all visible.
According to the rules, the specific details within the illusion were only visible to the sect leaders and elders on the high platform, as well as the eliminated disciples, until all ten teams had entered. This was to preserve tactical privacy for the first teams, preventing later teams from uncovering the secrets of the stages too early.
Only when all teams had entered the first stage would the scenes within the illusions be made public to all spectators.
Consequently, the disciples from various sects waiting in the plaza to board the bridges could only see the glowing points of light on the ten bridges. They could not know what exactly the Five Elements Dao Sect was facing and could only speculate based on the brightness of the lights and occasional ripples of spiritual energy.
On the high platform, however, the sect leaders saw every move of the Five Elements Dao Sect with perfect clarity.
In the area for the Five Elements Dao Sect, Sect Leader Feng Yi stood with his hands behind his back. His expression was calm, yet his gaze never left the central water mirror.
Behind him stood Mu Wenyan and Feng Qingping, who were banned from the match, both looking on with focused expressions.
When she saw that the illusion was a desert filled with spirit-slaying arrays and that Feng Weilan was struggling with the deductions, Feng Qingping's hands subconsciously clenched, her knuckles turning white.
"It's a spirit-slaying array..." Feng Qingping murmured to herself, her voice carrying a trace of imperceptible tension.
With her level of attainment in arrays, she had seen through the reality of this first stage the moment the water mirror's image stabilized. She had even quickly deduced several possible safe paths and the key nodes that would fully trigger all the traps.
But precisely because she saw it so clearly, she was even more worried.
Though this array was incomplete, its variations were treacherous and the traps were nested; it was by no means an easy obstacle. If she were to act personally, she could naturally rely on her superior cultivation in the Dao of arrays to use finesse to overcome force and pass through quickly.
But if one tried to force their way through with brute strength... it would not only take a long time but would also be extremely likely to trigger the nested arrays.
It wasn't that she didn't believe in her sixth junior brother, Feng Weilan. Having had him by her side for so many years, she had seen all his hard work. With his ability, he would eventually be able to break this array.
However... it would take time!
It required a vast amount of time and mental effort to deduce it cautiously, allowing for not a single mistake!
What Feng Qingping feared most was that Feng Weilan would put too much pressure on himself because of the heavy responsibility of breaking the array. She knew better than anyone that while he appeared steady on the outside, he was extremely competitive internally.
After the last round of the team battle, Feng Qingping didn't know how many more pills from the third senior brother she had fed him, fearing he would suffer some lasting aftereffects. Although Feng Weilan kept insisting his injuries were no longer an issue, Feng Qingping could never truly stop worrying, fearing he would overtax his mind or even take aggressive risks just to avoid being a burden to the team.
In the water mirror, Feng Weilan's brow was locked tight and sweat seeped from his forehead. Seeing this made Feng Qingping's heart tighten. She could see the slight tremor in his hand seals and feel the extreme caution in his divine sense investigations.
'Weilan, take it steady, do not be impatient...' Feng Qingping prayed silently, wishing she could transmit her own array insights across the distance.
Mu Wenyan, standing nearby, seemed to sense her tension. He tilted his head slightly and whispered, "Fifth junior sister, ease your mind. Our sixth junior brother has a steady heart and knows his limits. Moreover, with our little junior sister there to assist, nothing will go wrong."
Though Feng Yi did not turn around, his calm voice reached them as well. "Qingping, excessive worry is also a heart demon. You must trust your junior brother."
Feng Qingping took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. She nodded. "Yes, Master, eldest senior brother. I understand."
Despite her words, her eyes remained fixed on the figure in the water mirror who was putting everything into his deductions.
The other sect leaders and elders were also closely watching the progress of the Five Elements Dao Sect.
Bu Qingwei stroked his beard and mused, "The Five Elements Dao Sect has poor luck. To encounter such a thorny array in the very first stage... If Feng Qingping were there, this stage could be broken in the blink of an eye. Now... I'm afraid it will consume quite a lot of time."
Immortal Venerable Ling Xiao snorted coldly. "If they can't even break this, the Five Elements Dao Sect is nothing more than this."
His gaze swept over the steady figures of Cang Dongqing and the others waiting in the mirror, a flash of satisfaction in his eyes. Clearly, he highly approved of Cang Dongqing's decision to ban Feng Qingping.
Master Huiming simply pressed his palms together and remained silent.
Rong Lingmeng, Liu Changhe, and others looked on thoughtfully, judging what methods their own teams would use if they encountered the same array based on the performance of the Five Elements Dao Sect.
Below the high platform, the disciples waiting to board the bridges couldn't see the specifics, but they could sense the heavy atmosphere.
"Is the Five Elements Dao Sect stuck? Is the first stage that hard?"
"The point of light has been flickering for a long time, but they haven't passed yet..."
"It seems losing Feng Qingping really has a huge impact on them."
The disciples of the Hehuan Sect and Water Moon Sect had complicated feelings. They hoped the Five Elements Dao Sect would have a smooth start, but they also worried that the difficulty of the stages might exceed expectations.
Over with the Sword Heart Sect, Cang Dongqing remained expressionless, but a flash of coldness flickered deep in her eyes.
The slow progress of the Five Elements Dao Sect was exactly as she had predicted.
Within the illusion, Feng Weilan was oblivious to the attention from the outside. All his mental effort was immersed in deducing the array. Sweat soaked his sideburns, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter!
"Found it!" Suddenly, Feng Weilan snapped his eyes open. A look of fatigue mixed with excitement flashed through them as he pointed to a seemingly chaotic area to the front-left. "There! That is the weakest point of the array eye and the start of the safe path! But it requires the simultaneous triggering of three hidden talisman nodes! The error cannot exceed one inch!"
"Trigger three nodes simultaneously?" Duan Xianxing's expression changed. "How do we do that? I can't manage that alone!"
"I'll do it with our seventh junior brother!" Jiang Yifan immediately interjected. "I'll strike the two on the left, and you strike the one on the far right!"
"No!" Feng Weilan said urgently. "These three nodes must be triggered in absolute synchronization. Even a hair's breadth of difference will cause the array to backlash! Your spiritual energy attributes and strike habits are different; it's too difficult to achieve absolute synchronization!"
Everyone's hearts sank again. They had found the key, but they were stuck on the execution. This required nearly perfect rapport and control!
At this critical moment—
"Let me try."
Everyone turned in surprise to see Li Nanzhu stepping forward. At some point, she had already gripped three talismans flickering with different lusters!
"Little junior sister?" Duan Xianxing was confused.
Li Nanzhu took a deep breath. "I can use the three-flame control method to activate these three barrier-breaking talismans simultaneously. It should achieve absolute synchronization!"
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